Jacks Chains

Well with all the top finishing I’ve been doing lately I decided to try and figure out one of the quilts that’s been on my to-do list for a LONG time. Really a bucket list quilt. I found instructions on how to design it in EQ, got that done in a couple of hours and started looking for the fabrics I needed. The triangles were the easy part, used up just about all of a half yard of fabric I had sitting here from another project. I need to figure out what I’m going to use for the hexagons, not sure if I want white or something else. I’ve started going through all my 1.5″ squares and separated all the whites from the colors and started making piles for each 9-patch. I’ll start working on those until I figure out what I want to work on next. Here’s my EQ design – the 9-patches will be scrappy both color and the white-on-white squares. This one will be a bit of a challenge to put together, but I’m up for a challenge!

Looking forward to start putting this together, once I figure out what those hexagons are going to be!

Done!

Oh my goodness it’s been a busy couple of days of cutting. In an effort to start cleaning up the mess in my office and have enough walking space, Sunday I started working on pressing and cutting up all the scraps that accumulated in a basket. It took a long time, but it’s done and now the 2.5″, 2″ and 1.5″ bin are totally full and ready to be used. Cassie has already pulled a number of 1.5″ pieces out, she wants to make a pillow for one of her dolls. We started stitching them together the other night, but she got bored after getting 8 pairs sewn together. Now I have a tub FULL of fabrics that need to be put on the foam core board that has been cut and waiting for months now. I’m hoping to get it done by the end of the month, we’ll see if that can happen!

September OMG

Here’s what I’d like to get done in September – I have 1 large-ish quilt I want to get basted and I have a table runner that I really want to get quilted.

Back in 2015 I finished putting together a scrappy top with some hexies appliquéd on the alternate squares. I think it’s time to pull this out and get it done so we can use it on the couch this winter. Not yet sure how I’ll quilt it, maybe while I baste it I’ll think of something!

Way back in 2008 I made a table runner using my favorite fabrics – Equinox which isn’t being made anymore. I’ve basted it and started quilting it, but I’d like to get all the quilting done this month.

Here’s hoping I get it all done this month! Linking up to Elm Street Quilts.

Hexie Insanity Update and a Win!

Hexi Insanity 013116It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on Hexie Insanity. I’ve been working on getting the white on white pathways attached to all my diamonds that were already put together. I have about 7 left (I think) that need the pathways and then I can start making more diamonds! I have all the single hexies completed (in the small container in the right corner) and ready to be put to use in the pattern. I really want to get all the diamonds completed before I decide how I want this to look, follow a pattern, rainbow, random? I’m sort of thinking a controlled random – so the same colors aren’t near each other but we’ll see. I still have 103 diamonds left to make! I also have 42 flowers left to make for the border, last summer I started putting the first border together, only to shift focus to the diamond pathways instead. It will get finished eventually, I knew it would be a slow, couple year project when I started it.

Scrap Win 013116I enter giveaways all the time and while I can’t say I never win, I hardly ever win. Last week I got an email saying that I had won a giveaway for some fabric scraps and she needed my address to send them. I thought it was a hoax! Once I searched on the email address and found the blog again, re-engineered, I remembered entering the giveaway. I love all the purples! I’ll have to keep them in the bag so they don’t get mixed up with my stash so I can make something with all of them.

Hope to be back this week with another finish, I have a table runner that I want to see if I can make and finish!

Another Finish!

4 patch 012616I really wanted some mindless piecing this week and decided to make a scrap quilt from a design I did in EQ7. It’s just a mixture of small and large four patch blocks. I used a lot of 2.5″ squares, and used 1 and a half of a batik charm pack for the 4.5″ squares. I finished it up Sunday afternoon, but there were too many toys on the floor to get a picture. I wanted to get pictures yesterday but Alex somehow managed to catch strep throat and we spent all morning at the Dr’s and I just didn’t have the energy to do anything in the afternoon! I still need to find some backing and batting so this can be quilted, but it will make a nice quilt for in the trailer this summer. Unfortunately this hasn’t made a single dent in my 2.5″ square bin!!

Linking up to Linky Tuesday.

New Start

four patch quilt 012116So I finished a quilt this week, that means I can start a new one right? LOL. I have 2 small quilts sitting here basted and ready to be quilted and another that’s been quilted and just needs binding. Do I work on either of those today? Heck no! I start a new quilt that I designed in EQ recently. These are all the 2.5″ squares I need to do the 84 small 4-patches and I need to decide what I’m going to use for the 21 4-patches made from 4.5″ squares. I’m thinking I might use a charm pack I have sitting here, I’ll think about it for a while since I need to finish putting these together first. I pulled 108 white and 108 colored 2.5″ squares from the bins to put these together and would you believe that I had very few duplicates in the colored squares? The whites I don’t have a lot of, but I don’t mind duplicates in those since it’ll be spread out and they are white on white so the texture is all the same. Hoping to get all the small 4 patches done tonight while I watch the Cavs game – after the kids go to bed of course!

I’ve had the embroidery machine going all day stitching out some new lace designs I bought. It’ll be another banner/bunting for my etsy shop that I’d like to get posted tomorrow. The last design is on the machine now – for the fourth time! I think I need the machine needs a tune up, but I’d have to pay to have someone come to the house to do it, I can’t get it out of the room anymore! I need to do some research, maybe I can do it myself.

