Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Rolling, rolling, rolling

I’ve got lots of projects in the works, can’t wait to be showing them off.  But, it’ll take me a bit of time.  Wish me luck!

Stormy

Friday, June 24, 2011

I can’t seem to stop quilting

After quilting four quilts in a row, I thought for sure I would stop and piece another top.  But no, I can’t help myself.  I am on a roll!  We just put our two year old in a “big girl bed” (twin)  and I didn’t have a cute pink quilt the right size.  So, I looked at my stack of unquilted tops (which is getting smaller and smaller) and I found two that would work out great.  The first is yellow with little pink, white and green buttons.  It was the first real quilt I pieced about eight years ago and never quilted.  I know, sad.  The second was this great Log Cabin quilt made from the “Darla” line.  I threw it together when I was pregnant with my now adorable two year old.  It was never finished because first, it’s me, and second, I had baby number five.  I just couldn’t.  So, it is fitting that I finally finish it for my cutie patootie’s bed.  She loves it and has spent two entire nights in her own bed. Hallelujah

Darla Log Cabin Quilt

I used the “Charming Log Cabin” quilt pattern, but it’s a bit different.  I messed up when buying the fabric, and bought the wrong yardage for the wrong strip. So, I  had to rearrange a bit.  The top and bottom are supposed to be scalloped too, but I forgot to set aside my binding and used it for a skirt.  Oops!  Luckily, I had enough backing leftover to use as a straight cut binding instead of a bias cut.  I’ll have to tackle scallops on a later project.  Even with all that, my daughter loves it and I think it’s pretty cute too.

Stormy

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My Old Armchair

I’ve been wanting a chair for my sewing room ever since I got a sewing room.  But, I haven’t been wanting to spend the kind of money needed for the chair.  My husband came up with this great solution.  He found a cool old armchair on Craig’s list for $60.  It definitely needs help, but can’t you see the potential?  I love claw feet furniture too.  (Most of my bedroom furniture has claw feet.)  This chair even has feathers in the back pillow cushion.  Plus, it’s small and will fit nicely into a little corner, but it’s also super comfy.  My big problem now is deciding on fabric to reupholster  it.  I keep changing my mind on the style I want for my sewing room.  Bright turquoise and red for my happy upbeat days, cottage greens and reds for a relaxing room, or shabby chic for an extra feminine room  What do you think?  I could paint the wood a nice white or eggshell too….. What to do. What to do….

before reupholstery

Stormy

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Quilting, quilting and more quilting

I’m trying to finish up a few projects on my to-do list before heading to Utah in a few weeks.  The top two projects on my list are:

1 – Quilt my sister’s brick row quilt

Steffanie's brick row quilt

It is made out of the same vintage sheets as my quilt found here.  We bought and swapped all these fabulous sheets to have a larger variety.  I think they both turned out awesome.  You can see it before it was quilted on Steffanie’s blog Gypsy Bandana.

2 – Quilt my mom’s king size 9 patch quilt.

Nine patch delight

My parents recently got a King sized bed and needed a quilt for it.  So, my mom made this super awesome quilt using her fabric she got for Mother’s Day.  The pattern is in the June issue of “American Patchwork and Quilting”.  It’s called nine-patch delight. I can’t wait to see it all finished and on the bed.  (That is if I ever get this monster quilted.)

Wish me luck,

Stormy

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

I’m on a roll!

My kids are out of school and it’s actually making it easier for me to quilt!  They are so happy to be out of school they have been relaxing, playing and most importantly entertaining my two year old.  I’m sure it’s not going to last long, but I’m enjoying it and taking advantage  for as long as possible.

This top took a while to get quilted because I wanted to straight line stitch it.  I really didn’t want to pin baste it and sew it on my regular machine. (I REALLY REALLY don’t like basting.)  And, I had never straight stitched with my mid-arm quilter.  So, this was practice.  I think I did fairly well.  There are a few wavy lines, but I spaced the rows 3 inches apart so as to not be so noticeable.  I like the look it gives the quilt.  I have to figure out a better way soon, cuz I have a few more quilts I want to straight line stitch (with no waves).

Origins Quilt

I super love the backing on this quilt too.  My husband didn’t know what I was using for the back and couldn’t believe I had made a quilt without polka dots. (Silly man, like I would ever do that!)   It’s the Moda “Dottie” line and it is soooo soft.   It feels like brushed cotton.  New favorite cuddle quilt!

Dottie backing on pinwheel quilt

Stormy

Monday, June 6, 2011

Rouenneries

Yeah!  It’s finished!  I’m super excited about this one.  It’ a bit different than anything I have done before, which turned out to be a very good thing.   It’s definitely going up on my wall.  I used the Schnibbles pattern “Madeline” for the design, but made it much bigger and added a row. 

Rouenneries Quilt

This quilt is made mostly from the Rounneries line. I really like French General fabric.  It doesn’t stand out as much as all the bright colorful lines that are out there, but I haven’t seen a quilt made from their fabric I didn’t love.

(Sigh!  Did you know that if your finished side borders are a mere 1/2 inch different from each other it is very noticeable when hanging on a wall?? Double sigh.  And maybe a sniff too…)

Stormy