Kelly's Kwilts

Small Updates

I have been trying to work on projects again now that everyone is on the mend. I spent the afternoon putting binding on some baby quilts for the guild. These are just pre-quilted pieces of fabric that needed binding so I said I’d take 2. Granted I brought these home in February and should have finished them already, but that’s ok. Binding is now attached to 1 side, and I’ll work on sewing it to the back this weekend during all the family travels for Easter. I can return these in April so they can be donated to one of the charities we support.

I’ve gotten another hexagon diamond done this weekend, I have 3 more and I can start adding the next row. Hoping to have another overall picture by Monday, but I’m not counting on it! I am planning on working on another diamond tonight, might be able to get it done while I watch tv.

I did manage to get all the squares put together into sets on Sunday afternoon. So next time I can sit down and work on Wiggly Whimsy I can attach the rectangles on all of them. I love that this is a SAL, however these rows go together so fast I just can’t wait until the next month to work on it. So I’m thinking I’ll just work on it in batches when I can and see when I get it done.

We had our taxes done last night and are getting a refund. Hubby said I can get a Mac mini since my PC is getting older and having issues. Instead of reformatting everything I’d much rather get something new. I think we are ordering it tonight, I hope it gets here fast!!!

Wiggly Whimsy – Row 3

I am FINALLY able to sit at the sewing machine and work on a project. We’ve had a lot of illness in the house the last few weeks and when we weren’t sick we were either packing my sister’s apartment or actually moving her to the house. The move is all done and while Alex and I are still sick, we are feeling much better!

So while Alex napped today I decided to work on the next row for Wiggly Whimsy. 3 rows are now completed and I can’t wait to see this completed. I think it’s going to look really cool with the black background. I’m really happy with how this quilt is turning out. I just finished sorting the rest of the 2.5″ squares into 4 piles for the rest of the rows. I might see if I can get all of the squares put together tonight – unless the hubby wants to watch shows! I took a picture of all 3 finished rows together, just looks cool!

Since I have a lot of projects that I’m working on that are using black as a background, I decided to get a bolt of the black Kona from Joann’s. A bolt is 8 yards and while it’s 7.99 a yard, I got a discount on the last 3/4 yard since it wasn’t a full yard. Plus I used a 40% off coupon and paid less $45 for 7+ yards of fabric plus a couple of water soluble markers that I need for my hand quilting. I shouldn’t need anything else to finish Wiggly Whimsy, and hopefully nothing else for the hexagon diamonds quilt.

I don’t have an update on hexagon diamonds, since I haven’t really been working on it lately. When I was sick I just didn’t feel like working on any hand work. I was working on the hexi prep during the last guild meeting, and it just sat for a week or 2. I almost have 1 of the 4 diamonds completed that I need for the next row, hopefully will be putting that all together by the weekend.

I’ll try not to be a stranger anymore, Alex has finally hit the terrible twos and I need the sewing to keep my sanity!

Design Wall Monday 030413

I haven’t had an update in awhile. I’ve been busy working on putting the next row of diamond hexagons together and finally finished the fifth one yesterday. Here’s my excuse 🙂 hubby decided we needed to reorganize all the hard drives on our network (including buying 2 new ones!). So I spent quite a few days moving files and renaming things. Then I was sick over the weekend – as in I was so cold that a blanket AND a fire didn’t help! Feeling much better now, but not much got done while I was sick. Oh yeah, I did read Jennifer Chiaverini’s The Giving Quilt that came out last fall. I liked it, but would have like more story around the main Elm Creek Quilter’s. Hopefully the next book will have that!

So I did get 2 of the diamonds attached last night, the other 3 are just in place and I hope to get attached tonight. I had originally planned on getting this done by the end of March. I am finally realizing that I was WAY too ambitious. Since we still not sure when the RV will be ready I guess it doesn’t matter. Besides, we don’t have the first camping trip planned yet! So I will keep working and see what I can get finished.

I was looking for something the other day (can’t for the life of me remember what it is now) and found a ziploc baggie with yo-yo makers and some fabric scraps. Red, white and blue of course! I’ll need to get these ironed up and run them through the Go, just need to decide which die to use. 2.5″ squares, chisels, drunkard’s path….so many choices! They really aren’t big enough to do anything else with, I’d rather make them into a size I can use.

