Enjoying a couple days of nothing but sewing!

After a couple of very busy weeks, I've been enjoying some time just sewing at whatever I feel like working on.  It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to more of the same this afternoon.  I made good progress on a secret project for August - you are going to love it! Here's what I've got so far (sorry for the black and white, but I want to wait until the reveal to show you the lovely Island Batik fabrics)

 I almost finished up the pieced borders for the Brothers and Sisters quilt, sewed two sides on, and got them quilted.  I am closing in on being able to cross this one off my list!  I need to make some corner blocks and figure out how to work that corner part, then add the end pieced border.  I think there just might have to be a partial strip because of the size of the small border there.  Then three solid borders and I'm done!

I also started sewing a new shop sample.  This is my Tidepools pattern.  The fabrics are Marabella by Free Spirit fabrics.  This literally came home with me right off the cutting table as soon as it came into the shop - so pretty!  I've got one more set of flying geese and the square in a square units to compete before I start making blocks.

I've decided that I want to make this my OMG (one monthly goal) for July.  Pieced, quilted and bound!

I also need to update three patterns with new covers and write one pattern.  That should keep me busy for the month!

Well, I suppose I should go get some sewing done before the day gets away from me.

Linking up with Becca at Pretty Piney for What I Made Monday
Beth at Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Craving Chocolate...yes!

After taking a couple days break from the computer, I checked in this morning to see what the final Project Quilting challenge would be this week.  Craving Chocolate sounds like a great challenge to me, I do love my chocolate!  I had a great idea and decided to break out some pieces of lovely brown Island Batik fabric (received from Island Batik for my role as an Island Batik Ambassador) that I've never used yet.  My intention was to make a simple mug rug this morning and have an early finish for a change...

Well, I had so much fun cutting out the pieces using the Go! fabric cutting system that my quilt is definitely going to be larger than a mug rug!  Oh well, never enough chocolate, am I right?  (Thanks again to Accuquilt for providing this awesome cutting system, I am having way too much fun using it!)

Can't wait to start sewing these lovelies into a quilt!

I've got all the blocks quilted for the Brothers and Sisters quilt!  Now to get through the four borders....

And I'm putting the finishing touches on the wedding gown for my daughter!  I can't believe it's less than a month away already.  We are so looking forward to it!

I also snuck in a little bit of fun sewing some strings up.  Next week is Carla's String Along Blog hop - guess I'd better get ready for that, too.  Lots of sewing to do, I'm a happy girl to have so much fun fabric to play with and projects to work on.  I'll never be bored as long as I keep this up!

Looking forward to a fun week!

Happy National Quilting Day!

What are you going to do today?  I am looking forward to making more progress on quilting the Brothers and Sisters quilt! 

It took me a while to decide how to quilt all the blocks, but now I am on a roll and have just more than half of them done.

I'm doing curves and swirls - I think it adds a nice softness to the blocks.  

After the blocks are done I have borders to figure out.  Three plain and one pieced.  The pieced one I will do like it is in the book, but the plain borders I need to figure out.  I'm sure an idea will come once I get there!

This is a huge quilt, so I'm glad I was able to get the centers done fairly easily.  Thank goodness for that extra throat space that my Juki has!  I'm using light delft blue in 50 wt for the quilting, and it looks perfect.  I bought two large spools because, like I said - this quilt is huge, and I don't want to run out.  Plus I will be making matching shams as well.

Hope you have a great day, and especially that you get to do some quilting!

Cornerstones done and pieced border added!

I was really happy and relieved to get the cornerstones done today for the Brothers and Sisters quilt.  Of course, there was a bit of unsewing to do as I found one more upside down unit, but the corner units were sewn on without too much drama!

I was a little nervous about whether I had done my math correctly - it seems like I've had plenty of issues with these borders and I wouldn't have been surprised if they had been the wrong size!  I did a bit of a happy dance when they pinned on perfectly!  No more issues as I sewed them on and now I'm ready to add the final solid border.

After that, I'll be piecing the backing, then on to the quilting - it won't be too long before this is done at last.  One more project off my list!

Progress on Brothers and Sisters

There is a finish in my sights on this project!  I managed to cut 6 of the pink pieces wrong, then had to re-cut them, but I persevered and now the top and bottom orders are pieced!

Now I just need to piece the cornerstones and I can sew these babies onto the quilt - then just one more solid border and the top is ready to go.

Also I gave a customer at the quilt shop a great tip today.  She was trying to arrange some fabrics in order from light to dark.

