Finish! Galaxy of Stars

Happy News-- Another finish! Galaxy of Stars!!  Wooot! ★✷✴✹✦

There was a little bit of drama with this quilt that happened while I was hand stitching the binding.  I had the quilt in a bag with a water bottle, but I didn't have the lid on tightly and some water spilled out and some of the red fabrics were bleeding onto the white!! =O 

The internet had all kinds of advice to give me! The photo above is prior to fixing the bleed. I went with the directions that Vicki Welsh shared and it worked like a charm!  Four cycles of super hot water in the laundry sink with gobs and gobs of Dawn dish detergent and the red has stopped bleeding and isn't on the white anymore!  I ended up using a tool for mixing drywall paste to agitate the quilt in the hot water.  It worked out great! It's like a giant potato masher.

The quilt is fully washed and dried and is all crinkly.  I usually gift my quilts without washing, so this is different-- I love it!   And so does Finn!  He has been a big fan of this quilt all along!

I will be donating this to the Lutherdale auction.  Hopefully it will fetch a good price.  And-- this was one of my goals for Finish-A-Long Q4.  Hooray!

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday

editing to add link to my original FAL goals post

On Ringo Lake - Clue #3

Clue #3 was released last Friday for On Ringo Lake,Quiltville's Mystery Quilt.  I wasn't even halfway done with Clue #2 and intended to stop working on those units and dive into the new units.  Nope-- I really wanted to finish #2.  I got close, but not quite all the way there.  To spice things up, I started feeding in a few of #3.  And by spice things up, I'm being a bit tongue in cheek!  Piecing these is an exercise in focus and dedication for me!! I am motivated by seeing my quilts take shape.  I like to assemble a block early on and work on a bit of this and a bit of that.  Making hundreds of units all at once-- not my normal style!

This song has been running through my head and it summarizes how I think I've been doing... Falling Slowly.  Because I'm sloooooowly falling behind.  But as I've just listened to it for the third time, it occurred to me that the first few lines are appropriate for this mystery, too.

   I don't know you
   But I want you
   All the more for that

I know that it is not a race and I have ages and ages to do my piecing, but I want to keep the momentum going each week.  Much of the cutting is done for Clue #3, but I haven't been keeping a tally like I did with #2.  I am just going to sew for a while and count as I go.

In other mystery quilt news, I got a few more fat quarters of fabric to mix in and add to the spectrum. Woot!

xoxo,
Kristin

Linking up with Bonnie's Mystery Monday Party, Design Wall Mondays, Let's be Sewcial and Oh Scrap!

Finish! Charity Chop Quilt

It's always happy news to report a finish!  Especially when it is a long time UFO.  This is a charity quilt (destined for a Dane County foster teen that is 'aging out' of the program).  Many years ago, while sifting through my stash for a project, I realized there were some fabrics I didn't care for anymore.  I had used them a lot and wasn't too excited about them any longer.  The solution I came up with-- make large (15"?) nine patches and then cut them up in the 'disappearing' fashion.  Well-- I made those 9 patches right away and then they aged for several years.

About 3 years ago, I took the blocks to my January retreat and did the 'chopping' and re-assembly.  The top languished in my closet until this year.  The Finish-A-Long has really helped motivate me to complete some UFO's.

I did a little photo shoot of the quilt last week with my new frame.  Overall it worked out ok, but I need to fill the sandbags they sent, because even though there wasn't much wind, the quilt acts like a big sail!  After several pictures, the frame blew over-- but I thought the draping looked pretty cool and artistic!

Here is a close up of the quilting.  I did a free motion all over pattern that was pretty fun: big loop--outlined then a halo of loops around the original. 

This is part of my Q4 Finish-A-Long and I'll be linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday

xoxo,
Kristin

editing to add link to my original FAL goals post

On Ringo Lake - Clue #2

Clue #2 of On Ringo Lake, this year's Quiltville Mystery was released a few days ago and it is a tremendous amount of flying geese.

The first thought I had was that I did a big quilt of only flying geese a few years ago and it took me forever...how will I completed a million of them just for this step??  Well-- they are going together pretty quickly and I've got about 1/3 complete and all of the parts are cut out.  I know that it's not a race, but I'm trying to keep up each week.  Both this week and last week, I spent quite a bit of time starching my fabrics.  For the rest of the clues, I should be able to dive right in and cut and sew right away.  Woot!

Scrap quilts are tedious to cut out, good thing I had some help!

