I did it....

I got all 12 quilts done in time for the wedding tomorrow. I can not believe I did it. My youngest grandson was admitted to the hospital early this morning so my plans to finish the final 3 pillowcases were put on hold but I was able to get them done tonight. Boy, do I feel good that I got these done. Now, hopefully, I will be able to work on a few of my own projects.

Here are the final pics. Enjoy and Happy New Year. WooHoo!!

One more...

One more set of pictures. This will be all the quilts except for the 2 that still need the bindings.

More pictures...

Looks like I'll have to post these pictures in several posts, so bear with me.

Getting down to the wire

Can you believe that it is only 6 days until Christmas? I certainly can't. I can't say that I have reached my personal goal but I'm really pleased with my progress. I got the majority of my goal completed.

I have completely finished 8 quilts. My 9th and 10th quilts are completed quilted but they need their bindings sewn on. I will need to get those put on over the next week because we are going to see the grandchildren on New Year's Day. So, all quilts must be done by then.

For now, here are the pictures of the 8 completed quilts. During my last trip to see my mother in FL, I purchased a cheap sewing machine to keep down there and made pillowcases to match the completed quilts.

He is here

Tyler James has graced us with his presence on November 21st. He and mom both are healthy. He, of course, is a beauty.

I finished 6 quilts, now I am working on quilting quilt #7 and #8. I made top #8 yesterday, and loaded the two on the frame today. I was going to attempt to start to quilt them today but I had a visit from my daughter and her family. Of course, quilting gets put aside when the kids come to visit. I love it when they visit.

If I can get the next 4 tops made over the next couple of weeks, I just may make my goal. If not, it will be shortly thereafter.

I have to make another trip down to Florida. Mom is home and I need to go down there and do a few things for her. Once that trip is over, then I can finish up my quilts for Christmas.

I have a wonderful friend that is doing the blind stitch on all these quilts. I will have to make sure I reward her big time for all the help that she has given me. I will take pictures of my last 2 when I get them back from my friend. I will take pictures of the two on the frame when I am done quilting them.

It is starting to get really cold here. The wood stove has been burning for awhile now. I hate that wood stove. My darling hubby loves to get that stove good and hot and I usually die from the heat. I either end up going downstairs to my room or opening a door, that's how hot he gets it. He works in a garage all day, so that is the reason for the hot air in the winter. Arrrggghhh, can't breathe.

Sandi

I'm getting there

Well I have 5 quilts quilted and I am working on my 6th one. I know I most likely won't reach my personal goal to have the 12 quilts of Christmas done, but I am still trying to get as much done as I possibly can.

I have a new grandchild that is due to be born any day now. My daughter's due date is November 17th and she's been having Braxton Hicks contractions this whole week. The doctor says that this is just a sign that her body is getting ready for the actual labor and delivery of the new baby. We don't know what she is having but whatever sex the baby is, it doesn't matter as long as the baby is healthy. I already have one graddaughter. She is such a joy.

My mom is slowly recovering too. She is finally in a rehab center and getting herself ready to come home. We are hoping that she will be home by Thanksgiving. Once she is home I will have to make another trip to FL, so again that will set me back a little. Oh well, gotta do what ya gotta do. I will take pictures of the most recent pictures as soon as the binding is done.

A long time....

It has been a few months since I have posted to my blog with good reason. Since August 14th I have gone back and forth to Florida 3 times due to my mom being ill. By making these trips my quilting and sewing has been put on hold and now I am so far behind on my goal to have 12 quilts done by Christmas. Oh well, it is what it is. I will manage somehow. This is just a personal goal, so if it doesn't happen it is really not a big deal.

I was able to get one top completed and one top quilted in between these trips to Florida. So I guess I did make a small step in the right direction. Here is the top I completed. Again the designs are the same, the fabrics are different. Boring I know, but it is quick and they work up pretty fast once you get going. Which is what I am going to do right now.

Making progress..

Slowly. I finally got those two quilts quilted after 5 days of being on the frame. I was going to use the flamingo sunset pantograph, but I after some thought I didn't really care for it. I ended up quilting the popcorn panto on both of them.

These two are for Tori and Grace. I hope they like their quilts. It took me about 10 hours to quilt both quilts. Small stops here and there to eat, check emails, etc. I put the bindings on tonight. Friends will help to blind stitch the bindings for me. WooHoo, thank goodness for friends.

