Midnight Star - Top finished!

I started this quilt in late October, but had pulled the fabrics for it 10 months earlier! It was going together quickly, but I got stuck with some of the smaller stars. I wasn't thrilled with the fabrics and wanted to replace them.  While pondering replacements, the Quiltville Mystery started up and this project got put on the back burner.  I brought it to my January Retreat and with help from my friends, picked replacement fabrics and sewed all but 2 seams together.  I just needed about 1 more hour and I could have had the top done!  Oh well-- I brought it to Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts this weekend and --TaDaaaa!  I have no idea how to quilt this or what to do with it when it is complete.  But for now, I'm just happy that the top is done.

Speaking of On Ringo Lake... One.More.Seam!!!!!  I cannot wait to also call this top complete.  It has consumed much of my winter sewing this year and I'm most definitely ready for a change of pace.

I've already got a start on my next quilt.  It is going to be simple and quick and rewarding! Friends are expecting their first child.  They don't know the gender and are decorating the baby room in grey and white.  I have a lot of black/white prints and oodles of greys.  It's time to make a quilt that I've wanted to do for aaaaages-- a plus quilt! I did a fabric pull, but didn't snap a picture.  Next time I will have something to share. Who knows... maybe the completed top??!?

xoxo,

Kristin

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

New Featherweight!

It was bound to happen sooner or later-- I added another Featherweight to my fleet of machines.

If you are wondering how many machines you need-- the answer is "one more"! 😊

I've been hoping to stumble across a machine for a good price.  There was one at an estate sale 2 years ago that was very tempting.  They were having a silent auction and I did not bid aggressively.  Oh well-- it wasn't meant to be.

Yesterday, the Mad Mod Guild was having a "De-stash Sale".  Basically a time for everyone to purge things from their collections that can be put to use by other fellow quilters.  I picked up a few things- fat quarters, patterns, tins.  Not too much (except for the machine!!!)

This machine, which is in pristine condition, belonged to the grandmother of a fellow member.  She inherited it, but really hasn't used it and was willing to part with it.  Her grandmother's name was Selma, so that is what I'm naming the machine!  It is from 1948 and has the original receipt and all kinds of other original things, including the motor lube (yikes!)!

I'm thinking that I might have one featherweight setup in my house to use and another one packed in a 'to go' bag.  I just placed an order with the Featherweight Shop for all kinds of goodies that will make her a joy to sew with.  Did you know they are making LED bulbs for Featherweights-- posh!

In Quiltville Mystery news... the end is in sight for this top! I've got the setting triangles started. I'm actually a bit further along than this, but don't have a current photo.  I would be thrilled if I can complete this top this week.

xoxo,
Kristin

On Ringo Lake -- almost there!

My On Ringo Lake quilt is chugging along like the little engine that could.  I'm determined to get this top together before I shift my focus to another project, because I (for sure) don't need another UFO!! But let me tell you-- this is a challenge for me! So.Many.Pieces!!!

I finished my blocks this week and put them up on the design wall for the first time.  That was exciting!

At this point, I was struggling to figure out the on point layout.  The math wasn't working out.  Well-- there is a good reason why!  I made 2 extra blocks on accident!  Oops!  Those will probably find their way to the back.

After getting the blocks arranged, I dove into the sashing.  Normally sashing is easy-peasy, not this one! =O  WOW-- I need to pay close attention.  Every other block, the units need to be flipped.  So far I've done a little ripping (not too much), but my brain is working hard!

I'm in the home stretch.  Just a few more sashing strips and then the setting triangles to go before the rows can go together. This quilt has become too big for my design wall! I need to sew some sections together to free up some space.   Wish me luck in getting this top finished.

xoxo,
Kristin

Linking up with Oh Scrap, Design Wall Mondays, Let's be Sewcial and Bonnie's final On Ringo Lake linkup.

Rest in Peace

I have the saddest quilt to share.  Our Mad Mod friend Jenn lost her battle with cancer this week. She was an amazing person with so much creativity and energy.  She touched many people and I'm blessed to have known her.

She was diagnosed with metaplastic breast cancer only 1 year ago and did everything in her power to fight it. We made a quilt for her at that time (in one week!!!) to comfort her and she took it to her chemo treatments.  Here is a photo she shared of the quilt in use:

As her life was nearing it's end, she shared with us that she would like to have a quilt/shroud to go with her as she is buried.  We (as a group) scurried to make her another quilt. Her favorite color scheme was blue/green and we made half square triangles.  There are many special nods in the fabrics--kitties and puppies, because she was a big animal lover.  I added a unicorn strip on the back, because she was a special unicorn!

