Quilting

So I finally finished my first ever quilted piece. I finished my Minnesota Wall Hanging that I started in August of 2007. All I really had to do with it was put the binding on, sandwich it, and finish off the binding. So Friday I finished it completely! I quilted around the inside and outside of the squares and around the letters. Finally I quilted around the inside white piece.

Then yesterday I decided to continue in the mode of finishing and pick up where I left off in making this beautiful table cloth for my table. I started this last November at Quilt retreat. All I had done was the center piece fused down, the handles on the vase stitched and the other pieces cut out. Yesterday I pieced everything together and began hand stitching again.

I am now about half way done with the center stitching!

A Birthday Present

My next door neighbor's daughter is turning 18 tomorrow. So I thought I would surprise her with a home made purse. My mom sent me the pattern for a purse she made me for my birthday this year so I thought I would try it today. It's fairly simple. It calls for 24 5 inch charms from a charm pack, 1 18 inch zipper, 2 fat 1/4ths (one for the handles, and one for the lining), and 18 x 20 inch section of light weight batting.

It was an easy pattern to follow and the result is quiet nice looking. What do you think?This is the short view.

This is the long view.

She will get the present tomorrow at her birthday dinner. I'll discuss more tomorrow with pictures of what we had to eat and the birthday girl with her new bag.

Domestic duties, and bargellos

Today I woke up when Jeremy left for work and started out bright and early by making what I am now dubbing Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup. I put all the ingredients in the slow-cooker and turned it on low. I then started laying out the strips from a jellyroll packet for a Bargello quilt. Basics of this quilt are to sew strips together then cut those sewn strips 90 degrees across the sewn so you have new strips of squares with each part of the original strips on them. The beautiful part of a bargello quilt is how you then line up the strips by rotating them so the one original strips are offset creating a pattern.

I know it's hard to imagine, just go google Bargello quilt images and see what comes up. I think they are part of what makes it a wonderful quilt is how just moving the pieces can make something turn into artwork. That's what I love about quilting, how it can be so artful.

So I am almost done sewing the first round of strips. Then comes the cutting. I will post a picture tomorrow of my progress.

I also did all the laundry in the apartment, that was fun! Clean clothes smells so good!

Missing Quilt ladies

So this weekend was the Wisconsin Quilt Retreat that I didn't get to make it to. My sister Tia was kind enough to pass around her cell phone for me to say hi to the regular ladies. I did have two days off so I pulled my machine out today and started working anyway. Made me feel like I was almost there, except the interruptions of a husband, life, and having to make food.

I am planning on going to the next retreat in November. Miss you ladies!

So I set myself up a work area:

Today I finished making my Nine - Patch blocks that I bought during the last quilt retreat...tomorrow I will square them up then start sewing them together:

Photos from the weekend

So here are some of the photos from quilt retreat. To see all the ones I have upload go to:

my flickr site

Here is the mittens my Mom, sister, and I made at quilt retreat. I love them They are made out of old wool sweaters that have been felted and cut out.

Here are the cloth napkins my mom taught Tia and I to make. Mine are the center ones, mom's are the snowflake ones, and Tia's are the floral ones.



This is Jan, I love this lady. She is a wealth of Knowledge and I learn so much from her every time I go to retreat.


Kristi had this strip quilt that she worked on all weekend. I love these colors. They were a theme for many projects being worked on this retreat.

Erin's mom was making these Westies Dogs. I love them too! the texture of the white fabric was brilliant for the dog fur!

And now I shall be done blogging for the night. See Erin, Kristi- you have created a monster - 3 times in one day!

Stack N Whack Hawaiian Style

I am currently sewing together my second stack-n-whack quilt top. It's Hawaiian fabric I got from the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby.

Here are a few pictures:

Here is my workspace as I work with quilting. I transform my kitchen into the cutting area and the dining area into my sewing and ironing stations. Works pretty well (unless someone wants to eat)!
Here is a picture of my pattern for the Hawaiian Stack-N_Whack. It is pinned down under four layers of the same fabric. Takes the most time to do this.


Here is my first block sewn together. Neat huh? I am excited to get the rest finished. Off I go...

More pictures later!