Quilt Class - Week 4

This past Sunday was week #4 for my quilting class.  Its hard to believe that there's only 2 more classes left.  I think I will miss going to class every Sunday.  While its a little bit of a pain to pack up the sewing machine and take everything with me, its fun going and sewing/chatting with the other women.

So this past class we learned three different techniques on how to make Flying Geese blocks.  The first two ways were traditional methods.  One was cutting the triangles before hand and sewing all the pieces together.  The second was cutting rectangles and squares and sewing the diagonal lines and trimming away the excess after the block is sewn.

The last method, which is more modern, uses a ruler by Eleanor Burns.  Its a bit different, but you actually end up with flying geese blocks that are the correct size and it only requires sewing 4 seams in order to do it.  Its a bit labor intensive with the final cutting and pressing seams open, but its definitely worth it.

I had made flying geese blocks a while ago using the traditional methods. See my post here.  I ended up making lots more flying geese than I needed because half of them were the wrong size.

So here's the final blocks made with the flying geese from class:

 

The picture isn't great.  I took it late last night in a room with a CFL light bulb (yuck!).  Also, because the background fabric is close to the carpet color, I had to put my dark green sweater underneath the blocks so you could actually see them.  Not all the points are perfect, but they are pretty darn close.

Goals - Week 13

Last weeks progress...

Goals for week 12:
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- Done - Finished page 17 and photographed.  I just have to post the new picture.
- Wash fabric for cousin's baby quilt -- Didn't complete.
- Clean up and pack extra fabric/quilting patterns. Organized and packed a whole bunch of fabric (didn't realize I had THAT much).  I also cut up some of the excess small pieces into 2.5" squares for my scrap quilt.

Last week was another busy week.  We found out our buyers are approved for their mortgage pending a bank appraisal (which happened on Friday...we'll find out early this week if we "passed") and pending verification of funds....from BRAZIL!  These people are only putting down 3%...so like $5000 and the bank has to verify that they have enough funds in their various accounts, one of which is in Brazil.  So they have to get a letter from the bank in Brazil and then have it translated because it will be in Portuguese.  It won't stop the closing, but may delay it a bit.

I suppose the delay is good because we're still struggling with finding a place to live.  We looked at one apartment complex this weekend and while their terms are really good (3 month minimum lease, no down payment, month-to-month leases after the initial lease, etc); the apartments themselves are really depressing and crummy.  So we're still looking....

So Goals for Week 13 (lucky 13):
- Post pictures of quilt class blocks and Starry Night sewing. --
- Wash fabric for baby quilt --
- Setup fixed sewing machine and quilt commission quilt --
- Complete all 4 Flying Geese blocks for quilt class --

Hopefully I'll get most of these things done. ;-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 13

This past week was somewhat productive.  Not a lot of fabric used, but some.  Mainly it was  for the quilting class (0.65 yards) and for the scrappy quilt (0.42 yards).

My quilting machine did get fixed this week, but not until Saturday morning.  Thankfully, it was just thread caught in the bobbin that had caused the timing to get off.  That will teach me to use cheap Sulky thread instead of good quality thread.  I was trying to get the quilt quilted, so I wasn't picky with my thread and didn't want to wait for Superior to ship.  Serves me right...If I had just ordered the good thread and waited, I probably would have gotten the quilt done this past week anyway and wouldn't have broken the machine.  oh well...live and learn.

I also ended up buying fabric last week.  My cousin is having a baby this summer, so I picked out some nice, bright-colored fabric for the baby quilt.  Damages....5.25 yards.  There's 2 yards for background material and 13 fat quarters.  I only need about half of each fat quarter, but I wanted to get a good variety of colors..so I'll have some left over for another project.

