Five Shadows

Happily, I got the 2 borders on the quilt for my son and daughter-in-law. I was coming down with some bug, and didn’t even think to get a photo with them holding up the quilt top while they visited this past weekend. Sigh.

So here is a photo of one corner of the finished quilt top. The fabrics are Northcott and Moda Marbles.

Cushion covers! I finished 2. Still have not made it to the store to buy one more zipper. I seam to be spending most of my time since Saturday fighting this bug. Too much coughing and not enough sleeping.

That’s all for this week. I hope you are all staying well. I think I’ll go back to bed now as I got so little sleep last night.

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Continue sewing cushion covers. ✔️
2. Cut and attach border to Remembering Victoria quilt. ✔️
3. PJs. ✗

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Sew back for son’s quilt.
2. Finish center sofa cushion.
3. Working on Leah Day’s 2016 BOM.

Linking to To-Do-Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Catching up! Slowly I go. November and December blocks from Leah Day’s 2016 Machine Quilting Block Party are quilted! The next step is putting all the blocks together in Leah’s quilt-as-you-go method. I’ll be so happy to have this one checked off my list. Too bad I didn’t keep up with it, I fell behind in November.

Actually, Leah shared instructions back in September to start the quilt-as-you-go method, so I’m really behind since September, as I don’t have any of the blocks sewn together.

Another project I have going (bought fabric about a year and a half ago) is making a slip cover for my sofa. I’ve been working on covering the cushions this week. I got pieces cut out  - had to work up my nerve to cut into that fabric! Today I sewed 2 zipper closings. What in the world happened to that third zipper? Looks like I need to run to Joann’s for a third zipper.

And since I like hopping around from one project to another before finishing one. UGH! Why do I do this to myself? I also calculated out borders for the quilt I’m making for my son and DIL. Sadly this is another UFO as I got to one point in the piecing and just didn’t like the quilt. I’m convincing myself to finish it. Son and family will be in town next weekend, so I really need to got those borders cut and attached so I have progress to show them!

This is an old photo. The blocks are now finished & sewn in rows, and ready for borders. This quilt is Remembering Victoria from Elm Creek Quilts book.

How is your week going? Have you ever started a quilt for someone and just didn’t like it? How did you solve the problem?

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Sew cushion covers for sofa.  ✗  I should have said sew three zipper strips.  But I even failed at that b/c I only have 2 zippers. Oops! Need to run to Joanns for a third zipper.
2. Mark and quilt last 2 blocks from Leah Day’s BOM. ✔️
3. Plan borders for enlarged Remembering Victoria pattern from Elm Creek Quilts book. This quilt is for my son and DIL. She picked out the pattern and fabrics. ✔️ Got it figured out.
4. Pjs??? ✗ I really don’t like making garments, alas, not even really simple ones.

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Continue sewing cushion covers.
2. Cut and attach border to Remembering Victoria quilt.
3. PJs.

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Last year I took part in Sandy’s One Block Wonders of Upstairs Hobby Room. This week I basted, quilted and bound the top I pieced back in March of 2016. I did walking foot quilting in a simple wavy stitch. I stitched down the center of each pieced row and then also stitched diagonally right to left following the center and edges of the ‘block’ as my guide line. The binding is scrappy, using strips from the line of fabric.

The top was made from Raindrops by Lonni Rossi for Andover Fabrics and Kona Snow for the background. The quilt is 60″ square. I used Warm & White batting.

Close up of quilting, using King Tut Quilting Thread by Superior Threads, 40 weight, Rainbow variegated color number 921. I used The Bottom Line by Superior Threads, 60 weight, color number 650.

There was a call for quilt donations for those affected by the Smoky Mountain/Gatlinburg fires. As I understand it, quilts will be collected through January 31st. Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild is collecting quilts. This quilt is heading there.

I’m still behind on Leah Day’s 2016 Machine Quilting Block Party. I have the last 2 blocks pieced but not yet quilted.

November’s block.

December’s block.

A new project for this year is making a slip cover for my living room sofa. I can check off making the piping for the cushions.

The piping is sitting on the fabric that will cover the cushions. Next up, sewing the cushion covers.

Maybe this should be a separate post, but, I have organized my quilting plans for 2017. I’ve organized my quilting notebook into the following categories: Quilts to Finish Piecing, Quilt Tops to Sandwich and Quilt, Quilts to make on my ‘Wish to Make’ list.

