Lap Quilt Finished!

I finished the binding on lap quilt this morning (I am attempting to get up at 7AM every day).  I tried to take pictures out in the courtyard of my apartment building at lunch time when all the children and their Mothers leave the area for the AC inside.  I learned two things, a) it is hot and sunny, I should go inside too, and b) I really am not that great at taking pictures.  I used some of my precious "Lovely" fabric designed by Sandy Gervais.  I have a few blocks left of the Stars that I will perhaps make into a table runner.  The pattern is from The Moda Bake Shop, called Charming Stars Quilt.  I modified it a little to use the green fabric with white poka-dots instead of white.  I might try to take a better picture tomorrow; I am not sure if you can see the Stars in the middle.  For the back I used a yellow/white check print and scraps of fabric from another quilt using the same fabrics.  I was inspired by Julie at Jaybird Quilts to do something with my Quilt Backs.  I am hoping to do more interesting things in the future.

Psuedo TV and a little handy-work.

I was planning to put projects on hold this week while our church had its annual VBS.  I made it there Monday for the opening, but yesterday (Tuesday) morning it took us 27 minutes to drive about 3/4 of a mile from our apartment.  That's when we learned that there was an accident on the major expressway that was about 15 miles from where we were currently parked in traffic and that the expressway was backed up past our Church.  So we turned around and went home.  There are certainly some disadvantage to living in an area that has more population within 5 miles all around us than the entire population of the State of Alaska.  Which at moments like this I sorely miss more than ever!  

By last night I had come down with a cold or virus and I was glad I had not exposed the children to me.  I am still feeling poorly today; a little feverish, a little congestion and other sick-type issues.  I let my VBS partner know she would be missing me once again today.  So being a little stubborn at staying once again in our apartment, I set out to work on one of my many projects (yes, honey, I did take a  nap). 

I finished the machine stitching on the Quilt in the corner of my crafting room.  I have the binding on, clipped, and ready for hand sewing the binding on.  My husband is going to put Hulu on the computer (we don't actually own a tv since we can find out favorite shows online).  We are going to watch a marathon of shows (my husband is trying to get me to rest on the couch)!

1. The Voice  (So much better than American Idol I think)
2. Master Chef  (Such a funny show)
3. Master Chef  (two episodes!)
4. America's Got Talent  (some do, some don't)

Maybe I will get the binding done and I then can show you the finished project tomorrow and enter another project into the FYPC (Click on the icon on the right hand side to find out more about this contest!) drawing.

Finished: A Pair of Baby Girl Quilts

 Several movies later, my binding is completed on both quilts.  Well, I get to cross two more things off my "Projects in progress" list!  I am very please how these two quilts turned out.  I am not normally a pink kind of girl, but I think it works well with the purple and the yellow.

I did not use any designer prints per se on these quilts; just scraps of fabric from my stash.  I tried to match the border fabrics in their brightness.  The lime green sashing/backing is fabric that I bought a bolt of about 5 or 6 years ago and I think I may still have quite a few yards left, so it may make its appearance in several more quilts along the way.  I had a 50% coupon at JAF back when solids were $1.99/yard.  So a $1/yard is not bad at all!

The challenge returns & My First Quilting Bee!

Its Back!  Another month and Ruby Slipperz started another round of the challenge to finish more projects!  My last month was very slow on the numbers as I have been slowly working on my recovery as well.  I was able to finish 6 projects (although I forgot to send the last two in for a ticket to win, oh well) and of course in typical fashion I started many more.

I participated in my first online Quilting Bee!  I received the news on March 2nd that I had been accepted in a newly formed group at Margaret's Hope Chest.  She assembles, makes, quilts, (enter in other sewing/quilting type terms here) and distributes quilts to charities.  I suggest you check out the work going on at her website, it is pretty amazing stories.  Well I finished my two blocks for the first Quilt I signed up for and I am hoping to have them in the mail by next week.  The blocks are based on the PS I Quilt’s Block O’ Strings Block tutorial and quite fun to make actually.  I learned a little tip from the tutorial that will continue on for the rest of my quilting/sewing endeavors! 

Project 6: Craft Room is Finished!

