Blogger's Quilt Festival

I had been planning to write a post for the Blogger's Quilt Festival for a few days now and didn't seem to be able to get to it.  I had a lot of fun with it last time with the Spring edition (See this post) but didn't know if I had anything really worth showing.  Now it's the last day and totally crunch time!  I've decided to share my Hexagon Park quilt.  I'm really in love with the quilt but the best part, I think, is the completion picture with my kids in the tree holding up the quilt.  It is this picture that prompted me to enter the festival.

Here are my oldest three with the quilt in the tree.  It was made for the youngest of these who is sitting on the branch near the middle of the quilt.  I was having a hard time getting a great angle on this one because my hubby was at work and my kids are just too short to hold up a twin size quilt.  I tried draping it over a tree but it wouldn't stay.  My kids ADORE climbing trees so I told them to climb on up and hold the quilt while I took the picture.  I just love the result!

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 70″x 80″

Quilted by : Leila Gardunia

Best Category : Bed Quilt or Quilt Photographer

I found the Hexagon Park pattern on the Moda Bake Shop site by Lynne from Lily's Quilts.

When I saw Cape Ann by Oliver + S for Moda I knew I had to have it!  This quilt required a layer cake and a bit of extra yardage.

The hexagons for this quilt were cut it half to make it easier to sew together.  I really liked that feature having made one previously that was quite difficult.

My good friend Leila did the quilting on this one and it looks so great!  She was pretty new to long arm and I let her play with mine.  She did little flowers in the squares and loops in the strips.

Leila also did big flowers in the hexagons and I just adore how they turned out!

The quilt is for my wonderful three year-old princess.  She was so excited that I finished it so quickly!

I love this picture of her loving it in the grass.  She looks so cute lying there and you can see the excitement in her face!

Here's another picture of my kids in the tree this time with the back side of the quilt showing.  They were so fun climbing up and sitting there in the tree!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more on this quilt check out the finish post here.

WiP Wednesday: Halloween Edition

It's WiP Wednesday again and I finally have some quilting things to show off!  It's amazing how not having a sewing room really slows you down.  This week was also the Wicked Blog Hop which I had the great fortune of participating in.  It's the last day of the hop so stop by and see what the other fabulous ladies have come up with.  I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Let's start with my favorite, the hop block...

I just adore this mummy block!  I had fun taking it to the local small town cemetery to take its picture too.  For my stop on the hop I even wrote up a tutorial for this mummy block so you can make it too!

Now for my new project!

I won these four fat quarters on the bottom though a giveaway on my friend's blog.  They are so cute but I really had no idea what to do with them.  Fast forward a few months and I decided to make a giant granny square block with them for my friend who is having a baby girl soon.  I added two tonals (blue and red) and a bit of cream and I was ready to roll!

 

I'm usually not a fan of the cutting stage but it went so quickly for this quilt.  I cut my squares to 6.25" (long story for the crazy size)  The matching triangles are 6 5/8".

Here it is all laid out.  The finished size will be about 35" square.  Perfect for my friend's new baby.

Here's my progress so far.  After only a couple hours of working on it I already have over half the quilt sewn together.  I'm hoping to get the top finished today and then get it quilted and bound before her baby shower on Saturday.  Since it's so little it can happen, right?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Wicked Mummy Block

It's my day on the Wicked Blog Hop!  I'm so excited to share my project with you.  I signed up for this hop many weeks ago and have been thinking hard to come up with the most fun block I could imagine.  I landed on this mummy block and have even provided a tutorial so you can make it too!

It is a little wicked of me to take this picture in the middle of a cemetery but I couldn't resist.  It just seemed perfect for a mummy block!

Now for the tutorial:

You will need some green and black scraps and 1/3 yard of white.

Cutting Instructions:

- Cut 14 - 2" by 15" white strips

- Cut 1 - 2" by 15" green strip

- Cut two small black circles for the pupils

- Cut two one inch white ovals for eyes

Assembly:

Start with the white strips...

This block uses a lot of wonky piecing to make it look like mummy wrapping.  Line up two white strips at a jaunty angle. and sew 1/4" in from one of them. Trim excess and press.

Keep adding pieces.  I did a few shorter ones to add to the whole jaunty feel because the next seam needed to be really wonky to cover up that corner.  Otherwise you can use your optional green chunks to fill in some of the spaces.

Keep adding strips until the shortest side is 4" long.

Now you're ready for the eye strip assembly.

Take your two white ovals that have been cut to one inch.

Then take your two tiny black circles.  The orange grid is one inch so that shows how tiny mine are.

Then you need to applique the eyes to the green strip.  You can do this whichever method you like best.  I decided to just use my machine going really slow and turning a lot.

Switch back to your white strips and keep going on.  I did it pretty straight around the eyes but you could do it more wonky and cover up more of the green.

Keep adding white strips and various jaunty angles until it reaches larger than 12.5" long.  Just one step left!

