Still on a fast track

I'm happy to report that the collaborative quilt our MQG created for the Heather Ross/Hart's event "you are my sister" is right on track to completion.  The design choice of low volume improv with a pop of navy was a good call.  The members pulled through once again with a "drop everything" deadline and provided an assortment of blocks.  On Friday there was a piecing party at Sue Dee's. I was the official "piecer" and of course placing them on the design wall gave an abundance of options.

The Finished Top

Layout on the Design Wall

Piecing party Feast

Sewn as two panels

A bit of Sewing Room ReDo progress.  We looked high and low for the extra paint to touch up the wall before installing the new computer desk and cabinet without luck.  For more than a year I kept the chip in my wallet to match thing while out shopping but couldn't find that either.  Since it wasn't going to match, I decided to just get close and call it good.  One evening was spent boarding FQs but I do need to get back on it.

Dottie checking out the open space

H's bound quilt - finished 64x80

This weekend I also showed my son's girlfriend how to put on binding by machine.  I'm still amazed at how she pulled off this huge quilt as her very first.  Matching the yellow and black binding to the quilt at each joint was a smart decision.  It was done in time for Father's day and he loved it.

one of many...many curtains

The majority of progress lately has been the window coverings.  Measuring, cutting and hemming 18 panels with 8 more to go. Ugh, not fun. I especially love the sheers we chose to use in our living room (from Ikea) and I used the cut off fabric for casing on another set of sheers for my son's place.

I've got so many new projects:

Still To Do:

baby shower bunting and runner

2 fabric baskets

6 bee blocks
21st Bday Quilts (x3!)
cradle bumper and quilt
8 more curtain panels (yawn)
Taffy in Bike
Rip Curl improv backing
Sewing Room ReDo
more..more...more..

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

So much going on..

Life has been full speed for me lately and I could use the lazy day pace of Summer right about now.  I'm going to make a picture heavy post of what I've finished up, made progress on and started new (yes - I do confess).  Captions under each in place of a real blog post is about all I can manage!

Two 15" blocks for the Heather Ross/Harts auction quilt our MQG is making

Got my ticket to attend - I plan to bid and win!

Detail of "Tiger Grain" skateboard , a custom design by my son.. Donated for the auction

Proud mama dropping off the board at Hart's

My little project from a workshop with Mary Mashuta based on her book "Foolproof Machine Quilting".

Mega Large beach tote - birthday gift and big hit 

Pattern for my nephew's 21st Bday quilt instead of Japanese Jigsaw

Having our Guild meeting at Hart's Fabric = no restraint  

There are so many new fabric lines releasing I'm trying to be good - but probably won't be!

FMQ wonky/random scallops

My other son's girlfriend made her dad a quilt for Father's Day, all designed and sewn on her own but I offered to FMQ some detail since it's her very first and quite huge 64"x80".  Just got around to it late last night and am taking it to her this morning so she can bind it- nothing like the last minute!

Almost forgot to mention: it's voting time at Art Gallery and my friend Kelly has an awesome chair entry for the Home Decor challenge category, so go re-pin and like it!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.
So there you have it -in a nut shell. How about you?

May 2013 : Fresh Sewing Day

May 2013 Fresh Sewing Day 

Sewing Room Redo Progress, Quilts for Boston blocks, Appliqué Pillow, Baby Quilt, 

Heat Lightning, Fairies Quilt, Tablecloth & Linen Napkins, Octagonal Orb

Scrappy Trip Along, Jumbo 24" xPlus blocks

This month has been a blur and putting together the May mosaic of project to link up at Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day was a bit challenging.  There were so many things that I worked on in bits and pieces that I wasn't sure what to include.  

Yesterday at Ikea we picked up the brackets for the narrow shelves that will go above the vertical blinds (see picture below) to house the scrap buckets but they only had three of the 7.5" size so my hubby will cut down the 11" ones and modify the length to optimize the space. After sorting a dozen containers I burned out and my sewing room redo is at a stall. I'm hoping new shelves will get things going again.

wish it still looked this clean!

Mock up of what it will look like - please don't crash down!

We also purchased new sheers and drapes for the living room and bedroom that need hemmed but unfortunately I changed my plans once we got back home so we didn't get everything needed.  An online order for those items will delay that progress too... After running around town with no success I was pretty discouraged.  It's sad how little window treatment is available in our local stores and what I did find was 4x the price.  

 I have yet to find a miracle cure for too much stuff in too little space.  It must be the same as too many projects and too little time or too many new release fabric lines and too little money. On that note, I'm off to try and deal with that realization and leave you with a picture of the pups underfoot as aways!

Finish it Up Friday and not-so-scrappy advise

Since my last post it feels like I didn't get to quilt at all - but maybe that's just comparing to the pace of our recent Charity drive and the UFO Retreat.  Last Friday our MQG had a Sew Day and I was able to FMQ my "fairies"quilt using a shape inspired by the outer border. 

