Blue Man and Mom's Finish....

We got to go to the Blue Man Group last night....what an awesome show!  Worth the car payment it cost....really!  Here is a pic of Ryan with one of the Blue Men...



Mom finished her Tequila Mat....here it is set up for a party!

I'll try to get some sewing done this week so maybe I have something interesting by Friday!  Happy Sewing....

Journal Cover...

I used the tutorial over at Bloom and made myself this cute little journal cover...

The fabrics are Fresh Flowers paired with some linen I bought the other day.  I really like the look of linen in some quilts I've seen online lately and I thought maybe I could try incorporating a little in an upcoming project.  Isn't it cute? I made it under an hour while watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy. 

I've also been working on the auction quilt for my school...finishing up the last few wonky blocks from the Central Park layer cake.  Most of the blocks were made by the members of the Modern Quilt Guild (LV) the other night...

The blocks still need to be bordered on three sides with a solid (can't decide between Kona Snow or White).  I have a lot to do...I'd best get to it!

Oh, Buddy is being cute again....

:-D

Mom's Margarita Mug...

So my Mom made this larger version of a mug rug for her liquor cabinet.  It will have some shot glasses and margarita glasses resting on it...eventually.  I'll show a pic of that later.  I just put on the binding....check it out!

It is about 13" x 13".  The fabrics are from Quiltique, I believe.  Good job, Mom!

Modern Quilt Guild meeting....

We met at Quiltique on Thursday night and had a mug rug swap!  Look at what I got to take home...This quilter is big into brights and scrappy quilts...just wonderful and full of life!!

A *very* bright mug rug made of finished 1/2" squares!  Awesome...We also did a little sew-in making wonky blocks from a Central Park layer cake.  I'm planning on making them into a quilt to raffle for my school in April....I guess I had better get on it, huh?  The guild meeting was fun--I got to see a few finished (inspiring) quilts and hang out with some very nice ladies.  I'm looking forward to this...something different
;-D

Rainbow TATW is Quilted!

I got on my J.O.B. and basted (both spray and pins....overkill!) my fruit and veggie trip around the world quilt.  I just quilted concentric diamonds along all the different colorways...with matching thread.  That was the tedious part....I'm binding it in green peas and lettuce.  It will hang in my classroom during March...

The colors are so bright...my students will love it!!  Is it modern enough for the Modern Quilt Guild meeeting this week?  I also need to work on a little display thing for the class on Wonky Blocks that I'm going to teach Thursday at the meeting....I'll show you that later this week!  Happy Quilting!

Dad's Cabin Quilt....

I'm working on a queen-sized bed quilt for the guest room at my Dad's cabin.  I made a quilt for him (about 20 years ago) that is currently on the guest bed and I wish I had a picture....it was peaches and browns...with a light cream background, if I recall.  Some pattern I got out of an Ocean Waves book..in 1992.  I think I used some sort of puffy polyester batting and I tried (read: failed) my hand at stitching in the ditch.  Anyhow, I think it is time for a new quilt....

I'm using the leftover strips from Ryan's bed quilt and doing 100 Courthouse Steps (lazy log cabin) blocks.  I think they will finish to about 10 1/2" square...making a 100" square quilt.  If it needs to be bigger I can add some strips for the border.  But being bold and brave, I decided to tackle all 100 blocks at a time...hmmm....So I sew a bunch, then iron a bunch, then trim a bunch....etc.  ;-D

Watching some DVR'd episodes of "Justified" and trimming....that is my Sunday plan!!

Another finish...Dream On Quilt!

I actually quilted this one myself...it was 60" x 70".  I'm proud to say there is not a pucker/tuck anywhere ...on the front or the back!!

The suspicious bump is Buddy....the quilt was hot from the dryer...perfect for a Chihuahua!

And a pic of the back side....the quilting is 1 1/2" apart....I have since ordered a quilting guide attachment from Keepsake Quilting that was recommended by a reader ;-D  What a lifesaver that will be!  I checked out her blog, QuiltersCrossingTX this morning...lots of fabric eye candy!!  Thanks so much!

And the finished tumbler quilt....bound and ready for auction!

I don't know what to work on next....???  Hmmm...so many projects, so little time!

Pin Basting...

