Finished Quilt!

I was able to finish a quilt that I was suppose to give away in the middle of May, but I was not able to finish it in time.  Now it is finished, and I think it turned out wonderfully!  I kind of want to keep it for myself, but I labeled it for the happy couple.

The backing I choose is perfect for the front, and compliments it well.  I quilted it with simple waves across the width of the quilt.  The quilt pattern is from Cheryl's Meadow Mist blog, called Magnolia Mystery that was hosted from July 2017 through March 2018.  She is hosting a new QAL this year that starts in July.  Check it out if you love plus signs.  The quilt looks to be awesome, but I have too many other irons in the fire.

One close up to finish off the quilt.  I am very proud of it.  I used a linen for the background, and binding.  The binding was tougher to sew through as I hand sew my bindings down.  In the end I love the look, and we will see how it washes up this weekend, when I put it through the wash before boxing it up and sending it off to the happy couple.

This is my 4th finish for the quarter, my first time finishing that many, and two of them being big quilts too, is awesome!  This is on my Quarter 2 Finish-A-Long list as number 48.

Linking up to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict

-Christina

June 2018 OMG Finished!

I finished my June One Monthly Goal with plenty of time to spare this month!  My goal was to finish cutting out a quilt top, and finish block 2 for the same quilt that will be given to my Mom when it is finally finished.

Here are my setting triangles and borders all cut and ready to go.  I think the setting triangle fabric will bring everything together, as I'm sure you can see from the darker blocks that the colors are all over the place.

Here are my finished block 2's.  They turned out great, and I can not wait to see it all put together.  This quilt has been in progress since 2008.  I was hope to get it finished by Christmas this year to give it as a gift.

Linking up to:
Elm Street Quilts
Sew Fresh Quilts

-Christina

Design Wall Monday

This week I finished the tubes for my first goal, I just need to cut out the blocks and iron them to finish my June OMG, which should happen by the middle of the week!  (Sorry no picture of this step, because there are other cooler things below.)

My husband and I celebrated being married for 5 years on Friday, where we had a nice romantic dinner out.  On Saturday, we went to the County fair as it is currently taking place, and as it is our wood anniversary I got my husband this awesome sign, which will be the center of our photo wall when we have a house.

Then we had flowers on the alter where we got married that was pretty close to what my bouquet looked like for our wedding.  Our church's florist did an amazing job with them.

To top off a great weekend, I pulled out my cross stitching, and started working on it.  I'm further along than even this picture as I was able to work on it during my lunch time today.  I have the motivation to get it done.  It will be a little while, but if I keep at it at a steady pace it will be done by the end of the summer, I think, fingers crossed.

After all of that excitement, it is time for my goals for this week, which are:

My first goal is to finish the second block type for my Mom's quilt.  I just need to cut the second strip sets (darker blocks), and then iron.  Then my June OMG will be done, and hopefully not at the last minute!

My second goal for the week is to finish trimming triangle units.  Every little bit of work gets it closer to being finished.

My third goal is to finish the binding on this quilt.  I got about half of what I wanted to get done, done last week, which means I have about one more night's worth of binding to complete.  Then it is burying the various threads from quilting.  There are not a lot on the front, but there are several on the back.  Not something hard to do, I just need to lay it out.

My fourth goal is to start working on my tutorial for a snowflake pillow for the Christmas in July blog hop that is taking place at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  This blog hop has a ton of bloggers, and will begin on July 14th, so come on by and check it out.  I will be sharing my tutorial and a few other fun things on July 19th.

(Sorry no photo, as I do not have any yet, and do I want to spoil the surprise yet?)

Come back next week and see what I am able to accomplish this week!

Linking up with:
Design Wall
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 25

Let us see how this week went on the 15 minutes of stitching front.

