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Cross Stitch Update

August 18th, 2010 | Category: Cross Stitch | Leave a comment

I’ve been working on lots of cross stitch projects the last year or so. Last summer I finished the second in the Quilts series and got it framed. I kept working an managed to get Autumn and Fall completed as well. Unfortunately I didn’t have the money to get them framed. This summer I saved enough to get them both framed and they are now all hanging on the wall!

I’ve also been working on a picture for my son’s bedroom. I bought it 2 years ago when we started trying to get pregnant but refused to actually work on it until everything worked the way it was supposed to. So, this was started 3/5/10 and completed 8/17/10. I was determined to finish it before the baby shower which is scheduled for this weekend! Now I just have to worry about getting it framed, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

August Blocks

August 18th, 2010 | Category: Quilt Show 2010 BOM | Leave a comment

Well, it took me a few days to get them all cut out, pieced and ironed, but I did finish putting my blocks together! They seem to be easier to put together, but I really want to start putting the top together! We have to have enough pieces by now to start putting it together! *sigh* Oh well. I know I’ll be able to finish September’s blocks, but I don’t know if I’ll be on time with the rest of the year. The baby is due in October and I just might not be able to get to them. We’ll see what I can manage!

Happy Day!!!

August 4th, 2010 | Category: Accuquilt Go, PhD Challenge, Quilts | Leave a comment

I’ve had my Mini-Pinni frame for almost 2 years now and have really only played with it. I haven’t finished a SINGLE quilt on it! It wasn’t until March that I figured out why it wasn’t working correctly (this post). I decided that if I’m going to get anything else on my PhD list done before this baby is born, I have to be able to do some pantographs. So I went up today and tried the free one that came with the frame package. It worked! :) I need the hubby to help me figure out the right way to hook the laser up to my machine so I don’t have to hold the button down while I’m sewing, but it works! I think the first one I do is going to be the Quilter’s Suduko that I put together in January. Hopefully I won’t make too much of a mess of it and be able to put the binding on in a few days!

Last weekend I put together the backing for the quilt for the shower. I mentioned last month that I wasn’t going to actually quilt it until after the shower, but I figured it might save me some time later if I figured out the backing now. I got out my Accuquilt Go and cut out tumbler blocks out of all the fabrics that were used in the front. Lucky for me I had just enough tumbler blocks to have enough for the backing without adding anything! This left some of the fat quarters that I didn’t know what to do with. So I got out the die that came with my Go and starting cutting them up into 4.5″ squares and 2.5″ squares where I could. I now have a nice pile of 4.5″ charm squares that I can use to make some more quilts! Not that I need to make anymore!

Since I already had the Go out, I decided to start going through all my scraps and see what could actually be saved and cut up into 4.5″ or 2.5″ squares or 2.5″ triangles. I still have more scraps that need to be cut up, but it will get done sooner or later. I also have a small pile of scraps that can be cut into 1.5″ strips (this needs to be done by hand since I don’t have the die for my Go). The 1.5″ strips will be used for my locker rug hooking. I know, I have way too many projects going!!! :)

Sorry, no pictures today!

Finish #7!

July 29th, 2010 | Category: PhD Challenge, Quilts | Leave a comment

I finished yet another item off my PhD Challenge list! I finished quilting it the other day, but couldn’t put the binding on until I finished shirts for a client. Finished those yesterday and decided to put the binding and sleeve on it. It’s really small, so it didn’t take long to hand sew it on last night. That’s now 3 items for show and tell at guild this month! I want to work on quilting on the frame, but until everything gets moved around and set up I don’t want to add the machine weight to the frame. Mom and dad are coming over tomorrow night so dad can help Michael move the bed from the nursery into the “guest” room.

Snowman Panel

Yet another finish!

July 26th, 2010 | Category: PhD Challenge, Quilts | Leave a comment

I actually quilted this yesterday, but finished putting it together today. I’m very happy to get another item off my PhD Challenge list. I have 1 more item that I’d like to see if I can finish today, if I can then I can have the hubby put my machine on the frame and I can play with learning how to use the laser and the pantograph. If it works I have a BUNCH of quilts on the PhD list that can be done with a pantograph. I have a job for a client that has to be done before I can play though, but I’m planning on doing that tomorrow!

I didn’t come up with this idea on my own, I found it on Kim’s Blog. I made a change to it and rotated the blocks in the center, just because I liked it that way better. I used my Accuquilt Go to cut all the squares and triangles on this and it was so fast to cut everything out! I have lots of scraps left, and I have a few ideas of what I can do with them. I just want to finish some other projects before I start a new one! Since I didn’t feel like making a lot of these blocks (they finish at 24″ x 24″) I decided to make it into a pillow. I just need to get to JoAnn’s to buy a pillow form.

