Fall Fancy - Finally Finished

Fall isn't over yet.....  I am counting this quilt as finished in time!  Even though Thanksgiving is next week!!!!  I put this quilt together after starting the challenge with my mom.....  For some reason, I decided that a bag full of scraps that was handed from person to person to person was more important than the challenge quilt that I started in the first place.

The funny thing was that I didn't even like the fabrics.  I put this together and got it to my longarm quilter almost immediately and she was full of complements as always and made me feel like I am an amazing quilter (hee hee hee).

I decided that I would keep this quilt that I would call Fall Fancy!  I started on the binding and got tired of having a quilt on my lap so I put it away and kind of forgot about it til it was almost too late.  I finally got around to packing up my little bag of goodies and taking it to my son's judo practice and it only took me two nights to put the last of the binding on.  I get to enjoy this Fall Fancy quilt for another week before I put is away and break out the Christmas quilt that I have yet to post about!!!

So....  I typed this all up and then totally forgot to post it!  Oops!!!  Better late than never!!

Summertime's Over

My niece and I comparing toes.

I have decided that I sew a lot more during the colder months!  The weather in the Bay Area takes a lot longer to change.... It's supposed to be 92 here in San Jose today.  I can't believe that summertime is over already - even though it's still hot outside!  I look back and wonder where the time has gone. 

I haven't done well on keeping my goals so far this year.  I am hoping to finish at least one more quilt before the end of the year and maybe even some pillows to match the Christmas quilts that I finished last year and have yet to post about!  I keep thinking that if I write my goals down, that I will accomplish more.  I am thinking that it doesn't really work! 

Till I log in again.....


Romans 3:23-24   "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Finding Joy

Finding Joy - Thread Catcher

I wish my picture was as awesome as the Lillyella one!

Let me start with a quick brag on my sister-in-law (sil)....  she is one of the most unselfish people I know.  She has made sacrifices that people cannot comprehend. She has lived most of the past two decades in a place that few will ever understand. It was all for others with no personal gain. Last year marked a new start for her and I can't say how happy I am to see her full of life!  It reminds me of a butterfly....  waiting patiently until the perfect time to come out of the cocoon. 

Recently, on Facebook, I saw someone post about making a mat to go under their machine...  the picture showed a mat with an amazing paper pieced butterfly and a thread catcher.  My sil has been asking me to make her a thread catcher for at least two years so when I saw this post I knew I had to do this one!!!  I did some research and finally found that it was a free design from lilly ella and it was amazing. I decided to learn how to paper piece!!  Not as easy as I thought!!  

Everything complete.

While I did all my research on Pinterest I found a few other pieces that I thought would be perfect...  I decided to do a small mat for her to use while she sat and did her embroidery on the couch...  I kept the butterfly theme and figured the thread catcher could just be moved from the large mat to the small couch one.  I also decided to do a stopper for the foot pedal of the sewing machine (even if it doesn't get used).  

It took me a while to decide on colors and such but I love the way it turned out!!!  

The perfect label used as a pocket.

My paper pieced butterfly!!

My try at the selvage pocket.

The actual thread catcher.

Couch mat with pockets and pin cushion.

I added some shelf liner so it won't slide.

I am blessed to have a sil that will cater an entire church event for hundreds of people or bake cupcakes for a bridal shower of someone she doesn't even know or make cookies for a bake sale or pick up my kid at the last minute and even feed him....  I could go on with this list for awhile!!!  I know that she is not thanked enough for everything she does and I hope that every time she sticks a thread into that thread catcher she remembers just how amazing she is and just how very important the simple things that she does are. 

Keep pushing through and make every year greater than the last!!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2 NIV)

Linking up with crazy mom quilts


P.S. --  I still can't figure out how to get rid of the space on top!  Sorry.

Harley Quilt for Dad

This month is flying by!!!!  I can't keep up. I know they say time goes by faster as you get older, but this year seems a lot faster than most. 

As promised...  Here is another one of my projects I did last year. 

I decided to try a T-shirt quilt!  I always say that I'm scared to start new things when kit comes to quilting but now that I did it I'm glad....  and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  

I asked my Dad to go through all of his old Harley shirts and pick some out for me...  I didn't even tell him how many.  To my surprise, he brought me a bag a while later and I was impressed with his selections.  He had shirts that I remember him wearing when I was young (maybe 30 years ago). He also had shirts from locations that were important to him. I know that each shirt was special to him and I found out some of them were even worth quite a bit of money. Some were worn thin some were faded and some even had holes from where they hit his belt buckle.  I had a few challenges to work on.  

Black on the inside - faded grey on the outside.

Just a few little holes.

I didn't know how I would lay them out so I started by cutting the fronts from the backs and get measurements. I made a list of every shirt and got dimensions for the smallest I could make the block to the largest I could make it. My dad is a tiny guy and some of his old shirts looked extra small. This made it hard for a few of them to make sure I got the entire graphic in the block.  

Extremely faded and loved.

I included the backs too - they helped tell the story.

Faded and full of holes.

