Progress Without Posting

I have been away from the blog lately.  I have been busy with studying and family as usual. I had been quilting and have some progress to report.   First, a full view of Happy in Cali:





This is not a great shot but its  the best I can do with my camera. I really love this quilt!
This has been  finished for a while but I just kept trying to get a better picture. Oh well...

Next up is this baby quilt that I finished in July.  Again, took forever to get it photographed!  Its not perfect but its so soft and cuddly.  The fabrics  are all flannel and that makes it so nice for  babies. I originally started out making this for a friend but did not get it done in time to give to  her, plus the sashing is so uneven.  I am not sure what I will be doing with this one.  I really do  still love this one so much as  well.



So, after this one was done, I could not find time to quilt. When I did have  time I was just too tired. So, I did not work on anything for weeks.  Until I decided to go ahead and cut fabric for the next baby quilt.This time it would be pink for a baby girl recently  born.  I decided  to try out  the 10-minute blocks. I already had the fabric so I ran out and got the book.  Now I have mentioned before that my crafting only happens when my little guy is sleeping. So I guess it was about 11 PM when I sat down to cut this fabric.  I put a brand new, very sharp  blade in my rotary cutter and for some reason  I put it down and went to do something else. I came back and picked up the rotary cutter to get started. Well, guess what happened? I did not have it in safe mode and you guessed it, I dropped the cutter!  The blade made a clean 1.5 inch cut in my leg and necessitated a trip  to the ER.  I ended up getting 3 staples.  I was mocked by  everyone in  the ER when I told them that this was a quilting accident!

After that, I was hesitant to quilt late at night. So, it took me a while to jump in again to get the quilt below going.  But since I used the  10 minute blocks it did not take long!




I am planning to add a thin white border and then another 3 inch border in a pink polka dot print.  Then on to the quilting.  I will likely do a solid pink backing or maybe brown.  We shall see!

So,  that's my  progress so far!  I still have to put one more border on my red,  black and white quilt.  I am thinking of calling it Newspaper....because of that very  old, very bad joke.

For now,  no more late night quilting! And, I had the good since to invest in a rotary cutter that is always in safe mode when not in use.  Thank goodness for Joann's coupons!

Finally, just  tad bit of cuteness!





Join the fun over at Freshley Pieced to see what many talented folks are up to.

Farmer's Wife Friday!

Well, I have jumped into the fray of the farmers wife craze!  Check out my first two blocks:




The basket weave block came out a bit wonky. Both are paper pieced.  I am planning to paper piece all of the blocks. This is my first time paper piecing and I like it so far!

The Long Beach Quilt Festival is happening now and I took the day off work to go down to enjoy my first ever quilt show.  I got a few fun items and saw some beautiful quilts. 

This one was made by a seven year old girl with ad/hd.  She is a part of the only childrens quilting guild in soCal.



This one was made by a 12 year old boy from the same guild:





Just amazing.  I really really enjoyed the show. The market place was sooooo crowded.  I got to try out the Elna 720 and viewed some Janomes as well.  I confirmed with the Janome guy that my kenmore is indeed a Janome!  I ordered some feet for my Kenmore machine and they arrived in a Janome box, so that was my first clue.

I loved the elna and I plan to save toward an upgrade for about a year and hopefully, when the show rolls around next year I will be able to purchase a dream machine at the show. They have great deals!

Thats all for now.  I will be back for WIP Wednesday next week, I hope!

A Finish on WIP Wednesday!

Happy in Cali is done! Unfortunately, its late and the pics did not come out well so I will post a pic of the full piece when I get some outdoor shots of it.  In the meantime, check out the quilting and the binding:



At first, as I was making the binding, I was thinking that I had made the wrong choice. But when I started stitching it on with my walking foot, I knew I had a winner.  I really love this quilt.  Its backed with yellow flannel.  I really like the way flannel feels on skin so I choose it more often than not to back my quilts.  I usually stock up on it at Joann's on Black Friday because its always on sale then. : )





 

 I quilted the entire thing myself. I decided to free hand some flowers in the borders. I heard an interview over on  Craftsanity and the artist was speaking about how doodling helped her come up with some of her fabulous embroidery designs.  I also reviewed some videos on free motion quilting and they talked a lot about practicing by drawing out the design on paper so that your brain can get used to what you want your hands to do. Well, I have been doodling this same flower since I was in elementary school so my figured my brain should be pretty familiar with it by now, since I am now over 40! I made some booboos but I am overall very pleased with my first attempt. I am so happy I dove in because now I feel energized to finish my other projects!


