{WiP} Wednesday - Week 12

I've got something pretty up my sleeve!  It's for that new pattern I mentioned last week, and involves the New Brights collection of solids from Robert Kaufman, although I'm not using all of them.

                                        

                                                    

My sweet little 3 year old saw the rejects hanging on the design wall and said "Mommy, I love your quilt xylophone!"  So...I guess I know what I'll be making when this is finished!  (I especially love how she called it a quilt xylophone - it's just so like that sweet little girl of mine to transpose her words. :o)  )

And I've been working on another secretive quilt project, that I'll show you in about 4 months...maybe...if I remember...but here's a snippet:

                                           

My 5 year old wasn't pleased that I made 2 zippy pouches for our guild swap, and didn't make one for her. (She also didn't like either of the ones I received in return -- more for me!), so she chose these fabrics for me to make a pouch for her (WHEN, child, WHEN do you think I have time for this?????)  But I love this color combination!

                                                     

Have I mentioned that our guild is participating in an all-Colorado Modern Quilt Guild challenge? Everyone who is participating received 4 fat quarters of Free Spirit Solids in colors that represent Colorado, and we are to make a modern quilt that is inspired by Colorado.  (except two of the colors aren't right in this picture, sorry!)

Well, I've had at least 5 ideas, but I am VERY VERY VERY excited about the one that I had Sunday while driving to church. It is inspired by Colorado, and Denyse Schmidt, and Latifah Saafir, and QuiltCon, and my heritage...OH, I can't wait to get that started!!!!  However, comma, I must finish the first thing I mentioned...and then the fourth thing I mentioned...and maybe then the second thing I mentioned if I can do it quickly...


I hope you are having a great, and crafty, and productive week!

(linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced)

{WiP} Thursday ~ Week 11

I hope you've had a great week. The weeks always go by super fast for me! 

(almost two weeks ago, now!) Last Friday I gave a lecture/trunk show on modern quilting to a local traditional guild, and I think it was well received. (At least the people who came up to me afterwards were nice!)

Here I am showing off the awesome mini quilt Elizabeth Dackson of Don't Call Me Betsy made for me in a swap. (I won the jackpot, didn't I?) She turned it into a pattern if you want to make one for yourself. :o)

                                          

Here's the hexie quilt I made during Madame Samm's Hexie Queen blog hop last fall, and I'm donating it to Crafters For Courage so they can auction it off and raise money to build another Courage House for girls rescued from sex trafficking. I recently read that approximately 1% of the people rescued from sex trafficking have a safe place to go, so they often find their way back into the traps of the pimps. (We all need to do more to end modern slavery.)

                                                        

And this is the longest (and largest!) WiP, my Mod Mosaic bee quilt. The Mod Mosaic bee started 2 years ago, if that gives you any idea. :-). It's a king-sized quilt, and all that's left is the binding. Unfortunately, I didn't think about Susie's Magic Binding technique before I started binding this. :-/ But it's for ME, so it can sit. :o)

                                            

My newest WiP is this improv beauty of solids. I am totally crushing on it! Here is a bit of one of the sections:

                                                  

And here is a picture of the whole thing. I hope to get it quilted in the next week.

And something I've been wanting for over a year? The Sew Together bag by Michelle of Sew Demented!  It took me a full week (because I kept making stupid mistakes), but I love it!  And, yes. In case you are wondering, I am planning another one. Hopefully it won't take me another year! :o)

                                                

Here's the outside. I guess I've been in a gray mood lately! Everything I've done lately, including a super new pattern I'm working on, is gray! No worries, though. Rainbow is still my favorite color, and I'll get back to that really soon. :o)

 

And, finally, a super cute dumpling pouch and key fob for our Front Range MQG pouch swap on Saturday.

 

That'll probably be it for things I can show for a while. I've got to get my nose to the grindstone and sew up the new pattern (very exciting and daunting and nerve-wracking and oh-I-hope-this-turns-out-like-in-my-head stressing!)

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'm planning to post a giveaway -- soon? -- just need to get myself together!

