Moira - Catching up after a long weekend

I had a long weekend and made it into a stay at home quilt retreat.  Didn't even go out of the house on Sat (well except for mail) and Mondya.

These 14 string blocks were made on Friday.   I'm now through 4 colors of my batik strings in this slow moving UFO project.













I got the label made for the back of this quilt.   Yes it is big and in an unusual spot, but the backing didn't cooperate with me when I quilted it at Christmas so I had a long pucker to cover up.  =)

The label went onto this quilt and with that this UFO is officially finished and ready to be listed for sale.


















I finished the final Christmas for last year.  A little cross-body purse made for a niece.   All gifts for that family will now go out in the mail early next week - woohoo.  Fabric chosen was in the Vera Bradley general style because that's what she likes.

And over the last week I've started a new project that will be for myself.  It will be snail themed (goes back to a childhood nickname and collecting snails as a result). 
This is the first block made with orphan block parts from my friend Susan and scraps from my stash.  Block finished at 27" wide and 18" tall.







This is the second block made over the weekend.  Again made with orphan block parts (the 2 rail fences) and scraps from my stash.  Same size as first.












Finished off 2 UFO's on Monday, one of which I can't post a pic of yet.   The second one finished was my London tea towel quilt.

Most of the fabrics in the pieced and appliqued blocks were from ones that I bought at Spencer & Marks while there in London in 1997.  Red flange is by Hoffman fabrics and the scrappy cream tonal background fabrics in the blocks are assorted ones that I've collected over time.  All applique designs are mine.  All total 29 different fabrics are in the quilt.

So all total 4 UFO's were finished over the weekend, and progress made on lots of other things.  =)

Moira - I'm back!

The holidays were a wonderful time with friends and family out in sunny Phoenix.  And a time of rest as well.   I stayed in an AirBnB suite this time that was basically a mini apartment.   So was able to sew in my downtime.

While there I was able to get two UFO's quilted.  Bear hugs now has binding sewn onto it but not down.

Also quilted was my London Tea Towel quilt.  I'm still auditioning fabric for binding on it at this point.  Debating between a darker tan like in some of the blocks, or a scrappy cream binding that would blend with the background.

I finished off the December F2F swap blocks that I needed to get into the mail.

 And before I left on vacation I started working on using up a whole mess of batik strings.  These 9 blocks using up most of the orange strings were finished up.  Next up will be using the remaining few oranges and the reds, then cycling into the pinks.

And at the last minute I also finished this commission of sewing this needlepoint stocking together for a lady in the office where I work.

Moira: slow progress over the holiday weekend

Thanks to a flare of my clotting disorder and my managing to strain my achilles tendon I didn't get as much done over the holidays as I'd intended to.

I did get work done in the craft room - more than 20 totes are now labeled and in my spreadsheet.   Some of them tho I still need to go through and weed out/downsize.   Only about the same number of totes yet to label in there before I really start sorting thru things........ugh.

I did get this long-time UFO quilt pin basted and hope to start quilting it this week.    This is one of the UFO's that I'm wanting to get finished up next year, if not this year.

I stepped out of my comfort zone last week and submitted an application to be a 2019 Island Batik Ambassador.  More details are here.  This is the block that I designed and made to submit with my application.   I'll find sometime in December whether I was accepted or not.

And I started the next commission - turning this wedding dress into 4 12-inch pillows.   At the moment I'm still in the deconstruction phase.  Once I can get the lace off then I'll get the pleated sections off so that I can use them for a couple of the pillows.   Am hoping to get these done before the end of next week.  Only "fun" is cutting around where the stains and dirt are because the customer didn't have it cleaned after getting married.  =(

Moira - Lots going on

First up for me was creating the alternate blocks I needed to go with this stack of scrappy string blocks.   I made 3D bowtie blocks using batik scrap squares in the center position.  These are going into a sample quilt top for a new design that I plan to submit for submission.




Next up was making two little lined tote bag for Susan Nixon.  Had made this one based off a pic she found and liked, but I wasn't real happy with the way it turned out so I made the second one for her so she could choose to give which ever one she wanted to.

