NewFO’s and UFO’s and DWM – Oh My!!!

Wow!  I can’t believe September is gone already, can you? 

That means it's time for a little recap and report on my progress for the month.  And since it also happens to be Monday, let me start with what is on my Design Wall today….

This is the expanded block from The Blue Collection that I showed you yesterday.  I'm happy to say it is now completely finished with the exception of a few stems and leaves that I cannot add until the blocks are joined together.  It was already mostly complete, I only had to add some leaves and stems and the upper lip around the bowl …

These little stems & leaves may not look like much work, but let me tell you, I'd rather do ten of those oranges than just one little stem!  They are such tricky little boogers to turn under and get them just right!!!!  These two stems and leaves took me forever to complete!

….and then, because it was a heavy sports day, giving me lots of time for handwork, I finished up another one!

This one I completed from start to finish.

(And yes, I know it needs to be pressed LOL!)

The top went together like a charm - I love the fussy cut lid :*)

I think my needleturn applique is definitely improving!!!   =^..^=

I also prepared the next block for this quilt so I can be ready to work on it next Sunday :*)

It’s been quite a while since I have had a completed UFO to report for Judy’s UFO Challenge, so I was delighted to finish up Girls Just Want to Have Fun while at Runaway Retreat a few weeks ago!  I'll definitely be asking, Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop! on Friday!!!

I've got to get a better photo of this quilt!

This quilt required a lot of cutting and sewing up of a lot of little pieces, but it is well worth the effort, don’t you think?  And as I've said before, it is probably the only 30’s quilt I will ever make, so it will definitely be special to me :*)  I think my guests will truly feel pampered with it on the bed when they come to visit.  Now if I can just get it quilted. =^..^=

For Barbara’s NewFO Challenge, I had quite a few ideas and projects that were calling for my attention, as I reported HERE.  But I finally narrowed it down to these fun new starts…..

Most of you will remember that I participated in the Dots on Dots Blog Hop and made this cute little teapots table quilt which I named A Spot of Tea.  I received the Honorable Mention award that day – yes, I know, I’m special – hahaha!  :*D

I also jumped on the Hawaii Sunset bandwagon and got this block put together before I had to put it down for a while.  You can read more about my progress on this quilt HERE.

I hope to get back to it again later this week.  I just LOVE this quilt!!!!  There are quite a few bloggers working on this quilt right now, which makes it so much more fun! :*)

So that’s it for my September!  A lovely month, made even more lovely by the fact that my daughter came into my life in September.  I love you Christy!!!

October is always a bittersweet month for me.  I love the onset of fall with its cooler temperatures and the trees all resplendent with color and majesty!!!  But it also means winter is approaching, and that I do not like!  I've never enjoyed cold weather, coats or blustery winds – brrr!!!!!  But I know we have to have winter in order to have balance in our ecosystem, and in order for spring to come around once again, so I will choose to ENJOY this winter!  That has been my word for 2012 – ENJOY!  And for the most part, I think I've done a pretty good job of that.  What about you?  What is your favorite or least-liked season?

But today it is still just the first day of October, and I am now on my way to go and ENJOY spending the day sewing with some of my bestest quilting buddies!  I hope your October is an amazing month for you and yours :*)


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=


Be sure to go over to these fun blogs to see what others have been having fun sewing up ......

What Will it Be?

Have you been joining in the fun of the NewFO Challenge over at Cat Patches?

I love this challenge because it gives me the freedom to start new things without guilt!  Yep, I love being guilt free!  So what did I start this month?

Well, I started (and finished) my niece’s graduation quilt, Raney Days & Mondays….

And I also had a blast starting my Twister Trees projects, which are completely pieced but not yet quilted…..

Now I’m trying to decide what to start in September for the Challenge, and it’s really hard to decide because there are a couple of quilts calling my name!

Let's see....Will it be Hawaiian Sunset? 

I just love the colors in this quilt, but I’m not sure I want to start on something so piecing intensive right now.  SoScrappy - who is NOT starting hers yet – sure is tempting me!  She’s already stitched up a block – just to make sure she’ll enjoy working on it of course.  But she’s not starting a new project yet… she’s really not … *wink*  And Jo over at Jo’s Country Junction has started working on hers too, and is inviting us all to join her.   What an enabler!!!! =^..^=

Or maybe I’ll start this….

Oh my gosh!!!  Have you seen these Butterflies by Debra Gabel?  

My fingers are itching to start this quilt!!!  I think it would be great fun to stitch with a group – maybe we could have a quilt-a-long?!?  Oh yeah – that would be FUN!!!  If you're interested let me know.... I’m ordering the patterns, but not sure if I should start it just yet….  Hmmmm….

