Category Archives: My Hand Quilt

11

Dec. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 12/11/2013

WIP Wednesday at Freshly PiecedGetting it done – one piece at a time…

The #1 item on my WIP list is our Family Holiday Newsletter.  That has to be done ASAP and out the door soon.  I’ve been working on it slowly but can never quite get it done.  I’ve probably got 3 main sections to do so far.  The boy did his the other night and I was able to paste it in his section last night with only a few adjustments. 🙂 The girl is still working on hers and I’m hoping to get hers done tonight along with the others.  If I could get it done and to the printers by Friday I’ll be happy.  

Celtic Solstice – I was able to  piece together 6 sets of Step 2.  No where near what I need to get done and I’m pretty sure I will not have that step finished by Friday.  It’s the drawing the line part that is slowing me down!  Well, I’ll do what I can and on Friday I’ll start Step 3.  

Hand quilting – I’m a third of the way through the second side.  This is my TV project and haven’t been watching that much lately.  I do plan on watching the classic Christmas shows so I’ll be working on the quilting when the family gets the chance to do that.

Tomorrow is my turn to take the girl to cheer practice so I’ll be working a bunch on my hand project – Raining Cats and Dogs and A Rainbow Garden.  I haven’t taken her in awhile so I’m looking forward to hanging out at Starbucks with my audiobook and my hand projects. 🙂

What is on your WIP Wednesday?

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

See more WIP Wednesday posts at Freshly Pieced.  Also linking up with Kate  at Life In Pieces. 🙂

Posted by . Categories: A Rainbow Garden, My Hand Quilt, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a comment

29

Nov. ’13

Black Friday Sew In – #BFSI

It’s time!  The first clue to Bonnie Hunter’s Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt is up!  I am sew excited! 🙂

But first on the docket – I really need to get going on the hand quilt.  and I need to get a bit of work done on Raining Cats and Dogs.  And Finally, I need to get Block 4 done for Hampton Ridge.  I got the November kit on Wednesday so all I need to do is get Block 4 done and then I will still be caught up.  And then, and only then, will I let myself start on step 1 of Celtic Solstice.

Sprinkle in a yoga class in a few hours, some time to eat, check emails and maybe get a couple of hours work in AND a bit of online Christmas shopping and we’re gold for the day.

I’m hanging out with Pam and Daisy who are both hosting Black Friday Sew In (#BFSI) on Twitter.  If you’re sewing or quilting, check it out!

~Playing with fabric today!

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: Hampton Ridge, My Hand Quilt, Raining Cats and Dogs. Tags: , , , , . Leave a comment

12

Oct. ’13

What’s going on? It’s Saturday already?

I find myself this morning with a little time to actually update ya’ll on what I’ve been up to this week.  Wednesday passed me by before I realized that I forgot to do my WIP Wednesday post.  So, here’s an update on what I’ve been able to accomplish with my Get It Done list for this month –

  • First Quilt – October goal: Hand quilt border #2 and #3.
Border #2 is done and I’m working on Border #3.  I try to work on this one daily doing one string at a time while I watch TV with the kids or hang out with the hubby.  Lately I have been too tired and not in the mood to pick this up and quilt it.  I know it is going to take longer than the month of October to finish this border because it is bigger than the previous two borders and I plan to quilt it more than the other two.  That may be why I haven’t been as diligent to pick this up every day.  I want to try swirls but the other two borders are pretty much straight hand quilting and I’m afraid it might look weird if I start doing swirls at the very end.  What do you think?  Should I just do it?  
  • Easy Street – October goal: Get the backing done and baste it
I’m working on the backing now.  I’m actually half way done with it.  I pulled all the leftover fabric that I had and pieced them together.  I’m not sure I have enough though and I am going to try to finish the backing this weekend. 
Block #9 is done!  I finished it yesterday after work.  I want to start on the next block and have already pulled it out of that pile.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to get any of this started but my daily task includes hand applique and without this I will not have any hand applique to do. 
 
