Finishes galore!

WOW -- when I decided to put energy into finishing quilts this year, I wasn't sure I'd get this many projects out of my closet, but I managed! In the past couple weeks I've finished one, and I've got photos of another that I finished back in March.

Here's the Kaleidoscope quilt, made as a top right along with Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope QAL :



I'd had the top complete and hanging in my closet (for an embarrassing amount of time) before I decided I should just quilt it by checkbook and get it DONE. I'm so glad I did!



I love the stripy border, and the summer's other big project has been our deck. My husband has been hard at work on that, and I repainted our chairs. Sweet, eh?

The other big finish is the Quilt of Valor I've been working on -- although it's not quite ready to send, as I have a label issue that I'll need to address:



I really love how the quilting turned out on this one:



I've got a few more things in the works, but the queen-sized line art quilt is off to the quilters, and so my big projects are now mostly DONE! Which means I can start some NEW stuff.

...Yeah, this is going to be dangerous.



Linking up with:

FINISH! YAY!

I had vowed, this year, in my head, that now I am getting back into sewing I need to finish some of the projects that have been weighing on my consciousness, and I'm pleased to announce that I've got one done!

Here it is, the Layer Cake QAL quilt: Dream Cheerful!



I wasn't 100% thrilled with the border, when I added it, but after I got it back from the quilter's I decided I liked it! The quilting really made the difference with this one.



I replaced a couple of the blocks in this one with blocks from other sources, and I love how they turned out. Here's a close-up of the quilting, which was done at Loose Threads in Milton.



The back is a cheater print, and I like how it turned out, along with the stripy binding.



It's going to its new home tomorrow. I'm so glad I finally got it done!

Hello, everyone!

Yes, yes, it HAS been quiet over here -- I've been away from the sewing and the quilt-blog world for a while, now! But, I wanted to share my most recent projects, since I'm back in front of the machine now that school's done!

It has been a week of rainbows for me here. First up, a garbage bag dispenser for Z's kindergarten teacher (click the pictures for bigger):



I bought this charm pack of rainbow batiks for the charm hexagon quilt I'm working on, which meant I had 2.5x5" coins that worked perfectly for this little project! I am ridiculously pleased with how this turned out, and I hope Z's teacher likes it!



AND THEN!

I can't take credit for the idea for this (I first saw it here, where her pictures are far better than mine), but it's such a good idea I couldn't help but do it for myself! I finally bought a Kona color card, and then...I cut it up! *GASP*





It's OK! I velcro-ed it back together!

The board I used is a 24x30" canvas, and the lesson I learned is don't underestimate how much velcro you need! I ended up using almost 21 feet -- so if you want to do this yourself, go ahead and buy the 20-foot box, you'll save a little $ and a couple trips to the store. :P

I'm still busy with a bunch of WsIP -- most of which are still listed here -- but I'm done with the Kaleidoscope quilt and nearly done with two more, so my finish-fest is underway this year. SO, I'm hoping for more frequent updates soon!

I hope everyone's doing well?

Pay It Forward! (And a tablet computer finds a home...)

Hello, everyone!

Valiantly as I may try, it appears during-the-school-year is a hard time for me to sew and blog about it! So, I apologize for the radio silence, from here, and I'd like to note that it's likely to continue being quiet here until May, after finals are over!

But I *have* managed to get a little sewing done, to wit (click the pictures for bigger):



A tablet case! Yes, I finally, finally decided to buy a tablet computer -- long have I been tempted, but I resisted because I don't really need it. But! I'm going to be doing a big project over the summer and will get an extra stipend for it, plus I got tenure (finally!), so, Sid the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime has come home!



It's like an iPad, but running Android OS, which I'm finding I like quite a lot. Like my and my mom's Kindle cases, Sid's case is lined with flannel from one of my daughter's old receiving blankets. And the backside:



I used this tutorial at Sew Mama Sew, and you can see I didn't include the pocket. I like that tute a lot!

PLUS!

I received a lovely infinity cowl from Hollie at The Undercover Crafter, as part of a Pay It Forward:





Wonderful, isn't it? Thank you, so much, Hollie!

What's the idea behind a crafty Pay It Forward? It's simple! I have one year from when Hollie sent me my gift, and I will be making handmade gifts for three people who comment here. You won't know when you'll get it, but one day, you'll open your mailbox and you'll have something fun! Each recipient, in turn, would commit to then sending along handmade gifts to three more people, and lo, the cheer will spread everywhere!

So, I'll be using the random number generator to pick three lucky people -- please, only one comment per person! Anybody want to play?

It's Back: FNSI

The Friday Night Sew-In is TONIGHT, yay!


I'm a little on the late side, but I'm in! I'm going to try and get some real headway on my sampler quilts: Either sewing the sashing for the Quilt of Valor, or getting all the corners on the sashing for the Dream On quilt. Decisions, decisions...

There's still time to sign up and come sew tonight!

Kindle madness!

Ahoy!

So I gifted my mom with a new Kindle for her birthday, back in December, and after playing with it while we were visiting over the holidays, we decided we needed one, too. I really like reading on it -- it's very easy on the eyes! (Although the instant gratification of purchasing books over the wifi can be dangerous, indeed!)

And of course I want to carry it with me, so I needed to make a case. And then I needed to make one for Mom, too! (Click each picture to make it bigger, with much more detail...)


I used this tutorial at the Sometimes Crafter, and I had to adapt the size for the new Kindles. To get the shape for the flap, I printed the template and used the highly scientific method of folding and scrunching the paper (and growling at it) until it was big enough, since I didn't have access to a photocopier to shrink the template. *g*

For our Kindle case (the first two pictures), I used some leftover Origins jelly roll strips and the lining is one of my daughter's flannel receiving blankets -- I really like the way the flannel is so soft on the Kindle.

I decided that the first case was a little big, so I made Mom's rainbow case smaller, although the next one should be a hair bigger. The rainbow is from a Kona brights charm pack, and the gray is Bella stone. And I had a much longer rainbow than I needed, so I used the leftover to make a mug rug to match!

Linking with:

WIP Wednesday and the Finish-a-Long

Good morning!

I've been on impromptu hiatus for so long I surprised even myself, but I'm glad to have a WIP Wednesday to help get back into the swing of things! And even better, this can also serve as my linky post for the first quarter of Rhonda's Finish-a-Long Party, which is a great idea! I encourage y'all to link up, if you've got a WIP or two in your closet that's making you anxious...

So, what do I want to finish in the next couple months? How about this:


This is going to be a Quilt of Valor--I've got all 12 blocks sewn, and now it's on to the sashing and borders!

And I'd also like to get this one to its person:


I just finished the last block for this, too--this is my Layer Cake QAL quilt (with two substitutions), and the sashing is a bit more fancy for this one, so that's the next step.

The next major finish-it goal, and this one's going to cheer up our living room:


The Kaleidoscope quilt! I know the picture is from August, but that is honestly the last time it got looked at--it's ready to baste and quilt, and I'm nervous about free-motioning it myself but I'm also rather looking forward to it as I know I can only get better from where I am!

And the last thing to finish:


The all-by-hand spring wallhanging! So far the quilting is going swimmingly, especially now that I have my glider chair in a location with excellent light and I can quilt very comfortably. It would be fabulous to have the spring wallhanging up during springtime!

And don't forget to link up with Lee's WIP Wednesday and check out the other fabulous in-progress projects...

The WsIP stats:
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
In progress: 9