Slow Stitching, Stash Enhancement & NewFO's!

I finally got to play with Bertie!

I spent a great deal of time this week getting my sewing studio cleaned up and organized once again - it was a mess!!! Hubby was a huge help in suggesting innovative ways to organize everything and eliminate the clutter. Sometimes a big job really benefits from a fresh perspective!

My plan was to attack the January Bertie's Year BOM last week, but that didn't happen until this afternoon.  This is my December NewFO Challenge project, so I had to get busy!!!  Here is the block all sewn together and the applique pieces stitched down ...... don't these flannel fabrics look rich and so, so soft???  It looks a little plain without any embellishment, though, doesn't it?

Poor little Bertie - she thinks she's just a plain little brown bird .................

............ and she obviously would love to be so much more flashy and fabulous!  She wants to be a beautiful red cardinal!!!  (I'm really hoping that by the end of the year, she will have learned that she is beautiful just the way she is ☺)  I love her fearlessness and curiosity!  She's not a bit afraid of this cute little snow "ghost"...... I think she is trying to make friends with him!

Sunday will find me enjoying some hand stitching to apply the fun embellishments on this little wall-hanging so it can be ready to go up on my wall for January 2014.  You can see below the stitching that is called for - love all those little snowflakes randomly dotting the background ♥  And the buttons for "berries" were included in the pattern as well :*)

When I signed up for this BOM at Shabby Fabrics, I chose to receive the Presencia threads kit that goes with this series of little quilts.  What is it about shiny new spools of thread that make my heart sing?  Does that happen to any of you?

What a joy to finally sit at my machine once again and play with beautiful fabrics & design!!!

Once I'm done with Bertie for January, I'll move on to start preparing the applique pieces for the last blocks for Blue Collection.  They are all drawn out and templates made .....




Now, how would you like to see some Stash Enhancement?  
Here you go.......

I picked up these three fabrics for backings at Connecting Threads' Year-End sale - wow!!!  They have a lot of fabrics still on sale for 40% and 50% off, so check them out if you're looking for nice fabric at a great price.  I got such a great deal, I'm still smiling!!!!

This batik was one I just couldn't resist!  I have several quilts in progress that could be lucky enough to have this spectacular explosion of colorful daisies for the backing.... I will have to decide when the right one is finished.  I also got enough yardage to use this for borders on a quilt too.... just in case :*)  The colors aren't quite true here - there's actually a touch of lime green too - but close enough.

Next, these beautiful & colorful gilt-etched ornaments are for the backing for my Jovial quilt.  It's on my list of UFO's to complete this year so I'll have it for Christmas next year :*)

This is what the Jovial quilt looks like - mine will have lots more variety of color though :)  Several friends joined in together and swapped fabrics, so we have lots of wonderful fabrics for this fun quilt!  This is a free 3-D pattern - you can click on the pattern name above to go to the link.

Photo courtesy of Moda

And this wonderful Blue Snowflake batik was back-ordered when I first placed my order, so I really didn't expect to receive it.  That really bummed me out because it is PERFECT for Winter Wonderland!!!  I received the first two fabrics and an invoice for them, so I figured this one had sold out early and forgot about it.  Then a few days ago, I got a notice that my "order had shipped" from Connecting Threads - and it was this fabric - whoohoo!!!  I just love it!!!  Notice the touch of purple in there..... oh, it makes me happy!

Backings are always the part that I hate spending so much money on.  You know how it goes.... you've spent a small fortune already on the beautiful fabrics for the front of the quilt, and then you have to dish out big bucks for enough fabric to do the backing.  I honestly don't like making scrappy backings unless the quilt itself calls for it.  When I'm done with the front, I'm DONE, you know what I mean?  I don't want to spend hours on getting the back ready.  So I'm always a happy girl when I can find backing fabrics at dirt cheap prices!!!

We have family coming later this week and then I'm planning to scoot on over to North Carolina to get some cuddle time in with Mr. Cooper, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to sew this week.  I do have one sew date scheduled, so at least I'm assured some time with my machine this week :*)

I also wanted to share one last look at Christmas 2013......

