Sew Much Fun

I've had a busy couple of days but an excellent couple of days. First off, I finished hubby's quilt on Thursday night. I was able to get outside tonight and take some pictures on this gorgeous day.

Monty likes to be near me...especially when I leave for any amount of time.

Well it was my first Sew In today with the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild (MMQG). After chatting back and forth with a bunch of the ladies online, it was great to meet some of them today. I had a great time at the Sew In. I stitch picked my Sewing Organizer and then stitched it properly. I really like how it turned out.

The most exciting news of all is that I won a $50 Gift Card to Mad About Patchwork! I am the winner for the month of June for The Library Project hosted by Adrienne at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts. And I got to meet her today since she's the president of the MMQG! I am just over the moon at how great of day today has been. I didn't have a chance to check Adrienne's blog this morning so I had no idea I won until I went to the Sew In. I am just so excited. I am already drooling over all the fabric at Mad About Patchwork. Check them out and it's a Canadian company ;)

It was one of the greatest starts to a weekend! I just had such a great time at the Sew In. Hoping that I can go to the next one on July 12th. Keeping my fingers crossed :)

Happy Quilting weekend!

Julia

Using Stencils for FMQ

I bought some stencils months ago, maybe March. Anyhow I had read about using stencils in Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters. I figured for the cost of the stencils to try it out wouldn't be drastically expensive. So back in March, I purchased a few things while I was away at a fabric store including stencils. So after finishing the Free Motion Quilting for the center of hubby's quilt (and breaking my first needle ever!), I decided to be a little more daring and try out the stencils. I purchased a different kind of chalk marker which I am totally in love with! It is called the Chaco Liner by Clover. AMAZING! I have bought so many chalk pencils but this does not even compare. It has small little teeth at the tip that move when you mark your fabric and released a small amount of chalk powder. They are also refillable. I bought the white one to try but next time I'll be purchasing one to use on white fabric and refills for this amazing tool. I'm just extremely excited about it! Here's a picture of what it looks like.

So so easy to use! Just love it. One of the best quilting tools, I've purchased in a while. Here is a picture of the chalk outline from using the stencil.

I used Countess Machine Quilting Thread in the Dolphin colour. First time I've ever used this thread. It seems quite nice and the price was good, 500 yards for $4.99 at one of my local quilt shops. It's the closest one to my work so while I was on lunch break, I took a peek in to see what thread I could find that I would like. It is a medium gray which I think went perfect for the inner border. Light enough to see but dark enough to blend :)

So that is my progress so far. Not sure what to do with the outer border yet. Any ideas? I am liking the FMQ but not sure if I should continue that for the outer border or not. I do have a feather stencil but I'm not sure if I'm daring enough for that one yet :)

Julia

June - The Library Project Report

Well I am happy to say that I have started and completed the Monkey Quilt for the little boy who will be born next month. The quilt went to the parents today. So excited for the two of them!

Here is a picture of the completed baby quilt.

I'll definitely be making this quilt again. Just love how it turned out.


I'm also happy to say that I've managed to finish hubby's quilt top. I'm in the process of quilting it now using Angela Walters all-over geometric design. This will be my very first attempt at Free Motion quilting. So far, it is going ok. I started using just transparent thread which seems to be catching occasionally on the bottom of the quilt. So I decided to switch to black cotton thread for the bobbin thread and transparent for the quilt top. I know practice makes perfect and I'm happy that my first attempt will be staying at home. 1) because it is my first attempt and 2) only I will see all the mistakes :)

Here's a picture of the quilt top and the quilting.

I also received an order to make another one of these quilts. I posted hubby's to Facebook and had someone ask me to make the same pattern with those colours for them. So I'll be slowly putting away all the 5" squares that I'll need for another one. That is definitely the part that takes the most time is cutting all the squares. I don't want to buy any pre-cuts since I have a very good amount of red, black and white prints. Some are the same as hubby's and then other prints will be used.