And go on over to Freshly Pieced  to check out some more fabulous work from  the WIP Wednesday Participants!:

Works In Progress Wednesday!

Well,  I finally got up the courage to start quilting Happy in Cali!.  I was hesitant because I am a fairly new quilter and have only attempted straight line quilting with my walking foot as well as crazy quilting with the decorative stitches on my machine.  I was going to simply grid quilt this one and at the last minute I decided that I had to try it at some point. Happy in Cali is for me so it really does not have to be perfect, as if its going to judged. So I decided that the only way to learn to stipple is to stipple so I did it!  I have to say, I am so happy with the results.  I know that there are many mistakes in this quilt and one day when I look back on it years from now, I might sort of roll my eyes at all the mistakes. But today, I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY WITH THIS QUILTING!

Lord knows I will not be winning any prizes for these photos! Not so great but here they are:








I know its really not stippling but more like loop-d-loops.  I still love it!  Thats all that matters, right? 


Stats:

5 current projects

1. The baby tube quilt needs to be bound
2. The baby rag quilt needs the ragging to be finished up and then washed
3. The Jelly Roll 1600 will get two additional borders before its sandwiched
4. The other Jelly Roll 1600 needs the piecing completed
5. Happy in Cali needs the quilting to be completed and then it can be bound!

I have no new projects at this time but I am starting to think about some quick lap quilts for family Christmas gifts.

Still working on the masters and still planning to be finished soon and very soon!

Other than this, I am sort of drawn to the Farmers Wife Quilt along that are going on right now.  I am planning to purchase the book and to attempt to make this one over the next what will likely be several years of my life!  At first,  I was turned off by the fact that its done with templates. Then I heard over on the Hip to Be Square Podcast that there are paper piecing patterns out there. So, now I really think I am going to do it!

Thats my progress. Pop on by Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else is up to!

Works In Progress Wednesday!

Wow, its been a while. I have not been able to craft because I was so focused on working on my Master's Degree. I think I wrote 3 papers and completed my capstone project which included a video presentation, over the last 4 weeks. So, I am now on the brink of finishing my MBA!  Just two more exams and I am done!  I cannot wait until I can't count this as a finished project.  My goal is to be done done done by the first day of fall. For me, taking exams is easier than writing papers so I really think I can do it by then. 

We are on vacation this week and my mother is in town so we have been having a lot of fun with our little guy and he is enjoying his granny and she is enjoying him. I am getting spoiled because my mother is doing lots of cooking and cleaning!  Yeah! Hey, I did not ask...its just what she does. Who am I to stop her?  Seriously, I am so so grateful for her. 

Since we are on vacation, I got a chance to do a little crafting today. This is a combination of the Jelly Roll Race Quilt seen  here:



And some fence rail blocks for borders.  I think this is the final incarnation of my red, black and white quilt. I will probably add an additional solid red border and make a scrappy binding for this one.  I did not work with a jelly roll. I cut a ton of red/black/white strips and just followed the process seen in the video.  I had already made several fence rail blocks because I was originally planning an entire fence rail quilt. But I really like how this is turning out so far.  Check it out:



The lighting is terrible but it really is turning out nicely. I like the scrappiness of it all!

Finally, take a look at my two favorite fellas on Father's Day. We went to see Sesame Street Live and a good time was had by all!



Since I will be studying intently over the next few months, I am not sure when I will participate again in this WIP Wednesday Linky party. But I will be checking it out every week and so should you if you are looking for inspiration! 

WIP WEDNESDAY!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a sandwich! That's right, Happy in Cali is sandwiched.  On toward the Quilting!



I was inspired by Lee over at Freshly Pieced  when she posted her lunch totes made from this tut:

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-lunch-bag.html

Here is my version:






This was a very easy project and I highly recommend it.  Check out this and other tuts over at the Pink Penguin. She is a very talented blogger.