Blessings,
~Melissa

My Madrona Road Challenge Pillow

The Front Range Modern Quilt Guild chose to do a secret pillow swap for the Modern Quilt Guild's first challenge of 2013. The MQG partnered with Michael Miller to send guilds a fat eighth bundle of the lovelier than lovely Madrona Road by Violet Craft for each member who wanted to participate. We were allowed to add more Madrona Road, and solids, and we were highly encouraged to highly encourage participation among recipients of the fabric.

We were given our fabric and our partner's questionnaire at the December sew, and had PLENTY of time to finish it in time to swap at our February anniversary party this past Saturday.

We had 23 people participate, which is AWESOME, and there wasn't a single lemon in the bunch! Every single one of them was just gorgeous! 

(photo by Marti of 52 Quilts)

The pillow that Anne made for Marta was the first thing she's sewn in 10 years! Wow!  Well done, Anne!

(photo by Marti of 52 Quilts)

The pillow Angela made for Marti is more meaningful and more creative and more amazing than any other pillow in the bunch, quite frankly.

(photo by Marti of 52 Quilts)

I wish Angela had finished it in time for Michael Miller to see it for their booth at QuiltCon. I think they would have picked it because it's awesome even if you don't know the story behind it.

And then there's mine.

(photo by Marti of 52 Quilts)

Honestly, I am more than a bit ashamed that I had the fabric longer than anyone, and yet I was the only one who didn't finish it in time. I mean, I have some really great excuses (had to make a second quilt for QuiltCon, had to catch up on my January blocks now that it's February, had 3 sick kids this last week so I got about 3 hours of sleep a night...on and on my excuses go!).  But the reality is, I didn't finish. 

About 15 minutes before the meeting started, I had about 15 minutes of work left to do on it, so I went to the back room of our guild meeting space and tried to finish it. I couldn't do it. :(  It was really stressful, and I ended up trimming the top of the pillow wrong. :(  So I just decided to finish it later in the quiet of my own home.

I made my pillow for Randi of I Have to Say and the owner of FreshSqueezedFabrics on Etsy. You know her. :)  She is wonderful and generous and friendly and such a blessing that I wanted to make her something she would love and that would bless her back for all the blessing she does for everyone else.  But sometime on Friday, I learned that she wasn't going to be at the meeting, and though I knew I still wanted to complete it, I knew it would be okay if I didn't. And long about 2 am on SAturday morning, when I still wasn't finished, I decided to just finish it when I could.

Here it is finished.

I made her a Dresden Plate pillow with a mini Dresden ruler I have. The teeny ruler was a little challenging to use, but I like the teeny 5" Dresden it made! :)

I added some hand stitching because Randi said she likes that:

And here's a picture of all the stitching. Hand stitching, straight-line stitching, FMQ loops, and FMQ stipples:

Here's the back -- all Morning Glory. 

I'm going to be sending it to Randi tomorrow, so she'll have it by the end of the week.

And here are some pictures of my little man this last week. He has been sick, and was diagnosed with RSV yesterday.

More heart-warming than heart-breaking...

This was him Sunday morning. Poor guy just wasn't acting like himself AT ALL!!

So I took him to Urgent Care. He didn't like the poking and prodding, and eventually fell asleep.

When the doc came back with a positive RSV result, they gave him a nebulizer treatment and sent me home with a nebulizer to keep up the treatmentsalong with some steroids. He slept through this one, but the one I gave him at home last night was TORTURE!!!!



He's a bit better today, but still not himself. Thankfully he's a really healthy little guy, so I'm not worried that this will get worse, but it's just so tough for him right now! Poor little Buzz!

I hope you have a great week! Maybe I'll see you at QuiltCon!

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 49/52

After I finally finished all the little niggley bits of the quilt, I had to take a break from the sewing machine. You understand, I'm sure. :-)

I forgot to show you the label last week:

(Hope Takes Flight ~ the label)

I took that picture last night as it was about to get bundled up into a Christmas stocking. Restore Innocence and the Human Trafficking Task Force had a "stuff the stocking" night, and I joined about 50 volunteers from the community, from various churches, some law enforcement, and even an FBI agent to take 205 blankets and stockings and fill them up with candy and nail polish and socks and mittens and stuffed animals.

