So Many Projects!!!

I thought I'd share a few of the projects that are getting the lion's share of my attention lately.  I've got so many quilting irons in the fire right now!  But I think I really work best when I have a lot going on.  It keeps me energized and inspired to have lots of different projects to choose from on any given day.  There's always something in the works that trips my trigger and makes me want to play in the studio!!!

Blue Collection is one of my Dinosaur UFO's - it's been in process since 2008!!!  It's my focus project for this year, and I've been steadily plugging along on it.  I'm happy to say that I've finally added the 3D tree in the center!  This tree has been a stumbling block for me from the beginning.  I've been dreading it!  But it got to the point that I couldn't add other elements until the tree was stitched down, so I finally bit the bullet and went for it!

The tree is made from three tapered bias strips of brown fabrics that are braided together and then loosely arranged on the quilt center, with lots of little branches and leaves sprouting out from it.  (Rocky felt that this particular strip should be his - we had a little bit of a disagreement about it, but happily I finally won ☺)

I had to piece together the blocks in the center section of the quilt with their blue-and-white checkerboard sashing before I could begin to make the tree.

When I appliqued that bottom pot, I left a section open so that I could slip the tree limbs down inside ....

I'm doing hand-stitched applique on this quilt, and it's pretty difficult work handling this large center section to stitch down the tree and all those little remaining leaves, but there was just no way around it.  Of course, this little guy with his curious little nose in everything I'm doing doesn't help LOL!!!  This picture was taken just seconds before he snatched the whole piece off my lap and tried to run for it!

There are quite a few wonderful little details stitched into this quilt ....

And lots of stitching remaining to be done!  But I can't tell you how excited I am to have gotten this far on my Blue Collection project!  I will try my best to post about my progress more often :*)

I usually try to have at least one project all set up and ready to stitch at the machine, so that when I have a spare few minutes I can use it stitching.  This is a paper-pieced project in progress called Diamonds Are Forever from a class I took at guild several years ago.

Lots and lots of scrap strips are going into this fun quilt, and it is amazing how quickly these blocks add up!

Happily, I also have an almost finish to show you!!!  Notice Rocky photo-bombing in the top right?  Believe me, he's not going to miss a quilt-on-the-floor opportunity!!!

Calypso is a kit My Guy bought for me quite a few years ago at a local quilt shop that is no longer in business.  I made the quilt top and then put it on my flimsy shelf to be quilted - and it has remained there for way too long.  I decided to put it on my Guild UFO Challenge list, and it's number came up for this month.  My friend Joanne let me use her long-arm machine so I could git 'er done ...

This will be a feel-good finish for me - I love whittling down that flimsy shelf!

Tomorrow my plan is to quilt and bind my little 14" Fractured Seahorse.  The fabric on the bottom is my backing fabric, and I'm thinking to use a scrappy hot pink binding.  This one is going to go in my stand-up frame in the living room for the summer!

After all the sewing I've been doing on my Janome 6600P, it was finally time to send it off to the spa for a good cleaning and to check the timing, etc.  While it was gone, Rocky found a new favorite place to sit and watch me as I putter around the studio ....

He's such a fun little guy, and I love how he keeps us smiling and laughing!

I'll be linking up with lots of fun parties this week:

Slow Sunday Stitching

Design Wall Monday
Main Crush Monday 

Oh Scrap!

I May Have a Scrap Problem

Linky Tuesday Party
WIPs Be Gone 

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Sharing a Few Finishes!

I'm definitely doing the Happy Dance around here!  

I've got FOUR finishes to share with you - whoohoo!!!!  Yes, I have been a busy little girl these past few weeks!  Thanks to my friend Joanne letting me use her longarm, I finished up two UFO's that have been burning a hole in my UFO closet ...

Christmas Geese

This is my FIRST Christmas quilt!  Yes, I have been quilting now for 7 years and this is my first full-size Christmas quilt ... *hangs head in shame*.....  It is a Miss Rosie pattern called Toulouse - apparently there is a type of goose in France called a toulouse..... who knew?????  You can read my post about this quilt's beginnings HERE if you are curious.

This was the first quilt I blogged about when I started the blog two years ago :*)  I fell in love with the pattern, bought it at a LQS, and then held on to it until I could decide on the fabrics I wanted to use.  When I found this lovely background oriental print on sale, I knew it would become a Christmas quilt.

On the longarm.....

Below is the design I chose to quilt it with, called Joyful Holly by Willow Leaf Studio.  

I love it!!!!

The quilt is trimmed and the binding - a joyful red and white candy-cane stripe - is all prepped and ready to apply....

I'll be sure to share a final photo when that's done, but for now I just have to get a few little projects out of the way first :)

Next finish ..... another long-time UFO - Fall Pumpkins Sampler!

This quilt started out as BOM blocks at a local LQS in 2008!  In January, they provided the pattern and fabrics to make either Fall or Christmas sampler blocks for just $3 a block.  Then if you brought the completed block(s) back on the first Sunday of each month, you got the next block free - what a deal, right? Of course, you could do both Fall and Christmas if you wanted - and I did :*)  At the end of the year, they also offered setting kits for each quilt.  I loved the addition of the pumpkins as an alternate block in this setting!  I chose to use my own stash fabrics, however, rather than buy a setting kit.

