Friday, July 29, 2011

The Wedding Quilt is wrapped and ready for giving...

Well, the binding is not on it but I will ask for it back so that I can put the binding on.
My friend Debbie, a great long arm quilter, finished it and dropped it off to me earlier this evening.
Here are some photos of the quilt...she did an amazing job!

Before any quilting was added...
and now...








More will follow after the shower (that's tomorrow!)!  Cannot wait!
Happy Sewing!
Colleen

Another wedding...another shower...another quilt...

That's right...we received a 'save the date' and a shower invite this week.
The wedding is in October and the shower...well just 4 weeks away!
What's a quilter to do?
Without knowing the colors or decorating choices of the bride and groom you have to think neutral!
Sew...since I was off yesterday...it was a very busy and productive day!

7am...choose fabrics for the quilt...dig through stash and pulled a variety of neutrals from the lightest creams to the darkest beige...
7:10am...(they were all in one place)...decide on a pattern/layout...
7:30...great ideas pull through...start ironing and cutting...
9:05am...sixty five 2.5" strips are all cut...jump into the shower...
9:45am...head out to nail appt. and then have lunch with a friend...
2:15pm...run some errands and head back home...
3:30pm...time to start cutting and sewing those strips together...
8:00pm...stop for dinner and switch the laundry...
9:00pm...back to sewing...
11:30pm...husband's home...stop sewing...make coffee for the morning...wash up...head to the pillow!

Here's what I accomplished...


Now I know I only have one block together...and I need 9...but they are all stacked in units and ready to sew together!  I am confident that this quilt will be sewn together by the end of next week and ready to layer, quilt and bind!
The design...one that has been floating around in my head for about 2 years now...just and allover 2" squares with an assortment of neutral fabrics and a 6" border.
The finished size of this one will be 60X88.

Time to sew...have a great day!
Colleen

Monday, July 25, 2011

Finally...a dining room table you can actually dine at...

Well, I did clean yesterday...and it was a scorcher too!
Not as hot as Friday or Saturday but for an all out cleaning day...all I can say is whew!
But, the good news is I now have a dining room table you can actually dine at...and all this time I thought it was a 'cutting table'...HUH!?!
And on it...my absolutely most favorite 10 Minute Runner!
Sew...let's see how long it remains a dining table...HUH?!?

The heat has subsided today...feels great!

Happy Sewing!
Colleen

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sewing 'til the wee hours of the morning!

No A/C in this house and sew I set up the little fan in the sewing room and sat there sewing all night long!  Even the pressing wasn't too bad with the fan blowing directly on me! LOL...
I worked on some shop/class samples and then...decided to pull out some fabrics from one of my most favorite parts of my stash (Thimbleberries) and work on another 'strip quilt'.
First I thought...it's midnight, you shouldn't be cutting fabric...but then I thought...they're only 2.5 inch strips...sew I continued...cut strips...sewed together the strip sets...then decided to go ahead and cut the triangles...yes, it was 2am but I was sew cool!!!
Here's what I finished with...
Please excuse the rumbled bed sheets...I put it on the bed for design purposes!
Next comes sewing the squares together and choosing sashing and corner stones.
That shouldn't be hard.
I have sew much fabric in my stash BUT there is a fabric on my mind sitting over in the shop and sew now I can't wait to get to work tomorrow to see if I like it in real life as much as my mind likes it!

And, I had sew much fun with this that I even forgot to have my nightly "Skinny Cow Fudge Bar"!
Darn it...I hope I didn't lose any weight...my dress won't fit! LOL!!!

Now I have to finish some housework. 
Oh, how I wish I were sewing!!!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Inspired by a dress...?

So today I finally found a beautiful dress for my son's upcoming wedding.  It is a really nice dress, fits like a glove except for the length (which will be altered of course!).  Now for a plus sizer to find a dress that fits perfectly is amazing and so I am even more pleased!

That's the good news...but there is more...
I saw a dress today that had many folds in it and, while it wasn't for me (I have enough folds of my own thank you! LOL) it did inspire me to make this table topper out of folded fabrics.  When I got home I hit up my stash and pulled out a whole bunch of pinks.  Here's the outcome of the last 3 hours...

Yup, that's a lot of pink but I was really in a good mood and feeling very pink today!
Of course, I have to finish it but I do have a bunch of other things to do and really shouldn't have even started this...but I couldn't not start it!

Happy Sewing to all!
Colleen

Monday, July 11, 2011

Tell Tale Signs!

Good morning all!
Do you know what your husband did yesterday while you were visiting with friends?
Well, I do!
I came home to a trail of, well ~ just look...
 
That's right...he was using my 3 hole punch and he left the "tell tale signs" trailing from the office floor near my desk all the way out to the dining room table!

Of course, he also mowed the lawn, trimmed the hedges, washed the dishes and washed both cars!  I guess I can forgive the "confetti"!!!


This weekend I worked on the Wedding Quilt for my son.  Here is a progression of photos for that...




Now I just need to add the outer borders and prep the backing and it will go off to be quilted!
Sew very excited about this quilt.
It measures 83x91 and these photos do not do the colors justice.
It is quite elegant and really a little "outside the box" for me!
The pattern is based on an online pattern that was free and I made A LOT of changes to fit the size of the center panel, the fabrics I had in stash and then collected for this, and the size I needed the finished quilt to be (78x87)...sew, it's a little larger...oh well!

Sew, I had a very productive weekend!
Oh, I also made this ab-sew-lutely adorable pillowcase ~ probably for one of my great nieces!
I just adored this fabric combination and it has been sitting in my stash forever!  I have enough to make another one too!

That's all for now...happy sewing!
Colleen

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A very busy weekend...

So we went to visit with my daughter and her family over the 4th of July weekend.
Had a super time ~ we want to take advantage of seeing them as much as we can prior to their big move across the country :(!

When I say busy, I mean busy!
There are no photos because I brought the camera but forgot the cannolis little memory card.

We had fun playing with our grandson and also found time for all of us to meet up with our sons and future daughter in law at a restaurant located between their homes for some great food and good conversation.

The "busy" came in the form of some quilts my daughter is making for some work friends.  She wants to deplete some of her stash (yes, I took some home!) and give these quilts as gifts to them when she moves to the other side of the world to Idaho.

She already had a few of the tops complete and they are really lovely.  So we layered two, quilted and bound them.  Then prepped the binding for two more, the backing for one more and cut the fabric to piece another one! PHEW...we were busy in the sweat  shop  sewing room!
Fabric was flying!  But we had a great time and hadn't sewn together like that in a long time!

So, all in all, our 4th of July holiday weekend was a good one!
I got to sew everyday and that is always the goal!

Tonight is our local guild meeting ~ the infamous "Ice Cream Social"!  Now that's fun!

Remember ~ Sew Everyday...I do!
Colleen