So here's the numbers for this week:
Added This Week:       5.25 yards
Added Year to Date:    37.64 yards
Used This Week:         1.11 yards
Used Year to Date:      16.17 yards
Net Year to Date:        21.47 yards

Still haven't used as much as I have bought.  I find that I always buy about 1/4 yard extra for fabrics and then I count only what I actually use.  So even when I buy fabric for a quilt and make the quilt, I still have added to the "stash".  I have to really get moving on the scrap quilt to use up some of the excess! :-)

Quilt Class - Week 3

This past week was the 3rd week of class.  This week the main technique was strip piecing to create nine-patch blocks.  I've never cared for strip piecing just because its so hard to get the entire length of the seam exactly straight.  I always end up with little "wavies" in the seam...no matter how careful I am.

I think the reason I've had problems in the past was that my strip piecing used really long strip sets (full width of fabric).  In class, we cut the strip in half, so it was only 22" long.  This made it a bit easier and my seams didn't seam to waver as much.

Along with 4 nine-patch blocks, we had to make 4 friendship star blocks.  I was able to complete all the blocks between time in class and a few hours at home on Sunday evening.  I don't have pictures yet, but I plan to post some pictures later this evening.

As with the past few classes, I haven't really learned anything new, but its nice to get out of the house for a few hours and spend some time with other ladies who quilt.  I'm enjoying the class and I think I may take another class there after we're done with this one....one a little bit more advanced. ;-)

Updated with picture

Goals - Week 12

Last week's goals:

Goals for Week 11:
- Test quilting panto on "Tumbler" quilt -- Completed
- Make 4 pinwheel blocks for quilt class -- Completed
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- I did do some sewing, but no photos.
- Complete quilt top for commission quilt -- Completed piecing this, but not quilted yet.
- Purchase backing material for commission quilt --Completed

This past week was very productive.  In less than a week, I got a complete quilt top made and ready for quilting.  Unfortunately, I ended up breaking part of my MegaQuilter sewing machine, so its in the repair shop and I won't be able to do the quilting on the commission quilt until I have the sewing machine back.


We also passed our house inspection this week, including the radon tests.  So now we just have to make sure the mortgage for the other people goes through.  We've started packing up a few things at this point, but part of us doesn't want to get too far down the packing road and then have something fall through.


We also checked out a rental property.  We've been having trouble finding a house rental because everyone wants at least a year lease, but we only need 6 months.  We don't really want an apartment because it will mean storage for everything.  However, an apartment may be the answer.  The house we looked at belongs to our builder's dad.  The layout is kind of wonky, but the biggest worry is that there is no central air and the place smells kind of musty/moldy.  Since I have pretty bad allergies, we really don't know whether the place will bother me or not.  If it does...it will be a VERY long 6 months.


Goals for week 12:
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Wash fabric for cousin's baby quilt --
- Clean up and pack extra fabric/quilting patterns.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 12

This week was a fairly productive week.  I finished up a quilt top for a co-worker, but then I ended up buying backing material (1.75 yards).  I get to count it as used though because its already washed, pressed and loaded onto my quilting frame.

 

Now...the quilt was going to be quilted this weekend, however I had a little "incident" with the MegaQuilter.  So Friday I tested out a new pantograph on a practice quilt sandwich and everything was fine.  I loaded the backing for the commission quilt and started stitching a straight guide line across the top of the backing and batting.  About 15" in, I heard a pop and saw my needle was broken.  I thought it was just a bad needle.  So I put a new one in, went to pull up the bobbin thread, and the bobbin snapped the tip off the needle.  When I opened it up and looked at the bobbin area, it was clear something was wrong.

I took the MegaQuilter into the local sewing repair shop, and they said that somehow either thread or a portion of the first broken needle got jammed between two parts of the bobbin race and threw the timing off horribly.  Thankfully it can be fixed, but it could take 2 weeks to get the MegaQuilter back.  So much for getting the quilt done this week. ;-(

Good news is that it can be fixed though.

So between the backing and prepping the binding for the commission quilt I ended up using some yardage this week.  Here's the damage:

Added This Week:       1.75 yards
Added Year to Date:    32.39 yards
Used This Week:         2.22 yards
Used Year to Date:      15.05 yards
Net Year to Date:        17.33 yards

Flimsy!

Yay!  Finished up piecing the top for the commission quilt for my co-worker's daughter.

Goals - Week 11

I didn't get a lot of my goals done from last week, but that's mainly because the goals had to change partway through the week.

