Monkey Quilt Top Complete :)

A long weekend has started for me. I decided to take tomorrow off earlier in the week since the weather is going to be beautiful and the hubby is off as well. So tonight, I had a great walk/visit with a friend and we also did a little bit of fabric shopping....I'm starting to think I have a problem. I may have to go on a fabric diet for a little while. I know at the moment, I'm loving all the new fabric :) And I have a lot at the moment to help me make a few quilts.

So onto the picture of the completed Monkey Quilt Top :)

Here's a close-up of the stitching on one of the monkeys.

Here is what I'm going to use for the backing. I picked this up last weekend since I thought it would be perfect for this quilt. It's Flannel and I'm not sure how it'll work out with the quilt top being cotton when I start quilting it. Hopefully it'll work out well.

I am fairly happy with the result of this quilt. My husband really likes this one as well so I'll definitely be making this quilt again.

Well it is getting late here, I hope everyone has a great Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Appliqué Stitching

So I've started stitching my monkeys for the baby quilt. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I'm okay with the result but I would have rather had something different. I did halfway through figure out how I could accomplish closer stitches together and also mirrored stitches but I was already too far to turn around. So I'm happy with the result but I think I will try something different with the next appliqué project. So here is the progress so far.

I have only stitched the brown pieces so far. I need to stitch the cream pieces and the black pieces. So all in all, I'm happy with my first attempt with appliqué. I figure it's like everything else, practice makes perfect :)

I didn't have as much time to sew tonight as I would have liked since it was a gorgeous day and our lawn needed a DESPERATE mowing. Tomorrow night should be a good sewing night since my hubby will be heading to a movie with his guy friends. So sewing is a priority for me tomorrow night :)

Oh I almost forgot. I picked up a bit more fabric from the store that is sadly closing. I purchased more fabric, most of it was extra fabric of the ones that I had picked up the day before but my attention was caught on these panels.

I just love them. So classic! And then to see the quilts on the clothesline in one of the panels was just too much for me. So I purchased 3 panels which has 6 images to one panel. I was thinking of making placemats with one panel for sure. I think just adding a border to them would finish them off for placemats. And I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the panels.

Any ideas?

Monkey Quilt Progress and Sunday Stash...

So I was able to do a good bit of quilting over the weekend. My husband was working all weekend so that left me with lots of free time to quilt. I did do some house cleaning when I was taking breaks from quilting :)

So I feel as if I'm getting better with the appliqué process. I still have the stitching around the pieces to finish them off but they're looking pretty good. As I said in my last post, I'm very happy with the result. Not as nervous as when I first started this weekend lol.

Picture of all three monkeys, and what the quilt center will look like.

I'm going to try to get the stitching done around the monkeys this week and sew the quilt center together. I still have some cutting to do for this quilt. So hopefully I'll have that finished by next weekend.

I also did a little shopping this weekend....well actually a lot of shopping. First off, I went looking for a pressing sheet and received some good advice from the stores around here. I've been just using a white 100% cotton shirt piece that is working out well to fuse my appliqué pieces instead of the pressing sheets. So while I was at that store, I seen the perfect backing for this quilt. I don't have a picture of the fabric yet but I'll post one in the upcoming weeks when I'm closer to applying it.

So I also found out some bad/good news. The bad part is that one of the fabric stores is closing in July. The good news is that everything in the store was 50-70% off. I am suppose to be limiting my fabric purchases but I couldn't resist going to see what fabric was there. So after spending a few dollars, I ended up with all these new fabrics to add to my stash. All I was thinking after I got home and put it all together, is what have I done lol. I just could not leave all those beautiful fabrics at fantastic prices. So here are pictures of the new additions.

The plaids, the light and dark cream prints, I picked up to use as backings for future quilts. I bought 2 meters each of the cream prints and 3 meters each of the plaids. The rest of the fabrics was just to add to my stash which are between 1 meter and 1.5 meters. I couldn't resist the purple and reds...

The following picture is all the fat quarters that I purchased. I can't wait to add these to my Fat Quarter collection. I just love the blue/white prints and then at the top, there's a beige time print which is quite neat.

Next up are the panels that I just could not resist.

There was just something about this one that caught my eye. And for $3.00, I don't feel it was a bad choice.

I love, love, love this one! Old country with the apples and the old car. This panel will be staying with me when it's complete :)

 Puppies! Need I say more.

 And finally the lighthouses. All of these are actual lighthouses and they have a description of the location under each lighthouse...one of them is near me in N.S. I couldn't resist.

So I may have went a tiny bit overboard but at these prices, I couldn't pass up any of the fabric I purchased. And I know if I go back there in a few weeks, there may not be much left. There's some more fabric that I did really like but going overboard is not as bad as drowning lol

So all in all, I had a great weekend :)

Hope you all did as well!

Julia

Baby Quilt for a soon-to-be-here boy

So I started cutting out the pieces for a baby quilt that I want to make for a co-worker and his wife. Their baby boy is due to arrive in July and I would like to have this quilt to them before his arrival. I also found out a mutual friend will be traveling my way so he'll be able to take it back if I have it finished on time. Save on the shipping and allow me to buy more fabric :) A win-win situation!

So here are some pictures of it's progress. Also did I mention that it is applique. I have never done applique before so this is a whole new skill for me.

The layout of the quilt center without the applique pieces.

