So Many Projects!

If you're like me, you don't just have one quilt or sewing project going at any time.  I make lists, so that I don't forget any of them and I try to rotate through and give each one a bit of attention.  Sometimes, however, I just have to start a new one, even though there are so many already in progress.  One of the things I love about my husband is that he doesn't even point out that I haven't finished the others when I start a new one.  Here are two in the queue, and one that's done. (an unintentional rhyme)

Remember this?  I started this a while ago, after buying the pattern last year.  I scrapped my original fabric choices and started again.

I made some progress on this one yesterday.  It's slow going for me because there is so much cutting and then trimming and then sewing...I will keep going, but this one will take longer than some.

 This is a new start.  I saw an offer of 50% off these fabrics from Fat Quarter Shop on facebook.  It is Zoofari by Riley Blake Designs.  I bought a total of 4 yards to make a new quilt for Baby B.  I thought pinwheels would be nice and quick. 

It's really cute fabric and I know he'll love it.  These are the first few pinwheels I made yesterday.  The dark blue is one I had in my stash, a Kona color.

Now, for the finish...and there's a story, but you knew there would be, right?

A few years back my daughter went to New York City.  She stopped in at the Purl and bought, among other things, a bundle of these cute fabrics.  She wanted to make a quilt, so I suggested patchwork as an easy one to do.  She cut them up small.  These squares are 2 inches!  Then, she did nothing with them.  Life happened and finally I stepped in and offered to sew them together for her.  This pile is what is still left at the end.  Here is what I made for her:

 Here is the quilting, in progress yesterday.  It was overcast and rainy, so the perfect day to quilt.

 I found, with the help of another member on flickr, some of the yardage with the hut on it.  I didn't know what it was, but turns out it's Tina Givens.  I was able to get another yard at Fabric.com.  I used it for the binding, although my original thought was to use it for the back.

 Here is the front of this bright and beautiful quilt.  I do love the way it all turned out.  Minimal planning went into this, but as often happens, it came together.

 I even had the perfect color for the quilting and stitching the binding.  What a pretty pink!

 I found some yellow in my stash that I made the border with to corral the squares.  It is the same 2 inch width as the squares.

 I absolutely love the back.  I found these two fabrics in my stash.  Both are Quilter's Candy from Connecting Threads.  I don't think the pictures do them justice.  So bright and pretty!

 Down in the bottom corner I cut and stitched one patch of the hut that I fussy cut.  I think it's perfect.

 This is a project that took a year, sandwiched in between so many other quilts, clothing and bags that I have made for friends and family.

I hope you have enjoyed this look today at some of my many projects.  They all get done eventually.
Have a great Monday.

Monday Musings

Don't you just love alliteration?  Me too.  So last week my daughter and her two littles came for dinner.  Baby B sat on an old quilt to eat, since we don't have a highchair at our house.  He is apparently really into self feeding now.  Food all over the quilt.  No sweat.  I make them to be used, I'll just wash it.

When it cam out of the dryer, it was a bit of a mess.  It was coming apart at the edges and the batting was coming out.

 This was a quilt I made back in the late 90's.  It was a queen size quilt that I made in a class, machine stitched and hand quilted.  It lived on our bed for about 5 or so years.  I love that quilt.

Sadly, I am a bit of a lazy quilter.  When I bound the edges, I did not do a good job.  Back then, I really hated that step in the quilting process.  So in this case, I folded the edges of the back over to the front and hand stitched them down.  Done...right?  Lesson learned.  That doesn't work well for the long run.

 Here is one corner of my quilt.  It is hard to tell how worn this quilt is.  It has been much loved and washed and dried countless times.

 I dug around in my scrap bins to see if I had any scraps left from this quilt.  Who am I kidding, of course I did.  I hoard save everything.

See how faded the quilt truly is?  I tend to forget that.  But it still gets so much use in our house.

Here is some of the leftover binding strips I saved from various quilting projects.  I never know when I might need a piece for something, right?  So I pulled some out looking for the appropriate length.

And now my old quilt has added color strips on the formerly black edges.  I kind of like it actually.  It speaks to me of love.  And yes, that is double folded binding.  I somehow realized that was best, I don't know when.  It was after this quilt came to be though.  So, lesson learned and I hope others will learn from this too.  It's worth the time.
Have a great day.

Friday Finishes

Well, yes, here I am back again today with not one, but two finishes.  I have wanted to get these done since I got this fabric:

This is Locally Grown by Andover Fabrics.  It is a cute collection of farmyard prints.  The most unusual thing to me was the use of so many different greens. There are 3 different greens in this collection.  Each is cute, but it makes it look like more than one fabric collection. Okay...moving on.

 I wanted to make a market bag for my daughter and one for me, to take to the farmer's market this spring/summer.  I had this idea in my head of how I wanted it to be.  For the first time, I was able to translate that into this.

 She loved the chickens the best, along with the chicks and eggs, so I used those.  I  wanted a flat bottom, outside pockets for phone etc. and handles that go under the bag for added strength.  I was able to do all that.

