Some more blocks

Block 3 Completed...

Stars on the Mountain Quilt

Blocks still have 1 section to add... before assembling larger blocks

Block 5

Block 1

January Sewing & Quilting Projects - Progress

Over at Cat Patches Blog is a Challenge to start new projects, with no goal to finish them.  Now I do hope to finish my projects this year, but hey no pressure....

I started a number of new projects this month.  Only started and finished one new quilt project... and that was with my 6yo.


As for sewing I started and finished 4 items and finished a two year old UFO (the kilt)....
Three of these items were for Highland dance.

I had 2 Quilt UFO Completions...

New Quilting Projects

Just Takes 2
Blocks 1 & 2 Completed

Sew Happy Geek QAL

Scrappy Wonky Log Cabins
I hope to do one of these each month in the colours as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at the SuperScrappy Blog

Stars on the Mountain
I'd started cutting out the white background fabric on New Years Eve, but my other fabric didn't arrive until nearly mid January....

Completed Art Bag
This is a project I started and finished with my 6yo.

UFO Update

Completed Items

January's UFO Challenge was project #5 on my list from 2012 UFO Challenge, but I didn't finish it (see photo below).  But I did finish numbers 1 and 11!  February's UFO number is #1... I'm finished #1, so I'll continue working on #5 this month.


Some Progress
These blocks have been seamed together, now to make larger blocks....

Way too long to post (Stash Report #4-2012 & #5-2012)

Update for the Past Two Weeks

Completed

• Nautical Quilt 

What am I working on?

• Just Take 2
• Sew Happy Geek QAL 
• Stars on the Mountain - 28 9 patch blocks completed, Mountain Blocks started

Projects to work on in the next week (no current progress)?

• Baby Quilt (UFO #5)
• Hem 2 pair of pants

Projects upcoming

• Installing Red Snappers on my Longarm
• Quilt for my stepfather

Stash Report #4-2012 (22Jan 2012)

Used this Week:        1.1m
      Year to Date:               6.3 m
      Added this Week:       4.5 m
          Year to Date:           23.1 m
      Net Used for 2012:        - 16.8 m

      Projects Completed this week:    2           (Includes UFOs)
          Year to Date:                7
      UFOs Completed this week:        0
          Year to Date:                2
     Mending&Alterations Completed:   1
     Year to Date:                     2

Report #5-2012 (29Jan 2012)

Used this Week:         0 m
     Year to Date:                6.3 m
      Added this Week:        1.5 m
          Year to Date:           24.6 m
      Net Used for 2012:        - 18.3 m

      Projects Completed this week:    1           (Includes UFOs)
          Year to Date:                8
      UFOs Completed this week:        1
          Year to Date:                3
     Mending&Alterations Completed:   0
     Year to Date:                     2

Quilts - one for each kid....

A year ago, I finished all the quilt tops for each of my kids.  Here is a post from Nov 2010 of their status...  Unfortuantely I was unable to complete their quilts by their birthdays...  Or truthfully in a reasonable time afterwards. This first quilt was a reasonably large 69 x 91".


Quilt for my youngest was finished Dec 1, 2010... Quilt for my older daughter was finished in February  I tucked it away thinking I would be finished her brother's quilt soon, but it wasn't put on her bed for the first time until yesterday as her brother's quilt is now done! This one was huge at 81x101"

Mariner's Quilt!

Finished and on the bed

My son's quilt...this took me forever to quilt... I started quilting it on my mom's Janome 6500.  Which is a great machine, but really doesn't have the throat space to do what I wanted on the quilt.  The quilt is heavy and every time I'd start quilting it, my back would cease up, or my arms would ache.  So it sat as a todo project heavy on my mind and heart. I was having a problem with its size at 79"x103".

Then I purchased a longarm machine.  And I loaded the quilt top on late December saying it was 50% completed... but it really wasn't.  I basically had some stitch in the ditch stitching done and was probably 10% done compared to what I eventually did.... I spent a lot of time quilting this, practising new techniques... some with rulers, some freehand. There were only a couple of locations at the back that were a little off on the tension.



Blocks in this quilt:
- 24 Flying Geese
- 8 blocks Made from HST&QST
- 16 Stars
- 4 Moose Quilts Block 5 moosequilts.blogspot.com/
- 4 Anchor Blocks - Self drafted
- 4 Sailboat Blocks - can't remember the pattern I used for inspiration
- 2 Lighthouse Blocks (inspired by By the Sea, but I didn't paper piece)
- 1 Mariner's Compass (Paper Pieced), my husband kindly drafted my pattern

Friday Night Sew In

Yesterday I was barely at home... I went to visit my grandmother in the hospital.  Once I got home I had about an hour before needing to pick up the kids... so I did some quilting on the longarm.  I am now working on the Mariner's Compass block on my quilt.  I also got some fabric pressed.

