Center Block Finished!

I have finished all the machine applique except for eight leaves and four teardrop shapes that I can't put on till the blocks are sewn together. I have high hopes of getting the top done before Monday.
My pile of tops is getting pretty big so I better get in a machine quilting frame of mind. Now that my Singer is working great I am really energized to get some quilts finished!

Design Wall Wednesday?

Sorry for dissappearing for a week. My son came home from college with a nasty upper respiratory infection on Friday, Super Bowl on Sunday and a birthday party on Sunday. Then on Monday my husband and I both get the "bug". Thankfully we had  a much milder case. But I have been plugging away on my quilt of the moment. All the orange/tan blocks are done and I only need two more green blocks and I can start putting the center together.

At night, while nice and cozy under my flannel quilt I have been working on a pair of reading mitts and my snowflake mittens.

The Singer is home from the repair shop and is working great! So hopefully I can be machine quilting my backlog of tops real soon.

Have a great evening.

Progress of a sort

I have been spending a lot of time sewing or machine qulting this week and I have made some progress on my projects. Twenty out of thirty log cabin blocks are done.

I finished quilting all the pink on Shayla's quilt and have started quilting the rest of the blocks. That will involve thread color change so it will take a little longer.
Notice my worn out gloves? There is actually a hole in the thumb and I have been going to buy some Machingers gloves but these are fine for now.

Do you listen to music while you quilt? I have a stereo in my sewing room too but I love listening to music on my Ipod. Usually its classical or new age like Enya or new jazz like Norah Jones. I try to keep my machine quilting music on the calming side so I stay relaxed.

Yesterday I cut out the pieces for a simple strippy quilt for granddaughter Lorelai. I should be able to get that done this weekend unless my daughter goes into labor. Actually, I hope she does because the Doctor wants to induce her on Monday if baby doesn't arrive!

I still have one more grandson who needs a little nap quilt... so some Electric Quilt time will be happening this weekend too.

Thank You To All Our Veterans

Hope everyone took a moment today to think about the sacrifice our Veterans made for our country. I am very proud to be the daughter of a veteran. Thank you dad!

 My dad served during the Korean War and though he told us many stories about his time there I know there were a lot of stories that he never told to anyone. 

 So today, while thinking about our soldiers and my dad, I designed this quilt. If anyone wants the EQ7 file send me an email or leave a comment and I will send you the project file.

Need a laugh?

I have just spent the weekend caring for a sick hubby and a sick son. Hubby came down with the intestinal flu on Wednesday and was still not feeling at all well over the weekend. My son arrived home for the weekend from college and within 24 hours caught the same intestinal flu. And I dodged the bullet somehow. Monday hubby goes back to work still feeling a little puny. Son decides he'll head back even though he's not quite his normal self. He decides to wait till 7pm. He packs his car, checks the oil and antifreeze levels. No water in the radiator! He pours a gallon of antifreeze in and it runs right back out.
So Mom helps him load his stuff in the truck and we take off for the 1 hour drive to school. Well, we get chatting away and blow right by our exit!. The next exit is fifteen miles away... Meanwhile he is not feeling all that great  and we have to stop at the rest area. Thirty minutes later I drop him off and drive back home. I arrive at 9:45 pm. I may have exceeded the speed limit in case you were doing the math.

I had intended to work on my Quilt Whisperer homework and I ended up just staring at the TV for an hour to unwind.
Today I feel wore out, yet I want to finish my QW homework, start cutting out a couple of small quilts for my grandkids, practice my machine quilting, clean my house and go fabric shopping!
So while I was sitting here at the computer instead of doing any of the above I went to Fatcatpatterns.com to see the new blocks and I clicked on this link. Oh I have not laughed so hard in a long time. If you need a good belly laugh go to Cindy's site and read the family dirt, you won't regret it!
Since this is a quilting blog I will show you a little wallhanging I designed last winter.

Now I am getting off the computer and starting something. LOL

Perfect practice makes perfect.

I have managed to finish two of the star borders in the Eagle quilt. Boy are they tricky buggers. If you want the stars to all face right side up make sure you triple check their orientation before sewing on the side triangles. Left side second from the top.

I have been thinking about the quilting designs and started looking around the internet for inspiration and I found Carla from feathered fibers. She has started a yahoo group called quiltwhisperers from a class she taught on how to come up with designs for your finished top. The class was offered here.

I decided to practice my machine quilting a little every day, so I fooled around with  plain muslin, but I want to work on some pieced blocks too. I have run into issues when crossing seams.

I finally sewed the binding down on my Molly's Meadow quilt.  The quilt is actually straight, I had to take the picture from the stairs. I'll try and retake the picture tomorrow during the day so the light will be better.

My husband and son are going camping this weekend so I am hoping for a marathon sewing weekend. I let them take the car ( we only have one) so I have to stay put unless I walk somewhere, plus, since the car is gone people think I am not home and don't stop by. I know that sounds terrible but I am really trying to get my quilting momentum back. Or do I mean stamina?
I just know that in my younger days I could cut and sew all day plus keep up with my kids schedules, clean, cook, ect.
Well I have blathered enough. Everyone have a good night. I'll be back.

Nuts and Bolts

"Generalised anger and frustration is something that gets you in the studio, and gets you to work - though it's not necessarily evident in anything that's finished. "
Bruce Nauman

I spent over an hour and a half playing around with my old Singer machine last night. I even opened her up and cleaned the underside!

Normally after trying a couple of things I would give up in frustration and go look at Berninas on the internet. But last night I stayed calm and just kept trying different things. I ended up changing from the Superior titanium coated topstitch #80 needle to a Shmetz microtex sharp #90. I tweaked the tension to be a little looser and  I was very happy with the stitches. No more shredded thread or skipped stitches. My Singer doesn't have a tension dial because the tension is supposed to adjust automatically but it does have a slider to tighten or loosen the tension.
 Now I need to work on my McTavishing. I guess I should have practised on paper first but as you can see I didn't get very far on the border so I don't think it will show to much.

Well I am off to do some more Christmas shopping so the sewing will have to wait until later.

Popcorn and a Movie

I just received two of Karen McTavish's books The Secrets of Elemental Quilting and Mastering the Art of McTavishing and watched the DVD's last night.I think I like DVDs. Karen shows how she marks and demonstrates McTavishing on the long arm. She also interviews a hand quilter and a domestic machine quilter.The Secrets of Elemental Quilting is about choosing designs and placement for trapunto and whole cloth quilts.I enjoyed both and will use some of the techniques. Definitely worth the money.

After ChristmasI think I'll order some DVDs from Patsy Thompson Designs . Has anyone watched her DVDs?
I have almost finished machine quilting the center on my Molly's Meadow quilt by Kim Diehl . I am using Bottom Line thread in the bobbin and in the top and the new Titanium coated needles from Superior Threads. Sweet! One of these days I'll tell you about my struggles with my 25 year old Singer!