2 Quilts loaded..

On the frame. I loaded 2 of the girls quilts. I have only been saying I was going to do that for a week or two now. This is the first time that I have loaded two quilts on the frame at the same time. One of them is longer than the other so I am floating one of the quilts and the other one is pinned to the leaders. I haven't quite decided on the design I want to do. I know I am going to do a panto but I am trying to decide if I want to do soccer balls, because that is the motif, or go with a design that isn't too flowery. What do you think would look good? I will put a picture on this blog of what I am thinking of using.

I do have loaded and marked on the table a panto called Flamingo Sunset. I am just not sure if that is what I want to use. I am using for the first time my Pattern Grid and I like it so far. It made marking the starts and stops easier along with the redrawing to line up the design correctly.

The International Quilt Show is this weekend in Manchester, NH, maybe I will find a panto, stencil or book with a design that I like there.







What do you think of the panto Flamingo Sunset? Do you think it will be ok?
I am using a variegated thread from Superior Threads. It is a Rainbows called Tapestry. Make sure you use a size 18 with this thread. I had a size 16 and the thread kept breaking and shredding at the needle.

Sandi

The answer to the question is.....

It is a hummingbird moth. It likes to drink the nectar from my tall phlox plants. I haven't seen it since last weekend, but I researched it and that is what I found out.

Now, back to my quilting. I have finished quilt top # 5. Yippee!! I am getting ready to sew the backing together for 2 of the girl quilts so that I can load them on the frame and get them quilted. I know, I know, I said I was going to load them last weekend and I didn't. We ended up having unexpected company on Sunday, so that took away my time from sewing. Oh well, I am still making progress though. I still haven't decided what I am going to quilt on them, I think I am just going to do one of my pantos, at least on the first two. We will see from there.


I hope to have all tops completed by the end of September. Then I will have a little more than 2 1/2 months to quilt the tops. When I put it into a time frame of such, I feel that I may not get them done, but I will do my very best to complete them on time. If I am a couple of weeks late, so be it. I probably won't see the grandchildren before Christmas anyways, so that will buy me some time. The pressure is on.

Here is quilt top # 5 (the last of the girls)

Is this a new kind of hummingbird?

I was painting my picnic table on Sunday and while doing so I saw this hummingbird, well I think it is a hummingbird. I am not completely sure. What are your thoughts? Does it look like a hummingbird?

It's been....

A pretty lazy week for me. I did fussy cut some fabric for two other quilts, but that is all I did. I had hoped to have another girl top done and loaded on the frame with Grace's quilt, but I just didn't get there.

Today, I was able to put quilt top # 4 together. I decided to give Grace the one I made today and give Tori the one I made last weekend. This new quilt top measures
56x68 and it is the biggest one I have made so far. I am trying to keep the quilts close to the same size, but this one got away from me. Oh well, she'll grow into it.

I need to do one more quilt with these same fabrics. I would like to keep it approximately the same size as the first one, so that I can load both quilts on the frame at the same time. Let's hope I can do that.

I got all my fabric for the rest of the quilts. I can now really get going and make the rest of the tops so I can get quilting these tops. WooHoo! I am getting excited that I am actually getting the tops done.

Until next time. Maybe I will be back again tomorrow with another top done. Here is a picture of quilt # 4. The pattern is the rail fence. Again, the purple looks blue in the picture.

Sandi

Who woulda thunk?

Certainly not me. I now have 3 quilt tops completed. I am a third of the way done. This is for my granddaughter, Grace. She likes soccer, so of course, I did a soccer quilt. As a matter of fact, all the girls (3) like soccer, so all the girls are getting a soccer quilt, but with different designs. This pattern is called Brick and Mortar.

I cut the majority of the fabric yesterday afternoon and then this morning I sewed it together. It probably took me a total of 6 hours again. What looks like blue fabric in the picture is actually purple. It is strange how a camera can distort a color. I think I will try taking that picture again outside and see if the color is better. My hubby doesn't seem to like it that much. He says he doesn't like purple, well he doesn't have to. The quilt isn't for him. What do you think? Do you like it?

Not much housework is getting done. Oh well, such as life. I would rather be sewing anyways.

I have to start shopping for some thread. I was thinking of doing the first two with a varigated thread of primary colors. I need to find some thread that is variegated with purple, yellow and green for the girls quilts. I don't know if they make such a thing, but I will have to check it out.

I will probably do a panto on the boys quilts and the girls I may just do a freehand all over type design. Again, I haven't decided for sure. What are your thoughts? Do you see a design I should do on the quilts instead of a panto?
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I guess I will go shop for that thread now.

