WIP Wednesday--April 29th--Progress and Goals

A little more progress this week, but not as much as last week.  I added borders to the Jelly Roll Race quilt pictured.  This is a quilt that my91 year old mother made and I added the borders.  She enjoyed the ease of piecing the jelly roll strips.  I pulled lavender and orange fabric from my stash for the borders.  I still need to square the quilt top up.  I will pull more fabric from my stash and piece a backing for this quilt.  I will be quilting it myself.

Goals for the Week:

• Square the Jelly Roll Quilt
• Piece a backing for the Jelly Roll Quilt
• Baste and start quilting the Jelly Roll Quilt
• Finish pieceing blocks from a 2013 Block of the Month 

I have about 16 UFOs that I am determined to finish before starting another quilt.  It does feel good to be getting back in the swing of things.  I am so grateful to have a place to post my progress--it really helps with accountability!  I have decided to save my $$ and get some help quilting some of my larger finished quilt tops.  I have three waiting to be quilted and they are all Queen or King size.

What have you been working on this week?

 This post is linked to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.

WIP Wednesday-April 22- Progress!!!

Yay!! I have been having a great week!  I am not sure what it is, but I have been in the mood for quilting.  I have also gotten a lot done around the house.  Maybe its because I lost the whole weekend to food poisoning--yuck!  I am feeling great and wanting to get things accomplished.

Here is what I have been up to....

I finished my 2009 Block of the month quilt top.  I need to either buy a backing or piece the backing and then quilt it.  I will be quilting this myself.

I also put together my mother's scrappy Lucky Stars blocks.  This is a Atkinson Designs pattern and it is super fun, easy and very forgiving--no points can get cut off!!  I will piece a baking for this lap size quilt and quilt it myself.

I also finished a quilt for my mother.  It is a lap size Sampler Block quilt that she started a year or so ago.  She had done some quilting on it, but she just doesn't have the strength to sit at the machine and quilt.  She is helping by putting on the binding!  Mom will be 91 next Thursday, April 30th.  She has had a difficult year from a health standpoint, but she is a fighter!

Here is a picture of the whole Sampler Quilt.  It is a lap size.  We just used fabrics from our stash. Mom is still working on the binding, but it is almost finished.

What have you been up to this week?

Be sure to check out other WIP Wednesday posts over at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday- Tax Day Edition

I wrote about all of my UFOs just a few days ago.  You can read about them HERE.  I really have not made much progress since then--I pieced about 1/3 of a border.  But, its is something.  I expect to get the borders finished on my day off this Friday.

The quilt I am working on is a Block of the Month from a local quilt shop--Quilts and Fixins in Jonesboro, Ga.  I am ashamed to admit that is its from 2009!

Here is a look at my progress.  I am nearly done with the top.

I am excited to be posting about my progress.  I hope it will make me more accountable. 

Be sure to check out other WIP Wednesday posts over at Freshly Pieced.

Quilting Update

Much has happened in my life since my last post (almost a year ago).  Shortly after that post my mother's health declined.  I decided to stop working full-time to be able to care for her.  I thought that I would have more time for sewing, but that hasn't been the case.  Being a full-time caregiver and working part-time has left little time for much else. 

Recently, I have made more of an effort to spend some time in my studio.  I have been wanting to start a new project.  I would like to make a One Block Wonder quilt.  However, I made a promise to myself that I would not start another quilt until I finished up the projects I already have started or have purchased supplies to make. 

Yesterday, I spend some time working on a Block of the Month quilt from 2009.  Yes, 2009!  Here are some pictures of that quilt:

I need to finish piecing the top border and attach it to the quilt top.  I am considering adding another border outside the pieced border to make it big enough for a Queen size bed.  I plan on giving this quilt to my son.

I decided to inventory my UFOs while I was working in my sewing room.  Here is a picture list of my current UFOs.

1.  2009 Block of the Month

2.  Lightning Strikes (The quilt top is completed.  I just need to piece the back and get it quilted.)

3.  2010 Block of the Month  (The quilt top and backing are complete. Needs quilting.)

4.  2012 Block of the Month  ( have 9 of the 12 blocks assembled)

5. 2013 Block of the Month  (I haven't even begun putting blocks together.)

