Tiny Tuesday...on a Wednesday Dear Jane C-11

Gasp!!! Happily, I have been working on my Dear Jane blocks and I think this one turned out just fine. This block is C-11 Soldiers and Sailors Monument. If you look at the pattern you see that this could be pieced in sections but I made it a bit simpler for me. I made a template of the lighter area and and traced it onto my fabric. I cut the fabric in one piece and centered it on the background and appliqued it in place. I wish I had taken photos of my process but I didn't have my camera available at the time.

I jumped ahead a bit again and chose a block that was applique only. I do need to go back and fill in the blanks and make the skipped blocks. I should have time today to get some of them prepped and ready for piecing.

Seven Sisters

I still need to remove quilting marks.

Lately, I have been putting in some good quality time with hand quilting my blue Seven Sisters quilt and it shows. I have finally finished all of the quilting and I have removed all of my basting stitches. I am so pleased with myself and with the quilt!

The next step for me is to trim the edges and then mark and add the binding. My goal is to make all of my Seven Sisters quilts completely by hand so that step will take me a bit of time to do but it will be so worth it.

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's Quilts and I will be taking part by working on this quilt. Pop on over and check out the links to other slow stitching participants.

Blue Pinwheels

Wow, I slept in until 8 am today. It felt really good but I don't want to make a habit of it because it just feels like part of my day has been stolen from me!

Shortly after I got my act together I headed into my sewing room and made these cute pinwheel blocks. I was able to include blue scraps from the baby quilt I just made - gotta love it! I love being able to use up all the bits and pieces left over from making quilts and turning those scraps into quilts too. :))

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is the perfect motivation to get those saved scraps turned into 'something'. These little blocks have been added to my growing stash of pinwheels and will someday be turned into a beautiful quilt.

Pop on over to soscrappy's and check out the links - you will find plenty of inspiration to turn your scraps into something beautiful.

Mission Accomplished

I just put the final stitches in this quilt and I couldn't be happier! I absolutely love how it turned out. I needed to have it finished for tomorrow for the baby shower and I did it! The Mommy-to-be is the daughter of my friend Louise who passed away a couple years ago. I miss my friend dearly and I know she would have loved to have been able to spend time here with her grandchildren.

I know that this design doesn't really look like a 'baby' quilt and I didn't really want it to. I made it with the hopes that the baby will get many years of use well past the baby stage. It finished at approx. 49" square and I quilted it with brown thread and used a star and loop pantograph.

I Stuck to the Plan!

I did it...I stuck to my plan and had the baby quilt loaded and ready to go on the long arm and I just finished quilting and trimming it. I think it looks pretty good!

I needed to trim and square the top in anticipation of adding the borders and I was quite surprised at how wavy and out of square it was.  If it had been hung outside for a photo shot a good stiff breeze would have made it wave like a flag!  I knew that I had an issue but I didn't realize how bad it was. 0) I was a little nervous about the trimming part but it all worked out and when I added the borders a miracle happened and it squared up perfectly.

I already have the binding strips cut and I still need to add a label. My goal for tomorrow is to sew the binding on by machine and then get as much binding hand sewn as I can. I had a brain cramp because I thought the baby shower was on Sunday but noooo it is being held on Saturday - one less day to finish.

Slow and Snowy Day

So close to finishing - just one corner left!!

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet and quilted the day away! Seriously, I spent most of the day hand quilting my Seven Sisters quilt. I am so close to finishing the quilting but I just ran out of time and steam.

I was supposed to go and visit my sister Glenda yesterday but I cancelled because of the bad weather. She lives close to a 90 minute drive from me and I just didn't want to risk it so we have rescheduled to next week. So, don't tell anyone but I spent the day in my jammies and housecoat instead and held the couch down while I stitched away! My husband is still recovering from his shoulder surgery so he isn't able to do too much but he did make a fire in the fireplace and we just relaxed together all day. Definitely time well spent!!

backing fabric

Today, I need to get back at the baby quilt I am working on. I did get the blocks all joined into a top and I just need to add the borders and make the backing. I should certainly get that done today as well as load it on the frame in anticipation of quilting it.

Baby Boy Quilt

Even though I only have exactly one week to gift this quilt I feel pretty good about how it is coming along. I got all of the blocks stitched and I just need to sew the top together and add a couple simple borders.

The block is called Missouri Puzzle and this is what my design looked like in EQ7.

So, today's goal is to turn these blocks into a flimsy, trim it so that the edges are straight and square and, hopefully, add the borders.

Saturday Sewing

I have been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by Angela of soscrappy for a few years. I really enjoy participating but lately it has been more miss than hit. :(

Today I decided I had better remedy that and I made four mini star blocks using light blue. I have been making little star blocks for the RSC for a few years but because they are so tiny I will probably need a few more years to make enough of them for a quilt. They will finish at 3" and because of their size they really are quite scrap friendly. They only require a strip of 1" and 1.5" fabric and I can always find something to use in my strip bins. Sometimes, when I am cutting up scraps I do remember to cut and set aside a few strips specifically to make these blocks but I really should make a better habit of it.

Pop on over to soscrappy's and check out the links.

Focus, focus, focus....

I really need to spend some dedicated time working on this baby quilt. Unfortunately, there seems to be way too many distractions lately. I did get these seven blocks finished and I have six blocks put together into pieced segments. With some dedicated sewing time today I hope to have those six finished and also have a good start on the setting blocks.

I love how this is looking!

New Baby Quilt

I need to make a new baby quilt for a little boy that is due in January and I am running out of time to get it done. The baby shower is on Nov 22 so I am not completely out of time but I do have to get at it! I think that part of the reason for the procrastination was that my original design, although really good, was not THE design for this baby quilt.

something is not quite right ! ;)

I looked on line where the Mom is registered and I saw that the main colours she chose were blue, green and brown so that is what I went with. The block will finish at 10" and there are a lot of little pieces packed into it! I wanted to do a test block first to make sure everything looked good and fit properly and wouldn't you know it....I sewed a piece on wrong.  It didn't take long to correct my mistake and now I know that I need to pay closer attention as I piece the rest of blocks.