April Goal Setting

Okay, so... A lot has happened since I posted last month. I started back to work. I wasn't really planning on going back now, but it just happened that a great opportunity appeared and I couldn't turn my back on it.

On the sewing front, I didn't do anything last month. I don't think I got my machine out once in March with the exception of trying to fix my daughter's teeny, tiny Elsa skirt and mangling it completely.

This month I will finish my single girl quilt. Maybe it should be called procrastination girl. I can't wait to cuddle up with it once it's finished. That's going to have to be the inspiration that I need to get it done.

I want to start some projects, I was going to make a quilt for a family member that I've been meaning to do something nice for. I did promise her a quilt this year, so I really shouldn't squelch - seeing as I already said something to her about it.

Okay... So, I'm gonna finish up the single girl. I really will. I promise.

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March Goal Setting

This month I'm finally going to finish my Single Girl quilt. I was calling it Lazy girl, but I might have to change that to Procrastination Girl since it has taken me quite a while to get it finished. I have the whole top pieced and the main part of the backing cut and the batting cut. I just have to piece a section onto the back and make the sandwich and quilt that sucker and bind and then... then, I will be finished! I can't wait to have my own quilt to snuggle on the sofa with.

Set your goals for the month and don't forget to link up at the Lovely Year of Finishes.

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A February Finish!!!

My first finish of the year. I remember it fondly.... it was a few weeks ago, February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day. I had been planning to post about it when it happened, but I had a special date with my husband and the girl was going to her Bubbe's house for the evening.

wearing my heart on the wall

I love how it turned out. It's so scrappy - not a style that I usually work in, but I had purchased a lot of charms when I first started out, that I haven't been using, so I thought I would make something with them that I could have to look at, seeing as I like these fabrics so, so much. I did add some words in the quilting. Along the top and bottom edges there are English words like "love" and "kiss me" and on the left and right edges there are French and Spanish words like "j'taime" and "te amo" "da me un beso". I really enjoyed making this my own.

Linking up with the Lovely Year of Finishes.

February Goals

A short month, and a lot of projects that I want to work on, with, hopefully, a few finishes.

I still need to finish up my lazy girl quilt - since it's for me, I'm not in a hurry, but it would be nice to have it completed. I did add some scrappy flying geese to two sides and I'm trying to decide what to use as a border for the whole quilt - I wasn't intending to add a border, but it kinda needs it.

I started some x&+ blocks today, and I'm quite pleased with how they are turning out.

 

The only thing that I'm not liking is that I wish I had cut some different fabrics. I have enough for nine blocks, but it has occurred to me that I may need to exchange some fabrics for others and I probably want to have about 35 of these blocks for a quilt. Not sure yet, though. 

I'm really enjoying making flying geese and I also want to make some more bags. I just need to purchase some lobster clips. I haven't been able to get them from any of the fabric shops that I frequent or Wal-Mart. What's up with that? Oh well.

I have to finish up some bee blocks that I'm behind on and I'm not going to commit to any bees this year. I did sign up for a swap, since I've only done a couple of fabric swaps - this is a pin cushion swap, so I'm kinda excited to see what I get and what I make. I am totally up to making things for swaps and hope to do some more this year.

That's all for today. Gotta get the girl outta the bath and the pizza outta the oven. YUM!

Make something, today.

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July's finishing goal

Greetings! This will be a short and sweet post.

This month I will finish my HST baby (girl) quilt. The top looks like this: 

I'm not sure if it's going to get a boarder or what kind of quilting it will have - it's all a mystery right now, but I have a few days to decide and then I will get working on it.

I also plan to finish up my HST baby (boy) quilt. That one is a pile of pinned squares on my table right now. I'm going to work on getting the HSTs made today and then I'll finish up the top this week. Both of these quilts will be ready for quilting next week. Yay! I'm feeling more and more productive lately. Can't wait to get back into the finishing mode.