 
Next up with prepping the circles for this wall-hanging.  Circles will be fused onto the background and are from some of my silk scraps.  This quilt will be for the annual art quilt challenge that I take part in.

I've been playing around with sketching various quilting patterns for this quilt.  At this point my decision is to the the bottom left design (circles) of the 7 designs I've sketched out here.

And this UFO, along with backing fabric, has been pulled out for basting so that I can get it quilted before long.

Moira: Getting Distracted......

I had big plans for this week....got some of them done, and then got distracted by things in my sewing room.....lol  Net result was I went off track and worked on stuff that wasn't on my to-do list.

First finish - this top made with a stack of UFO swap blocks.  Swap was probably close to 10 yrs ago.  Approx. size is 40" by 60".

Next up was putting this together this set of 12 swap blocks.  I'd had everything cut for the sashing, but then set it aside for months.  Haven't a clue why....lol.   It is also 40" by 60" in size.

And these two swap blocks were finished up this past week as well.   One more to make in these colors and I'll be able to send them off to their new home.

Moira - finishes and new starts

Lots going on around here thanks to having my quilt frame up and the long-arm working.  This UFO has been finished up, and just needs a label.   It will go in the mail to it's new home sometime this week.



I did get the binding on one of the other quilts that has been quilted as well but will show it later.   And the Row-by-row quilt was finished up and turned in on Saturday.  I'm headed back to the store today to pick up my prize for submitting it (most of the stock was at a quilt show on Saturday so nothing to choose from).



The next UFO that has been loaded onto my quilt frame is this one.  I don't remember how long I've had the top made, but I do remember that the blocks are from a long ago swap.  It will be a baby gift for my niece who is pregnant with their first child.  Nursery is being done in sunflowers and bees.

And I was the winner of this panel (well what was left of it) on a blog.   I've cut the bears apart and there 10 of them total.  I'll use 9 of them in a quilt top which will be a donation.




















I'm using my scraps to take and add to them in a wonky log cabin style.  I'll add enough to them to make them 15" after trimming to size (largest ruler size that I have).   And will twist & turn as I trim them to size.  =)

Moira - I remembered to post!

The biggest thing accomplished this past   week was getting my quilt frame set up correctly.   I'm so happy to have it back up and usable for the first time in 3 years.   And even happier that my machine is behaving nicely.  I was able to get two small quilts quilted over the weekend.

First one was made with blocks from a swap that was back in 2014.  I meandered and stippled this one.

Second quilt on the frame was this UFO quilt top.  Quilted in a meander thread, this one has been sold.   This one was the second on emade from bonus HST's from a queen-sized quilt that I made as a wedding present.

I also put together three snack mats, all of which still need to be quilted.  The first used a UFO piece of cross-stitch for a focal point.   Green fabric and the lime green pleated trims were both scraps and worked perfectly for this.

Another piece of cross-stitch formed the start of this snack mat.  The cross-stitch was done on my road trip taken back in 2016 and started about the point where I visited my friend Susan.   I have a piece of hand-dyed aida from her to make another on using this pattern.  The green fabric was a remnant picked up this year, and the cream fabric with the dandelions on it was bought back in 2016 when I was row-hopping.

This snack mat started with some UFO HST's.   And even tho the pic makes it look wonky, it really is straighter than the pic shoes.

All three snack mats will be listed for sale when they are finished.

I also managed to design and then finished the four spool blocks that I need for the setting I've designed for my Quilting Bears mini-BOM this year.  I plan to release the setting at the same time as I release the August BOM.   There will be one more quilting bear to come in September and then this series will be done.   I'm thinking though that I may redo the blocks because i'm not sure the scale is right to work with the bear blocks.

Moira - Moves, UFOs and scraps

Made progress on several projects over the long weekend when I wasn't hauling stuff to the new house.  This in spite of fighting an ugly allergic reaction to the sheets I was using on my bed.  Heat + microfiber sheets + me are not a good combo.

I've got two more boxes of kitchen stuff and what I've left to use between now and the move to go for that room and it will be completely set up.      Hard to tell what has been done here, but everything I've taken over so far is in it's spot in the cabinets with lots of extra space in them, and I've gotten the baker's rack together.  I needed this because I needed more counter space for two of my spice racks that were too tall to go under the cabinets.  I also managed to get curtains up where they were needed.


There will be more loads of stuff going over this week and next before the big move, but not tonight because I need to work on a row hop pattern that I have a pattern draft due by the middle of the month - Yikes!




First project up was finishing off the HST's used in this quilt top and then putting them together.  These were a UFO that I bought from the scrap barrel from my local quilt shop here.  I added a remnant  of a Kona red that I had in my stash and cut the needed triangles and squares.  This is 32" square at this point and still needs a border or two to finish it off.   It will be donated at some point.














I then switched over to working with these rail fence blocks that came from somewhere.   I don't even remember where now.   Fabrics are both batiks.   Blocks are 4" finished, so this is definitely not finished at this point.  I'll need to add multiple borders to this to get it up to a size for donation, but have no idea at this point of what I want to add.   Stash-diving here I come to find something.  =)

And the last project that I worked on this weekend were adding a border of WOW fabric to these blocks.   Made with 30's repro fabrics they are from a long ago swap with online friends.  They will be set with scrappy 30's repro sashing and cornerstones cut form more of the WOW used as block borders. 

Moira: small projects last week

Had to stop and clean the sewing room this weekend before it drove me nuts.   But in doing so I unearthed a couple of small UFO's that I've now finished off.


First up was putting the binding onto this potholder made from a UFO block that I don't even remember where or when I got it. 

Second UFO finished up is this hanging kitchen towel.  The solid green is a waffle-weave fabric that I'd found as a remnant at Joann's and is the weight of ready made kitchen towels.  The top and strap of the towel were made from a UFO piece of 30's prints and WOW squares.   And nope, I don't remember what the rest of them were used on....  The top is 6" finished wide.  The button is one of the oodles I'd bought 6 or so months ago when Joann's did a major clearance of buttons. Both of these will go in my gift stash.

Earlier in the week I had also finished off a set of 7 baby bibs that are to be part of a baby gift for a shower in a couple of weeks.  These are made with washcloths with an applique on them and extra wide, double-fold bias tape as the ties.   The bib on the left was made with a fingertip towel that was already embellished with the monkey.








My before work sewing this at this point is working on the next purse that I'm making to sell.  I'm currently in the process of quilting the fabric piece for the outside of what will be another cross-body purse.

The outer 'fabric' is pieced from silk strings that I had left over after cutting silk drapery samples up for swatch sets.   The strings range in size from 1" to about 1.5" after stitching. 

I'm using this oriental print for the lining of the purse body.   And am quilting it from the back so that I can follow the pattern and give extra dimension to the front. 

I'm also working on a pocket for the inside of the purse.  The binding around the edges and the strap will be from a linen/rayon upholstery fabric that has a metallic gold print on it.   Will show pics of that next week.

Moira: Lots of sewing on a holiday weekend

This weekend was a holiday weekend for me which meant I had today off, definitely enjoyed that.   I continued working on UFO's.   I put together some purple/lime and blue/lime HST's together with a WOW out of my stash to make 4-patches.   The triangles were given to me by a friend several yrs ago, but I couldn't tell you who.  

I've also found some other bits and pieces that are in the same color family that I'll put with them.   Haven't a clue tho at this point on how I'll set them.

For finishes - I finished off the next 2 teddy bear blocks.   Charles the farmer and Maria the dancer.

I designed two applique blocks to go with an orphan block that was in my stash.  Blocks are of an origami swan and crane.   All three blocks are now in a tabletopper.   I'll get that quilted at some point.

The last two things completed were getting two sets of UFO blocks bordered out to a consistent size of 15" and then together in two quilt tops for Sunshine Quilts.

This week tho there won't be much accomplished because I'll be down in Savannah GA with Susan at Quilt Con...can't wait!   Well I could skip the 4 am time that I have to leave my house to get to the airport, but that's beside the point.   I'm just hoping for good traffic on the hr long drive over there.