Block 9 - Done Raining Cats and Dogs

Block 9 – Done
Raining Cats and Dogs

LInking up with Quilt Story to share.

I haven’t touched this one at all.  I haven’t pulled fabric or even looked at the instructions.  I think this one will wait for a little while. 
  • Secret Project #1 – FINISH THE TOP, QUILT AND BIND!
I have two more borders (the top and the bottom) and that finishes the top.  I’ve got to get the backing pieced together.  Since this top involved two jelly rolls and I had a couple of coordinating charm packs, I basically am piecing all my leftover fabric together.  I’ve got a bunch of the rows completed for the back and once the top is really done I can size up the back so that I’ve got enough fabric pieced together.  I want to get both the top and back done this weekend.  
 

PIQF!

Pacific International Quilt Festival is coming up.  It starts Wednesday night and ends Sunday.  As I’ve posted previously, I’ve signed up for a few classes and I’ve been prepping the materials and supplies for each class.  I have only one class left to prepare for and I’ll be doing that this weekend. I wasn’t planning on going shopping but I was told that I HAVE TO GO shopping at this show. 🙂  So I cleared out my credit cards and saved some and I plan on checking out what is there.  I was told to check out the wool booths and to be sure to purchase LIGHTs.  Apparently while there are local shops I can purchase wool from here, it is difficult to find the light variations.  I was also told to get the thread/yarn necessary to applique wool from here as the selection and the price at the show is better than anywhere else.  I was given some more guidelines that I wrote down somewhere so I hope to be able to get some good stuff.  I’m so happy to have met really helpful ladies in my guild who can give me such insight!  I went to the Long Beach quilt show for a couple of years but didn’t have this kind of help so I pretty much just bought kits that caught my fancy.  While that is okay – I think I’m growing as a quilter.  I’m becoming more interested in the different tools that are showcased and how I can use them to help me with my quilting.  This is exciting for me and I’ll try to document this as much as possible!

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, Get It Done, Lucky Stars, My Hand Quilt, Raining Cats and Dogs. Tags: . Leave a comment

25

Sep. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 9/25/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly PiecedGetting it done – one piece at a time…

I’m a little late with this post. I kept meaning to post this but I’m off to LA tonight and had to get a ton of stuff done before I left. Nothing quilty today but I was able to get my quilt on over the weekend.

1. Raining Cats and Dogs – Block 9 – still working on this. I have about 5 more pieces left to appliqué and the embroidery to do. I’m not sure if I’ll have the time while I’m out of town to work on it but I brought it with me just in case. My goal is to work on it a little bit everyday. If I get it done then great, I’ll be thrilled. If not, I’ll just keep working on it.

2. my hand quilt – Working on quilting Border #2 – I’m actually almost done with this. But with me being out of town I will only have one or two days before the end of the month to do the last few. I’m not sure if it will get done. Oh well…this is the same as raining cats and dogs- just keep going and eventually it will get done.

3. Easy Street – I woke up Saturday morning just wanting to get this one done. So even though this isn’t on my to do list this month I worked on the border and got it all done! Now it’s time for the backing. I actually need to go through stash and will probably get to this next weekend. Those are mitered corners, folks! I wish I had thought to take a picture of them but I didn’t. I’ll have to remember when I get back home. It’s been awhile since I did mothered corners so I needed a refresher and checked out the tutorials online. I don’t think I saw any one that did a great job but what I did see brought back enough memories that I was able to put it together.

Easy Street Completed Quilt Top! with borders

Easy Street
Completed Quilt Top!
with borders

What’s on your WIP Wednesday?

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

See more WIP Wednesday posts at Freshly Pieced.

