It's been over a year already?!?!

Wow! I can't believe it has been over a year since my last post. So much has happened! Weddings, friends having babies, and my hubby and I buying our first house!

Hopefully things have slowed down so I am optimistic I can get back to quilting soon! In the meantime allow me to introduce you all to my newest quilting kitty. He wandered out of the forest by my in-laws home when he was only 6 weeks old and right into ours. He hasn't had a chance to see me in quilting or crafting action, but he already runs around my sewing room (one of my requirements for the new house!), steals spools of thread, knocks things off the table and cabinets and just causes general kitten mayhem. He isn't quite a year yet, but he is a big boy. Here he is....

 Well, until I get back into the sewing room to do some fun stuff, here are some photos of a quilt I made a looong time ago (like over a year ago) that I didn't get a chance to share.  A co-worker asked me to make it for them as a baby shower gift for one of their really close friends.  I thought it was a dinosaur, but it is actually a Pokémon they had some inside joke about. I didn't ask- I just made it. :) It turned out really cute I think!

 

Nothing fancy- pretty simple 9 patch. All Robert Kaufman Solids.

Machine Appliqued.

 

 



Farewell My Friend



Hello everyone. I am sorry that it has been since December since my last post. As you know out of the two "quilting cats" one, Kato, was quite the helpful critter. Kato "helped" me with every aspect of quilting by doing the most helpful things...swatting my bobbins off the table and running away with them, laying on the ironing board (even when the iron was on), playing with the binding as I tried to bind quilts, refusing not to lay on quilts as I tried to quilt them, and perhaps his favorite activity-trying to prove he was more important and jumping into my lap or right in front of my sewing machine as I was using it. Twice he almost got his paw or tail sewn into a quilt! And the cat hair- can't forget he felt the need to add his personal white fluffly touch to everything!

At the end of 2011, I noticed that he was more lazy then normal, took him to the vet, and found out his kidneys were shutting down. He sadly passed away at the beginning of 2012. He is very missed.



Kato

June 2002 - January 2012

Since his passing I haven't been much in the mood to quilt, so I kinda used the room as a storage area, but that is stopping. The other quilting cat, Callie, is still bossy as ever and in fact has gotten more vocal since Kato's passing. (I think she is trying to make up for his meowing.)  She keeps meowing at me to follow her into the sewing room and then yells at me if I walk out. I think she misses the hours we all spent in there and is telling me to get back at it and to tell the truth I really do miss my sewing time. Now that the holidays are over and the hustle of the new year is done it is time to get back in there. I have so many projects to finish and some new ones to start!

Charmed Prints Quilt Along FINISHED!!!!

My Charmed Prints Quilt Along Quilt is Finished! Even though I came down with the flu and barely got off the couch I got it done! I BIG BIG BIG thanks goes to my mom who really helped out by sandwiching and pinning the quilt for me. I felt terrible and thanks to her I was able to use what little time I wasn't on the couch quilting instead of trying to mess with saftey pins. She is such a wonderful person!

Without further ado here it is!

I decided to make a pieced border to keep with the Pampered Pooch theme. What dogs don't love bones? Since I used this fabric line to stash bust some charm packs and a jelly roll I had, I also pieced the back.

It was alot of fun to put together and all the little pieced squares turned out super cute!!!

Charmed Prints Quilt Along Quilt Top

I am almost done with my Pampered Pooch Quilt for the Charmed Prints Quilt Along! I still need to add the border, but I have gotten creative and decided to piece my border and its taking longer than I thought. 


Here is the main part of the quilt top:

My hope is to have the border done and on by Friday so I can spend the weekend quilting and binding it! The deadline to post our completed quilt on Flickr to be eligible for the QAL giveaway is December 20th, which is next Tuesday, so I want to be done this weekend! (Can you believe how close we are to Christmas?!?!)


I am really happy with how well the black and red squares balanced out with the more pastel colors. I was worried they would be an eyesore or look really out of place, but it came together really nice. I think my favorite pieced feature block has to be the black and red pinwheel square on the bottom row. It really helped tie everything together! Yay!!

Charmed Prints Quilt Along- More Blocks!

I am having so much fun making these little blocks. I decided that I wanted to do 3 of each design instead of just 1.  So after I made my two blocks last week I got to work on making more. I got two more Diamond in a Square Blocks and two Star Blocks finished.

I am going to be making more blocks with the red and blue colorway. I like how it looks, but it is so different from the rest of the colors in this line. I'm hoping it all comes together at the end.

These star blocks are not as wonky as they look. I couldn't get them to lay flat!  I still have two more Pinwheel and Greek Cross blocks to make. It was also pointed out that by flipping the half square triangle blocks in the Greek Cross you can make Churn Dash. I plan on making three of those as well. 

Make sure you hope on over to the Gen X Quilter's blog. She posted a really helpful and informative review of the Electric Quilt 7 program and you can enter to win your very own copy! Go HERE to read her review and how to enter. Entries for the giveaway close on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at midnight. 

Charmed Prints Quilt Along- Pinwheel/Right and Left Block

The second (and last) feature block of the QAL is a Pinwheel. It is also called a Left and Right Block. I was really excited about this one. I had never heard or seen this block before. I really like it and I am happy to have learned something new to use on my quilting adventures.

I had a little trouble with the block at first because I sewed two of my triangle sets backwards. Whoops! It was an easy fix and, mistake aside, this block is super simple to do. I love how it looks. I foresee this block coming into play in some quilts in my future.

I also have fabric cut to do some more feature squares. We start assembling the quilt top soon so I need to get on making the other squares ASAP! Hopefully I'll have them done before Tuesday when the next step is posted over at Generation X Quilters.

Charmed Prints Quilt Along- Diamond in the Square Block

Our first block for this week was a simple Diamond in the Square Block. I love blocks like these. Easy to put together-but an endless stream of possibilites! I think this block is great for showing off favorite feature fabrics or designs.

Since I am using Moda's Pampered Pooch fabric line I have been calling my quilt "Pampered Pooch" (I know original right?!?) We have a two year old lab mix and he is pampered to the max! In fact he is so pampered, spoiled and loved that I decided he needed to be in the quilt too so I found a way to include him!

Embroidery Library had an embroidery design that looks JUST like our doggie! I embroidered it on my fabric and used one of my favorite Pampered Pooch prints.  I am really happy with how it looks. I can't get over how much it looks exactly like his face!