Goals for Week 10:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt -- Didn't touch it last week
- Make 16 log cabin blocks for quilt class -- Completed!
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- Only a small amount of sewing done.
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" -- Didn't touch it last week.

The main reason for the goals changing is that we accepted an offer on the house!!

Since we now have less than two months to find a new place to live, pack up and move, and actually sell the house, my goals have had to change. 

We're not sure if I'll be able to setup my mid-arm machine at the rental, so I'm racing to try to get the commission quilt done in the next week so that I can get it on the mid-arm and quilted.  I made progress on making the quilt top (go here for info) and its at least 50% done at this point.  Due to the fact that I'm now rushing to get this top done, I had to cut back on pretty much everything else.  I've decided that I'm just going to pack up "Shine on Bayou Cane" until after we move into the new house.  I'm just not going to be able to get to quilting that thing anytime soon, so it will have to wait.  The same thing goes for the "Tumbler" quilt.  Even though its on the mid-arm right now, I'm only going to quilt two more rows to test out my self-made pantograph and then its being taken off for the commission quilt to go onto it.  The "Tumbler" quilt will just have to wait until we move.


Goals for Week 11:
- Test quilting panto on "Tumbler" quilt --

- Make 4 pinwheel blocks for quilt class -- Completed!

- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Complete quilt top for commission quilt --
- Purchase backing material for commission quilt --

I'm sure I'll make progress this week...mainly because I have to. ;-)

Quilting Class - Week 2

Yesterday I had my 2nd class of the beginner's quilting class that I'm taking at a local quilt shop.  (If you want info on class 1, its here.)

This week, we moved on to making half square triangles (HST) and making a pinwheel block.  I've obviously made a lot of HST in my quilting time, so that wasn't anything new.  However, the instructor did show me how to do the "pinwheel" thing with the seams on the back of the block.  I've read how to do it a few times, but haven't figured out how to do it.  Its amazing how easy something seems when someone actually shows you how to do it.

So here's the blocks we made this week.  I got two of the blocks made in class, and then the remaining two I got finished up as soon as I got home.

Here's the little "pinwheel" of the seams on the back of the block.

Unlike last week where we only got 2 "logs" onto the 16 log cabin blocks in class and then had to make all 16 full blocks during the week, this week I only need to make the 4 pinwheel blocks.  So I'm done!  ;-)

They all measure up to 8.5" square, so they are spot on what they need to be.  Its also nice knowing that I won't spend most of the week making blocks for this quilt.

Along with the pinwheel blocks above, below are the 16 log cabin blocks I made last week.

I still enjoy the class even though I definitely know a lot of the techniques already.  The other students are already coming to me for questions when the instructor is tied up with someone else.  So part of my class time is helping the other students, which I enjoy doing.  I definitely have a good time at class, so that's what truly matters. :-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 11

This week was a very productive week on the quilting front.  I did have to add some fabric to the stash this week, but its for a commission quilt and will be used up fairly quickly (at least most of it).

I finished the log cabin blocks for my quilt class.  Here they are laid out the pattern that they will be used.

I also used some fabric for the 2nd week of the quilt class to complete 4 pinwheel blocks.  The instructor was also able to show me how to do the "twirl" thing with the seams on the back of the pinwheel blocks.  I've wanted to do it, but never could quite figure it out.

I was also able to cut ALL the fabric for a commission quilt on Friday evening and got a whole bunch of square-in-square blocks done along with prepping the applique pieces for the child's name.  The "requirements" of the quilt were that it was super soft & cuddly, used Dora and Diego in it somewhere, and that the child's name was on the quilt somehow.  The left the design and fabric choices completely up to me.  I'm not going to show the entire plan just yet, but I'll hopefully get the entire top done this week so there will probably be pictures next week.