6.  Lucky Stars Scrap Quilt  (scrappy blocks are assembled--need to put together)

7.  Lucky Stars Batik  (have fabric but haven't started)

8. Another Lucky Stars  (my quilt shop had sample done in these fabrics and I liked it--not started)

9.  Garage Sale Find  (I found these panels at a yard sale.  I have 4 total and I plan to add sashing.)

10.  Scrappy Squares Quilt  (I have blocks made and rows made.  Need to add sashing between rows and assemble)

11.  Tonga Treat Creamsicle   (not started yet--I really forgot how to make.  Maybe like THIS?)

12.  Jelly Roll Race Quilt  (top my Mom made--Needs another border and then backing and quilting.  I am not sure my Mom can physically finish this, so I will most likely finish it.)

13.  Sampler Quilt  (Blocks made--need to assemble top)

14. Mom's Sampler Quilt  (Mom has partially quilted this--I will mostly likely have to finish.)

15.  Patriotic Lap Quilt  (started cutting out)

16.  Cowboy Lap Quilt  (fabric still uncut)

17.  Bear's Paw Quilt (not pictured--I have the pattern, background fabric and some of the batik fat quarters to make this quilt)

Seventeen UFOs.  I hope to start being more intentional about working in my sewing room several times a week.  I plan on posting on a regular basis about my progress.  I will be joining Lee over at Freshly Pieced for her WIP Wednesday posts.

See you on Wednesday!

This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure HERE.

Design Wall

For my birthday, I ask for a design wall.  My sweet husband, Tom,  built one for me.  Here is where I wanted my design wall to be placed:

 

After looking at several tutorials online, we went to Lowe's and got our materials.  Several sites recommended using the 8' x 4' sheets of insulation foam.  We liked that, but they just wouldn't fit in our vehicle.  We got these packs of foam sheets instead:

These sheets are 1' x 4'.

The wall could only accommodate a board that was 7' tall, so Tom had to trim a foot off of some of the foam sheets.

Our plan was to assemble the sheets into one larger sheet, wrap them in batting and then hang the entire board on the wall using Command Strips.

My husband attached the foam sheets together using white duct tape.

As you can see, we have already spread the batting that we will wrap the board in on the floor.

After taping the sheets together on the front side, Tom then turned the assembled foam board over and taped the intersections of the foam pieces on the back side.

Ready to be wrapped!

We sprayed the batting with 505 Spray and Fix  and then wrapped the foam board.

Once we finished wrapping the batting around the board, we attached the command strips.

Here is a picture of the assembled and hung design wall!  It wouldn't be a bad idea to be a little wider, but I love it.  Do you wonder how the Command Strips will do on holding the design wall up??  Well, my birthday was December 1st.  I am posting this on April 12 and the wall is still in place.  Yay!

 

Do you have a design wall?  What is on yours?  

Lisa

This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure HERE.

Sunbonnet Sue Finished

A couple of  years ago while vacationing in Ormond Beach, Florida, Tom and I stopped at an Estate Sale. As we wandered around the dilapidated house, I could see signs of the former occupant's declining health.  A walker, oxygen tank, handicap bars.  It made me sad as I walked around and shopped through the belongings.  I went into one of the back bedrooms and spotted some linens.  I was fascinated to find a neglected unfinished quilt top.  I always look for quilt tops and even though this one was a little damaged, I couldn't help but buy it.  I thought it would be a nice tribute to the owner to complete a project that she couldn't.

A few months after we got home, I took the quilt top to my local quilt shop and found a fabric to add to it for a border and backing.  I quickly added the border, but then didn't get to the next step of making the quilt sandwich and quilting it.  Then, suddenly we found our new home and were packing and moving.  I didn't have any time to think about Sunbonnet Sue or any other quilting project.  Recently, while organizing my newly renovated sewing room, I found the forgotten Sunbonnet Sue quilt top.  I decided it was time to finally finish the quilt. 

And here she is...

Isn't she pretty?  The pink fabric is the new fabric I added.  It is interesting to look at all of the old fabrics and think about where they came from---old clothes or linens?   

There are a few places that have some kind of stains, probably from sitting in a humid closet neglected for years.  I don't mind.   It is part of the character of the quilt.  I quilted it on my regular domestic sewing machine in a meandering pattern.  

I used a pieced binding and later found the binding that I had forgot I had cut out of the pink fabric.  Oops!  I will use that on another project.

One day I will finish another garage sale find.  Here is a peek:

I envision adding a woodsy fabric between these panels and using it in the mountain cabin we would like to someday own.  Or, maybe I will just give it to a friend who owns a mountain cabin.  We will see how long it takes me to finish this project....

Do you ever look for unfinished projects?

Linked to WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced.