2014 Finish Along Quarter 2 Goals

In an effort to motivate myself to sew more (because it makes me so happy), I have decided to post some Quarter 2 goals for the 2014 Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle.  

Here goes!

1. April Baby Boy Quilt - it needs to be quilted and bound.

2. May Baby Quilt - I have cut it out and started piecing it.  It won't take that long to put together, I just have to do it!

3.  Goldie's Fading Charms Memory Quilt - it is for my daughter's high school graduation.  I am making it from the fabric of all the clothes I sewed for her over the years.  It is currently in the piecing stage.

4.  June Baby Boy quilt - I have chosen the fabric and the pattern.

5.  Quilty Fun Sew Along sampler - the blocks for the top need sewn together.  The label block for the back needs to be made and it needs to be quilted and bound.

6.  Star Surround quilt - it is for my bedroom. It needs the bottom row sewn to the top and to be quilted and bound.

7. Bedroom valances - I have the pattern and the fabric and would really like to get these done.

8.  Snug as a Bug Super-sized Nine Patch #3 - it needs to be quilted and bound.

Snug as a Bug Super-sized Nine Patch Quilts #1 and #2

That should do it. It seems like a lot, but I am done teaching on May 23.  That leaves the entire month of June free.  If I finish all of these I will only have two UFOs left.  I guess I'll just have to start some more. 

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Stitch by Stitch

The Littlest Thistle

FINISHED!! The Princess's Neon Jelly Roll Jam

Way before Christmas I started working on a quilt for my twelve-year-old (aka The Princess).  She saw the Neon fabric line from Riley Blake Designs and fell in love.  She begged me to make her a quilt with it.

This was the same time that The Fat Quarter Shop released their free Jelly Roll Jam pattern and video. I wanted to make one so it seemed like the perfect fit.  I tweaked the size of the quilt so it would be the right size for a twelve-year-old and started sewing.

Piecing it was a snap.  The blocks went together very quickly.

I finished piecing the top and then it sat until mid March.  I became motivated to get it quilted last week because my husband and I were attending a wedding in Minnesota which is a five hour drive.  If I finished the quilting, I could hand sew the binding in the car.

I pieced the back from the solid colors in the Neon line and quilted it with simple meandering lines running diagonally through each block.  My daughter really liked the diamond effect it made on the back of the quilt.

I made the binding with left over jelly roll pieces.  I am really into scrappy bindings.  I was able to finish it during the drive to and from Minnesota and my daughter was very happy to sleep with her quilt on Sunday.

April Goals

My goals for April include:

1.  Finish the April baby boy quilt

2. Piece and sandwich the May baby quilt

3. Finish piecing Goldie's Fading Charms Memory quilt

The April baby boy quilt still needs quilting and binding.

The May baby quilt needs to be completed from start to finish.

Goldie's Fading Charms Memory quilt will require a lot of sewing, but it can be done.

These seem like lofty goals for a 30-day period, but I do have a week off of work.  But then again, I'm leaving for Florida on April 27th.  I better get started!

WIP Wednesday - April Baby Quilt

My WIP Wednesday is a baby quilt for a little boy that is due to arrive any day now.  It is all pieced and basted.  I even started quilting it; however, I didn't like it and now I am in the process of ripping it out.  Luckily, I hadn't gotten too far on the quilting.  I just can't decide how I should quilt it.  I wanted to do something more than meandering lines.  

I am hoping to get all of the stitches removed tonight and start quilting it tomorrow. I have already started.  My oldest daughter had to have a procedure done yesterday, so I took it with me.  It was a very quick procedure though and I didn't get it done.  I wonder if they've added any good movies to Netflix lately to watch while I work the seam ripper.  Any suggestions?

Finally Back to Sewing/ 350 Blocks Project Update

I love to sew!!!  The beginning of this year has been so busy I hand not sewn one single stitch since before Christmas.  My classes and work kept me busy during the week and the weekends were filled with basketball tournaments, volleyball tournaments, and show choir.  All of these tend to be day long events and when you live in rural Iowa, they are hardly ever held close to home.

I was very excited to get back into sewing and quilting during March.  My current classes were finished in mid March and amazingly so was basketball, volleyball, and show choir.  I feel free!  It will not be long lived however, a new quarter starts Monday and soccer practice has officially started.  I've got to take advantage of the time while I have it.

I spent the past few weeks working on a baby quilt for a little boy that's due to arrive any day now.  I used the pattern Cowboy Baby from the book Material Obsession.  I love the colors and I think pinwheels are my new favorite block. I have it all pieced and ready to be quilted.

Pinwheel block

I have also been busy catching up on the Quilty Fun Sew Along that started last fall.  I was way behind, but am now caught up to where I should be.  This is the last week and I am excited that I have caught up with everyone else.

A few of the Quilty Fun blocks I have sewn this month.

In order to motivate myself, I joined the 2014 350 Blocks Project.  The idea is to try and piece 350 blocks this year.  Considering I didn't join until the middle of March, I feel I am off to a good start.  The baby quilt had 20 blocks.  I am counting 20 blocks for the Quilty Fun Sew Along.  I am also in the midst of piecing a quilt for my daughter that is graduating from high school at the end of May.  I can add 20 blocks to my total for that quilt as well.

Partially pieced top from Goldie's memory quilt.

That brings my grand total to 60 blocks.  WOW!  I didn't realize I had done that much sewing lately.  It feels good.

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WIP in Wednesday - Fog Day!!!!!!

Our phone rang at 6:00 am this morning.  We were still in bed (although I had been hitting the snooze for 30 minutes) and our first thought was who's calling us at 6:00 am?  Well, it was a great call for me (my kids too) because school is delayed two hours due to fog.  We live in a rural area so approximately 50% of the students live in the country and it's not safe for the buses when we have this much fog.

I teach preschool three mornings a week for a private Catholic school, although I usually work the entire day planning, etc.  When school is delayed two hours, that means I get the day off.  Yay!!!!!

So now the question is, what should I work on given this nice block of free time?  I have 9 works in progress.  That seems like a lot, especially since I only started quilting in July of this year.

I have chosen two projects I would like to make considerable progress on today:

1.  Finish the top for the Star Surround QAL.  This should only take about an hour and would be great to have finished.

2.  Finish piecing the top for The Princess's Neon Jelly Roll Jam.  This would not take more than a few hours since I made considerable progress yesterday and over the weekend.

Hopefully, I will soon be posting about two newly finished tops.  Wish me luck!!!

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Snug as a Bug Super-Sized Nine Patch - Finish #2

I did it!  I finished the second Super-Sized Nine Patch Snug as a Bug quilt.  I was motivated because we met the expectant grandparents for lunch on Saturday when they were passing through town.  I knew we wouldn't get a chance to see the expectant parents until next fall, so I wanted to get it done.

I actually finished it on Thanksgiving.  We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the six of us.  It was nice.  That gave me time to quilt it, sew the binding on, and then The Princess, Goldie, and I watched a movie as I finished hand-sewing the binding.  We watched Life as We Know It with Josh Duhamel.  I have loved that boy ever since he played Leo on All My Children.  It was hard to concentrate on the binding, but it got done.

Here it is with Leah's Snug as a Bug quilt.  I haven't been able to visit her yet because I have a cold.  I'm hoping it will be gone sometime this week and I can go meet her.

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