Here are a couple of mini-pineapple ornaments made and gifted to me by my sweet friend, Janet O, who blogs at Rogue Quilter ..... aren't they just adorable?????  Janet knows I love color and batiks :*)  I feel special and honored every time I spy one of these on the tree.  Of course, they will not be put away with the other ornaments!  They hang in my sewing room the rest of the year.  I have a small ornament stand that they adorn quite beautifully ♥

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to sit and enjoy the tree once it is decorated.  I love to look at each ornament, remembering where it came from - each one has a history and is truly special to me.  These new works of art really added a sparkle to our little tree this year :*)

And speaking of sparkle - what sparkles more brightly than gold????  I won these amazing brass quilt-block ornaments from a giveaway hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches!!!

I couldn't wait to get them on the tree when they arrived!  You could hear me holler a mile away when I got the news that I had won :*D  Thanks again Barbara - they are unique and I just love them!!!!  I'm thinking these will also stay in my sewing room after the tree comes down ♥  I can't imagine them sitting in a dusty old box for 11 months out of the year, can you?

Wishing all my blog friends Peace and fun quilty things 

that make you smile this coming year!!!

I'll be linking up with the following fun Linky Parties - come and check them out!

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Judy's Patchwork Times Stash Report
Cat Patches 2013 NewFO Challenge
Freemotion by the River's Linky Party

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Slow Sunday Stitching

I sure do hope your Sunday is a prettier day than ours here in Music City!!!  It's another of those gray, rainy, blustery WINTER days!  Makes me think of Pooh Bear :*)  And hubby said it was even spitting a little snow earlier!  But I'm not complaining or whining, you understand.  Just sayin'....... :*D

Of course, it is easy to find something to praise in a gloomy day like this when it is a lovely stay-at-home Sunday....

♥♥♥....... a nice hot mug of tea in the morning to warm the bones....

One of my FAVORITE mugs!!!
Marilyn-cat =^..^=

♥♥♥..... decorating for Christmas!!!!  

We bought a small tree yesterday to put up instead of the huge one we usually do.  There is so much going on this year and both hubby and I have been under the weather, so we decided to downsize our decorating efforts.  It won't take very long to get our house looking cozy and joyful!!!


♥♥♥..... and lots of Slooooowwwwww Stitching on the sofa while watching some football!!!

This past week I got my first block for the BOM I signed up for at Shabby Fabrics - Bertie's Year.  I am so excited about this set of little wall quilts!  I especially love all the fun and colorful pieced borders on each one.....and the hand-stitched details - so cute!!!!

Photo courtesy of Shabby Fabrics

The yummy flannel fabrics for the first block did not disappoint!

And the best bonus is that the pieces are laser cut - love it!!!

I'm hoping to start this project this week - it will be my December NewFO for the Cat Patches linky party.

And speaking of Cat Patches linky parties - Barbara's having a wonderful Giveaway Linky Party right now over at her blog HERE to kick off the 2014 NewFO Party!!!  You could win a beautiful fat quarter bundle just by linking up - so get busy planning & blogging about those 2014 NewFO's!

If you get stuck for ideas (really???), you can look at some of the fun projects she has lined up for the year.  She's going to be a very busy girl, as usual :*)  Of course, I had to go over immediately and grab up the free "I Love Sewing" patterns from the Sulky link - Thanks Barbara!!!  =^..^=

Today, I will be very happily employed cutting out traced templates and fusible pieces for my remaining Blue Collection blocks.  Even though I am so close to the end of this quilt, there are still about a million pieces left to cut out and sewn down.... ugh!!!!

Once all these are cut out, I will begin prepping the applique pieces for this block at the bottom center of the quilt that holds the tree.....

....... I have a feeling it's going to be a doozie .... look at all these fussy little pieces! :*O

I think that might keep me out of trouble today :*)  

How will you stay out of trouble today?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with:
Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching
Patchwork Times - Design Wall Monday
What a Hoot - BOM's Away!
Freemotion by the River - Tuesday Linky Party
Cat Patches - December NewFO Linky Party

October End of Month Reports

Nothing like being just a "little" bit late, right?  Let's see.... October ended a week ago, didn't it?  