Have you planned your July finishing goal yet? You have the rest of the week to link up to the Lovely Year of Finishes.

June Goal Setting

I started cutting on some baby quilts and I will say that I will finish at least one by the end of the month. Here are the photos of my cutting:

I did end up going to WalMart and getting some cheap-o fat quarters for these projects. Today I ran over to Hancock's for some muslin for the other side of the HSTs. I ended up getting the fabric for an additional 10% off because I was a patient customer (I'm glad my willingness to wait gets me treats sometimes).

Tonight I'm going to cut up the white and get started on the HSTs. I should finish them all and be well on my way.

Finishes and more

So... for the second month in a row I have forgotten to link back to the lovely year of finishes. I also failed to finish Penn's broken dishes quilt in April.

 I did manage make some bee blocks - one that I'm really proud of, too:

a paper-pieced star.

I was so inspired by making this block that I just signed up for a paper-piecing bee. I can't wait to see how these blocks turn out. The only thing that I don't like so much about paper-piecing is that the technique seems to waste a lot of fabric - or you end up with a lot of small, oddly shaped scraps to use up. I will have to start making something with all my scraps - a project for another day.

In other news, my birthday is tomorrow and my last day of work will be May 10th. I'm really excited to get back to being a stay-at-home-mom. I think Penelope likes the idea, too. We will have a great summer filled with swimming and going to the zoo and the aquarium and the children's museum, etc... I can't wait.

This month, I plan to finish Penn's broken dishes quilt - I know I've said it before, but I'm really gonna do it this time. Linking up to the Year of Lovely Finishes.

batik broken dishes quilt

Cheers!

It's raining, it's pouring... no, actually it's not.

I'm excited today to talk about two things that I've never done before. Today, I'm participating in my very first blog hop and I'm hosting my first ever give away of some of my favorite fabric. 

Firstly, my April Showers Mug Rug:

Undercover mug rug

pretty and functional

This mug rug was made with Piper by Dear Stella. It's a gorgeous fabric line with great color. So modern and chic, it's just screaming for me to make it into a full-size quilt.

This was my first foray into flying geese blocks. I liked making them a lot, I'm just bummed that I clipped off the points with the rest of my sewing. The "flippy corners" method that I learned on Fons and Porter seemed to not leave enough fabric at the top. I will have to try again - I'm sure it's user error and not anything that Marianne Fons did. I did some hand embroidery of the umbrella handles - I've been enjoying doing the hand stitching embellishments since I made my hexie pillow.

I used mono filament thread for the quilting on the front. I think it shines enough to make the straight line quilting look like raindrops. I'm very happy with this mug rug and I plan to use it at work.

And now on to the giveaway...

Please leave me a comment at the end of this blog post to win a charm pack of Comma. Just leave any old comment, or you could tell me what you would like to make with this lovely pack of 5" squares.

 Also, don't forget to check out all of the other bloggers on the hop today to see what they are up to.

Wednesday, April 17
Jen @ Quilter in the Closet
Marjorie @ Marjorie's Busy Corner
Elita @ A Pieceful Perspective
Green @ So Sew Green
Mara @ Greco Mara
Wendy @ Why Knot Kwilt?
Gmama Jane @ GrandMama's Stories
Debby @ Debby Kratovil Quilts
Britt-Inger @ Hill Valley Quilter
Connie @ Freemotion by the River
Beth @ Words and Stitches
Kathy @ iHeartSquishy

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to visit anytime.


I actually forgot to say that I will be choosing the winner of the charm pack on Monday, April 22 @ 3:00 PM so you have until then to leave me a contest to enter to win the lovely Comma charm squares. Good Luck!

April Finishing Goal

Alright, alright, so I missed my goal setting for last month - I did complete a lot of stuff, though.

