Design Needle Monday. And a Give Away!!

More like design under the needle ;) I am still quilting the triangle quilt. . . I thought I was half way done.  Imagine my surprise when I put it on the wall and realized - no, I am not half way through! DAMN IT! Seriously people, WHAT WAS I THINKING??? OK, pictures first and then we will get to that giveaway stuff :)

So the plan is this, on the remaining three columns of hexagons I am going to do the non echoed flowers on the top four rows and the echo on the bottom three rows... Does that make sense? What makes sense to me is that it means I have the most time intensive part of the quilting done ;)

This picture is sideways but it still gives you an idea of what is going on closer up.

The echoed hexagons take an hour to quilt each. . . One would think it would be faster. . . OK, I think it should go faster LOL

Close up of those echoed flowers.  I decided on echoes instead of paisleys.

I decided that I wouldn't do echos in a portion of the quilt. . . design decision?  Let's be honest - this is all about the time it is taking to quilt this quilt! haha

I do love the texture and the look.  Do I like the time it takes? Ummm. . . let's wait and see how this baby turns out ;)

I really like the non echoed blocks - should have just went with that huh? Live and learn, live and learn - right now I'm doing a good amount of learnin' over here LOL

I decided to do the diamond column differently as well.  I will do them every other one, so that next column of diamonds will have the middle diamond unquilted.

My plan is to keep quilting this and see where I am on Wednesday.  If I don't think I am going to be able to finish it by the end of the QAL link up, I am going to go back to the Fractured Log Cabin and get that baby sewn together - I want need a finish!  And those log cabin blocks are sitting on my ironing board just BEGGING to be finished.

On to the giveaway.  Long post but it has been forever OK, a week, since my last post.  At the beginning of last week I hit a mile stone on my little blog - 100 followers!! There are a few more now (thank you for those of you who clicked follow in the last week and welcome to my insanity!) but the milestone was hit while I was buried under a certain quilt ;) SO, since I never in a bajillion years thought that my blog would be anything than a way for me to share pictures of my quilts with my mom (HI MOM!, she doesn't read what I write, she just looks at the pictures, maybe if I put it in all caps she will see it! haha), to say thank you to all of those peeps out there reading my blog and taking the time to comment.  It has turned into so much more than just sharing pictures with my mom in such a very short time.  I have 'virtually met' so many uber cool quilters!  The support, inspiration, encouragement and pointers I have gotten have been awesome.  I am so glad to have 'fallen' into this community and to say thank you I am going to give away these to one lucky commenter to this post:

Moda Marbles Citrus Fat Quarter bundle.  There are 10 cuts in the bundle.  I promise, I have not cut even a tiny piece out of any of them! Sometimes I can show restraint. OK, not often when it comes to fabric :)

Here are the rules:

Come on, you know me - there are no rules! This is open to international readers, I will ship anywhere! 

You don't have to be a follower to have a chance, but if you want to follow along on my quilty journey, I sure would love to have you come along for the ride! 

So just leave a comment.  Any old comment will do! And if you are a no-reply blogger (if you use Google + and you have not done the abracadabra poof thing to fix the no-reply, you are a no reply blogger) please leave your email address so that I can get in touch with you. 

I am going to to leave this giveaway open for a week (closing at midnight MST 5/4/2014).  Let's be honest, I'm quilting up a storm over here and I am likely not going to leave my sewing chair for days! grin So I will announce the winner (chosen with Random.org's Sequence Generator) in next Monday's (5/5) post.  Oh and you KNOW I will be posting a finish before Monday so make sure you check back before then!

Good luck!  And again, thank you for participating in my little part of the blogosphere! :)

Linking up with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday, Stitch By Stitch for Anything Goes Monday, Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday, Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday.  I might be adding more. . . just depends on how this goes! 

Update: Adding Let's Bee Social with Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts, WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced Modern Quilts and NTT with Kelly over at My Quilt Infatuation.  It is looking good, I might have the quilting done tomorrow! Stay tuned for the big reveal :) 

Until next time, keep on quilting!

Quilting the Triangles

I've started the quilting, this is going to take a bit. . . I still think I can get it done. . . the next several days will be interesting :)  Not a long post, just pics:

I'm thinking micro stippling between the pedals to make that flower pop. . . Do you think a micro paisley would be too busy? I could do that faster than stippling. . . quite honestly, my stippling sux.  No really, it does.

Yes, using the Fine Line Rulers, I did the flower with the small arc ruler.