I’m particapating in One Monthly Goal  hosted by Elm Street Quilts. At the beginning of each month I’ll post which quilt I’ll focus on, taken from one of the three lists above, and then at the end of the month I’ll share how I progressed. Hopefully there will be 12 finishes by the end of the year!

I’m tickled to already have my One Monthly Goal completed and will move on to another. How are your goals for the New Year coming along?

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Finish pjs. ✗ Sigh. Didn’t touch them this week.
2. Continue thinking about that slip cover? OK, I’ll break it down into smaller tasks – this week make piping for the cushions. ✔️ Success!
3. Plan an attack on WIP from 2016. ✔️ I have my
4. Piece November and December’s blocks from Leah Day’s 2016 Sunshine Surprise Quilt-as-you-go BOM. ✔️

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Sew cushion covers for sofa.
2. Mark and quilt last 2 blocks from Leah Day’s BOM.
3. Plan borders for enlarged Remembering Victoria pattern from Elm Creek Quilts book. This quilt is for my son and DIL. She picked out the pattern and fabrics.
4. Pjs???

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Connie over at Freemotion By The River shared that she will be particapating in a few challenges this year. And that got me to thinking about how to prioritize the quilts I hope to complete this year. I took a look at her link to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and I think that might be a good fit for me. I followed All People Quilt UFO Challenge last year, but only finished five of the quilts I listed. Actually, I only worked on five, and never even touched the others.

My January goal will be to quilt & bind the top I pieced in March of 2016 from One Block Wonders BOM.

I am going to continue to post To-Do Tuesday lists hosted by Christine of Stitch All The Things, where I list what sewing, crafting, quilting things I want to accomplish each week. This week I want to finish 2016 November and December’s blocks from Leah Day’s Sunshine Surprise.

I also have 2 sewing projects I hope to make headway on this week, pjs and piping for a sofa cushions I hope cover – soon.

Here’s hoping for a productive 2017!

What do you have planned for this New Year?

Linking to One Monthly Goal.

The Big Count. Hmmmm, looking over my records, I have various types of quilts and projects in various stages from 2016. By listing them in groups, here is how 2016 turned out in my sewing world.

Customer quilts, 10 projects completed

1. one baby quilt
2. 6 t-shirt quilts
3. 2 pillows
4. 1 hobo bag

Longarm quilted quilts: I don’t own a longarm, but a friend offered hers for my use.

1. King size quilt my daughter pieced for her new home.
2. Timeless Tradition which I gifted to my brother and his wife for Christmas.

Quilt Alongs:

1. Christa Quilts Facets quilt with free motion quilting. It is one of my favorites for the year all complete from piecing to FMQ.
2. Tribal Block Club with 12 Spools, top completed and then altered. Back made, not quilted.

Block of the Month:

1. One Block Wonders with Upstairshobbyroom. 9 block patterns presented to create whatever you liked from the block. Of the 9 months, I completed 2 quilts, have 6 as tops ready for quilting, and 1 with only 2 blocks made.

• January – paper piecing, I only made 2 blocks but cut fabric for a lap quilt. Got to get back to this one.
• February – pieced a small table topper, not quilted
• March – lap size quilt, not quilted, love this quilt!
• April – baby size quilt, not quilted
• May –  table runner, pieced and quilted and a favorite!
• June – table topper, not quilted
• July – table topper, not quilted, but another favorite.
• August – table topper, not quilted kind of large, might make into a baby quilt.
• September – paper piecing, table topper, pieced and quilted, and another favorite.

Here are a few pictures of my favorite completed quilts from 2016:

Baby Olivia quilt!

Facets Quilt-Along:

Back of Facets showing the Free Motion Quilting:

Close up of turtle scene on the King size bargello quilt:

One Block Wonder, May, I added the appliqué and turned the pieced blocks in to flowers:

One Block Wonder, September:

Timeless Tradition BOM started 2015 and completed December 2016:

What 2016 projects are you most pleased with? I’d love to hear!

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. I found the flannel for the pjs! Now to make them! – Kind of! I got the fabric cut and the sewing started, not completed yet.
2. Slip cover for the sofa. This is going to be a challenge. I bought the fabric 2 years ago and have put off making the cover since then. With all the Christmas gifts completed and gifted, I really want to conquer this slip cover before starting another quilt! ✗ Does thinking about it count? Life was just too busy with family and parties as the New Year rolled in!
3. Plan out my sewing projects for the New Year! ✗ Nope! But as you see I did revisit accomplishments from 2016! And, oh! I did print out some freebies that will help organize 2017.

