This was a very productive weekend. I was able to get a large chunk of things checked off of my To Do List. I got a needlepoint blocked, two purses made for a customer and I quilted a quilt for a friend. I think that I am starting to get a handle on machine quilting. I tried the machine quilting thread again, and this time to worked great. Go figure! I also got to work on two new bag patterns. One I finished (more on that later) and one will be completed soon (more on that later, too). I can’t believe that I am about to say this, but my To Do List is getting smaller and smaller and I am loving it. I am going to spend this week making purses, but there are no pressing deadlines hanging over my head. I almost don’t know what not having a deadline feels like. I might actually have time to give my house a proper cleaning, because who knows when the last time that was. I haven’t worked on quilting since I came back from the retreat at the beginning of May. I have been itching to work on the Pinwheel quilt again. I am doing a UFO (Unfinished Projects) Challenge and I put the quilt for my friend as my project this month. I feel like I was kind of cheating on that one since I had to do that anyway, so I should make working on the Pinwheel my real UFO for this month. Maybe I’ll even piece it on my new featherweight. I haven’t even had a chance to use it since I got it. My new job is going great. My first week went well. I had fun and I meet a lot of nice people. I wasn’t able to work on Friday because Fletcher was sick. He was up Thursday night with a 104 degree fever. We thought it was strep, but the doctor said it is just a virus. He is doing much better now, thank goodness. Those high fevers freak me out. The poor little guy was just burning up. I hope everyone has a happy Memorial Day and that you take time to remember all those who have served.
Category Archives: quilts
A Productive Weekend
New Fabric
This is the purse I made my mother for Mother’s Day with some fabric I just got. I love this fabric, don’t you?
Okay, so the window treatments are done. I didn’t exactly get them finished by end of day Sunday as planned. I spent the whole day in bed yesterday trying to get over a nasty cold. I did get them done this morning. Better late than never, right! I am so glad they are done. I feels great not to have any pending window treatment projects. I have been grateful for the work and extra money, but I have been needing a break from window treatments. There is so much other stuff I have on my list to sew!
For all of the machine quilter’s out there, I need your help. What kind of thread should I be using to quilt on my domestic machine? I have been using Gutterman’s, but I have a feeling that it is not the best thing to use. I also tried YLI machine quilting thread, but that was a total disaster. TOTAL DISASTER! Any suggestion on what to use?
Where to Begin
Hello Everyone. There has been so much going on in my little world this past week that I have not had time to blog. I finished this little baby quilt for my sister. I got the pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts’ blog. It is the stacked coin quilt she did for the Moda Bake Shop.
I also made this cute-as-can be fabric necklace. It was super easy to make and I love the way it turned out. I found the tutorial here at Sew, Mama, Sew! I will definitely have to make some more of these. 
Let’s see, what else… I got these beautiful fat quarters in the mail this week. I keep saying that I am NOT going to buy anything else until I get what I have already bought used up. You can obviously see how well I have stuck to that pledge. The worst part is that this is not all of it. I’m not scared, I’ll say it… My name is Gina and yes, I’m a fabriholic.
I have really been trying hard to get all of the window treatments I have to make for customers done THIS week. I have two more to complete and I am determined to get them done by the end of day Sunday. We shall see….
And Carolyn, I’ll bring the fabric you won to the next guild meeting, if that is okay with you.
Pinwheels
This is the beginnings of another quilt I started while on the Retreat. I got the pattern from this book by Sandy Klop. I would love to make the one on the cover, but I think it might be a little too advanced for me. It has some terrific quilts in it. The fabric is from Heather Bailey’s Freshcut Collection and I got it at a new local fabric store, Karen Gray Designs. If you’re local, her store is in Reynolda Village and it is beautiful. She carries the Westminster Fabrics. I could buy every fabric she has and not find one I didn’t like. By the way, if you go to her blog, she is having a fat quarter giveaway of 12 of Jay McCarroll’s Woodland Wonderland.
