My Weekend Accomplishments

When Paula of The Sassy Quilter posted some great photos of how easy it is for all those quilting projects to get a bit out of control in one's home, I took a look around my place and saw a lot of the same scenarios.  Like me, I think Paula likes to start things.  So we got together and made a finishing pact for the weekend!

Our goal was one quilty accomplishment but once I got on a roll, I found I had quite a few projects close to completion and was able to get a number of things on to that "finished" pile. 

First, I finished up these potholders.  I had posted about them here but still had not sewn the binding on the second one.  (sigh!)

This finish was an easy one.  And it checks off a holiday gift as being done!

Yay!!

And as I was all set up for sewing potholders, I decided to finish up these four that have been in varying stages for over a year.


These were made from some old orphan blocks that I didn't want to make into a quilt.  Now hopefully they will find a home!

I also finished sewing up the quilt top from Amy Smart's Double Crossed pattern.  I made the quilt a little larger than the pattern so it finished out at about 60" by 70".

I hope to get it quilted up next week and will share some better photos.  I made my quilt a little scrappier than the pattern (of course) and like the effect of having two colors of diamonds.

I think this will make a great TV watching quilt!!

The big accomplishment for the weekend was piecing and quilting and binding these four scrap quilts.  You can read more about them here and here.









I now have this big stack of 8 quilts all ready to be delivered to a local charity that puts together bags of transitional necessities for children ages 1-17 who find themselves in a time of crisis.  They strive to include a quilt in every bag and they don't often get quilts for the older kids.   With the holidays coming, I know the need will be great.

So thanks Paula for the gentle nudge that cleaned up a whole lot of projects piling up around my home.  If I could have a few more productive weekends like this, I could really whittle down that far too big WIP list.  

I hope the momentum continues!!

Linking up with Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Colorful Trees and Pretty Bundles

I wanted to share these fun trees I saw on a customer's quilt.  She used some solid scraps she had leftover from another project and made these cute festive trees for a wallhanging.  I thought it was a great idea!

And I thought I'd share a picture of this pretty little giant bundle of Mirabelle I won from the Fat Quarter Shop on their Jolly Jabber blog.  Yes, there are 40 fat quarters in there and I am one lucky girl!!  The Fat Quarter Shop is sure good to the blogging community and I really want to thank them.

 Hmmmm...What to make....

I will just have to dream about it for now as I have to focus on some finishes!

I will be whoopin' it up over my prize at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Follow the link to see what everyone is celebrating about!

Finally Some Sewing!

Between reading up on new appliances, caulking/painting/constantly vacuuming, and multiple trips to the hardware store (Boy, are kitchen remodels extremely disruptive!), I finally escaped for a day of sewing with friends.  It felt so good to finally be able to sit for an extended period of time and just put a ton of thread through fabric. 

I so enjoyed just chain piecing my little heart out.

A friend of mine just bought a beautiful new home and a few of us met there to sew.  Knowing I love scraps, she brought out not one but three tubs of scraps!  AND a large trash bag full!!  

Needless to say, I was in scrap heaven.

While I desperately wanted to immediately dive right in to those colorful bits of wonderful fabric, I made myself focus on getting all the blocks for my Double Crossed quilt all sewn up.

I now have all 80 blocks made so I hope to share a finished quilt top soon.

When I did finally get to those scraps, I found a few sewn strip sets that were just waiting to be made into something.  As most of the work was done, all I had to do was chop them up into 2 1/2" bits and sew them into these cute little nine patches.

 

I also found a bunch of interesting triangles that were already cut.  I simply paired them up just to see what they would look like.

Some I sewed a print to a Kona Ash solid and some I sewed a print to another print.

     

Once I got home, I got to thinking the scraps looked pretty familiar and sure enough, after look through my pictures, I saw this quilt I had quilted for my friend.  I think all of the scraps came from the assembly of this beautiful quilt top.

Here is the little baby quilt I ended up making from all those bits.  I floated the 9 patches in some Kona Ash sashing and used the triangles for an interesting border.  As you can see, the outside border is a little ruffled.  As I didn't trim down any of the pieces, I expected some fit issues.  I will quilt them out once I get this on my quilting machine. 

Luckily I have a two week reprieve on the kitchen as I await the granite and the tile.  I am hoping to get caught back up on my projects.  I have so much I want to share!! 

Linking up with Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.