A Huge Check in the Finished Box!

I finished a king size quilt!

I started it in January of 2013 and had all the blocks pieced and part of it sewn together a month later.

Then it sat until earlier this week.

I put the center together, put on one border, pieced the second border, and then added the third at 2 AM!

https://flic.kr/p/FSW4VF

It is the strangest combination of colors, but I love it!

The only thing I did differently from the kit was to make all the borders a bit wider.  It’s now 116 inches square and will cover up a big fat mattress on a king size bed.

https://flic.kr/p/FsPALw

There are little threads all over it.  This fabric frayed a lot!

This photo was taken last night, crumpled on the floor of my very messy sewing room.

https://flic.kr/p/FsPBxS

And one more for good measure, and to show you the weird color combos.

https://flic.kr/p/FJL7GY

The quilt is Amish With a Twist 2 by Nancy Rink.

Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to quilt it.

Vacation, Knitting and other Shenanigans

There was a vacation.  There are no photos!  My Hero and I, his mom, Dream Boy and a friend all headed to Grand Cayman for 10 days of doing absolutely nothing.  My Hero read lots of books, the guys did some scuba diving, and we ate yummy food.  Mom and I sat on the deck and stitched in the morning.  Our afternoons were spent on the beach reading and knitting.  It was fabulous!

The first thing I did when we got home was make a mini quilt.  (I hadn’t even unpacked my suitcase or tackled laundry!)

https://flic.kr/p/FFPWZF

I’ve always been a huge fan of the knitting clubs that sent yarn and a pattern several times a year, but I’m way behind on those projects!  So I decided to join some quilt clubs this year.  This Mini Club is from Westwood Acres.  The kit included fabric, batting, backing, and binding.  Everything I needed to complete the project was in the package.  So I promptly changed the background.  I’ve never done anything with low volume prints before.  I really like it!

The next big excitement after our vacation involved a wool rug!  We bid on a wool braided rug at an auction for our school last fall.  I was able to pick out the colors, so I knew what I was getting…..sort of.  The beautiful lady that makes these rugs is in her 80s.  What an amazing person she is.

https://flic.kr/p/FKp4X9

This rug ended up being 7 feet x 9 feet.  Isn’t it amazing?  I almost cried when I saw it.  This will be an heirloom piece that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life!

All of her rugs are made from old coats purchased at thrift shops, most of them purchased at the end of the season, so nobody wanted them!  She used 24 coats in this project.

https://flic.kr/p/FDvMm1

I had such a fabulous time visiting with her and her sweet husband.  I enjoyed their sense of humor, their positive outlook on life, and our discussions about God and His goodness and provision through all of life.  It was a fabulous day all around.

And then there is my goofy son!  And nephew and brother in law.  They decided on the last day of winter that it would be a good idea to go wakesurfing.

 

That would be Dreamboy.  The water temp was probably 36 degrees and the air was 39 degrees.  If you look at the background between the boat and my son, you’ll see piles of ice.  Five guys surfed, and I think they were out there for almost 2 hours.  They all said it was a blast.  I about froze standing on the shore taking pictures.

My cup of coffee is empty so it’s time to get on with this day!

Friday Finish

I finished something!!!!!  And it was a lot of fun.  I ordered a kit for the Gravity quilt by Jaybird Quilts a long time ago and put it away, thinking it looked hard.  A couple of weeks ago, I was doing my usual early morning scan of Instagram, and saw a beautiful Gravity quilt.  By afternoon, I was cutting and sewing.

I was so wrong about it being hard!!!  It went together so quickly and easily!  I sewed the last seam this afternoon and put it on the floor.  I walked away to start another load of laundry and this is what I saw when I came back.

https://flic.kr/p/DXrZya

 

Arnold approves!

Here it is on display, hanging over a sliding glass door.

https://flic.kr/p/EtBTwh

I love all the colors in it!

https://flic.kr/p/Dyy2WB

I’m actually sending it to Melissa Kelly of Sew Shabby Quilting to quilt it.  I’m capable of quilting most of my quilts, but I want this one to be special, because it’s going somewhere important.  You’ll see it in all its glory in a few months.

I’m going to throw some chili in the crock pot (because nobody is ever home at the same time), take a nap, and then I’m headed back downstairs to work on this:

https://flic.kr/p/EvWtYe

May your weekend be filled with very little cleaning and lots of creative time!!!

Nothing to See Here!

I haven’t done a blog post for two weeks because I haven’t finished anything!

I’m working on a block for the Norah’s Vintage Afghan KAL.  (You can still join!  We don’t have a starting and ending date.)

https://flic.kr/p/DHy3nV

I do have 4 blocks finished, but there are 20 in all.

https://flic.kr/p/Dvu6Da

I got my loom warped, but it’s not even threaded.  I’m making four wool blankets….eventually.

https://flic.kr/p/DFeQHb

I got my first BOM package from Fig Tree Quilts and got that stitched, but that won’t be done til December.

https://flic.kr/p/DFeQ7m

I loaded a quilt on the longarm.  (I may have made this seven or eight years ago.  I don’t remember!)  The fabric is Sanctuary by 3 Sisters for Moda.  I’m not sure what the pattern is, but it kind of looks like a Miss Rosie’s.

https://flic.kr/p/Dx9jmU

I know what’s going to happen.  All of a sudden, I’ll have a whole bunch of things finished.  I’ll just keep plugging away at all of it.

So, to celebrate all the beautiful projects, I started a new quilt yesterday.  Great logic, huh?

https://flic.kr/p/DFeH29

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was going through my Instagram feed and saw that someone had completed this quilt.  I realized I had the kit stashed away, and decided to start it.  It’s going to go pretty quickly because the pieces are large.  My plan is to spend the rest of the day in my sewing room to see how far I can get on this.  I’m pretty excited to work on it….except that I woke up this morning with a cold.  So I’m headed to my sewing room with some hot apple cider and a box of kleenex.

Here’s to the potential of unfinished projects!!!