Just Take a Deep Breath and...

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Jump right in! That is exactly what I needed to do to start free motion quilting on my machine. I have been watching tons of Craftsy classes and finally felt a little prepared to start doing this on my home machine. Now  I have used a long arm machine before and love it!! Eventually I will purchase one once we have a home of our own and the space to do so. (read: not in the near future!) So I needed to learn to do it myself at home on my lovely Janome- Winter.

I spray basted, for the first time, and I think I love it. It was a little hard to do on my little balcony outside but it worked and so far no tucks or pinches of fabric that I have found! Hurray! I guess I should tell you what quilt I am quilting! Haha! It is called Baby Love and its a pattern from my local quilt shop that was in a kit. It will be for my wee niece for her first Christmas as she seems to have fallen in love with the one I did for her brother and won't go to sleep without it (and she is only almost 6 months old! )

There is always a cat to be helping out! 

You can see the pattern I traced out

I am not done the quilting yet I have completed 10 out of 20 blocks to quilt plus the small details to do but it is a start!!

And here it is quilted. The lines are not the straightest of the best but its a start!

I am debating about doing the same quilting in the blocks between but I am not sure if it will be too dense for a baby quilt. 

Rubies, Diamonds and Garnets Too
Progress is happening on Rubies, Diamonds! I have added the borders to the quilt and plan on putting hexie flowers on 5 of the 9 blank squares.  (The ones on there now are not sewn on yet)

Please ignore the mess. I was shoving things out of the way to try and take pictures and its a very small apartment!

Dresdens are going in the other 4 blank spots! They were so fun and quick to make, I could not believe it! I definitely need to make a dresden plate quilt now!!

Aurifil BOM

Have you ever been at the point where you put off doing something for a super long time because it seems like it will take a long time? But when you actually do just sit down and make yourself do it, the projects goes by super quick and you enjoy every minute? Well that was me with the july-september Aurifil BOM stitcheries. I just could not get into it and had to make myself just do it. I am super happy I did because I now love them and its one  three more things off my to do list!

July

August- Still need to add some words

September

And now it is bedtime according to my little kitty! So happy stitching everyone!!

Kallie

Randomness & Giveaway Reminder

Pin It Now! Good Evening!
I have been holed up in my house today sewing as it was pretty gross out today! Lots of snow this afternoon as well, plus more in the forcast for this week. Unfortunately I start my stretch of 6 evening shifts in a row tomorrow, Just hoping I can get some sewing done!

Comrie
So I have been able to find out very little about my gorgeous new sewing machine. From what I can tell it is a Singer 15 Clone. I am doing more research to try and see if I can maybe figure out what year span it could have been made in. I think pre or during the WWII is when it was made as post WWII pretty much all the clones were made in Japan. If I can find out anything more I will definitely let you all know!

Dear Jane
Not much progress here, but I got my templates for my 3 triangles I need to complete printed out and I have B10 mostly complete. I did mine a bit differently and used reverse appliqué and  did my piecing differently from the original. I plan on appliquéing white triangle into the corners of the center square the cross is in.

Omigosh
Huzzah! Getting some progress here. I have everything cut and all my half square triangles sewn back together for my Shoo-Fly blocks. This means I can finally start piecing the half triangle to my four patches!!
You can see my pile of half square triangles that have been pieced back together below.

Randomness!!
Below is what I am entering into the Sliced contest hosted by Moda! They are open for audition pieces until the 29th and then they pick 4 people to compete against each other out of all the entries. They have some amazing prizes for those 4 people too!! In the likely event I am not picked by Moda, I will post a tutorial here about how to make it!

This is a keyboard/sewing machine mug rug! You can have your keyboard on either end of it and the mouse works just fine on it as well. The thing in front of the keyboard is one of those things to help keep your wrists at the right angle when typing. It also doubles as a heating/ice pack!! I used beans for the filling so if your wrists, back or shoulders start to hurt, go pop it in the microwave and instant relief.

Antique Sampler
Have any of you seen Sue Daley's new book New English Paper Piecing? There are some lovely projects in there! There is also a quilt outside of the book that I am going to dabble with when I have time called Antique Sampler. This is all done using English Paper Piecing and appliqué. Crazy. I know. But I am loving my choice to go with browns and creams. I might add a bit of green. We will see.