Linking up to My Quilt Infatuation – Needle and Thread Thursday.

Off the Design Wall – January 18, 2016

2010 Quilt Show BOM 011816It’s finally finished! I started this quilt in January 2010 and was able to keep up every month with the blocks even though I was pregnant. July 2012 I started working on borders and managed to get 4 of them completed. Last month I decided it was time to get this off the WIP queue and into the to be quilted queue. I had ordered fabric thinking I could try and match it to the 3 borders I had already sewn on, but it just didn’t work. Instead of spending a lot of money trying to match it, I decided to just take them off and use one of the new fabrics I ordered. Last border is now on the quilt and it’s ready to go to the “Quilt Me” pile! The fabrics are all Moda Marbles and one constant white through the whole thing. Now I have a bunch of Moda Marbles left over that can go to Hexie Insanity or to another project – I haven’t decided yet!

I saw a link the other day in one of my Facebook groups and decided that I’d try a mystery sampler quilt from – The Splendid Sampler. You get 2 block a week for a total of 100 blocks. I haven’t decided fabrics yet, I could use the extra Moda Marbles, or my Equinox fabrics that I’ve been hoarding…or just go totally scrappy for each block. Sounds like there’s going to be a mix of piecing, applique, EPP, embroidery and paper piecing. Pat Sloan and a bunch of her quilty friends have created the blocks and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Linking to Patchwork Times – Design Wall Monday.

Another finished top!

Hexie Diamonds 123115In June 2012 I finished my first hexagon quilt and started the next one – Hexie Diamonds. It was supposed to be finished in 2013 and used as a quilt for the bed in our trailer – but I worked on it slow and didn’t finish it when I thought I would. In July 2014 I finished the center – all 2,473 hexagons! It’s taken me another 17 months to put the borders on! I’m happy to say it’s now a finished top, not the best picture but the best place to take a picture is the living room floor and the kids have toys all over the place still! With all my top finishes I’m up to 16 that need quilting – so I guess 2016 will be a year of quilting!

Hunters Star 123115My brother-in-law got my name this year and got me The Big Bang Theory Lego set (we love that show!) and the Hunter’s Star Go die. I made one block last night after we got home and I THINK I have enough of the same fabric to make another. I’ll turn it into a table runner if I can find some fabric that matches it. It’ll be cute for Valentine’s Day!

My fabric is on it’s way for Star Crazy, I’m not seeing a tracking number but it’s coming USPS Priority Mail and it’s only a few hours south, so I’m hoping it will be here Saturday. We have no plans for the weekend and I hope to spend as much time as I can in my office sewing!

I hope to be back later and do a year in review post, might not get to it today though we are heading back down to my mother-in-laws to spend time with family before they leave tomorrow.

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday.

Scrappy Finish

Scrappy 9 patch with hexi applique 122615I started working on this on November 21, 2013. Here it is 2 years later and I’ve finally completed the top! I don’t know why I have this aversion to finishing tops – I have a bunch that just need the borders and they’d be considered complete. This was based on a quilt I saw on either Facebook or Pinterest – who remembers now? – and I changed the applique part to hexies instead of whatever they had – I don’t even remember what it was now. I already know how I want to quilt this, I just have a few quilts that are getting quilted first. Everything was cut either on my Go or my Studio and I’m thrilled that I used up all these scraps! 517 2.5″ squares were used in this quilt and I will use a few more because I’m planning on putting some hexies on the border at some point. I might even wait until after it’s quilted since they will be appliquéd on anyway.

I pulled out a VERY old quilt from 2009 that I want to keep working on to get the top finished – again it just needs the borders finished. Hopefully I’ll have an update on it soon, I know it won’t be tonight because it needs 4 borders and the one I’m working on now is 1.5″ HST! I also might have some news to announce soon!

A New Finish!

Cathedral Windows 111415Last weekend was my birthday and the hubby got me tickets for the Cavs game on Sunday. Since we needed a sitter anyway, my sister and mom offered to each take one of the kids for an overnight so we could sleep all night and/or do what we wanted without worrying about the kids. So we dropped them off Saturday morning, had a nice lunch out just the 2 of us and then came home where I spent ALL afternoon and most of the evening sewing. Sunday morning I got a little more sewing in and then we headed to the game. They did win and we had a great weekend!

I’ve always wanted to do a cathedral windows quilt, but all the folding and handwork for it seemed daunting. I know I do hexies, but this is a different kind of handwork! I saw a video on Missouri Star Quilting Co’s YouTube page for the Cathedral Window and decided it’d be a nice project for the weekend. In the example they used charm squares and I really should have too, but I just wanted to try out the process and didn’t want to break into any of my charm packs, so I used 2.5″ squares. It’s not a hard process, there’s just a lot of bulk with all the seams. I had the perfect spot in the hallway for this quilt that’s been empty for the last few weeks since I took the birthday banner down after Alex’s birthday. I am happy about the way it came out, and that I had the time to spend working on something for myself.

Now to work on my Red/White challenge quilt for next months guild meeting!