{WiP} Wednesday ~ 18/52

I am sad to report that I haven't spent much time on the long arm this week. :-(. It is just SO FUN!! But I have work I have to do. Things I MUST get done. Things I have been putting off for far too long. And since there is no deadline, I'm trying to be good and do the things that I have to do first. :-)
One thing I had to do was finish this ticker tape block for Angela for our in-guild bee.

I also had one heckuva difficult time with this paper-pieced Quirky Star for Alison in the Bee Happy bee. It looks good now, I am pleased to say, but it took a LOT of seam ripping to get it to this point. If it's possible to get RSI (repetitive strain injury) from seam ripping, then I'm the poster child. I know some people LOVE paper piecing, and I know it has it's advantages, but this one really took it of of me. Knocked me for six, as they say.

And while I have some other things to work on (name tag swap in our guild, flags for Boston, and, of course my March do.Good Stitches quilt), I started this little crazy quilt-as-you-go project with my almost 5 year old. :-). She desperately wants to sew with me but neither of us seems to have the patience to see that through. :-/. So, for now, she designs and I sew. She found a pile of scraps and wanted to make a quilt for her baby, but piecing them was going to drive me to drink! So I figured since it's a doll quilt, it didn't have to abide by any rules. :-).

I cut a piece of a test quilt sandwich I have (muslin + poly batting = cringe), and simply started attaching the scraps side-by-side with a zig zag stitch through all 3 layers. So far, the pieces are coming together fine, and her baby seems pleased. :-). I know she wants to finish it, like, yesterday, but she's a bit of an ogre as a boss, so we take a little longer as a team. :-)

Once it's done, I'll bind it and I know her baby will be warm and cosy.

Here's a picture of her telling her baby a secret. :)

That's all I can remember for now.

I'm linking up with Janice on Sew CuteTuesday,

Randi on Show-and-Tell Tuesday, and

Lee on {WiP} Wednesday.

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 17/52

I am very excited to share this new purchase with you:

It's a Baby Lock Crown Jewel long arm. It's pretty intense, but I LOVE having it!!

It is loaded up with Spot On Wide by Robert Kaufman for the back (in Chartreuse), and this giant for the front:

I think one of the reasons I am loving it so much is that the quilt I'm working on (my Mod Mosaic) is for me. No one else. No judged shows, no one's baby, no one else's bed. So I feel like it's okay to accept my mistakes, to learn where to go slow and where to go fast, to take my time, and really just ENJOY the ride! :o)

I'm quilting it with "interlocking circles" I learned about over at Happy Quilter/Melissa's blog. (It's easier drawn than quilter...that's all I'm going to say!)

And it's a proper long arm. On a looooong table. :o). We opted for the extension, so the table/frame is 12 feet long, which makes my 90" quilt seem small. :o)  It lives in our basement, so I get a bit chilled working on it at night, but that's nothing a few extra layers can't fix. :o)

I also opted for the larger M-class bobbin over the L-class. I'm not sure of the size difference, but I'm able to quilt a little more than 8 12" blocks with one bobbin, and I know I would run out after 5 or 6 blocks with a smaller bobbin. It's a luxury, I admit, but one I am happy with. :o). And just in case anyone asks, I have not noticed any tension issues as the bobbin empties. It's good from start to finish!

I'm also really excited that the quilt is always there, waiting for me whether I have 20 minutes or 2 hours. I always have snippets in my day, but to start a new project on my domestic machine, or carry on piecing a quilt top, or to make a bee block? 15-20 minutes isn't really that much time! But it's just enough time to go to the long arm and quilt for a bit.


However, I do have other things I'm supposed to be doing!

Like finish this block for our in-guild bee:

And piece my April do.Good Stitches quilt. I'm still waiting on one set of blocks. I've already made 3 extra sets, and don't really want to make another if I don't have to! :o)

And mail out the charms Kelly won over a week ago!

And start working on something old with some of the charms I won from Elisabeth so very long ago. :o)

Plus a million zillion other things craft-wise, and a zillion million other things home-wise. I know you all have just as many craft and home projects, so I just wanted to say that I appreciate you coming here and reading about my life. With the switch to Bloglovin, I am reading a lot more blogs than I used to (they would just sit, languishing in my Google Reader!), but I'm not always commenting. :) I love being inspired by you, though! :)

As always, I'm linking up with Lee of Freshly Pieced for her WiP Wednesday Post .

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 16/52

So this is still in progress. :)  I have most of the rows sashed together -- just a couple more to go, then I have to sash the sides. Then prepare the backing (Spot On Wide in Chartreuse by Robert Kaufman) and the binding, and I'll be ready to quilt it!

I'm pretty excited about the way I am going to quilt it, but I'm going to keep you in the dark in case it goes bad and I have to default to loops. :)  Loops will still be fabulous, I love loops, but this new way? Pretty cool.

I'm also waiting on one more set of blocks for this little gem for the Faith Circle of the of the do.Good Stitches bee. I think this is my ideal layout - I'm calling it Wonky Zigs. :)  (I'll use the Spot On in Aqua for the back of this)

And I finished my April blocks for Anita in the Faith Circle. Simple, yet stunning.

