Thousand Needles

TGIF, 4/24/2015

WIP Status:

Month by Month – off the frame but sprawled on the floor
4/10/15

Still on the floor where I left it although I’m hoping to get to this this weekend. I’ve only got the border to finish quilting then I can bind and label it and it’s done.

Tell It To The Stars
Designing the back
3/5/15

I actually removed this from the design wall. I’ll put it back up when I’m ready to actually piece the back together.

3. Scrapitude – Clue #3 is done and I’m planning on tackling Clue #4 this weekend.

Scrapitude
Clue #3
4/19/2015
just section A… forgot to take pictures of the whole piece!

4. Moon Glow – This is done for this month and I’ll add the next step to next month’s goal list.

Moon Glow
All blocks completed
Up on the design wall
4/16/15

My exciting news for today – #5 – Mini project – I finally got the first project of the book “Sew Practical” done. I still need to put more pins on it. In the book it has buttons that we make with fabric. I bought the supplies to do that but I wanted to use the bag to showcase some of my pins that I’ve accumulated. I’ve got more somewhere so as I find them, I’ll be attaching them to the bag. Next time I make this bag I will do the embroidery with thread that matches the inner lining. The instructions for this bag was pretty clear but there were some things I felt were left out. First – to use a quarter inch seam or a half inch seam or something else. The book didn’t say. I’m a quilter so my default action would be to use a quarter inch. However, I think I’m starting to be more familiar with bag making (this is, what, my 5th now?) and I decided to use a half inch. I worried until I got to the step, that when it came to putting on the bottom it wouldn’t fit properly. It wasn’t exact but it fit better than if I used a quarter inch. Second – when I made the lining, the instructions said to follow the same steps to make the external part of the bag. So I did. Then the next line said, leave a 6″ gap in one of the long sides. That one took me awhile to figure out but I had already followed the steps from before so I had to take my seam ripper out and re-do one of the sides to get that gap. And that was it… just two things that I didn’t understand and had to redo. I think this is a cute book bag to take to the library. I do not know if I will make another one. I don’t think it’s cute enough to make as a gift unless I change the fabric. There aren’t any pockets inside or anything. And it’s not that big. It’s about 15″ (H) x 13″ (L) x 3″ (D). But if I find I use it a lot then I might make more. Or, if I get more buttons.

4/24/15
Project #1 of the Sew Practical book

Happy Quilting everyone!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Bag Making, Quilting. Tags: bag making, bookbag, month by month, Moon Glow, scrapitude, Tell It to the stars, Whoop Whoop, Wips Be Gone. 3 Comments

Manic Monday – 4/20/2015

BOMs Away Monday:

Scrapitude
Clue #3
4/19/2015

I finished Clue #3 for Scrapitude. This picture isn’t all the pieces of Clue #3 – it’s only the first part of it. But I’d already put everything away until next time and I don’t have enough time to pull it out for a picture. I’m happy that this is done and as it usually is – it wasn’t as hard as I was thinking it would be.

Scrapitude – clue #4
Month by Month – finish quilting the border, bind and label.
Tell It To The Stars – finish the back, quilt on Bailey, bind and label.
Moon Glow – piece the blocks together.
Raining Cats and Dogs

Check out more finished BOMs at

For Design Wall Monday…

Moon Glow
All blocks completed
Up on the design wall
4/16/15

I finally updated my design wall with the completed Moon Glow blocks. Once all the blocks are pieced together, the next step is to get the borders on here. This is one I’ll be keeping on my bed!

See more design walls at Patchworktimes.com

Have a great week!

~Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Design Wall, Moon Glow, Quilting. Tags: BOM Away Monday, design wall Monday, Moon Glow, scrapitude. 1 Comment

TGIF, 4/17/2015

WIP Status:

Month by Month – off the frame but sprawled on the floor
4/10/15

Still on the floor where I left it.

Tell It To The Stars
Designing the back
3/5/15

I actually removed this from the design wall. I’ll put it back up when I’m ready to actually piece the back together.

3. Scrapitude – I still need to do Clue #3 and Clue #4. I’m not sure if I’ll get to this this weekend because I have something else on my projects list that I want to get done.

and for 4. Moon Glow -I’m super excited to have all the alternate blocks finished. The next step is to piece all the rows together –

Moon Glow
All blocks completed
Up on the design wall
4/16/15

Whoop whoop!