I can't wait to see what this pattern will look like.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Quiltville, Design Wall Mondays, Let's be Sewcial and Oh Scrap!

On Ringo Lake - Clue #1

Great news-- Quiltville's annual mystery quilt has kicked off and I'm joining the fun!  Clues are revealed every Friday (with the start always on Black Friday) and on January 1st, the layout is revealed.  This is my first time participating and I've caught the fever!  The title is 'On Ringo Lake'.

My fabric selection is still a bit in flux.  I'm going with cool and taupey greys for the neutrals.  I might use a constant brown instead of scrappy (we'll see!) and I'm not 100% certain about the orangey-corals.  I've mixed in a few pinks and goldy yellows and not sure if they will stay.  The inspirational photo is of a lake at sunset(sunrise?) with a fishing boat at the shore, so the range of warms should fit together.  A sunrise isn't just one shade- it's a spectrum.

Friday night was our monthly Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts.  While I was there, I starched my fabrics, cut and did some piecing and then finished the blocks for clue #1 on Saturday.

My cute aqua/chocolate nine patches!

I can't wait for clue #2!

In other Late Night Sew Party News-- I bought 10+ yards of fabric to use as a background on my soon to be started "Kings Cross" quilt.  This is the Fons and Porter pattern that Mary Fons brought to her trunk show.  I forget the 'real' name, but my name is Kings Cross, because of the large crosses (duh) and that the pattern is king sized (did NOT realize that when I bought it!)

Here is the inspiration:

And here is my new BOLT of fabric!!! It's 'Pepper' by Pepper Cory.  I have no clue what I'm going to use for the accent fabrics.  Perhaps something rich, bold and saturated?  I love deep purples and burgundies.  Maybe creams for the stars?  We'll see!  I'm thinking this will be a great project for me to work on at my January Retreat.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Quiltville, Molli Sparkles, Design Wall Mondays, and Oh Scrap!

Finish! Kitchen Sink Scrap Quilt

Happy Finish News!  Wooo-hoo!

I have a fully complete quilt to share.  I started this as a way to use scraps to make the back of a quilt and too many people protested and said that it was worthy of being it's own quilt.  I caved and promoted it to being a top.

It's bright, fresh, fun and used up all kinds of leftover bits.

Here is a close up showing the quilting.  I did a simple loop-dee-loo that stitched up super quick and is whimsical and bouncy.

 In other news-- I splurged on a photography frame to hang quilts on to get better photos.  One slight problem right now--  I have limited daylight hours that I'm not at work and then Mother Nature has made those times windy and/or rainy!  I tried to take pictures outside, but it was way too windy.  Here's a picture showing the frame. I ended up setting up on my covered front porch and had a little bit of wind protection.

This quilt is one of my Q4 Finish-A-Long projects.  And I will be donating it to the Dane County Foster Program on behalf of the Mad City Quilt Guild.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish-A-Long, Let's bee Sewcial and Oh Scrap!!

editing to add link to my original FAL goals post

Binding Binge

When you quilt up three tops in short order, it means there is a lot of binding in your future!  I spent most of yesterday cutting, piecing and attaching binding to the 2 charity chop quilts.  I really don't enjoy how fussy it is to make a scrappy binding, yet I seem to do it all.the.time.  =O

Finn decided to 'help' me with all of this work!  Oh my!!   I managed to finish the machine portion on these 2 quilts and have the binding cut and assembled for Galaxy of Stars.

I did manage to do a teeny-tiny bit of other sewing, too. Two more blocks for Mad Mod's Block Lotto.  This brings my total to 4.

And-- a LOVELY package arrived from Thousands of Bolts!  I decided that I am going to participate in Bonnie Hunter's 2017 Mystery Quilt!  Woooot!  Her name is 'On Ringo Lake'.  I might pick another name, but for now that will do.  The colors sounded really appealing (aqua, coral, chocolate) and I'm in a pretty good place with my other projects--  why not?!?!? =)

I need more neutrals, so I poked around online.  The aquas are so enticing! I got a few more browns, should have picked out more corals and managed to throw in a few other 'extra' fabrics to the order.  Bonnie's Facebook Open Studio Page has a lot of activity about the mystery quilt and many people are sharing their fabric pulls.  I'm tempted to use cool greys instead of creams.  The first clue doesn't come out until Black Friday, so I've got some time to decide.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash and Judy's Design Wall Mondays and Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

 

Busy little beaver!