After school my kids had some piping and dancing activities as it is nearly Robbie Burns Day...  First my son played and older daughter danced at a nearby seniors home.  My sons band then had a dinner and silent auction fundraiser, which both girls danced and my son played all after dinner.  It was a late night. 

I had a panel baby quilt, in a basket as part of the silent auction.  It didn't raise as much money as I'd hoped it would.

Once I got the kids home, in bed and kilts hung up, it was 11pm.  That was when I headed downstairs to get some sewing done.


One quick project I had was adding tags to my daughters undershirt and shorts used with her dancing costume.  I did this so they would be sorted correctly in the laundry, and not accidentally put in her dresser.

Just Takes 2
Here are the first 2 blocks.  11 blocks have been released so far...  I really debated completing this sew along, but thought it would be a good skill building quilt.

Stars on the Mountain
The middle of each mountain.  16/16 completed.

WIP Wednesday...

New projects:

• On one of the lists I'm on there was a call out for embroidery testers... So I tested out 3 hummingbird designs.  Two of them are already stitched into a small zippered bag.
  
  
• New Socks... My sewing room is COLD!  Its in the basement and the floors are freezing.  I dislike sewing in shoes (I always wear my runners while at the longarm, but in my sewing room...).  So I thought I'd try out the Fleece Boot Socks from Studio Cherie as shown on Sew, Mama, Sew.  The pattern was great... the socks are wonderful, but I used scrap micro fleece, so they aren't very warm.  I think I'll dig out some 200wt or 300wt Polar fleece I have left from a sale at the Malden Mills warehouse 8 years ago.... 

Progress:

• Mariner's Quilt- I got another section completed.  I also purchased the Red Snappers & Red-E-clamps Replacement clamps from Quilts on the Corner.  I haven't had a chance to install the Red Snappers, but added some elastic to the Red-E clamps and put them on my machine.  They are GREAT!
i>
• Stars on the Mountain Quilt - I got 28 9patch blocks finished today....
  

Resolved to Sew 2012.... So how am I doing 2 weeks into the year?  Fabric has been purchased... but it was planned and some even used!  I have completed 2 UFOs, and a few other projects.  The biggest thing I haven't been doing is spending enough time with my longarm.  But I am getting back to that this week. Check out the Resolved to Sew giveaway over at Very Berry Handmade.

My Red Log Cabin block was featured on Block a Day Challenge at Quilt Addicts Anonymous

Linking up toWiP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and Needle and Thread Network

Finishing Blocks (Stash Report #3/2012)

Stars on the Mountain Quilt
These are the centre of the blocks for my quilts...

















Sew, Happy Geek QAL
Pinwheel and Friendship Star

Projects Completed This Week

• Highland Dance Vest
• Highland Dance Blouse 
• Hemmed one pair of my sons pants

 What am I working on?

• Sew Happy Geek QAL - two blocks done
  
• Stars on the Mountain - New Years Day Mystery Quilt Class from Longarmclassroom.com - fabric arrived, cut out, centre blocks completed

Projects to work on in the next week (no current progress)?

• Longarm -Nautical Quilt is still on the machine
• Quilt for my stepfather
• Baby Quilt (UFO #5)
• Hem 2 pair of pants

Stash Report #3-2012 (15 Jan 2012)

      Used this Week:        2.8 m
          Year to Date:            5.2 m
      Added this Week:       6.4 m
          Year to Date:           18.6 m
      Net Used for 2012:        - 13.4 m

      Projects Completed this week:    2           (Includes UFOs)
          Year to Date:                5
      UFOs Completed this week:        0
          Year to Date:                2 

      Mending&Alterations Completed:   1

          Year to Date:                1

Highland Dance Outfit Complete

My daughters had a dance competition this morning.  Unfortunately my older daughter had to make the difficult decision that she hadn't recovered enough from the pneumonia to dance.  But she did go to the competition and warm up but was just not able.  She looked great in her new Kilt, Vest and Hose(socks).  I made both the vest and kilt.  My younger daughter got a new blouse for today.

The vest is based on the Unique Highland dance pattern, and Ottobre Design 01/08 #36.  The blouse is based on Ottobre Design 2/04 #23.

Two more items are now complete off my 1st Quarter project list... Next back to longarming to finish my sons quilt. One week until his birthday. The quilt top was his birthday present last year, and I NEED to have it on his bed this year...