And then again, I may just start something small and sweet, like the September Calendar Quilt…..although I have to say this is not one of my favorites of her quilts and I may skip this month and just try to finish up the August quilt instead (which I like much better) :*)

Oh dear, I just can’t decide!  I’ll be plenty busy this month working on my Dots on Dots blocks. But I’m taking a week off to go on to Runaway Quilters Retreat too, so plenty of sewing time there – yippee!!!!

Are you thinking of starting something new in the coming month?   Join the NewFO Challenge fun and share it with us at Cat Patches!

Linking up with ......

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Design Wall Monday - July 2, 2012

I loved seeing all of your comments from yesterday's post about my Stash Report adventures!  You are such great friends, and I love the way you all rallied around and helped me feel good about my stash numbers :*)  I've decided from now on I'm going to name it the "Stash Enhancement Report" =^..^=

I’m really not one to worry about adding too much fabric to my stash.  The way I look at it, I need fabric to quilt, right?  And I’d much rather buy it when I can find it at really good prices, than to have to search for it later and pay huge prices, right?  I call it “smart planning” – anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! =^..^= 

So what’s on my Design Wall this week?  Still working on my current UFO Challenge project, Vintage Valentines.  This week I worked on the huge center medallion.

Those pieces kind of look like a cat, don't they?  LOL!!!  I was really kind of dreading this one because of the size.  But as I was putting together the other blocks I realized that I needed this one done early so the other blocks would work well around it and not fight with it. 

So I bit the bullet and opened up the folder to get the pieces for this center block.  Uh oh!  I hadn’t cut out the fusible tracings yet!!!  

Darn!  I thought I had already done that for all the blocks!  And then I looked and realized that none of the TBD blocks had been cut out yet!  That meant that blocks 7-12 and the center medallion had only been traced to fusible, but not yet cut out ready to fuse to the fabrics!  Ugh!!!  LOTS of work yet to be done – work I thought I had already done!!!  Oh well….  Guess what I did while I was watching Tiger win the AT&T National?  =^..^= 

Pieces all prepped for one block

So now you know why I only got one block done this week.  :*)  Here is the Center Medallion block, all fused and ready to applique down the pieces. 

Whew!  It was a big job, but I think I’m happy with it.  I'm still not real sure about that green and white check for the leaves and stems, but I think once I applique them down with a buttonhole stitch in dark thread they’ll stand out enough to work out okay.  The original had this fabric here, so I'm giving it a trial run.

If not, I can always change the fabrics out for something I like better later.  This is what all the finished blocks look like so far on the Design Wall.  

Lookin' good!!!

It feels really good to be getting some of these UFO projects completed!  I have had to carry some of them out into several months, but I don’t really mind that at all.  It has really helped me to be able to stay focused and get each one done.  So far this year, I have completed piecing 3 UFO’s and quilted 6 flimsy UFO’s!  And I’m now half-way through with Vintage Valentines, so I’m VERY happy with those numbers!

…. Now DON'T FORGET to come by tomorrow to see my block for the Red White & Blue Blog Hop!  I just can’t wait to show you!!!  =^..^=   Here's one more little peek.....

These are the blogs that are participating today – go give them some love if you have time!

July 2nd

Sharon P

Snoodles

The Raspberry Rabbits

KrisD

Quilts From My Crayon Box

Elaine

And to see what others are creating on their Design Walls, go HERE to Patchwork Times.

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Also linking up with:

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Manic Monday at Sew Happy Geek
Tuesday Linky Party at Quilting by the River
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
WOW at Esther's Blog
Applique Thursday at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Vintage Valentines

I’ve finally been able to get back to the journey of my Vintage Valentines!  This makes me a happy girl =^..^=

I first saw this quilt displayed in a booth at my first ever AQS Show in Nashville – maybe 2006? – and I remember just standing there staring at it, just stunned.  I still tend to do that whenever I see one of these amazing quilts :*)  Several of the ladies in my Guild have completed one, and I am always SO jealous when they bring them to Show-n-Tell.  I want mine finished too!!!

There was no question when I signed up for the Patchwork Times’ UFO Challenge this year that Vintage Valentines would go on the list!  As I shared in THIS POST a few weeks back, when I opened my UFO project box to begin, it contained four blocks, two of them complete and two still needing to have the applique stitched down.  

