Long Weekend Not Long Enough

 I have been very busy with my 3 days off. Unfortunately some of this time was spent back in the hospital with my boyfriend. Keep him in your prayers please! While he has spent the weekend in the hospital (I feel horrible for him because he had been looking forward to grilling and spending time on our porch and he was stuck in the hospital miserable, while it was 90 degrees outside all weekend I spent the weekend at my father's house and some qulaity time with my new sewing machine! I managed to get a new quilt top almost compeltely finished, and here is a peek of it.

I found it on Pinterest, at least one that was similar. I adapted it to my needs because I wanted to make apicnic quilt with the pattern, and although I don't know what size the strips were for the log cabin blocks I believe they were smaller than my 2.5 inch strips. I had hoped to find a jelly roll or 2 that would suffice as I hate cutting 2.5 inch strips but I couldn't. So I spent last week cutting various green and pink fat quarters into strips. I'm happy with how it has turned out so far. I still have to applique the seeds onto the pink parts of the log cabin blocks and I also have to sew all my rows together. (I just laid them out to see how it was going to look and snap a picture) I also managed to get a throw pillow sewn a week ago to match my bed quilt. That one I did by hand though. My next project to tackle are the several Raggedy Annie dolls I have had people request. I'm also finishing the quilting on my table runner as well. That is also going to be finished by hand. I don't have much left to do on that, but I am really thinking I want to do scalloped borders, which is something I haven't done yet. So that will be another adventure all in itself.

To sum it all up the long weekend wasn't nearly long enough. I need a few extra days before I have to force myself to go back to work tomorrow when I'd rather be sewing and quilting.

Allergies and a finished quilt top

My allergies have been making me absolutely miserable the past couple days, but in between naps and feeling like my head is going to pop I managed to finished the piecing for my table runner top.

It isn't the best picture ever because it was taken on my phone, and I'm a little unsteady on my feet from all the pressure in my head and my eyes are so itchy everything is slightly fuzzy to me anyway. But you get the drift. I am more and more happy with the border fabric the longer I look at it.

Here is a picture of my first Raggedy Annie doll (as well as the boyfriend's hideous couch I hate)

My goal is to make 3 or 4 more of these dolls in varying sizes and different themes as a few people I am friends with have already requested them. I hadn't really thought about selling the things I make, at least not realistically but it seems with the help of Etsy lots of people do it, so if I ever get enough things made to sell I may consider an Etsy shop of my own one day, but I'm not there yet. Right now I will limit it to selling to people I know more as favors than as a business.

 I also finished piecing the first throw pillow to match my star quilt but I haven't managed the energy to get off the couch and take a picture of it yet.

I've been laying on the couch and browsing through Halloween fabrics for the trick and treat bags I'm wanting to make.

Goodnight to anyone who happens to stumble on my blog!

<3 Michy

List Making Mood

I kind of stole this idea from another blog, actually there were probably a dozen that had the same idea and I can't recall which I saw it on first. I have gotten sucked into reading quilt blogs recently. I'm making a list of projects I want to complete, and hopefully I will be updating this list and crossing things off as they are completed! (This is in no particular order)

1. Pillow cases for my bed quilt and to match my boyfriend's American flag throw
2. Christmas table topper
3. A dress for myself
4. Finish enough Raggedy Annies for the people who have already requested them
5. Table runner for my sister
6. Table runner for my boyfriend's mother
7. Halloween treat bags for my little cousins, and possibly my boyfriend's nephew and nieces
8. Make a quilt using a jelly roll (I have several patterns and still haven't decided on one)
9. My watermelon picnic quilt

I'm sure I will be adding more things to this list a lot faster than I will be crossing things off, but hopefully soon I will be getting the sewing/quilting machine I want and that will make everything go faster. If it weren't for the fact that I can piece and quilt faster with the machine I would do everything by hand as I find it totally soothing, and not having something to work on in my hands nearly drives me crazy.

Looking at this list I may be buying a lot of fabric this weekend...

Speaking of projects I have decided to leave the borders on my table runner so here is the picture so far, of course I still have the 2 short sides to sew on.

The fabrics are from the Autumn Moon collection by Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers Fabrics.

Future Projects

I've put my table runner on hold for a day or two, just to ponder over how I like the border and decide whether or not my weekend will be spent ripping sreams or sewing more. So right now I am making a pillow to go with my very first quilt. I'm basically just making an extra block and then I'm going to make a sham out of it to go over a pillow form, but it seems like anymore I go crazy if I'm not sewing something.

I've had all kinds of ideas for future projects, the next one will probably be the watermelon quilt I've been thinking about. I already have the pink and green fabrics, just need to decide on a background fabric, and start cutting. I'm going to use it as a picnic quilt and may eventually have to make a thermal bag to match it to take on picnics, or maybe find a picnic basket and make a matching lining. After that it will be a Christmas quilt. I've already designed a couple different ideas for wall hangings, and throws and tablerunners. So I'm not sure which will win out, probably a wall hanging or maybe a tree skirt! Something small. Since I do everything by hand (at least right now) the big projects take me months between work and everything else I do. It takes me a whole evening to sew a few blocks, and when its a large quilt, or even a large throw it gets really long and tedious looking at the same fabrics.