Updates to the blog

July 25th, 2010 | Category: Quilts | Leave a comment

I’ve been working on fixing some issues today with the blog and decided to make a few additional changes. I’ve created pages for Finishes for 2010 and the Guild PhD Challenge. This will clean up the sidebar a little bit. Also I finally determined what was causing the problems with the posts not showing on the main page, it was a plugin I had installed to randomly show pictures. Got rid of that and all the posts show up again! I’ll have to see if I can find another plugin that does the same thing but doesn’t break everything else!

Batik Lap Quilt Finished!

July 25th, 2010 | Category: Electric Quilt, PhD Challenge, Quilts | Leave a comment

I have finally finished the batik lap quilt. Since there were so many squares on this quilt I didn’t know how to quilt it. After a lot of pondering, I decided to print out a different design from my Quilting Designs software. I have volume 1 and 2 – but I do want all the rest! I had to pick 49 different designs from the software and it was not easy! Once I had all the designs picked out I printed each one on Floriani Stitch-n-Wash stabilizer, pinned it to the block I wanted it on and stitched away. Because I had so many designs from each category I pulled them into EQ and decided where each was going to be placed before I started stitching anything. This allowed me to play with placement and EQ7! It took me a couple weeks of serious work, but I finally got all 49 quilted. Once I got the binding on and washed it I found that the Stitch-n-wash was “stuck” under the quilting but all the rest was washed away. This resulted in me sitting for nights on end with tweezers and a lint roller picking the pieces out of my quilting. I didn’t mind so much since it meant I could easily sit in my husband’s office on the couch and talk to him while I worked on it. I’m glad that it’s completed and I can finally mark that one off the list!

When will I learn?

July 25th, 2010 | Category: Cross Stitch, PhD Challenge, Quilts, Teaching | Leave a comment

Ok, first off I need to make a correction to my last post. The “Love” block that I completed is by McKenna Ryan – NOT Ryan McKenna! I don’t know why I didn’t double check that before I posted!

I’ve almost completed the quilt top for the shower, I just need to decide if I’m appliqueing his name or doing it on my embroidery machine. I just can’t make a decision! I’ve got scrappy stars top made, I just need to decide on fabric for the back. It’s going to be a 24″ x 24″ pillow (once I buy the pillow form). I need to do some simple quilting to make it look more like a star before I can put the whole thing together, but it’s another item off my PhD list!

I’m teaching another set of classes at the Amherst Public Library at the end of August. They’ve recently setup a computer lab, so this might become a regular gig for me!

So to better explain todays post title, I was working on putting the borders on the tumbler quilt top and my machine was making some weird noises. So since I needed to refill bobbins anyway I decided to take the plate off and see if something was caught. To my surprise it’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned under the plate!!!! Once I got it all cleaned out and put back together it is running better and sounds wonderful!

I also have a small cross stitch picture that I finished recently for one of my husband’s employees that got married on Friday. I seem to make these for everyone we know that gets married, it’s personal, quick, inexpensive (if you can get the frames on sale) and I love making things for people!

I’ll be back later with another post, I finished the batik lap quilt!!!

New Finishes

July 13th, 2010 | Category: PhD Challenge, Quilts | Leave a comment

I’ve been working on lots of different projects at the same time. I’ve quilted the batik lap quilt but still need to do some finish work on it before it’s considered complete. I took a day and completed the Ryan McKenna Love block that I’ve had sitting here for at least a year if not more. And I’ve been working on a quilt for the baby shower that will have enough blocks for everyone to write something to the baby. I’m not planning on quilting it until after the shower, it’s easier to write on the blocks if there is no batting in the way. Learned that after the quilt I made for Diane last year. I’m trying hard to get as many quilts completed before the baby is born that I can, I doubt I’ll have time to work on anything after he’s born :) I officially have 5 out of 15 items from my PhD list completed. I’m hoping to get quite a few more done, especially since most of them just need to be quilted!

Yesterday I received the fabric I ordered from ebay to finish the tumbler quilt. I think Kimmie wants it and I’m planning on using the pantograph I have for the quilt frame to quilt it. This one wasn’t on my PhD list, but it’s another finish!

July Blocks

July 13th, 2010 | Category: Quilt Show 2010 BOM | Leave a comment

Took me a couple of days in between other projects, but I got all the July blocks completed. I’m really liking the way the colors are playing together. I can’t wait to start putting all the blocks together! From the looks of it, we don’t do that until December though!

 
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