I had also completed tracing off all the pieces for all twelve blocks and the center medallion – lots of work already done – YAY!!!  But lots of work still to go too :*)

So I got down to business and began the process of choosing fabrics for Blocks 5 and 6, then fusing and cutting out the shapes.  Since there are a million little flower petals in these blocks, I always lay them out in order in rows of 10’s on the side of my ironing surface so I can pick them up quickly and put in place.   Notice that I also "window" out the center of the fusible on any pieces large enough so the pieces are not too stiff on the quilt.

Before I do any fusing of the pieces, I always run a sticky Lint Roller thingy over the surface of the background to clear it of any fuzz or strings etc.  

Then I find the center of the background and the center of the design, marking both so I can be sure I fuse the design correctly in the center of the background.  I usually place a pin in the center spot through both to keep the design paper in place as I move underneath placing the pieces.  I’ve used both tracing paper and vinyl for this design sheet, and both seem to work really well. 

I only place a few pieces at a time, in numerical order, under the design sheet onto the background (needle-nose tweezers come in real handy here!), check through the design sheet to be sure they are in perfect place, and then lift the design sheet and press down on the pieces lightly, just enough to hold them in place and not moving the iron ....

..... but not too long, because if you iron it too much the fusible will burn off and the piece will not stick anymore.  Ask me how I know :*)  Always follow the instructions on your particular brand of fusible!!!  Then I lay the design sheet back down, making sure it is in perfect position once again before placing a few more pieces, and continuing the process until all the pieces are fused!

For Block #5, I had a hard time deciding on the fabrics I wanted for the little bird and his wing.....

...... so I waited until I had everything else fused down and then auditioned the fabrics until I had the ones I liked best.  I was very happy with the result!

Block #6 went together like a charm!  

It was a happy block from the word Go!  Have you ever had a baby like that?  Happy from the moment it is born and never cries or fusses and just smiles all the time?  Me neither, but I’ve heard tell they do exist.   Of course, that’s what they said about unicorns for a time too! =^..^=

So here they are…. 

My two newest “babies” in the Vintage Valentine nursery :*)  They also need to have the applique stitched down, but I have decided to go ahead and get all the blocks prepared and fused down before I do the stitching, sort of like chain piecing, but chain appliqueing instead … is that a word?  LOL!!!  I hope you enjoyed seeing them come together.  I’ll be working on the next blocks and updating you regularly!

I’m also putting my brain to work on a block for the Red, White and Blue Blog Hop starting in July.  My date is July 3^rd, so be sure to come back to see if I've survived and what I've managed to come up with :*)  Yesterday, I purchased these….

.... which should tell you that I’m probably in Big Time trouble!!!  Anyone who knows me, knows how horrible I am at any kind of math.  But I've got a new book with an awesome new technique I want to try, so you just need to come back and see if I survive this block design! =^..^=

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with:

2012 UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Tuesday Linky Party at Quilting by the River
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced 
WOW at Esther's Blog
Applique Thursday at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Design Wall Monday – May 21, 2012

This will be a quickie post because I am off in one hour to the Red Rooster!!!  Yippee!!!  Wanna come along?  =^..^=

My design wall has a new quilt on it this week – Yay!!!  As promised, Vintage Valentine is next on my 2012 UFO Challenge list.  The pattern is a Verna Mosquera design from The Vintage Spool.  It has 12 sweet blocks surrounding a simply gorgeous medallion block! This is a very romantic quilt crafted of bows and birdies and above all Hearts, Hearts, and more Hearts!!!  Romantic may not be my usual style, but hearts definitely are! 

Here is what I have done so far…

Block #1

Block #2

Blocks 1 and 2 are complete.  All pieces fused down and stitched.

Block #3

Block #4

Blocks 3 and 4 have the pieces fused down but still need to be buttonhole stitched down.

I have all the pieces drawn on fusible and ready to go, so the drudgery part of the process is done :*)

I had originally planned to work on this at retreat, but then I decided against it because I didn’t want to have to carry all the fabrics I am using along with me.  I want to keep this retreat simple, so I decided to take two very straightforward projects that fit into one project box and simply require nothing but straight stitching.  No appliqué or other special stitching means I can take my little Featherweight instead of my heavy, bulky Janome 6600P too.  I’m travelin’ light folks!!!  More room for fabric to bring home ….. oops, no fabric shops between here and there anymore :(  Oh well!  I guess this means I won’t need to carry a lot of money either :*)  And maybe a positive Stash Report this week too?  Dare I hope????

Please pray for traveling angels for us.  It is a 3-hour trip but we are buddying up, so there should be no problems staying alert & awake :*)

That’s it for my design wall this week – what’s on yours?  Go to Patchwork Times to see what others are working on!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=