I'm improving as I go. . . this back and forth squiggle is not bad to do for a micro design ;) I tried pebbling first. . . I ripped it out. . . I can say without a doubt - ripping out pebbling is NOT fun!

I just love the texture quilting gives a top.

I was going to do straight lines at the half diamonds. . . it looked bad. . . more ripping. . . 

Linking up with Freemotion By The River for Linky Tuesday and Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday. Wednesday linking to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.  Thursday linking up with My Quilt infatuation for NTT. Check out these parties for a major dose of inspiration and join the linky party fun :) 

Back to it I go. . . Keep on quilting!!

Design Wall Monday: Fractured Log Cabin

I finally finished the quilting on the fractured log cabin blocks.  This really should not have taken much time at all to do. . . and it wouldn't have if I had not been getting up every line to go blog hopping, inspiration searching, designing, cleaning (OK not much of that LOL) and every other thing I could think of to do besides finish quilting those blocks!  I am doing this QAYG so this project is not over. . . but it needs to be put aside so I can quilt the triangle top. . . I had it in my mind that I had two weeks to quilt it. . . and maybe I would have if I had not wasted so much time not quilting the fractured log cabin. . . but it needs to be done quilted and bound bound by May 3rd. Hmm, now that I think about that - it is totally doable LOL 

OK, word light and the pictures aren't the greatest.  I hung a piece of batting on my outside brick wall. . . and then pinned the blocks to it.  It is better than taking pictures in my house and you get the idea :)

The sun was so bright I couldn't see that the top was cut off in the camera!

Yup, I used my Fine Line Ruler and FM foot.  Check out those straight lines :)

See, it really should not have taken and entire week to quilt these blocks!!!

One more picture just cuz :)

OK, off to make a triangle quilt sandwich and keep this train moving down the track!! 

Linking up with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday.  I will likely be linking up with more, just depends on how many sneaky peeks I'm going to give you of the quilting on the triangles ;) 

Until next time, keep on quilting!

Ken's Quilt

I finished this quilt last year right before Thanksgiving for a friend who gave it to her husband as a Christmas gift.  I wasn't blogging then.  This is the last pre-blog quilt to be blogged about.  The pattern is Disappearing 9 Patch, the material is flannel (Boundary Waters by Moda 4 charm packs).  I tried several layouts and because like me, my friend needs a little more order to her scrappy :) In the end, I just turned the blocks from the same cut 9 patch square and sewed them together.  The top went together pretty quickly and without issue. . . once we figured out the layout :) Here it is:

I did straight line quilting on the blocks and then did some free motion leaves on the borders.  Here are a couple of close ups of the quilting.

Just some simple straight line quilting using my free motion foot.

You can see that I drew the leaves on and then true to form did not follow the drawing :) Love how the quilting really stands out on the border.

You can see (kind of) in this picture that the leaf on the outside border is a little different than the inside border.

I used wool batting for this quilt.  Those of you who read my blog regularly know I am a fan :) I have only made a couple of quilts in which I did not use wool.  It is so wonderful to work with and I just love the extra loft it provides.

Now that I have blogged about all of my pre-blog quilts I had better get moving ;) I have nothing to fall back on anymore LOL  I have been quilting the Fractured Log Cabin quilt all week. . . it really should not be taking this long.  I think I have spring fever or something. . . I can't keep my butt in the chair and just get 'er done!  I also have the triangle quilt top hanging on my wall patiently waiting to be quilted.  I have big plans for the quilting on it. . . most of the time spent away from quilting the Fractured Log Cabin has been spent scouring the internet for ideas for quilting the triangle quilt!

One more thing - you seriously have to check out this tutorial.  It is an AMAZING tutorial done by Preeti over at Sew Preeti Quilts to make Boston Blocks out of 4 patches - I'm not kidding!! Remember the headaches I had with this quilt:

  
Not only would this tutorial have made it SOOO much easier - there are about a bajillion different ways to lay out the resulting 4 patch HSTs!! No really, you have to check it out!!  
 
OK, back at it for me! Linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday!  Head on over to get a major dose of inspiration! If you are here from there, welcome! 

Until next time, keep on quilting!
 

Triangle QAL Week 3

Week three of the Sassy Quilter's Traingle QAL brings us to joining those rows. . . I'm going to say it.  I STRUGGLED through this! I was kind of surprised.  This is not my first triangle quilt.  The first one, went together pretty easily when I joined the rows.  This one. . . not so much.  First I tried gluing instead of pinning.  It worked OK but the points were not as consistently 'good' as I would have liked.  Then I tried pinning, this time I actually lost a point.  Did I rip any of it? No.  I am working on taming my inner perfectionist and I decided none of them were so awful that I was going to redo them. 

