I am still excited about winning the contest because I found out that I won the free-motion quilting DVD Fast & Free! Volume 0.5 by Patsy Thompson. I really want to learn how to free-motion quilt. My machine is an APQS EZ Q, so doesn't have the throat space or front handles like the larger machines. But I have tried some f-m and did ok, even though it is tricky from the back of the machine. If anyone has experience doing this, please share!
Two pieces of exciting news. I won one of the prizes in the Quilting Bloggers Falling Leaves Contest!!! I am not sure what prize I won yet, but I did win. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!
I worked on my curvy blocks today and got all the rows put together. I just have to decide if I need to add a border or not. It is already 77" x 90", so it wouldn't take much and it would fit a queen. This is the best picture I can get with it on the floor....need someone to help hold it up, can anyone come over?
I am bound and determined to get that curved pieced quilt sewn together today. It seems like I have been working on it forever since I have stopped and done other projects in between, plus work. I did get a few rows together last night, so hopefully some pix later to share!
I had today off so went back to work on the curved pieced blocks. These are the darker ones. I now have all the blocks sewn together, so need to square them up and then will be able to start sewing them together. More pix soon!
I sewed for awhile then took off and went to lunch & Goodwill shopping with a friend. We had fun and got lots of chatting done.
Spent the day quilting and working on quilt class stuff. The day went by quickly, it is back to work tomorrow. It is a short week, though, as we are off Wed. as well as Thursday and Friday. Yippee....I am ready for some down time!
What did you do today?
You can now vote for your favorite quilts in the Falling Leaves Contest at Quilting Blogger. I have entered the Leaves Will Fall Tablerunner (see pic in post 11/17/08 below) in the small projects category, and Betsy (Quilting Fiesta)has entered Leaf Delight in the large projects category. Go see all the beautiful projects there and vote for your favorites! Voting will be open until Nov. 28.
I have a Christmas Table topper class tomorrow. I can't remember if I have posted a pic, so here it is. Should be a fun class. It is a different block, not your usual pieced block.
Hopefully class will go well...we usually have fun.
The Leaves Will Fall Tablerunner is one I designed for a class last fall. I have since quilted & finished it and it is on my sister's table! I wish I had a picture of it quilted but must not have taken one.....darn!I entered the Falling Leaves Photo Contest at Quilting Bloggers with it a few weeks ago. The voting will commence next weekend. I don't usually enter contests, but thought it would be fun. There are so many beautiful quilts, runners, wallhangings and even some bags. Check them out!
I started quilting another small quilt tonight. I hope to get it finished tomorrow night.
This is a picture from class this morning. Some of my classes run for 2 Saturdays so that people have a chance to work on it during the week in between if they have time. Sometimes there are more steps to learn the second week, but this time it was an easier quilt so some of them really made some headway during the week. De got hers almost finished, so finished it in class this morning. She does want it for a Christmas gift, so that was motivating her. She took Beginning Quilting about 2 1/2 years ago and has been quilting like crazy ever since!
I want to spend some time quilting tomorrow with the Quiltathon going on over at Patchwork Times. I got a little done tonight, but mostly worked on class stuff. So I am really ready to quilt tomorrow. Anyone else joining the Quiltathon?
I had so much fun tonight. A few friends and I got together and sewed and chatted. We try to get together every month or 2. One friend is handquilting her son's Christmas gift, another worked on stringpiecing (I did too) and one just chatted!!! It is fun to catch up. We even had a little 3 yr. old helper, he was actually helping his grandma sew. It was a great night.
This is the quilt I quilted on Sunday for a friend. I have a midarm machine, an APQS EZ Q, so usually use pantos as I don't have the range of a larger machine. I used this pattern because there was so much background, so wanted something that wouldn't take away from the gorgeous kaleidoscope patterns she made.
Don't ya love my orange carpet???? lol
This is one of the quilts she is giving away at Old Red Barn. She actually is giving away 3 pretty quilts, go check it out.
Well I couldn't resist laying them out even though I haven't squared them yet or finished sewing them. But this gives me a peak at what it might look like. I'm getting excited to put it together.
I worked on quilting a quilt most of the day, taking a few breaks to stretch my back. It is almost finished, hopefully I can finish it later. Now I am going to see The Secret Life of Bees with my daughter. I have heard good things about that movie.
I haven't really done anything interesting to write about the last few days, except work and sew. I did have my Beginning Quilting class last night. They worked on the nine-patches. It is fun to help people get started quilting. And it is always amazing to them that you don't cut 9 squares to make the nine-patch as we do it by strip-piecing. This is the quilt they make. It is a good one to learn the basics.
I hope to work on the curved piecing blocks some more this weekend and get a little machine quilting in too.