Days spent stitching this week: 7 out of 7

Days spent stitching in June: 24 out of 24

Days spent stitching for 2018: 150 out of 175

Rate of Success: 85.7%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

This week went well!  I made great progress on my June One Monthly Goal, where I am going to be pretty close to finishing it tonight.  I had a little time for some slow stitching on a binding, and of course I made some stash enhancements, granted they are for specific projects.  I think next year I should keep track of what I use and what I bring in, because my project supplies are increasing, but I have not made much progress on using them.  One night this week, I did some sewing for my 15 minutes about 11:15pm, I was cutting it close.  I actually debated staying until and starting my 15 minutes at midnight for the next day.  In the end I did not do that, but I thought it was funny.  I hope everyone is successful and making progress on the projects they are trying to move along this year.  I know I am.  Thanks Kate for hosting this great link-up!

Linking up to:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

Design Wall Monday

This last week I finished sewing the 4-patch and the triangle units together for an overdue wedding quilt.  I learned how to spin my 4-patch seams by following Bonnie Hunter's tutorial.  I think they turned out great!

My goals for this week include:

My first goal is to make the second block type for my Mom's quilt.  The strips are all cut, I just need to put everything together, and use the strip tube ruler.  This is part of my June OMG, and if I get it done by the end of the week, I will be done early!  (I've never done that before)

My second goal for the week is to finish ironing and trimming triangle units.  Every little bit of work gets it closer to being finished.

My third goal is to finish the binding on this quilt.  I am a little over half way done with it, but the corners did not come out very well, when I sewed them down on the front side, so I'm having to go back and redo them.  Once I do the machine work it is just hand stitch the being down and the quilt will be done!  Hopefully by this weekend it will be done so I can wash it and then send it to the happy couple.

My fourth goal is to start working on the Kingfisher Stitch Along that is being hosted by Stitched in Color and Tales of Cloth.  This stitch along started two weeks ago, and it is at your own pace, which is what I'm doing.  Last week I punched out the hexis I needed, this week I would like to cut out the fabric for each flower.  Could I get all 46 flowers cut out after I get everything else done?

Come back next week and see!

Linking up with:
Design Wall
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 24

Let us see how this week went on the 15 minutes of stitching front.

Days spent stitching this week: 7 out of 7

Days spent stitching in June: 17 out of 17

Days spent stitching for 2018: 143 out of 168

Rate of Success: 85.1%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

This week went pretty well.  Some days I was able to get into my project, and other days I only had 15 minutes that I stretched to 20 or 25 minutes depending upon what I was doing.  Some weeks are going to be like that, and I know it will be even more like that when the holidays roll around, which is approaching quickly!  We are almost half way done with the year already, and I feel we are still in April.  I am amazed each week by the progress that is made by just spending 15 minutes each day on a project.  I love seeing some of my UFO's moving closer to the finish line each week.

Linking up to:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 23

Let us see how this week went on the 15 minutes of stitching front.

Days spent stitching this week: 7 out of 7

Days spent stitching in June: 10 out of 10

Days spent stitching for 2018: 136 out of 161

Rate of Success: 84.5%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

I almost did not get my 15 minutes of stitching in each day this week.  There were some nights where I was slipping it in during the last few minutes before I went to bed, but I got it in and I'm thankful for it.  I made progress on some things, but I did not fully make it to where I wanted to be by the end of the week.  That is okay, it is a new week, and I'm going to find a little more time I believe to get things done.  I hope everyone was successful this week, and progress is being made on your projects.

Linking up to:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

Design Wall Monday

This past week I was able to finish cutting out the pieces for my June OMG, now I just need to get the darker blocks put together before the end of the month.  Do you think I will get it done early this month?

Time will tell, but I'm going to try and plan it that way!

My goals for this week include:

My first goal is to finish the binding on this quilt.  I am a little over half way done with it, but the corners did not come out very well so I'm having to go back and redo them.  I got as far as I could while out of town, and just need to redo the last two corners I need to then turn and hand stitch and it will be done!  Hopefully by this weekend it will be done so I can wash it.

My second goal for the week is to work on sewing the 4 patches and triangle units together.  These are the units I need to finish so that I can start putting blocks together.  Once I get blocks put together plus the sashing I can have a quilt top made!  This quilt has been a long time coming, and I'm excited to see moving along, closer to a finish.

My third goal is to start working on the Kingfisher Stitch Along that is being hosted by Stitched in Color and Tales of Cloth.  This stitch along started last week, and it is at your own pace, which is what I'm doing.  Last week I punched out the hexis I needed, this week I would like to cut out the fabric for each flower.  Could I get all 46 flowers cut out after everything else?