So for me...I was actually able to use a lot of fabric this week, which is unusual.  Here's the numbers:
Added This Week:       5.75 yards
Added Year to Date:    30.64 yards
Used This Week:         4.40 yards
Used Year to Date:      12.83 yards
Net Year to Date:        17.81 yards


I think I need to start making some more blocks for my scrappy quilt to use up some stash. ;-)

Quilting Class - Week 1

On Sunday, I went to the first of six sessions for a beginner's quilting class at a local quilt shop.  Throughout the course of the class, we'll be making blocks to complete the quilt below.

The basic techniques are taught in-class and then you finish the blocks up on your own at home.  This first week, most of the time was spent going through how to straighten your fabric, press it, and cut the strips.  The last hour of the class was spent actually sewing the center pieces of the log cabin blocks to the first strip to form the "logs" of the block (the two cream colored pieces next to the red square in the above picture).

By far, I was the most experienced quilter there.  There was another woman who is probably in her 60s that has made some quilts, but nothing very recent.  Most of the other women there (6 of us total) had either done no quilting or had just tried it once or twice without much success.  Despite not really "learning" anything at the first class (it was all stuff I knew how to do), I had a good time.  The instructor said that while there are 16 log cabin blocks, people just really have to make 4 of them in order to do the appliqued heart during week 4 or 5.

When I got home from class, I cut the remaining strips necessary to sew all of the log cabin blocks.  The pieces are all set to go, I just have to start sewing them onto the blocks.  It will be a bit tedious since you have to add one strip, then press, then add the next strip, and press, and so forth.  There's a total of 12 "logs" that have to be added around the center square, so its 12 times of sewing and pressing on each block.  Plus, to make sure it goes together correctly, you have to make sure everything is the proper size after each log is added.

These are the fabrics that I'm using for the quilt.  The red is the accent fabric to match the red in the pattern picture above.  Then I have 3 shades of blue that will replace the greens in the picture.  Then I have three different creams/tans to use as my "lights".

 

I hope that I'll be able to get to putting the log cabin blocks together this week so that I can bring them to class completely finished.  Plus, I'll then be able to share more pictures along with counting the fabric as stash used. ;-)

Goals - Week 10

I didn't get nearly as much done last week as I thought I would.  It was a hectic week with showings at the house and trying to determine if we were going to get an offer and whether we should stay with our current agent or not.  Here's the progress from last week:

Goals for Week 9:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt --  This is about 1/2 quilted at this point.  I've been playing around with my own pantograph design, so its taking a little longer to get it quilted.  Plus, the woman who pieced this top did a pretty poor job and there are ripples everywhere and the top is SO not flat.
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint -- I was able to sew a bit on this.  Its kind of my "go-to" project when I don't have a ton of time to do something.  I can pick it up for 15 minutes or 1/2 hour and make some steady progress and it takes a whole of 2 minutes to put away.
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" -- didn't do this at all, but I have the backing! ;-)
- Finish quilting "Purple Squared" --  didn't touch this one at all either

So what do I plan on doing this week???

Goals for Week 10:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt --
- Make 16 log cabin blocks for quilt class --
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --

I'm leaving "Purple Squared" off the list for now since I can quilt that on my regular sewing machine...which I will always have available.

House -- So on the house front, we did get an offer from a couple.  Their initial offer was a complete low-ball offer of 20% less than our asking price.  Considering the asking price is under $250k, that's a lot to take off the price of the house.  We countered with dropping the price by $1,000.  We've been going back and forth the past two days and we almost have them up to the price we want.  Right now there's a $2000 difference between the prices.  We really want to get them up to $240k, especially considering we put $2000 of custom wood blinds in the house that are staying with the house.

If we do accept the offer, we're going to end up having to rent somewhere, which is why I am pushing to get things onto the quilting frame and quilted.  We're not sure where we will rent yet, but it may not have room for the frame to be setup.  If not, then I won't be able to quilt anything (easily) until we move into the new house, which will be in the October/November time-frame.  So I'm really pushing to try and get some things done so that I can keep the frame up as long as possible.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 10

My post is a little bit late, but better late than never, right? ;-)

I used a little bit of fabric this week when I went to my quilt class Sunday afternoon.  Its not much, but its a little bit.  All said and done, in class, I used 0.2 yards of fabric.  I will be using more this week as I have to complete 16 log cabin blocks by next Sunday's class.

