2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - August Goal

I decided to take last month off from joining in on the "Lovely Year of Finishes" because let's be frank not a lot of finishes have been occurring around here lately, so I felt I needed to take a break from it.  However, this month I fully intend on getting back into the saddle and actually finishing something.

A week or so ago I saw a really cute fat quarter bundle of 8 fat quarters of Boo Crew for only $20.00 on Etsy by Sew Lux Fabric. I have been admiring this collection for quite some time, so I really couldn't pass this purchase up.  I received it over the weekend and look at just how adorable it was packaged!

Okay, I know what you are thinking, what happened to my fabric diet?  Well.... I cheated a little bit, but now I am back in the saddle after my weekend purchases.  We will see how long that lasts.  At least I did admit that if I could get my pretty little hands on some of the Boo Crew or Flats collection, my diet might go to the wayside.  Thankfully the Boo Crew craving has been filled, but really who could blame me.  Look at how adorable this collection is.  I just love the little monsters and in the next picture you will see the little spiders. Scary, but not too scary for my kids.

While I was at the Polish Festival in Boyne Falls, I went up to a modern quilt shop in Charlevoix, MI called "Hearts to Holly A Quilt and Gift Shop" and picked up some additional fat quarters of the Boo Crew fabric collection there too.  See below.  It really was a beautiful fabric shop and I will take pictures of it when I go up there next year!  They had a lot of really great fabric collections such as Happy Go Lucky, Boo Crew, Curiosities etc, so if you are ever in the area you should really check it out.

I am so excited that I was able to pick up some of this collection to make a couple of decorations for our home for fall.  It is about time my house starts to get decorated!  The first thing I plan on making is a smaller version of Judy's Pumpkin Table Runner, which you can find the tutorial for it on her blog here.  My goal is to make this table runner by the end of the month!

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

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - June Goal

Lately, I have been having a very difficult time finishing things when it comes to sewing because I haven't been able to sew!  So sad!  I haven't finished my goals for the past 2 months, which has been extremely frustrating for me.  Spring going into summer always seems to be such a busy time for us.  We have just been so busy with "wedding stuff" for my sister (her shower was this past Saturday, June 1), my oldest daughter is finishing up Kindergarten (programs galore), planting both our flower garden and the vegetable garden, and getting ready for our garage sale (June 15).  Due to how "busy" this spring has been, I have really looked at my summer and I want to make it "more enjoyable".  So what does this mean?  Well it means that I need to have monthly goals for this summer that will be "fun".

Judy over at Green Fairy Quilts is having her very first quilt along.  I must say that Judy is definitely somebody that I admire.  In fact, I find her very inspiring.  I want to be "her" when I grow up.  Well sort of.  The quilting talent part that is.  Her blog is one of the first blogs that I started to follow.  Her quilting is absolutely amazing.  Someday I hope to be that good!  She is hosting a quilt along using one of her patterns and then at the end she is going to give us several ways to quilt it.  I was thinking this would be a perfect way to learn more on my long arm from someone who does what I want to do someday soon!  So obviously I have to do this.

It is also coming at a perfect time.  I am in the process of cleaning out our master bedroom and have been wanting to make a "quilt" for the end of the bed.  I have found several patterns that I like, but I need something to hold me accountable such as a quilt along so I can get it finished.  I tried a block of the month that was completed a year ago, but I only made one block.  Then I got distracted by other projects such as cleaning up the toy room and re-doing my girls' room.  Now that both of those are finished, the only room left to do is our bedroom and I really want a new quilt for this room!  So hopefully if I do this with other people and know that Judy will be showing me how to quilt it in the end, then I will have a strong desire to get this project completed.

She said to do 1 to 2 blocks a week, so my goal for the month of June will be to complete 8 blocks.  The fabric I will be using will be Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille.  I can't wait to get started.  The pattern has been ordered, so I should be able to get this project started hopefully sometime this week!

I also wanted to let everyone know that I am participating in a Blog Hop hosted by Beth at Plum and June that starts later this week.  My post won't be until next week Thursday, but I am very excited to be a part of such a fun group of quilters, so thanks again Beth for hosting such a great event!

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

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - May Goal

I am excited because this month I am actually getting caught up and can start my adorable little nephew's quilt.  Now granted, he will be 6 months old this month, but better late than never right?  For this baby quilt, I will be mixing it up with some embroidery that my sister in law picked out.  She picked out this adorable collection from Bunnycup Embroidery called "Daring Dragons", which can be purchased here.

Aren't they just adorable.  I can't wait to use these cute little guys in the quilt.

The fabric collection that I will be using is Urban Down Under for Northcott Fabrics, which can be purchased here.

So back to my May goal, my goal is to complete the quilt top, so it is ready to quilt and bind for next month!  

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

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April Goal - Not a Finish

Well I was bummed that I wasn't able to finish my April Goal, which was quilt the family tree quilt and bind it.  However, to my defense I was having machine problems that I couldn't quite figure out.  I would have the tension all set to where things should be (yea) and then periodically it would create a loose stitch and I wasn't even going over a seem or anything.  Then underneath the machine would periodically create these loopy things and it was driving me nuts!  I just couldn't figure it out and was getting extremely frustrated with it.

Just so you know it is definitely not suppose to do this.  So I had the person who sold me the machine over and she tweaked the bobbin and completely took apart my tension knob and put it back together.  She also fixed my frame, which I guess was extremely loose and showed me how to adjust that as well.  All in all after about an hour of tweaks and adjustments, my machine started to do this...

Now that is what I am talking about.  I hate to be a perfectionist, but I like "perfect stitches".  This may be the death of me one day, but this is how I want my quilting to look.  

So now I am finally quilting my mother in law's quilt.  I am switching between two top threads Superior King Tut 983 (brown) and 903 (blue), and they are both variegated.  I like the look it is giving the quilting.    

