LVMQG Pillow Swap

Here are the pics of my pillow...the first pillow I've made in over 20 years!!

My swap partner picked a FQ of the green fabric that is fussy cut on the right side...the "Josef Mar...." fabric.  I added the other greens and some linen fabric that I had around and Ta-Da!!  My partner requested "traditional colors, modern design" and I hope I hit the mark :-)

The reveal/swap is tonight...I'll show the pillow I receive on my blog tomorrow!!

Happy Holidays!!

I'm back...and sewing.  It has been a while since I've posted or sewn anything--but I have a lot of great changes to tell you about!!

First, we moved to a much bigger house!  We have spent the last month renovating and moving...it really sucked!!  Our old house was a small 3 bedroom/2 bath with a pool (that I hated) and our new one has 5 bedrooms, a loft, a mancave (for Ryan) an open kitchen and living room, etc.  Twice the size, less payment per month.  Yeah!!  But the best thing of all  is that I have a sewing room again!!!  Check it out...

I made some curtains for the sewing room... "Just Wing It" is the fabric line...

I also got this fabulous vintage Ethan Allen hutch off of Craigslist for my sewing room... Lots of room for misc sewing implements, etc.  Very cool, in my opinion.  I've become a Craigslist junky--don't let me get started on my other purchases!!

And here is Buddy is his bed in my sewing room.  I bought the sherpa-like throw to match the aqua/yellow theme that I'm going with...but now Buddy looks a little Liberace-like.  I guess the aqua isn't as masculine as I'd hoped....Thank God he is color-blind!

The real Liberace....they could be brothers!!

I made an excellent pillow for the MQG pillow exchange on Dec 29th.  I can't show you the front, but here is the back...just lovely, for my first pillow.  Seriously, I was lucky that the damn pillow fit in the cover I made for it.  Really...why does a 12" pillow require a 16" square...honestly about a 17" square for the cover?  Maybe I should have read some directions online??  Oh well...I also might not have left enough overlap on the back side....2" instead of 3-4"??  Who knew???  I could try to put in a button and buttonhole but what if I screw it up??  Better leave well enough alone...

The good news is that I don't have to shop for Rebecca.  This year, I bought her a roof for Christmas and she bought us a house!  Yeah....no lines for those purchases...

Happy Holidays!

Warm/Cool Quilt is finished

I finished this about two weeks ago and hung it up behind my dining room table.  It measures 56" x 70"....

I also have been working on some blocks for the Modern Block Swap at the LVMQG.

I made two spider web blocks for Tracey...Her kit was super organized and the directions were easy to follow.  I'm really enjoying this block swap and I hope we do another in 2012!!

I haven't been getting much sewing done lately as my job is kicking my butt!!  I spend all my time writing lesson plans, lessons, grading tests and calling parents.  It looks like this year is going to be very long....I guess that is why they call it "work"!!!

Happy Quilting!





Modern Baby Quilt!

My blog is so neglected.  Sorry....it has been a busy few weeks starting school and finishing up summer projects.  A friend adopted a baby last month so I needed to throw together a quick quilt for the shower this month....Her request was "green" and it is a boy.  I used Kona Raffia as the solid and a variety of greens from Quiltique...

It measures 50" x 50".  I plan on trimming and binding tonight.  I quilted it using my wavy stitch on the Viking--it only took me two episodes of Law and Order!!  My plan is to get it bound tonight during "movie night" with my family!  I think the movie is 10,000 BC??  Hmmm....

Last month I did finish quilting the charity quilt...and I even made a coordinating table runner for the Mesquite auction in November.  Sadly I didn't take a pic of the table runner to prove I did it (LOL) but I swear I did!!  Here is pic of the finished quilt...

I'm back on the blogging and sewing now, I promise!!  Next project is some placemats that will match my warm/cool quilt that I finished last month and forgot to photograph prior to sending it to the longarmer.  Anyhow, game on!!  Happy Sewing!

ps...here is a pic of my son....He is starting middle school this year and he is a fantastic kid!!

Shank You...Shank You Very Much!