(205 Christmas Stockings)

It was a sight to behold. About 110 of the blankets were tied fleece blankets, and my church made a large portion of those, and the other 95(ish) were purchased for this event.

We heard on the news yesterday that police busted a sex trafficking ring in Colorado Springs, and that teenage girls (15-17 years old) had been recruited and forced into this for the past couple of years. The thing that really got me was that they arrested a few WOMEN, too!! Like, I can see men doing this to girls, but WOMEN?????? Oh, that made me mad!

Anyway, it just brings home the reality and the depravity even more.

These will be shared all across the country, so it's quite possible that a young lady in YOUR town will receive one of these bundled blessings. :-)

One of the board members for Restore Innocence mentioned a girl she was working with who had never had a Christmas. She'd never opened a stocking stuffed with sweets and socks and treats for her. She'd never received a gift from someone she didn't know. She'd never known simple joy on Christmas morning, but this year was going to be different for her because of these.

(Hoppy and Hope)

I don't know who will receive our quilt, but all along I've trusted that God will get it into the hands of a young girl who needs the love and the warmth and the HOPE most of all.

Other than that, I've been making more Infinity Scarves and bee blocks. And I've got to make some coffee cup cozies for Mookie's teachers, and the girls are making Christmas ornaments out of Crayola Model Magic (which are TOO CUTE, by the way!)...

(Every tree needs a polka dotted butterfly on their Christmas tree!)

No rest for the weary!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for this week's WiP Wednesday party.

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 39/52

Oh, Tuesday. Why must you be so chaotic? And Wednesday? And Thursday, too? This explains why Fridays are Jammie Days around my house.

I haven't been up to much this week, just trying to finish my Fruit Stripe quilt. Last week, I told you I'd finished the top and chosen the backing, but not the quilting.

Well, I decided on the quilting. I really wanted an all-over design that wasn't straight-line or waves, so I figured out what I wanted to do. Practiced a bit on my little sample quilt sandwich and got it all right, squared up my shoulders and commenced to...not getting anywhere.

Wha?

Yup. This has been such a stressful quilting week for me. I just can't seem to get the tension right, I had multiple incidences of the thread breaking, of skipped stitches, rough language, head pounding...

I tried and tried and tried and tried. I asked my Facebook friends, and acted on their advice. I went out and bought some (overpriced) AURIfil thread (it's $4 cheaper online!). I came home, and it broke as much as my Gutermann! I put in a new needle. I bought a spool stand thingy that goes at the back of my machine. I fiddled with the tension. And fiddled some more. I've gone slow, I've gone fast. I've used my automatic speed button on my machine so I couldn't blame it on a foot twitch. I've used my foot so I couldn't blame it on a non-stopping stop button. I've unpicked and unpicked some more. In fact, here's a picture of the thread I've pulled off the back over the course of the last week:

Overall, I would say I've got between 15 and 20 starts. That's 15-20 thread knots to bury. That's 15-20 times of starting over and going slow enough to get the pattern right, but fast enough to get the stitches right.

And I just can't get the tension right.

Here's a picture of what is very random on the back, 3 stitches here, 2 stitches there...not enough to pick them out and sew over it again, but enough to worry and pray they kinda get sucked up in the crinkles and grooves of the washed quilt.

This is just so frustrating.

While I haven't taken my machine to be serviced this week (had it done less than a year ago), I hesitate to do that because my little sample quilt came out perfect. Every time. Slow around the corners? Fast around the corner? Smooth like buttah. Put in the actual quilt, though, and my machine just doesn't behave the same way.

Other than that, this week has been about getting family pictures taken (waiting on the disc), cleaning house (my FIL will be arriving momentarily for a week), not getting enough sleep (this dern quilt!), and chillin with my homies (Buzz can sit up now) (and roll over both directions, but doesn't know he can get places, yet!)

