What a Productive Week

Sometimes having a lot of projects in process can get you down, that has been the case for me.  I have had 2 quilts just waiting for borders and then I added another one and that was the straw that broke the camels back.  I do not like adding borders- all that measuring, cutting long strips and then dealing with the whole big thing.  I made this past week border week and I now have 3 quilts with finished borders!  I decided I might as well get the backings ready too because that is no fun either.  As I was doing all of this I realized that my least favorite quilting tasks all begin with the letter B - borders, backing, basting, and binding.  I think I need to adjust my attitude because those steps are a very big part of quilting! 

Since I got so much done this week I rewarded myself with starting a new project so my design wall has the beginnings of a jelly roll quilt.  I have never used a jelly roll before but I wanted to try it so here is what I have so far.  Not too exciting but I decided to divide the roll by color and see what that does for me.  This may stay on the wall for awhile since this will be a busy week but at least it is a start.

Double Delight is Done

I had a great weekend - with lots of time to quilt, spend time with family and stay home.  I finished my Double Delight quilt - finally.  I was able to finish all of the Carolina Christmas blocks, my daughter in law started quilting with me and I worked on an entry for our guild show in April.

My Design wall is covered with Carolina Christmas blocks, they are 16" and since I can't fit them all on the wall I have laid out the red blocks in the order that I will have them to make sure there are no obvious problems with the same print being close to another with the same print.  I plan to take them down in an orderly stack and then do the same with the green ones and then if I just take one from each stack, in order, then everything should go together as planned - but we will see.

I am trying to organize or should I say reorganize my sewing area, I just keep spreading to fill any available space, so when I go up to my room I am putting things away and sorting and tossing.  If I do it a little at a time maybe I can accomplish something - eventually.

It's Another Monday

I was so productive this week I can't even believe it. 2 finished projects - yay! I completed and wrapped up the son in laws shirt quilt. I was very pleased with how it turned out. It is a quillow so I used patches of the shirt for the pillow part. One of the shirts I found at the thrift store was a western style with pearl snaps. It was very thin so I probably should not have used it but he used to ride rodeo so I really wanted that shirt. I ended up using a pocket with the pearl snap on the quillow pocket.I used fabric for the sashing and border and then I tried something new and used fleece for the back and no batting. It quilted quite nicely and felt wonderful. I will probably do this on baby quilts now.

As for this weeks projects, I have two things on my design wall. Carolina Christmas is slowly coming along, I am playing with layouts but am leaning towards the one Bonnie suggested.
My quilting friends and I are making nine patch blocks to make some donation quilts so I went through my 3.5" bin and was able to make some of those blocks. I will probably do more this week, they are fun and easy.

New Year New Projects

My quilt guild has a show coming up in a few months and as I contemplate entering anything to be judged I started feeling like I hadn't really accomplished anything this past year. If I really thought about it I could come up with a few completed projects but it was a bit depressing. So I have decided that I am going to start a list in my sidebar of anything I have finished- quilts, sewing, scrapbooking, home dec. This should help me realize in December that I have done things and not twiddled my thumbs all year.

To start off this years list - ta da my first finish! A t shirt quilt top. Now you may say that is not finished but it is all I am doing because this was a job for someone else. A friend has a longarm business and she was hired to put this quilt together. She asked me to do the top and then she will quilt one for me. So my part is done and I can count it as my first finish.

A New Adventure

My quilt made from mens shirts is coming along nicely.I just have to do the horizontal sashing and borders.
I wanted something quick and this seems to fit the bill. It is also very masculine. My husband asked what will I do with the rest of the shirts (I only used a sleeve from each one) I kind of like these plaids and stripes so in my head I am planning another quilt to use this kind of fabric. I also plan to make lap quilts for nursing homes this year and these will make good manly ones.

Happy New Year

Our New Years Eve plans went away so we stayed home, ate crab, watched the last Dollhouse we had on DVR and then looked in our Hoyle book of games for a two player card game. We tried Seven Up - not too much fun. We used to look for 2 player games when we were first married but it has been a long time since there has been a need. We were in bed by 10:30, just like normal. I was just fine with that.

Today I finished the last of the Carolina Christmas blocks. 48 red and gold blocks and 52 green and red blocks, now I just have to put them together. I also started a new project, I broke down and got some used mens shirts to cut up and use the fabric. I need to make a quick quilt for a son in law who has a birthday this week and I thought this would make a masculine quilt. I found the shirts for $1.00 on sale at Thrift Town so the price was right. There is a bit of labor involved in cutting them apart but I can do that while watching TV at night - having something to do keeps me awake.

I have a list of projects waiting to be completed this month so I have lined everything up in the baby guest room and I can just go in and grab the next one. Yesterday I finished 5 shrugs for bridesmaids in a wedding tomorrow. As always the Carolina Christmas sewing is my reward for doing something else so now I have to work on the shirt quilt before putting the blocks together.