Oh my!  Life has just been so busy, and blogging has had to take a back seat.  Actually, that may be the case for much of November too.  I have two baby quilts to finish up in two weeks time - one hasn't even been started yet -  yikes!!!  I promise I'll try to pop in and keep you updated with short posts about my adventures :)

So, what did I accomplish in October?  

October 2013 NewFO Challenge project:  One of my favorite things to do each month is start something fresh and new, and then LINK UP with Barbara at Cat Patches!

Sneak peek - "Paws in the Garden" wool block in process

Terri Stegmiller - amazing mixed-media artist and art quilter! - asked for volunteer pattern testers last month, and I just couldn't resist these adorable, purrsonable kitties in her pattern called "Paws in the Garden" - so I said, "Sign Me Up!"  I thought these kitties would be a really cute addition to my Summertime wool quilt (click on the name to see the designer's quilt).  As a reminder, I'm only doing 9 blocks and substituting some of them with a few of my own choosing - such as my wool rendition Terri's "Paws in the Garden."  I had SO MUCH fun with this NewFO in October :)  You'll be seeing the finished project soon!!!!

As my regular followers have already seen, I finished Moonglow and it won 1st place at our local Oktoberfest Quilt Show (click here for more) - woohoo!!!  

I'm hoping to get a better picture of this quilt soon!

After a marathon quilting session that lasted 2-1/2 weeks, I was pretty much "quilted out!"  I took a much-needed break from the machines and did some soothing hand work instead.  I sat down to my sewing machine for the first time last night to sew together a backing for a quilt to go on Joanne's longarm today.  I'll share pics of that fun finish in a few days :)

We also had some company this month, which is the absolute BEST reason I can think of for not getting all my Get It Done items completed this month, wouldn't you agree? :*)

Mom & me, at Olive Garden with our favorite fellows, celebrating my birthday - shhhhh!!!!!!
(It was such a fun time, we couldn't sit still; hence, the blurry pic LOL!!!)

Early in the month, we had our oldest grand-daughter Emma for a week - always a pleasure!  And then last week we had the rare treat of my mom and stepfather here for a few days while on their way to visit my brother in Los Angeles.  My friend Lynn came in from Seattle for a visit also last week, and we enjoyed some wonderful time together piled up in the recliners and covered with comfy quilts while I introduced her to the excellent PBS series, Call the Midwife. This is absolutely my favorite show on TV right now.  They are showing repeats right now, gearing up for the 3rd season which starts in March 2014 - can't wait!!!

Since I was in a place where I just wanted to rest and relax, I picked up my needles and put on a new pair of plain jane socks - and I finished them in 10 days!  If you had told me a year ago that I could make a pair of socks in 10 days, I would have sworn it was impossible!  But here is the proof...

Surf Serenity socks
Two at a time using Magic Loop

They fit very nicely!  

Still a tad loose around the foot though - I'll take a few more stitches out of my next pair.

For the cuff, I went to DPN needles one size smaller than those used on the socks, 

and tried out a new-to-me method called Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off.

The cuffs are easy to stretch out but hug nicely when worn and

go back to shape quickly when I take them off  ----

Yes, I was happy with Jeny's bind-off and I'll use it again :*)

So, in summary, my October accomplishments - or lack thereof - look something like this ..... *drumroll please!*

October 2013 Goals:

• RSC Challenge Blocks - The color was Black/Gray, so I chose to let these blocks slide last month so I could concentrate on getting Moonglow quilted.
• NewFO project - ?????? - I want to do a pumpkin project - will I have time???  No, I didn't have time for a pumpkin project :(  However, "Paws in the Garden" has been great fun!!!
• Quilting - Moonglow, Genevieve's Banners, Mom's Valentine table-topper - Moonglow is DONE, but the other two are still on the To Do pile at the side of my machine.  They MUST be done by the week before Thanksgiving - yikes!
• Finish prepping and begin stitching on the next Summertime block - DONE!
• Yarn Projects - start Wingspan knitted shawl so I'll have an easy take-along, no-brainer yarn project - YES STARTED and two "wings" done :)
• Christmas QAL - Finish Bargello Tree Skirt; start on Jovial if I have time - NOT TOUCHED!
• Make at least half of the Talkin' Turkey flying geese - Cut most of the neutral pieces, but still a lot of cutting to do before I can even start sewing on these geese :(
• Continue washing stash - this one is ongoing and I did make some progress this month - Yay!!!