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Finish pjs.
2. Continue thinking about that slip cover? OK, I’ll break it down into smaller tasks – this week make piping for the cushions.
3. Plan an attack on WIP from 2016.
4. Piece November and December’s blocks from Leah Day’s 2016 Sunshine Surprise Quilt-as-you-go BOM.

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

We enjoyed our time with family & friends over the weekend. And do hope you did too! We started with a Christmas Eve service and then early Christmas Day traveled 2 hours to our son’s home. Staying over night, we continued our celebrations the next day.

My son and his wife hosted our gathering this year.

Spending time with them and our grand daughter was precious!

Family gathering, but sadly missing two who didn’t join us this year.

Our Grand daughter learned how to turn on the train under the tree and she crawled under there often to keep it running!

I did finish my last quilted gift on time to give to my son’s in laws! It was so nice to get to visit with them too for a couple of days.

I like how the red piping turned out and nicely frames the pillow.

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Finish a pillow to gift Christmas morning. Should be doable because I found an orphan Wreath block to use for the pillow top! ✔️
2. Grocery shopping for Christmas day eats. ✔️ Shopped and baked and enjoyed Christmas Eve and Day.
3. Enjoy Christmas Eve with church family, and Christmas day with family! ✔️

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. I found the flannel for the pjs! Now to make them!
2. Slip cover for the sofa. This is going to be a challenge. I bought the fabric 2 years ago and have put off making the cover since then. With all the Christmas gifts completed and gifted, I really want to conquer this slip cover before starting another quilt!
3. Plan out my sewing projects for the New Year!

How about you? Are you planning out what projects you want to create this coming year? Are you challenging yourself in any new ways? Next week I’ll share my plans.

Happy New Year!

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Just in time for Christmas, I have three finishes this past week.

One was a rush t-shirt job for a customer. She had the shirts all prepped, so I only had to do the piecing with sashing. Then it went to the longarm quilter and back to me for binding. She picked it up Sunday and was pleased with the results. I was pleased to make a little extra cash right before Christmas!

The second finish is the quilt I’ve slowly pieced over the past 2 years. I only worked on it at my monthly quilting group – the Timeless Tradition quilt. This past week I did the quilting on a friend’s longarm. It was so nice of her to volunteer the use of her machine for the quilting.  I’m more used to sitdown quilting on my domestic machine, so it was a totally different feel using the longarm. Completely different process too, other than pulling the bobbin thread up to the top when starting to quilt! The quilt is in the mail to be gifted to my brother and sister in law for Christmas!

And, I’m so pleased that I kept with my goal of using fabrics from my stash for Timeless Tradition! Even the border, back and binding, all from my stash!

The third is a little quilt made from a panel that I added HSTs to the sides making it large enough for a wheelchair lap quilt. It is in the mail as a gift for my mother.

I’ve added on more project to my Christmas to-do list! Crazy right? I wanted to make a little something for my daughter in law’s parent’s as they will be visiting from Arizona. After talking my ideas over with my daughter in law, we settled on a Christmas themed pillow. I just happened to have an orphan Wreath block that I am turning into a pillow. Next up – making red piping for the trim. Then I have grocery shopping and a little prep for our Christmas meals.

I’m feeling relaxed and in control. How about you? Are your Christmas & Holiday plans coming together with out all the crazy stress? I hope so!

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Piece new t-shirt quilt ✔️ Pieced, quilted, bound, and returned to owner!
2. Keep plugging away on Timeless Tradition appliqués. Hopefully get to borders. ✔️Completed, boxed and mailed today!
3. Find that flannel for the pj bottoms! ✗  I might need to buy new fabric.

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Finish a pillow to gift Christmas morning. Should be doable because I found an orphan Wreath block to use for the pillow top!
2. Grocery shopping for Christmas day eats.
3. Enjoy Christmas Eve with church family, and Christmas day with family!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

Ever so slowly she worked on a quilt.

Sigh. I was hoping to have all the appliqué flowers stitched in place and borders sewn on the Timeless Tradition quilt. But life happens. I came down with a killer of a headache Friday afternoon while visiting my son and his family at their home 2 hours from here. It was just a quick day trip hubs and I were taking. Saturday and Sunday the headache lingered on while I did all the tricks to try and relieve the stubborn thing.