So I chickened out on spray basting this quilt.  It is 60" x 70"...I'll go back to spraying on the next, smaller quilt.  Lots of taping the back to the floor....and lots of pins!

I am quilting diagonal, parallel lines 1.5" apart...I didn't want to mark the quilt but my Juki doesn't come with a guide for quilting parallel lines.  My plan was to use painter's tape as a guide.  But when the quilt was all bunched up being quilted, the tape came off.  So I needed to make some sort of guide....I tried several options--all of them being taped to my walking foot....

The cardstock on the left is a sort of guide....but the metal guide on the right side (from my Viking) is what I really need....but for the left side (it needs to be in the reverse).  I need to find one for another machine online, buy it, and just attach it to my walking foot...possibly using a more permanent method like duct tape
;-D  LOL.....Anyhow, hopefully I'll have it all quilted tonight and I can get a pic tomorrow!

The Tumbler Quilt Got Quilted...

When I bought the Juki last summer I swore that I would learn to quilt some of my own quilts.  Since I sold my longarm stuff, I've always sent my quilts out to be quilted.  And I love the longarmers!!

But I miss the feeling of completing the whole quilt myself.  So I started small, with some straight line quilting, and quilted a chartity tumbler quilt.  The fabric was one layer cake of City Weekend.  The size is 46" x 58".  The tutorial for this is pretty cool and can be found here, in the Moda Bake Shop.  I added an extra row at the bottom and just cut an extra two tumblers from my backing fabric.  I have to bind and wash it so there will be another photo later....

** A commenter asked...how much fabric for the backing and binding.  I probably got 2.5 yards for the backing and another 1/2 yard for the binding.....

I also finished a mug rug for the MQG meeting.  We are doing a mug rug swap...I might make another one because I think they are so much fun!!

Anyhow, my plan today is to pin baste the Dream On quilt I made last summer and try out some more straight line quilting.  I did try the spray basting, but it made such a stink!  I know I should do it outdoors but how do I tape the backing down on the dirty sidewalk and not get it dirty???  Any ideas?  I know I could put it on a sheet...but I can't tape it to the sheet to keep it tight....???

I'm off to sew....

Finished Buggy Barn....

I got the Buggy Barn quilt back from the quilter last week and got it bound and hung up!  Yeah....one more finish for me.  It will hang there most of the year...

I also got two new books in the mail today...hopefully they will inspire some modern quilting!!

Happy sewing.....

Wonky Blocks Tutorial...

I mentioned that I was going to teach a little class at the next LV MQG meeting on making wonky blocks from a layer cake.  A reader asked if I could make a tutorial on wonky blocks so I did right here....Or you can find it at the top of my page, near the header picture....It is a very "stack, whack, shuffle, sew" kind of method....not anything wildly original, but they do turn out nicely!

I hope this helps someone to break out of the box and do some wonky sewing....

;-D

Props. aka...How to improve a blog...?

Wait...before I start on this topic...did I mention who was at the LV Modern Quilt Guild meeting the other night?  Camille Roskelley...you know, the Moda designer for the Bliss fabric line?  She lives in LV and will hopefully come back again to be in our guild.  She brought her baby...he was adorable, and she was lovely and so nice for someone so famous...Anyhow, I just had to brag about that ;-D....

When I first started blogging I was lucky to get the picture in the right spot in the post.  I didn't really consider the quality of the picture, though I wanted decent pics.  I read another blogger's posts about how to take pictures that would look nice on the blog--most of it went right over my head, but I remember her talking about using "props" as backgrounds to accent her quilts.

Genius.

So six months later I begin to notice how yellow and faded my pictures are looking.  A combination of bad winter lighting, tinted windows on the house, butter yellow interior walls, solar screens and a general lack of skill were to blame.  So I remembered about the props and bought this at Marshall's or Ross last week....

A twin sized white bed quilt--with very modern straight line quilting ($24.99).  I just spread this out, in a room where I can get some natural lighting....and voila!  You can actually see the nice colors of the fabrics.  Anyhow, this prop will be showing up in many of my pics in the hope that we can all enjoy the quilts a little more....LOL.  If anyone has any other tips or hints, please let me know!  Thanks....

Yes, I know giveaways also improve a blog...I'll work on another one!!  ;-D