What I worked on this afternoon....

Connection Threads came through! A HUGE box arrived on my doorstep today, with FOUR king sized pre-packaged quilt batts and this lovely 'Salt & Pepper' thread pack.

I'll see you all later!

W.I.P. Wednesday

W.i.P. Wednesday is here again. Be sure to click the link above to see what everyone else is up to!

Finished Projects:

~ I finished the Modern Quarters Baby Quilt this week. It will be going to my local hospital foundation, along with the Kaleidoscope quilt I finished a few weeks ago. The original inspiration for this quilt came from the Modern Halves Quilt, though I ended up taking it in a different direction. I am really happy with this finish!

Ongoing Projects:

~ Chrysalis and Sparkle are still awaiting quilting. My shipment from Connecting Threads (batting and thread) should arrive this week, then I will be underway.

~ Sewing machine cover. I finished the top for this project this week, and in the end am very happy with it, buuuuuuut.....I'm re-thinking it as a cover for my sewing machine. I've decided I don't really love the open sides of a cover this style. Our house is SO dusty for some reason and I really think I need to protect my machine more. So I got to thinking, hmmmm, I wonder if the cover I made for my old Janome would fit? And you know what? It does!! Well, pretty much. Close enough.

But back to the on-point-former-sewing-machine-cover. I ended up needing to trim it quite a bit and add borders in order to square it up, but I think I like it even more bordered than without. I think it will eventually become a mini wall-hanging, probably to be hung near my sewing machine.

I thought this was fun (below pic) - this one little square of Hometown text fabric shows both the city where I was born, as well as the city that I spent a good chunk of my growing up years and where I was married and where our first baby was born. Had to make sure it was included!

~ Pulled out the old Swoon pattern and some white and print flannel that I had, and made one Swoon block. Need a buy a bit more flannel to border it, and will turn it into another baby quilt for the hospital. It will be soft and snuggly, though I must say, flannel creates a LOT of lint in the sewing machine!



Which leads me to.....

~ I ordered something like this:

A mini vacuum attachment set. I hope it actually works and that it is not totally gimicky and useless. I'm determined to take really good care of my new machine!!

~ Google Friend Connect - I posted about how confused I was about this whole thing, and really things are no clearer now than when I wrote that post, but I've decided to just roll with it. Do I want to lose readers? No. So I do hope that those of you who subscribed to my blog via google friend connect who do not have a blogger blog, will consider re-subscribing through Google Reader or Bloglines or whatever other feed reader you prefer. At this point I'm not going to do anything else in particular and will just see how the transition goes. I hope you stick around!

Google Friend Connect confusion

I'll admit, I'm pretty confused about the upcoming changes to the Google Friend Connect system!! My understanding is that as of March 1st, people with non-blogger blogs will no longer be able to use GFC. Correct?

At first, I thought "oh, no big deal" because I personally do not subscribe to blogs through GFC. I go the old fashioned route, manually clicking the "subscribe" button in my Google Reader, then cutting and pasting whatever web address I want to subscribe to. This is what works for me, and I'm sticking with it! However, I failed to realize that there are people who subscribe to my blog through GFC who do not have blogger blogs, and if my current subscribers do not have a blogger blog, they will no longer be able to follow my blog without making a change to how they do so!

SO, is it up to me to provide an alternative for you my blog readers, or is it up to you if you want to remain updated on my blog posts? I've seen Blog Lovin' being used lately, but personally I don't want to start another thing - I like my Google Reader and want to stick with it the way I have been.

Could someone shed some light for me?

Modern Quarters Baby Quilt

This project started out with great intentions of being a Modern Halves Quilt, however, my meager selection of scraps, particularly of the longer variety, soon put a halt to that idea. I stopped with 4 blocks finished, then it sat.

Eventually I decided to slice the 4 blocks into quarters and reassemble them. I began to like it more and more. Add in some neutral borders to create an off-set block design, a bright orange backing & binding, some heavy straight line quilting, and we'll call it done! It measures in at about 27"x27", a pretty small baby quilt!

I wanted to accentuate the on-point diamond shape in the center, so that's where I started with the quilting lines, 1/2" apart. Then I moved on to the four corners of the main center square, also with lines quilted 1/2" apart, and finally a few wider-spaced lines in the borders.