Now all you have to do is trim to 12.5" square.  I happen to have a 12.5" ruler and it's pretty awesome for this step.  You could really trim this smaller or cut your strips larger to make this any size you want!

Now you're done!  Isn't this a fun block?!

For more fun projects follow the link to the Wicked Blog Hop.  Also be sure to check out the other stops on this day from the list below...

Tempting Thursday,

October 25^th

Angie’s Quilting and Crafting Place

Just Let Me Quilt

Lady Bug Lane

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Creative Obsessions

Kathy's Quilts

Loose Threads

Sew Maybe I Can

That's Sew Julie

Peck's Pieces

Aurea at That Other Blog

WiP Wednesday: Hooked on Hats

I had an extremely productive week.  I didn't get any quilting done but I finished up many crochet projects.  The men also finished up my family/living room floor and it looks SO nice!  Today I'm getting back on the quilting bandwagon with a tutorial that I will have posted by midnight for the Wicked Blog Hop I'm participating in tomorrow.  I'm so excited about this one!  I would have done it sooner but since my craft room has been a guest room for the past 2+ weeks there hasn't been anywhere to work on it.  It's going to be a mummy that is 12" square finished.  I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WiP Wednesday.

Here are the proud men after they finished the last piece of the floor.  Look how tall my man looks!  He is pretty tall at 6'6" but sometimes I forget.

This is the best shot of the floor I have so far.  The air is a little dusty and I haven't put everything back the way it goes yet but I'm pretty excited about how it turned out.  I think it looks great with the wall color and the curtains!

While the men were finishing up the the floor I was continuing on with my crochet addiction.  It's nice that I had something to do crafty-wise while my sewing table was unavailable in the garage.  I finished these two washcloths.  I got the pattern for these over a year ago for free online but it has since been removed from that link and I can't find it anymore to share it with you.  Good thing it is easy to remember and I hold onto things like a steel trap!

Isn't this hat awesome!?  I followed the link here from pinterest and I knew I had to make it for someone.  Since I just finished something for my niece and sister I asked my brother-in-law if he wanted anything and when he said a nice squishy hat I practically flew into gear making this one.  I love how it turned out!

With all this fabulous crocheting going on my niece really wanted me to teach her how.  The last time I attempted this it was an epic fail so I wasn't too keen on it but she was sweet and persistent.  I finally gave in and even bought her a little hook.  It was hard at first but she got the hang of it and before she left this morning she actually ended up making a pretty awesome looking square with very few missed stitches!

This is my nephew, he's pretty sweet and adores the Cars movies.  I saw this Lightning McQueen Hat and knew he hat to have it!  Unfortunately the pattern sizes are WAY off.  I used the same yarn and the same hook but it's not even close to fitting his head or even his baby sister!  I'm pretty good at following patterns so I think it's just off.  We all got a crack out of this awesome hat that looks a lot like a fez though.  It's so funny especially with the white shirt!

I used a different pattern for the base and it worked out much better!  This time it was a touch too large but it's better that way so he can grow into it.  I just adore how it turned out and he even had a Cars shirt on to go with it!

Here's the finished hat!  Once again the pattern is found here.  They said to use felt for the pupils and lighting bolts but I wasn't feeling it and made some of my own with yarn.  I just love how it turned out!

I was on a roll making hats and my other niece was next.  She has a thing for owls so when I saw this free pattern I totally thought of her.  I think it is so cute!  One of the pupils is a bit crazy but it's fun anyway and was so fast!  I finished this in one morning even with all those people in my house!

Here she is in her cute owl hat.  I just love how it turned out and she's pretty obsessed with it now which is quite flattering.

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to hop on back tomorrow for my fun mummy block tutorial as part of the Wicked Blog Hop!

WiP Wednesday: Remodel Edition

 As previously stated in this post I have a lot of people in my house, twelve to be exact.  My sister with her family of six are visiting for a few weeks.  To add to this craziness we are remodeling the main rooms of my house.  Thus, my works in progress are limited this week but I did manage to find some time for craftiness.  Since my house and several projects totally qualify as a work in progress I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced.  Also it is the first time I've tried to cable crochet and the hat I made turned out great!  I'm linking up with TNT Thursday hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting.

Here's the family we have in town along with my brood.  Now that's a lot of people!

This is what my floor looked like last week.  Thankfully we do have the sub floor on now and the wood should go on today and tomorrow.  I can't wait to show it off!

While all of this craziness was going on I was learning a new skill.  Up to this point I had always wanted to but never tried to cable crochet.  I used this free Cable Hat pattern and though I've never cabled before I thought it was pretty easy to figure out.

Here's my cute niece sporting her new hat.  It was a birthday present.  Sadly, with all the craziness going on in the house I didn't finish it in time for her birthday but shortly thereafter.

