Finished Top & Broken Bones

So Thursday I finished the coffee wall hanging. 

These are the fabrics I used.  Love....

Just so you know I completely WINGED making this quilt.  I wanted it to be simple so it wouldn't take forever to piece.

So I made the sashed pieces and then came up with the center strip piece.  I saved the striped fabric for the binding, because I am slightly obsessed with striped bindings....

I used the left-over fabric to make the back.  It is at the quilter's now.

In other news......I broke 3 ribs Friday afternoon.  Had a wreck with my horse, he's OK (the turd).  I broke my 2nd rib and fractured the 3rd and 5th.  Had to stay in the hospital over night since the top broken rib had made a small puncture in the top of my lung.  This morning it was all back to normal though, other than the broken bones!  Pain meds are my friends right now......

They broke on my right side so rotary cutting is difficult at best.  Guess I'll stick to bindings for the next week or two.

It sucks not being able to pick up my little one though!!!  :(

Always,

Gentrie

P.S. I am still starting my new job Monday.......I know I'm stubborn.  I'll take it easy I promise.

Done!

I got the baby quilt top done!

Of course, when I was ready to put the last row on last night I saw an error!!!!

Can you see it?!  Ooohhh I was mad!  It was literally a 20 minute fix, but it was the POINT of having to do it.  Messes with the mojo, you know!

Well, fixed......here it is with the first 1" skinny border.  I really thought the blue needed a little more representation.

When I laid out the last border I was a little unsure.  Now that I see it on I think it is great.  The picture does not really convey these colors properly, and since it is raining today, no outside pictures.

Yeah, the orange gets washed out in every picture.  Still loving the little Gecko guys!

This is the flannel backing I chose for it.  I'll have to piece it.  See the little gecko guys on there too?  Super cute.

These are calling my name.  I want to make a small wall hanging for the kitchen.  I am sketching it up now (well not RIGHT now).........keep you posted!

Always,

Gentrie

A Sneak Peek....

I am making PROGRESS!!!!!

Almost done!  Four more blocks to go and then two borders!

I plan on working on this binding this evening, and probably tomorrow evening.....

Always,

Gentrie

Some Time To Catch Up

So I am switching jobs and decided to take a week off in between, with Piper still in daycare, to do some quilting.

First I cleaned my machine.....

Gave it some oil, got all the lint and junk out.

Ready to GO!!!!!

And.........THESE are next on the agenda, after the baby quilt.

I will keep you all posted on my progress this week!

Always,

Gentrie

New Laptops and Progress

It has been a little bit since I last posted due to multiple factors. Daycare quitting, computer exploding....the list goes on.

 

Anyway, I had no way to post, but I did get to spend time with my little one for the week. Let me say, I am ready to go back to work.  LOL!  No really it was wonderful to spend the time with her I loved it!  *sigh* 

 

Today my wonderful husband bought me a new laptop.  I guess he got tired of me complaining.

 

Anyway, in bits and pieces and here and there I did accomplish a couple of projects this last week.  Piper's baby quilt is Dr. Seuss fabrics.  Since she has now graduated to a toddler bed I decided she needed a pillow case and a curtain to tie everything together and try to make everything hers.

 

Her new bed with her quilt and new pillow.  She had just strung out all her books off her shelf.

 

 



 

Her pillow case, I used this fabric to fussy cut the characters out for the center blocks and for the second border in her quilt.

 

 

Here is the simple curtain I made.  I noticed after I hung it that the diamond pattern in her quilt follows with this diamond pattern on this fabric. 

 

Of course her baby quilt was completed a few months ago but now it starting to look like Piper's room.

 

I also made a little progress on the great nephew's quilt. 

 

This is the first block of twelve done.  Sorry for the lighting, throws the colors a little off.

 

I didn't realize until after I started making it that the primary colors are orange and blue.  Bronco colors.......the daddy loves the Broncos.

 

I now have 2 blocks done.  PROGRESS!

 

It is back to the grind Monday though....

 

Always,

 

Gentrie

Work Interferes Once Again!

I had to work Saturday this last weekend.

Translation:  I did not get to quilt at all.

Whenever i have to work a weekend Sunday ends up becoming my make up day to clean/groceries/laundry.......the list goes on.

I think most of you get my drift.

I did manage to get a little cutting done one night though.....

I got the center blocks cut which are 6-1/2" square.  That blue batik is the dark color in the pattern.  I have my little cheat sheet there listing what I have to cut for each fabric.

OMG, I love the little gecko guys....cute!

I do have to shrink this quilt down a row since I did not have enough gecko fabric to do 16 blocks.  That fabric is "Gecko I" from Timeless Treasures.

