Center block completed

I finished the center block for the t-shirt quilt in process before leaving on vacation and am happy with the way it has turned out.  

Still to be done after the top is together and everything is quilted -

-- Stitch the back of the collar down so it will stay in place when used and washed.

-- Add the name badge

Lessons learned while working on the block -
-- ties are much easier to tie on one's self than on something or someone facing you!
-- it's much harder to get a tie come out looking good when you have to take the interfacing out of it to reduce bulk!

Next up when I get back home - prepping and cutting the sashing squares, putting the quilt top together and getting it basted for quilting.

Gratitudes:
1. A safe drive to Phoenix
2. fun times with friends here

Voting on the Contest Quilts has started

Voting has started for the finished quilts in the Modern Quilts Unlimited Design Contest. Voting will run from today, the 15th, through the 30th of November. The grand prize is worth over $4000 and that includes several different things including a really nice sewing machine. I would love to win.

Please consider voting for my quilt. I would greatly appreciate it! To do so, click on the link below and then click in the Vote box on the page that will open up. You will need to be logged into FB to vote. 

http://a.pgtb.me/MfCtTr/h5Cj1?w=36927840&e=140979881

And please consider forwarding/sharing this. The one who has the most votes at the end of voting will be the winner.

Thank you  in advance for your consideration.  Your votes are appreciated!

Gratitudes:
1. I was able to finish the quilt and submit it on time in spite of all the challenges in making the blocks and the quilt.

2. Friends who rave about my quilting even when I'm not liking the job that I did.

Backing to working on the T-Shirt Quilt

Now that I've got the contest quilt finished and entered into the contest, I'm back to work on the current commissioned quilt.   I have one block left to finish making before I start putting the quilt top together.

I've got the shirt stitched to the backing square and the tie tied around the neck.  =)  Still to do is to stitch around the outside edge of the sides and bottom of the block to keep all layers together and then stitch the tie down so that it stay in place and doesn't pucker.  After the quilt is together then I'll add the name badge that also needs to go on this block.

I'm hoping to get the top together before vacation, then I can come home and baste and quilt it the first 10 days or so in December.

Gratitudes:
1.  Weather is yummy right now..........

2. I have a place to stay in Phoenix thanks to good friends.

Finishes...........finally!

I finally have a couple of finishes to report.   And a third almost finish.

The first major finish is the contest quilt.   It will be entered (picture submitted for the contest) today.   Final name of the quilt is "It's Quilting, Jim, But Not As We Know It".  Suggestion came from an online friend, Kate, and it captures not only the Star Trek reference that I wanted but also the theme of the entire contest which was taking traditional blocks and redesigning them in a modern way.

If you're wondering about the Star Trek reference, for those of you old enough to remember the original shows.....(and yes I do 'cause I watched them!), look at the sashing sectons and what do they remind you of?

Finished the Modern Quilts contest quilt has been finished....after what seemed like "forever" with all the quilting that I did on it.  Best estimate of thread is that I have more than 800 yards in just the quilting alone.  That means 2400 feet of thread, or almost 1/2 mile of thread.   And yes, I'm a numbers geek here.....lol.  Final size is 48" by 60".

I also finished the little t-shirt dress I made for my shoe box of gifts for Operation Christmas Child this year.

 Also have almost finished off a snack mat using a piece of cross-stitch featuring an owl.   This will be a Christmas gift.   I will also be making a tea cozy to match using more of the owl fabric on the right and the batik.

Gratitudes:
1. Vacation in 4 days.  =)

2. Weather should be good for my drive to Phx.

On the downhill slide......and a name......

....with the quilting of the contest quilt that is.

I've now finished 8 blocks and have started on block #9 (the 2nd from the bottom in the middle column) as of this morning before work.   Have also finished all of the border stars and the full stars.   Have sorta gelled plans for quilting two of the other blocks.   But the dratted orange and yellow one (next to the top at the far right) is giving me fits and refusing to tell me what it wants for quilting.  Sigh......  Will deal with that recalcitrant block when I get to it.  Binding is still to come as well.   I'm hoping to have enough time to add more quilting to the sashing before the pic has to be uploaded to enter the contest.    i'm just not happy with it as is.

This pic show the fabrics I used for the back of the quilt.  All fabrics are from Michael Miller per contest specs.  Love that the colors in this print were all ones that were in the fabrics I used in the blocks on the front.

And the quilt name/title that I'm going to be using for this quilt is "It's quilting, Jim, but not as we know it".   That came thanks to an online friend that I'm in a swap with right now.  And it is perfect for the theme of this year-long contest which was to take traditional quilt blocks and re-imagine them in a modern way.   And yes, the name is a nod to Star Trek since the sashing stars ended up being similar in look to the Star Trek communicators.  =)

As a side note....one of my coworkers gave me the blankest look when I told him what they looked like......sigh, at only 24 yrs old, he has no idea of what Star Trek is other than some of the newest movies.   Boy am I feeling old since I remember watching the original series on tv!