And finally, a close-up of the quilting and backing fabric. I really love how the back looks! This quilt, along with the Kaleidoscope quilt that I finished a few weeks ago, will be going to our local hospital foundation.

Sneezy Friday update

I think I'm not the only one sniffling and sneezing these days. I've felt it coming on all week, just tired and lethargic, and today it's made its way into my sinuses. Ugh. It's a really wet day today, chilly outside and pouring rain, so I'm inside with my fireplace and my coffee and my sewing! Not altogether bad.

Anybody else do this? Pull top threads to the bottom, knot them and bury them on the back of the quilt? I don't like how it looks to backstitch on a quilt, so this is what I do. And actually, I don't mind, it sort of breaks up the time at the sewing machine which I like. I sew a section, then sit on the couch and knot/sew in ends. Kind of relaxing.

{this is the back of my Modern Quarters baby quilt....fun fabric, don't you think?}

I finished the top for my sewing machine cover, and it has a few issues. It ended up wildly un-square, though you may not be able to tell from the photo, and it's not exactly the right size. It's right length-wise, and about 4" too wide. So I think I'll need to do a fair bit of tweaking and I'm not really feeling the love for it right now. We'll see. I do want to re-visit this whole "on point" thing at some point, maybe this or this.

And finally, I saw these patterns this week through the Pink Chalk Fabrics newsletter and I LOVE all of them! Anyone else see these? What do you think? (click photo below to take you there!)

Okay, well that's it for me for this week I think. Have a great weekend everyone.

W.I.P. Wednesday

Hmmm, I just looked back at last Wednesday's post and there is not much new around here since then! I made 2 blocks just for fun, a drunkard's path - which I made into a mini, FMQ and bound - and also a modernized pinwheel block.

Sewing machine cover - the extra fabric I needed to complete the sashing and borders on this arrived today so I am back in business on at least one project! I am following the general idea of Svetlana's tutorial, and using the instructions from this baby lattice quilt for how to do the whole "on point" thing, which is new to me. Also I was made aware of this resource page from Lauren & Jessi which helps you calculate corner and side setting triangles, among other things, which is coming in very handy for this project! Aaaaand, some extra clarification from Tracey in this great post....yes, this one's been a learning process! It still needs the long sashing pieces between each row, and of course assembly.


Other than that, I'm mostly just waiting on a Connecting Threads order with a bunch of batting and thread. I have 2 large-ish quilts (Chrysalis and Sparkle) and 1 small-ish quilt (Modern Quarters Baby Quilt) in the queue for quilting and am itching to get started. Today I prepared the backing for the Chrysalis quilt, see lower left photo in collage below. I had the orange/cream print, but also had a few blocks leftover from the quilt top so decided to incorporate them into the back. It's nothing too special, but I'm glad to use up the leftovers.

And finally, two other things to note. First, I found a hera marker yesterday! Excited to try that out. Thanks again to everyone who offered to send me one - turns out, it was right under my nose...well, actually, around the corner. :)


And lastly, Jenelle @ Echinops and Aster posted a tutorial this week for an easy way to make EIGHT half square triangles at once. Yes, eight! I have not tried this method out yet, but it makes perfect sense and she has very clear instructions and photos to help. I intend to try it next time I'm in need of HSTs.

Modernized Pinwheel block

Since so many of my larger projects are on hold right now, waiting for supplies, I've been trying out some of the blocks I've bookmarked, just for the fun of it. Last week I made this drunkard's path block, to try the block and to practice my FMQ, and this weekend.....

I saw this potholder pattern and loved the look of it, so decided to give the block a try. This greatly resembles the Firecracker Quilt by Jaybird Quilts, though on a much smaller scale, as each individual square within the block measures only 2.5". The potholder tutorial uses a printed template which can either be used to paper piece, or to foundation piece on a solid square of fabric. I chose to paper piece, which in the end was a lot of printing and cutting and planning and fiddling and tearing for such a simple block!!

And now, I really need to stop making blocks without a plan for them, as fun as they are to make. Can someone tell me when my batting is going to arrive?? The tracking info given by Connecting Threads is less than helpful! Hopefully this week. I can't wait to get back to the Chrysalis and Sparkle quilts.

FMQ - it's still pretty novel....

I hope you don't mind another FMQ post! I now have a stack of good-for-nothing practice sandwiches that have accumulated on my ironing board, which is all fine and good but I wanted to try FMQ on an actual....something.

A few days ago I took out some scraps and made a little drunkard's path block, which turned out cute but I did not enjoy that process. Maybe something that gets easier as you do it? Well I wasn't itching to do anymore d.p. blocks right at that moment so I took the one I made, framed it with some plain white cotton flour sack material and finished it off with some free motion, and I have to say, I like it!! It was tricky, because I was purposely using thread that would blend (as opposed to thread that was strongly contrasting as I did on my practice pieces) I had a really hard time seeing where I had been and where I still needed to go. Also I started in the middle which was maybe not the best place to start. But in the end I am happy with it. I still have lots of learning to do, my stitches vary quite a bit in length, but for the most part my tension is okay and I'm starting to get more comfortable with the feel of it all, so I'm happy! This little one measures in at about 11"x11".

Linking up to Little Quilt Monday @ Pieceful Life

W.I.P. Wednesday

Hello again! It's W.I.P. Wednesday again, and I really feel like I have a lot of projects on hold right now, but a summary anyways....

Completed Projects:

My Modern Mini Challenge quilt is finished, but since the submission date isn't until March 5th, a teaser will have to suffice for now. ;-) I love how it turned out. Bright and cheerful and feels like spring to me. If you haven't considered joining yet, there's still time! Awesome prizes too....

Ongoing Projects:

~ Sewing machine cover - this isn't new progress, but it's the first photo I've shown. I'm going for an on-point 4 patch design with gray borders, and it's the gray fabric that has this project on hold. The fabric was leftovers from the Chrysalis quilt but I don't have enough!! Awaiting a delivery... The majority of the prints I used were from a charm pack that I received from Elizabeth.

~ Chrysalis quilt and Sparkle quilt - both awaiting batting, basting & quilting!

~ FMQ - I've been doing some more practicing, and it is coming SO much easier now. I bought some ugly cheap fabric yesterday and made another quilt sandwich and gave it another go, and honestly the back almost looks the same as the front. Believe me when I say, I was utterly shocked!! Now to decide which actual project to use free motion on - maybe the sewing machine cover, after some more practice. I've been watching lots of Leah Day's videos which have been so helpful and I highly recommend them.

~ Modern Quarters baby quilt - I'm trying to get in touch with my local hospital to see what kinds of needs they have for baby quilts. I know that our local guild, which I am not a part of, does donation quilts for the hospital so I'm sure there must be a way for an individual to contribute as well.

Upcoming Projects:

Nothing! Can you believe it? I think I'm feeling like I have enough on the go at the moment that needs to get finished. I'm not one who likes to have languishing projects, and right now I think I have enough to keep myself occupied for a little while. :)

Tuesday at the Table

I don't think I have ever posted a recipe on my blog. I am not one who particularly loves to cook or bake, I tend to stick with the "same old" recipes, that keep us fed but never really seem worth sharing. But since it is Valentine's Day, and it is "Tuesday at the Table", (and Debbie is offering a prize....) I figured why not!

We don't often have dessert at our house, but today I decided to make something. This is a "same old" recipe, but it is so good and we all like it, so for Valentine's Day it seemed like a good choice!

Chocolate Cobbler

1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp, plus 1/4 cup baking cocoa, divided
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1-3/4 cups boiling water

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and 2 Tbsp cocoa. Stir in milk and oil until smooth. Pour into 8x8 greased baking pan. Combine brown sugar and remaining cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle over batter. Pour boiling water over all (do not stir!). Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm. Yields 6-8 servings.

P.S. I would recommend putting a larger baking sheet or tin foil under the pan, as the cobbler tends to bubble over a bit!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monday update...

