Quilted Jonquil

I finished the Vicksburg top and since it won’t fit on my design wall, here it is on my cutting table.  Woo Hoo!!  And it’s Design Wall Monday so click over to Judy’s post to see what other quilters are up to

I still think I’ll applique some ovals where the swags meet but they look better than I had anticipated they would.  I started this quilt in Sept 2009.  It was a free BOM from Dawn Hesse of Linen Closet Quilts.  Dawn posted the final directions in July 2010.  Good to finally finish the Vicksburg top   It measures ~69″ x 69″ and lays flat   It used 6 yds of fabric but in reality it used more like 7 because I cut the setting triangles incorrectly the first time.

I’ve continued cutting up shirts……

and sewing red string blocks. 

Stash Report:

• Fabric in:  8 yards
  
• Fabric out: 7 yards
  
• YTD Fabric in: 14 yards
  
• YTD Fabric out: 7 yards
  
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 7 yards
  

Happy Quilting, Cherie   

After discovering the setting triangles for my Vicksburg quilt were cut wrong and thinking it would be hard to find some fabric to replace them with, it turns out it wasn’t bad at all   Here’s my design wall with half of Vicksburg sewn together.  Woo hoo!!!!   Turns out I had purchased another piece of the Moda Apple Cider print I ended up using for the borders so I had enough to use for the setting triangles.  I’ve made this applique quilt completely from stash fabric  

While sewing the Vicksburg top together, I managed to get all the red string blocks started leader/ender style.  They are looking good

We went to the Quilted Fox First Saturday and I used my 30% off all Fox Tails to purchase some fun pieces to add to my stash.

Additions to my stash include the shirts I’ve cut up.  These are women’s shirts and pajama bottoms so there aren’t as many good sized pieces as you’d get from men’s shirts, but I love the variety

Stash Report:

• Fabric in:  6 yards
  
• Fabric out: 0 yards
  
• YTD Fabric in: 6 yards
  
• YTD Fabric out: 0 yards
  
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 6 yards
  

Happy Quilting, Cherie    

Here are updated pics of the bunk bed sewing table after the mattresses were removed.  Look at all the space  

Most of the puzzles there are from the Goodwill Clearance center, score!

See the large boxes?  One is empty so there’s even more space than it appears.  Woo hoo!  See the Vicksburg quilt laid out and ready to sew?  Well, it’s not ready.  The setting triangles were not cut right and there isn’t enough fabric left to cut more which means I have to decide on different fabric.  It was hard enough deciding on the fabric for the borders!

I’ve continued to have fun sewing red strings.  They aren’t going as fast as the blue strings……perhaps because they are larger?

Happy Quilting, Cherie

Wow, I can hardly believe this is our last 2011 Design Wall Monday post.  I’ve benefited from these posts in so many ways, first the encouragement they give me to have something to share on Mondays, second the inspiration from seeing what other quilters are working on and third meeting new blog friends.  Hop over to Judy’s DWM post here to enjoy more DWM posts. 

My design wall is the same as last week but I’ll bet I’m not the only one who hasn’t had much sewing time  

But look what’s sitting next to my sewing machine……..and what’s on my ironing board!

I had a few minutes for some mindless sewing…..it’s an excellent way to relax….very theraputic.  Just random mindless sewing………nothing at all to do with this!

Stash Report – No change……be on the look out for a final 2011 Stash report on New Year’s Eve day!

• Fabric in:  0 yards
  
• Fabric out: 0 yards
  
• YTD Fabric in: 168 yards
  
• YTD Fabric out: 86.75 yards
  
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 81.25 yards accumulated
  

Happy Quilting, Cherie 

…..when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse……. sewing blue strings

Of course these are just random 3 1/2″ blue strings and have nothing to do with this because I’m not allowed to start a new project, right?

Here’s what’s on my design wall:

I settled on a fabric for the sashing for the Vicksburg quilt.  I think it will give me the look I want.  I’ll use the blue fabric from the border swags for the corner stones.  I didn’t buy any new fabric for this quilt, pulling everything from my stash.   Now that the blue strings are sewn and trimmed, I plan to start putting this top together and then starting on Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll.  Can’t wait.

Stash report:  

No change from previous with my year-to-date net stash in standing at 81.25 yards.   

It’s Design Wall Monday time   Be sure to hop over to Judy’s DWM post and check out all the links.  I’ve finished a few more of the swag blocks for the Vicksburg quilt…..only TWO more left to sew!!

I’m excited about getting this quilt finished…..the only decision left is what fabric to use for sashing and that shouldn’t hold me up, right?

I made bags this weekend for a couple of Christmas presents and I think they turned out pretty cute.  This one isn’t fully packed yet but you get the idea

Also this weekend I cut up some phone book pages and started chain piecing some string blocks…..that does not have anything to do with Bonnie Hunter’s new mystery quilt Orca Bay.  I’m not allowed to start a new project at this time, so these little 3 1/2″ blue string blocks have nothing do to with a mystery.  Nope, nothing.  Just wanted to have some mindless sewing time while catching up on movies   It’s so therapeutic to just grab strings and sew.