I showed her how to use her cell phone camera to take a black and white shot of the fabrics to see if anything looks out of order.  She loved my tip and is ready to go cut and sew her strips now.

Have you learned any great new tips lately?

Friday Fun...

Today I took a day to relax, since tomorrow I work all day at the quilt shop and I've been working hard all week!  I had so much fun making Jen's Color challenge block for January that I decided to get ahead of the game and get the block done for February right away.  Some lovely pinks from my Island Batik stash!

Then I made a pink ribbon block to mail to a friend  (more Island Batik fabric):

I also added the pieced side borders to the Brothers and Sisters quilt I am working on.  Those borders are making me crazy!  The units are slightly different on each end, so have to go together in the right direction and every once in a while I find one that is upside down.  Grrr.  No pictures of that, but I hope to get the borders finished by Monday, so I'll have to show you later.

Then I started thinking about what I need to get finished in February.  Brothers and Sisters is due to be done, so it gets to go to the top of my list and I am choosing this for my OMG (One Monthly Goal)  Other than that, the Island Batik Ambassador challenge this month is Magnificent Minis, so I get to make a mini quilt!  I have a Grinch Panel to quilt, so that will be fun.  I should finish a Nine by Nine quilt for a shop sample.  And there's that wedding dress to sew a bazillion buttons on...time to get that project finished up for sure! 

I'm also participating in a fun blog hop this month, hosted by Bea of BeaQuilter - the Dust off a Quilt Book Blog hop  I've been having a blast going through books to pick out a project to make!

Frankly, I think that's enough to keep me busy for a short month like February!  Luckily no big home improvement projects are slated for this month, so I'll get plenty of sewing time.

Hope your month is off to a lovely start!  Tomorrow night I'll post the winner of my giveaway for the Getaway Blog hop...good luck!

Organizing my quilting projects!

Busy time in my sewing room right now!  I've been hard at work this week making twin quilts of my Twinkle Star design!  It's pretty fast making two of the same thing at the same time - and you get double the satisfaction at the end of sewing all your blocks:

Those two extra blocks are the beginnings of my Blockheads II quilt.  I am sooo far behind with my blocks, but I swear I am going to catch up...I don't know when, but I will!

I also did some machine quilting this week and got my new sample done for Mountain Dawning!

Just as pretty in bright colors as it was in blues!

I did quilt this one differently.  I stipple quilted the white and did curved and straight line quilting in the rainbow section.

So pretty!  This one will be going to Threads That Bind as a shop sample along with one of the Twinkle Star quilts.  We have kits or fabric available for both quilts.

Progress is stalled on the Brothers and Sisters Quilt while I wait for the border fabric to arrive.  I also will be working on one of the blocks that isn't playing well with the rest.

I finished up the top for my November Island Batik Ambassador challenge!  I also have the back ready so can get that basted and ready for quilting, at least I am good with that deadline.  Are you interested in becoming an Island Batik Ambassador?  The 2019 Application was just published - I highly recommend the experience, and have already applied for another year.

Last, but not least is my "secret sewing"!  I have so many of these projects that I am working on right now that I had to come up with a way to organize everything so I can work effectively and keep things together.  I made a trip to the Dollar Tree to see what I could find to help me.  Though it's not the most gorgeous and photogenic solution I found some great bins in the perfect size.  I have all my printed material for these projects in plastic sleeves so that I can double check fabric requirements, make notes for changes to instructions, and keep track of my progress.  These four bins are to become completed quilts for the Island Batik 2019 Spring Summer Catalog.  I can't show you the fabric yet, but you know it is all beautiful!

Next week I will show you my project for the Fall/Winter catalog - it is so bright and beautiful!  It's a little strange working so far ahead on projects, but also fun.  It's almost like a surprise when the fabrics come out and you remember how gorgeous they were!

Back to the sewing machine, because as you can see, there is lots of stitching to be done here!

Come join the link up on Myra's Blog:

Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday Motivation

I finished up my last wedding wedding project last night, so this week should be mostly quilting. Yay!

My design wall is so full, but what I really want to get going on in the Brothers and Sisters quilt.  I am halfway done with the blocks, and am ready to get the rest finished up.

The quote I picked to motivate me this week doesn't show up well on this busy block, but it says:

"Life is something like a remarkable, exciting puzzle.  It comes piece by piece in packages marked days."  John Powell

Don't you just love that?  Let's enjoy each piece as it comes.  Some are dark, and some are light, but each one is an important piece of the puzzle of our lives.

Have a wonderful week!

Linking up: