A finish for July OMG

Sometimes it is so easy to set aside a project thinking I will get to it later.  At the beginning of July I picked a project I needed to finish up. I am glad I picked this little wall hanging that I needed to decide on where to go with finishing it into a flimsy and get it quilted and binding added.  

After picking out what panel I wanted to work with, I got to squaring up the pumpkins in a tub square to begin this wall hanging back in early June.  I added a black border and stenciled on the fall leaves using fabric paints in different fall colors layering until I got the look I wanted.  

Then I stalled and wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the rest of it.  Middle of July rolls around and I dug it out again and knew just want I was going to do.  Checkerboards and flying geese to the rescue!

And to pull it all together black with metallic gold marbling for the outer border.

I always add a hanging sleeve to the back.  I prefer to do a split one so you only have to put one nail in the wall.  This one is now added to my shop.  

Thanks goes to Elm Street Quilts for hosting OMG- One Monthly Goal where I will be linking up with my July finish. Also linking with Midweek Makers, and Wednesday Wait Loss

Now to figure out what to make my August goal for OMG.

May One Monthly Goal for Hands 2 Help

I am so happy to say I finished my One Monthly Goal  hosted by Elm Street Quilts.  At the beginning of every month we can enter a challenge stating one of our goals we would like to get done, blog about it and join the linky party at Elm Street Quilts. Then at the end of the month if you meet your goal you link up again.  

I had two quilts to quilt and bind for my one monthly goal for May.   This half rectangle one was fun and easy to make using a HRT ruler from Creative Grids.  And didn't I have the perfect backing for it!!  A friend gave me that, it's flannel and the stitches just sink into it. It's quilted with yellow Glide. I did have to add a strip of yellow flannel to make it wide enough.  And the perfect striped binding!!

This next quilt has a ton of scraps of all different colors.  It might be a good guy quilt since it leans to the darker side. 

Both of these quilts are getting donated for the Hands2Help 2022 project. I love making quilts and donating them to give someone a little quilty hug.  I never know who the recipients are, but I just hope they love getting a quilt to let them know that someone cares.  I will be donating my quilts locally to Families First Crisis Nursery Center. 

Linking with OMG, Hands2Help, TGIFF and Finished or Not Friday. 

Hands2Help-One Monthly Goal

Just a short post today to announce my One Monthly Goal.  I need to finish this two quilts for the Hands2Help challenge hosted this year by the Academic Quilter.  It's such a worthy cause that I can't help by join in each year.  If you are joining in this year how are you doing on your quilts?  I just need to get the backings ready and quilt them up.  I'll be donating mine locally. 

Linking up at Elm Street Quilts for OMG.

Eeeek I'm just squeaking by!

Yes it's the last day of the month and I just finished piecing my OMG-One Monthly Goal.  So I am doing the happy dance that I actually could carve out time to get this to the quilt top stage. There were many other projects that took precedence over this so I wasn't sure if I could meet my goal. At the beginning of the month it was just blocks that looked like THIS.  These are Island Batik fabrics that were 2 1/2" strips called Back Pearl.  Pattern is Jasmine by Villa Rosa Designs.

Linking with lots of other goal setters for OMG at Elm Street Quilts. Let's hop over and see what others have accomplished. 

Did I meet my Goal?

Do you want to know if I met my One Monthly Goal (OMG).  Keep reading to find out.  Patty at Elm Street hosts the OMG each month in hopes of helping us move projects along.  When I remember, I like to post a goal in the beginning of the month and try hard to meet it.   This month was to make a bunch of red stars. 

Here is the start of the stars, I needed 10 of them.  I wanted 8" finished stars so I used my Accuquilt Go 8" cube to make quick work of it.  Before long I had five finished and then added spacer strips between the stars to make them fit the rows of black/gray blocks.  Another day I whipped up the other five stars.  

And then I couldn't stop, the stars got quickly sewn to the black/gray blocks that were already sewn into strips.  There are two rows of the blocks, then a star row followed by four rows of blocks, another star row and two more block rows. A fun quilt to make and I have been wanting to do a red and black quilt. I think this fits that desire quite well.  So yes I met my One Monthly Goal. 