So my first Sew In is next weekend with the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild. It should be a fun time. I'm really looking forward to it and I'll get to see my best friend's new puppy. Which I have been named god puppy mum :)

I also received my First Block in the Mystery Quilt BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop. I was a little scared that I wouldn't receive it since it was in Customs for a while. But here it is :)

A little scared to try this....only because I only have enough fabric for the block. I may do a test run with some other fabric and make the block first before I cut into this fabric. I figure if I do that for every block, I'll be able to make two quilts by next June :)

I also went to an embroidery class tonight. It was ok. It was rushed though and I don't like to be rushed while sewing. So I have a little bit of work to do on this project to finish it up but it is quite nice. I'm really going to have to set up my embroidery machine now.

It's a Sewing Organizer which is quite neat and does not take too long to do.

I'll take a better picture when it is complete but I just wanted to show the embroidery design on it.


The weekend is here! So hopefully I'll get in some more quilting time on hubby's quilt this weekend. And then with Sew In next Saturday, I should be able to get some complete on the quilt! Very excited!

So I am linking up with The Library Project hosted by Chezzetcook Modern Quilts. Take a look to see some other fabulous quilts :)


Hope you all have a great weekend!

J

Weekend Wrap-Up

I finished hubby's quilt top. I really love this one! The borders just finished off the quilt top nicely.

Here is a member of my moral support team through it all :) Sometimes a tripping hazard but I love having him around.

I went through my stash and couldn't find anything that I really liked to use for a backing. So I set off today to the only quilting store opened around here on a Sunday. And the store was closed today. It is sadly the store that will be closing soon. On the brighter note for me, she did tape a message on her door to call her cell phone number if the store was closed. I figured I drove 25 minutes to get here, why not try the phone number. The end result is that she is no longer opened on Sundays but did come to the shop to open it for me. She is incredibly sweet and I will miss this new found fabric store treasure. So after picking out a backing for a quilt, I did a little more shopping....she had specifically opened the store for me so how could I not! I also bought a few other items earlier in the weekend so those are pictured here too :)

The Blues and one pink flower print that I couldn't resist. Reminds me of the gorgeous blossoms around here.

The Purples....I just love purple. I have yet to make a quilt with purple...mostly because I know it would be mine :)

I picked up these beauties for my sister. She wanted some school related fabric for our sewing vacation. I love the School House!

I also finished quilting my Mug Rug. Not extremely happy with this. But it was my first and I was just practicing with it. I do love the pocket. The worst mistake with this, is that the book gives the wrong measurements for the pieces. I should have went over it in my head first before cutting out the pieces. Anyway my mistake and I'll be keeping the mug rug. Lessons learned :)

Please excuse the bad lighting. When it's complete, I'll get a better picture with better lighting.

I also went through some of my scraps and cut them into useful pieces. Some pieces have went into the box for the Scarlet Galaxy Quilt and others went into another basket for a Log Cabin Beads quilt. And more 5" squares were done. I will have to start cutting up some 4" squares for HSTs. I haven't tried making any yet but it's definitely something on my list.

So this weekend was a pretty productive quilting weekend. I will hopefully get hubby's quilt ready to be quilted in the next few days. Not sure how I'm going to quilt it yet.

For the readers who have stuck with me this far, any ideas?

J

Ah Fridays....

Well I haven't posted anything this week. It has been extremely busy at work and the free time I did have, I dedicated to quilting. So I am happy to say that I have the center of hubby's quilt finished.

So far, I'm liking the way this one is turning out. And hubby is happy with it :) I need to add the inner border and then the outer border. So I'm hoping to have the quilt top complete by the weekend.

I think I may have forgot to mention that last friday, I received my membership card to the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild! I'm member #18! I'm so excited about my first Sew In on June 28. Looking forward to meeting the other members.

I also purchased a new book this week....

There's quite a few patterns that I would love to try. So many pretty pillows :) I may make one after I've finished hubby's quilt.

Also planned a vacation with my mom and sister for July. We're going to have a girls sewing vacation. Very exciting!