Sandi

Geez Louise

If I didn't have to work, I would have these 12 quilts whipped up in no time. As I mentioned on Wednesday, I got the fussy cutting done and then I cut the frame fabric to frame those. But, like a dummy, I used a different machine to sew those frames on and after I was all done I checked to make sure they were 8" square and of course, they weren't. I didn't check to make sure I was sewing a 1/4" seam. DERRRR!!!. So, I had to take out all the stitching and start over (I will know better next time, I hope).

This morning I went downstairs as soon as hubby went to work and got sewing on the second quilt. WooHoo, quilt top number 2 is done. It took me approximately 6 hours to make the top. I had some issues, so there was more seam ripping taking place. But, I like it, it is cute. This one is for my grandson that will be 2 in February.

I think I am going to start a quilt top for one of the granddaughters now. I have 7 boys, 4 girls and one unknown. Three of the girls quilts will have all the same fabric but different designs. I haven't decided on the patterns yet, but I am doing that as I go. Hopefully I bought enough fabric for all three. I just need to make sure that I keep the size in mind when designing them.

Here is a picture of quilt number 2. See ya soon.

Sandi

Making progress

I am now working on the 2nd of 12 quilts. I have done all the fussy cutting of the tractors and tonight, hopefully I will cut my strips that will frame those tractors.

Tomorrow night I will work on framing those tractors and possibly cutting my 3" strips to make my 9 patches.

I haven't touched my Avante in about a week, I am having a few withdrawals. I should put a practice piece on just so I can practice while I am waiting for my backing fabric to come home from Nebraska.

Until next time.

Sandi

Christmas in July

OK, I think I am finally caught up to where I want to be. I could have started my blog back in 2000, but that would have been boring.

As I mentioned, my goal is to have 12 quilts made by Christmas. I started this quilt top on Saturday, July 24th and finished it on Sunday, July 25th. This one is for my grandson that will be 13 in November. Now, I have to quilt it, but I have to wait for my friend to get back from Nebraska with my backing fabric before quilting. The majority of the quilts with have the same design but different fabrics. Some will have their favorite sports fabric, some will have trucks, tractors, etc. But, I am on a roll and ready to start quilt #2. WOOHOO!!

Progress on quilt number 2 to follow.

Next quilt on the frame

I had another quilt that needed to be quilted for my friends sister. It was made in the 1930's and it was hand pieced. The pattern is a star so I decided to stitch in the ditch around the blocks and stars and then I used my 3" circle template to make flower designs in the center. This quilt took me approximately 22 hours to quilt from start to finish because I had to repair seams prior to quilting, quilt the quilt, sew some seams as I am quilting, bind it, label it and blind stitch it. It was a great quilt to sew because it gave me practice with the template. It has many fabrics from the 30's, it is also a scrappy quilt. After doing this quilt, I can say that my favorite fabric on this quilt has Mickey Mouse on it.

I hope she enjoys the quilt.

My new machine

So, I got my new machine in April 2010. I got an HQ Avante from MQX in Rhode Island. I was able to bring my machine home but had to wait for the frame to arrive. I waited about a week for the arrival of my frame. How excruciating that was.

I set the frame up and machine all on my own. WOW, was that an experience. I did have a problem with the frame but HQ took care of the issue right away. Awesome customer service.

I practiced a little on the frame before putting a quilt top on. For first quilt on the frame I quilted a quilt that belongs to a friend of mine's sister. She waited 5 years for this quilt top to be quilted.

The quilt is a scrappy quilt. Can hardly see the quilting but I used the Alfonso pantograph


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Getting Started

I started this blog back in 2009 and now it is 2010 and I am still trying to get this blog going. I just can't seem to keep it going, as much as I would like to.

I started quilting in 2000. I would make my quilt tops and send them off to be quilted by a quilter. This got to be expensive and I got to the point where I wanted to do this on my own.
Finally in 2009, I bought my first longarm. I bought a Voyager 17 in April and by April of 2010 I was selling the Voyager and bought an HQ Avante. I just love this machine. I have several quilt tops, approximately 10-12, that need to be quilted but they are on hold right now.

I have a goal to complete by Christmas and hopefully you will follow along with me to see if I reach that goal. Between my husband and I, we have 11 grandchildren and 1 on the way, and my goal is to make each grandchild a quilt by Christmas.

So follow along with me and see if I can accomplish this goal. Before I go any further, I do have 1 quilt top done, 11 more to go.

Until next time.

Sandi