Next I busted out my graph paper!!!  One of my musts when I do a layout.  I had to pay attention to color and the picture when I started trying to figure it out....  it took quite a few drafts but I finally got all the shirts to fit with only a few places that needed filler.  

Final draft....

Next I backed them all with Pellon P44F fusible interfacing which I liked because it wasn't too bulky. In order to get the most of my fusible, I cut each piece an inch bigger than my block size and placed it centered over the graphic on the front of the shirt then I put a pin on each edge. I turned the shirt over then lined the fusible up between the pins and ironed.  Then I could trim to the size I wanted with minimal waste.  The shirts that had holes got a patch from an extra piece of the shirt. It looked fine to me!

Center the image and pin the sides - then flip the shirt over.

Line fusible up between pins and iron down.

Next I started sewing!!!  I backed with a grey Kona cotton and used a warm and cozy batting. Had my amazing long arm quilter add some flames and BAM!  Just like that it was done and it came together almost perfectly and I had one super happy dad come Christmas!

It turned out so nice I almost want one for myself!

I saw some of the other bloggers doing this so I will too just in case it is proper etiquette. 

Linking up with crazy mom quilts ---  Thanks for coming!!

PS.....  Does anyone know how to make the huge space at the top go away???  I hate it!!!

Challenge Block

Ok....  So my mom decided that she was going to do her first quilt and I couldn't be more excited to help her out.  Only thing is that she decided to do a challenge quilt that is full of triangles which I have not done many of and I do not consider myself very good at them.  

The quilt is by NQC Quilt Block Challenge.  It is a nine week challenge and it's free. 

Block One

There is a huge Facebook community working on this quilt and TONS of people to help.  I decided to cover a couple things that new quilters may not know.

First tip is to buy good fabric - I admit that part of the fabric I am using from my stash in this quilt is from Joann's and is not the greatest.  I prefer not to use the Joann's brands in my quilts that I give away or ones that I want to last forever.  I will try to buy my Kona's there - 60% off is the best time!  The other thing is that it does not press well.  You can see in the pic below that even though I ironed and steamed there are still wrinkles.

Next thing is to line up the fabric and start with clean edges.  I prefer to line up along the top fold and then move my ruler to the left as I make the cuts.  Measure twice and cut once.  

Make sure you always hold the ruler down firmly so the fabric and the ruler stay in place.  As you go make sure you cut off all the selvage.  You don't want it to end up in the quilt!

Lining up the fabric to start cutting.

Next tip is to only use pins when doing diagonals.  Once pin on either side to keep the fabric from moving as the diagonal is sewed.  I use them for making triangles and when I am prepping my binding.  There isn't really a need for them any other time.

Use pencil on the lighter fabric to draw lines.

My next reminder for quilting is that there is no need to backstitch.  Just make sure you start and finish as close to the edge as possible.  Another is to use a 1/4 inch foot if possible.  They are not too expensive and you can use 40% off coupons on them!  I even leave my 1/4 inch foot on when I sew the triangles.  It keeps it a bit straighter and more accurate than the regular foot.

Perfect 1/4 inch on both sides.

Always press your seems to one side - to the dark side - that way if you have a darker fabric next to a light one the darker fabric does not show through.  I follow this rule almost always.  If I am doing squares that I want to nest seams I will press the direction I want it to go no matter the color.  

So this next one seems weird but does help......  You want to make sure that as you are sewing your blocks together the seams stay flat.  Flat seams  will ensure that your quilt is nice and smooth.  Watch the ones on top as well as the ones on the bottom as you sew.

Flat seams.

One of the hardest things it to get the seams to match up.  part of this is because as the seams come together the become more and more bulky and do not stay lined up correctly as you sew them.  I do not know how to fix this problem yet....  Sorry!! 

I always say that as long as you don't have to trim off so much fabric that your quilt looks lopsided or as long as you don't have to add a strip to make it bigger you didn't do to bad!  

Not perfect, but it will do the trick.

Again this is a challenge quilt from National Quilters Circle.  It's a free challenge and I did put a link above to the first block.  Good luck!!

Giants!!

As promised....  this is one of my favorite quilts of 2016!  Looking back at the pictures I realized that I started this in 2015.....  how does the time go by so fast???

I decided to do this Giants quilt for friends that were expecting a baby boy. I had to think out of the box for this one because I know that they would have a picture perfect nursery that looked like it should be in a magazine. Sports was something I knew they loved and I figured this way the quilt would be keep around for awhile.  Since it's been so long now I don't remember what made me get so creative with the appliqué blocks.... but I'm glad I did. 

Designing ---  tools of the trade!

Close up of the stitching.

I love my fancy labels!!!

Finished front.

Finished back.

I loved this quilt so much I decided to use the extra blocks to make myself one.  I want it a bit bigger tho.  And since it took Melanie longer to quilt it because of the appliqué on the back-- I will use a solid piece for the back of mine. 😊  The one for me is on my list to complete this year.  I hope by the end of the season!!!

Spring training starts in just a couple weeks!!!  

Drought be gone!

I can honestly say that I am sad about missing my quilt show this past weekend. This last storm that hit stretched all the way down to Mexico so we would have gotten rain and even snow both going there and coming home.  Better to stay safe though.  

Since I was home I decided to get to that organizing!!!  I started with one bin of nicely folded fabric and finished the weekend with two and a half bins full.  I thought that I would feel more accomplished....  but I felt that I needed to get the larger pieces of fabric folded too and I could not figure those out.  I could fold them the same as the rest but it doesn't seem right.

Ironed and folded nicely in the bins!

As I went thru some of the older pieces of fabric that have been in my stash for years I realized that I have just as many really nice fabrics as I do not so nice ones. I also have a lot of kid prints that I don't know if I will want to get rid of.

Moral of the story is that the rain may have done me a favor.  I really have plenty of fabric to last me til the next show.  I'm hoping that just as the drought here in the Bay Area has been coming to an end.... so will my drought.  

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

Deuteronomy 32:2 NIV

http://bible.com/111/deu.32.2.niv

Hitting the Target

I Googled my blog the other day so that I could show someone at work a picture of a fabric I was trying to explain.  I was shocked to see that it had been a full year since I had posted.  I thought that I had been better this year and clearly I was wrong!!!  My last post talks about the high I was on from the Road to California quilt show.  This week I am packing and getting ready to leave for the 2017 show!!!  How has this happened? Where does the time go?  I would love to say that I have met all my goals for 2016 and that I am checking in to see what an awesome year it has been.  I don't think I did too bad, but I know that I could do better!!   I feel the need to revisit this blogging thing and post more of my goals that I want to accomplish this year.  I suppose you could say I will post my resolutions for everyone to see (even though I know no one will see them).  In 2018 I will look back and see how I did.

I want to first say that in 2016 I did accomplish a couple of goals....

Number 1:  I finished 4 quilts!!!!  I will make my first goal of the year to write a post for each of these.  I know I planned on it cause I have taken pics of all my projects as I have been working on them.

Number 2:  I have worked on getting rid of clutter and getting more organized. I still have a TON of work to do in this department. This is yet another goal to continue on.

Number 3:  I joined the gym!!!!  More to come on this too.

Number 4:  I started a new hobby.  Archery.

Number 5:  I am the mom of a Jr. Higher. I know that this isn't really a goal....  but I feel like it is something I have accomplished.  I'm excited to say that I'm not in the looney bin yet!!!!

Ok....  so now for the goals of 2017.

Number 1:  I want to post all four of the projects from last year.

Number 2:  I want to top the four that I did last year. Maybe 5 or 6 this year!!  And just to make sure I keep at it...  I want to finish a Valentines Day one (I started on this one already so I'm off to a decent start), a coffee one, my Giants one, and I want to get back to my QFK ones.

Number 3:  I want to continue getting rid of some of the clutter that slows me down. If I am more organized I should be able to find things quicker and get things done quicker and more efficiently.  If all of my fabric is in bins so I can see the colors and patterns I should be able to spend less time searching for what I want and more time creating!!!  Maybe!!!

Number 4:  I need to keep it up at the gym.  I only lost about 10 pounds last year.  Not nearly enough.  I need to be better about getting out and staying active!!!  This year I want to climb Mission Peak in Fremont.  Not only does this require me to get in shape but also requires me to make time for something for me.

Number 5:  I want to continue with the archery.  It's not something that I want to compete in or anything crazy but I really enjoy it and I feel like it's something I'm good at.  I want to do my lessons and at the end of the year I want to say that I went out and did it a fair amount.

Number 6:  I want to be a better mom and wife.  I feel like I have made some progress in this department but I am still not very good at it.  I feel like I keep things much cleaner with the new house than before. My main goal is to be a better cook.  I want to cook three times a week....  and a lot of people may think that isn't much, but I struggle to cook twice a week most of the time.  I think getting better at planning ahead is my key to success.  I will have to try and brainstorm this later.  Maybe something on Pinterest can solve my problem!!!  Lol

Number7:  Keep up this blog.  I am going to use my time sitting at judo with Neiko to write instead of playing my games.   I think I have said before, it's like journaling. This is hard for me. But I have to try to think about my grandkids and great grandkids (bahahaaaaa). Someday they will say....  look at what grandma used to do. Look how she used to struggle.  Look how she used to succeed.  Look how she loved. I look back at journals from my great grandmother and I am inspired. I hope to inspire someday...

Number 8:  Prayer. Bible study. Jesus. There isn't much more that needs to be said there.


My favorite new verse....

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,”
Psalm 91:4-5 NIV
http://bible.com/111/psa.91.4-5 NIV

I may even do a new quilt with this verse....  feathers and arrows!!!!  And a tattoo or me too???  Hummm....  maybe!

One more...

Number 9:  As I am writing this one of my girls in Mexico responded to a post on Facebook. She had wished me a happy birthday yesterday and I replied "Thank you!  Love you!!"  Her reply just now was, "Love you more."  Number 9 is this.....  to remember that I am loved. To remember to love. To remind others of His love!!  ❤️