Friday night was our monthly late night sew night at Blue Bar Quilts.  While there, I pieced together a back and then did a pillowcase assembly to finish the quilt.  On Saturday I top-stitched the edging.  The process was incredibly emotional, yet cathartic.  It is so special to put together something with such meaning.

The world is a bit emptier right now, but Jenn is in a much better place, free of pain and suffering.  Her obituary can be found here.

xoxo,

Kristin

Finish! Elephant Parade

Every finish is a happy finish and this quilt had been waiting for too long to be turned into a completed piece.  I participated in a quilt along with Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts starting in Spring of 2015. 

I finished the top in December of 2015, but like a fine wine, it needed to age until it was ready for quilting.  I had a friend quilt this on his longarm with a whimsical allover pattern.

I really hoped to have this finished in Q4 of 2017, but there wasn't quite enough time.  Oh well-- It's my first finish of Q1 2018!!! And it is part of my Q1 Finish-A-Long goals.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and of course-- Lorna's Let's be Sewcial!

On Ringo Lake...Making Progress (slowly!) + Kings Cross prep

I'm making headway on my Quiltville Mystery Quilt, but I'm not quite to the point of showing a big, breakthrough photo.  Lots of sewing is happening, with lots of small pieces and tons of units.

I have all of the orange/coral flying geese and brown flying geese complete and sewn together in pairs and half of the pairs are joined up to the 9 patches (stacked up in the background).

I haven't kept count of the aqua/brown triangles, but I think I'm about halfway done with them? I can't wait to get started on the next step that adds a coral triangle to these and then I can assemble a block!

My big Lutherdale retreat starts in a few days and (crossing fingers) hopefully I will make big progress on this and have something awesome to share when I get back.

Here is an 'action shot' of my sewing room yesterday.  As you can see, I get a lot of help!!

Speaking of retreat... as usual, I have ambitious goals. Before starting the mystery quilt, I decided that King's Cross would be my big, main project to work on while there.  I think I have all the fabrics accumulated (or at least close to all of them). I have the bolt of Pepper Cory-Pepper as the background and a variety of saturated Moda Grunge for the crosses.

 Here is a sampling:

And here are my fabrics (Grunge Dots) for the lighter, more subtle stars.  I'm not sure how I'm going to combine these... Maybe the cream will be star points and the grey as the four patch centers? Not sure yet!

xoxo,

Kristin

ps

Linking up with Bonnie's Mystery Monday Linkup , Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash, Cynthia's Oh Scrap! and Judy's Design Wall Monday

Finish-A-Long Q1 2018 - My Goals

New Year - Fresh Start - New Goals!!

Q4 of 2017 was pretty good!  I finished 3 quilts from my list and that makes me incredibly happy.  Believe it or not, on New Year's Eve, I was stitching on a binding and hoped to complete it that night.  I had about 2 feet left and was out of steam.  Oh well-- it rolls into the 2018 goals. I'm excited to participate in the Finish-A-Long again.

Here are my 3 finishes:

Charity Chop, Kitchen Sink Scrap and Galaxy of Stars

For Q1 of 2018, I would like to finish the following:

1- Elephant Parade
This is my slam dunk! This is the quilt I was trying to complete the binding on New Year's Eve.  I plan to enter this quilt in the spring to the Sun Praire Quilt Show.

2- Hekla
The top is complete and I'm sending this out to be quilted.  Maybe this can be entered in Quilt Expo this fall?

3- Finding Nemo
This is a panel that I bought at Expo with the plans to donate to Lutherdale's auction. The paneled quilts were very popular!! So, why not?  I added the orange border--it's Moda Grunge Dot, my newest favorite fabric.  I plan to free motion quilt it with fun swirls and outlines.

4- St Nick
Another panel I found at Expo.  This is a kit with borders and it is still in it's packaging.  Maybe I can assemble this at my January Retreat and ask a friend to quilt it? It too, it destined for Lutherdale's Auction.

5- Legendary
I have a plan on quilting this, but it's pretty ambitious for me to find the time in Q1.  Never the less--it's good to have it as a goal!

6- Midnight Star

Now we are entering the very ambitious stage.  The top isn't done. It's been languishing on my design wall.  I want to swap out 2 of the smaller stars and I'm just a wee bit stuck.

If you would like to join the Finish-A-Long fun, head on over to any one of the eight bloggers who host:

Marci - Marci Girl Designs
Sandra - Studio Sew of Course
Leanne - She Can Quilt
Izzy - Dizzy Quilts
Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works
Felicity - Felicity Quilts
Karen - Capitola Quilter
Lynne - Tinking Along

xoxo,