I'm back with a progress report!

Yesterday, I turned the page on my calendar to March! Yikes, I can't believe how fast these months go by. I was anxious to see the announcement for the color of the month so I headed over to the so scrappy blog to get the news!

Purple

I got right down to business pulling purple scraps from my scrap bin. I had already cut some low volume pieces for the blocks. 

Done!

I also added a few new houses for a total of 6 Little Blue Houses!

Aren't they just too cute!

I pieced these blocks between working on quilting the baby quilt that my daughter and I are working on together. 

Last Saturday, we worked on piecing the backing together and sandwiching the quilt. We also discussed how to quilt it...keeping it simple. 

We chose some straight line quilting in the row blocks (which I did) and my daughter will do some FMQ in the blank rows and the panel. 

I am also working on the quilting on this quilt...

...the one I mentioned in my previous post but had no pictures.

On another note, I was sad to hear that the Hobby Lobby near me is closing. It was convenient for a quick run to the fabric/craft store. I learned that the management had problems with the building owner over the upkeep of the building. The roof had problems and they had water issues in the building that were not getting fixed. Friday is the last day. Today I headed over to stock up on some Kona cotton that is a staple in my stash. My favorite employee was there so I got to give her a hug. She will be transferred to another store a bit away but at least the next closest. 

I will miss it!

Do you shop Hobby Lobby? 

What have I been up to?

So I haven't posted in awhile...but this is what I've been up to...

First, the June Friday Night Sew-In is on the 18th.  Come join the fun.  I know I have plenty to work on!
This month it is hosted by Bobbi as Heidi is getting ready to move.  Sign up on Bobbi's blog over here.
Don't miss out on the fun!

Secondly, I joined a quilt along hosted by Kelly over at Charming Chatter and Darlene at Quilting Daze.  I have decided to do the mini version following Kelly but have downloaded Darlene's larger quilt pattern to keep for a later date.  This week we were to cut our fabric. I chose to use the charm squares I won at the grand opening of a local quilt store.  I chose Kona White for the background fabric.  Here are my charms all cut and ready to sew. Tomorrow I will cut the Kona for the background.

Thirdly, I have joined in the 7 day give away at Jane's Fabrics and Quilts.  Today was day 4 and I'm just getting around to mentioning it.  Some weeks are like that... I did previously link to Jane's store on my sidebar.  Cute fabrics there so go on over and take a look.  

And finally, I have done most of the quilting on my surprise Happy Camper quilt.  I have also sandwiched the Mariner's Compass quilt and started the quilting on it.  AND I almost finished another stitchery block!  No pictures of these yet.  I still need to unstitch the 2nd Happy Camper blocks and start sewing together the 96 finished red & white blocks for my Robbing Peter to Pay Paul quilt.  

One last  thing to mention...The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup yesterday and brought it home to Chicago!!  Chicago waited 49 years.  They were a lot of fun to watch! Big celebration tomorrow!

The results are in....

It's Saturday morning and time to reveal the results of last night's sew-in.  A BIG thank you to Heidi and Bobbi for sponsoring this monthly event!  If you haven't joined in yet, don't miss the FUN next month! So here is what I accomplished....

First, I worked on cutting and serging the edges of these squares of fabrics to be used for...shh! It's a secret! I promise I'll come back later to reveal the secret. Don't you just love the colors of the stripes?

And then I worked on sewing back together the quilt I mentioned in my last post...the one that I picked all the stitches out cuz I was not happy with it!!! I never took a 'before' picture but I do have a picture of one of the blocks from the second quilt in another color.  Instead of the yellow, just imagine...the block in brown.  Simply boring!

[These will also be picked apart and recut and stitched.]  

So all I can give you are little peeks cuz this quilt is also a surprise for someone.  Shh!

  

It still needs 2 or 3 more borders to complete the top but a least it is at the same point as when I started unsewing!  I added the red bandana fabric to give it some 'POP' and also alternated between churn dash and broken dishes blocks.  The main fabric is Happy Camper from Clothworks.  Cute isn't it?

And now some family pictures....

This is my daughter, Brit, and her boyfriend, Young, at their BBQ following her graduation.

Korean BBQ is delicious!

I hope you had as much fun sewing as I did last night! It is so rewarding to see projects come together!!

A Milestone!

Today I finished hand stitching the 48th white on red block for the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul quilt.  I first posted about this quilt a short while back.  It is a project that I have slowly working on.  I just seem to go in spurts getting this done.  There are a total of 96 blocks (48 white on red and 48 red on white).  The count for the red on white is at 25.  Take a look!

Progress: I also been slowly working on the Mariner's compass and the 2nd green compass is almost complete.  

Look what was in the mail yesterday!  

I order some 5" squares of Moda's BLUSH.  I really love the colors and patterns in this line.  I just had to have it.  It is like eye candy!

A true find: Look what I found at a local thrift store!  Love these homespun fabrics!

It has been a busy week at work and I'm looking forward to FRIDAY!  Yeah for weekends!  Looks like I'll have time for some sewing!  Later...

I'm back from our visit to Indiana to see our youngest 2 daughters, Kirsten and Kari.  It is always fun to see them!  We also get to spend some nice time with Mike, our daughters boyfriend!   So after my last post telling about the journal cover I made, my daughter, Kirsten, sent pictures of one of the journals covers I made finished as a journal.  The tree trunk and background was made of paper and the leaves were fabrics.  It was all machine stitched.  It has been sold for Bound 4 Freedom, a very good cause.

The ride to Indiana is about 4 hours so of coarse I need something to do in the car.  I didn't have a knitting project so I brought along my hand quilting project.  I have been working on this on and off for about 2 years.  It will be a 2 color quilt, the pattern, Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.  There are 96 blocks to make.  Not sure where I am in the count but I was able to sew 5 in the car.

I have also been able to spend time in my sewing room and completed the first compass in the yellow colorwave.

That's all for now....off to a meeting for work!

Mariner's Compass Quilt and a little more...

Today I finished piecing the last compass rose in the blue colorwave.  That's 4!  I decided I needed a little break to do something else before starting the next colorwave.  What will it be...yellows or greens?  Hmm...
 
Any ways, since I started blogging, I have become aware of this whole new world of quilters from around the world.  I have been reading this one blog from Sweden,  kviltstina.  This lady is quite talented and an inspiration.  On her blog is a free download for Valentine blocks.  She gave no instructions with them but wants to see what comes of them.  So that was what I did for my break.

I decided to use her design and also the words from another block download.  I combined the heart from Kviltstina and the word LOVE from gailpandesigns to make a journal cover. 

Let me back up a bit...my daughter, Kirsten, makes journals for an organization called Bound 4 Freedom.  I wanted to make a journal cover to help out and I tried sewing on paper.  Never did that before but it was fun to design and create something for a good cause.  I have made several different ones.  I just make the cover and she puts them together and binds them into journals.  I actually have not seen any of mine finished (my daughter lives in Indiana while attending college) but she has been excited about them.

So here is a picture of the finished cover.  Sorry the picture is so bad but I ran out of daylight and my flash caused a glare.  The paper is a marble green and the stitching is in rose, pink and dark green. Pretty isn't it?  I will bring it to my daughter this weekend when we visit!  Maybe I'll do this block (and the others) again using material. I never actually did any hand stitching in my quilts...something to think about.  So the next colorwave for the mariner's compass is... yellows!  

knitting and quilting update

Let me start with the entrelac knitting project I previously posted about.  I have learned the technique and finished the headband.  Next: I need to look for another project to learn the technique using 2 colors.  Here is a picture of the finished project.  I added a knitted flower to dress it up a bit.

Mariner's Compass Progress:  I have been working when I can on the mariner's compass quilt.  Three compasses are complete and the fourth one is started.  While I work on the compasses I wanted to give a bit more information on my project.  I am using the book Mariner's Compass Quilts New Directions by Judy Mathieson as my guide.  Judy Mathieson is a well know author and quilter of mariner compass quilts.  Her work is stunning.

Although she gives directions on how to design and draft your own compass, I am using one of her sample patterns from this book.  Of coarse, I am changing things up a bit but that's what I like to do to make them my own.