I just want to say a big "Shank You" to HBO for the 6-season series Oz that we watched in July.  And another "Shank You" to Showtime for the 5 seasons of Dexter we watched in June.  And a final "Shank You" to F/X for Sons of Anarchy--we watched the last 3 seasons in August.  Yes, it has been an excessive TV watching summer, but I've been getting some sewing done.

I finished my Warm/Cool QAL top, but I forgot to take a picture before taking it to the quilter so you will have to be satisfied with an "After" picture in a few weeks.

Today I pin basted the Lucky Stars charity quilt top that I finished in June.  Some diagonal line quilting will complete this project.  I also quilted half of it....the pic isn't that hot, but it is proof that I'm doing more than controlling the remote!

That is all that is going on around here.  I'm dreading going back to work because I'm sure I was destined to be a stay-at-home housewife...but I've got to pay the bills, right?!

Oh yeah, we are now watching DVR'd episodes of In Plain Sight, Rescue Me, and Rizzoli and Isles.  And I have about 25 episodes of  Law and Order: Criminal Intent saved as well.  And a few Deadliest Catch.  Wait, a bunch of Hoarders as well--that show always motivates me to clean my house and make some donations to the Goodwill!!  That is a lot of sewing time!!

Warm/Cool Quilt Along Progress

I've been working on this project for the last week or so...  I need to make 20 of these big blocks...

Here are four blocks together...

Happy Quilting....

Kona Solids Challenge Quilt...

I can finally post a pic of my finished Kona quilt.  We all got a charm square pack from Kona about 3 months ago and had to make something with it for our July MQG meeting.  Me and another member each switched half our charms with each other....so I actually had two of each color...but only from half the pack.  ???  Make sense....???

It is pretty small, measuring about 32" x 40".  ;-)  I am working on my Warm/Cool quilt along and will have a post on that progress tomorrow...Happy Quilting!!

Wednesday's WIP....

Gosh, there is so much in progress...where to start?

My Warm/Cool QAL squares are cut and I've got about 1/3 of them sewn, cut, pressed and trimmed...There are 310 of them....I cut at 4.5" and then trim to 4" so they will finish at 3.5".  What was I thinking?

Oh, I also got back my Dad's quilt for his cabin.  And I got it bound in two days...lots of Sons of Anarchy and Oz....The quilting was done by Kalynda Klemmer...

It is a large Queen comforter sized quilt...all from vintage men's shirts!!  ;-)

Today I'm off to paint Rebecca's new office at the high school.  The school is one of the best, but at 20 years old, it could use some TLC.  We've been cleaning over there for several days and today is the painting day....Happy Quilting!

Projects....

I did finish my Kona Solids Challenge for the LVMQG...but I can't show it until after the meeting at the end of the month...but it is done, quilted and bound!!

Next, I decided to make a warm/cool quilt....I've pulled my fabrics and determined that I have too much fabric (that I don't like anymore).  So I'll bag up more for the local high school Home Ec teacher.  But here is what I'm working from for my quilt....I need over 300 squares of fabric for this little project!  Looks like there is a lot of TV time in my future.  By the way, we did watch over 60 episodes of Dexter in two weeks...now we are on to Oz (yes, it was the late 1990's when it originally ran on HBO)...

I've been working on a quilt for my Mom for Christmas.  The directions were from Moda Bake Shop and they are difficult to follow...wrong yardage, wrong directions, pictures that don't match the directions, etc.  Due to my own mis-cutting (massive confusion in this project), I had to order a second layer cake of a "now out of print" line of fabric so I could continue...But now I'm on the right track, I hope!!

The quilter finished quilting my Dad's plaid quilt so I made the binding last night and am awaiting it's return....

Also, Happy Mochi Yum Yum arrived last week.  I love 25 out of 29 of the prints...there are four that I'm just not into...but they will eventually be used for something!  I'm thinking of making a king-sized hexagon pinwheel quilt for my bed but I need to test out my idea on some junk fabric to see how it turns out...

Anyhow, the list of unfinished projects is so long.  There are many more in various stages of completion on the table but I just don't know when I'll get it all done!  And I'm giving up caffeine again so I'm quite certain that my eyes are going to fall out of my head....so no quilting until this passes.  ;-)  Happy Quilting!!!

Kona Solids Challenge Quilt...

