The One That Lured Me In...

So happy with February's block in the April's Making Ends Meet blog QAL...it is the one that drew me in as it's the icon she used for her button.  I enjoyed doing the snowman for January but I absolutely can't stand it, February's sun is too cute!!  I could see making a whole quilt with this guy.  She uses a free motion outline applique straight stitch which is new to me.  It goes quick though and I think it looks like a child's drawing.  So nice to quilt the sun again today as there sure isn't any shining in the sky.
BTW, I was lucky enough to win April's drawing last month for her Fairy Tale Quiet Book and Oh, how cute that is as well...lot's of little patterns for felt objects and people...and a Dragon!  I could see making this up for a little one to stay busy at church.

#2 of 12 UFO Projects Done For 2012

 So here it is, UFO finish number two of 2012...my Dixie Diary BOM from Barbara Brackman.  I enlarged the border in order to make it queen sized and my llaq Cathie worked her magic on it...

So good to have another quilt finished :)

Binding and Organizing

Ok, today is binding queen size Civil War quilt...yay!  I am done machine stitching and have started the hand work.  Even with the thimble I expect not to be able to feel key fingers by the time I'm done but plan to watch some good basketball :)

I have decided to try out the "comic backer boards" that so many have wrote about recently.  I bought the ones above from Amazon and am happy with how they do on anywhere between 1/2 yard and 3 1/2 yard cuts.  You basically just fold the selvage to the half fold lengthwise and then roll them up using 1 or 2 of the boards as the core.  Of course, you need to keep the fabric taut in order to get a nice roll...that's where my assistant comes in...

Kitty Kitty takes her work very seriously and especially enjoys the 3+ yard pieces as they afford a longer ride!

I still need organization within the shelves but Beaker will assist me with this shelf...

and this novelty bunch is probably as organized as it'll get as none really match each other anyway.

Swoon Stand-still

I finished the last of the four Swoon blocks yesterday and pieced the black sashing and gold cornerstone or should I say centerstone?  Then I ran out of the black fabric and had to order more so I will have to wait on the postman for awhile now.  I think this will finish out at about 60 inches square which fit the plan of lap quilt.  Maybe now I can motivate myself to finish some binding and some of the BOM projects I have for February yet...I am failing so miserably at working to finish things instead of starting so many new things.  I am a far better starter than finisher...there, I've admitted it :).  Now what?

Distracted...in a good way...

 Between my cold and this book, not much quilting has been done this week!  I pre-ordered this from Amazon and I received it a couple of days ago.  I have been enjoying it so much!  The stories and pictures are so great!  I have only seen a couple of quilt blocks on barns in person and they have been in the Ohio Hocking Hills area.  So neat to see!  Makes me want to put one on our chicken house...dorky? or cool?  We would like to have a barn someday but it won't have the character of the ones in this book.  Love the story of the originator, Donna Sue Groves.  Love this book!!

This is my February block for the Aurifil challenge.  You can find more info here if you want to get involved.  They have 12 designers and 12 months of stitchery patterns with Aurifil thread giveaways.  I didn't do January as it was a "snowbird" theme I didn't relate to.  Love these snowmen by Sherri Falls though. I haven't bordered it yet as I am not sure how I want to finish it.  She has a post on her blog if you want to finish it her way:  http://www.thisandthatpatterns.com/

Black and Gold Swoon #3

So here's #3 which I did last night before the snow started falling.  No Swooning for me today as I broke down and took cold medicine and I have a policy of no sewing machine or rotary cutter work on cold medicine.  This stems from an incident several years ago of me sewing through my finger...not fun...Anyway, I have an embroidery project I will work on instead along with some general cleaning, methinks.  Happy Saturday to all!

Black and Gold Swoon Block #2

It is possible to Swoon with a cold!  You must swoon slowly and carefully but no seam ripper necessary...yay!  This is my favorite of the blocks I've done so far.  I hope to get the other two done soon so I can figure out the setting and backing on this and start considering quilting.  September is my deadline for this giftie so I've got plenty of time but I am often slow to get to the finish on a quilt and I am taking no chances!!

Swoonin' Again

So this is block 1 of 4 planned for a giftie quilt...I'm using Concerto by Kaufman.  It's actually much more dramatic in person, this picture isn't very representative.  I started these for I'm a ginger monkey's QAL Swoon-along on Flickr.  It is so inspiring to see how these 800+ quilters are putting together colors and fabric lines to come up with so many beautiful blocks...seriously, you could lose hours just looking!  Just sayin'...not that I have or anything...
So you really should consider jumping in because the blocks are fun, easy, and addicting.  And, there are giveaways...I just won a 40 fq bundle called Hello Luscious from BasicGrey provided by The Fat Quarter Shop.  I know, unbelievable...yay!!  I'm still wrapping my head around such an awesome win...almost makes me want to start a second Swoon before I finish the first!

Bee Blocks and Craftsy BOM done for February

 February Sew.Bee.Create Block 1

February Sew.Bee.Create Block 2 

 Bethany asked for Jewel Squares for February and I hope she thinks these will work!  I followed her suggestions to a point but found it extremely challenging to use just what she provided.  Not because she didn't have enough fabric in her packet: she had many choices, just not as much of any one fabric as I felt like I was designing to.  I actually sent back quite a bit considering I made two blocks :).   She is planning a twin size quilt and wanted scraps back.  She ironically was using some of the same fabrics as I am using for the Craftsy BOM but unfortunately I didn't have the one I most needed on the outer edge of block 1.  I ended up with a green patch and an apology that hopefully she has a four inch or so piece of the right fabric to replace it with.  I actually kind of like the patch but totally understand that I didn't follow directions...I guess my initial calculation that I had enough must have been off and the one strip I had long enough to go around the 12 1/2" block was a navy that I just couldn't bring myself to use there.  This Bee has been a learning experience for me in adapting to what is sent as I guess I have strong thoughts in which fabrics go where but need to better adapt to what fabrics (and amounts) are actually sent for me to work with.  I have a feeling that when I send my fabric packets out I will be equally challenged by how much I should send to each of these sweet ladies!

 February Craftsy BOM Block 1

February Craftsy BOM Block 2

These are my two blocks for the Craftsy.com BOM for February.  I introduced another print in the Chevron beyond what started in my pile of fabrics and because I needed a "drama queen" I, of course, went to a Kaffe Fassett.  I have had these daisies "forever" and it was fun to put them in a block.  I am not a fan of the alternative half-square triangle method given on the first block because of the bias edges created on the outside of the finished block.  I chose to stick with making my half-squares the traditional way with 4 inch squares.  Also had to refrain from using flying geese and rectangles to simplify these blocks but the lesson was h/s's even if I flouted their methods!