Organization!
I got this lovely bookcase today from Walmart as everything was previously just dumped in a laundry basket and I had no idea what I did have! So now I am starting to get organized. Its kind of exciting to me but thats ok if its not for you :)

Spray Starch!
So as I was doing those little English paper piecing blocks I decided I did not want to baste them with thread or glue. I had heard somewhere that I could starch it and just press over the seam allowance. OMG I LOVE IT! It is so ridiculously easy! Make sure not to use too much  though otherwise your paper curls up and distorts alot. I learned the hard way!

I was using Best Press to do this while at my LQS (they let me sew there too in the classroom when I come down) But they had just sold out a couple days before I was there. I liked the spray start so much I decided to make my own.

How you ask? (I love how I can make you ask just the right questions when I type them out!)

Vodka.

Yes Vodka. No seriously. I added about 1/3 cup vodka to 2 cups water, shake and spray. Use the crappiest vodka you can find as the starchier the better, but you can always add more vodka to your mixture if its not starchy enough for you.

Mine did not scorch or brown at all on my test fabric and after 2 spray, iron, cool cycles was pretty ridgid/ had that new fabric feel.

I have heard to be careful of it in really humid climates as sometimes bugs are attracted to the potato starch but it is completely dry here in Calgary and should work amazingly!

Anyway, it is 1 AM here in Calgary and I should probably sleep!


Contest!


Remember to enter the Hexagon Needle Book Givaway! All you need to do is leave a comment with your favorite colour on the Giveaway post 


http://aquiltingwewillgo.blogspot.com/2012/02/snow-much-love-giveaway.html


Or if you don't want to do that you can post here if need be.  Contest Closes Feb 29th Midnight Mountain Standard Time. 


Good Luck and Happy Stitching!!!


Kallie

EDITED: for putting in Link and adding title.

Snow Much Love & A Giveaway!

Pin It Now! Hello Everyone!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here in Canada it is a long weekend for Family Day tomorrow (Monday).

Random Project!
Well I was looking at the calendar and realized in shock that it was almost my "nephew's" 1st birthday -March 3. I say nephew but he is actually my best friends little boy, we are not related but I was there when he was born so therefore we go with nephew :) Any-who... Here is a little sneak peak of what I am making him. I was fortunate enough to find a jelly roll at Walmart of all places, and it was on clearance so it was a super sweet deal! It is paired here with Kona Snow. I am hoping to baste and quilt it by next Wednesday which gives me a couple days to do the binding!

 I also wanted to show you were I was piecing this all yesterday:

That's right. Cross legged on the floor. My lovely husband needed our kitchen table for a project he was working on. So it was either the floor or not sewing at all. Unfortunately we do not yet have another table I could use. Needless to say my back was kind of sore this morning, and I had to take frequent breaks!!

Hopefully I get my kitchen table back soon!

Aurifil BOM
Super Excited that I finished stitching the February BOM from Aurifil! It was soooo much fun to do as it is such a cute piece. This piece was designed by Sherri Falls and the link to the block is below
http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/february-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-sherri-falls/

She also has posted the cutest finishing instructions if you want it as just a wall hanging here on her blog for Valentines day:
http://thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/

Omigosh:
I have officially finished piecing and ironing all my teeny weeny four- patches! I am currently piecing all my half square triangles back into squares (print/white). I also cut up all my 2" squares into triangles which will soon be framing my four patches! Just keep plodding along and it will all get done....

All 575 of my teeny weeny four-patches!

My 2 3/8" half square triangles awaiting to be pieced. I have finished about half of one bag so far. 

Dear Jane:
 Slowly working away at Dear Jane. Not much progress done in the last 2 weeks but I only have 1 more block and my first 3 triangles to do before March 4. So not too bad! Most of my last few blocks worked out to be reds which was entertaining for Valentines day.

Giveaway!
Now I absolutely love, love, love my little hexagon note book. And Honestly I think you might enjoy one too! Heck yesterday I was using it as a pin cushion as I sewed on the floor.

Now who would like to win one???

To enter leave a comment with your favorite colour. 

This way I can go through my stash and make the winner's notebook in their favorite colour. 

Winner will be drawn on February 29 at midnight here in Calgary (this is Mountain standard time) by the random generator.

So get your comments in before that, tell whomever you wish as well. 


**Remember to leave your email so that I can get a hold of you if you are the lucky winner**

Here is a picture of what it could look like!

Good luck and have a wonderful day!! 

What a week!

Pin It Now! My goodness! Where in the world did this week go!