I made a bold move and cut up my charm squares for my Kona Solids quilt...this is all you get to see of the quilt until I show it at the MQG meeting in July. It needs to be fully completed...quilted and bound, by the end of July!  Ack....

I'm happy to report that Happy Mochi Yum Yum is now available at the Fat Quarter Shop....  I'm definitely going to make a new quilt for my bed, which is a California King, so I bought 1/2 yard of each fabric.  I think that will cover it!!  I've really been careful about not adding to the ridiculous stash of fabrics I have accumulated, but I couldn't pass this line up....

I also made my blocks for the Block Party swap....Andrea requested snowball blocks from her Tula Pink Prince Charming fabrics....

There is more sewing on tap for today!  And it is hot and muggy-ish here in LV.  Stay cool!

Finished Lucky Star quilt top...

I worked on piecing these blocks together while I was in Tahoe.  I finally go the top put together during one of our marathon Dexter-watching afternoons.  We are trying to watch all 5 seasons as fast as possible....go fingure???!

The colors are very muted....it measures 60" x 75" and I'll quilt it with some parallel lines.  I also had some leftover scraps so be watching for a table runner in the future....The auction is in November so I have some time to set it aside before quilting it.  I desperately need to work on my Kona Solids challenge quilt which is due next month at the LVMQG meeting....what to do, what to do???

Happy Quilting!!

Block Party Kit...

I've got my stuff ready for the Block Party...

Assorted Kona solids, some basic directions from Lazy Gal Quilting, the Word Play book, a few inspiration blocks, and some graph paper.  The graph paper might be helpful if a person hasn't done much free piecing and needs to sketch a block. 

I used light gray thread...should I include some in the kit?  The individual letter blocks are cut down to 5" and finish at 4.5" each.  So each block should square up to 9.5" and finish at 9".  Sort of interesting, I hope.

Anyhow, now I have to work on something else....probably backing for my Dad's quilt so I can ship it off to the quilter.  I also have another charity quilt that is almost done....maybe I should finish that one up as well and send it out at the same time?  Hmmm...

FYI...it was already over 80 degrees at 5am today.  And is well over 100 by 9am.  Probably hit about 112 degrees today, again!  This stinks after the cool air of Tahoe....Happy Quilting!

Tahoe Retreat...

We decided to rent a cabin at Lake Tahoe this year for vacation.  My Mom is coming along, and Buddy, so it should be all sorts of entertaining!  I'm excited to bring along a few sewing projects...

1.  My Block Party stuff...I need to make my new inspiration block

2.  Charity Quilt....Lucky Stars pattern

3.  Charity Quilt...string quilt for a twin-sized bed

4.  Kona Solids Challenge for the LVMQG
Hopefully I have everything packed so that I'm not missing something while I'm away.  I'm also bringing my sewing machine, iron...cutting supplies, etc.  I'm sure I will forget something but maybe there is a quilt shop at Lake Tahoe???  Enjoy your week of sewing!

TGIF...

Thank God It's Finished....

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I haven't been napping on the couch all day (well, maybe on a few days).  I've been trying to finish the quilt I started for my Dad's cabin.  I started this back in February with the goal of working on the 100 blocks a little each week and having an easy finish.  Well, it didn't happen quite that way.  So I made a decision in May to NOT work on anything else until I had this done...and now it it finished!  Queen-sized (95" x 95") courthouse steps quilt made entirely from recycled vintage men's shirts.  I actually had cut up so much fabric when making Ryan's quilt that I mostly just used those leftovers...with a few new additions added in at the last minute.  It still needs to be quilted by a longarmer, but it will be done soon..... Yeah!!!

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

What's next???

Change of heart...

I decided that I'm not going to do the string quilt for the MQG Block Party.  First of all, I need a lot of blocks.  And I just remebered that I'm going to need it finished by the beginning of November.  The Block Party won't be over by then so I'd be screwed for the charity event.  So I'm going to work on the string blocks myself next week and do something more interesting for the Block Party....

I'm going to make  L-O-V-E blocks/quilt inspired by the Rumspringa quilt on Lazy Gal Quilting's blog... using these fabrics I ordered from Pink Chalk...I ordered two of the Bits & Pieces Scrap Bags....solids, sorbet colors.  I figured that going with the "you get what you get and don't throw a fit" method of fabric selection was quite modern. :-)

I have been sewing on my Dad's cabin quilt.  I have a goal of finishing the top by Father's Day...it has only been in the works for about 6 months now....This is my first "real" day off from school--at least I didn't lay in bed all day!!  Happy Sewing...