Stash Report – No change from last week

• Fabric in:  0 yards
  
• Fabric out: 0 yards
  
• YTD Fabric in: 168 yards
  
• YTD Fabric out: 86.75 yards
  
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 81.25 yards accumulated
  

Happy Quilting, Cherie

I can’t believe it’s the 5th of December already.  So many things to do and so little time **sigh**.  I haven’t had much time to sew but I managed to get block 48, West Virginia, from the Civil War BOM finished. 

I took the Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll blocks off my design wall in order to start arranging them on my big table for when I sew the top together, woo hoo!  Since I’m almost done with the appliqued swags, I threw up a few of the Vicksburg blocks to get a feel for the quilt.  What do you think?  I think I need a bigger design wall!!  And my math on the last post must have been the “new” math because there is a total of 12 swags, not 9.  I have completed 7 and now have 5 left.

Stash Report – No change from last week

• Fabric in:  0 yards
  
• Fabric out: 0 yards
  
• YTD Fabric in: 168 yards
  
• YTD Fabric out: 86.75 yards
  
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 81.25 yards accumulated
  

Happy Quilting, Cherie

Sometimes I let projects marinate. 

Sometimes there’s no specific reason except they don’t have a deadline. 

Sometimes it’s because things aren’t working out like they should. 

Such as the borders for the Vicksburg free BOM from Dawn Heese on her blog Linen Closet Quilts.

The border segments are longer than the swag applique piece.  I finally decided to applique the corner swags starting at the sewing line, leaving the “short” bit at the ends that will meet the middle swag which will be centered.  I’ll fill the gap created where the swags come together with an appliqued oval.  Here’s left hand swag (picture take on my ironing board that needs recovering) followed by a right hand swag, both of which I’ve finished this week.  I have a total of 9 swags to do, so with 4 done I only have 5 left

Happy Quilting, Cherie

Happy Valentine’s Day   My Design wall has more of the same and something new.  I finished another piece of the Vicksburg border applique and block 7 of Barbara Brackman’s civil war BOW.   What’s new are the two plaid squares in the middle.  Check out Kate’s post here to see where I’m headed with them.   Be sure to hop over to Judy’s DWM post.

Here’s block 7 for the civil war BOW.

These are the shirts I’m using for more blocks like the green/blue ones in the middle of my design wall.  I think this quilt will be fun and should go fast.

I’ve continued to cut and sew leader/ender sytle more half square triangles for step 5 of RRCB.  There are now over 200 (each stack is 20) …… less than 400 to go!

I got a couple of other things done this weekend including cutting block 5 of Moon Glow, my UFO 2011 Challenge for Feb.  I probably won’t get it together this month as I’m still working on Jan’s block 4.  I’m hand piecing these as doing them on the machine wasn’t working out very well.  I’m keeping at them and that’s more than I can say for 2003-2010!!  I pieced the binding for the animal quilt too.

Stash Report:

• Fabric in:  .5 (a couple of Fox tails)
• Fabric out: .5 (binding for animal quilt)
  
• YTD Fabric in:  10
  
• YTD Fabric out: 5.5
• Net Fabric In/(Out): 4.5 accumulated
  

Time for Design Wall Monday!  Be sure to stop by Judy’s DWM post to check out other design walls.  I have the 4 corners and one side segment for the Vicksburg border finished.  My Stay-at-Home-Robin  (SAHR) is still up (round 8 is to applique or embroider something on it), there are two blocks from Barbara Brackman’s Civil War BOW and I’ve added a second tile block on the right side.

Here’s a close up of the 6th civil war block, Richmond, in the works.  I followed the colors on the pattern but the flicker stream shows lot’s of variations.  I like some of them better than mine but I think I’ll leave mine the way it is.  I’m pleased the stripes on the brown are all going the same direction as are the cream ones….let’s just hope I get it sewed together that way

I arranged to call about my problems with Sophie (thread broke every 12 inches) so  I loaded Sophie with a practice piece and changed to a new needle.  Before calling, I decided to try and get the tension adjusted since I’d gotten it all out of whack trying to fix the thread breakage problem.   Well, wouldn’t you know it?  She’s quilting along just fine now.  Dog gone it!!  I had recently changed the needle so I didn’t think it needed a new one when I was having my problems but that’s about the only difference between last week and this one.  Anyway, since I had the practice piece loaded, I did some practicing.

I can do feathers.  Not real organized or perfectly done but, hey, they look like feathers   This week I’m going to finish the animal baby quilt and get my January 2011 UFO challenge piece quilted.  Gotta strike while Sophie is running well.

Happy Quilting, Cherie