My apologies for a week going by without a post! Work has definitely kept me very busy this week with no time to post. I really dislike my day shifts as I feel exhausted afterwards and don't get much done when I get home. And this week I worked mostly day shifts. So not much was accomplished.

However you are here for quilty goodness and not to listen to my complaining :)

Comments:
I am trying to get a reply back button to be able to reply back to all the lovely comments you have been leaving me. For some I have tried to just leave a comment myself but I think that may get confusing and it is hard to remember to go back to a post you commented on for a reply. I am going to try to start replying by email to those who leave comments until Blogger lets me reply to those comments directly. Is everyone ok with that? Please let me know what you prefer as I do not want to be "spamming" your inbox if you don't want a reply that way!!

Red & White
My LQS did a quilt kit way back in 2006 and at the store I saw it completed and fell in love. It was called Rubies, diamonds and garnets too. Don't try looking for it online as you will not find it. It was done through just this quilt store. But I will post pictures as I work on it. I had been looking for a Red and White quilt pattern for my Mom & Dad for christmas and this fits the bill perfectly. Lucky for me they still have some kits available and  I can buy the blocks as I need them. SO just another project to add to my list.


Hexagon Needle Book:
I also make some cute hexagon needle books which will be another post likely tomorrow as it is long and a semi tutorial! Here is a sneak peak though!!

Aurifil BOM:
Now I am sure most of you know that Aurifil is doing a stitchery BOM. 12 different designers are creating cute little patterns for us to turn into blocks. Here is January's Block download- It is about halfway down the page.
http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/january-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-roseann-kermes/

Here is my block:
Not the greatest picture, I know but best I could get in the lighting.

Now I don't really have access to Aurifil thread as I have not been able to find anyone local who carries a good range. So I used good old DMC floss in colours I liked. I also changed the pattern a wee bit so I liked it more.

February's block is adorable and I can't wait till I have some time to stitch it. The link is below and again the pattern is about halfway down the page.


http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/february-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-sherri-falls/


Dear Jane:
Not much done on the Dear Jane front but I completed block B3 and I think it is my favorite so far! Don't you just love the little arrows!! Perfect for Valentines Day.

And here is the block I am currently working on B12,  using a mix of reverse and regular applique:

Omigosh:

Still plugging away at Omigosh. I almost have all my 4 patches together. I have a huge pile to cut apart (I am chain piecing) and iron. My current chain is as long as my apartment is wide!! And I still have half a baggie to piece!

Current pile to be cut apart and ironed

Pile of ironed 4 patches

Each teeny tiny 4 patch is 1 1/2" unfinished! 

I also managed to get all my 2 3/8" squares (white and print) cut in half and matched print with white. They are next to be chain pieced together for my Shoo-Fly blocks.

I am hoping to get the Shoo-Fly Blocks completed by end of February but it is looking more like mid-March! Eek!! Hopefully I will be able to find lots of time in the next two weeks to get my butt in gear!

Well I am off to make a tea and get some crochet done. Yes I crochet as well! I have some ladies in the NICU who order hats from me ad I have sadly been neglecting working on them. So I am hoping to get at least 2 finished today! Wish me luck and hopefully I can post their pictures tomorrow!!

And I shall leave you with a pic of my tea making set up just for fun!!

Two More Dear Janes!

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Well, the temperature here is now a balmy -20! much warmer than the last few days at least. But still cold enough to spend my day off stitching! I just completed 2 more Dear Jane blocks like my title says :P Here are my completed A13 and B4 blocks

The points on my A13 were very tricky! It was definitely a challenging one to piece and it has a couple puckers which I think will come out well after the freezer paper is off and if pressed really well.

B4 I machine pieced the little strips and then hand pieced them onto the large centre square, as well as hand hieced the outer border.

Up next is C1 in a lovely red stripe print which I hope to complete tonight.

Jennifer Bosworth is having a free BOM program over at www.ShabbyFabrics.com 

http://www.shabbyfabrics.com/Country-Cottages-Mystery-BOM-Block-of-the-Month-Program-P12993.aspx

The January one is super cute! And I hope to get around to making it this month but we shall see. Working lots in the next 2 weeks.

Does anyone out there know of any other fun and free BOM programs? Applique, embroidery or quilting ones? I am thinking of compiling a list of them so that they are in one spot. So please, if you know of one give me a shout and I can start putting them together.

Happy Stitching!

Kallie