Happy Mochi Yum Yum...

While I was blog surfing today I happened upon this post at The Happy Zombie...I absolutely love this fabric!!  Happy Mochi Yum Yum looks so cute and fun...I know that I will buy the fat quarters of this line, and I don't do that often (or really ever!).  Check it out....

Fat Quarter Shop will definitely have my order when this stack arrives in their store....Maybe I'll even make something for my own bedroom?  Hmmmm....Maybe a super large, king-sized zig zag quilt???
 ;-D
ps....only 6 more days of school!!!

Block Party...

I am so excited about something the LVMQG is going to start in June....our own Block Party!  Our President, Andrea, went to Quilt Market and picked up a copy of Block Party and we are planning on getting together our fabrics and inspiration blocks for a swap in June.  I already had a block in mind and I am using my coveted stash of Zany for Zinnias fabric that I have been hoarding for way too long!  I loved the fabric when it came out and continued to buy it long after it became scarce (from Ebay and other online resources).  I have made a king-sized and queen-sized quilt from my stash of Zinnias....and now I plan on making a nice string quilt for an auction in December.

Here is my inspiration block....

 

And here are my fabrics!

I made a box/kit that has a bunch of fabric, my inspiration block, and the foundations for all the string blocks.  Each month the box with rotate to a new member who will make a few blocks from my fabrics.  I liked the idea of a string block because a lot of people have never made one and they turn out so cute and forgiving...and the blocks can be made oversized and cut down without a problem...Perfect for a swap event!  This is a rough picture...but it will end up 6 blocks x 7 blocks....I am shooting for a twin-sized bed quilt.

Anyhow, that is all for today.  I'm hoping to complete my Dad's cabin quilt top this weekend so I better get to sewing and pressing!  LOL....Have a nice, long holiday weekend!

Name Quilt...

Well, it has been very busy here at my house lately so there has been little quilting.  But last weekend I got the chance to make a name quilt for my co-teacher.  She is from Hawaii so I tried to incorporate wavy quilting in the background, and some raw edged applique in her favorite color, purple.  The background is Kona Ash.....It is an end of the year gift for her....

Anyhow, that is all that has happened around here the last few weeks.  Summer is coming soon so maybe I'll get busy and make some new stuff!  :-D  16 days left (teaching 8th graders isn't much fun right now....LOL)!

New project....

I need to make my co-teacher a name quilt to hang on the wall.  Yes, I know it is a little late in the year, but she is the third one I've had this year and I have finally decided she is here to stay!  I sent her some fabric color schemes and she likes this one...pinks, purples and a dark gray.

Her name contains about 10 letters so there will be a wide variety of batiks used in the project.  This should keep me busy this weekend.  Happy Quilting to you all!

The WRONG way to Mod Mosaic...

Ok....so the whole thing with the Mod Mosaic block is that it is free-form, improv, uses up your scraps, etc.  So I decide that I might make a Mod Mosaic panel quilt (about 15" by 50") for my classroom--but not from scraps.  I recently bought a bunch of Meadowsweet fat quarters and I wanted to use those--but not waste any (I'm allergic to fabric waste).  This lead me to the Freezer Paper Technique that completely goes against the improv-y Mod Mosaic theme (please don't let Oh, Fransson see this post!!  LOL)....

I ripped off about 50" of freezer paper and began breaking it up into smaller chucks by marking wonky lines on the paper side (using pencil and a 24" acrylic ruler).  It looked sort of like a big puzzle when I was done...After breaking it into several small chunks, I further broke the chunks down into little pieces. 

I cut the chunks apart and made little notes/numberings on each piece so I could re-assemble this mess.  I even wrote down what fabric I wanted on each piece....

Then I cut the pieces out and pressed the waxy side to the right side of my fabric (taking care not to waste any fabric).... I cut the pieces 1/4" away from the freezer paper.

And then re-assembled the pieces on the table.  Definitely take pictures as you go or you will spend forever trying to figure out how it all fits together.