The pattern is called Plaid Mariner's Compass with 32 points.  Each compass has an 18" diameter with a 20" block.  Her sample includes 13 compasses set 'on point' with flowers appliqued in the center of each compass.  My quilt will have 12 blocks and I will not set them 'on point' nor will I applique flowers in the center.  I am not sure how I will finish the centers of each compass.  The center may be solid or she does include an alternate center made up of another smaller compass with 8 points. That's a decision that will be made later.

Mariner's Compass Project

Today I worked on the quilt and I am quite pleased with the results so far.   What do you think?  I have completed 2 compasses so far (without the centers and the background which will be added after all the compasses are done). 

The process to put together this quilt is much more time consuming than other quilts I have made but it really helps in the accuracy.  Using the freezer paper method also helps keep the bias seams from stretching.   Here is all that has to get done....

First I cut freezer paper to size - one piece for each of the 72 pieces in the quilt square. I then cut the pattern of the piece out of the freezer paper. By stacking 4 pieces of freezer paper together, I can cut 4 pattern pieces at once. That makes 18 cuts.  I iron each piece on to a piece of fabric.  Next I cut the fabric allowing for 1/4" seams.   Once I have cut out all 72 pieces of fabric with the freezer paper still intact, I can start assembling the compass and sewing (See previous pictures for assembly process).  That's a total of 162 cuts for each compass! 

Lesson learned:  I can make 2 compasses with the same freezer paper pieces if I am careful not to rip or sew through the freezer paper.  I am being careful!

Mariner's Compass project

Today I started to sew the compass rose together...but before I get to my progress I want to clarify something I said in my very first post.  I stated how making a mariner's compass quilt scared me to death.  My husband can't understand this but of coarse he isn't a quilter.  I am quite particular when it comes to how my quilts come together.  Corners should match, points should be pointed, etc.  If you are a quilter, I think you will understand.  The mariner's compass quilt relies on accuracy.  There is little room to fudge and oh so many points. So what I am afraid of is...failure in my own eyes.  I'm sure my husband will love the quilt even if some points are not perfect.

Now for my progress after day 2...  

Points were coming together pretty well!  Next  is to sew the sections together to make the complete compass without the center piece. That is added later.  Here is a preview.

With every project, I want to learn something new.  So what have I learned?  With this many points and seams coming together, seams need to be pressed open.  As a quilter, I generally press seams to one side but I quickly learned that points and seams become bulky.

Mariner's Compass Project

Only a few hours later but I took some pictures so I thought I would include the first day's progress.  Here is the array of colors.  I've started with the blues.

The templates were cut from freezer paper and ironed on the fabrics.

Then the cutting.  Each compass will have 77 pieces.  72 are points, 1 center and 4 background pieces. 

Hopefully I'll start sewing tomorrow!

Preparing for my most difficult quilt yet....

Hi! Today I decided to start this blog to track my progress on the most challenging of quilting projects to date.
I started quilting back in 1996, finishing my first 2 quilts for wedding presents. My first quilt was a log cabin quilt pattern and the second was a double Irish chain. I continued quilting making each of my daughters quilts, many more wedding presents, baby gifts and others. I learned new techniques along the way, perfecting my piecing and quilting. I follow patterns, changing sizes, layout, borders, etc. Pretty straightforward. I am basically a self taught quilter.
Now for the challenge...
My husband has never received one of my quilts. You see, my husband loves maritime. He grew up in Norway and loves any thing that happens to do with boats, ships, the ocean....consequently he would like a Mariner's Compass quilt. That scares me to death. This is not a simple quilt made from squares, triangles, or even half square triangles. This involves many points jutting out from a center circle with many bias edges. Thinking of ways to deter him, I even made him take a weekend trip down to Hancock's of Paducah with me to pick out the fabrics for his quilt. Didn't work. The fabrics are all prewashed and pressed and it is time to get started!
I will be using the freezer paper method. There are three different color groups, blues, greens and yellows. The goal: four compasses in each color.
That's all for now. I will posts pictures of my progress!