Happy Monday everyone! Though I'll admit I'm not a fan of Mondays or mornings, I'm trying to make the best of it. I saw that Megan featured my Sparkle Quilt top on her post today, so that was neat!! I have errands, laundry & cleaning on the agenda for today, but until then, some Monday morning updates. :)

{Modern "Quarters" Quilt}

As I've mentioned before, this one started out as the Modern Halves Quilt, until my appropriately sized scraps ran out, and they ran out FAST! So instead of slicing them into halves, I cut them in quarters and reassembled. Then last week I added the neutral borders and it's been hanging on the back of my (desperately in need of paint) bedroom door. It is small, only about 28" square. I had intended it for a baby quilt for charity, do you think it's too small for that? I've sent to Bumble Beans in the past and they say all sizes welcome, but I don't know, it just feels so...small. What do you think?

{Modern Mini Challenge Quilt}


I'm just about ready to call this one done, but so close to the end, I ran out of white thread! Grrrr. A sneak peek is all you're going to get today, as the official 'due date' for this challenge isn't until March 5th. I don't know if I can wait that long, I love how it turned out!

{Pinterest}

I went so far as to get an invite to join, then found out that you need a Facebook or Twitter account in order to join Pinterest. That was my answer right there - I don't do Facebook or Twitter and have no desire to, therefore Pinterest is a no-go for me too at the moment. But I am okay with that.

{FMQ}

I haven't been doing too much practicing since the other day when I last posted. Today I intend to go to the fabric store and see if I can find some super cheap quilting cotton in their liquidation center so I can practice on something I know I won't need for any other purpose. Thanks to everyone for your kind words of encouragement. I think once I 'get' this FMQ thing, it'll be something I'll really enjoy!

{Connecting Threads}

I just ordered a ton a batting from Connecting Threads (at my husband's insistence, seriously!), and also bought a pack of their Essential Cotton Quilting Thread to try out. Has anyone used their thread? I'm hoping it's awesome, as the price is SO good compared to what I normally pay for my trusty Gutermann thread locally.

Alright, that's about it for me for today. Time to get my day going!

FMQ - check it out!

Thank you to everyone who offered me suggestions in my last post regarding free motion quilting. These are the changes I've made so far, and have had SO much better success today!

• used a 90/14 quilting sewing machine needle
• feed dogs down, no change to stitch length
• upped my top tension to 6 (it's usually at 4)
• set my machine speed control to about halfway and mostly kept the pedal all the way down when stitching

I felt a bit more in control when practicing today, could actually direct the fabric where I wanted it to go and was even able to 'write' my kids' names in cursive, which they were pretty pleased about!

So here's how it looks from the front..... (you should be able to click on the photo and get a more detailed view)

.....and from the back (just that one little "nest", not sure what happened there!)

So I feel like I'm learning, and it's fun and so rewarding so far!! I cannot imagine doing this on a whole quilt, even a mini let alone a full size quilt, but at least now I feel like I'm heading in the right direction and it's not quite as scary anymore!

Random

Just a few random thoughts/questions/wonderings for you today!

1. Half Square Triangles - this is what my HSTs look like when I sew them. See how it has quite a bit of a wave to it? Mine are always like this, they never lay flat. Then, when sliced into two and pressed, they still don't lie totally flat. See how the fabric sort of bubbles up at the points where the seam is? Is this normal? Is there something I could do to improve my HSTs? It makes seaming them together a little tricky sometimes.

2. I REALLY want to try this. A "Linding" - label and binding in one! I've been playing around with my machine's alphabets and still have some tweaking to do, but I think this is so cool!! I saw this on the blog "from blank pages" and received her permission to share it. Does anyone else think this is as cool as I do???

3. Free Motion Quilting - I have made a very preliminary first attempt!! Asides from it feeling totally awkward and my twirls and swirls are completely random and I felt like I couldn't really direct them at all, I thought that it didn't look too bad!! Until, I looked at the back. Ugh. I had my feed dogs down (I know some prefer it with feed dogs up) and I tried to change my stitch length to 0 but it would only go as small as 0.2 so that's what I did. Any tips?? I'm thinking this is a tension issue but who really knows??!! The top two photos in this collage show the front and the bottom two show the back. What do you think?

4. I'm thinking of joining Pinterest. Am I the last one to join? Do you love it, dislike it, or are you meh about it? I have been using Evernote, which I actually really really like and will continue to use, but the concept of Pinterest is a neat one in that you can get inspiration from so many other people's stuff and not just your own favourites. Hmmm.

Alright, that's about it for me today! I finished the quilt top for my mini challenge quilt and it is super cute. :)