String Quilt

Managed to get interested again in my Christmas string quilt. I was so unhappy with the skipping stitches on the quilting that I couldn't get motivated to finish it. After finishing the little baby quilts and feeling better about myself, I was able to finally tackle the string quilt again. I had to convince myself that this thing is NOT going into the fair and no one is going to look at the stitches on the back. Got the straight stuff all done and am now on the little motifs in the white centers. It's going OK - I am still not happy with my tension, but it won't be noticable unless you stick your nose on it.

If I can get the centers done, it will be the borders and FINISHED!!!! I'll even have it done for the holidays! Woo Hoo! I am seeing this puppy done within the month. Of August, anyway.

Charity Quilts and More

Really went on a rip tear this weekend, sewing. That means I actually FINISHED nearly 4 quilts - have one left to hand sew binding down.

The first one was the BW bento that I did at Marcia's on the long arm. Not a bad first effort if you ask me. Too bad it isn't a more attractive quilt. Not sure what on earth I will do with it - pile it up with the rest of the them, I suppose. I have enough bento blocks to do a second one. I am thinking of making the blocks and then making tote bags or something. Not interesting enough for another quilt. Charity is always good too. Good will loves that sort of thing.

Next were the charity quilts for the Guild. This is my "signature pattern." I made it up and it really is cute. I like it best with the solid borders. The orange one was the first one and I had to experiment a little to get it right. I've cut our several "kits" for guild, but I am being silly about sharing the stupid "pattern." I finally convinced myself that I didn't have to sew all of the little blankie and that I had enough of my own stuff to sew. It isn't like I get brownie points for the dumb things. I even talked Jean Stone into cutting out squares for the meeting. There is one more- a blue one that needs the binding sewn down.

Last, but not least, was a panel quilt that I just machine quilted. Not my best effort, but it was good practice. It turned out OK-good thing it is for charity and that who ever gets it won't know who made it. I shouldn't be so picky about my work. I know I am not a professional machine quilter and that it takes hours of practice, so I wish i could get past my "perfectionism" issues and just enjoy sewing.

BUT the good news is that I have FIVE, count them, FIVE finished quilts- OK, four of them are small, but they are DONE . I have two more at the long arm quilters, so I should have them done before Labor Day weekend!!!!! This is amazing! I also have the potential of finishing a couple more if I can get over to Marcia's in the next couple of months. I am actually feeling like I can make new things for a change!!!

I signed up for a couple of long arm classes at the NW Quilt expo, so that should give me some ideas for finishing quilts other than just meandering around. I also plan to look through my books and photos for ideas. I can't do the fancy stuff, but I can do the simple stuff.

Feeling good for a change!!!!

FINISHING!!!!

This has been such a good month for finishing UFO's. I took two to the long arm lady in The Dalles. Nothing fancy - the red, white and blue charm quilt I made last year and the Waste Knot scrappy quilt. She is going to do some meandering plus pantogram patterns for me - leaves on the WK and stars on the RWB. They will look quite nice when she gets them done and I get the binding on. Hope to have them done by end of August.

Then, I went over to Marcia's, my friend with the long arm who rents it out. She gave me the beginner's lesson and then I finished quilting a BW bento I had made. I am in the process of binding it now. It's isn't anything interesting - not sure what will happen to it - give it to the school for the carnival, maybe???? Anyway, it's done!

For the past several days, I've been cutting up kids fabric for charity quilt kits for guild. Marcia is in charge of the charity sew next month and I told her I had loads of fabric to get rid of. By making the kits, people cans tart sewing ASAP. I've got over 10 kits done already. That's a batch of stuff GONE!

Then yesterday, I started cutting up fabrics that I found - African stuff. I managed to make two kits from it - lap size quilts. One was so simple, I decided to make it up Only took a few hours. The hardest part was making sure I had enough of the background fabric - took a bit of fancy cutting, but I did it. It's a BQ2 pattern using fabric from the curtains in the trailer that was demolished at school.I think Robert will get it as a Christmas gift. It's just the right size for him to snuggle under. Since he loves zoos, I think this will be a good match.

Today I plan to machine quilt a couple baby charity quilts. At the rate I am going, I will have at least a half dozen quilts done this year. The good news is that I've managed to move all the fabric into the new cupboard in my sewing room, so all my fabric is now together with all the other sewing stuff. Makes it idea of quilting more fun. I really like my new arrangement - but that's another blog.