Added This Week:       0 yards
Added Year to Date:    24.9 yards
Used This Week:         0.2 yards
Used Year to Date:      8.43 yards
Net Year to Date:        16.47 yards

I plan on posting some pictures later this week, so for now..this is a picture-free post.

How did everyone else do?

Goals - Week 9

Goals from Week 8:
- Sew 6 baby bibs --  Done!
- Sew 4 hours needlepoint "Starry Night" --  Done! Will post a picture soon.
- Load eBay "Tumbler" quilt onto frame --  Done.  I even started quilting it, but only have one row done.
- Pick out panto for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --  :-(  Didn't even look this week.


I think the biggest goal I have right now is actually to sell our house.  We've been trying to sell for 2 years now and while at the beginning we were over-priced (with a bad real estate agent to boot), we have a very competitive price at this point but people are just afraid to do anything.  We had two showings on Sunday.  One was a couple who are relocating to this area, but need to sell their house before they would even entertain buying one here.  The second showing was very promising.  The wife had been to the house earlier in the week and loved it, so we had a 2nd showing for them with the husband being present.

The verdict at this point is that they may put in an offer tomorrow.  What it is...we don't know...will they actually do it....another question mark.  We've been here before where we've been told an offer is imminent, but nothing came in.  We're trying not to get our hopes up, but we really want this to work so we can start building.

So goals for this upcoming week:

Goals for Week 9:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt --
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint --
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --
- Finish quilting "Purple Squared" --

Here's a snapshot of the partial quilting on "Purple Squared".  The white on the quilt is Miracle Chalk that I haven't removed yet.  The beauty of Miracle Chalk is that you don't have to wash it out.  Just a steam iron and the chalk disappears.  Love the stuff! ;-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 9

I fell off the bandwagon a little bit this week.  I had to buy fabric for a quilt top.  Earlier this week I signed up for my first ever quilting class at a local quilt shop.  I've been quilting for 4 years, but have never taken a class (just self-taught).  I figured it would be good to take a class at some point and this one seemed to fit in my schedule really well.  Here's the fabrics that I bought:

You'll have to wait to see what the top looks like though. ;-)  It does have some things that I haven't tried yet (like curved piecing), so I'm hoping that I'll learn some things from this class.

I did end up  using some stash this week though making some baby bibs.  I used about 2/3rds of a yard to make 6 bibs.  My MIL is taking them to a local co-op that sells people's hand-made items and I'm going to see if any of them sell.  My co-worker who has a 2.5 year old said that they were better than the "cheap" things carried in stores and that the ones in the stores cost $6.  Each bib cost me about $2, so the material cost is pretty cheap.  I'm hoping these will sell and help fund future fabric purchases. ;-)

So overall, I'm still in the red.  Hopefully my numbers will start to improve at some point! ;-)


Added This Week:       10.4 yards
Added Year to Date:    24.9 yards
Used This Week:         0.67 yards
Used Year to Date:      8.23 yards
Net Year to Date:        16.65 yards

Quilting Class

I've finally done it....I've signed up for a quilting class.  Despite quilting for 4 years now, I've never actually taken a class on quilting.  A LQS (local quilt shop) is having a Beginning Quilt Making class starting March 6th and running on Sundays for 2 hours for a total of 6 weeks.  A few things drew me to the class:

1.  The quilt shop is a total of 5-10 minutes from our house...very convenient and they just expanded. ;-)

2.  I thought I might meet some new quilters in the area who are also relatively new to quilting.

3.  There are some techniques that they'll be doing that I haven't done yet.  By the look of the quilt they plan to make as a sampler, there's some log cabin blocks, applique, and I think some piecing of fabric with curves, which I haven't tried to do yet.  They'll also show how to put a hanging sleeve on the quilt, which I haven't done.

4.  Aside from techniques I haven't done yet, they're going to go through some of the basics of cutting, pressing, getting that perfect 1/4" seam, etc.  While I think I'm pretty good at that stuff, I think it would be useful to actually have someone show me how to do it and see if I'm doing something incorrectly.

