Quilty Fun Sew Along

This past Monday the Quilty Fun Sew Along by Lori Holt at Bee in My Bonnet started. (Click below for more information).

Quilty Fun Sew Along is also a blog tour with several great bloggers participating.  You need a copy of Lori's book, Quilty Fun, about 3 1/2 yards of background fabric, and your scrap pile to get started.

I was a little worried since I have just started quilting that I wouldn't have any scraps to choose from.

Then I remembered that I have tubs of fabric in my crawl space.  I kept all the fabric used in sewing clothes for my daughters' over the last twenty years.  (That makes me feel so old.)  I am sure I will be able to find enough fabric to use for my sampler.

This week we worked on the apple blocks.  They are so darling.  They were pretty simple and quick to make as well.  Go here for more information on making the apples.  Check mine out below.  I can't wait to get home from work tomorrow and start on Week 2.

Handprint Auction Quilt

Since beginning my quilting adventure this summer, I have actually completed two quilts.  The first quilt I finished was made for the church auction that supports the preschool where I teach.  Every year we create a project for this auction.  One year we made a picnic table with the students handprints, last year we made a chalkboard with their handprints.  Naturally this year I made a quilt with their handprints.

I designed the quilt myself (if you want to call it that) with 8" blocks, alternating handprints with prints from the Old McDonald collection by Deborah Edwards for Northcott Fabrics.  I chose the Old McDonald collection for two reasons.  1. It's adorable and I love the color scheme.  2.  I teach in a rural area, if my students don't live on a farm, their grandparents do.

We made the students' handprints with fabric paint and I crudely embroidered their names on their squares.  There was also a square with the class name and year.  Piecing was a breeze and so was creating the sandwich.

Now comes the best part.  I needed to quilt it.  I had studied tutorial after tutorial about free motion quilting and I was confident I could do it.  The only question was could my cheap, old, beat up machine handle it.  The answer was no.  It was the weekend before the auction and I needed to get the quilt done.  I didn't know what I was going to do.  I honestly felt like crying.

Right now you're wondering, how is this the best part?  Here it comes!  My husband tells me to go buy a new machine.  Not a cheap one from Wal-Mart, but a really nice machine.  Of course, living in rural Iowa quilt shops are few and far between, but I knew there was a good one that sold Bernina's about 30 minutes from home.

I researched Bernina's that Sunday and Monday afternoon when I was done with preschool, I went and bought a machine.  I started quilting that night.  I never wanted it to end.  Anyway, the quilt turned out great and even better it made $500 at the auction.  I would like to say it was my great quilting ability but I know the truth, those handprints are priceless.

Head First

I must admit that I have jumped head first into quilting.  I have always sewn.  I was lucky enough to have a mom that taught me how to sew.  However, I had never made a real quilt.  But, I have always wanted to become a quilter.

So how did I jump into the quilting?  It was a day in June and my 20-year-old daughter (The Musician) was home for the summer. The conversation went like this:

The Musician: Mom, I have all these t-shirts (holding up garbage bag) will you "help" me make a t-shirt quilt out of them.  ("Help" is code for will you make me a t-shirt quilt because she does not have a domestic bone in her body.)

Me: Sure.

So I started researching t-shirt quilts (on Pinterest of course) and decided it was time to become a quilter.  That's how I found Melissa Corry's Star Surround Quilt-A-Long, which again I dove into head first.  (I still have finished that quilt top, which is a story for another day).

The t-shirt quilt pieced together pretty easily.  The hardest part was planning the placement of the shirts.  She didn't want regular material for the backing, she wanted fleece.  I opted not to use batting for fear it wouldn't quilt well.  I basted the backing on to the quilt top and there it sat.  I was scared to do anything else.  Then I found the Star Surround Quilt-A-Long to distract me.

The plan was to finish the quilt before she went back to school in August, but my fear kept it from happening.  I finished it this week.  It's not the best or prettiest quilt ever, but it's finished and we all have to start somewhere.

I do have to say that this is actually my second finish.  I made another quilt for an auction.  I will tell you all about that in another post.

I chose a very simple design of stitching around each t-shirt.  I didn't want to mess it up too badly.  What do you think?



Homework or Sew Work or Work Work

Seriously!  All I want to do is sew!  I am such a procrastinator!!!!!  The current classes I am taking end on Sunday.  One class is complete, all assignments are turned in.  The other class ..... not so much.  I can't sew until I get this class done.  Literally, I took my straight pins to work and left them there so I couldn't sew.

So when I can't sew what do I do?  I Pinterest.  I dream about all the things I would sew if I didn't have other stuff I am OBLIGATED to do first.

My current passion is completing the Star Surround Quilt-A-Long with Melissa over at Happy Quilting.  You can find the first post here.  I started out a little behind while I chose my fabrics and waited for them to arrive.

Here's a picture of the fabric I chose.  The line is Heirloom by Joel Dewberry.  I chose the sapphire palette.  

I chose to make the biggest size quilt because I need a quilt for my bedroom.  (First, I have to teach my dog to stay off the bed because she has ruined several comforters in the last two years.)

Then Week 2 came and it was time to cut the pieces.  I messed up and had to order more of one kind of fabric.  But I guess that's what happens when you are in a hurry.  Measure twice, cut once is what they say.  I measured correctly, I was just cutting the wrong size for what I wanted to make.  Here's a picture of my cut pieces.

Then we made half-square triangles (HST).  These I actually had done on time.

The week of August 5 we worked on flying geese.  I also got these done on time.

I stayed on track the next week as well.  That week we were building our block centers.  Some of mine didn't turn out perfectly, but I am okay with it as this is my first quilt ever.  Also, if and when my dog ruins the quilt I won't feel so bad about it.

Then came the week of August 19, building the star surround.  This was also the week school started for my children, I had to go back to work (I teach preschool), I was no longer ahead in my classes (I am working on a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education), and we were adjusting to our new family member (a foreign exchange student from China).  You can see why I got behind in the Quilt-A-Long.

Anyway, the Star Surround Parade is on Monday and I am going to try to make it.  I think I can do it as long as I finish my last assignment by tomorrow evening and remember to bring my straight pins home from my classroom.  Wish me luck!