What I've been working on......

I feel like I have been really busy this past week, and I haven't had much time to work on quilty/sewing stuff.  I have managed to start putting together my Celtic Solstice quilt.  This was Bonnie Hunter's (Quiltville.com) mystery quilt from last year.  She will be starting this years mystery quilt the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure yet if I'm in or not.......

 

I have a few rows to go.  Then I need to decide what I want for borders.  I'm not sure I want to make it as complicated as Bonnie's.  We'll see what I come up with!

 

Linking up to Jo's Country Junction's Bonnie Challenge. 

I'll off to Des Moines..... hoping to get some Christmas shopping done!



October has been a busy month

October has really been a busy month.  I don't know where the time has gone!  Hubby and I celebrated our 31st anniversary on the 1st.  I don't have a good picture of us now.  In fact, I don't even have a bad picture of us now.  But here is our engagement picture......

The funny thing about this picture is, John's glasses have no glass in them.  They were the light sensitive lenses, and the photographer didn't want them to turn dark for the picture.  So he took out a little screwdriver and popped out the lenses...

We also celebrated son #1's 30th birthday...

Don't mention that you saw him here...... I don't think he would appreciate it!  :)

I also took went on a girls' weekend with Julie, one of her sisters, and her cousin.  We went to Madison county, to see the bridges...



We saw all 6 of them.  I won't show them all........ I am wondering if pictures number 1 and 2 are of the same bridge.  I don't think so.....

I also managed to get 3 quilts done -

this one was hard to get a picture of... sunny, shadowy day.  It's a scrappy pink chevron quilt....

Here it is in the shade.

 

I also made a little rag quilt -

I haven't made one of these in a long time.  I always love how they turn out.

 

And I finished up a wedding gift over the weekend -

Another Cloud 9 Quilt.  I used some 2 1/2 inch strips of solids for the binding, as I only had small scraps left.  I really like how this one turned out.

 

Oh, and we were babysitting our "Grand Dogs" for a long weekend.  We took them home yesterday.  Here is Lucy, anxious to get home.  She rode almost the entire way looking out the front window.

Oh, and did you know that LeMars, Iowa is the Ice Cream Capital of the World?

I had to go to a meeting there last week, for work.  We made sure to stop at the Blue Bunny Ice cream shop...... yummy!



 

 





Wedding quilt for a first anniversary

If you read my blog regularly, you may remember that my youngest son got married last October.  You can read about it here.  At their wedding, the guests had an opportunity to sign a quilt block.  I finally got the quilt all put together this summer.  I just got it back from the quilter a couple of weeks ago.  I finally finished the binding on Sunday.

Here is a nice sideways picture that I took on the clothesline today.  It is a big quilt, and it's hard to get a picture of it.  We didn't get as may guests to sign a block as I'd hoped.  But that's okay, the blank ones look good, too.

I found the tutorial online, here.  It went together quickly (don't know what my excuse is for having it take so long to compete!)I love the way it turned out.

Here is a sweet message from my sister-in-law.

And another message..

I used a leftover quilt block to make the label.  And I promise to get a picture of the happy couple with their quilt!

A finish and a flimsy

Yes, I know.  It's been awhile.  Again.  I finally managed to get this quilt done -

It's a single Irish Chain quilt. The squares finish at 1 1/2 inches.  I used almost all the rest of the Moda Max and Whiskers fabric that I had.  This was a fat quarter bundle that I had purchased quite while ago.  I made a few other quilts with this fabric.  Look here and here, oh and here, too.  I did buy a couple of yards of one of the prints in the line that I could still find, and it's here on the back.

This one is all ready to go to a new great nephew in Colorado.

Last night I finished sewing together this quilt top - 

Not the best picture, we'll see if this one is any better - 

Kind of windy today, especially for a flimsy!

This is the "Film at Five" Quilt, tutorial found here.  I made mine a little smaller, using only 16 squares, instead of the 25 squares used in the tutorial.  When I started this quilt, I intended to give it to my sister's mother-in-law, as she has requested a quilt from me, primarily in blues.  Now that it's a top, I think I might be using it as a wedding gift instead, and will make a quilt that is a tad bit smaller for my sister's mother-in-law.  This measures a little over 70 inches square.  I'll get it quilted and then decide.  I do have one in the works for the wedding gift, I just don't have the top done yet, and the wedding is November 1st. So I guess I'll just wait and see how it goes! 

Where has August gone?

Or should I say, where has the summer gone?  It really flew by.  I got a few things done, but not too much......
I finished this baby quilt -

at least I think I finished it.  Now that I see the picture of it, I'm wondering if I finished all the hand quilting in the gray x's.  I'll have to check!

 

I also got 9 blocks done for Block Lotto this month. 

Here they are -

There's still time to join in, and they are super fast and easy to make.

 

Well, that's all for now.  Maybe now that summer's almost over, I'll have more time for blogging......

Quiet blog = busy

Hello, is anybody there? 

 

I realize it has been a little quiet here.  That doesn't mean I haven't been working on stuff.  And I seem to be really busy with life in general. 

I finished this baby quilt last weekend.......