I also worked on the MoStash Bee octagonal orb block for Julie aka: Happy Vanilla Bean who blogs at JoieMaxtin. Hoping that it was delivered on schedule so that the calendar still said "May".  

Happy to say that I got to have a bit of a play date with my SIL and sewed the round table cloth for my son's place using the Joel Dewbery they really like. To go with it, I made coordinating linen napkins.

 The anticipation of our first grandchild is pretty exciting. Pondering baby girl quilts and handmades for nursery is super fun and has my head spinning with ideas.  Here's the baby wrap fabric I've decided on - similar to the Moby Wrap you can buy. Thank goodness for blog tutorials, I was able to find out how to make one with just a couple of clicks.

We have a cradle in our family that my boys used as well as my SIL's girls and soon our granddaughter will.  I love the classic style and took over a stack of fabric ideas for a new bedding set and this is what we came up with.

When I saw this palette by Adrianne aka Little Bluebell just after my pull I thought it was so similar that it must be fate - She always has great taste so I must be on the right track and made my own.

created at PlayCrafts

 The Art Gallery feather fabric will be the fussy cut bumper and the ombre the quilt (maybe a two-color bow tie).  I'm using restraint to keep from going scrappy busy.  I pulled the bicycle fabric to mix in and/or make a sheet to give a more juvenile look but am not sure - what do you think? I'd love your not-so-scrappy advise.

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

UFOs and the Mothership

As you  might have guessed - the UFO theme for last weekends BamQ Retreat was taken quite seriously.  Aliens were everywhere, on fabric, posters, tatoos, peering through the window (pretty sure I screamed) thanks Amanda.

And then there was the honor of the hat. Not only did you "get to" wear it each time you completed a UFO, but you got to embellish it too. I added an eye patch because sewing with one eye covered at 2am is a really smart thing to do- note the furry puppy dog ears in this shot:

My favorite part of the picture however is Angela photobombing a "cheers" from the hallway.

The pieced binding in orange and aqua made me smile.  The Scrappy Trip Along above and Heat Lightning below were completely finished with FMQ and binding too.  The jagged bolt like quilting was the most fun to do all weekend.

The pillow in the first picture was from a Hawaiian needle turn appliqué class from about 10 years ago.  This pastel baby quilt topped that at 12 years I'm estimating and will be a gift or for charity. 

I tried doing a sandwich method rather than binding and wasn't too thrilled with the processes. I  was pleased however with the quilting in a flower/butterfly pattern and happy it's no longer trapped in a bucket and that soon a special baby will get to cuddle in it. 

That concludes the total finishes and now for the partials... I added the border to the fairies log cabin, 

sewed the final row of Fruit Salad and pieced the backing, 

made two more Jumbo xPlus blocks (shown on the righthand side)

basted and FMQ'd Row Robin, all 80 inches of it, ugh. The binding I had with me deservingly got a thumbs down so I'm going to use a fussy cut navy white chevron like Ruth did on her fabulous quilt.

The very last project I squeezed in was the Taffy pattern in Ride. Here are a few parts mocked up on the design wall.  I'm excited about the progress and it'll go fast because - to quote Alison's song about me "Karen likes big blocks"and can you guess to what tune?

I brought 5 items that didn't get touched, boo. My original post of goals can be found here.

Wow - this blog post makes it seem like a sweat shop retreat but trust me it was far from work, work work.  There was a ton of belly laughs to go around - especially in the self proclaimed "rowdy room". The festivities included  a conga line, demos, super swag, prizes (ugh - yeah, I won.. twice: I hope I get invited back!), a glorious massage, a Rail fence speed contest. We were NOT the fastest but if you squint the seams match up - 'cuz I forced 'em to! 

My friend and roommate Miriam won a prize for oldest UFO finishing up the quilt top she worked on at our retreat in November.  See how discretely she poses with the hat.

The weather and grounds were beautiful, the food delish and best of all the company. Thank you BamQ for letting me join in. You are a fun, generous,  talented bunch of Modern Quilters! Check out more pictures on flickr .

Before I sign off - I wanted to say how exciting it was to have South Bay Area MQG mentioned on The Modern Quilt Guild blog today.  Our 31 quilts in 31 days charity drive was featured so nicely.  I hope it's OK that I've always affectionately referred to them as "the mothership". 

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday at Better off Thread, Let's Get Acquainted at guest blog The Sewing Chic, TGIFF with Sew Hungry, Finish It Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts and to  Fabric Tuesday with Quilt Story  - and not just because she posted my xPlus blocks on the blog and called them gorgeous :)

Happy Quilting - Karen

SBAMQG in the NEWS

SBAMQG in the NEWS, a photo by capitolaquilter on Flickr. 

I'm so proud to be VP of our Modern Quilt Guild and part of  our recent 31 Quilts in 31 Days charity drive.  It's exciting to have a little bit of press to share with the world.  Here's a link to the online version. 