I've been a busy little beaver lately and have been doing a lot of sewing and sewing related things, but haven't had time to post about it all.

First up-- quilting.  Lots of it!  I spent a few days at my parent's house and quilted 3 quilts in 2 days! Speedy! Needless to say, I didn't do any complicated quilting!  All three quilts are charity, so the plan was quick, simple and hold the layers together.  I've got a lot of binding in my future and I'll post more/better pictures when I get these finished.

While at my parent's, I found out the Racine quilt guild (Lighthouse Quilters) was having their show that weekend.  I've heard about this every other year show, but have never been able to go to it.  It was impressive!  I ran into all kinds of friends that I know from my January retreat and many of them had quilts on display.  Here is a sampling:

Because I've been such a good quilter and have finished up quite a few UFO's lately, it was time to start a new project!  Last year, I did a pull from my stash to make Angela Walter's Variable Star, but never found the time to get it started.  The fabric was waiting patiently in a project bin, so now is the time to get it going.  It's a relatively simple, quick pattern and I'm almost done with all the stars! There are just four more partial stars for the corners and it is ready to assemble into a top. BUT-- I'm not thrilled with the orange star.  ☹ I might make something else for that spot.  And as long as I'm doing that, I might swap out the small blue/green one in the upper left, too.

Last, but not least-- I co-hosted another Late Night Sew Party at Blue Bar Quilts this week!  Wooot!  Sew.much.fun! This is the second party and I didn't take any pictures during the first one.  Next time I will do better and try to capture more of the action.  Notice a little somethin' somethin' on the wall there?  😊  It's my lion!!  We had pizza and raffles and I demoed paper piecing to several people.  This month's Mad Mod Block Lotto is paper pieced (shoot-- no pictures of the blocks!) and some people haven't ever done this technique before.  Next month's party is on Black Friday! Can't wait!!

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays and Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

Another rainy Saturday-- Hooray!!!

Wisconsin has been stuck in a cool, rainy weather pattern for what seems like forever-- and I'm not complaining!  What better weather to spend all day in your sewing room??!??  I took advantage of my Saturday to piece more backs and work on some UFO's and even tidy up some!

Next weekend I'm planning to quilt both of my bright scrappy charity quilts.  Last weekend I pieced one backing and yesterday I finished the second back.  Some of the chunks of fabric are leftover from other quilt backs and some of the fabric I bought for a song (Thank you, Thousands of Bolts!).

As long as I was prepping for quilting, I needed a back for Galaxy of Stars. I bought a bunch of bright blue from Thousands of Bolts.  I don't recall if I was planning on using it for this quilt, but it is perfect-- except for the amount.  I'm short about 8-10" width-wise.  I pieced the 4 (?) yards together and I'm ready to add in strip of red to make it wide enough. This is the first time I'm looking at this quilt "not on the design wall" and I'm loving it even more!

Lastly-- I *almost* finished my Legendary top.  One-More-Seam!!!

But I was out of energy by this point.  And I made the executive decision that my iron has run it's course and needs to be replaced.  It's been hobbling along for over a year.  It doesn't like to turn on when I want it to, the steam burst button stays in the down position and it is peeing out water faster than I can iron.  😡  Amazon to the rescue!  I picked out another Rowenta and I hope we have a long life together.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays and Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

UFO progress

Yesterday was rainy, windy, overcast and all around yucky.  In other words-- a perfect day to stay in and sew! I was able to make progress on a few different UFOs--hooray!

First up was to correct the corner squares on my Hekla.  I thought I had this top finished last week, only to realize as I was blogging that I used the wrong fabric on the corners--doh!  I couldn't let it stay like that, even though it was not too bad.  I pulled out the seam ripper and fixed it. It's ready for quilting, which means I need a backing.  As it turns out, Blue Bar Quilts still has yardage of the grey-woot!

Next up, time to piece backs for the charity quilts I want to quilt this month.  I bought several yards of brights online at a bargain price.  I'm cutting them up and adding to other leftover bits that I have to make fun, improve backings.  I got one complete and started on the second one.

And while working on those projects, I finished the last X blocks from my Goodnight Irene quilt.  This has been a leader/ender project for YEARS! I looked back through my photos and the first time I have it documented seems to be Feburary of 2014, but I was sewing 4 patches together way before that. Here is one of the earliest photos I could find:

Oddly enough, this photo of the units has blocks from 2 other quilts I finished up this year.  Apparently my scrappy quilts are on a 3-4 year completion cycle?  I still have some of those improv log cabin superhero blocks in my UFO containers!! Maybe I need to work on those this year, too??