The baby quilt is still awaiting a binding and this handbag is done for the most part.

        Please excuse my messy desk at work!


I continue to work on my masters. its so hard!  I am sure I have senioritis and mommy-of-a-2-year-old-itis because I cannot seem to focus on this degree!  I did manage to turn in another paper and got an A on it! Yes!  Moving forward. I will be glad when this particular project goes into the completed pile.

And speaking of my little two year old work in progress, he started Karate class this week. Can you believe they have this for 2 year olds? Right now its all about  teaching them to follow directions, no real technique for about another year or so.  But check out my boy's moves!  Pretty good for a first try!  Forgive the blurs, he was a moving target and I took these on my blackberry.

one last bit of cuteness.



So stop on by freshly pieced to see what everyone else has been up to!

Works In Progress Wednesday!

I think this might be my 4th WIP Wednesday.  I really like this linky party because it keeps me productive.  Since last week I have only worked on the handbag that I had cut out.  I have stayed up late so that I could craft after my little guy goes down for the night and after I have put in some time studying since I am still in pursuit of my master's degree. I just can't put he crafting aside though!  I also got sick so I did not get to do much of anything for a few days.    So here is the pattern once again:                         This is the front view:                   This is the inside of the purse:                            Another look a the inside pockets:                  this is the inside of the gussett:               The only thing left is the handle and I will be able to use my new bag. Maybe I can wear it on Sunday for church. We shall see!    Other than that, I still have to bind the baby quilt and sandwich the happy in cali quilt.  I also have a rag quilt to finish.  I think I will get a lot of these finished by the end of june, depending on the progress of my  school work.    Hop on over to Freshly pieced to be inspired by all the creativity going on!                                                                

Works In Progress Wednesday!

So,  I am now ready to bind this baby quilt.  I did some simple straight line quilting.  I know things are so not perfect in this quilt but I absolutely don't care.  I love it!




close up of the quilting:


front


Back


My news project is a hand bag.  I have cut out most of the pieces. Hopefully I will have this sewn up by next WIP Wed.



Happy in Cali is still waiting to be Sandwiched and the rail fence bed quilt is waiting patiently to be pieced.  I also have a baby rag quilt that is just about done. Maybe I will have some finishes this Month!

Join in the fun over at Freshly Pieced and let the projects inspire you to keep progressing!

Monday Morning Weekend Review

Saturday was a great day.  I had been very sick all day on Friday so I was not even sure if I would make it to my May Crafts Day with my group. But my stomach settled down just enough for me to join my crafting buds!.  People were doing everything from Knitting to painting to sewing. There was even a girl there who is trained in acupuncture and she was making earrings out of acupuncture needles!  Another lady was making clutch bags from place mats  of all things.  And we had some kids there this time around.  A new member brought her son and daughter. The boy was making a spiderman quilt and the daughter made the cutest dress with a lot of help from her mom.  Check us out!

I was ablt to finish quilting my baby quilt and am now ready to bind!  I might get a finish this month!  Check out the quilting:

Front:




Back



I am very happy with my progress in crafting. However, I seem to have stalled out in my progress toward my master's degree.  These self paced programs are a blessing and a curse on some ways.  Its nice for working parents because you can do as much as you can do and not be penalized. But its trouble when you lose your motivation  and energy!  I am still hopeful that I will be finished by the end of June but I have so much work to do!  I need serious prayer. 

And when you live with this much cuteness, who can blame me for not wanting to spend my time with my nose in a text book!

Monday Morning: The Weekend Review in Pictures

This is a new feature I hope to post every morning in an effort to post more frequently.  I know its not morning anymore and in some places its not even Monday, but it is in SoCal so here goes!

Celebrating and Great Lady and a Great Friend on her 70th Birthday On Friday Night




Gymboree on Saturday with my favorite little Guy!






Playing in the Park on Mother's day with my son.



Mother's DAy Cards from my kiddo. He "made" the one on the left.




A little's Mother's Day Crafting:



And a final bit of cuteness playing games on the iPad.



I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day!