IT has been a while

Ok, so it has been some time since I have posted on this blog, and with good reason. We had another baby and we are getting ready for a move. I have finished the VHC quilt, but I still need to take pictures. I have started another quilt, a pinwheel one, however I am not sure I will be done with the top before my sewing machine gets picked up next week. I am going to try to have the top done so that I can (TRY) hand quilting it. We will see how that goes!!!

coming close to being finished with another one....

Here is a picture of the VHC (Very Hungry Caterpillar) pieced together and hanging on my wall while I am basting it together. THE THING IS HUGE!!! It is bigger than a throw for sure. I had a good amount of excess backing so i may try to make a pillow case to go with it.
Here is a picture of the design I am quilting into the quilt this go around. pretty simple, but with such a busy and colorful quilt I did not want anything to add to it or take away from all the colors, so I kept it simple with white thread and meandering stars. :)

The Very Hungry Caterpiller, almost patched together

So I finished the top minus boarders, at the stitch and gab last night. I also started it at the stitch and gab last night. I took it out this morning to take a picture and add it to the blog but someone saw it before I could take the picture and decided it was his. (Which it is, when it is done.) SO I could not get a complete picture, or one with out Jayden on it, so here ya go... The real challenge was getting it away from him to put away.

It's Done!!!

OK, I am done with Laurens Quilt!!! I finished it up yesterday when Jayden was sleeping. Here are some pictures of it complete. Now today during his nap time I am going to iron and cut the fabrics for the VHC (very hungry caterpillar) quilt.

Here is a picture of the backing and the quilt label I made for the quilt. This is the first quilt label I have ever made.
Here is a picture of Sun Bonnet Sue, here you can see some of the quilting.
Here is a close up of some of the nine patches.

Here is a picture I took outside, so that it would not look too yellow due to the indoor lighting.

Perfection?

Looking at the new edition of any quilting magazine, you think wow that looks great, why do my quilts turn out so well not so perfect. Quilting is an art not everyone has the same take on the same stitches. While the work in the magazines is absolutely beautiful, the artists have years of experience and thousands and thousands of dollars behind the work. Can I produce the same work with my machine and skill, maybe, some day. But then that begs one to question, would I want to? At times and with some projects yes. But the antique quilts that are collected today were made with no sewing machine and not for beauty but for propose. So I asked my self while looking at my uneven stitches on my Lauren Quilt what is the purpose of this quilt? Well to say it simply, to give a quilt to Lauren that she can cuddle up to when she is 1, 20 or 50 and say my mom made this for me when I was still in her belly. I am not entering it in a contest or having it judged by anyone but my self. (OK so I am so my worst critic.) So I need to relax and take a deep breath and except my uneven stitches and lop sided applique and just hope that when my oldest son said "Mom, Lauren will not know the difference" he was telling the truth.

Now on to lessons learned so far...
1.) thick thread is not for quilting, this is what was causing my looping on the back side.
2.) it really sucks to have to take out quilted stitches that are not even
3.) I have already learned this lesson, but it is worth stating again. quilting on a roll is great but a mess when it is time to take off the paper. ;)

If I get some good time in today i actually think I can have the quilting done today, I only have 3 more rolls. I can attack the binding tomorrow and then I will be done.

ugg!

Ok so it has been a while since I have blogged any thing. Of course that means it has been a long time since I have quilted. But today I have gotten back on track. I have accomplished several things today.


1.) Cut and sewed together the backing. ( I am still in love with this fabric)


2.) Basted the quilt together. This I did on my wall, yes I said wall. I am way to pregos to be basting on the floor, so I taped the backing on the wall sprayed the basting spray and went to town. See picture below.


3.) Started quilting the quilt.


here are some pictures of what I accomplished today...

This is a picture of the bottom, I put Laurens name on it but I do not like the way it looks, I am just going to hope that it looks better once I quilt it down.

Here is the design that I am quilting in to the quilt.

Another one of the design laid out...

Here is one of me basting the quilt using the wall. Here I am half way done.

So I started quilting it, but I am having issues... My tension is way off, but I have not figured out how to fix it so that my thread does not break and I do not end up with a rats nest in the back.

I am hoping to have it completed early next week, grant it that I get the tension figured out. ;{

Mail Arrived...

I went to check the mail today and I got all my quilt packages that I have been waiting for... I got the fabric for the caterpillar quilt from Ladyfingers Sewing studio. This got here quick (4 days vs the normal 7 days to a month). I got the thread I ordered to quilt both Laurens quilt as well as the VHC (very hungry caterpillar) quilt. I also received quilting on a roll, which I am going to use to quilt Laurens quilt together. It feels like Christmas in June!!!

MISS-Adventures in Applique.

OK, so I sewed down sun bonnet sue last night. Then I started on the hearts. First let me say I now recognize the need to "practice" before actually working on the quilt. I have learned a few lessons on this quilt...

1. First Nine patches leave lots of room for showing off imperfections.
2. If your 1/4 inch seems are not that great, you need to "fit" your boarders to your quilt before you cut them, do not assume that the directions are going you fit "your" quilt. (this was made evident by having to add 1 inch to the top border. Which was even caught by my non crafty husband with a " Why is that side different?" Remind me that I do not want him to know too much about quilting in the future.
3. When Appliqueing hearts you what to pivot the fabric when the needle is on the inside of the zigzag stitch. Or your zigzag is well really zig zaggy.
4. Do not make your children Smores prior to sewing, those things are really messy and will end up some where you do not want them.
5. Any time a project calls for 100 hearts, laugh and then subtract about 70 of them for your own project. Who says the quilt has to look JUST like the picture.

I am going to finish the applique and iron, prior to taking another picture of the quilt.

Adventures in Applique

So I got all the hearts, letters & sun bonnet sue cut out, I have most of them ironed on and I have started stitching them down. One of the biggest pain in the rear about being stationed overseas is the fact that it is hard to get supplies. The closest quilt shop is 1 1/2 hours away. I hate driving up there and occasionally the guild will take a field trip. I was able to find some steam a seam in my stash so I lucked out and did not have to make a trip. So far every thing is going according to plan, I actually can not wait for my 1 year old to take his nap so I can get to work. :)

Speaking of 1 year olds, I have ordered new fabric for his next quilt. He already had a mother goose quilt but silly me I ran over it with the stroller and now there are holes and permanent mud stains on it. :( So I saw the Very hungry Caterpillar fabric and I fell in love. Of course who can not fall in love with all those colors. Here is a picture from Andover Fabrics on what the quilt should look like when I am done. I ordered the fabric on line so it should be here in a week or so depending on the mail.

Quilt top--- Done!

OK, so today when my 1 year old was napping I was able to get some serious quilting done. In fact I got the whole top done and put together. Perfect it is not, pretty it is. Now i have the task of cutting all of the hearts and the sun bonnet sue and Lauren (the babies name) out of the remaining fabric. This is going to take forever, then not to mention appliqueing them to the quilt it self. So while the kids are in bed for now on I will be cutting it all out. I think I will end up dreaming about hearts. LOL. So does anyone have any suggestions for "squaring" my quilt top and appliqueing a hundred hearts?

The first blog

Ok, so this is my very first blog. I am not sure how often I am going to post or if I will always post about quilting, but here I go...

I am currently working on a quilt for our unborn daughter, it is the most difficult quilt I have made so far. It is called PS I love you from the PS I love you 2 book. The first picture is from the book to show you what it should look like and the second picture is what I have so far. I am using Moda's 3 sisters simplicity fabric. This fabric is great, it is girly, soft and timeless. I have 2 months left to have the quilt done, Ok I know she will not know if it is not done, but I will. :)