Do you have any summer sewing plans?

A Quilter's List Has No End

I started arranging my black, white and red squares for my hubby's Dressed To The Nines quilt. I figured I better start on his soon since he keeps seeing me come in with fabric and out the door with quilts. I had finished cutting the squares about a week ago but I wanted to finish the Monkey Quilt. I may have to cut some more squares to give this quilt more variety. I'll see as I achieve more progress on this quilt. It's basically nine patches sewn together and then cut through the center of the block. Then you rearrange them for the quilt top. A very good friend of mine, V, has made a quilt like this before called the Disappearing Nine Patch. It's the same concept. So I have completed 8 out of the 16 nine patch blocks so far. Here's a glance at a few of them:

The squares left:

So it's coming along nicely so far. I'm not going to cut any of the blocks until I'm all finished so it'll be easier to lay out the quilt top.

It was a beautiful day here. I was little weary on it being a nice day this morning since it was cold and dark when I took my dog out for a walk this morning. But the sun came up and it is just gorgeous out! So I had a chance to take some outdoor pictures of the Monkey Quilt.

The wind blew at exactly the right time to catch the back of the quilt in this picture :) I'm really going to miss this quilt but I'm pretty sure the parents of the little one soon to be here will love it.

I also went to a yard sale at a school today with my best friend V. I found some great finds there. I picked up a Wicker picnic basket that I thought I could use for holding some fabric in. I just thought it was too pretty to pass up. It was only $5!

Not sure exactly how I'm going to use it yet but I just love it. I figure if I ever get into doing some hand quilting, it would be perfect to carry all my items. For now, it'll stay in my sewing room :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend :)

Julia

Monkey Quilt Complete :)

So it has been a long week so far at work and working overtime takes up my quilting time. So I've been slowly getting my binding put together. Cutting the pieces, picking up thread one day and pinning the binding another day. So finally tonight after a long day, I mustered up the energy to stitch the binding. There's a few mistakes but what quilt is perfect :) I do wish they had not appeared on the binding though!

I couldn't get any outside pictures since the sun was fading by the time I finished. I'll try on the next beautiful day to take some pictures outside.

 My wonderful husband holding the quilt up around the fireplace so I could try to get some better light.

Close-up of the binding. 

Overall, I'm incredibly happy with this quilt. My hubby says this one is the best that I've made so far. I think it's the monkeys that attract his attention lol. It definitely is a great quilt and I'm surprised at how quickly it came together. I realized that I started this quilt on May 22 and it's complete tonight. So it took me two weeks from start to finish.

I know I'll be making this quilt again :)

Happy Hump Day! Only 2 days til the weekend!

Weekend Progress....

Well it was a pretty great weekend. The weather was fantastic. Couldn't have asked for better! SO I had a lot of progress this week. I ended up rearranging my whole sewing/attic space by organizing and cleaning. A lot of work and late hours but it is somewhat there. Still need to fix a few things but I'm hoping in the next week or so, it'll be complete. Here's a picture of my old sewing space which is quite tight for head room space.

Here's a picture of my new sewing space plus my best sewing buddy  :)

It still needs work but it's coming along nicely. I love the extra space that I have. I moved my computer desk to the corner where my sewing machine use to be in the above picture. Works out nicely since I'm not usually on the computer for very long anyway. Enough time to write a post and respond to comments :)

I also had time to work on my Monkey quilt. Here's a few pictures of it.

I love the stitching that I used on here. I just found that the leaf stitch was just perfect :)

So I just need to pick out a binding and get that together. Then it's complete and ready to go to the parents to be :) I'm sure I'll be making a few more of these quilts in the future.

So I also joined the Maritime Modern Quilting Guild this weekend. I'm pretty excited about this. The next Sew In is at the end of June. It will be great to meet the members of this group. Some of them, I've followed their blogs and some are new to me. 

So it has been a long weekend for me but a very busy one. I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope your weekend was just as great.

Hopefully you got to enjoy this beautiful sunshine :)

Julia