Boyfriend is still in the hospital, and I still miss him. Sat with him for a few hours and talked and watched tv and sewed. I've gotten a lot of sewing done in hospitals the past few months.

Mother's Day

Just a quick post tonight before bed. Happy Mother's day to everyone (if anyone is actually reading these!) I spent most of the day with my dad, sister and brother in law. We went to my grandmother's house and had a cookout with my Uncles and Aunts and some of my cousins. My sister and I went to the cemetery and took mom the flowers we got.

I still miss her every day, and I thank her for making me such a strong and creative person. I get my love of sewing from her, she didn't do much of it as we got older but I still have some of the quilts she made years ago. We've somehow lost the clown quilt she made for me as a baby, which breaks my heart to no end. I'm pretty sure it is gone for good.

My boyfriend and I also had a bad start to the day, he was feeling bad this morning, so he is back in the hospital for now. It breaks my heart when he isn't here with me. Especially on a day like today. He helps keep me sane, and knows exactly how to cheer me up. But I had a good day with my family. I also managed to get some sewing done when I got home. I got the ends sewed on to my table runner and started to get the border sewed on. I thought I was going to absolutely love the way the border looks because the print was gorgeous, but I am starting to have second thoughts now. I will have to think about it for a day or so before I sew the other sides on and decide if I want to keep it or rip it off.

I'm not posting the picture of the border on it just yet, in case I decide to rip it off and brainstorm some more. Sitting here looking at it now, I kind of like it. The colors are just so beautiful, I just wish I loved it on the quilt as much as I loved it in my mind.

It's off to bed now though, Monday morning's come way too quickly.

Long Time No Post

I'm horribly inconsistent with blogging. And not that anyone follows me, or really keeps up with my blog, I should keep up with it myself, as a way of record keeping. I've finished my American flag throw since February and started on a table runner for fall. Here is the throw, I was amazingly happy with how it turned out.

My boyfriend was really happy too, seeing as how I made it for him at his request. He is very patriotic, and loves decorating for Independence day, and he told me after I finished my first quilt that he wanted one that looked like the American flag, so I drew a few things up, and he suggested the colors, and helped me pick out the fabrics and this is what I ended up with. I finished a lot of it while he was in the hospital after an ATV accident on St Patricks day, thankfully he is ok now, the sewing kept me occupied during all the waiting, and waiting and watching him sleep time.

And its completely hand pieced and hand quilted. I wish I had a quilting machine to work with, it would mean I could do a lot more projects! I'm hoping to buy one soon, not a long arm since I don't have the money or room for it, but I've been eyeing a Brother machine for a few weeks now, and after doing some research and reading some reviews I'm pretty sure its the best bang for my buck. Seeing as how I like doing it by hand I'm not even sure how much use it will get, so I'm not ready to spend a big chunk of money on one yet. I want a good machine that will last me several years, and one that I can piece, sew and quilt on.

Anyway, I've started a new project now too. A fall themed table runner (although which table its going on I dont know, seeing as how we live in a 1 bedroom apartment that still looks like a bachelor pad) And my "new" project is almost finished as well! Here are some pictures of its progress. I call it Tumbling Leaves Table Runner (also note in the pictures the bachelor pad couch and bed in the throw pictures, I hate this couch!)

 This is the block I was inspired by. I knew I wanted to do a leaf block, and there were several different options but this one was my favorite.

Out of it all though, the middle block turned out to be my favorite!

I changed the ends several times, I liked the idea of having the ends finished up by something other than one more same sized block, so I first designed some squares set on point, then thought about flying geese, then I decided to combine the two! I haven't finished stitching the pieces together, but I laid them out and this is what I came up with.

I can't wait to put the border on, the fabric print is my favorite! And even the binding is getting me excited because I think they will just set everything off!

New Project: American Flag quilted throw

My fabric came in the mail today, and I started cutting the red squares for my next project, an American flag throw for my boyfriend. I am keeping it pretty simple, seeing as how my boyfriend doesn't like things complicated or "busy" looking. I went with Old Glory II fat quarter bundles, paired with a few scraps I had left over for some of the blue and white squares. I went with darker colors, to make it look more "country", and also to keep it toned down since it is for my boyfriend and he doesn't go for overly bright colors. Here is a sneak peek at the red squares I finished cutting tonight.

I ordered my fabric from Fat Quarter Shop, and I love their selection and their customer service. I'm already working on designing a Christmas quilt and plan to buy the fabrics for it from them as well. I highly recommend them to people who are looking to purchase precuts, or even just yardage.

 I'm still just starting out, and fat quarters are an easy way for me to build my "stash". I'm doing this one by hand as well, so it's going to be a long process, but I find sewing it by hand is soothing, and I feel more in control than when I use a machine. I definitely want to get more practice on a sewing machine, but the only one I have, which was my mother's Singer that is at least 35 years old isn't working. I've been meaning to take it to have someone look at it, and haven't found the time to, since I really dont have anywhere to put it right now anyway. I do want to get it fixed, just because there have been several quilts, older than I am pieced and quilted on that machine. It makes me think of my mom, and the fact that is one of the machines made from metal and not plastic is a testament to the fact that it has last 35 years. Anyway, that is all the cutting I've gotten done so far, and its time for me to hit the sheets. Once I've made some progress on the piecing I'll post more pictures.