For WiP Wednesday's sake, here's my active WiP list:

• I've still got to make Natalie's wonky star block.
• I LOVE receiving butterfly blocks for my Faith Circle do.Good Stitches quilt! I've got 4 sets on the wall right now, and I am SO tempted to redesign it so that I can make 2 or 3 quilts instead of just one! :) You know me and do.Good Stitches...why make one when I can make five, right? :)
• I need to start the Grayson quilt. And I'm pretty sure I'll be taking it to the long arm and doing it there. This...whatever I've been doing this week...I can't take much more of it!

I hope y'all have a great week, and get some of your WiPs done! :) Hopefully next week I can show you pictures of this thing I've been working on! :)

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for her regular {WiP} Wednesday post -- with Guest Host Debbie from A Quilter's Table.

Insta.Friday ~ September is Gone

I know it's just a season, but these are the days where I feel like all I do is change diapers and wipe noses and wash jammies and referee squabbles. That's why this Instagram Friday link-up is handy. It helps me remember some of the other things we did this past week.

I sewed some colorful strips together for a happy-making quilt top.

I unearthed some long-stashed Valori Wells Delhi print, and while deciding whether or not to use it for a quilt, I decided to try to press out the creases and wrinkles while it was in my design wall. Worked like a CHARM!!

Then I decided to attempt a simple quilting pattern (traced CDs).

It was a colossal failure.

And I haven't touched it since. :-/


My blog-friend, Kerstin, sent Buzz a quilt (and me some fabric and Swiss chocolate! Both are yummmmmmmmy!) The package was bigger than he is, but he sure enjoyed the wrapping paper! :-)

Little Miss Cranky Pants giving Mama the ol' stink eye. About a millisecond later, she was all smiles. :-)

Buzz, of course, thinks holding him is my only job. But since my personal chef seems to have gotten lost, I have to make dinner. Enter the Ergo. Buzz and I both love it.

All in all, life is good. :-)

Have a great weekend!

(linking up with Life Rearranged for Insta.Friday)

A Week in Instagram

I feel bad only posting on Wednesdays. I'm pretty sure 98% of my posts in the last year have been {WiP} Wednesdays.

BORING!!

Sorry about that. I won't promise to make any improvements, but when I can, and when I think of it, I will. :)

SO...today, thanks to the inspiration from my guild friend, Kate at Oh Write, I'm linking up with Life Rearranged for InstaFriday.



The idea (I think?) is to simply recap your InstaGram highlights on your blog. I have fallen madly in love with Instagram, and spend more time on it than I should. Same as any social medium, of course, but it's fun!  It's funny - I'm more private than Facebook in some areas, but more "real" in others. Anyway, here we go!

 Pouch baby snoozes. I don't wear Buzz nearly as much as I should because it makes life a lot easier. But look at that little smooshy face. He's a snuggle bug, that's for sure!

 Look, Mommy! This plant glitters! I'm not sure what it was that made it glitter, but I thought she looked cute with her glasses and hood.

 Sacked out on da mama.  I know I pretty much flood the IG world with pics of Buzz asleep, but that's kinda the only time I think of taking pictures and posting to InstaGram!

 I'm sleeping in a tent, Mommy! Love her imagination!

 Serendipity! I pieced this mod mosaic block, and when I finished it, I realized that there was a perfect little flower in the middle. No fussy cutting required. :)

 Happy Making! Oh, I am LOVVVVVING this quilt! It just looks so great on my wall, and it's SO super easy to piece. I almost made an Amish mistake in the layout, though. I'm debating on keeping it or not.

 McFwooowie, Mommy? We took a break while big sister was at school to enjoy a little treat. Girlfriend loves herself some ice cream!

Silly Monkeys! We got a new bed delivered (I feel so grown-up!), and let the girls jump on the old mattress for a while. It was really precious.

And that's it! I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to getting my new iPhone (5, thankyouverymuch!) so I can update my IG software! :)

Have a great weekend!