I spent some time on ebay recently and found some really cute Valentine’s Day 2.5″ squares – 200 of them and for less than $10!! Of course I had to get them! Haven’t decided if I am using them as squares or if I will turn them into hexagons and them make something out of them. I’ll decide eventually, too many other projects in line before them! I have something else coming that I finally won, I’ll talk about that once it gets here!

Love Fat Quarter Shop!

I got my shipment on Friday, but it’s been a little busy around here and I haven’t had time to post it yet. I love the way things are packaged when you get order from Fat Quarter Shop. Everything is in nice zipped bags and fit in just the right size box with no extra shipping “junk” in it. I got a few things for myself, charm packs of Moda marbles – bright, pastel, citrus and warm – and a mini charm pack of Indigo Crossing. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with any of it, the mini charm pack might end up being a hexagon pillow or something since they are already 2.5″ squares.

The main purchase is the Camp Peanuts bundle to make a quilt for Alex’s bed in the RV. I need to decide on a pattern, I’m not sure the one I was thinking of will work. I’m going to need to muddle on it for a week or two before I start anything. Alex saw it the other night and flipped out, he likes Snoopy!

I’ve been thinking about getting an Accuquilt Studio lately. They have a sale going on that ends today, but it’s not enough of a sale to tempt me yet. The Studio cuts more layers of fabric, the Go can only do a maximum of 6 layers. I’m just starting to think I need more of a power house than the Go. It would have to be just the right sale to get me to do it though, since it’s a lot of money! There are more dies for the Studio than the Go and now that they have a tray that you can use the Go dies. So I’m not wasting the ones I’ve already bought. I’d still keep my Go since it’s portable and can be used anywhere. I’d just have to figure out where to put the Studio in my office, since I’m a little packed in here already. I might be able to put the printer somewhere else and put the Studio in its place. Since I’m not ready yet it doesn’t matter too much though! But that is something to think about before I buy it!

I don’t have anything new to show on Hexagon Diamonds, I wasn’t feeling well part of the week and didn’t do much work. I did however get all 5 diamonds prepped with the black pathways and I’m almost done with the first one. I hope to finish it tonight while we watch the Miami-Cleveland basketball game. Hopefully I’ll have an update on that soon!

New Fabrics!!!

Oh my goodness! I was scrolling through my Facebook feeds today and came across a post from Fat Quarter Shop. They have a Camp Peanuts collection that would be PERFECT for Alex for the RV. Of course I had to order it! I’m thinking I’ll cut the panel apart and use it in blocks, but I’ll have to wait until it gets here to figure out the pattern I want to use. Depending on the size of them I might even know one already, but I’ll have to wait and see. If it ships today I’ll have it on Friday, if not it’ll be here Monday. Can’t wait to see it and get a quilt made for Alex!

Wiggly Whimsy – Row 2

So I had some free time over the weekend and decided to work on another row of the Wiggly Whimsy quilt. It a sew a long and I should wait until next month to work on it, but it’s such easy stitching! I might just keep working on these as time allows, just because it is so easy to do. Plus as usual I can’t wait to see what it looks like completed! I need to finish some of these UFO’s and this seems to be such an easy one to finish! Then it can sit in my to be quilted pile for awhile! This might be another good one to hand quilt, we’ll see when I get the other ones completed.

Quilting Stencils

Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about what to use on the ribbon table runner for quilting. So I started looking through my stencils and my Quilting Designs software by Electric Quilt. I found a couple of stencils that would work for the large areas, but not for the 4″ square sections. So I started looking through the software. I have 7 of the 8 volumes of stencils, I think I have the books for 5 of those. I found a few that I think will work. So I got a few pictures so I can ponder it while I finish the table topper I’m working on. What do you think about my selections? Now I’ll need to figure out the best way of marking the ones I’ve printed out on the runner!