Happy Quilting everyone!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Quilting. Tags: month by month, Moon Glow, scrapitude, Tell It to the stars, Whoop Whoop, Wips Be Gone. 6 Comments

TGIF, 4/10/2015

I’m back on WIPs Be Gone! Woohoo!

WIP Status:

Month by Month – off the frame but sprawled on the floor
4/10/15

I finally finished quilting Month by Month on Bailey but I decided to quilt the borders separately on my domestic. It’s waiting on the floor for its turn on the Bernina. 🙂

Tell It To The Stars
Designing the back
3/5/15

The back of Tell It To The Stars is still on the design wall waiting for me to get to it.

3. Scrapitude – I still need to do last month’s Clue #3 and Clue #4 will be coming out shortly.

4. Moon Glow –

Moon Glow
Month 12 – taking up all my room on my sewing table
4/10/15

I’ve got one side put together on the last round of the 12 blocks for Month 12. I’m planning on getting this done this week so I can finish quilting the borders on Month by Month and then hopefully get Clue #3 started for Scrapitude. Those are my big plans for this weekend.

I’m back on the blogosphere! whoop whoop! I’m also back to doing a little bit of piecing every day! Whoop whoop! Here’s to getting our regular routine back! Cheers!

Happy Quilting everyone!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Quilting. Tags: month by month, Moon Glow, scrapitude, Tell It to the stars, Whoop Whoop, Wips Be Gone. Leave a comment

Mar. ’15

TGIF, 3/13/2015

WIP Status:

Month by Month on the mid arm
2/28/2015

It’s still on Bailey… It’s half way done, I’ve ordered needles and I am waiting for them. I went to Joann’s and found some but I don’t know if they’re the right ones. I hope I’ll have time Saturday morning to see if they will work but there’s a lot going on this weekend so I’m not sure.

Tell It To The Stars
Designing the back
3/5/15

The back of Tell It To The Stars is still on the design wall. I still need to throw up more of the little pieces together but I’m not in any rush so it’s just sitting there.

3. Scrapitude – Clue #3 just came out and my quilt mojo has left the building. It’s taking a break and I hope it comes back this coming weekend.

4. Moon Glow –

Moon Glow
Month #12
3/12/2015

Here’s where I got stalled. And it’s probably why it took so long for me to pull it out. Month #12 isn’t just a block or two to put together. There are 20 pieces of fabric that I’ve got to cut up. I’m working through step 5 now which is basically cut more strips. I don’t even get to break up the cutting with piecing. It’s just 8 fabrics that I have to cut into strips of 1-3/4″ each… 12 strips each fabric… /sigh. I do a little bit a day but it seems to take forever. /whine whine whine… sorry… It’s kind of why I haven’t been posting this week. I’m tired, I’m bored with all the cutting from Moon Glow and I’m trying really hard to stay committed and not start something new. I haven’t bought fabric although not because I’m diligent. I tried to go to LQS where I would have broken down but thankfully, they are closed on Sundays! I went to Joann’s for some other things and it’s only because I’m trying to keep the quilt shop quality fabric in my stash that restrained me from perusing the fabric aisles.

We’re getting closer to party central here at the house. My baby is turning 10! OMG! ;0 That’s happening next Saturday (21) and then I’ll be heading up north to go to my cousin’s baby shower. Then it’s spring break for the kids and we have another Vegas trip. This time it’s for 4 days and its with friends. We plan to eat, go to the pool and eat some more! 🙂 maybe throw a show in there too.

Happy Quilting everyone!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Quilting. Tags: month by month, Moon Glow, scrapitude, Tell It to the stars, Whoop Whoop, Wips Be Gone. 2 Comments

TGIF, 2/20/2015

WIP Status:

1. Scrapitude –

Scrapitude
Clue #2
Finished
2/14/2015

Finished Clue #2 for Scrapitude so I’m waiting for Clue #3 due out on 3/10/15. I’m enjoying this mystery. It’s relaxing, not too rushed, and the number of pieces are doable and not too overwhelming. This project is coming all from scraps or stash!

2. Tell It To The Stars –

Tell It To The Stars
Finished through
Border #4
2/18/15

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get a more recent picture but I’m lucky to have a few minutes to get this post out. I cut the beautiful fabric for Border #5 and pieced 1 side. It’s beautiful. I’m hoping to get the rest of it done this weekend.

It’s Friday! Whoop Whoop! Last night I went to an info night for prospective parents at one of the school’s the girl has applied to and I LOVED it. I love the philosophy, the community, the general vibe of the school and it’s students. I hope she gets accepted.

