night-time basting

So, I broke out my can of 505 basting spray and got to work.  Just not on my split rail fence quilt :)




don't worry, I haven't abandoned my split rail to the WIP pile, but I had to switch out because my Madrona Road patchwork is supposed to be my February finish for the lovely year of finishes.  I've got three days to quilt and bind {by hand}.  Think I can make it?  :)

I'm linking up to Show & Tell Tuesday, WIP Wednesday and

split rial fence top finish

Hello!  I finished my split rail fence quilt top!  :)




the weather has been too stormy to get outdoor photos, and at 82" square, indoor photos are challenging.  soon I will be basting and quilting away, and once that is done I'll get a full shot of the quilt for you.  ta ta for now :)

a swearing baby blanket

our town has a Winter Carnival each year with lots of fun things for families to do.  and each year, they hold a silent auction to raise money for the recreation dept. to support events like this.  so, naturally I decided it would be no problem to whip up a baby quilt in all my spare time {hahahahaaaaaaa}




I had half a truck panel and two cuts of coordinating prints in my stash that my my SIL gave me years ago - they were scraps she didn't want to hang on to.



I'm not a big fan of panels, because they rarely seem to be printed on the grain, causing issues when trying to square up the fabric.  This one wasn't too bad, though.  I added the yellow and red borders, and backed it in Minkee {the same as Phil's fur}

you're wondering where the swearing comes in, aren't you? ;)




Oh, that nasty binding!  even though I've never used it before, I decided that it would be easiest to use pre-made satin blanket binding.  the first package I bought had a stain on it that was only visible after the first two feet of binding had been sewn to the blanket.   grrrrrrr.

I had a ridiculously hard time figuring out how to miter the corners.  after a google search, I sorta kinda fudged the miters, but let me tell you there was a lot of swearing going on at that point!




the blankie finished at approx 36" x 38", with all fabrics coming from my stash.

this year I am going to concentrate on finishing WIPs and using up stash, so I decided it would be fun to keep track of how much yardage I use this year.  perhaps I will keep a running tally in my sidebar - still deciding just how to go about it.  so to get started, I am estimating I used a yard of fabric for the top, and I was able to make the backing & Phil out of one yard of Minkee.  That makes 2 yards used from stash :)

{not that I'm promising to abstain from fabric buying or starting new projects - I plan to do plenty of that, too}  :)

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, show and tell Tuesday

building a split rail fence

one of my finish-a-long projects is a quilt that hasn't gotten a mention on my blog yet, even though it is the WIP I have been spending most of my time on lately.  Please pardon the terrible pictures.  This endless winter is making it hard to find good lighting { !@&$@#*!% Groundhog!}




this is a pile of strips waiting to be sewn into blocks for a split rail fence quilt.  hopefully after a couple more days of sewing, I'll be able to take pictures significantly different enough from these photos to be interesting :)




the orange fabric to the left is the flannel I bought for backing.  I spent my Christmas quilt shop gift certificate on the backing fabric - all the fabrics for the top have been in my stash for years.

what are you working on?
I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday

A Lovely February Finish {I hope}

Hi!

are you familiar with the lovely-year-of-finishes-along?

well, I'm linking up, and here is my hopeful finish for February:

Yup, Madrona road.  Which might be a bit silly of me, since I have two other not-quite-tops spread around in pieces that I need to take care of before I start working on Madrona Road again.  At least those two other hopfully-soon-to-be-tops are on my 1st quarter finishalong list.  I'm being a good girl and working on my WIPs  :)

Happy Groundhog Day!

Hello every one, I missed posting on Ground Hog day because of a migraine  :(
If you missed Phil's prediction, you can check it out here:




Are you familiar with Wild Olive blog?  If not, pop on over and check it out.  I'll wait.

Oh hi, you're back - what did you think?  I know, right?  :)   Mollie's blog is one of my favorite reads :)
When I saw her tutorial for a baby groundhog & shadow, I knew I had to make one!

in my usual last minute style, I didn't even get to start on my little Punxutawney Phil until Ground Hog Day Eve.

all over blogland, people are using minkie to back their quilts.  Never having sewn with the stuff myself, I was curious, and when Joann's had some of their version in the remnants bin it just had to come home with me.  It makes great Phil fur :)




Oh my, I'm over due for a manicure, I'll just tuck those fingernails out of sight, ok?  but Phil's tail is cute, right?  :)




I found it easier to turn the minkie-ish fabric under the needle to follow all of Phil's curves than other fabrics I have tried to make stuffed animals from.




Is that a minkie thing, or does my machine have PMS?

My machine has never skipped stitches before  :(




Here he is, my finished ground hog! :)




and here is a closer look at his butt and shadow  :)



I hope your Groundhog Day was fantastic, and enjoy your 6 more weeks of winter!

I'm partying at Show & Tell Tuesday,  You Flew, Crazy Mom,