November 2013 Goals:

• Finish and post about Paws in the Garden project
• Quilting (domestic sewing machine DSM) - G's Banners, Mom's Valentine table-topper
• Quilting (longarm) - UFO - Christmas Geese (Christmas QAL)
• Make a baby quilt for newest grandson for shower the week before Thanksgiving
• Make several receiving blankets, etc., for shower also
• Yarn Projects - continue Wingspan; cast on new socks for working on over the holidays :)
• Enjoy time with family for the Thanksgiving season!!!!!

Linking up with -

Cat Patches - 2013 NewFO Challenge

Patchwork Times - Get It Done!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

End of Month Reports: September 2013

This month was not quite as successful as last month for getting things done, but all in all, I'm satisfied with what was accomplished - especially considering that I spent a week at retreat and a week getting ready for it.  All that cutting and washing fabrics - ugh!  It takes so much work to get ready to start new projects now that I have to wash everything first!!!

September 2013 NewFO Challenge project:  linking up with Cat Patches

Summertime Wool Applique - remember this new project?

Vintage Valentine Table Topper gift for Mom....

I got a great start on this project by having all the fusible pieces drawn out and cut in advance!  I had prepared them for this block in the Vintage Valentine quilt quite some time ago - another of my UFO's.   So when Mom requested one of these blocks for her next tabletopper frame quilt, it was easy to just choose a block that had all the fusible papers traced and cut, but not yet fused to fabrics for the quit.  I chose all the fabrics and fused the pieces down on the background before retreat.  All I had to do at Runaway was stitch them all down with a buttonhole stitch - Done!!!  Now I just need to take an afternoon to quilt and bind it, adding a little hanging sleeve for the table topper frame.  This will go to Carolina with me at Thanksgiving :*)

Christmas QAL - Bargello Tree Skirt.... linking up with Needle-Thread-Happiness

Another new start for the NewFO Challenge is this Christmas QAL project that I have been wanting to dig into for the longest time now!!!  My goals list for September listed quilting my Blue & White "The First Tree of Life" quilt..... BUT, I am already quilting a much larger quilt right now which ties up my machine, and I didn't want to quilt at retreat - I much prefer to do my quilting at home where I have plenty of room and lots of tables around me to catch the quilts.  So I decided to start work on the Bargello Tree Skirt at Runaway.  This was a much more complicated project than I thought it would be - which is really saying something since I expected it to be a challenge! - so I didn't finish it, but I'm happy with the progress.  And since it is on my list of Christmas proejcts I want to complete for the holidays this year, I really just substituted one project for another on my Christmas QAL goals :*)

This will go on my October Get It Done list for finishing up!

September 2013 Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks:  BABY BLUE - linking up with SoScrappy

Lone Starburst

Fantasia

Yes, they are pastels!!!  But they were fun to play with, and I'm crossing my fingers for something brighter in October LOL!!!

September Quilting Project:  Moonglow!!!

I'm adding a section to my End of Month goals.  I really NEED to get some of my projects quilted, so I'm scheduling those into my To Do list.  This month I've chosen one of the hardest projects on the shelf - start with the biggest challenge and it's all downhill from there, right???  LOL!!!

This is a Queen-size quit, so I will have to wrestle with it to get it done!  But I've done several queens before, so I know I can do it.  As you can see, this was basted on my friend Joanne's long-arm machine, so I didn't have to get down on the floor to sandwich and pin it - SO MUCH EASIER!!!  I will say though that my fingers keep getting caught in those huge basting stitches :*)

My first task was to stabilize the quilt, so I QID - quilted in the ditch - around the edges
between the center blocks and the borders - my Janome QID Walking foot makes this a breeze!!!
Or, at least it would be if it weren't black on black - so hard to see.....

Another problem with black - it picks up every piece of lint or cat hair in my universe!!!
I surely don't want to quilt those suckers down on my quilt, so....

I keep my lint roller handy and use it on each section before I quilt it.

Pebbling around the star points - VERY time consuming, but I'm liking the results so far....

One Star block DONE!!!
Only 12 more to go LOL!!!
Now if I can just decide how I want to quilt the log cabin alternating blocks.....