I finally tried pinning AND gluing. . . I put a dab of glue at the point, and then followed Paula's direction of putting the pin through the point of both sides and then pressed both sides together and removed the pin.  Time consuming? YES! It did result in a much more consistent ITLLDO (It Will Do my word for 2014) seam.  It took me a bit of Friday (I walked away after doing one row, thought maybe it was the day and the point fairies would visit me on Saturday), all day Saturday (on and off, had to walk away on more than one occasion) and part of Sunday. . . . The end result?  Well, here it is, as I told my mom, looks great when I'm not standing two feet from it scrutinizing every point... and who else is going to do that but me???? :) 

I decided to go with all hexagons.  I have probably admitted this before at some point in my blog but I have a control issue :)  When I am the one doing the sewing, I'm not a lover of scrappy.  I look at other people's scrappy quilts and love them.  I might need therapy for this. . . but that can be a topic for another day ;)

We all know I am mathematically challenged and I was a little surprised when this quilt top ended up being exactly square! LOL It's fine, the intent was a large lap quilt (it is 72"x 72") so that's not an issue but in my estimation this should have turned out 10 inches longer.  I would have added another row of hexagons but for some reason I ran out of the peacock blue - maybe some triangle trolls came in the middle of the night and stole some of them. . . I had a half yard of each of the colors and cut all of it into triangles (yes, I have a LARGE stack of leftover triangles. . . ) so I should have had the same amount of each color left over.  Alas, this was not the case and quite honestly, I am over triangles! I wasn't too upset about not feeling like I 'should' add two more rows :)

So today my plan is to get quilting the Fractured Log Cabin.  I'm hoping to have a finish, and maybe two by Friday :) 

Linking up with Marelize over at Stitch By Stitch for Anything Goes Monday, Judy over at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday, Connie over at Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday and Heather and Meagan over at Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday. Also linking up with Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and Lee over at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Until next time, keep on quilting!

White FMQ Sampler

Happy Friday! I finished the white sampler that I first blogged about here, and again here.  I used my new Fine Line Quilting Rulers to make many of the squares.  I am in LOVE with these rulers!  Click the link to see videos of the rulers in use and to purchase the rulers.  Again, I am in no way affiliated with Accent Designs - I am just a very happy user of the rulers :)

OK, I'm going to stop blabbing (for just a bit) and get to the pictures :) 

I am not sure why the picture is flipped. . . BUT this is the BACK!! Don't you just love when the back tension is as good as the front?? Yay! :)

Front.

 And a couple of close ups showing the good, the bad and the ugly :) haha You will notice that I did not pic out the tuck - I can use the back for the front and voila - no tuck :) 

I found out I REALLY like doing FM motifs when I have the right tools!  My AHA moment, micro quilting around the motif makes it POP! See the difference in the two? I decided to leave the top right one for now. . . just to remind me :)

It was so much fun to just play around in each of the squares.  I kinda dug doing my version of McTavishing :)

I found out I don't like doing micro anything. . . but I LOVE the look! . . . Dilemmas!!

I did the top right square free hand scribble where the one in the picture prior was with the rulers.... free hand is faster and I think results in pretty much the same look.

I am so glad I decided to do this piece! I learned a ton about using rulers such as hand placement, ruler placement, which directions of sewing work best for me.  I have a confession. . . I am a lefty :) It took me some time to figure out how this was going to work best for me but the best is that it didn't take long, I just need to learn to slow down a bit :) The minute I decided to 'hurry' I found I was getting wobbly.  I was good with the slow part of the ruler work because I find that I really, really like the precision. . . for a rule breaker and general rebel, this kind of surprised me!

OK, so I'm done crowing about the rulers. . . for now :) You can be sure that you will be seeing ruler work on my future quilts! Like my triangle quilt for the quilt along - I have TOTALLY planned the quilting and I don't even have the rows sewn together! LOL

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday! And Marelize over at Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday.

Until next time, keep on quilting!!

Fractured Log Cabin

Well folks, the blocks are done.  I finished 5 and then decided I was going to do different blocks in the middle top row, outsides of second row, middle of third row and outsides of fourth row. . . And then after wasting most of a day going back and forth and cutting and sewing (and wasting) several blocks and partial blocks, I decided to do the same style blocks. . . Oh the pains of indecision and middle of the night OMG what if I did. . . . :) Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes when it happens to me, it turns out to be the best thing since sliced bread. . . this time - not.so.much!  Oh well, it was an adventure :)

This picture was taken inside.  I'm going to put this together using QAYG or I would have waited until it was sewn together :) So here it is, even though the picture doesn't really show the true colors.