The last pic shows how I left my sewing room/desk this morning when I left work work.   And yes, when I can't sleep in the morning I'll get up and sew.  =)

Gratitudes:
1. One more week till vacation....Woohoo........

2. Cool fall weather is here.  =)

Name Thoughts for the Contest Quilt

Since the sashing units I designed for this quilt unintentionally ended up with a Star Trek look to them, I've wanted to go with a trekkie inspired name for the quilt.   And I must admit this is always that hardest part of finishing a quilt for me, and one I most of the time don't bother with.

The names I've come up with (or that others may have suggested) so far are (in order of my preferences at the moment):

• Make It Sew
• To Boldly Quilt Where No Man Has Quilted Before
• Live Long and Quilt
• Quilt Tribbles

I'd love to play off of "Highly Illogical" but for the life of me can't figure anything out for that one.

What do you guys think of the name possbilities....anyone have any other ideas?

Gratitudes:
1. The rain has stopped.....at least for the moment.

2. Have my reservations for the Phx part of my Thanksgiving trip.

Contest Quilt Progress....

Making progress here....slowly.  Of course the slowly is happening because what the blocks have said they wanted so far is lots of echo quilting in the negative spaces............and that seems to take forever and a day....lol.  You can click on the pics to see more indepth pics.

At any rate, status at this point is:

Blocks - 4 out of 12 complete
Full Stars - 1 of 6 complete
Border Stars - 5 of 10 complete
Sashing strips - all complete
     (for the moment at any rate)

Still debating on a name for the quilt as well.....guess I need to make a decision soon on that....lol.

Gratitudes:
1. Today's heavy rain eased up long enough for me to drive home, stop quickly by the grocery store and get gas!

2. Swelling is better behaved today.

To-Do List Progress

What I started the week needing to do -

1. Quilt the Modern Quilt contest quilt - Made progress here, have finished quilting the sashing in both directions, 3 1/2 blocks, 1 full star and 2 border stars.    Still to be done - 8 1/2 blocks (know what I'm going to do for the one you see to the right), 5 full stars, and 8 border stars.

Didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped because I had to take time to find something to cover the ends of the pins.  I'm happy to say that the foam door hangers blanks that "sacrificed" themselves work wonderfully in covering the tips of the pins and in protecting my hands and arms from getting scratched to ribbons.

I'm aiming to get the quilting done by end of day on Saturday so that I've got Sunday & Monday to get the binding and label onto the quilt.

2. Make t-shirt dress for shoebox for Operation Christmas Child - Getting the fabric for the dress is as far as I've gotten.   To be done this week 'cause the shoebox has to be turned in on the 13th.

3. Make final F2F block for Nov - Finished and all three were mailed out on Friday.

4. Iron Interfacing onto tie sections and cut sashing squares - Didn't even touch these....looked at them tho....lol......

5. Put together commissioned quilt top - Looked at enough to stack the blocks so I didn't walk on them..but that's it.

6. Finish pillow cover for Commission - Quilted the top of the pillow cover, still needs to have the  back made and sewn on.


On the back burner:
1. Drawing up the pattern for my Stretching Art challenge quilt
2. Make the Stretching Art challenge quilt
3. Put together the first of my F2F quilt tops from this year.


Not on the list but done - was making a quilted case for my kindle after the cheapo one that I'd been using decided to vanish overnite Thursday.  Hopefully the leprechaun, gremlin, or ghostie who decided they needed it enjoys it.....sigh.    I know where I left it when I went to bed.....but it had vanished by the time I got up Friday morning.  And yes, I live alone.....well I thought I did anyway.  =P


So I dug into my scraps, and came up with this piece of home dec fabric that was a scrap from a commissioned project I did back in Indiana.    Used a grey and cream on the inside of it.   Did it in a hurry so the zipper isn't done as well as I'd like, but it works.   Will make a better one at a later date.

Gratitudes:
1. Will get to see good friends in Phx at Thanksgiving!  So excited.

2. Fall weather is here  - cooler and rainy.  =)

New Block Design

I worked on one new design this week...and love how it turned out.....  This one is "simple" with only 57 pieces of fabric in the finished block.  Well, simple compared to a couple of the blocks I designed and made for the Modern Quilt block design contest.

I finished the sample block last night, and it is my final F2F block for this month and will be going to one of my best quilting buddies, Susan.  =)  Love the colors, and the purple has metallic gold dots all over it.

The design for the block reminds me of the ribbons used in rhythmic gymnastics.

However, once this sample block was finished I realized I forgot one teensy thing for the pattern...lol...  See the difference between the block below and the latest block?  Yup, they spin in different directions.   Seems I forgot to flip the pattern for this latest block so that it would spin in the correct direction.  I've corrected that in my pattern....but I know that my friend won't care so the sample block isn't wasted.

This makes 6 blocks I believe that I've done w/a common shape (but not pattern).  Time to be working on patterns for using them and on writing up instructions for each block.   Once the latter is done then I can put out a call for friends to test the block pattern for me.

Gratitudes:
1. Low pressure is here or through and my knee is feeling much better!

2. Time off for Thanksgiving has been approved.  =)