Pictures of the layout of the applique for one of the three monkeys :)

I know my friends are making their nursery full of monkeys so I thought this baby quilt would be perfect to add to their nursery. So hopefully I can apply the applique pieces correctly tomorrow. Always scary when trying something new for the first time. So far, I'm happy with the result :)

Are you trying any new techniques?

Julia

May Long Weekend

Well I had lots of company over the weekend. My family was visiting and there was lots of laughs, lots of food and good times. I did sneak in a bit of quilting where I finished my Funfetti Quilt on Friday morning. I decided to sell the quilt and it was sold a few hours later to someone I knew from high school. So it is bittersweet since I did love that quilt as I do all my quilts but I know she will love it. She said she's always wanted to buy a quilt and when I posted mine for sale, she messaged me right away. So I'm happy that it is going to someone who will enjoy it and I'll have a little extra money for more fabric :)

So I also played teacher this weekend. My sister has never really tried sewing before so I had asked her if she wanted to try it with some scrappy pieces that I had. So I think she did a great job and made this mug rug.

I decided to do one of my own from the Mug Rugs book that is on my Library Project List. I haven't gotten it all finished since I was helping her out. And also I had to cut all new pieces since the measurements in the pattern didn't work out to put the pieces together. So after a few frustrations, I realized that I was going to have to cut all new pieces

It is difficult to tell but that red strip is actually a pocket. When I have it complete, I'll post a picture with a spoon in it to show off the pocket :)

I also cut up more of the red, black and white 5" squares that I need for my husband's Dressed to the Nines quilt. I have almost half of the squares cut up now. And added a few more red scraps to my bin for the Galaxy Star Quilt. So all in all, I think I had a pretty good weekend :)

Also I'm going to join a Block of the Month club. FatQuarter Shop is starting one next month called 2014 Mystery Quilt BOM and I think I would like to join. I've never done anything like that before but I think it would be fun....possibly frustrating but it would be neat to get a package every month and learn a new block each month.

Have any of you tried BOM programs? Do you like them or dread them?

May - The Library Project Report

I am happy to say I finished my Funfetti Quilt. I am so thrilled with this quilt. It was definitely one of the least frustrating quilts to make. I didn't have to use my seam ripper half as much as I have had to on other quilts. Here's a picture of it hanging on my clothesline since it's a gorgeous day here :)

Next up is a picture of the backing...warning causes slight dizziness.

I really went for a bold choice with this fabric called Down Under by Mint Blossom. But I really do love it and received some positive feedback. I have one meter left and I may need to buy more in the near future for another backing.

Just for fun, another picture :)

Here is a close up of the stitching for the binding.

I used Bella Butterfly by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller Fabrics. And used a "honeycomb" stitch pattern. I've used this fabric before in my mother's Urban Windows quilt as well. Just love it. I only have a small portion of that fabric left now.

So I'm fairly happy with my progress for the month of May. Not really sure what project I will get into next. I need to make up a baby quilt for friends for their little boy's arrival in July. So I may change gears for a little while and get that one done, then go back to my Library Project List. Or I may just work on two projects at the same time. We will see :)

Also check out the progress of the other participants in the Library Project at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts Blog :)

http://chezzetcookmodernquilts.blogspot.ca/

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Julia

Funfetti Quilting Complete

Well I finished quilting Funfetti at 2 am last night. I'm loving the texture of the quilt. I pulled out a few fabrics from my stash for the binding. I'm hoping I can start on the binding later on today or this evening if I have what I need. 

Here's a picture of the quilt up to date with my very curious dog, Monty :)

Loving how this is turning out. Need to make a decision for the binding. I'm hoping something in my stash will work since all the fabric stores are closed today.

A special shout out to the moms out there. Happy Mother's Day :)

Happy Quilting,

Julia

Halfway to the Finish Line

So I've been busy adjusting back to working life, after being off for three weeks, it was difficult to go back this week. Almost at Friday and I survived the first week back. I did get some quilting time in this week and I'm happy to say, I am exactly halfway finished with the quilting :)

I am just loving how this is turning out. So very happy so far. From the beginning, I was planning on trying to sell this quilt to get some funds to buy more fabrics. At this very moment though, I am feeling more and more attached to it. I have enough fabric to make another quilt top but I have so many other projects that need doing. Feeling torn because I love this quilt but I would have liked to be able to buy some more fabric. I guess I'll make the final decision when it's complete.

All Ready to Quilt

Well I have my quilt all ready to be quilted now. I was able to lay this one out on the floor and I basted it with 505 instead of using basting pins this time. It's so much quicker that way but definitely more on the expensive side.

I'm still in debate on how I should quilt it. I'm thinking of just doing horizontal lines or wavy horizontal lines. I'll figure it out soon enough.

Here's a picture of the quilt all ready to be quilted.

And this is the backing that I choose. I know it's a little bold but I thought bold could be fun for this quilt.
And there wasn't very many blues or greens in the quilt so I wanted to add more which is what I did with the backing.

Excited!!

Quilt Top Complete :)

Finally have the Funfetti Quilt Top complete! I'm so excited about getting to this point. I won't be as excited when I have to make the quilt sandwich. My least favourite part. I picked out a backing today that is a little more out there than I normally do for my quilt backings but I thought this is a modern quilt so it deserves to be a little more bold. I won't post a picture of the backing yet since I have a few ideas for it :)

Here's a picture of the completed Quilt Top

So excited that this part is done. I will prepare my backing tomorrow and possibly prepare the quilt to be quilted after that. I'm thinking about setting up my new machine to do the quilting but I'll see when I get to that part. Just love these fabrics!