***********************

Get it Done - September/October 2013:  linking up with Patchwork Times

September 2013 Goals:

• Finish prep-work on all materials for Runaway class - DONE!
• Continue washing Stash - Continuing.... lots washed for retreat projects, but not much since then.
• RSC Challenge blocks- DONE!
• Complete Genevieve's baby quilt - Top is DONE but it still needs to be sandwiched and quilted.  I had to talk to the Mom before I made a final decision on the backing.  All ready to go now!
• New Tabletop quilt for Mom (NewFO Challenge project)- Top is DONE!  Still needs to be quilted, but it doesn't have to be done until the week of Thanksgiving, so I'm happy! :*)
• Quilt The First Tree of Life - Didn't touch this!  However, I substituted starting my Bargello Tree Skirt for my Christmas project this month, and I got quite a lot of that done at Runaway :*)
• Start quilting Moonglow- DONE!  The quilting on this is going to take a LONG time!!!
• Make flying geese for Talkin' Turkey - Not done!  Joanne and Mary would not let me work on them at Runaway - they insisted that we only work on this project during our sit-n-sew times together!  So I will get started on these this coming Friday :*)
• Finish Dreambird Shawl - I suppose I was way too ambitious on this one considering I had a week-long retreat to go to and days of preparation.  I do have 13 of the 21 feathers done though :)  Look for a picture on Friday when I'll link up with Judy's On the Needles.
• Plan and prepare Runaway projects that I think I can accomplish in 4 days- DONE!

All in all, I don't think I did too very bad this month!  Retreats usually throw me for a loop as far as momentum - do they do that to you too?  I always think I'm going to get SO MUCH done, and then I don't.... but much fun was had, so that's what counts, right?

October 2013 Goals:

• RSC Challenge Blocks
• NewFO project - ?????? - I want to do a pumpkin project - will I have time???
• Quilting - Moonglow, Genevieve's Banners, Mom's Valentine table-topper
• Finish prepping and begin stitching on the next Summertime block
• Yarn Projects - start Wingspan knitted shawl so I'll have an easy take-along, no-brainer yarn project
• Christmas QAL - Finish Bargello Tree Skirt; start on Jovial if I have time
• Make at least half of the Talkin' Turkey flying geese
• Continue washing stash

Well, that's it for me!  I hope you have some really fun projects planned for October!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

2013 NewFO Challenge for July

Whew!!!  I just realized today is the last day in July, and what with all the drama traveling in my life this month, I almost missed starting a new project for Barbara's NewFO Challenge over at one of my favorite blogs, Cat Patches!  Talk about sliding in under the wire!!!

So what did I decide to start?  I wanted something FUN and fairly easy, and I also wanted to keep in line with my new direction of making quilts to add some colorful wall decor in my guest rooms.

 I bought this wonderfully whimsical pattern and a length of the hand-dyed background fabric from Vicki Welsh at her Etsy shop - vickiwelsh.etsy.com.  Vicki hand dyes some of the most yummy fabrics!  She also blogs HERE showing off her latest creations.  When I saw how she paired her gorgeous fabric up with this design by Deborah Levy, I was a goner!  I hit the "Buy" button before I took my next breath!!!  I'm thinking I'll call this quilt Meow Moon =^..^=  (Edit:  I just thought of the purrfect name!  "Moon Over Meow-mi" - yep, that's it!!!)

Isn't this fabric just mouth-watering GORGEOUS????

I'm so excited about working on this project!  And since it is fairly small, it will be decorating one of those guest room walls pretty soon :*D

In order to get in on the NewFO Challenge for July, I dug all the stuff out of my closet began work on this project first thing this morning!  First the pattern pieces had to be taped together.....the tree was 3 pages and so long I couldn't even get a good picture of it, but aren't these cats just the cutest?!!!!?!!!!

Next I began tracing off the fusible pieces....

All the pieces are now traced off, and I still need to pull the other fabrics I will use.  Will I get any more of this done today?  I'm hoping so!  But I've gotta stop now and take care of a few errands.

Click HERE to go check out all the other new projects started in the 2013 NewFO Challenge Linky Party at Cat Patches!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=