Well I did what I’d planned during the Friday night Sew In…. I quilted the Music Quilt….
And I quilted the bag pieces for my daughter’s overnight bag….
Today I stitched out the label for the Music Quilt and made and attached the binding and label….Now I’m hand stitching the binding and label to the quilt while we watch football.
For the Friday Night Sew-In tonight…..
I am. Tonight I’ll be finishing the quilting on my New Year’s Eve Mystery quilt. It has to be finished for a raffle on Sunday to benefit my daughter’s high school band program.
Here’s what it looks like right now.
I’ll also be quilting the bag pieces for the overnight bag I’m making for my daughter. There will be leftover backing and batting after I quilt the music quilt, so I’ll quilt the bag pieces at the bottom of the quilt before I take it off the frame. Since the bag is fully lined the backing won’t show when it’s finished.
At the start of the year I decided that it was time to get my stash in order. For the last few years my stash has been kept in Elfa drawer units and I came to the conclusion that I really need to be able to see my fabrics in order to use them. So hubby and I went to Lowes and bought a wire shelving unit and then we pulled all the drawers out of the existing units (well hubby did since I can’t lift anything that heavy with a broken elbow). Next I started refolding all of my fabrics and sorting them by color/theme. This picture shows my “normal” fabrics, 100% cotton quilting fabrics sorted by color with the novelties/prints together as well.
I still have to go through my flannel fabrics and I have already moved my panels, wide backings, Christmas fabrics, 30’s prints and batiks/hand dyes into other units. My fat quarters and precuts (jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes, honey buns & FQ bundles) still need to be put away but I should be able to get that all taken care of soon.
I’m also going to rearrange the layout of my studio to make it more quilter friendly. So I’ll post more pictures as I have things settled.
I think 2010 is going to be a great year for organizing!!
Now that the last gift has been received I can finally show you all what I made to gift to my coworkers. I bought the acrylic mugs awhile back and then string pieced the backgrounds and embroidered things to fit each recipient. I love how they turned out and everyone seemed very happy with them :)
I’ll be joining along in the Friday Night Sew-In on January 15th. I’m excited to be quilting with other quilters around the world for an evening. Hopefully you’ll join me too!
My BFF Nancy has issued the UFO challenge again for 2010. I have this challenge list over on my sidebar. For the next 10 months she will pick a number at the beginning of the month and the challenge is to get the UFO that corresponds with that number on your list finished before the end of the month.
For January the number is 4, which means that I will be working on “Patty’s Quilt” The top is done and it just needs to be quilted. I’m still trying to decide if I want to add borders or not. What do you think? I think a narrow blue inner border and a wider border using the red print and finishing with the same blue for the binding would look good.
Either way, hopefully it’ll be finished before February 1st (along with 2 other UFOs that have January deadlines).
Even with a broken elbow, I plan to have a productive month :)
On my way into work on Monday morning I slipped in the parking lot and my left elbow broke my fall. As the day progressed it was hurting more and more so I headed to the emergency room. After waiting for 7 hours in the ER and being tortured by Xray technicians, I left with a plaster splint on my arm as well as a sling and prescriptions for pain killers. I’m supposed to see the orthopedic doctor this week so he can determine if the arm is in fact broken and to what extent. I’ll be calling the doc first thing tomorrow morning to try for a same day appointment and will hopefully have more news after seeing the doctor.
This means that my Mother in Law’s quilt will not be finished nor will a few other projects I was hoping to make as gifts. I haven’t wrapped any gifts yet nor has the grocery shopping been done for the family meal we are hosting on Friday.
But then again, what are the holidays without a little stress?
On the bright side, while sitting in the ER I got an email from the Fat Quarter Shop letting me know I was one of the Dear Santa Contest winners :)
The “Jolly” elves at The Fat Quarter Shop have encouraged us in Blogland to post our letter to you on our blogs.
As you know (since you see everything) I have been a very good quilter this year and I would love to find this Wicasset by Minnick & Simpson Fat Quarter bundle under my tree this year. Please hurry down my chimney and leave a little fabric for me :)
There will be cookies & egg nog waiting for you and some treats for the reindeer as well when you stop by.
Hugs to you, Mrs. Claus & the elves!
Beth
I have made more progress on the Trip Around the World Quilt top. I’m now 1/4 done. This is the bottom left quarter of the top.
I also made the cutest tumbler cup insert. I love fabric selvedges and decided to use them in a cup. This cup will likely find a new home this weekend unless I decide to keep it for myself hehehe.
For mystery quilts that is….
In the midst of all the Christmas crafting, I needed a little distraction. So I decided to participate in a mystery quilt that will be done over the Christmas weekend. I’ve done the Christmas Mystery on this particular list for several years and am never disappointed! It’s a 4 fabric mystery (3 for the center and another for the borders). Here’s the fabrics that I was able to pull from my stash…
I’m looking forward to starting yet another UFO LOL!
My Mother in Law and I have taken a few quilting classes over the years. She is a garment sewer, but decided to give quilting a shot. The projects get started, but she never seems to finish them (sound familiar?). So she’s started giving me her UFOs one at a time and I finish them for her for Christmas. This year is her Trip Around the World. I’m in the process right now of remaking the section that she was working on because our seam allowances are not matching up and there was a 2” differences in our lengths. I’ll use the section she made on the backing though, so it will still be a part of the quilt.
Here’s what it looks like so far. I have alot more to do in the next couple weeks though. I’ll be working on it on all of my days off between now and Christmas.
I have finished the 6 lunch totes I was working on and have moved onto the other style bags. Here’s a picture of the last 3 totes. The 2 in the front include leftover strips from a jelly roll from the “Bistro” fabric line. I really like the scrappyish look :)
The other style bag I’m making resembles a traditional brown bag. I decided to also add a handle across the top to make them easy to carry. Here’s one finished and the fabrics cut for the other 9 I hope to finish by Thursday night. Wooohooo!