This went together quickly.  I based it on a quilt that was in the book, "Skip the Borders", but I made my rectangles smaller, and left off a section.  See the fabric that says "baseball" in the center?  It is an all-over print, with the words, and gloves, bats and helmets.  I used it for the backing.  Oh, and the book is great - lots of neat quilts in it.

 

I also had a challenge quilt to finish for our guild.  It is at the LAQ right now, and hopefully Shelley will soon be working her magic on it.  Here's how it looked before I sent it off......

It's from the book "Scrap Basket Sensations". 

It's another book with lots of great patterns.

 

We are busy getting ready for RAGBRAI.  RAGBRAI stands for "The Register's Great Bike Ride Across Iowa".  The Register is a newspaper, the Des Moines Register.  We can expect 10,000 bicyclists coming through our town on July 22nd.  Lots to get ready.  My friend Julie is known around town for her artistic abilities.  She volunteered was coerced  into freshening up the signs from the last time they came through, back in 2005.  Here's some of the signs we have:

 

They are intended to be the Burma-shave type signs you used to see along the roads in the countryside.  We'll see how that goes.........

Lots to do this weekend.  I will be leaving tomorrow for a few days of training for my job.  That always seems to happen at the busiest time of year, too...

 Linking up to Finish It Up Friday



Cloud 9 Quilt

If you are looking for a quick and easy quilt to make, I recommend the Cloud 9 quilt, by Villa Rosa Designs. 

Here is the one I made -

It was hard to get a good picture in the bright sunlight!

 

I made this for a benefit - it will be a part of the silent auction.  I hope it raises lots of money for them.  I might just need to go and bid on it myself!

 

The back is just something I bought on clearance -

 

I think it's about 54" x 70".

I will definitely be making this pattern again!

 



2 finished baby quilts

I have been working on stuff, just not posting about it here.

I need to get better at that!  Anyhow, I finished 2 baby quilts over the weekend.  The first one is the chevron (zig zag?) quilt I talked about in my last post. 

Here it is:

 

It's made out of leftovers from fat quarters.  I bought the entire set of Max and Whiskers by Moda.  I think this was the 4th quilt I made from them.  When I was done with this quilt, I cut the remaining scraps into 2" squares.  I will have that quilt completed soon.

I call this the "Charlie Brown" quilt.  The black and yellow zig zag reminds me of Charlie Brown's shirt.

 

I also quilted a disappearing 4-patch top that I made quite awhile ago...



It's hard to tell in this picture, but the red fabric has white flowers.  Because of the flowers, I am thinking this  will be for a baby girl.

No piecing on either back..... just one piece of fabric

I quilted them with straight lines.  On the first quilt, I followed the zig zag pattern.  I did not use a walking foot, and they turned out much better than when I use a walking foot.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday....

 



Several finishes to share

Wow, it's been a few weeks since I've been here.  The month of April went by in a whirlwind.  Here are the projects I finished:

One baby-sized quilt top.  I used up most of what I had left of a fat quarter bundle.  I made 2 other quilts with these fabrics here.  I also used some in another baby quilt, shown here.  Scroll down on the page to see the quilt I'm referring to.

Anyhow, this quilt top required some really creative piecing, as I was running out of several colors of the fabric.  What I had left, I cut into 2 inch squares, and they will be used in an Irish Chain quilt.

All of my 9 patches have been pieced, now to get it all put together. 

 

 

 

I also made one cross-body bag - has zipper at the top.  Excuse the poor picture, it's terribly windy outside!  This is made from an old calendar dishtowel, vintage 1968, as you can see below:

 

I used the calendar on the other side of the bag.  I'll try to get a picture of it when the weather is better!

Here's another one of the front that I took inside:

 

I also made another bag, out of this cute vintage towel...

this one is my favorite:



 

 



I took part in Block Lotto again in April.  Here are the blocks I made:

Unfortunately, I didn't win them!  But my blocks are on the way to their new owners.  I will be hand delivering three of them to Julie, all the way across town.  Maybe 1 mile on a good day.  :) Yes, she was lucky enough to win.  I, on the other hand, have yet to win.  I just joined in January, so I guess I need to give it a few months.

I also made two more of the "Wine 'n Dine" bags.

So, even though I haven't been blogging about what my stuff, I have been busy!

Linking up to "Finish It Up Friday".



 

Bags and more bags!

I got a few bags done since my last blog entry....

First, I made another wine bottle bag...

I put a corkscrew in the side pocket as part of the gift.

 

I also made a few tote bags - my DIL's mother teaches second grade.  She is encouraging the kids to read and write more on their own, and thought that if they had a neat bag to take home either a book, or a notebook to write in, it might motivate them.

The circus fabric is my favorite.

They are just the right size to hold one of these...

 

I also sent along the baby quilt I talked about here.  It's finally on it's way to the new baby.

 

Here is a picture of all the fun stuff together.

 

 

 

 

 



Wine bottle bag

I finished a bag this week, and it's just in time for a wedding gift.

I used a pattern from Atkinson Designs, called Wine and Dine.

This bag holds 2 bottles of wine.  It has 2 pockets - I think I will put a corkscrew in one of them.

 

Here's the inside

 

It's so nice to have a divider - it keeps the bottles from clanking together. 

The pattern gives clear, easy to follow directions. 

 

We are invited to another wedding next weekend.  I'll have to make another one!