Small scraps are stored at the very top by color; the small drawers hold working projects, & tools, the bigger drawers hold half-finished projects, finished projects & random scrap strips; below that the long tubs hold fabric from fat quarter sized to 1.5 yard cuts by color; on the wall above my cutting station hangs the Memory quilt for my babies; below that is my two sewing machines & a basket of scraps to sort; under the shelf is a blue bin to sort fabrics & finally my purple tub where I store larger pieces.

In the corner is a dresser where embellishments and finished knitting projects are stored; 5-inch or "charm" squares are kept in the bottom of the clear drawer, while the top two drawers have my sash of Sandy Gervais fabrics;  the table along the wall folds out to an impressive work table; I plan to use the light colored desk for my painting and non-sewing crafting; and finally,  the white board will go on the wall above the desk.

This is the view you will see when you look in from the doorway.  The brown shelf in the corner holds all of my scrapbook supplies; basket on top holds more scraps to sort; the darker brown desk in front of the window is where I plan to do most of my sewing; and a comfortable chair to sit in for relaxing or perhaps reading a book!

Having finally finished those baby shoes, I decided that my Craft room would be the final project I would complete for the Finish Your Project Challenge (click on the picture on the right side of my blog for more information).  I wanted to get this completed before my friend comes over tomorrow morning for some mending help.  I am pretty proud of this accomplishment, especially since the rest of my apartment looks absolutely wonderful as well!

My craft room: Reality needs a make-over

This is a very nice little room.  This office used to be our bedroom, but when we had found out we were having twins we quickly started making plans for this to be their room.  When I miscarried our babies my husband decided he would make this room a craft room for me.  His parents drove down and helped him get it arranged.  Boy do I need to organize!  On the fold out table (first picture above) I have some of the projects on my list for the FYPC contest.  I was trying to figure out which ones I want to tackle first tomorrow. 

So lately my stuff has started to creep out from their hiding places.  Most of my fabric was in containers like the big purple tub tucked in under the second desk.  They are great tubs, but they are not ideal when looking for a particular piece of fabric; this was noticed when stacks of fabric began appearing under the table. Fabric will be sorted by size; Large (Bulk yardage will go into a trunk), medium and small pieces by color (clear containers on the black shelf), and scraps (clear containers with by color dwelling under the fold out table).  When we originally planned this area the table was folded away, but it is almost always open these days since it is great for me to spread out the fabric of my 50"X50" quilts when I am spray basting them together.  This causes a problem since it blocks a part of the entrance.  We are hoping to get this room rearranged to allow for a better entrance, plus I can then closed the door to my mess!  Consider these the "before" pictures, if we get to an "after" I will post those to you as well.  Tonight I will leave you with a link to a post that is truly inspiring on Stash Manicure's blog.  My deep love for fabric is barely greater than my love for containers.  Consequently, I go back to the post at least once a week to drool...

Project 4: A ruffle makes everything better!

For those who know me, I don't really believe that.  I am not a pink, lace and ruffle kind of girl.  I can neither confirm nor deny that pink may or may not be showing up in some of my future quilts however.  So this is another project that has been taunting me for a while.  I originally made this slip without the ruffle, I really should have taken a before picture.  I made it for a tiny little girl ("B"), daughter of my really good friend "S", but because she was very tiny at the time I had to leave the ruffle off or she would have been dragging the fabric.  But then she grew, and grew and grew some more so it was time to rip a few stitches out and add the ruffle.  I have actually been making children's clothes and costumes for 16 years!  It is really hard to pick my favorites though.  I am being tempted back to clothes making by Oliver +S patterns.  They are the type of clothes I want my children to wear, so I have been thinking of continuing my wardrobe formation for my future children's trunk, sort of like a baby hope chest.

Project 3: 4-year project finished!

I had another project in the making and in typical "shanna" fashion I found another project to finish instead! I finished this quilt a couple of days ago, but we are having a nice visit with my husband's parents (FIL is holding up the quilt for me in the picture). I have been trying to sort my scraps, fabrics, and well my stuff when I cam across a score of unfinished projects hidden in deep dark places. Now this quilt is a rough finished size of 45"x60" and I say rough because this quilt is a testament to my imperfections. I started this project in September/October of 2007 when Juneau got its first WM and to my delight they had "Veggietales" Fabric for only 50 cents a yard; in fact, I also bought the faded red and yellow prints for the same price.