This last week we also went to Nauvoo, IL where they have a historical village.  In one of the buildings there they had a bunch of quilts on display.  This one was one of my favorites.  In 1864 a pioneer carried this with her across the plains to the Salt Lake valley.  I like the hexagons on the plain white and the cool striped red boarder that you can hardly see.

I have also been making some washcloths for my sister who is visiting.  She used some I made for my mom last year and loved them enough to request some of her own.  I have completed one, that we can't seem to find at the moment, and I'm one more side away from finishing this one as well.

It sure has been fun this past week but I can't wait to get back to quilting!  I'm planning on moving my sewing table back in once the floor is put up and hopefully I have something new next week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Where'd Julie Go?

 I'm a pretty faithful blogger.  I post every Wednesday and otherwise when the mood strikes me.  I missed last WiP Wednesday's post due to some crazy goings-on in my house.  We are in the midst of a crazy remodel project as well as hosting my sister, her hubby, and their four kids in our house.  It's been fun but really eating into my crafty blogging time.  They are going to be here for 10 more days but I hope now that the remodel project is nearly complete I can be a touch more productive.  Read on for more of our exciting adventures!

The main area of my house consists of two connected rooms.  This is where you come in from the front door.  Although our front door has been quite difficult to use due to an overwhelming amount of layers on our floor.  For the 5.5 years we've lived here we've just had people go in through the slider on the side of the house.  Well, no more!  The menfolk removed all the layers down to the beams!  It was pretty exciting stuff.  My hubby is the one supervising.  It seems like every time I came in here he was watching while Dave did all the work.  The computer usually goes where my hubby is standing and thus no blogging.

This is everyone that's been chillin' in our house for the past week.  I'm taking the picture and counting me there are twelve of us.  My craft room has turned into a guest room and the kids are all crammed into two rooms.  It's been an adventure especially because without the main rooms in the house I'm down a good 300 square feet in an already smallish house (1,400 total).  So that's 900 square feet of space.  We've been spending a lot of time in the dining room and kitchen which are really not meant for long-term hanging out.

In an effort to get things moving we got all the kids involved in the removal/replacement of the flooring.  This is my youngest with the safety glasses, safety first!

My brother-in-law had quite the audience as he worked away on the beams.

Tonight just before dinner they finished placing the last screw in the sub-floor!  The wood-esque floor will be going in next week but to appease me they brought back in my computer and the couch!  Oh how I've missed having a couch!  Dining room chairs just aren't meant for long-term use.

Through it all I've managed to keep my sanity fairly well intact.  I've done a few crochet projects and planned some more quilts for the future.  I can't wait to see my floor all finished and show it off!  In the mean time don't abandon me because I'll be back with a vengeance!

WiP Wednesday: Gearing Up!

It has suddenly hit me how little time I have left in the year to get the things done that I want/need to do.  I have a lot!  Thankfully I finished one of them yesterday so now I only (haha) have five quilts left.  One of them is for me so it will probably be bumped but that's still four that I need to get cranking out.  They are definitely a work in progress so I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday where Debbie is a guest blogger over at Freshly Pieced.


As always I like to start with the finish...

I finished this Christmas quilt for me yesterday!  I love it!  The picture is pretty fabulous too with the fall leaves in the background.  To read more about this one and to see more pictures click here.

Another goal is to get more caught up with my scrapbooks.  I adore scrapbooking but it has taken a back seat lately to quilting.  I am back in 2010 and feel horribly behind.  I do a scrapbook for each of my four kids and one for the family.  It's a lot of work but I love every minute of it.

I recently found out another friend is pregnant with a baby girl.  I happen to have these four cute fat quarters lying around so I added just a touch of yardage to them and I'm ready to make a baby quilt.  She's having a shower on November 3rd so I need this finished by then.  The pattern I picked is like a giant granny square and should go really fast.

My hubby's sister has been asking for a quilt for years, literally!  I found this fabric which I love for her it's Sentiments by 3 Sisters for Moda.  It needs to be queen size.  I had an idea for what to do with all these jelly rolls but I've since decided it's not my favorite so now I'm back to the drawing board with just a huge lot of jelly rolls to work with.

These are the fixings for my mom's quilt.  I adore this fabric and the pattern is really fun too!  I need to whip out the baby quilt and then get to work on this one.  I MUST have it done by Christmas.  I've already got half of the quilt top done with those pinwheel blocks and I need to make some stars with the other fabric.

This is Serenade by Kate Spain (love her!) and it's for me!  When it is assembled it will be a king size quilt for my bed, this one.  I seriously cannot wait to cut into it but there are so many other things that keep making me put it off.

This is Meadow by Blackbird Designs for Moda and will become this quilt for my mother-in-law.  I've been wanting to make this quilt but needed someone to make it for and I think it's perfect for her.  I need to get the other yardage but since she doesn't even know it's coming yet I think I can work on some other projects first and worry about the yardage later.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my LONG to do list.  I hope to get cracking on it and get some interesting things to read up here over the next few weeks.