Snowman Fingers

Here's another boring picture of my table runner blocks.  I added 2 more last week.  

And: here is a little sneak peek at my finished project for the Make Mine Modern swap.  It's called Snowman Fingers.  

Ha  Ha!  Ok, I'm totally kidding.  It's not nearly done at all.  I'd be a little disappointed if I were to receive this--a couple of brown twigs.   Don't worry secret partner, this will (hopefully) look awesome when I'm done with it.  :)

Isn't it Cool?!

Quilt #7--this one was made by my sister.  Isn't it cool?!  She just used scraps and made random blocks.  Some traditional, some improv, some are wonky, some are not.

  I was planning on quilting a feathery design in the zig-zag part, and then doing something different in the blocks, but then thought that there is already so much going on in this quilt- so much to look at, that it didn't need any competition or more distraction with the quilting...  

OR

Maybe I chickened out with my more complicated and super time-consuming idea and realized that the quilting would be hard to see in the zig-zag part anyways (gray thread on gray fabric) and went with something much simpler.  Maybe.  :)

I did half-hooked feathers in the border and swirls.  *One of my favorite blocks.

No, this is not the same picture I keep posting--I actually added another block to my table runner.  :)

Shannon's Quilt

This is Shannon's first quilt! We showed her all about making half square triangles and rotary cutting.  Now I do believe that she's officially caught the quilting bug. 

I think it really turned out nice, especially for being her first quilt.  I did some flowers and swirls with a leaf or two thrown in. 

And that's quilt #6 for those keeping track...which I'm pretty sure is just me.  :)

Let it snow...again

Here is quilt #5 all done. 



A close up of the quilting.  I did something a bit different and did this flame finger-like design all over.  I think it turned out kinda neat.

And a tiny bit of progress on my table runner.  I made the littlest block there in the corner, so it's coming along slowly but surely.  I'm actually home from work this afternoon due to the crum-tastic winter weather.  But I've got groceries, and lots of quilting and sewing to do, so I don't mind being snowed in for a day or two.  :) 



I know there are people who get soooo bored in the winter time, but not me.  There is always something to work on.   I do get tired of being cold though, but cabin fever??  Not so much.  Am I wierd, or is that how most crafy sewers and quilters are?

Another one bites the dust

 Quilt #4 featuring Hook feathers.

and the back.  

Moving on to quilt #5 which I've just barely started.  This time I am trying something a bit different and doing a half feather using the edge of the border as the spine. 

I actually helped make this one.  You take a light and a dark 5" square and make 2 HST (half square triangle) units which you then cut into quarters.  So you get the units you see in that little block in the corner: 2 small HST's and a light and a dark square.  You can arrange them in a bunch of different ways.  I'm probably not explaining it very well, but hopefully you get the idea.  Anyway, I am currently stumped on what to quilt in the pieced border...oh yeah, and the rest of the quilt.  :)  any suggestions?

Friday Night Sew In

Another Friday Night Sew-In is in the books!  What is that you say?  It's a group of sewers that work on thier sewing projects on a Friday night and then post what they did on their blog.  I started in on my table runner (2011 Quilty Goal #3)

The pattern consists of several Churn Dash blocks in 4 different sizes.  I managed to make 3 out of the 4 sizes- the smallest size block is the only one I havent made yet.  This pattern is pretty long- 64.5 inches which is a bit longer than my table, so I'll have to shorten it...I think.  I've never had a table runner before--do I make it long enough so that people can sit on the ends and not be on top of it?  Or do I make it the entire length of the table?  Any table runner experts out there have any suggestions?

Quilt #3 went fast

As much as I like trying new and intricate quilting designs, I am sometimes relieved when someone requests plain and simple meandering all over.  There's a lot less planing involved and and it goes really fast. 



And I picked up some fabric this weekend!  I am gearing up my stash in preparation for the Make Mine Modern Swap.  We find out our partners this week--perhaps a lucky someone will be the recipient of some of these.  Or maybe I will keep them for myself!

I finished #2

OK, sorry that sounds kind of gross :) , but if you have read my last post you would know that I'm referring to my quilting my 2nd quilt of the year.  This is goal #1 for the year: to quilt 1 quilt a week.  We're only a week and a half into the year and I have already started on quilt #3!  But, I am anticipating that later in the year (like when there isn't 8 inches of snow on the ground and wind chills below zero) I might actually want to spend sometime outside in the sunshine.  So, the plan is to do a lot of quilting this winter, procrastinate this summer, and then frantically try to catch up at the end of the year. 

Anyways, this was made by my sister. 

I wish I could say that my loopy chains were this uniform all around the quilt...

...but I'm afraid I can't.  And yes, that's a real ladybug in my house in the dead of winter. 

The back.

Quilty Goals for 2011

Everyone seems to be sharing thier goals for 2011.  I've been thinking about mine and have decided on a few. 

1. Quilt 1 quilt a week!  That's about 20 more than last year.  Yikes!  But I think that if I actually have enough quilts to quilt, I can do it!

2.  Paint our kitchen and dining room.

3. Make a table runner to match new color of kitchen and dining room.  By May.

4. Join and create something in an exchange group.  If you see something come up, let me know.  I always seem to find out about these groups well after they start. 

I think that's enough to keep me busy for the year.  I dont want to overdo it!


So this is what I'm working on this week, quilt #2!!

Christmas Gifts

The rest of my handmade gifts were given this weekend, so now I can now officially share what I made with everyone.  These two little hooligans were made for my litle niece and nephew.  My little niece calls her dolly the "excited baby with the pretty hair"   :)

And then I made 2 more of these Christmas Star table toppers.  They all are the same block and quilting design, but the fabrics were different in each one.