January Goal - A Finish!

I am so excited because I actually finished my first goal for January!  It was a close finish, but a finish none the less.  My long arm quilting machine broke down on me and had to go to the shop, so it was out for a week.  I got it back last week and after a couple of "quilting headaches" I was able to actually get the quilt quilted and bound over the weekend.  Man was that spa trip over the weekend well deserved!  So let's get to the pictures shall we!

I quilted a spiral pantograph on it, which was a little bit difficult at times with all the seams.  Some of my seams were pretty heavy so that was actually an excellent learning experience for me.  For the most part it turned out pretty good.  I was happy with it.  It was my first time doing this pantograph on an actual quilt top and not on a plain piece of fabric.  I must say that I agree with Abby from Latimer Lane and you do get better with the pantograph the further you get to the bottom.  I will try to practice this more though, so my top will look like my bottom in the future!  I forgot to show you a picture of the finished quilt before quilting, so that is shown here below:

Here is a picture of the entire quilt all quilted up.  I must say I just love how much texture quilting gives a quilt.  I just love that crinkle bumpy feeling.  

I also did a different binding treatment on it.  I added a brown ric rac which I have never done before.  You can see a better pic of that below, but if you would like a good tutorial on this that I used, I got it from here on Bee in My bonnet's blog.  She does an excellent job on explaining how to do it, so I highly recommend you check it out.  I think it looks so adorable on a "girly" quilt.  

Quilt Stats:

Pattern: Hourglass Quilt you can find the tutorial here on Cluck Cluck Sew's blog

Fabric: Calm Curiosities by Nancy Halvorsen and Moda Bella Solid in Brown

Thread: Superior So Fine and Bottom Line in White

Pantograph: Denise's Spirals

Well there you have it, my January goal finished!  Even before the baby is here!  Double yay!

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

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Pantograph Lesson

I am so excited, but this Friday, I am getting my first pantograph lesson.  I was actually able to put together the laser light and put it on the machine, which made me feel very good.  I have been practicing a pattern, but I am currently just leaving the machine turned off until I actually have someone show me how to line up the start of the quilt with the pantograph and how to advance it.  Unfortunately, I don't have anything to actually show you except the pattern that I have been tracing.  The pattern that I have been practicing is called "Denise's Sprials" shown below:

I am so excited to quilt this for real instead of in thin air.  The first "official" quilt that will get this treatment will be my teal and purple hourglass quilt, so I had better get this stack of blocks sewn up this week!  

Don't you think this pattern will look great on this quilt?  Especially after seeing the fabric above with it's spirals, I know this would be the perfect quilting for this quilt!  

Linking up to WIP Wednesday link party hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - January Goal - Teal and Purple Hourglass Quilt

I have a real problem of starting a bunch of projects with great intentions in mind but never finishing them.  I know that I am not the only one with this problem, but sometimes it really helps when other people hold you accountable.  Shanna from Fiber of All Sorts and Melissa from Sew Bitter Sweet Designs are hosting a group called "2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes".  I just had to join.  It will be so exciting for me to accomplish something each month especially when working almost full time and raising two little ones.

So for my January goal, I want to finish working on this purple and teal hourglass quilt that I started last year.  I am making it for a family friend who is having a baby in February 2013, so finishing it in January would definitely be ideal.  I am using a free tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew, which you can find here.  It is her Pink Hourglass Quilt, which I think is absolutely adorable.  The new mom has chosen to use the Brooklyn nursery bedding by the Pottery Barn, so I will be making my Pink Hourglass Quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew in teals, purples, and white.  Here are the 8 different blocks that I will be using throughout the quilt.

Here is my finished stack of 63 blocks, which are ready to sew into a quilt top.  I better get moving.  Unfortunately, they do not sew themselves together.  

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

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