This quilting design is called Wave on Wave and I really enjoy the play of design on fabric....it was quick and fun to do too :)

I totally LOVE this binding fabric!!!

It was such a sunny day when I took these pictures, and the colors are a little washed out here....it's really a very vibrant quilt - lots of eye candy :)

A HUGE THANKS again to Joanne for helping me finish up some of these treasured UFO's!!!!

Of course, both of the Baby Quilts are now finished, as well, and ready to be gifted .... (read more about them in my previous post HERE)

Cooper's rag quilt Tranquility is all washed & dried....
SO cuddly & soft - perfect for our new Little One!!!

And I just finished quilting Genevieve's Banners on my Janome 6600P..... (you can click on the quilt name if you want to learn more about how I made this quilt)

I used the background fabric as my guide for the quilting design on this one - soft, happy daisies everywhere.... connected with lazy little loops..... gosh this was FUN to quilt!!!

I wanted to add a rose design in the heart - for our little Genevieve Rose of course!  I traced the design onto tissue paper, then pinned it to the quilt and quilted over it - worked perfectly I think!!!

Here it is ... all trimmed and bound and ready for Miss Genevieve :*)

Thanks for sharing these finishes with me!!!

It's always so much more fun to enjoy our quilts with friends, isn't it?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Sunday Stash Report – Week #13

This was a pretty good week for my stash.  I added three ½ yard pieces to enhance my batiks, and I finished up several projects.

Finishes first - because I just can’t wait to show you!  I have finished another of my UFO’s that needed to be quilted!  Here is my Blue Blossoms….

This is a pattern from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville called Pineapple Blossoms.  I drove all the way to Alabama to take this class from Bonnie in May of last year with a couple of equally insane excited friends.   I got perhaps four blocks completed that day because I was having too much fun meeting and chatting with Bonnie!  She is the most down-to-earth and fun teacher I’ve ever met!  Once I got home, the quilt pieces sat for a while until I finally buckled down at a retreat last year and finished it up.  I was delighted when Joanne offered me a long-arm day so I could quilt it and finally call it a QUILT!!!

This quilt design is called Crepe Myrtle - it is a nice simple design with a lot of interest.

The fabric for the back and binding on this quilt came to about 5-1/2 yards.

Another finish - I posted HERE about my wonderful April Calendar quilt top.  Yes, I think it deserves another look-see, don’t you?  

I can’t get enough of it =^..^=   The top took approximately one yard of various fabrics to complete.  Since I won’t get it quilted until next week at retreat I’m not counting the backing or binding yardages yet.

Purchases –  Here are the fabrics I just had to bring home with me this week….

The two brownish/coppery batiks with the lines in them are really interesting because the back side looks like a different color fabric altogether.  

So I am actually getting four fabrics instead of two – which is great for appliqué and scrap quilts!

The pink is for this cute little Cottontail bunny tabletop quilt pattern that is only 14-1/2” square.  

It will be displayed on this table topper frame that I finally broke down and purchased this week as well.

All in all a fun week in the Ivory Tower, and good numbers to report.  I moved 5 yards closer to being in black numbers this week – yoohoo!!!

Used this week:      6.50 yards

Used YTD 2012:      50.50 yards

Added this week:   1.5 yards

Added YTD 2012:   61.50 yards

Net Used for 2012: -11.00 yards

How is your stash coming along?  Head on over to Patchwork Times to see how others are doing with theirs.

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

The Latest Finish!

Remember the sneak peek I showed you on Sunday?  Well, here’s the reveal – my latest finish is Runaway to Bali!!!

This is a Lyn Brown design she calls Staycation that I found in her Etsy shop.  It's a jelly roll quilt and a lot of fun to do!  This is my Quilting UFO Challenge quilt for March - all done early except for the binding which will be done by the end of this week - yoohoo!!!

Not being too crazy about the name – but totally crazy about the quilt!!! – I began thinking of a name for my quilt almost before I started piecing it.  I finally put together the facts that I pieced this quilt last year at Runaway Quilters Retreat, and I used a Bali Pop for all the bright batik colors to get the name, Runaway to Bali.  Don’t you just love the deep turquoise batik background on this beauty?  

It is really something else up close I tell ya!!!  As soon as I saw it, I knew what I was going to do with it because I had purchased Lyn’s pattern several months earlier.

I think I did pretty well on the long-arm quilting too.  I just love the sweet and simple Daisies Galore panto!

I can really feel Spring in the air today!  Yesterday I saw this beautiful spot of color in the grocery store and had to bring it home to brighten up my Ivory Tower!  Isn’t it lovely???

I’m off to Book Club this afternoon.  We are reading Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult this month, and it is a good one!!!!  

A lot like The Green Mile, and it has received some bad press because of that, but still a very good book on its own and I’m enjoying it.  Unfortunately, I haven’t quite finished the book, and I hate getting to the group discussion and not participate fully.  I really tried to catch up but simply ran out of time.  In fact, I was so far behind that I ended up buying it on Audible so I could listen while I quilted!  I’ll be sure to finish it up later this week.

What are you up to today?  Hope its fun and exciting for you!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=


Linking up with Such a Sew and Sew's A Stitch in Time March 2012 Finishes - hop over THERE to see what others have finished so far this month!