I have to say that my circle seems to really embrace the idea that simple CAN BE better when it comes to making quilts. We haven't made any complicated quilts and complicated blocks in a while (8 hours for a Swoon block, anyone???)  And I really, really appreciate that.  We all know that these quilts are going to be an amazing blessing for the girls that receive them (they are donated to Restore Innocence, an organization that partners with the FBI and helps girls rescued from human/sex trafficking).  Those girls don't know an Ohio Star from a Wonky Star from a WhirlyGig. They just know that these quilts represent unconditional love...something most of them have never felt. (I could go on talking about Restore Innocence for days...)

And I am REALLY excited to have these books! C&T Publishing had a sale a week, or so, ago, and I chose these. I wanna drop everything and just eat these books up! Just flipping through One Line at a Time got me all fired up to try some new quilting techniques.

So, that's me! What I'm working on! How about you? Did you link up with Lee of Freshly Pieced?

Kelli Wins!

Kelli of Small Town Stitcher won my little charm pack giveaway on this post.

Congratulations, Kelli! I hope you love your little charms and make something great with them! :)

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 145:145 (week 15)

Check this out:

145 posts, 145 followers! Cool, huh?  I know it's nothing big, but I like that the numbers are the same! :) I've actually been waiting for them to be the same for a while now. :) 

So to celebrate, I'm going to do a little GIVEAWAY! 

A while ago, I won the blue pack of the Charming Travelers (a pack of traveling charm squares) from Elisabeth at Woozy Quilts. I've taken out what I like and I've put in about 40 new charm squares cut from my stash, and I'm ready to send it to YOU! :) 

If you want to enter my giveaway, first, read through the rules: 

Here are the rules of the Charming Travelers, as defined by Diane of From Blank Pages, who started this:

• winners must be active bloggers
• you must reside in the US or Canada, and you must be willing to ship to either country to enter the giveaway. 
• before sending the charm pack off to the next winner, there must be 56 - 5" x 5" squares of fabric inside - please no yucky fabrics (please!)
• to help keep the map updated, winners will fill out the quick and easy form to let me know where you are!
• if the charm pack arrives full of unwanted charms, let me know and we'll clear it out and fill it back up with some more beautiful fabrics!

Active bloggers, US or Canada, fill it back up with good stuff, update the map. Simple right?! :)   

So if you want to enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling me what you'll do with a totally random bunch of charm squares, and on Friday, April 12th, somewhere between 12pm and 11:59 pm, I'll do a random drawing! Keep in mind, though, that if you enter, you can't be a no-reply blogger, or I can't get in touch with you, and you simply can't win! (Don't know what "no-reply blogger" means? Well, send me an email through my profile over there, and I'll tell you.)

So, that's kinda what I've been doing lately! Cutting squares for you and for me. I've got an idea for how to make a lovely, and popular, quilt with charm squares. It might just surprise you! But I have to collect them first and then find the T-I-M-E to make one of these! :)

Oh, and celebrating a little guy's first birthday, of course! :)

And finishing Latifah's courthouse steps blocks:

(which I LOVED making, by the way! Right up my alley!) :o)  

I'm still working on my mod mosaic quilt, but I totally lost my mojo. I don't know why. I was really excited about it, and now I'm not. :-(  

This week, though, I hope to get all the sashing done on it, and finish the top. I also have 3 sets of bee blocks to make for April. Two will be simple, one will take a lot of time and concentration...two things I don't seem to have much of these days! :)

What are you working on? Did you link up with Lee of Freshly Pieced for her WiP Wednesday link-up? I did! :) 

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 14/52

I'll be brief since I know we've all got a zillion things to do!

Here's what I'm working on right now:

1. Sashing the Mod Mosaic quilt. I wish I had thought through it a bit better because I've inadvertently created extra work for myself by which side I put the sashing on, but it's not a big deal.

2. Playing with layouts for my next Faith Circle of the do.Good Stitches quilt. When I saw THIS quilt that Emily made for her do.Good Stitches circle, my breath was taken and my eye was caught and my decision was made. It's SUCH a gorgeous quilt. And super easy!

Which layout do YOU like? I know which one I prefer, but it's nice to see that the different layouts are all equally appealing. :)

A.

B.

C.

3. I'm working on bee blocks (no pictures, sorry!)



And what I've finished recently:

1. The girls and I made marbleized Easter Eggs with shaving cream and food coloring:

(they did NOT taste like soap, by the way...they tasted great!) :o)


2. Made a set of XOXO blocks for a collaborative quilt for a dear friend who needs lots of hugs and kisses and love right now:

The entire quilt looks AMAZING...just like the group of truly AMAZING women that contributed to it.

4. And I took a picture of one of Buzz's blue eyes. :) It's just such a striking shade of blue in real life!

I also have a few other things I'm juggling (who isn't, right?) and I hope to blog about those things, too. Someday...

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful week and get some good things accomplished! :o)

I'm linking up with Lee of Freshly Pieced for her WiP Wednesday link-up.