 It's big and roomy and the lining is a cherry print by Mary Englebrite.  I put a piece of heavy duty Peltex in the bottom, between the lining and the outside fabric to lend a bit of structure to the bottom of the bag.  I had it leftover from the diaper bag I made last year.

 Here you can see the chickens and the pockets from the blue chicks and eggs fabric.  The pocket piece is only on one side and is divided by the handles into 3 smaller pockets.  I don't know if you can see, but I sewed one of the chickens on the back of my label.  Too cute to not use every bit!

 The handles are made from the chicks and eggs fabric as well.  Then I used a bunch of twill ribbon I had been saving off of Moda fat quarter bundles.  I knew it would come in handy eventually.  The handles are just one big loop that goes under the bag and up the sides to make the handles.  This adds strength underneath the bag for heavy produce.  I will be making another one for me very soon.

 Next up, another wide mouth pouch, this time made with the green meadow from Locally Grown  I was originally going to make the market bag from this, but daughter wanted another pouch for knitting projects.  Seems they are handy for that. The lining is a plue from the Sweetwater Noteworthy collection.

 I made a bigger zipper end because this sheep is too cute to cut up.  Love him there on the end.

 And the cute little ring of flowers and kids? I couldn't just leave it bare...so I put her initial in it.

 I did it on my machine with my Bernina stitch regulator.  I had to put a small bit of batting behind it for stability, but it worked.

 All ready for another knitting project.  Have a great weekend!  Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Finish it up Friday!

It's Thursday

Not a great title for a post, I know, but I have a crappy cold and it's only 43 degrees and windy here.  Yuck! It's supposed to be much warmer. This is the south you know.  Anyway.  Sewing has been slow going lately due to life getting in the way.  I know you know how that feels, right?  Here is a little of what I have been doing:

 A new pair of Big Butt Baby Pants for baby B.  His mom came over and shopped my stash for fabric combos.  This is the first of 5 pair she picked fabrics for.  Love the cute argyle print.  You can't tell so well in the picture, but the tiny crisscross stripe is a reddish orange that matches the Kona tomato solid.

                               Here it is a bit closer.  So cute!

 This is a Ragged Squares quilt I have been wanting to make for a long time.  I first saw it here, and I loved it.  When I made the Divided Basket by Anna of Noodlehead, I had these 3 inch squares that were cutouts from the side pieces.

 I never throw anything away, and I thought they'd be great for something.  Turns out they were just the right size for the smallest square in this quilt.  I made all the blocks first and then spent a couple of days rearranging them on my design wall until I was satisfied.

 The small squares are perfectly perched in two colorways and some green and white chevrons .  The other sized squares are from several different lines, including Sherbet Pips and some older fabric from Me and My Sister designs.

Now I just have to quilt it.  It's going to make a great quilt for the kids to lounge around with.  Have a great rest of the day.

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Help! An Informal Survey

I have been thinking lately about getting a new ironing board.  Wanna see why?  Take a look...

 Because while it looks okay from the top, with a new-ish cover from Target (Must be at least the 7th or 8th one), the rest of it is pretty ugly.

                           Rust and dust and yucky stuff...

                             Even the feet look pretty worn and dirty...

And where the legs join is gross too.  Now you might think all this is just cosmetic, but this ironing board was bought in 1978 in a Sears catalog store in Columbia Missouri.  We weren't even married then and my then future husband was getting his undergrad degree.  This ironing board bangs and pops quite a bit when the hot steam hits it.  I am also not a great fan of the legs/feet on this model.  So, here is where I need some help.  I went on line to research ironing boards and came away more confused than ever.  Answer me these questions:
1. Do you love, or even like your ironing board?
2. Where did you purchase it?
3.Would you recommend it to someone else?
I am serious here people...the on line reviews have been less than helpful, so I am turning to you, my followers for help.
Step up and speak up.  Can't wait to see what you all have to say on this.
Happy Wednesday!

Works In Progress

I have so many of these right now.  I still need to finish piecing my spools quilt top.  I need to baste and quilt the postage stamp quilt for my daughter. And since I don't have enough to do, i am getting ready to start another quilt.  Lemme 'splain...

I made the green Dresden for the Sew We Quilt blog hop, Dare to Dresden.  I was going to make a pillow.  Now I am making 5 more Dresdens and this will become a quilt. They are all made with the Ombre Dots fabric.  I am loving how they look.

I bought the pattern for the Retro Flowers Quilt quite awhile ago.  I finally made the first one and then changed all the fabrics I chose from my stash to follow another path.  So I am working on this one too.

I am also waiting for some fabric to come in the mail for a ragged squares quilt.  Crazy Mom, Amanda Jean made one a few years back and I have wanted one ever since.  I just can't sew fast enough to get all this done.  I am afraid I will come up with more ideas before I finish what I have already started.  Eeeek!

What do you do when this happens to you?