Claiming my blog

I am so sorry to see Google Reader go away.  I don't know if that is how you read the blogs you subscribe to, but it has been a staple for me.  Since we are getting down to the end of google reader (July 1), I am claiming my blog on Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Google Reader, I am so sad that you have to go.

June Goals and May Finishes

This is a copy of the list of my May goals

1. Finish quilting the border on the large twister quilt and bind it- It is quilted, but I still need to bind it.
2. Quilt and bind the green/yellow swoon Quilt- would like to gift at the end of this month- This quilt was completed and gifted
3. Bind the pink/yellow floral quilt- Finished this one 
4. Bind the monkey tumbler quilt- Trying to decide on the binding color
5. Quilt the town square quilt- Quilted and bound
6. Quilt the grey zig zag baby quilt- Moving to the June Goals

June goals

1. Put the binding on the twister quilt
2. quilt and bind the grey zig zag quilt
3. bind the Tumbler quilt
4. Quilt the large crazy star quilt

Bonus Quilts

1. Quilt & Bind the grey/yellow Plus Quilt
2. Quilt & Bind the Small crazy star quilt
3. Quilt Halloween Take 5 Quilt

Since June is almost half over (how did that happen), I am making my goals a little more achievable.  

Recap!!!

2 Finished from the UFO list, and 2 near finishes from the list.  The best part of all - no new starts which means I am making progress.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Buckwheat #13

Buckwheat:

• 16 triangles (8 dark and 8 medium) cut with Easy Angle (EA) 1 7/8" strip
• 12 triangles (8 light and 4 medium) 1 1/2" strip cut with Companion Angle (CA)
• 4 squares 1 7/8" (2 light and 2 dark)

 Sew the half squares together and square up to 1 7/8" .  If you are struggling with the 1/4" seam, you can use a 2" strip and square them up.

Sew the squares and setting triangles together on the angle in rows.  Alternate the pressing direction by the rows (I press odd rows to the right and even rows to the left)

 Join the rows together in pairs, matching up the seams of the inner squares.  The setting triangles are a little over sized, so don't be alarmed if they don't line up perfectly.

Join the remaining rows, and square up to 6 1/2"

Make sure to leave the 1/4" seam allowance on the edges,

My colors are a little crazy on this one, but in the whole scheme of things, it will be fine.

The Farmer's Wife Resumes

I haven't had much time to sew since we adopted the new puppy, but today I NEEDED some time to sew.  Do you ever get really grumpy because you have too many things that need done and you don't get to sew?  My family recognizes when I need some sewing time, so I know the lack of it makes me grumpy.

I really want to finish up the Farmer's Wife project so I can free myself of the guilt of unfinished business. 

Today's block is 19 - Checkerboard.  It came out perfect on my second try.  I don't know what I did wrong the first time, but my seam allowance must have been too big.  Second time around, it was the perfect size.

Checkerboard- #19

• 9 colored squares 1 7/8"
• 4 light squares 1 7/8"
• 8 triangles cut with Companion Angle 1 7/8" strip
• 4 triangles cut with EA 1 1/2" strip (can use 1 7/8" strip and trim down if you prefer

Sew the squares together in rows pressing toward the colors

Join the middle 3 rows and the corners to the other 2 rows.

 Join the remaining pieces to complete the block.  Trim off the dog ears and square up to 6 1/2".  Make sure you leave the 1/4" seam allowance on all 4 sides.  This is my completed untrimmed block.

 Stay tuned for block #13 Buckwheat.  It is very similar to Checkerboard with the addition of some half squares.

I am hoping this is the beginning of many more productive days.

St

Zig-Zag or Chevron Quilt trimming Tutorial

I had big plans for these two weeks but life took a little detour.  She doesn't have a name yet.

It is such a crazy story.  She wandered into my yard yesterday.  I let my dog out and they played awhile.  I checked later, and she was under my tree resting like she lived here.  We couldn't get her to come close enough to pet.  When she finally came close enough we realized how malnourished she was.  She had quite a  few ticks like she had been running for a while.  After removing the ticks, we gave her a bath and cleaned her up.  We called around and searched for the owner.  We checked, and she was not chipped.  The shelter felt she was between 8 and 10 months old.  Last night, she was still hanging around the house...So....she now has a collar, and she is going to the vet this afternoon.  We are still hoping to find the owner, but we are caring for her.  The main trouble is, my kids are getting very attached to this sweet little girl.