 Then I began sewing the white strips in between the colored pieces.  As I picked up a colored piece, I left behind the freezer paper in the right spot so I could put it back together again.  You can obviously tell I had some early problems with this step and spent a few hours looking at the hot mess on the table wondering how the shizzle it would all would fit back into the chunk...

As I got a chunk done, I put it back together to form my quilt top.  See the blue lines....those define my "chunks"....It does end up a bit larger than the original piece of freezer paper (each white strips adds an extra 1/2" ).  Hmmm....A bit time consuming, but it did turn out OK.



I'll try the improv method this week at the MQG meeting...I think if I use actual scraps it might make the random cutting less painful :-D  Happy Quilting!!

Today I had lunch with....

Latifah Saafir....one of the founders of the Modern Quilt Guild (out of Los Angeles).  Yes, she came to Las Vegas on Vacation in made arrangements to meet up with the LVMQG President Andrea and a few of the officers. ;-)  She was very nice and so energetic about Modern Quilting!  Very motivational.... You know, it is amazing how a little blogging and online communication can lead to such a big thing like the MQG.  Thanks Latifah!!!

I have been working on a project this week.  A member of the LVMQG, Cola,  is going to do a demonstration on the Mod Mosaic block this Thursday....I don't know if my "improv" is up to par so I tried making a Mod Mosaic panel using freezer paper.  I'll post more on that later, but this is how it is going so far...

I'm going to attempt the Mod Mosaic block "improv style" this Thursday!  Wish me luck....

Pomegranate Center Quilt...

In my spare time I've been working on a modern quilt made from a Kona charm pack.  The pack was labeled "Classics" but I don't think so....The design is the Red Center quilt that I saw on the Material Obsession blog.  Someday I'll make a Red Center using my Kaffe fabrics, but today it was the Kona solids and some dark grey.  Obviously, the center square is the color Pomegranate....



Anyhow, now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to quilt it.  I bought a lot of grey thread so that isn't a problem...Any ideas???  It is quite small....maybe 32" x 40".  Any ideas?  I'm leaning toward just sewing 1/4" inside the grey throughout the top...not even quilting the colored pieces.  ???  Hmmm....

Raffle Quilt Ending...

This is a good story...get out your tissues!

We sold about $520 worth of raffle tickets prior to the school carnival.  Now you have to remember that my school is in the inner-city so I knew it would be hard to sell tickets to the students.  But I sold about $10 worth at school.  A little 6th grader bought one ticket to try to win the quilt for her Mom.  When the drawing was held, a student pulled the winning ticket and I didn't recognize the name but it was the 6th grader.

She was getting her face painted but her brother heard her name called on the bullhorn and he said he would go get her.  I recognized the brother....he is an 8th grader who was helping the teacher next to me with her "Rat Race" booth (yes, in the 'hood rats are very popular!).  I told her that her student's sister had won the quilt and she told me that their family lives in the neighborhood.  They are struggling...the teacher bought the brother a Subway sandwich for helping with her booth and he kept it wrapped up so he could take it home to give to his Mom.  Really.  That is a nice son.  And the daughter won the raffle quilt.  That Mom did a nice job with those two kids--she is getting a sandwich and a quilt tonight! 

Thanks to everyone in the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild who helped to make the quilt and everyone who bought a raffle ticket to help support the Knudson Counselor's Fund.  Your contributions are appreciated!!!

Quilt Raffle sign is finished....

I finished the Quilt Raffle sign....it turned out cute, I think.

And I finished painting the workout room.  Maybe now I'll be motivated to work out....LOL!



I have a little Kona Solids project that I started last week.  Maybe I'll pull that out and get it done.  Lots of drama at work  makes me distracted and lazy--I think some quilting and exercise is in order ;-D 

Happy Quilting....

Weekend Projects...

I am making a little quilt sign for the raffle at my school this week.  I still need to sew around the inside of the letters and bind/wash it.  It is a little raw edged applique....very raw!  LOL...



Our big project this week was painting the exercise room....Here is a sneak peek! Aqua Pura by Behr.  It is a very pale aqua color....

It has been busy, busy, busy lately at work so no time to play!  Maybe later this week....