A Weekend of Many First’s
This past weekend I went on my first Quilting Retreat at Montreat in the Black Mountains of North Carolina. It was a blast! I meet so many nice ladies who where all very generous in sharing conversations, quilting tips and supplies with me. I spent the whole weekend laughing and sewing. What could be better?!! The picture is of the beginnings of a quilt that I began while there. It is my first Dresden Plate and it is from a pattern taken from this book, which is fabulous. Some of the great ladies there took the time to show me how to machine applique. I took what they taught me and used it in my first attempt to machine applique the Dresden Plate to the background. I took my camera with the intentions of taking lots of pictures for my blog, but I was having so much fun, I forgot to take any. This was also my first time leaving my son since he was born three years ago. It was hard to leave him and I was so happy to see him today, but I am grateful for the invitation to the retreat and so happy the I made the decision to go.
My Little Corner
This is my new little corner. I found this great rug at Home Goods which inspired a little up dating of my living room. I wanted a desk to put here so that I could put my new Featherweight on it, but I could not find one in my price range (free) so I sent my husband out to one of the buildings on the farm and we dug out the metal industrial looking table. It was under piles of lumber and my husband was not too happy about that, but he got it out for me anyway. He still doesn’t understand exactly why I would want this table in our house, but I think it is cool. The drapes are new. In the middle of all this sewing window treatments for market, I decided that I needed new ones to go with the new rug, of course. I never liked the old ones and I got the fabric at a store that sells it for $2 a yard. How can you beat that! I got the mirror from Walmart for $20 and the painting from Guildmaster. The glass jars and flower are from Home Goods and I stole the stool out of my parents garage. That little quilt hanging on the rack is the first quilt I ever made. It’s a little nine-patch lap quilt. Oh, and that deer head….that is my husbands latest addition to our living room. (I have my hobbies, he has his!)
Spiderweb Quilt
How on earth does a spider make such a beautiful web in no time at all? This one is taking me quite some time… but I love the way it is coming out. Anyone in my quilting bee can tell you that I like to start a quilt and work on it non-stop until it is done and then start the next one. However, this one is not one that I have been able to work on constantly. I got these 10 blocks put together and haven’t done anything else with it in the last few months. I am debating on what the actual size of this quilt will be, but I think maybe just a lap quilt right now. I plan on making 20 more blocks, but then I think 32 more would be better. We’ll see. I found the pattern here while searching the worldwide web. Would you believe that the designer lives in the next town over from mine. Small world.
Work Load
This is my busy time of year. I have spent the last month or so in what I call “the sweat shop” making window treatments for a showroom at the International Home Furnishing Center in High Point and next week I start work helping my very talented friend set up the Guildmaster showroom for the market. If you click on the link, you can see photos from the showroom last market. I have sewn window treatments for what seems like FOREVER and finally today, I wrapped up the last one!!!! They are in a huge pile waiting to be picked up in the morning. I cannot wait to get rid of them! I’m over window treatments. It has been cutting into my quilting time. And, even though setting up the showroom cuts into my quilting time too, I am really looking forward to that. I feel very lucky to get to work on such an amazing showroom with some really wonderful, talented people. The desk and chair pictured is from Guildmaster and sits in my bedroom. In my opinion, the quilts on it are the only kind of work load to have.
In case you wondered, the window treatments kept me from getting to my new pattern and I didn’t get the Mutli-Tasker bag made, but I’ll show you as soon as I do.
Finish Daisy Chain…Check
I gave you a peek of my latest quilt, The Daisy Chain, the other day and I am please to say that I am officially finished with it. I’ve got the binding done, the label put on and I’ve even washed it. I love the way a quilt gets all crinkled up after it has been washed, don’t you? I am very please with the way it turned out. Now I just need to decide what kind of quilt to make next…
My Favorite Quilt
I am new to quilting and I love it. I became addicted instantly! I started taking lessons from a great teacher last summer at my favorite local shop; Knit One, Smock Too and my life has not been the same since! Quilting has opened me up to a whole new creative outlet and I have made some good friends (and some good quilts) as a result. This is the second quilt that I ever made and it is my favorite, so I thought I would share it with you. I made it using a Wee Play jelly roll by Sandy Klop of American Jane and a pattern from this book.
The weather was nice today after several days of rain, so my husband, little boy and I took a walk around the farm. I found the perfect place and the perfect models to take some shots of my quilt! I think little Jenny, our donkey, likes this quilt too!