Now that I've signed up for the course, I'm both excited and a little nervous.  I'm a bit of a loner and don't gravitate toward "group" settings.  I'm sure the people there will be very nice and friendly (almost all quilters are), but there's a little bit of a worry that I won't "connect" with anyone there.  I'm probably over-thinking this, but I really hope that I'll enjoy the class and meet some people.

House Choices

If you've read my blog over the past few months, you'll know that last summer Rich and I bought a piece of land about 10 miles from our current house location.  We spent most of the summer/fall clearing trees and prepping the land for building a house.  We're still trying to sell our current house, but we're slowing making some of the choices of what to put inside our home.

The biggest items we've looked at so far are the kitchen cabinets and the fireplace.  We've picked out the style of the cabinets, but we just need to narrow down on the color of the wood.  The front of the cabinets will be a cherry wood because we love the grain of the wood.  We're debating between two medium brown colors where one is more of a brown and the other has more yellow tones in it.  Either way...they will look nice.

The other item we've looked at is the fireplace.  Below is the picture from the manufacturer's website.  The fireplace can be used with either the doors closed (as shown in the picture) or you can open the doors and there's a decorative wire grill that fits into the opening.  The fireplace is incredible to see in person.  The kind of "cool" thing about the fireplace is that with the doors closed it is one of the most efficient fireplaces available.  It burns so hotly that it burns not only the wood, but also all the gases and ash that gets near the top of the fireplace.  That's why in the picture you see the orange flames much higher in the fireplace than normal fireplaces.

We saw the fireplace in action at the local dealer and its wonderful.  Very warm and easy to use and the flames are absolutely spectacular.

Now we just have to get the current house to sell so that we can move forward with building the new house.

Goals - Week 8

Last week I didn't post any goals, nor did I update goals from the previous week...mainly because I was sick as a dog last week.  Thankfully I'm doing better now.

Rich came home from work last week and had talked with one of his co-workers who's wife started her own business.  They suggested that if I wanted to try to start a business to make baby things that are easy and quick to make and that people always buy.  The easiest things are burp cloths and bibs.  My mother-in-law makes kids things and sells them at a local co-op, so I'm now making some bibs and I'm going to see if they sell.  I figure if I can make something like that to get a business started, then I can graduate to other things on top of the easy bibs.

Goals from Week 6/7:
- Purchase backing material for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --  Completed
- Sew 4 hours needlepoint "Starry Night" -- Definitely completed
- Load eBay "Tumbler" quilt onto frame -- Didn't touch
- Pick out panto for "Shine on Bayou Cane" -- Didn't touch

Goals for Week 8:
- Sew 6 baby bibs --
- Sew 4 hours needlepoint "Starry Night" --
- Load eBay "Tumbler" quilt onto frame --
- Pick out panto for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 8

I didn't do a whole lot of sewing this week because I was very sick.  I was home from work for 4 days this week with a really nasty cold.

However, I started feeling better on Friday and by Saturday I was able to get some sewing done.  Mostly I did some quilting on a quilt, but I did make a 4.5" square cube out of some flannel scraps.  I wanted to see how it would look and I'm considering making a bunch of different sized cubes for kids to play with.  I also managed to cut out fabric for 4 baby bibs.  I don't have any pictures right now, but I may have some later today.

I also ended up buying some fabric this week.  I needed backing material for Shine on Bayou Cane, so I needed to buy 2.5 yards of material.

Here's the numbers:

Added This Week:       2.5 yards
Added Year to Date:    14.5 yards
Used This Week:         0.75 yards
Used Year to Date:      7.90 yards
Net Year to Date:        6.60 yards

How did everyone else do?

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 7

This was a quiet week on the quilting front.  I've been fighting a cold the past few days which makes me not want to do anything.  I have spent some time working on my needlepoint since that's pretty easy and low-effort.  Here's a picture from this afternoon:

Stash report:
Added This Week:       0 yards
Added Year to Date:    12 yards
Used This Week:         0 yards
Used Year to Date:      7.15 yards
Net Year to Date:        4.85 yards