Skill Builders Top Complete!!

It's all sewn together!! YEA!!!!!!! I am absolutely loving how it came together! It measures a massive 94 x 107 - a queen size quilt! I just LOVE it!

Sorry for the bad picture... I'll get great ones when it's all quilted and finished! :)

My hubby and I have been toying with the idea of converting our office into a guest room. I think with this beauty... I have to get a queen size bed to keep it on! Don't  you think? :)

Progress...

Right... It's Friday. I was going to post on Wednesday. Whoops! First things first... my progress!

I made a lot of headway on Skill Builders! I got the first half bordered and today started the 2nd half! YEA! It's finally coming together!

Now, on to some FUN! Yesterday - 10.11.12 - was my 33rd birthday!! It was special enough just being on 10.11.12, but watch this...

10+11+12 = 33

I know. The day was bound to be totally magical, right?!? :)

It was. My husband (who has legendary status at my local quilt shop from when he bought me my machine) again went above and beyond to surprise me! He once again ventured to the LQS and came out with this:

A Serger!!!! I am so tickled! He left it in the back of his car, then asked me if I would run out to get his work bag. He uses this method a lot, but STILL managed to shock me! He said I squealed. I probably did.

I have never used a serger before, but I am really excited to learn! YEA!!!!

WIP Wednesday

Finally!! After 3 long weeks of not having my sewing machine, I am back in business!! She has been home for 2 days now, and I have a few things to show for it! Yea!!

First - a finish!! The Life baby quilt! See the post HERE!

Next up - a maxi skirt!

I love them. I made one in grey too! Tutorial found HERE!

Next - I managed to finish the bodice of my niece's baptism dress! Yea!

Last - Skill builder's Sampler!

Sorted, pressed and ready to cut the sashing! This quilt has been so long in coming! I am glad to finally be moving on it again!!

Be sure to check out all of the WIPs over at Freshly Pieced!!

WIPs on the 4th!

Happy Independence Day, America!!

I feel like I've gotten a lot done this week! Here we go!

Skill Builders Sampler QAL

I have FINISHED!!! All 36 blocks are done! I am so so so excited! Here are my last few:

First off, I redid block 33 - Mini Lone Star.

This one is the best of the three, but it still gave me some guff. But I really like it in these fabrics!

Block 35 - Feathered Star

I really like this block. I did the paper pieced version, and I am glad! I struggled a little getting the subunits together, especially the middle square, but - all in all - I am very happy with it!!

Block 36 - Alice's Butterfly

Hands down, my favorite block of the series! I love butterflies! And, it came together very well for me! I felt very confident sewing the curves and the Y seams. I just love how it came out! I am going to do this block again and make it into a pillow for my mother in law's birthday!

I am so glad that I did this quilt a long! I have really learned so so much! A huge THANK YOU to Leila for hosting this incredible series! And, here they are in all their glory!!

 Wow. Just, wow. Now I just need to decide how get them all sewn together! :)

Beejeebers

This month's block - scrappy log cabin! ***LOVE***

Turned out cute! I hope Laura likes it!

Coming up this week - piecing the top of my game night quilt, starting a dress, and making 10 utility bags for my husbands climbing gear. Fun stuff!

Happy WIP Wednesday!! Be sure to check out all of the awesome WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

WIPs!

Hello!! Today is WIP Wednesday - on Tuesday! :)
So here's what's been going on...

6 point Star Tutorial

Up and running! Look for it HERE!

Skill Builder Sampler

I finished the Surveyor's Compass! It was hard, but I just love how it came out!!

Now I have 2 blocks to do, both agonizingly hard, but I am so excited to try! Hopefully I will get those done this week, and be officially finished with all 36 blocks! Woot!!

Beejeebers

I finally laid out my darling game night blocks (they are SO awesome!) and have decided on a sashing color! YEA! I am going to pick it up today and get that top sewn together this week! I am so so so excited for it! :)

A new Dress (or 2) for me!

I found a pattern AND fabric for a super cute dress that I bought about 3 years or so ago. Now, it's time to get it going! I am so excited to get this dress started!!