I sewed & cut out some more of the curved blocks tonight. Now I am getting into some of the greens and blues. I want the colors to sort of flow into each other, from pinks and oranges, to greens and blues and purples.
These are the last set of colors, haven't gotten them cut yet.
I started working on this bag this morning before we went shopping. It is a simple bag, with a lining, but seriously took less than 2 hours. And that was while I was figuring out how to make it as I went along. I like it...I wanted it large enough to carry groceries, but not be too heavy. I put pockets on front and back to carry things like foil and other smaller purchases. THEN we went shopping!
We ended up going to Seams To Be Quilt Shoppe in Plattsmouth, NE. It is a nice quilt shop with a lot of variety and only about 1/2 hour away. I got some pretty batiks for a project I want to do soon. It is a curved piecing project. I have some fabrics here that I will use too, so need to put these with them to see how much more I need. After we got back we walked on the bike trail and over the pedestrian bridge. It was the perfect day to walk, it must be about 70 here today....one of those perfect fall days....probably won't be many of those left.
Now that I have done a little ( yes, very little)cleaning I am ready for some quilty adventures. First of all, I am going shop hopping with my sis in law. She travels around the state of Ne. for her job, and during down times visits many quilt shops. So she wants to take me to some of them. Should be fun....though I am not sure where we are going.
Then hope to get a little quilting in this weekend too. Plus I need to work on an easy cloth bag for a class I want to do. The fabric is pictured above, though the background is more greenish, so the color isn't good. With everyone going to cloth grocery bags, I want to make one that is easy and pretty too. I know how I want to do it, just haven't made it yet. Half of sewing is in the planning. Better get going...hopefully later I will have some pictures for you!
I had today off so went back to work on the curved pieced blocks. These are the darker ones. I now have all the blocks sewn together, so need to square them up and then will be able to start sewing them together. More pix soon!
I sewed for awhile then took off and went to lunch & Goodwill shopping with a friend. We had fun and got lots of chatting done.
The Leaves Will Fall Tablerunner is one I designed for a class last fall. I have since quilted & finished it and it is on my sister's table! I wish I had a picture of it quilted but must not have taken one.....darn!
I had every intention of spending the whole day quilting. This was my first project. I was pinning it to the machine when my mom called. They were wondering if I wanted to shop a bit and get lunch. They live about an hour away, so I don't see them too often. So of course I said yes. So I finished pinning it on and quilted the first 2 rows. It is a fun rose & vine pattern.
Then I went to meet them, shopped, ate, chatted, took a walk...it was great to see them. One of my daughters came too.
Yea!! I am taking it off!
Smokey is admiring it! She enjoys quilting too.
Here is a close-up. I used a variegated thread because I didn't want the quilting to take over, and it really blends in with those busy fabrics. You can see the rose if you look at the red. I am really happy to get it finished. It is a friend's quilt. She made it during one of my classes. Hope everyone had a good day and got some quilting done.
Well I couldn't resist laying them out even though I haven't squared them yet or finished sewing them. But this gives me a peak at what it might look like. I'm getting excited to put it together.
Today's Whirly Girls quilt class went well. Should have some pictures next week of some partially finished quilts.
After I came home I worked on the curved pieced blocks some more.Hopefully I will get the rest sewn together tomorrow so I can start laying them out. I have about 28 to sew together yet.
I stopped sewing to talk to my daughter on the phone, then haven't gotten back to it tonight.(So it is her fault! lol) You can see they are getting darker as I get to the last colors. The last 3 sets are all the darker colors. I am getting anxious to see them laid out and may try some combinations later.
I haven't really done anything interesting to write about the last few days, except work and sew. I did have my Beginning Quilting class last night. They worked on the nine-patches. It is fun to help people get started quilting. And it is always amazing to them that you don't cut 9 squares to make the nine-patch as we do it by strip-piecing. This is the quilt they make. It is a good one to learn the basics.
I sewed & cut out some more of the curved blocks tonight. Now I am getting into some of the greens and blues. I want the colors to sort of flow into each other, from pinks and oranges, to greens and blues and purples.
I made another bag today. I made this one smaller without a pocket. It still holds a lot
Then I got out the fabrics I bought yesterday and some I had here and decided I had enough to make the curved pieced blocks. So I started on them this afternoon. They are really easier than you would think to do. 
I have colors ranging from pinks and oranges to greens and blues to purples. Hopefully it will turn out like I want...
I also went walking for a bit today, it was another gorgeous fall day. There were many people out doing the same thing. Guess we need to enjoy it while it lasts!
I started working on this bag this morning before we went shopping. It is a simple bag, with a lining, but seriously took less than 2 hours. And that was while I was figuring out how to make it as I went along. I like it...I wanted it large enough to carry groceries, but not be too heavy. I put pockets on front and back to carry things like foil and other smaller purchases. THEN we went shopping!
