Happy New Year!

I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year 2018! I'm up waiting for midnight but not sure I can last that long. We're watching Twilight Zone as well as The Three Stooges. It seems to be our New Year tradition!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and healthy 2018 with lots of sewing and quilt time! See you next year!!!

On Ringo Lake Part 5

Ooh, look, more flying geese! This time the main part was black and the two smaller triangles were neutrals. We were snowed in on Saturday so I ended up making half of them in one day. I finished them up on Christmas Eve day. Don't tell anyone! Everyone thought I was busy wrapping gifts!!

Here are all my cut pieces. I once again used the sew and flip method.

I sewed the right side first. I ironed and trimmed each piece.

 

Then I sewed the left side. 

That's all of Part 5!! I'm linking up over at Bonnie Hunter's blog that you can find here. There are lots of great blogs and accounts to check out. Go take a peek!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from my house to yours!!

It's a White Christmas this year! I don't think my husband liked having to use the snowblower but it does look pretty! 

Have a wonderful holiday!!

Two More Days!!

I can't believe it's only 2 days before Christmas. I'm so lucky to be off from work today. I usually work Saturdays but I was needed at the beginning of the week. The weather is just awful outside. It's been snowing and now it's freezing rain. I'm so glad to be able to stay indoors. As you can see, I'm wrapping gifts with my kids and 2 kitties, Molly and Lily. Lily is easy to see but Molly is against the wall under the tree. I think she's hiding!

Molly is helping us wrap gifts. She ended up biting the paper and trying to eat it. We had to chase her to get it out of her mouth. 

She also thought the scissors were very interesting. My daughter is holding them for her. Even though the cats are in the way, we're almost done wrapping.

In between wrapping, I'm trying to get this week's clue done for the mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake. I'm about halfway through this week's clue that was released yesterday. 

Tomorrow, I'll  be baking and getting everything ready for Christmas dinner. We'll be going to my mom's for Christmas Eve. Another storm is predicted for Christmas day. Hope it's not as messy as today.

Enough of a break! Back to wrapping!!

On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt - Part 4

Part 4 of On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt was to make half square triangles. Lots of them! This picture shows my triangles. I used aqua for the square and black for the triangles. I found this clue the easiest so far. I find cutting squares easy and quicker than most other shapes. I was able to finish the whole amount needed over the weekend.

 

These are the cut pieces. I was happy to use black fabric with some sort of print on it. I feel it adds interest to the whole quilt.

I sewed a triangle to one side.

And then a triangle to the other side. That's it! Done!!

I'm linking up to Quiltville's Mystery Monday Link-up that you can access  here. It's so fun to see everyone's work. Go take a peek!!

Gifts and FMQ

Oops, I bought more Christmas fabric! I just couldn't resist! The sales are so good right now that I just had to buy a yard, or two!! I do have a few more gifts to make so I suppose I needed to buy them. (Kind of!)

I also made another table runner. One of my close friends really loved the one I made for myself. I'm going to surprise with her own! This picture shows the lines I use to guide my quilting.

Here's the table runner after being washed. I love the texture! It's so nice to feel all those ridges and bumps!

I started working on Part 4 of the Quiltville Mystery Quilt, On Ringo Lake. It was just released today. It's quicker than Part 3. I think I can get it done this week. Most of my Christmas shopping is finished. It all depends on how much free time I can get out of this very busy week before Christmas. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

  

On Ringo Lake, Part 3

Here is half of Part 3 of the On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt. Boy, this one seems to be taking forever! They're very similar to the flying geese but there's lots of measuring and trimming. They're coming out the right size which is always a plus! I'm using the trusted flip and sew method once again. 

Here are my many pieces that had to be cut to make all of Part 3.

I drew my diagonal line and have the pieces all set to be chain pieced.

Time for the opposite side.  Then I iron and trim. These diagonals are going in the same direction. The next half of this clue, the pieces will be mirror images. The diagonals will start in the opposite corner. 

I'm almost done with Part 3. Hoping Part 4 is quicker! Please go to Bonnie Hunter's Monday Link up and you can see everyone else's Part 3. You can find her page right here. I love seeing everyone's work. There are some very nice blogs to explore while you're at it. 

Christmas Gifts

   
   

I've been so busy and I'm still working on making just a few more Christmas gifts. Why don't I ever start early?? Between work and the house, I never seem to have enough time! Anyways, I needed more Christmas fabric and bought these two beauties today. Aren't they pretty?? I really love them. 

These are my finished pieces for On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt. This quilt is sure keeping me busy! I can't wait to see the big reveal. I think that's going to take awhile. This mystery runs into January. I don't mind a slower pace at all!

Back to on line Christmas shopping! Hope your week is going well!

On Ringo Lake Mystery, Part 2

As you can see, Part 2 of On Ringo Lake Mystery is flying geese! Lots of them! Bonnie Hunter gave us a few different methods of making these blocks. I chose the old fashioned sew and flip. It seemed to work best for me. The other methods consisted of using rulers and cutting strips into triangles. I tried one that way and it took me forever. I stuck to what I know!

I haven't finished them but I do have all my pieces cut. I'm so proud of myself. Instead of using the neutral fabrics I had chosen for this project, I went through my scrap bag and used all the neutrals I could find. I also found a few pinks. I'm determined to use up some of those scraps! Almost all of the neutrals came from my scrap bag. Love it!!

I did chain piece since I wanted to speed up some of the process. Don't the geese look pretty??

Here's what I've made so far. I'm still not done with the second clue, but I'm getting there. Hoping to be done by the end of the week.  I'm linking up over at Bonnie's Mystery Link Up for Part 2. You can get there by clicking here.  Enjoy checking out everyone's work. It's so fun to see everyone's progress.

On Ringo Lake Clue #1

These are the blocks I just completed for the new Quiltville Mystery, On Ringo Lake. I've always wanted to take part in one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts so I decided to go for it! I'm challenging myself to use scraps from my stash. 

These are the fat quarters I pulled from my stash. Bonnie Hunter is using dark brown which I replaced with black. She's also using shades of peach but I chose pink instead. The neutrals and aqua/blues are the same. My pile of fat quarters actually looks a little smaller! 

I made lots of strip sets. She gives excellent directions and tips to make things easier.  I think her advice really helped me keep my 1/4 inch seam allowance. 

I cut my strips and started making my nine patches. That's it for the first clue! I'm already looking forward to the next clue. So fun! I'll be linking to Quiltville's On Ringo Lake Mystery Monday Link up that you can find here.

Two Finishes

I finished these mittens a few days ago. I ended up giving them to my mother. My brother bought her some type of hand warmers and she thought mittens would be perfect. I was going to wait for Christmas but she just had a birthday. She's all set for the winter!

I had to take this picture in the semi-dark so you can see the quilting. My whole cloth table runner is done! I'm still deciding if I should make it into a wall quilt. It would look so nice on the wall behind my longarm. Still thinking about it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm late getting this out. It was my turn to work so I've been gone all day. I tried posting last night but Blogger was not cooperating. 

Hope you all had an enjoyable holiday. I heard calories don't count today!! I can't wait to enjoy my day off tomorrow. I have lots of sewing to do!

Log Cabin for Christmas

The Log Cabin for my neighbor is done! I'll call her at the beginning of the week to give her the good news. She wanted to have it for Christmas so she could give it to her daughter. I'm happy I finished it. It took a long time but I'm glad I helped her out. I hate to think this quilt was in a tote for 7 years. I'm glad I got to make it into a real quilt so her daughter can enjoy it. 

I'll finally get back to my own projects. I have a few holiday gifts to make of my own. Between my real job and this quilt, I've fallen a bit behind. It's nice I can get back to my old routine. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Enjoy the weekend!