Well, that's it for this week! Be sure to check out all the WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday

This... is going to be short! lol! Summer continues to be packed to the rafters, and sewing time is suffering as a result! I have done just a few little things...

Pants to Skirt

My tutorial is up! Look for it HERE! It's a fun one!

Skill Builders Sampler

I am working through the Surveyor's Compass. It's hard. Really Hard.

Next I have a feathered star which looks wildly difficult, so wish me luck! These last few are killer! :)

6 point star tutorial

Look for this one tomorrow!! Yay!

Beejeebers

This is our block for June for Erica! It was super fun!! The Tutorial can be found HERE!

That's it! Be sure to check out all the awesome WIPs over at Freshly Pieced! Today WIP Wednesday is hosted by Sukie!! So fun!

WIP Wednesday!

I almost forgot it was Wednesday (again...) lol!

I haven't done much, but here's what I have done this week...

Pillows

I made 2 pillows this week!

Skill Builders Sampler

Here are my 2 most recent blocks -

#31 - Cactus Flower

Awesome.

#32 - Hexagon Flower

I will admit - this one was the one I was MOST nervous about. The whole idea of English Paper Piecing was intimidating. Bit, I am glad I tried it! It's very relaxing, you can take it anywhere, and it looks awesome done! Well, not my leaves so much... but with practice, that will get better! :)

New Wedding Quilt!
My neighbor, Shelly, and I are going to be making a quilt for a mutual friend's wedding! We are going fabric shopping on Friday! Yea!!
E's King Size

Don't judge. It's still sitting here, waiting to be bound. THIS WEEK!!

Be sure to check out all of the lovely WIP's over at Freshly Pieced!

Wait... it's Thursday?

So I somehow missed Wednesday. Whoops!! But I do want to post my projects so here goes... WIP Wednesday - Thursday Edition! :)

Cowboy Wedding Skirt

Done! Delivered! I am pleased with how it came out! The photo shoot is on Sunday. I will post a link when the pictures go up on the wedding blog!! :) For now, here are my own - pretty lame - pictures!

Skill Builders

Block #31 - Cactus Flower, skill - Y seams

After my last quilt, I think I have Y seams down okay. But, I think I like to work with larger diamonds! :)

Way cute block, though!! So I am still caught up!!

Beejeebers

May block - for Karen

So cute. This was one of the Skill Builders tutorials, and I am so glad to have done it again! I think it turned out way cute! And, it's in the mail already!!

E's King Size

Still waiting patiently to be bound. :/

So there I am for this week!!! Happy Thursday! :)

Playing catch up

So I have spent the last few days playing catch up on the Skill Builder Sampler blocks. This month is odd shapes. I already showed you the Apple Core block - but here it is again...

Then, I did my first Tumbler block. I LOVE this block (although I need practice matching the seams on these! lol!)

Last, this morning I did this weeks block - Equilateral Triangles. I have done many, many of these and they are a favorite of mine!

I love this six point star pattern. I think I am going to make a whole quilt of these! :)

Now, I am officially caught up! I am so glad! I have loved this quilt a long. I think we only have 6 blocks left! I can't believe it!!

Apple Core

I feel like I dropped off the face of the sewing world there for a while. We had a super fun vacataion, though!! I LOVE San Diego!!

Anyway, yesterday I finally turned on my sewing machine again and tried something new!!

For our Skill Builder Sampler blocks this month, we are doing odd shapes, and this week it's Apple Cores. I have been really scared of this one. And for good reason. They are NOT easy!! The entire time, I kept thinking, "I will never be doing this again!!" But then, I finished, and this was the result:

That hard work was not for nothing! It is CUTE!!! Maybe (maybe) I will do more Apple cores. They are fabulous looking!! Here's to trying new things!! :)

WIPs!!

So here we are, once again at Wednesday! Here are this weeks WIPs!!

E's King Size

Let the angels sing... the top is finished!!!! Yea!!! And let me tell you... it is massive!!

112 X 96 or so. H.U.G.E!!! I am also really excited about this because... I scheduled an appointment to rent a long arm to quilt this bad boy!! I will be going in a few weeks!! I am really excited to learn how to use the long arm!! YEA!!!

Skill Builders

Block 27 - Wonky Fan

This one was super fun!! This month we move into odd shapes: tumblers, hexies, apple cores... I am a little nervous, but really excited to learn some more new things!!

Beejeebers

Game Night Quilt - I am still waiting on 2 blocks, so it's currently on hold. I hope they come soon! :)

April's Block: Melissa has requested Semi Trucks!!! How super fun! I don't have a picture yet, but I am actually almost done with my Semi Truck block already! I will probably get it done later today and post pictures tomorrow! Let's just say... I like it. I think it is coming together very well! :)

My New Wedding Dress Thing

I am so totally excited to get started!! I have 2 dresses that are in the conception stage, and I think they are going to be gorgeous!! I will be meeting with the models very soon to get measurements, then I'll get started on some wedding gowns! YEOW!!!

Well, that's all this week!! Be sure to check out all of the awesome WIPs over at Freshly Pieced!!

Wonky Fan

Skill Builders this past week was a Wonky Fan. Wonky, you say...

Wonky it is! :) Fun, fun!

Wonky Stars

For this week's Skill Builder's Block, we did Wonky Stars. This is the first time I have ever done one!!

This was pretty fun! But, I think (I mean, I know...) that my points are way too small. But hey, that's how we learn!!

Linking up!!

WIP Wednesday!

Okay. OKAY!!! I'm sorry I missed last week. I received a shocking amount of flack for it, but I really didn't have anything to show!! :) Turns out, switching banks is a soul crushing amount of work. My sewing time dwindled... :(

But I do have something to show this week!! Here's what I've been up to...

E's King Size

I am now almost half way through my 16 patches, and have come into a really good rhythm here. I think I can get this top all the way put together this week!!!

Skill Builders Sampler

I am so excited that Leila is feeling better and we've picked back up! This week is Wonky Stars, and I have mine cut out and ready to sew together!!

Beejeebers

I got this block sent off for March!!

I am still waiting on 2 of my game night blocks, and let me tell you... this quilt is going to be stupendous!!! STAY TUNED!!!

Sewing Lessons

Okay, this has been going on for months now, but let me introduce my sewing student - M.

She is currently making a skirt. She is doing very well and is turning into a real seamstress! I also got her signed up for a 5K... Muahahaha! I just love her...

Well, that's all for now! Happy WIP Wednesday! Be sure to check out all of the WIPs over at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday - "Oh, I have a blog?" edition

Tell me if this is true for anyone else - sometimes Tuesday is my most (and sometimes only) productive day, just so I have anything to post about on Wednesday. Anyone else? :)

This week lacked in productivity. Due in part to the fact that I lost my only pair of glasses and am now reduced to wearing those awful Kmart reading glasses until my new ones come in. Bleck.

Anyway, last Wednesday, I did finish my skirt, and I Looooooove it, but I have yet to get even a reasonably good picture of it!!! I will post one as soon as I can get one!! It's a great skirt!

Yesterday, I made this weeks Skill builder block - #25 - Wonky Log cabin.

This was an extremely fun block to make! I wasn't sure it I would like this improv style, but I did!! I think I want to make another one...

Also this week, I did manage to FINISH off the last set of HSTs for E's King Size Zig Zag quilt!! Can I get a Hallelujah!!?!!!

This is what 763 HSTs look like. And I only had a total of 5 HSTs that were not usable. I think that's a pretty low percentage! So, the hard part is done, and now I will set this aside for a moment as I concentrate on making the two dresses that I must get done ASAP! I am going to get the baptism dress cut out today if it kills me. (And it might! lol!) Wish me luck!

Be sure to check out all the WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

Crazy

So... I had a c.r.a.z.y idea for a block. It's a dual purpose block - the first purpose - the Skill Builders Sampler QAL has been doing curves all this month, and I am using this as my challenge block. I had to set in two whole circles. And that was after a tremendously awful bout of piecing. With Y seams...

This was my "pattern"

So, here it is - bragging rights to anyone who can tell me what the inspiration was... :)

It's not anywhere near perfect. But, hey - it's not too bad, either! :)

Setting in circles isn't as hard as I though it would be, but it does involve some work... such as, making a foam board "map"...

The second purpose? You'll find out soon... ;)