Movin' Up

It's been a while!  I have moved!!!  And...  I have a sewing room!!!  I am sooooo excited to get it all set up and working!  I want it to organized and fancy like the sewing rooms I see online.  Problem is......  I know my room will never be as awesome, but at least I have a work space.  Yeah!!

A desk, machine, and a cup of coffee!

My first step is finding some way to organize all my fabric.  I don't have fancy shelving or a place to display/store my stash.  The only thing I could come up with was plastic bins.  I found shallow bins that are about 6 inches or so deep.  I have been ironing and folding my stash to try and fit it all in the bins.  I can't wait to have it all done so that I can find and put together all the quilts of the future!!

Fabric!!!

I still have a TON of work to do.  One of the things I am hoping to figure out is a design wall.  Even if it is a small one.  I will try to keep you posted, but I can't promise anything!!

Two more down.... many, many to go.

I finished two quilts and dropped them off with my local chapter of QFK.  I found these awesome clips that made the binding of these quilts a lot quicker and easier.

Wonder Clips

Kitty keeps me company.

QFK #2

I was sad that I couldn't find my regular camera...  These were taken with my phone and not very good.  I would like to find a place outside that would allow me to use the natural light.  Maybe by the time I finish the next ones.

QFK #3

Finished with a zig zag.

When I went to drop these two off, I was lucky enough to make it for a "garage sale" day and pick up some donated fabric to use to make more quilts to give away!!  Makes me feel so good....  I also picked up some "challenge" fabric that I will put together as well.  More of that to come....

Pinned

Sew.....  I have been working on getting several quilt tops for QFK ready and had to wait til I found batting on sale so that I could start putting these together.  I finally found time to sandwich and pin two of the finished tops.

I have no idea how I will quilt this one.  I am going to have to think about it...... Can't wait til Friday...  Maybe I can finish these up!!

Downy Touch of Comfort presents Faith's Story

Some day I hope that I will be able to deliver quilts to the hospitals and shelters.  For now I will continue to work on getting my quilts ready to donate.  I have 4 tops completely done and ready to sandwich but only have enough batting for two for now.  I can't wait to find the time to get them done....

Apron #2

This is my second apron that I have made.  The first was a Mother's Day project for my mother-in-law (I will post at some point). I made this one as a thank you gift for a wonderful hostess.  I really love the pattern that I have come up with and hope to continue to improve it as I make more.

Finished apron.

Photo bombed.

Pocket detail - Michelle's farm fresh eggs made to order.

I was not super happy with the pocket but I know that the more I practice the better it will get (I hope).

I have officially gone back to work, but will have Fridays off.  My hope is to keep working on projects here and there.

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -William James

QFK#1

It took me two more days to finish the quilt up, about two and a half to three full days total.  On day two I started by sandwiching the pieces together.  I don't like to lay my quilts on the floor unless I have no other choice, so I use a giant piece of styrofoam that I saved from large shipping box.  I attach one side of the backing with giant binder clips then pull it tight to the other side.  I use straight pins to anchor it into the sytrofoam then place the batting and top piece while keeping everything as tight as possible with the pins around all edges.  Next I can go through and baste with the safety pins.  The styrofoam helps here too because you are not poking through to your table or floor.

I bought myself the cheapest walking foot that I could find and started with diagonal lines across the four patch blocks.  Once I started I figured that I should have thought it out a little before so that I would not have to stop and restart for each line.  Lesson learned - one continuous path to quilt (even though feeding the quilt through the small throat of my machine is not easy) is still easier and cleaner.  I used a continuous line to quilt through all of the main blocks in an echo stitch about a 1/4" inside the block.

In the outer border I decided that I would practice my free motion quilting.  I decided to go with some stars and added a few words.  I discovered that I still need lots of practice.

"hope"

"dream"

"play ball"

On the third day I finished it up with the binding.  I was worried about not having enough backing to make the binding from but it turns out that I had plenty, with some to spare.  QFK asks that the binding be attached with a zig zag stitch so it took me awhile to figure out the best way to do this.  You can see the final stitching in the pictures above.  It worked very well other than a couple of spots that I missed and had to go back and double stitch.

Zig zag stitch with the walking foot.

Overall I was very happy with my first QFK quilt.

Finished quilt with some bad lighting and photobombers.

My first label.

I will drop it in the mail to QFK headquarters today and start on my first quilt for my local chapter of QFK.  I have been putting together "kits" just like this one with all of the extra fabric that I have - looking forward to dropping some off with Silicon Valley QFK next time they meet.

Just part of my stash.

My First QFK Quilt

I received my kit for the QFK quilt so quickly.  It came in the mail on Thursday which was perfect timing since I was planning on sewing on Friday.  Here is the kit that I received...

I got started and finished the quilt top on Friday.  Here it is...

I was planning on taking it over to a meeting with my local chapter of QFK on Sunday, but our yard sale went longer than I wanted and with the sun blazing down hard on us as we tried to get cleaned up...  I was in no shape to meet new friends.

I have to get it all put together and figure out the binding (which does not come with the kit).  I may be able to get some out of the backing piece (the green background in the kit picture is the backing piece), but not sure if there will be enough.  I will have to post another pic once it is all done.  I also want to go through all of the fabric I have to make another one to send along with it back to headquarters.

Thanks QFK!!
www.quiltsforkids.org