Design Wall Monday 4/11/2011

Wonderful weekend and I started quilting my Mariners Compass quilt this weekend after being just to scared to start machine quilting it. So far so good!! I enjoyed a great trip to Auburn California and the Foothill Quilters Guilt Show today and just had a blast. There was so much applique that I think I need to start doing it. The quilts were just so beautiful and they seem to be projects that I can put together and work on over the summer when I travel, camp or just hang out at the pool with the kids!! I kept my purchases to a reasonable amount, only $38 in fabric and I enjoyed looking around, seeing the vendors and their products.

Next week I will be finishing up the three quilts I entered in the Dixon Mayfair, only one is completely finished. The second one only needs a bit more work, has binding and the hanging sleeve is pinned but the third is a bit further off. I have two weeks so I am confident that I can work under the gun and get them done. I can take some of the hand work into work with me this next week and work on it during lunch. Half hour walk, half hour sewing = a happy lunch.

Monday Morning Design Wall 4/4/2011

Quite a productive week in my machine quilting journey, I have almost finished my Dresden Plate quilt, with only a couple of plates left but binding and quilt hanging sleeve done!

I have also made huge strides on my Kaleidoscope Quilt, having figured out the border pattern and actually did it! I did leaves and they turned out fantastic much to my shock. Ok, after working on this for a month I think I can actually machine quilt and not hate it or myself!

I have also finished the majority of my donation quilt for the Sutter Cancer Quilt Auction but cannot show the entire quilt until the reveal in August but here is one block. It does look different with all the blocks together!

I have high hopes for getting a lot done this week as it is spring break for the kids and I will be working a bit less!! Here is to less work and more quilting time!! I think I will make the kids cook and clean....then I will have even more time!

Monday Morning Design Wall 3/21/2011

What a productive week I had, I quilted all the white sections on the Colorful Album Quilt and I also did the background on my Dresden Plate Quilt!!! Two major sections of two major projects completed and only 100 more to go! I was also able to cut and sew my strips for my Spring Chicks Strip Quilt heading to the Sutter Hospital Cancer Auction in August and I hope to find time this week to sew many blocks of this Irish Chain Quilt. I will say that this goal of finishing up projects will hopefully allow me to organize all my fabrics and clean up my sewing area for better organization. Hope springs eternal!!

My goal next week is to get my bindings on the Dresden Plate Quilt, the Colorful Album Quilt and my brown quilt, I could use a bit of time just sitting watching mindless television and sew. I also want to finish the other sections of the two quilts with the machine quilting. I am encouraged as I don't hate my machine quilting. I guess my rule of taking it slow, stopping when it got to be too much and just one step at a time is working a bit better the trying to get it all done in one day! It is not perfect yet but I will keep working on it.

Monday Morning Design Wall 3/14/2011

Well, I really don't have blocks to post on my wall as my wall is blank and white this week. I have spent the week working on machine quilting a queen size quilt I made maybe 5 to 6 years ago and found when cleaning out my quilting area a couple of weeks ago. I am taking my time, being patient and doing a square or two every night and many on the weekend. I only have 6 left but I have only done the white parts with white thread so I need to work on a simple design that I can handle for the colored parts of each square. I am hoping to finish this quilt so I can put it in my daughter's room for a touch of color when I put in her new bed next week.

Since she sprung it on me only two days ago that she might actually be coming home from school for spring break I am now scrambling to finish the room, get a bed, headboard and new blinds, put all the stuff away and maybe find a rug or lamp!!

Monday Morning Design Wall 3/7/2011

After taking a "Design Wall Break" for the past couple of weeks due to some updating that we were doing to our house, I am back! Here are the two months of blocks for my BOM at in Winters CA and since I loved both of the designs, I am doing two!! I have been very productive over the past two weeks, having to empty out my entire sewing area to put down wood floors in that area, I discovered MANY MANY unfinished projects. Tops that need to be pinned, blocks that were completed and needed to be sewn together and quite a few quilts that need to be quilted. I am hoping to try machine quilting again and my prayer is that I will not hate it. Talking with a friend last month, she said to just let the quilt speak to me and go for it. I am giving that a shot and I will let you know how it turns out. The only drawback is the quilt I started is almost queen size so it is rather large but after spending 4 years waiting to be quilted, I think it is happy to be worked on. So far so good I will say and I am going to take it one day at a time.

Monday Morning Design Wall 2/14/2011

Another week and a few more blocks. I have cut all the "Rings that Dance" blocks for my quilt but did not get all of them sewn this weekend. I have 10 left so I am planning on a busy week!! This quilt is turning out bigger then planned so I may take a few blocks out, make it a bit smaller and make a small wall hanging for my office! I was planning on a black boarder so that makes it much larger. Decisions, decisions. I think I might finish all the blocks and make my decision then.

I have found my pattern for my donation quilt for Sutter Cancer Center for my Spring Chicks strip exchange. Now I think I need to cut some more strips for lights and I have to find a back ground fabric! This will be very scrappy so the neutral is very important. Also, because I don't have enough to do each and every day, I have four quilts that really need to be pinned so I can start quilting them. FOUR!! I am hoping to enter at least two of them in a quilt show in May so I better get cracking. I think I will give up sleep for lent and then, and only then, I may actually get everything done.

Monday Morning Design Wall 2/7/2011

Yeah PACKERS!!! My husband is a happy man and spending the the majority of the day at a quilt class made me a happy camper!! Here are the blocks I made at my class and upon returning home walking into a house full of boys/men screaming at the TV. They claimed to be yelling at me as they were happy I arrived home!! I love these blocks and am looking forward to finishing all 30 or 35!! I had the best weekend and I vow to take more classes. I am a bit bummed as I will be late to my quilt strip exchange tomorrow but I have three boys receiving advancements for Boy Scouts, one Star scout, one Life scout, and one Eagle scout, I think I just need to deal with it and do what I can!! So proud of my kids but really wish they could find the dishwasher!! Boys, it is in the kitchen next to the sink and accepts dirty dishes every day, hour and minute!!