Come back next week and see!

Linking up with:
Design Wall
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday

-Christina

June 2018 OMG

For the month of June, my One Monthly Goal is to make progress on my oldest UFO, which is a quilt for my Mom.  

This month I would like to get the second set of blocks (cool tones) completed, and cut out the remain pieces for the quilt, which include setting triangles and borders.  It would be amazing if I could get the quilt top started, however this is my stretch goal for this month.  My ultimate goal is to get this done by Christmas so I can gift it to her then, which she will be totally surprised about it!

Linking up:

Elm Street Quilts

-Christina

Design Wall Monday

This last week I was able to finish my May One Monthly Goal before the last day of the month (one day, but we won't get too technical).  It was to cut out a quilt for our God Son's baptism in August so I can start to sew it together in the next month or so.

I got it accomplished, and now it is ready for me to find time to start it!

My goals for this week include:

My first goal is to finish the binding on this quilt.  I finished the label this last week and I got the binding on one side, I just need to flip it and hand sew it down.  I'm behind in podcasts, and it seems like the perfect thing to do on Friday night while I'm alone.

My second goal is to work on my June OMG.  My goal for the week is to finish cutting out all the pieces, so I can just start chain piecing the second set of blocks, which is my goal for the month (see my June OMG post tomorrow).

My third goal for the week is to work on sewing the 4 patches and triangle units together.  These are the units I need to finish so that I can start putting blocks together.  Once I get blocks put together plus the sashing I can have a quilt top made!  This quilt has been a long time coming, and I'm excited to see moving along, closer to a finish.

I won a prize by participating in the Hands 2 Help challenge hosted by Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  I would like to thank whoever donated these wonderful inspiration for quilter's books published by Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I am going to love reading through them.

Linking up with:
Design Wall
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 22

Let us see how this week went on the 15 minutes of stitching front.

Days spent stitching this week: 7 out of 7

Days spent stitching in May: 31 out of 31
Days spent stitching in June: 3 out of 3

Days spent stitching for 2018: 129 out of 154

Rate of Success: 83.8%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

Yippee!  I had several big accomplishments this week, I have made it to a solid B in my Rate of Success, and I have stitched every day for the last month!  I hope to make it two months by the end of this month, and should I shot for a third month in a row?  During the third month I do have some travel that might restrict me from finding 15 minutes, but if I come overly prepared I might be okay, we will see what happens.  I made progress on several things this last week, and somethings are getting closer to being finished.  I broke a needle this week and it moved the position of my needle, so I turned my machine off, and decided I would take it in to get it looked out.  Little did I know, I just needed to turn it back on and the needle position would recalibrate to the correct location.  In the end I got that "fixed" at the store, plus the repair guy listened to my machine to make sure there are no issues with it.  You learn something new every day, luckily I was able to find parts of quilts to cut out while my machine was "broken."

Linking up to:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

Hands 2 Help Quilt Done!

This year I participated in Hands 2 Help which supports charities throughout the U. S. and Canada hosted by Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  This year there were 125 quilters who made 416 quilts!!!  That is huge.  This is one of them.

I followed the tutorial that Sarah put on her blog named Irish Sixteens from the 2015 Sweet Sixteen QAL she hosted.  Instead of the red and white she made hers in, I choose orange and brown.  I was a little nervous on how it turned out, but it looks great.  I was able to finish it and washed it on Monday, and then the quilt was put in the mail on Wednesday.  The charity I choose to donate it to was Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo.

The quilting turned out great on this quilt, I picked a Halloweeny thread and it turned out perfectly for this top.  It was quilted with simple loops, and there is a special surprise in the middle.  I quilted a heart for the kid it goes to knows they are loved.

The backing and binding is minions, perfect for any child as I know Despicable Me is huge.

This quilt is my third finish for my Q2 Finish-A-Long list, and it is number 18.  This quarter is tied for the most finishes now, and I hope to finish another two items if not more before the end.  Do you think I can make it?

Linking to:
Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Busy Hands Quilts

-Christina