a picture or two

I finished this three or four days ago, but haven't had a chance to show it to you until now. 

I've been using those short pins on the right for ages, but The Quilting Fairy used the long pins on the left when I asked for some help.  I've been using them ever since, because I can leave them in until the needle is right next to them, and still pull them out from under the presser foot.

I followed advice, and used a ton of pins(18ish).  By the time I was ready to sew them, my Grandmother's Fans had a bite an anglerfish would be pround of! :)

Happy Monday!

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a log cabin deep in the woods, lived a little girl with her brother, mother, and father.  Most evenings the mother's knitting needles went click, click, click as she turned skeins of wool into beautiful sweaters for her family.  Many days the sewing machine whirred while the mother made clothes and other things for her family. 

And the mother gave yarn and needles to the little girl, but the little girl would not learn how to knit.  The mother filled a round metal sewing box with needles, thread, and other things.  She brought the little girl into town, to the big white church with the tall steeple (the kind of steeple all churches ought to have).  There, many girls learned to sew from a kind lady, but the little girl didn't like to sew. 

What was the mother to do?

 By and by, the little girl grew and went away to college.  But she did not learn to knit, and she did not learn to sew.  At college, she met Prince Charming, and they married soon after graduation.  In all the boxes she brought with her to her new home was the round sewing box full of pins and things.

 Not long after, the girl (we can't call her little anymore, can we?) received a special gift from her mother and father.  It was a sewing machine.  What would she do with a sewing machine?  Prince Charming thought she could now do all the mending (hehehe). 

Now, the girl's mother and aunts had learned to quilt.  So the girl learned to quilt from them.  And she took the pins her mother gave her so long ago out of the round tin, and used them for all of her piecing.  (She still didn't do any mending) 

Then one day, she sewed her first curved seam, a Grandmother's Fan, but it came out all puckered.  What was she to do?  With help from some very nice people, and a Quilting Fairy, she tried again. Much better!  But, she didn't use her old pins this time.  Her old pins were short and stubby, and had nearly no head at all.  They got lost in the seams of the Grandmother's Fan.  The new pins she used were long, with great big heads.  What would she do with her short stubby pins now?  She still has them, of course.

Now the girl makes quilts and things for her three sons, and Prince Charming too.  And they live happily in the woods (but she still doesn't knit).

I met the Quilting Fairy!

Honest.  Instead of a magic wand, she uses thread snips.  With just two little snips and a tug, she turned this

into this

I had to restitch to secure the cut thread, but it went a lot easier the second time around.

Well, the Dinner Fairy hasn't shown up yet, so I guess I'll have to go cook some food myself  ;)   Happy Quilting!
(Ok, I just noticed the second picture is of a different fan, but we can pretend I took the correct picture, right?)

My tote bag is done

I finished my tote bag  :)  

It is roughly 15"x19"x6".  Everything I used, I already had in my closet.  The fabric was given to me by my Aunt about seven years ago, and I believe it spent some time in her stash before that. 

Can you see the squirels in the blue stripe?  I fussy cut triangles from the boarder stripe to make the pocket, and even though I didn't have enough yardage to get a blue square with a squirel on each triangle, I still like how it turned out.  I was a little annoyed with myself for lining up my template wrong for one triangle (that's what I get for trying to hurry through it before I loose the sunlight completely), but since it is hardly visible in the pictures I have decided not to let it bug me  :)

Have a happy Wednesday!

more blocks...

from the same Block of the Month Quilt.

I'm working on this quilt in two colorways.  The Thimbleberries version is going to be a gift, I don't know what I will do with the lilac version. 

Thank you everyone who left a comment, I was so excited to read your advice  :)

Hopefully, I will finish my tote bag and get a picture up here this weekend.  I have been making progress, but nothing photo worthy  :)

warning: dangerous curves ahead

This is my very first attempt at curved piecing.  Can you see the tucks and pleats?

This is one of four Grandmother's fan units that will form a block (I hope).  It is part of a Block of the Month quilt I started about 4 years ago with the intention of gifting it, and I very much want to finish it and send it along to the person I started it for.

My problem is that I really don't know how to correct my mistakes, so this has been sitting in my sewing room since November, waiting for some attention.

Can anyone share some advice on avoiding puckers?

Thank you  :)
Happy Quilting!

This is not a tote bag.

This is a pocket that belongs on a tote bag that has not been constructed yet.  It is a sideways pocket at that  :)  The righthand side in the photo will be the top when it is all sewn together.

There are numerous problems with this pocket that I could point out, but right now I'm just pleased to have figured out how to post a photo.  (Actually, I didn't do any figuring out, my Hubby showed me how.  Wasn't that nice of him?)  And as for the problems, well, the picture speaks for it's self   :)

Happy Quilting!

deviating from the list...

It didn't take me long, did it? No wonder I have so many UFO's  :)  

In my defense, I'm working on something quite useful and needed, a large tote bag.  Somehow, I just don't seem to have much in the way of bags around here, and you wouldn't believe the mountains of gear that needs to be brought to the ice arena so three boys can have iceskating lessons.

I think my blog needs some pictures, don't you?  If I can figure out how, I'll share a photo or two of my tote-in-progress with you later today.

Happy Quilting!

one more to add!

Hello!

I found one more UFO, a set of three orphaned blocks.  I think they want to be turned into potholders  :)

Happy Quilting!

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog! 

All over my sewing room I've got UFO's tucked away.  Some have been waiting far to long to be finished and enjoyed, so I've decided to organize a list of all my UFO's and set to work.  My goal is to finish each one of them by the stroke of midnight next New Year's Eve.  I've decided to only include the projects that I have actualy started cutting fabric for.  Hear is my list:

1.  a red white & blue picnic quilt
2.  fruit and veggie quilt top
3.  a butterfly quilt I'm hand piecing.  I also plan to hand quilt it.
4.  a machine applique flower quilt
5.  a twin size quilt with penguin fabrics for my youngest son.  This started as two small wallhangings that just needed backing, but he wants a larger quilt to snuggle with.  I really should have seen it coming :)
6.  some pretty brown and pink fabric has been waiting to become a purse
7.  a small tote bag that will be made from purple and green floral fabrics
8.  a blue and white strom at sea that my husband and I started together a few years ago
9.  a Christmas wallhanging
10.  an old-fashioned album quilt
11.  an abandoned block of the month quilt in pretty lilac fabrics
12.  the same block of the month pattern in Thimbleberries fabrics
13.  a quilt top for my sister-in-law
14.  a quilt top for my oldest son

What about you?  Do you have a UFO you are eager to finish?
Happy Quilting  :)