Design Wall Monday – 2/18/13

Manged to get another row completed in the last week. I’m really liking how this looks. I’ve picked the next 5 diamonds for the next row and will be starting them this evening. I was wondering how I was going to be able to get a decent picture since this is getting so big. Usually I stand on a chair and hold the camera (or phone) as high as I can to take the picture. Lucky me, hubby decided that I could get a new phone and we picked up iPhone 5’s yesterday. The new panorama feature on the camera is so cool! Took me a few tries to get a good picture, only because Alex wanted to play on the quilt since it was on the floor. Hoping to get the next row completed in a week just because I want to get this done so badly. I want to see the whole thing done and quilt it. I know exactly how I’ll quilt it on the machine.

In between working on the diamonds and sewing in my office I’ve been working on my hand quilting. I now have the entire center of this completed and I need to move the hoop to work on another section. It’s not a big quilt and I’ll use it as a table topper somewhere when it’s completed. I am thinking about doing another test piece before I start working on the first hexagon quilt, just so I can work on the rocking motion some more. I have a table runner using my favorite equinox fabrics I made back in 2008 that I still haven’t quilted. So I’m thinking of hand quilting it and doing cables or something in the ribbons. I have some time to figure out exactly what I’ll do, but I have pulled the runner out of the closet so I can start thinking about it. I think I even have some equinox sitting here I can use for the back!

Back soon with more finishes! This is linked to Design Wall Monday at patchworktimes.com

Hexagon Diamonds Update

I only have 1 more diamond to put together and I’ll be able to attach the next row to the main body of the quilt. I might pick a different half diamond though since it is using the same fabric as one of the diamonds. They are all ready, just need the 5 black pieces added on and those are fairly easy.

Spent the afternoon working on tshirts for my sister’s preschool. I do the shirts for the staff. They added 3 colors this time, the lime, orange and hot pink – the others are their usual colors. As long as I have them finished by Saturday I’m golden, my sister will be coming over and I can send them with her. Otherwise Alex and I will just have to take a trip out to see Aunt Kimmie!

I’m such a bonehead! Last night I was working on my hand quilting and bent a needle. So at bedtime I went in my office and was looking for the tub where I have an old mint container where I toss all my broken/bent needles/pins, old rotary blades, etc. As I’m rooting around for the container my finger hit the rotary cutter with a pinking blade. It’s not too bad of a cut, just a funky shape because of the pinking blade. I need to put that thing somewhere else! I’m also getting another mint container from the hubby, to keep with my hand work in the living room. Very happy with the way the hand quilting is coming, I need to start thinking about what backing to use for my hexagon quilt so I can get it basted and ready to put in the hoop. I think I need to buy some batting too, need to see if I have anything large enough. I have a packaged one, that was supposed to be for our flannel bed quilt, but now I’m thinking that since that one is all flannel (even the backing!) that I don’t want any batting in it. I think we’ll be warm enough without it. So I’ll be able to use that batting for the hexagon diamonds or the hexagon quilt, it will work with either but probably be better for hexagon diamonds since the batting is king sized and hexi diamonds is going to be queen sized. Oh heck, I’ll just get some batting at Joann’s for the hexagon quilt, now that decision is made I just need to figure out a backing!

Guild meeting is tomorrow night, can’t wait to show off my first hand quilting piece!!!

Design Wall Monday – 2/11/13

I’ve been working hard the last week to get more put together on Hexagon Diamonds. I officially have 3 rows completed and I’ve started working on the fourth row. All the pieces I need are basted and ready to be sewn into diamonds. I’m hoping to have this fourth row completed by mid week, just so I can get started on the next one! There are 13 rows in the quilt and if my calculations are correct from the EQ yardage sheet, 2,477 hexagons.

I ordered a few things from 123 Stitch last week, some more of my thimble pads, some thread heaven, ultra thimble and a book of cross stitch ornaments. I’m thinking they might be nice to work on while we are camping. I like to have multiple projects when we go on vacation, mainly because after awhile you want to work on something different. I thought these might be good for Xmas presents this year. If I don’t get them done, it’s ok there’s always next year! The tracking shows that it is delivered, which means it’s in the mailbox. So hubby will bring it in when he gets home from work, I have to wait until 6! I might take a walk with Alex when he gets up from his nap to get the mail, we’ll see how cold and windy it is when he gets up.

I need to get working on the order for my sister’s preschool/day care, I’ll be back soon!