So now I need to figure out how to put the left over fabric together to make the backings for the blocks :) I'm kind of excited about doing QAYG again.  I did this quilt that way:

Blogged about here.

I am also excited about the fact that I have received the remaining rulers to the Fine Line Rulers set (first blogged about here and posted an update on the quilting here).  Oh yes I did! I was so sad that I hadn't just ordered the entire set and decided I could not live with the other sizes :) I also found out that Janome makes a ruler foot for the convertible FRQ foot that comes with the 6600P and the 7700!!! Oh yeah, you know I ordered that too and it is on the foot and ready to go! :)  I'm going to work on the white piece today.  I'm hoping to have a finish to post tomorrow! 

OK, I'm off to put together backing pieces and play with free motion quilting some more :)

Linking up with Kelly over at My Quilt Infatuation for NTT and Gemma at Pretty Bobbins for I Quilt.  If you are here from there, welcome! And if you haven't visited these awesome parties, head on over and check them out!

Until next time, keep on quilting!!

Short Update

I did not get much sewing done over the weekend. . . I did a little more quilting on my white background piece.  Original post on rulers and such here.  I have learned once again that quilting when I am tired is just not good - how many times do you suppose I need to be hit over the head with this before I just stop when I am tired?? . . . OK, probably a few more haha

See that wrinkle? I haven't decided if I am going to rip it out.  That entire block is very sketchy.  I knew as I was doing it I was totally not focusing and not taking the time to make sure the quilt was in the right place to ensure wrinkles and wobbly bobbly lines would not happen.  I might leave it in to remind me to just stop when I get tired. . . and this is going to be used as a background for taking pictures of blocks - I can hide that square haha  I also learned that I really do not like doing micro pebbles. . . or micro anything, I get bored and lose focus. Maybe bigger pebbles would be better. . .

And, I tried McTavishing for the first time. 

Lastly, I made one more block for the fractured log cabin quilt.  I put a more contrasting fabric in this one after the light yellow middle square.  I think this one looks much better :) 

Amazing how many wrinkles accumulate between the design wall and the patio table!!

Here's the picture of the other one, so you can see there really is a difference in the way the blocks look with that one different strip of material :)

I'm also contemplating mixing this up a bit. . . Of course I am haha I think I might use different blocks between these fractured blocks. . . Not sure, I think I need to make all of the fractured blocks and then do one of the other that I am contemplating to see how it looks in real life.  Looks cool in EQ7. . . we'll see :) Stay tuned, I'm hoping to get the log cabin blocks done today.  Then I'll make a few of the others, take a picture and see what you all think!

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and Anything Goes Mondays being hosted by Karen over at Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals. Tuesday links to Linky Tuesday over at Freemotion by the River and to Fabric Tuesday over at Quilt Story. Wednesday links to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social!

Until next time, keep on quilting!

Triangle Quilt Along - Week 3

Here we go folks! The rows are sewn together! :) This is my second triangle top and I learned a thing or two along the way with this one.  First, I was at the grocery store and on a total whim picked up a washable glue stick.  I decided to see if gluing would help in the sewing process. . . boy did it!!  I have a confession - I do NOT pin! OK, rarely and I don't like it :) Here are some pictures of my process.

To 'pry' the glued portions open, I used my seam ripper.  This glue is not like super glue so it comes apart pretty easily.  I also did not have a problem with the glue gumming up my iron. And I use steam too :)

Ready to see my rows? :) I did 5.5" triangles, 22 triangles per row and 14 rows.  I have left over triangles - but I have a secret plan for those for the back ;) 

I only took 5 of the rows out.  It was windy. . . and I thought they looked kind of cool blowing around :)

Ever have an AHA moment when you are sewing?  Well I had one when I was ironing the seams open (I did this after every seam sewed).

So there you have it :) Can't wait to sew those rows together!! :)

Linking up with Paula over at Sassy Quilter for Week Three of the Triangle QAL.  Head on over and see how all of the other participants are coming with their triangle quilts.  There are going to be some amazing quilts made in this QAL!! 

Also linking up with Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I get a WHOOP! WHOOP! and Fortworth Fabric for Fabric Friday Frenzy.

Until next time, keep on quilting!!