My 2 weeks of an empty house and getting a lot accomplished have been changed to caring for this puppy (who is still nameless)

The only thing in the sewing room I have accomplished is trimming my zig-zag (Chevron) quilt.  You may think this is extra work, but I think it really helps to stabilize the quilt and and keep everything square.

There are tons of tutorials on how to make a chevron quilt online, so I won't go into those details.  I used the rail method, and set the blocks on point.  The quilt on the left is how the blocks look when they are set on point.  The first thing I do is take all those leftover scraps of fusible interfacing and cut them into 1- 1 1/2" pieces.  Start by fusing them all the way around the edge.  They don't have to be perfectly straight.  I just line up the top of the interfacing strip with the indention.  It really doesn't have to be perfect.  Next I put the 1/4" line of the ruler on the intersecting seam lines.  The goal is to trim the quilt 1/4" from the seam line.  I also look at the 45 degree line of the ruler and try to line it up with the row seams.  Do the best you can.  Sometimes mine lined up better than others.  Continue to trim all the way around the quilt.

After the quilt is trimmed all the way around, it will look like the quilt on the left.  The back of the quilt will look like the photo on the right.  All the edges of the quilt are stabilized with the fusible interfacing.  I don't plan to add borders to this quilt, but either way, it will not stretch out of shape with all the bias edges.

If you need more detailed pictures of how I cut the edge, or if you have a question, just leave me a comment. 

Graduation Quilt

This is my youngest daughter Delaney all dolled up for 6th grade graduation.  Dressing up is not normally her thing, so I enjoyed taking the opportunity to snap some photos of her.

It was fun to watch both the girls working together.  They both seemed to be excited about the process. 

Delaney wanted a picture of herself with her teacher before the gift was given.  

I don't think I have ever seen this teacher without her infectious smile.  

Delaney predicted that her teacher would be releasing lots of tears during the graduation, but she was wrong.  She was able to keep herself together until she opened Delaney's gift.

My quilt was well received.  It was not perceived as John Deere or BP.  Her first thoughts were school colors.  It brought her to tears.  She loved and appreciated her gift greatly.

Busy quilting week

I have been busy quilting.  I didn't have any piecing on my goal list this month, so most of my work has been with quilting and binding.

I quilted Ellen's quilt for Art Prize.  If you have never been to Grand Rapids for this event, it is amazing.  If you do go, please feel free to vote for this quilt.  This quilt is made with some commercial fabrics and some that are hand dyed.  Perhaps my traditional quilting is influencing the art quilter.
There are lots of straight lines, and lots of thread on this quilt.

I also finished three quilts of my own- 2 of which were on the UFO list.  I am doing my happy dance!

 I started this quilt about 10 years ago.  It is hard for me to believe that I picked out those floral fabrics at that time.  They are all Robyn Pandolph fabrics, and the pattern was on the cover of Quilter's World.






































This quilt isn't that old.  In fact, I think I started it just last year.  The pattern is from Kim Brackett called Town Square.  I quilted an all over pattern called Lovely using blue thread.  I love the movement this pattern gives the quilt.  I can't wait for the binding to be done so I can wash it for the crinkle effect.

The last finish I have for this week is my scrappy swoon quilt.  This quilt was made for a very special teacher that is retiring.  When my daughter switched schools this year, this teacher just took her under her wing and helped her fly.  She guided her every step of the way.  She is one special lady!  The school will greatly miss her.  Green and Yellow are the school colors.  I do admit that I like this quilt a lot more before my niece said it looked like John Deere, and my husband said it resembled the BP sign.  I quilted the same pantograph - Lovely on it with Quilter's Dream batting.  I did the binding completely by machine. It is been washed and dried for the perfect snuggle quilt.

For this week, I hope to finish quilting the last border on my large twister.  I quilted the main part of the quilt way back in March.  I have really struggled with a design for the large border.  At this point I may just meander to get it finished.

Thanks for visiting.  Stop over to Judy's to see what others are working on this week.