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . 2 Comments

18

Sep. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 9/18/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly PiecedGetting it done – one piece at a time

1. Raining Cats and Dogs – Block 9 – Because I spent the entire weekend away from my sewing machine I was able to get a lot done on this baby!  I’ve got about half of the pieces appliquéd down.  I’ve got one blue piece and all of the grey pieces left to do.  I still do not know if I’ll finish this this month though as I’ve got a lot to prep for PIQF and my Rainbow Garden BOM came in – if it wasn’t for the fact that I do not have any of the thread I apparently need I probably would have started it as soon as it came.  But I’ve got to wait for it.  More on that later! 🙂

2. my hand quilt – Working on quilting Border #2 – I’m working on the third side which should be done by my next WIP Wednesday post.

3. Easy Street – All of the rows are sewed together!  Yippee!!  The next thing is to add the borders but that will be on next month’s Get It Done list.  I’ve got to finish this month’s list before I start working on the next step!

Easy Street All blocks pieced together no border and not yet quilted

Easy Street
All blocks pieced together
no border and not yet quilted

4. Missing Ivy AKA Road to Brenham quilt with Judy at Patchwork Times – so all I wanted to do for this month was to get all my fabric.  I did and at the recent Camp Stitch with my guild I was able to start on step 1.  I didn’t finish it and again – I forced myself to stop as I’ve got additional things to do this month.

So – what’s left on my list…

5. Lucky Star BOM – I finished the 12.5″ block for the December practice block.  My points match better and the bulk wasn’t as bad.  I manipulated the bulky areas to help with keeping the points together and reducing some of the bulk.  It’s still not fun as I timed it and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to finish this block.  The pieces were already cut too!  I hope that it gets faster as I gain more experience because that is a long time to spend on one block!  Of course, it does look nice…

Lucky Star BOM December 2012 Practice Block 12.5"

Lucky Star BOM
December 2012 Practice Block
12.5″

and finally – the last thing on my Get It Done List –

6. A Rainbow Garden BOM – I must say the ladies that work at Primitive Garden are very nice and helpful.  After a bit of a snafu with my order they shipped the pattern and block pieces on Friday, 9/13/13.  I wasn’t expecting it until well – today.  But I received it on Monday, 9/16!  I do not know who they paid at the post office but that was FAST!  For anyone who is considering doing a mail order BOM – try to select something that you have experience in.  I realized when I got my package that I have no experience with wool and I had no idea what I needed to do.  I realized that with a mail order BOM I just wouldn’t – couldn’t really – get the same help that I expect with an in person – local quilt shop BOM.  Well – lesson learned.  I should have known that but with the excitement I had with BOM in July and August I wasn’t really thinking about that – I was just excited to have a BOM delivered to me in the mail!  But now I have to figure out how to applique wool!  I did what any person does in this day and age when confronted with something they do not know how to do – I Googled it.  And found out that I probably need a different needle and I need particular thread (or in this case threads).  So I emailed the ladies at Primitive Garden and ordered the thread that I would need for this month’s block.  Once I have that package, I can start working on this block.  I’m a little disappointed that I can’t tear into it now and start working on it but c’est la vie – I used my time wisely and started prepping my materials for the PIQF classes I will be taking in October.

What’s on your WIP Wednesday?

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

See more WIP Wednesday posts at Freshly Pieced.

Posted by . Categories: A Rainbow Garden, Easy Street, Lucky Stars, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . Leave a comment

15

Sep. ’13

Stash Report – 9/15/13

I wasn’t able to do much quilty wise this week. I did my dailies…. A bit of hand quilting and a bit of appliqué to push me forward on my hand quilt and Raining Cats and Dogs projects. I got sick in the middle of the week and have been battling it ever since! Life of a working mom doesn’t stop just cuz we get sick you know! I was able to get more of Easy Street done and I should have all the top (without the borders) finished tonight. So this is my big excuse as to why I have used Nothing! Zero! Nada! Oh well – there is next week.

To make the count better the last of my Labor Day purchases came in this week…3 yards for a super secret project I’m starting. More about that some other time.