Anywho, I finished the last blue X block.  I'm out of blue and can't make anymore, so it is time to start assembling!  This makes me very, very happy. I wonder if a border of another color and some more 4 patches would be nice?  I'll wait and think about it more once I have this put together.

xoxo

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays and Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and for the first time-- Oh Scrap!!

Sew 15 Minutes September - Wrap up

I had such a great September in terms of sewing.  By challenging myself to sew every day, even if just a little bit, it really got my mojo going!  There were just a handful  of days that I missed and I sewed some really, really long days throughout the month, that I think I'm covered.

Thanks to all of that dedication, I got my Galaxy of Stars fully assembled!  WooooHooo!!!!!!

I started assembling the top on September 1st and on Saturday--the 30th, the end was in sight!  I pushed through and kept plugging away, because I really wanted to have a completed top in the same month I started it.  The final assembly was a bit tricky, but I was up for the task!  I used some more partial seams that I learned from Mary Fons and voilá!  There is one bit that in hindsight I wish I could re-work, but to quote one of my early quilting instructors, "Done is good!!"  This top is now in the queue to be quilted and I have it listed as one of my Q4 Finish-A-Long goals.  I want to show it off in January to the retreaters that contributed blocks.  

The best part about finishing the stars?  I have my design wall back!  I could sew on the borders to Hekla!

AAAAAACK! I was so pleased with myself last night that I got this sewn on nicely, but not until just now, did I realize the corner squares are supposed to be orange and not grey!!!!!  Grrrrr.  Harumph.  I thought this was done and ready to be quilted, but I guess not.  Taking pictures and stepping back are really important ways to gain perspective on your quilts!

Oh well-- back to the seam ripper this will go.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays and Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial

Finish-A-Long Q4 2017 - My Goals

Sliding in to the last part of 2017-- I have lofty goals!  It would be grrrrrrreat to quilt up a bunch of tops that I have waiting or close to completion.  Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time daydreaming about what I have to do and thinking about how I can complete it.  Finish-A-Long has been a big help in keeping me motivated to keep moving on my UFO's.

Here is my list:

1- Charity Chop Quilt (this quilt needs a better name!)
Right now, this is my top priority to quilt.  I'll do something simple on it, like a panto or an all over improv design.  Easy-peasy.  Before I can quilt it, I need to piece the back.  It seemed that everyone I showed the backing to said it needed to be it's own quilt.  Fine.  But now I need another backing!!  I will do something MUCH simpler for the back, but it will still be bright and a bit improv.

2- Kitchen Sink Rainbow Quilt
This is what was going to be the back of the above quilt.  Guess what?  Need to piece a back for this one, too!! =O

3- Galaxy of Stars
I've been working hard on finishing this top in September and I want to have it complete prior to my January Retreat.  Setting a goal for completion in Q4 would make sure it is done by January!

4- Hekla
I don't have a current picture, but the borders are pieced and waiting to be sewn to the center.  Finishing the top won't be hard-- can I get it quilted, too?

5- Legendary
This poor quilt was in time out.  I followed the instructions and used a slimmer vertical sashing in the Sasquatch row and then the row is 1/2" short!  Grrr.  I checked the website and didn't see any corrections for this.  At the late night sew night, I looked it over with some friends.  The fix is going to be to rip out the sashings on either side of 'squatch and add some wider sashings to make it the correct length.

6- Elephant Parade
I want to finish this quilt and I'm wondering if the best solution is to have someone else quilt it?  That would make finishing it this quarter realistic.  We'll see...

Six goals!  I've had that same count each quarter and each time I finished 3.  What will happen this quarter??

Linking up with Marci at Marci Girl Designs.

xoxo
Kristin

Finish-A-Long Q3 2017 Wrap Up

When you look at a year in 1/4 chunks, it goes by FAST!! Summer is over and October is here??  Considering Summer is such a busy outdoor time, I'm pleased with what I have accomplished and I have moved a few things closer to completion.

Here is my original list: Q3 Goals

Ack!  I finished a quilt that wasn't listed in my Q3 goals!!  Silly me for forgetting to list that one! =O  Oh well-- I still have the joy of completion!

Finish 1- Pink Purple XO Quilt

Finish 2- Whirly Star Bonus Quilt

Finish 3- Rainbow Strings - Peacock Quilt

I am linking up with Marci at Marci Girl Designs

xoxo,

Kristin