I figure not a big deal to find another batik to throw on another border.  Done...

I'll keep you posted as I go.  Tonight is parent teacher conferances, so probably won't get to it tonight *sigh*.

Always,

Gentrie

Little Victories

So I made progress on my Belated Baby Toddler Quilt.

The BIG obstacle was getting the table cleared off.  

I take little victories where I can get them......

Always,

Gentrie

The skeleton out of the closet....and back in....

So I did manage to complete a couple small things this weekend. 

I got the new buttons sewn on Hailey's boots.  They worked great, and I did have to dig for a large heavy duty needle to get through the suede and sheepskin.  

I used a thick pearl cotton also, I didn't want the thread to bust again!

Hailey was excited, and when she put them on this morning she said it was like putting on new boots.  Well.....

I got the binding done on the Halloween Skeleton.

 I really like this guy.  I might just hang him up year round.

Here is a shot of the scrappy back.  Oh yeah, that's why I'm not hanging it yet, no sleeve.  

I'm too lazy to do that now, actually I have another project I want to start instead.........

Always,



Gentrie

Another Baby Quilt....Late

So I've been telling myself I cannot start another quilt until I get all the bindings done on the quilts I just got back.

Shhhh, OK who am I kidding?  Three of them are holiday quilts that are MONTHS away.  I have time.

SO, as the Queen of procrastination I came up with a pattern for my new nephew (who is no longer new).  He is a few months younger than my Piper, which means over a year.....

Anyway this is what I came up with..

This is what I originally came up with in sketching....(yes I did use my block fan deck)....

In looking at my fabrics for the quilt I realized I had the darks and lights in the wrong spots.

So I re sketched in the correct shading order.....and a small border.  This ends up being a little over 4 feet square.

Now all I need is time.  Hmmmm, where can I get me some of that????

Always,

Gentrie

Fan Deck of Quilt Blocks

When we lived in Minnesota I had a friend who would have a quilting weekend at her house on Superbowl weekend every year.  It was awesome, and fun.  She had a book that contained about every block known to man in it.  It would never fail that book would end up at my station with a piece of graph paper with me figuring out a new quilt to make. 

I loved her book.

I miss her book.

I'm sorry, I do miss her too.  She is my bestie, but I also miss her book.

I also miss the Superbowl party weekends.

I digress......

Anyway.........when I was in my local quilt shop to drop off some quilt tops that were a hundred years old to get quilted.  (Well maybe not a hundred, but they were OLD man.  Like maybe 8 years old????)

I picked this baby up!

It's a fan deck of blocks, 102 rotary cut blocks.

It gives you 5 different size options for each block.  I think that is my favorite feature, the size options.

It also has the handy-dandy charts and reference information in it.

While I think my friend's book still had more blocks in it, this one is pretty cool.

And handy.....

Confession:

While I have not actually used it yet, I have fondled it, and played with it.  Wondering what great creations will come of it. 

I have bindings to finish.  Blah!  Another reason I miss my quilty friend, she was a whiz at bindings and could whip one out in no time flat.  She enjoys doing them and would do at least 2 peoples bindings at her quilty weekend.

Rachel, will you come to Montana and do my bindings?????

Please?????

Miss you girlfriend..... :)

Always,

Gentrie

Spring Cleaning

OK, so it is not spring here yet, but the last few days sure have felt like it. 

I have cleaning closets and putting stuff up for sale, even Hailey got the spring clean bug and downsized her room load and then rearranged her room.  WOW!

I was actually looking for something specific in my boxed up quilting stuff when I came across a bunch of completed tops.

So I completed a new Halloween top and sent them ALL to the quilter to get quilted.  Might as well wrap SOMETHING up, Right?

Here they are......

This one turned out really cool since she quilted it in spiderwebs....

This is for Mark, and she quilted it with nuts, bolts, hammers and stuff....cool.  It would actually be cute in my office also.....just sayin'.

I have a challenge for you.......Who can date these fabrics?  Even I can not remember....

  OK, this one it would not import correctly, sorry....

I'm binding this one with the backing fabric, because I love it.....

I'll give you a hint......the skeleton one is the only recent one......

Go.....

Always,

Gentrie

Piper's Quilt

I know I had commented quite a while ago that Piper's quilt was done, but technically it wasn't.  I did not have the binding sewn on until this last week.  I finished it over the holiday break.

I used a striped binding cut on the bias because that is how I roll.  I have an obsession with striped bindings.

This is the front........

This is the back........

And while I must say I am getting irritated with not being able to rotate pictures in here......you can still see it.

The back is minky and this is a super warm quilt (yes I have used it).

Piper loves it.  While she is not the type of kid to drag a blankie around, she does like to snuggle with it when we are on the couch, and gets mad when anyone else wants to use it (unless she is lying with them).

So now, it IS done.  OFFICIALLY!

Always,

Gentrie

A Quicky...

A QUILTING quicky that is.

I made this quilt for a gal in our office who just had a little baby boy about 3 months ago. 

I gave this to her about three weeks ago.

I know, I'm so far behind.

I quilted it on my machine.  The first time I've done that really.  Not the greatest job in the world, but OK.

You can't see it, but I quilted the words "Choo Choo" all in the border.  I love striped binding cut on the byass.

Flannel backing of course for this winter.  Liz said she is going to use it in his crib.

This was fun and easy.  Just a cute, fun pattern that I threw a border on.

As my daughter would say: "Easy peasy, Mac and cheesy!"

Gentrie

To Quilt Along, Or Not to Quilt Along

I've been thinking about doing a small quilt along project. I would like to just start with a baby quilt size or a small wall hanging.

Well crib size, you can decide to give it to a baby or hang it on your wall. 

What do you think?

I would make it a mystery quilt.  I would tell you what you need in fabric and in what shades (light, medium, dark).  I would guide you through all the blocks and we would slowly put them together.

Wallah!  You have a quilt.

So what do you think?

Should we try it?

Gentrie

Grandma's Quilt

Well, I finished my Mom's Birthday Quilt.  A little late, just a little.  We had a lot going on this summer and I just wasn't set up for quilting until recently.

I know, excuses, excuses.

Well anyway, a little background.  I've been planning this quilt a very long time.  I designed it myself on my computer (using EQ6).  It took me FOREVER to pick the fabrics though.  I mean this is my Mom, and yes I know her well, but her tastes seem to change and her color choices REALLY very depending on what the color is for.  Eclectic is a good word for her, in some ways.  Not in others. 

Anyway....I had a real hard time picking fabrics I thought she would like.  We would go to a quilt shop and her tastes would be all over the board.  Crap!

So I buckled down, bit the bullet, took the leap, whatever euphemism you want to use and picked out the colors.

Now it is done, quilted, bound and all.

Tell me what you think, honestly....

It's a queen size, draped over my couch.  Yes, it's hiding my new couch.  (I'll show that some other day.)

The back is a burgundy leaf pattern. (Oak leaf or maple leaf.)  I made the little label on the back.

She has seen it missing the binding.  She really liked it, I think, or she was just trying not to hurt my feelings.  You know, sometimes it's hard to tell with parents.

Well, let me know........

Anxiously awaiting review,

Gentrie

Some Awesome Friends

My friends in Minnesota sent me a gift a week ago.

Oops!  Um, that's not it.......

Let me find it here......


Oh!  Here it is!

It's a quilt kit of the 2011 Quilt Minnesota fabric!  Including backing and a charm pack.

AND.......they all signed a card to me......it made me tear up.  **sniff**

I miss them all, Thanks to all my awesome and amazing quilting friends in Minnesota.  I miss you guys!

LOVE

Gentrie

Saying Goodbyes

So last night was quilt guild.  I made my last run with the girls to Perkins for "cofee".  We usually sit and chat from about 9:00 to 11:00 or 11:30ish.  This was my last run.  I'm sorry to say we were missing a couple girls last night.

That 'We Can Do It' sign in the background is a lot like the sign that goes on every quilt retreat with us.

We tried to get Hailey to flex her arm but she wouldn't.  Which is really unusual for her, she is normally such a ham!

Tomorrow we are doing a day quilting retreat.  All of us together one day sewing our brains out, and laughing one last time.

Geez, I'm gonna miss them.  I'll post pictures later this weekend.

Sometimes saying Goodbye is so much FUN, and SAD at the same time.......

Gentrie

The last block....

The last block on Mom's quilt has 32 pieces in it, and is 8" x 8" square when finished.  Here are a few photos of the process...

Chain piecing the squares together...sewing a 1/4" on each side of the line.

Cutting apart the squares once sewn on both sides.....cut down the line.

After ironing the new half-squares I trim them down to 2-1/2" square, 16 total.

Laying out the pattern of the star from the trimmed down squares......for sewing together.

Here they are along the top of the quilt.  Sorry my flash decided to quit working.

TA DA!  Quilt done, well almost, now it has to be quilted and bound......but real close!  The hardest part is done.

I hope Mom loves it.  I'll share pictures after it is quilted and bound.

Gentrie