Here are my swirls, which are going in the "blue portion" of the quilt, only because I really can't do feathers that well yet.  I am doing a more bouncing around swirl, which I want to practice making a little denser.  I am currently taking one of Angela Walter's Craftsy classes, which can be purchased here.  She does a couple different versions of the swirl and I am doing the bouncy one at this point, but definitely want to move up to the denser one because I kind of like that better.  I am on lesson #7 out of 10, so I consider my swirls a work in progress.  

In the branches, I am doing the "flame" technique that you can find in Natalia Bonner's book called "Beginner's Guide to Free Motion Quilting", which can be purchased here.  I think this is my favorite part of the quilt so far.  

In the leaf area, I am quilting loops and leaves, which is also from Natalia Bonner's book that I mentioned above.  

My plan is to get this quilt finished up this week!  

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 - April Goal

I have decided that my "finish" for April will be my mother in law's family tree quilt.  I got the quilt top done with my sister in law in February just in time for my mother in law's birthday.  It turned out really cute and we were pretty happy with it and so was she!

I am finding that it is much better for me to break larger projects like this one down into two parts: 

1. Complete the quilt top.
2. Quilt and bind the quilt.  

Maybe it just seems less overwhelming breaking it down into two parts, or prevents me from getting bored or frustrated with a larger project.  So my plan for this month is to quilt this quilt and bind it.  Wish me luck!

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

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March Goal - Finish

I am so excited to say that I have finished this months goal!  The two pocket pillows for my daughter's school auction are complete.

I can't tell you how excited I was to get these finished.  I am glad that they turned out so cute, but I must say they were definitely a "labor of love".  As I was quilting a "swirl" motif from Natalia's book, which can be purchased here, the tension on my long arm kept going "weird" on me.  I think I ripped out the quilting on the boy's pocket piece three times.  It was just crazy.  After the 3rd time, I was finally satisfied with the quilting. However, when putting one of the pillows together, I sewed it together backwards.  I must say it has been a long time since my seam ripper had seen that much action!  Needless to say, I am definitely happy with the final product and I hope some children will be too.  

Here are some pictures of the girl pillow without the books and some "up close and personal" pictures of the quilting.  

Here are some pictures of the boy pillow without the books and some "up close and personal" pictures of the quilting. 

I still do want to make one for my girls' for Christmas.  My oldest saw the "girl one" and you should have seen her face light up and then the look I got when I told her it wasn't for "her".  I felt so bad.  I said "mommy" would try and make one for Christmas and she could pick the colors.  At least now I have a "Christmas idea" for this year, but I had better make two because I couldn't stand getting that look a "second" time from daughter #2.  

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

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal

This month, my March goal is to complete 2 pocket pillows for my daughter's school.  My daughter's school hosts an auction every year, and I thought it would be fun to make something to donate for it.  Someone has already donated a quilt, so I thought that I would do something different and something quick.  A lot of people in blog land have been making pillows and I thought I would join in on the fun.  Only I am going to make my pillow with a front pocket for children to put stuff in. My kids cannot be the only children who go to bed with just about everything under the sun.  Some days I can barely find my daughter in her bed.  My oldest has even slept with wood chips (something new she was collecting this past summer) and my husband's business cards.  He travels a lot.  Anyways, my favorite books to read my girls are from the Berenstain Bear collection.  I even enjoyed them when I was a little girl.  I couldn't believe it when I found this fabric collection by Moda.  When I saw it, I knew it would be a perfect "theme" for a project like this.

I also really liked the polka dot prints that went along with the fabric collection.  I purchased the layer cake from the Green Fairy Quilts and the polka dot yardage from the Fat Quarter Shop.  Both of which are my favorite "go to" online fabric shops.  I am kind of using a pattern by The Quilted Fish, which you can find here.  I am just going to use my favorite block, which is the "hourglass block" and make my blocks bigger due to the "business" of the fabric.  An example of an hourglass block is shown below.  

I just love to make these blocks.  My plan is to make a boy version and a girl version of this pillow.  Well I had better get to work.  The school auction is March 16th!

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

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February Goal - Update

My sister in law and I were able to finish the quilt top for the Family Tree Quilt.  We were very excited to finally have it completed.  We wish we would have done hourglass blocks down at the bottom of the quilt where you see the plain blue but at that point we just wanted to get it finished.  We presented it to my mother in law over the weekend and thankfully she loved it.  Here is a picture showing the entire quilt top.

My plan is to get it loaded on the long arm this week to get it quilted.  I purchased this great book by Natalia Bonner called "Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting", which can be purchased here.  It is an amazing book because it actually shows you how to quilt the designs.  I am going to try out several of her designs on this quilt.  This quilt will also be the first time that I do some "ruler" work as well.  I must say I am a little nervous to quilt this because the "whole" family paid for the supplies for my sister in law and I to make it, so in a way, it kind of feels like my first customer quilt.  Here are a couple of additional pictures showing different parts of the quilt close up:

The above is a pic of my mother and father in law.  My father in law passed away last May, so this is just one more reason why this quilt is so special.  

I was pretty impressed that it actually does look like a tree, so hopefully my quilting will make it look even more like a tree!  Wish me luck!

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 - February Goal

My goal for February was something that I was actually suppose to complete last year and on my 100 day Hustle List.  My sister in law and I wanted to make my mother in law a "Family Tree Quilt".  She is really huge into genealogy and that sort of stuff, so this quilt would be perfect for her.  Her birthday is coming up this February and it just so happens to be a big birthday!  She is going to turn 70!  I have never made a family tree quilt and neither has my sister in law.  We do not have a pattern but have kind of made one up ourselves.  So wish us luck!  This will definitely be interesting!

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

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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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