FMQ Quilting Finished!

I finished my whole cloth table runner. I've never quilted this many swirls! I had such a great time working on this piece. I'm actually thinking of making another! There are 2 more whole cloth projects in Longarm Quilting Workbook. These are fun and fast as well as great way to learn new motifs and patterns.

Here's a closeup. I wasn't sure how my quilting would look. Some of these patterns are new to me. I'm happy with the overall effect. Not perfect but good. Much better than I expected!

I've been diligently working on my neighbor's quilt. I'm sewing down the binding by hand. I'm so happy to say I'm on the very last side! Almost done! She'll have her quilt in plenty of time for Christmas. 

Whole Cloth Quilting

I told you in my last post that I bought the Longarm Quilting Workbook by Teresa Silva. I marked my whole cloth table runner this past weekend. This picture shows how much quilting I've done so far on this piece. It's so hard to get a decent picture of a small quilt on the longarm. There are all sorts of shadows. I think if you ignore the blue lines, you can get an idea of what I've been doing. I did some free motion quilting as well as ruler work. There are a few patterns I've never tried before. 

It's not perfect by any means, but I'm happy with it. I feel I still have to learn how to control the weight of the longarm. Sometimes, I feel it controls me! Working on a small piece requires good control to keep your stitching in a specific area. That's something I'm still working on. I think that just comes with experience. I think this whole cloth piece is just perfect for helping me increase that control. I'm not sure I'll be using this as a table runner. The wall behind my longarm is completely bare. This piece might make a nice wall hanging. I'll decide when it's done!

Whole Cloth Quilted Table Runner

I bought this wonderful book. I've been looking through it and drooling over the beautiful quilting. The author includes many projects that not only helps you practice your longarm quilting but also gives the quilter a finished project to display. Her easier projects are whole cloth small quilts.

This picture is a little difficult to see but it's a whole cloth table runner with an on-point square. The author used thread the same color as the fabric. It hides those little mistakes that we would like to keep from being too obvious! (Nice tip!)

Here's my fabric all marked and ready to go! I'll have to load it tomorrow at the earliest. It's already so late. And thanks to the change in time, it's going to get dark so early. Can't wait to start working on it! 

Power Restored!

We had an awful wind and rain storm Sunday night. I had to work Monday morning at 7am. I set the alarm on my cell phone but I still kept waking up to check the time. I think we lost power around 4am. I had flash lights ready and it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, the power didn't return until Wednesday afternoon at 3pm. It was not a pleasant experience! My house was so cold Wednesday morning. I was very grateful when the power got restored. What a relief!

I wish I could say I got a lot of handwork done. I found the lack of power to be very stressful and just didn't even feel like doing handwork. I kept reading my book but that's the most I accomplished. Once the power was back, I had a ton of laundry to catch up. I did start sewing down the binding on my neighbor's quilt last night. I have one short side done as you can see above.

These is just a close up. It's hard to get the whole side into one picture. I'm actually turning the corner. 

I feel like I wasted the week but there wasn't much I could do. Our town is having Trick or Treat tomorrow night. I'm hoping we finally get back to normal. We're also looking into a generator. Don't want to go through this again!!

Odds and Ends

Look what I got in the mail today! I upgraded to Electric Quilt 8 a few days ago and ordered the instruction book. I started playing around with it and it seems easier than previous versions. I like it so far! I'll have more updates as I actually start using it. 

I finished one mitten and have started the other. I love quick projects! 

The binding is all cut out for my neighbor's Log Cabin quilt. I still have to iron it in half but hope to have it all sewn on in the next few days. 

The leaves for the second border of Green Tea and Sweet Beans are ready for applique! 

I worked on Scrap Vortex yesterday. I'm making my way through my pile of scraps. It's coming along quite nicely!

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That's all my projects for now. I'm trying to get them all done. Slowly but surely!!