Timeless Tradition is waiting for me. Before the headache, I did get all the flowers fused in place.

Monday, finally feeling better, I blanket stitched the blue flowers. But put it on hold because of a new project I agreed to do.

Sunday night I got a phone call asking if I had time to make a t-shirt quilt by Christmas. NO! was my first thought. But, the lady had the shirts all prepped – fused and cut, and my longarm quilting friend had told me about this possible quilt job a few weeks ago. We both figured it was not going to happen now that we are already in the month of December. The lady said the longarm quilter promised her she could finish it by Christmas, so I figured that meant I should go ahead and take the job. Guess what I was doing today?  Yep, working on a t-shirt quilt. Got to rush through it and get back to the appliqué!

I am thinking I am legally crazy! Have you ever agreed to do something you thought was crazy?

Wish me luck on getting these done! And maybe I’ll have time to look for that flannel for the pj bottoms I promised to make.

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Finish appliqué and outer borders for the Timeless Tradition quilt.  NOPE! Appliqué in progress. ✗ Not to borders yet.
2. Sew November Machine Quilting Block Party pattern. ✗
3. Purchase December’s Machine Quilting Block Party pattern. ✔️
4. I promised to make flannel pj bottoms for a young friend. I’ve misplaced the fabric! Got to find it! ✗

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Piece new t-shirt quilt
2. Keep plugging away on Timeless Tradition appliqués. Hopefully get to borders.
3. Find that flannel for the pj bottoms!

Linking to To-Do-Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

My family who gathered with my husband and I had a wonderful time together this past Thanksgiving Day and weekend! I hope you did as well. We filled our  time by visiting, laughing, playing games, taking a walk at a nature preserve, eating!, enjoying a 2 year old’s antics, and even a little bit of Small Business Saturday shopping. Plus we fit in a Birthday Celebration! My daughter in law turned 31 Thanksgiving day!

On to quilting!

I’ve made just a little bit of progress on the appliqués for Timeless Tradition.  Leaves and stems cut and fused in place. Next up is blanket stitching around them. Then there are flowers to add.

This Honor Flight t-shirt quilt was delivered today! What a wonderful organization that honors and celebrates veterans and their service to our country.  I like how it turned out. Longarm quilted by Simply Sue. She did an all over design called Stars and Stripes.

I have two projects I’d like to have completed in time to ship for Christmas. The Timeless Tradition quilt and also a pair of pj bottoms. How about you? Do you have any Christmas or holiday sewing to finish? Eck! December is just 2 days away!

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Cooking! ✔️ Youngest daughter and I cooked up our Traditional Thanksgiving dishes Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning I popped the turkey in the oven.
2. Enjoying family and friends! ✔️ We had such a wonderful time with family and friends. Good food, good people, fun games and nice walk.
3. Continue working on appliqué for Timeless Tradition quilt. ✔️ I didn’t get as much accomplished as I hoped, but hey! it was Thanksgiving week!

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Finish appliqué and outer borders for the Timeless Tradition quilt.
2. Sew November Machine Quilting Block Party pattern.
3. Purchase December’s Machine Quilting Block Party pattern.
4. I promised to make flannel pj bottoms for a young friend. I’ve misplaced the fabric! Got to find it!

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.

I hope all my quilt-y friends & family are having a lovely time as they prepare to celebrate this year’s Thanksgiving Day!

Wednesday my youngest daughter and I will be making many of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes to prepare for family and friends invited over for Thanksgiving Day. Several of my adult children will be contributing to the meal as well. It will be nice having our out-of-town kids and grand child home for an extended visit!

On to quilting!

This past week I completed and delivered a t-shirt quilt top to the long arm quilter.

Here is a sneak peak of sashing with stars:

and another block:

I’ll show a full picture next time, as it will be coming back to me for binding.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How did I do on last week’s To-Do Tuesday List?

1. Got to bind the Christmas Tree Skirt so I can give it to my daugther Thanksgiving day! ✔️
2. Cut out appliqué for Timeless Tradition. ✔️
3. Piece t-shirt quilt. ✔️

To-Do Tuesday List for this week:

1. Cooking!
2. Enjoying family and friends!
3. Continue working on appliqué for Timeless Tradition quilt.

I’m linking to To-Do Tuesday and Linky Tuesday.