On the topic of being published, I wanted to give a shout out to two of my quilty friends for making the cover of a magazine! The ever so talented Pam Rocco has an amazing 4 page spread in Quilters Newsletter's special edition of Best Weekend Quilts and mentions SBAMQG and reading blogs in the article (I'm just gonna assume she meant mine LOL), a photo of Spine (a personal favorite) that hung in our small group display at the show and instructions for Floating X quilt along with a picture of my friend Carolyn are all featured. 

And then there's my virtual friend Linda from Portland who blogs at Surrounded by Scraps from F+F=AMS bee who I first "met" during the I heart the 80's swap so long ago. I'm always amazed how similar our taste is and love her work. You can find her yummy green and orange lock 'n' bolt quilt on the cover of Simple Quilts with directions on how to make it inside.   If you're shop hopping at Cool Cottons this weekend be sure to tell her hello from me! I only wish I was in Portland at Market like my lucky friend Anne of PlayCrafts who helped to set up the booth for Heather Ross - yeah, you got it, I know famous people!

For my Finish It Up Friday linky at Crazy Mom Quilts, I've got two jumbo xPlus blocks to share. I'm in love with the way they turned out.  You can get a sense of scale in this picture.

I'm hoping to be part of Blogger's Quilt Festival like I was HERE with Old Italian Block and HERE with Catalyst - but for now I'm off to pack for BamQ's retreat - have a great weekend.

BamQ Retreat Theme: UFO - a Dozen To Go

This Friday I leave for a weekend retreat with our sister guild BamQ being held at Presentation Center in Los Gatos and am so excited.  Their theme is UFO which could not be more perfect for me and my goal to scale down clutter as part of my sewing room redo.

I went through my two tubs and found 10 quilts; 6 are most likely for charity and the other 4 for me or my family.  Some are parts and pieces but a couple are already tops ready for FMQing.

In case I get burned out on finishing (having recently FMQ'd 7 charity quilts in a very short amount of time I know I do have my limits) I'm bringing 3 cutting/piecing projects: Taffy in Bike, my queen bee XPlus with fabric to make 4 more Jumbo sized blocks and a stack of old Crazy Bento swap blocks for an even Baker's Dozen.

It only made sense to include Rip Curl, my May ALYoF (a lovely year of finishes) and the other three  that are in my Q2FAL mosaic Row Robin, Fruit Salad and Bolts so that I can knock those off the list and be part of the ALYoF and Finish A-Long link party. 

I'm tabling all other WIPs for obvious reasons and don't really expect to get through everything. Choosing was like when you pack too many clothes for vacation because you're not sure what outfit you'll be in the mood to wear. 

Bird D9Patch 40"x50"

backing:Blue Swirls, binding:Brown

cut and resew 9Patch blocks add pieced brown/yellow border

Lavender butterflies  44"x53"

backing: ballerina flannel, binding: white diamond or envelope style without binding

Fairies Log cabin 40"x56"

backing: Dusty pink flannel, binding: geometric

32"x49" now, add geometric border

Pastel Sailboats  33"x38"

backing: Yellow flannel, binding: pastel green

add pastel green borders/piece batting

Rip Curl 58"x72"

backing: improv batik, binding: waves

make back-bamboo batting cut, ALYoF & Q2FAL goal

Bolts/Heat Lightning  43"x49"

backing: castle peeps, binding: orange/burgandy or pink stripe

already spray basted, Q2FAL goal

3x6/4x5 Fruit Salad 48"x60"

backing: large pink/orange floral, binding: purple/pink stripe

add row of 4 blocks Q2FAL goal

String Fever 40"x40"

backing: dots flannel, binding: envelope style-no binding

square up swap blocks, mix with floral for the top, Scrap Attack QAL goal

Row Robin 49"x80"

backing: aqua houses flannel, binding: nicey jane

from Around the Bend and Across the Pond, Q2FAL goal

Scrappy Trip Around the World 46"x54"

backing: bright yellow speckles, binding: aqua or multi (not sure which)

L shape orange and green border, piece flannel

There's a lot of thought and prep involved in going on a Retreat but I'm feeling pretty ready for it.  The only other one I've been on (post here)  I also chaired so this should be a breeze.

For those of you in Portland for Market - have a wonderful time. I'd love to be there with you - another thing on my bucket list.

I'm linking up for the first time to Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have to Say and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story - it's fun to find new linky parties and browse around the blogs of all the people who participate.
It's been a month since I've linked up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and I've lost track of my tally but here's a shot at it:

Complete:
Quilts for Boston blocks (2)
F+F2 Bee May xPlus Bee Blocks (2)
FMQ and bind Charcoal Coins quilt

Progress:
Prepare for BamQ Retreat
Sewing Room Redo -sort scraps
Parsons Gray fabric 21st B'day - bought 4 yards

No Progress:
MoStash Orb for May
Japanese Jigsaw 21st B'day