I had originally decided to make this quilt for my future children which would make the tub of Veggietales themed items I have collected over the years (ie. Book club collection, mr. Larry head dress-up toy, stuffed figures etc). I have literally added something to this quilt every year to make it bigger and bigger. This time when I saw the quilt top tucked away, I was determined to finally finish it. I added the green sashing on the out side edge to bring it to the full crib quilt size minus an inch or twoish. After a round of spray basting, the quilt was sandwiched with a warm and natural cotton batting in the middle and a apple red cotton for the back/binding. The squares were quilted in the ditch in the middle and a meander stitch for the stripes and sashing. In some ways, though I was slightly ashamed of how badly this was put together, it is an encouragement of how far I have come in the past 4 years. Needless to say, although I plan to keep this blanket, I may go with another decorating theme if we ever do have children!

Project 2: In Memory of my Children

It is Mothers' Day and I had thought that I would be big and round with our twins by now counting down the 2 months left. It never occurred to me that we would lose them or that we would be married seven years without having children, but that is life. But remember, I am a mother too.

I may not hold my own children in my arms, but I have held many of yours. I have taken care of many children over the years, picked them up off the ground, soothed their anguished cries, fed them taught them, entertain them, and cheered them on. I have loved them. And today I realized that although my children are not living or growing, I am still a mother too.

About a week after we lost the children, I picked this fabric out (with the help of my Mother-in-law) to a make a quilt in their memory. I used 1 charm pack(fresh flowers), 1 jelly roll (fresh flowers), 1 yard of yellow print fabric, and 1.5 yards of the Smiling flower green fabric that is from the same line of fabrics as the charm squares and Jelly roll fabrics. To be honest in the beginning I had no plan what this quilt was going to look like. I just started pinning "Thangles" to my jelly strips and hoped for the best. I started by making some star blocks and while doing that I figured out that the same pieces also make a heart block as well. The slashing is solid Red Cotton used also for the back and for the binding. I stitched the quilt using an abstract flower stitch that I made up as I went along. This Quilt is big enough for a lap at 50"X50". For now I plan to hang it on the wall of my craft room.

What have I gotten myself into?

Well, it another day and I have not yet finished another project. In Fact, I started another one! You would think that this challenge would have enticed me to complete one project before starting another one. But you see, I had this idea for a block in my head and I had to get it down on paper before if flew out. Once I had described my idea and had a sketch to remember, I had to give it a try to see if it would work. Actually in my defense I was only going to make up one block, but as I cut the fabric for the one block I realized that it would be just as easy to at least cut the rest of the fabric in stacks. If I changed my mind, the fabrics could be used easily in another block. So once again my crafting room is piled high with more to do.

So here is my new list:

1. Finish making Green/Brown Quilt blocks (pieces being cut on the blue mat, pieces sitting on the iron, and those on the blue paper next to the iron)

2. Finish sewing together Coral/Blue/Green/ white quilt blocks (On the far left by the sewing machine)

3. Finish putting together Mauve/Taupe/Grey-blue/Cream blocks for placemat set (Top picture, in the middle next to and in front of the sewing machine)

4. Complete the baby shoes for my brothers new baby (They had a girl a couple days ago, those are in the red box on the table next to the iron)

5. Complete the 5 other pairs of shoes for other people with new babies or pregnant with babies (also cut and ready in the red box separated into bags)

6. 3 Quilt tops and a table runner that need to be quilted and binded (piled up between the iron and the pile of boxes, this is where I'll put more quilt tops.)

7. And many more projects that are out of site of my camera thankfully, but might be mentioned in the next merry list making.

Challenge: Project 1 finished

Hooray! I have finished my quilt at last. I started this project in March hoping to figure out a new trick for making pin wheels that I learned from a video on Youtube. Believe it or not this quilt originally started out as pin wheels blocks, but after accidently sewing the block together wrong twice I decided to make it into diagonal rows, but then I once again sewed the wrong side together and realized it made another square shape. There are actually squares in side squares and triangles on this quilt. The fabrics I used for this quilt are a "Origens" charm square pack (42-5"x5" squares) by designer Basic Grey, a pal green/white print from JAF (Joann's Fabrics) and a brown/white dots fabric also from JAF. I did a meandering loop stitch for the quilting, which holds everything together quite nicely. Another adventure in using charm squares to make a project. First Project down in the challenge and time to take a nap!