I think I will add a small red border and then a tone on tone black or gray border to finish it off. This is a Missouri Star tutorial called Summer Stars. 

Linking with Elm Street Quilts, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss

To Do Tuesday #23

It's crazy to think I have written 23 To Do Tuesday posts already!  I never used to make a written list, I only had lists in my head, but this seems to be working for me;)

So here is what I hoped to accomplish this week:  Work on five table runners. Guess what- I can give that a big 'ole check!!!  Yep done that and then some, oh my gosh it was a good week.  I can thank the weather mostly for that.  It wasn't all that great to do anything else.

Want to see the accomplishments?  Well of course you do, right? Most of these you have seen before in one form or another, or one fabric or another.

First I quilted and bound two of these, they are identical so I am only showing one.  And that is because I forgot to take a pic when I had them both out😜.  These were pieced over the winter.

 This is a new design for me this year.  I had a different watermelon one a couple years ago.  But thought I would try this out for the shop.  It measures 40.5" x 16".  The green and white rinds are made with the bias tape maker and appliqued onto the watermelon and background fabrics.  And just look at that we actually had real watermelon for the perfect photo op!

A close up of the quilting. 

You might have already seen the two patriotic runners that I posted on Friday so I won't show photos again, if you didn't see them you can read about them HERE.

On Saturday I joined The Inquirying Quilters facebook group called Saturday Sew In.  It's very informal but nice to get to know other quilters better.  Plus share inspiration of course.  I started off the morning by binding my OMG quilt.  Yes did you catch that I am done with it!!!  If you remember I was having a hard time deciding what design to quilt on it. I figured it out and quilted it on Friday. I love how it came out.  Here is a glimpse of it, you will see it's own post this week.

I pieced these two reverse S swirl runners on Saturday and quilted and bound them on Monday.

 Were you keeping track of the number of projects this is?  Seven table runners and one quilt quilted!

I promised you yesterday that you might see a little of a new project.  Remember yesterday I showed you pillows that I used to make with hand embroidery.  I have been chatting with a few of you that are hand embroidering and making me want to jump back into that too.  Well I took the leap and here is what I did so far.  When I used to make these I did them in different thread colors.  But I wanted to do a red work snowman and border with gray and the red and white checkerboards.  He is sitting on my gray wool mat but I think I will add another gray border.  I think this one will be a little wall hanging.  It felt so good to do embroidery again in the evening while watching TV. 

Gotta add in a purple posie for your viewing:)

I will continue to work on more table runners this week, I am thinking snowman and pumpkins ones.  There might be a little more embroidery too.  And of course I need to finish up my Sunshine blog hop project for Thursday so that is priority.  

Have a great week and don't forget to go check out some fellow quilt bloggers progress at Home Sewn By Us linky party for To Do Tuesday. 

A finish for July OMG

I am thrilled to say I finished my July goal today!  What was it you ask?  HERE is the original post.  Next you ask what is OMG, this would be a monthly goal we set and publicly announce at Elm Street Quilts blog at the beginning of the month.

My goal was to make these...

into these this month...

Last week DH and I took a little vacation at a lake up north of us 3 hours.  We were looking for peace and quiet along with biking, kayaking, fishing.  Well mother nature had other plans for us.  It was so hot and so humid, mix in the bugs and some rain.  The only place that felt good was on the water in our kayaks when it wasn't raining. The bugs didn't bother us out there.  Isn't this so serene and peaceful looking.   The bikes never got ridden. 

We tried fishing but they were not biting very good.  However we each caught a little guy, not a keeper, that had to go back to the water. But isn't he pretty!

After getting home is when I tackled my OMG leaf table runners.  Luckily I had all the strips sewn for the borders so that went really quick.  I love being able to whip up three projects so fast, feels like a great accomplishment. 

One more wildlife photo for you.  Today this little guy hung around a lot.  First he was laying out in front of the house by the drive way.  Then he/she and mommy was grazing in the back yard.  Next thing I look out and here he is all by himself right next to our pond right off the deck!  What a cutie.  And then tonight right after dinner he was peeking over the side of the deck!  I wonder if mommy knew what he was up to all day long!!

Hope you are all having a good week. Mine started off productive and I hope it continues.  The heat and humidity has broken and it feels great to open windows again!  But I hear a little more humid tomorrow.  

Linking with:

Midweek Makers

Wednesday Wait Loss

UFO Busting

Snowmen in May for OMG

It's not that I want winter again, but I have 3 snowman table runner finishes.  While we were traveling this past winter I had taken along kits I made up for my snowman table runners.  Yes I have to have my sewing day/s therapy even while having other kinds of fun!  I pieced 6 of these cutie pies but have not had a desire to quilt them yet.  So when May OMG rolled around I figured that would be a good way to get on with the finish.  My goal was to quilt and bind three of them.  

Here they are all finished, it happened a week ago but just didn't get it into the blog schedule:)

I used a cute grey and white bubble fabric for the backing. 

These will soon be appearing in my Etsy shop again.  People are starting to buy fall decor already so why not get a head start on getting winter decor also!

Linking up with OMG at Elm Street Quilts

My April OMG

All of last year I didn't participate in OMG.  I set aside the year to work on business finishes, which worked out good.  Just working on what I wanted to accomplish to be ready for a great craft show and Etsy season meant a little less pressure.  However this year I see lots of UFO's in that closet and it is time to crank out a few here and there. 

So this month I am planning on quilting and binding this quilt that was pieced last year at the end of August. 

Linking with Elm Street Quilts for OMG

OMG quilt pieced

The Pixie Squares quilt is all pieced.  It was my choice for the June OMG challenge. The goal was to get it pieced and perhaps the quilting.  Time is running out and I have other things scheduled for the rest of the month.  The quilting will be my goal for next month.  I will show more photo's then.  BTW the pattern is by Whistlepig Creek.

I used the Pie Making Day by RJR jelly roll that I won last year, and white yardage for this quilt.  You can see how it looked at the beginning of the month HERE.  It really did go together quickly once I made myself sit back down and work on it!  

I'll be linking up with OMG at the end of the month.  And Tish's UFO busting today.  

I followed Jeanna's steps in correcting my email notifications of comments. Let's see if it worked for me:)

Retreat finishes-OMG-stipple tutorial

On Tuesday a blogger friend from an hour north of me came to visit and stay with me for a few days so we could immerse ourselves in quilting and chatter.  We both were successful with that, especially the chatter part,  LOL.   Oh you are wondering who that blogger friend is are you, hehe.   It's Wendy who blogs at Pieceful Thoughts.  She is now safely tucked away at her own home now, but it was a blast, and hope she will want to do it again some day!

When I met Wendy for the first time a couple months ago she gave me this pack of Alice in Wonderland fabric. So I  added the pastel solid pink, and the blue in the 9 patches and whipped up this baby quilt with it, got it quilted and then I bound it while she was here. I plan to donate this to our local neonatal unit.  

I tried out a swirl design that has a rounded corner in the center rather that sharp points. It was fun to try something different.   I had just enough Alice fabric to do a scrappy binding to complete it.

I felt like a binding maniac for a couple of the days Wendy was here, I had lots of runners and 3 quilts to bind. I got lots of them done, but there are still a few more for another day or maybe week, I am rather sick of binding right now.  I did piece a round wedge topper to change it up a bit!

 This quilt is getting sent to a friend in Ohio to give to a kids' camp called Flying Horse Farms, a place for kids to go and forget they are sick for a while.  My friend in Ohio did something nice for me and I am paying it back by donating this to a camp she is passionate about.

The design is from a Missiouri Star tutorial for disappearing pinwheel in a churndash.   I chose to do a simple allover stipple in a variegated green,blue and dash of yellow Signature thread.  This quilt is also my May One Monthly Goal(OMG) quilt which I made all with scraps.  So I will be linking up at Elm Street Quilts at the end of the month. 

After posting my little tutorial for Squiggle and Wiggle quilting design, Bonnie asked for a drawing of how I stipple.  White board to the rescue again:)   I try to use a dog bone shape when I stipple, however, sometimes I like to vary it up a bit.  Some people say they tend to start off with one size stipple and end up with a different  size.  If you purposely do a variety of sizes it tends to blend in better when done.  Each loop of the dog bone does not need to be the same size and shape as you will see in my drawing.  Hope this helps Bonnie!

I have to say that I was a horrible quilter using my sewing machine, I had just learned to stipple a teensy tinsy bit(like 2 table toppers worth) and didn't enjoy it one bit. I never liked sit down quilting.  Then I bought my first frame set up and wow, that was what I felt comfortable with.  And that is still true to this day, 13 years later!  Where has the time gone, it's crazy thinking I have been doing frame quilting that long.  Each and every one of us enjoys doing things differently and that is okay in my book, do what works for you!

Stay tuned for the next week or so to see other retreat finishes.

Linking with the linky parties in the latter part of the week- you will find them listed on my left side bar.  

Pinwheel in a Churn Dash

A Missouri Star tutorial that I just had to do with some older dark green and blue fabric that has been hiding out in my stash.  It was a fun block to whip up and before long I had enough for a quilt.  I started it in November last year and finished piecing in January. Time to get this baby quilted and bound, so I will use the OMG motivation to help me get 'er done.

You can find more information on the One Monthly Goal (OMG) at Elm Street Quilts  where I will be linking up.

Keeping my post short is helping me have more time to quilt more things to show you soon!  This week is all about quilting up table runners for the fall craft shows. Some new and some that are repeats of other years. They keep selling I keep re-making them :)

April OMG

Just a quick post to get my One Monthly Goal entered, I almost forgot!

Here it is...

I will quilt and bind it this month.

Linking at Elm Street Quilts

March OMG

Yesterda, as I was working on another squirrel, I decided upon my goal for March. Custom quilt and bind this quilt that has been languishing in the closet for just over a year(not too bad!).  I even had time last night to piece the backing so I am hoping to get it on the frame this week.

Linking at Elm Street Quilts for my One Monthly Goal.

Twister

I am just squeaking by with meeting my OMG hosted by Elm Street Quilts. At first I couldn't figure out how I wanted to quilt this. It really begged for something a bit custom I thought. Last week I finally figured out what to do, and I thought I'll just get the backing ready. Next thing I know, it was loaded on my frame, and I was in the mood to quilt. As a longarmer, we appreciate finding a path to travel that eliminates as many starts and stops as possible. If I started in the right spot I could make 4 passes across the interior of the quilt without breaking and burying the thread.  

In the colored pinwheel sections I did a continuous curve (CC).  Then I snuck over into the white and used my straight ruler to outline 1/4" away and made a small stipple traveling back to continue with the CC in the colored area.  The narrow lime green border got SID each time I advanced the quilt forward on the frame.

The eggplant border was the last thing I did. It's a modified piano key border.  See how the arc, at the top of the piano key, mimics the arc in the pinwheel pulling it all together.

This 1" line stencil from Pam Clarke and miracle chalk (or baby powder) and a foam brush came in handy to mark lines every 2" to use as a guide for the modified piano keys.

 I used a Glide light silver thread on top and a darker taupe on the back to blend but still gives it texture.

For the binding I used all the leftovers from the pinwheel sections. I had just enough!   Now I had a little error on the binding.  I wanted to use Suzy's magic binding technique but she has it being a 2.75" binding and I always prefer 2.25". Therefore I chose to cut mine less-now mind you I have done this before. But somehow, I cut it different this time and in the end the print one was too large to SID to the front so I ended up stitching it all down by hand like any normal person would do, LOL  It looks fine, it just wasn't the look I was going for.  I am glad it is done, out of my closet, and now I can move on to something else!   And I do have something exciting to share with you later this week!!!!

Linking with OMG and Freemotion by the River

Working my way through two projects

You might have noticed a new button on the top left side bar. Jan and Jen are having a quilt along from a pattern Jen designed called Laundry Day. I am participating and my day to blog my finished mini will be March 10th. So be sure to come back. There are several of us in the blog hop and I know you will want to check out all the inspiration!














My second project is my OMG for February. I was beginning to think I wouldn't make it. But yesterday I felt good enough to get the backing squared up and loaded on the frame.  Then I thought oh I might as well do just a little quilting...I actually got 3 hours worth done!  Today I will be able to finish the interior of the quilt and get the borders started perhaps;)













Linking with Fabric Fort Worth  and Finished or Not