Happy Quilting everyone!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Quilting. Tags: scrapitude, Tell It to the stars, Whoop Whoop, Wips Be Gone. 8 Comments

Not so Manic Monday – 2/16/2015

Happy President’s Day! Today is not a work day for me and I’m so excited. We had a great weekend with Valentine’s Day, the hubby’s birthday and now today – a non work day! We have tentative plans to go to the outlets and down by the beach for crab for lunch or an early dinner. But we had a late night so the rest of the family is still in bed. I can’t stay in bed past 8am so here I am catching up on some sewing time before everyone wakes up. We’ll see if they still want to go out when they do wake up.

I have a few fruit trees in our back yard. I harvested the grapefruits yesterday and tried to give them away to our friends. Unfortunately no one wants them. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with them? My dad loves grapefruit and I would love to ship these to him but my mom says that it’s not good for him. Some thing about high blood pressure… So let me know if you’ve got any ideas. If I do not pick them now, they’ll just be on the ground and I hate to see good fruit go to waste like that.

Now that I’m done with Clue #2 of Scrapitude and I’ve finished the top for the secret project, I’m ready to pull out Tell It To The Stars.

Tell It To The Stars
Border #3 is on
2/9/15

I still have the 4th side of Border #4 and then I can move on to the final border (#5).

Check out more finished BOMs at

For Design Wall Monday…

Design Wall
2/16/15

I’ve got the month by month project from 2006 or 2007. I need to figure out what border(s) I want and then I will set this up on Bailey, the mid arm, for me to practice on. I want to get comfortable with the machine and then use it to quilt Tell It To The Stars afterwards.

See more design walls at Patchworktimes.com

And… my sewing room is clean…

… or as clean as it can be right now. You can’t tell but the floor is clear too.

Have a great week!

~Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Design Wall, Tell It To The Stars. Tags: BOM Away Monday, design wall Monday, grapefruit, month by month, scrapitude, Secret Project, Tell It to the stars. 4 Comments

Stash Report – Week 7, 2015

Yesterday, we had high tea at a new to me tea house in Woodland Hills. I was very surprised to learn that they were there for 10 years and I never knew about them. I love having high tea. I love to dress up, enjoy a good cup of tea, scones, etc. But, best of all, I love to talk with whoever comes with me about what’s going on and simply enjoy ourselves. The girl and I used to go to high tea when we were up north regularly. I hope we can continue that practice now that we’ve found and enjoyed this place. Maybe we can bring some friends to join us to share this experience.

Scrapitude
Clue #2
Finished
2/14/2015

Other than going to high tea, I spent most of the day in my sewing room. I finished clue #2 for Scrapitude.

“Lola”
2/15/2015

I cut the last two pieces of fabric and finished designing the secret project. I like it much better with the new additions. I’m glad I waited rather than just lived with what I had. The top is pretty much done. I’ve got 3 final rows to put together and then I can sandwich it and quilt it. The best part of this project was that I used the featherweight for the first time. I had to read the manual to learn how to put the bobbin in and thread the machine. It wasn’t difficult. But I was still scared. It’s a really old machine! But I LOVE it! The first few stitches were big stitches but once I figured out how to adjust the stitch length it was wonderful. They weren’t lying when people said that the stitches sew a nice straight line.

I also used the time to think about what I would name her. I’m not very creative with naming my machines. I’ve got Bernina and I’ve been thinking of the midArm as Bailey. But I couldn’t call this featherweight Singer, my first machine was a borrowed Singer from my mom. It worked but it was cheap and loud and when I got it going, it would shake the table I was on. It worked, it did it’s job, but I didn’t love it. So I can’t call the featherweight Singer. And I can’t keep calling it Featherweight. In my mind, it wasn’t working. I decided to call her “Lola”. In my culture, we call our grandmothers Lola. And that is what this machine reminds me of, an older lady, to be respected, and probably the kind of machine my Lola used if she sewed.

So on to the stash report – nothing was finished so nothing was used. Remember I received 3 pieces for the secret project so I added 1.5 yards. 🙁 That’s okay. I definitely bought way too much fabric for this project but I think I’ll be doing more secret projects to get the fabric used. Woohoo!

Used this week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: -14.25 yards
Added this week: 1.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 21.75 yards
Net Added for 2015: 7.5 yards

see more stash reports at

~Have a quilty week!

Melanie

Posted by Melaniesquilting. Categories: Quilting. Tags: Fabric Stash, Featherweight, high tea, Lola, scrapitude, Secret Project, Stash Report. 6 Comments