T-shirt Quilt Underway

I've gotten the commissioned T-Shirt quilt underway this weekend.   Two rows of the back have been completed and I've got 5 more shirts prepped.   Had to stop tho and make more of the sashing so that I can continue to put the back together.   Once I've completed more sashing I'll prep more shirts.  =)  Have 24 WOF strips cut and ready to sew - that'll be enough to do this side and part of the front side.   Will be sewing more sashing in the not-so distant future.

First two rows of blocks and sashing are shown here......quilt is laying the long-wise direction of my queen sized bed and laps over both ends by a couple of inches.  By the time the sides are done it will be about 110 inches long.

Gratitudes:

1. Got a good hematologist in Casper, thankful for that.

2. Had a good drive to and from Casper for my appt - not always true in the winter weather here!

Finishes, Starts, and Commissions.....

Got a lot done over this past weekend.  Finished off the 5 mug rugs that I had in process.   One of which has been sold and I forgot to get a picture of it finished.   Oops.....oh well, still have a pic of it with just the top done.  All of these started with UFO blocks so that stash is going down bit by bit.   

And actually it has dropped enough that I was able to put it into a smaller tote so that I could use the large one for my fossil fern fabrics stash which had outgrown the original tote I had them in.

Next up was a quilt top that started with a bunch of mottled brown triangles left over from a very long ago project that I found in my scraps as I sorted and put away an over-flowing mess of scraps from my move 3 months ago.   Haven't a clue what the original project was now, but these triangles are now in a lap quilt that will be going to a family who lost most everything in a Tx tornado at Christmas. 

The colors that ended up in the quilt are the brown mottled, a mossy green & cream stripe and tan.  As it happened those were the colors she decorates with.   Hadn't been thinking of that when I pulled the fab's but love it when things just fall into place.

The final project started this past weekend  was the first of 6 pillows made from t-shirts for the same guy who ordered the t-shirt quilt.  Easy and quick to make.   Have also started on what seems like a bazillion strips sets of black and white kona.   Hoping this weekend to start cutting the t-shirts down to size so I can start putting it together.


But reality is also intruding for me - only 1.5 wks left in this semester and it's time to write a final exam for 2 of my classes and tweak those already written for the other 3 classes.   And there are three weekends that i'll be tied up at least part of the time with selling concessions with the club that i'm an advisor for.....such fun....NOT!   lol

Gratitudes:

1. The weather looks good for my trip up to Casper on Friday for my appt with the Hematologist.

2.  Only 1 1/2 wks left in the first semester here in Wyoming.   And for the most part it has been a good one.

Scrappy Green Quilt Top Finished

I finished off the quilt top I was making from all of the HST's I made from the scraps from last year's wedding quilt.   The wedding quilt was paper-pieced so I ended up with big triangles leftover from the greens and cream tonals.  The original quilt can be seen in this post from last year.

I took all of the scraps and made 190 3.5 inch HST's and almost that many 2.5 inch HST's as well.   The 3.5" size were all used in a single
quilt top.   The block patterns are ones that I had been experimenting with and thought looked good together.  

Had posted a pic of the quilt on Facebook before getting the borders put on and as a result it has already been sold to a friend from one of my quilt lists.  Just need to find a backing for it and get it quilted.  =)

Gratitudes:
1. Continuing to feel better with the medications.

2. First semester is only 3 weeks from being over....hard to believe.

Block Contest Voting has Started

Voting for the Modern Quilts Unlimited quilt block design contest for this month has started.

Voting is all done on Facebook, and if you have a Facebook account I'd love to have you vote for my block.  To do so, you just need to click the link here => VOTE HERE, and then click on the vote button beside the block named "Chevrons in the Wind".    You will know your vote worked when a check mark appears in the white box beside the word "Vote".

Thanks in advance for your vote should you vote for my block.

Gratitudes:
1. the Antibiotics are working and I can breathe for the most part and people can actually hear my voice now!

2. for the commissioned projects that are coming my way.

Snack Mats in Progress

Before  Christmas I found that mug rugs or snack mats make quick and easy gifts to make.   They also work great for using all those left over blocks that seem to accumulate so quickly.    I currently have 4 of them in process.  

Two of them have the embroidered saying on them, two are still waiting for the embroidery to be done.

For the one at the bottom (floral background) I'm still debating on whether to add some sort of embroidery (machine or hand) to delineate the fan sections.   Any opinions?

Gratitudes -

1. Meds are starting to kick which is a good thing 'cause with the color of the drainage is one I'll never be able to sew with.

2. Apt is warm on a cold, snowy day - a great day to stay in and quilt.  =)

Website Update on 2016

With things at the new job settling down at this point, and only working 2 jobs (teaching and the commissioned sewing) instead of the 4 jobs I had been working I now have time to think about all of the stuff I've ended up neglecting over the last three years.

Part of that is updating my website so that it is more attractive, more user friendly, and has more of the functionality that I would like it to have.  Some of the things I am considering adding to the functionality include pages to sell the patterns I have designed (yes there would still be free patterns offered), along with selling some of my finished quilts.   I would also like to update the homepage, and some, well most of the other pages

But before I do anything major, I would also like to ask for feedback from other quilters, both in general and about my website which can be seen at this link - Moira's Homepage

First in general -
** What do you find helpful when looking at quilting websites?
** What do you look for when looking for new websites?

And with regards to my website -
** Is there anything that you don't like about the way it is currently laid out?
** Is there anything that you'd like to see added to the website?
** What kinds of info or content would be helpful for quilters of all levels?
** Any other suggestions for me?

Please feel free to send any feedback you have for me.   It won't hurt my feelings!   I know the website needs work done on it.   =)

Gratitudes
1. Time - time to rest when needed, to work on things I've neglected, to spend with friends and family over the holidays, and time to work

2. Home - it's wonderful to be able to travel, but oh so nice to be back home again even if I managed to get sick while on vacation