This month, I would love, love, love to finally finish quilting and bind Penelope's broken dishes quilt. I have basted it, it is just waiting to be quilted. I really want my girl to have a quilt that I made. Here is a photo of the top:

Broken Dishes flimsy (top) waiting for quilting/binding/finishing

I had a lot of fun making the top and I would love to make another broken dishes quilt in the future, but this one has been waiting around since October to be completed. It's kind of an albatross at this point. I will be so happy when it is completed.

So... here's to me and let's hope that I can finish this quilt this month!! Can I get a woot-woot?

No sleep - may as well quilt

My daughter did not sleep last night and, therefore, I didn't sleep last night. I had to stay home from work today because I just didn't think I would make it on two hours of sleep.
Oh bother. I guess I will just have to play with the girl and work on her broken dishes quilt when she goes down for her nap. I probably can watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls while I'm sewing. What a lovely day.

Two starts/finishes for March already

So... I've already started and finished two projects this month. I'm super excited. I'm finally getting the hang of managing my home and my work and my hobby. Well, I say that today, because I've been quite productive - that could all go to hell next month, or tomorrow even. Anyway, here are photos of my recent accomplishments:

Hexie pillow top with hand quilting

putting together exploded star w/cat butt

finished exploded star top

The hexie pillow is actually completed, I just don't have a photo of the finished pillow yet and the exploded star quilt is sandwiched and I will begin the quilting tonight - I'm planning to give this to my uncle for his 50th birthday on Saturday - I hope I can finish this in time so that I will actually give it to him.

Now go and make stuff!
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March Finishing Goal

On this last day of February, I thought I'd get a jump on making my March finishing goals. I have a few projects that I want to start this month to prep for upcoming finish months, but the main thing that I want to finish this month is my daughter's broken dishes quilt. I have the lovely top completed it has just been waiting for sandwiching and quilting.
I'm going to start making some QAYG blocks - I'm thinking Granny Squares. I also want to make an exploded star quilt for a friend. I started this the other day, but when I don't draw a line on my squares, I end up not getting a very straight block. I tried to sew together some blocks the other day and they were all off. So frustrating. I don't know why I can't learn from my mistakes and just do the work that I need to make a crisp block.
Here's to making it work.

Get your sew on today!
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February Finish

Okay, so it wasn't everything I wanted to finish for February, but I did start a few things and I will have a more extraordinary finish for March.

This month, I started and finished these wonderful, felt, hot cup holders for my daughter's teachers for Valentine's Day. Here they are:

I had a lot of fun making these. They are so cute and simple. I think the teachers really liked them, too. I did make one for myself to keep on my single cup french press that I keep at work.

I made a few other felted goodies but I can't blog about them because they are presents that haven't been delivered yet.

I really hope to finish something better next month. I have a few projects up my sleeve that I need to start and work on for better finishes in the months to come.

Happy Tuesday!!

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February Finish It!!!

I'm going to be participating in "A Lovely Year of Finishes." I missed January, but I'll start now and can, at least, finish 11 projects this year.
Here's how it works:
Each month pick one project, anything you like (it can even be an entirely new project, so long as you can finish it in the current month) and tell yourself, "I will finish it." Then write a blog post about the project and link it up to our Goal Setting linky party. Spend the rest of the month working on your finish. We will have a mid-month check, and though you are not required to link up to that post, it would be fun to see your progress! Finally, after you have finished your project, write a second (or third) post showing us your Lovely Finish and link it up to our "Finishes Party."
Goal setting - required link up (link starts 1st of the month and is open for seven days)
Mid-Month check in - optional (link starts on the 15th and is open for seven days)
Finishes Party - required link-up (link is open seven days before the last day of the month)

This month I will be working on:

• Valentine's Day runners/wall hangings
• a felt crown for a friend
• Penelope's broken dishes quilt (sandwich and fmq)
• starting a new pieced top
• asterisk bee block for February Simply Solids Bee

I know I'll finish more than one of these things, but let's concentrate on the Valentine's Day thingys. I really need to get these started and finished in a timely manner so they are relevant. That means this weekend, I think.

Be kind!
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