Thank you to everyone who commented last week on how you count your used fabrics! It’s helpful for me to hear what other people do! As Norece commented the main point of the stash report is to try to use more than you buy and I have definitely not followed that principle this year. Part of the problem is that I just don’t think I’ve got a lot of stash. I guess that’s relative to each of us right? So while I don’t think 2-3 bins of just stash (not including kits and fabric I’ve put into a project bag) I really do not have any place to put it. That means I’ve got too much! 😉 So I’m going to try to only buy fabric when I need something for a project. But in terms of counting used fabric… Well it takes me forever to finish something so if I wait until I finish a project I will be discouraged at how little I use each week! I think I’ll count it as used when I pull fabric out of the stash and use it in a step or something. That way I’ll be able to count something!

I noticed this week that last week I talked about using 1 yard of fabric but in my count summary I actually tallied 2 yards as used. In case you happened to notice the inconsistency… Well the one yard extra was the one yard I took to do the first step of the Missing Ivy (Road to Brenham) quilt. Just in case you’re wondering!

Stash count: **I started counting 5/23/13…

Used this week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 17.5 yards
Added this Weeks: 3 yards
Added Year to Date: 141.75 yards
Net Added for 2013: 124.25 yards

see more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Posted by . Categories: My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

11

Sep. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 9/11/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly PiecedGetting it done – one piece at a time

1. Raining Cats and Dogs – Block 9 – I’ve got everything basted down and all I need to do now is applique all the pieces and embroider.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to get this one done this month but that’s okay.  The last block took me three months to finish so I’ll just concentrate on getting a bit done at a time.

2. my hand quilt – Working on quilting Border #2 – Finished quilting 2 sides of Border #2.  If I keep up at this rate, I should be able to get Border #2 quilted this month.  I decided not to do anything special with Border #2 other than the normal quilting I’ve been doing with the rest of the quilt.  If I finish quilting and I still have some time left in the month I may had a center swirly line in the middle of Border #2 to give it some flair but only if I have time to do so.

3. Easy Street – I’ve got all the blocks sewed in rows and now I’ve just got to get the rows pieced together.   I’m planning on putting a little border just to set it off a bit.  I was planning on quilting this on the long arm but I may just quilt it on my little Bernina.  I think straight quilting would be fine since the quilt itself is so busy.  Especially since it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to actually get certified on the Long Arm until November and then I will still need to practice.  I really want this one done this year and if I stick with the long arm idea, I do not think that that is going to happen.

4. Road to Brenham quilt with Judy at Patchwork Times – After last week I checked my fabric and realized that I didn’t have all the fabric.  I was missing the background fabric.  Well, thanks to my stash I was able to pull everything I needed from my stash (5 yards!) So all in all, I’ve set aside about 15 yards for this project.  Also, I’m changing the name of this quilt to “Missing Ivy”.  As I said in that quilt’s page, I am making it for my daughter because she is missing her old school a lot.  This quilt is being done in her old school’s colors.  The school’s name begins with Ivy so that’s why I’m calling it “Missing Ivy”.

Thanks for reading!

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, Month by Month, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . 2 Comments

04

Sep. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 9/4/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly PiecedGetting it done – one piece at a time

1. Raining Cats and Dogs – Block 9 – I finished piecing the background and tracing all my pieces last Monday (Thank you Labor Day for the extra time quilting!) I started basting down the pieces yesterday but only got one piece down.  I’ll continue to baste down pieces and hope to get this part done this week if not sooner.

2. my hand quilt – Working on quilting Border #2.  I’m almost done with 1 side!

3. Easy Street – Finished Block B this last weekend and laid out the entire thing on my floor – I do not have a design wall big enough to fit this monstrosity!  It’s the first quilt my dad has seen me lay out and he was amazed at how all the pieces fit as I was laying down each block.

4. Month by Month – my September Get It Done Goals included getting this quilted on the long arm.  I’ve never quilted on a long arm before and my LQS – the further one away – rents out their long arms.  Since I battled quilting Kayla’s Thirties Quilt with my little Bernina I wanted to check out this process with Easy Street.  It’s a pretty quilt but it’s big and I don’t want to use my little Bernina on it.  I also do not want to use that as my first quilt on a long arm.  So this quilt “Month by Month” – as it was my first practice quilt for machine piecing will be my practice quilt on a long arm.  In order to rent out the long arm, I have to take a class to become certified to rent.  I’m not available the next class date (9/14) so the next one after that is Oct. 26.  The weekend after PIQF.  I’m not sure if I could swing doing Quilt stuff two weekends in a row.  I do have to spend time with my family and work wise – October is one of the busiest months in the year.  The next one after that is Nov. 2.  So I’ve got 10/26 on my calendar as I’d rather get it done sooner.  However I’m not going to register for the class until we get closer to then.  I would say that I did as much as I could for this goal this month and I’m moving it off to October’s list.

5. Road to Brenham quilt with Judy at Patchwork Times – I’m pretty sure I’ve got all the fabric.  I purchased the darker blue and the lighter shade of blue and yellows.  I pulled some fabric from my stash to see how they play together.  I’ll have to check the fabric requirements and see but if I could get Easy Street done soon maybe I’ll get started on this.

Thanks for reading!

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, Month by Month, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . Leave a comment

28

Aug. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 8/28/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

I didn’t get a lot done the last week as I’ve been out of town.
1. Raining Cats and Dogs – I got a lot done on this one since its all hand applique and easy to do while travelling.  I surprised myself in that I finished everything that I brought with me.  I was disappointed that I didn’t bring more so I could finish the block – but how was I to know!  Usually I do not even take it out of my suitcase so I’m happy that I was able to finish what I did.  As of today, everything is basted and I just need to applique a few items down.  I’m almost done with the stem, then I’ve got 3 leaves, the flower, and 1 umbrella.  I’m really trying to get this done this month since it’s been on my get it done list these last 3 months. 🙂

2. my hand quilt – I still need to get through half of that inner border.  I finished one side of the border on Monday and I’m hoping to do the other 3 sides over the next few days.

3. Easy Street – I plan on touching this one over the weekend so we’ll see how much I’m able to finish.  I really want the first two done this week so I’ll be working on those before I touch Easy Street.  But those are hand work and this one is machine work.  And I easily get tired of hand work when I’m in the presence of my machine so I will probably just jump between these three projects depending on my mood.

On a personal note – the kids start school today so we’re all excited.  Not only is it the first day of school but it’s the first day at a new school.  They’re scared and nervous and I’m right there with them.

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, Kayla's Thirties Quilt, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . Leave a comment

21

Aug. ’13

WIP Wednesday – 8/21/13

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

I’m at Oakland Airport waiting to board my flight to Los Angeles and decided to stick with the program and let every one know my WiP progress.  I’m still working on my August goals:
1. A little bit of applique on Raining Cats and Dogs – not nearly where I want to be at this point but it’s all I brought with me on this trip so hopefully I’ll have a lot of it done by the time I get back up north.
2. Kayla’s Thirties Quilt – It’s all done!  yay – I finished it on Monday as quickly as I could.  Kayla wanted to use it right away.  She wouldn’t even let me wash it.  However – it’s been way to hot here in Fremont so it’s nicely folded at the edge of my bed waiting for her to take it.
3. Easy Street – Bonnie Hunter combined a bunch of things on that final step, didn’t she?  I finished the 16 blocks for the first block on step 8 but I still have to do the next one.  Then it’s time to combine it all.  I’m pretty sure that it will not be done this month but I am well on my way to finishing that top pretty soon.
4. my hand quilt – I still need to get through half of that inner border.  I’m back up north Monday, the 26th.  Ideally that would still be enough time to get what I need done before the end of the month but I’m not sure.  Kayla and I have taken to watching the first season of Once Upon a Time so it’s definitely possible. 🙂

Well – I’m off to LA!

~Wish I was quilting…

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: Easy Street, Kayla's Thirties Quilt, My Hand Quilt, Quilting, Raining Cats and Dogs, WIP Wednesday. Tags: . Leave a comment