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.

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!:

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 am joining in on Works in Progress Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced! I am planning to do this every week!  This will motivate me to keep working on all my UFOs and hopefully finish some great projects this year.

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So, this is my friendship braid inspired quilt top.  I saw this tutorial over at Missouri Star Quilt Company:





I realized that I could use my Accuquilt Go and the Chisel Die to create my version of this quilt.

I laid them out a few times before I found this layout that I love.



 Here, I have pieced that strips and added the first border.



Hopefully I will have the entire top pieced by next Wednesday and then it will be ready to quilt.  I am going to attempt some straight line diagonal grid quilting. Hopefully it will work out. I have to say that I really love  my Accuquilt Go!  It saves so much time and with all that it going on in my life, I do all I can to save time!  This is the first of I believe many quilts that I will be able to create using my GO!

My other work is progress is not quilting related or even crafting related. Its my Masters Degree!  I am happy to say that though I am still working on it after 3 years, I am so close that I can almost taste it!  I will actually be done by the end of June! I am so excited.  My program is completely online and the school is in Salt Lake City. So if I actually want to participate in the ceremony, I will have to fly to Utah.  At first I was thinking, whatever, who cares as long as I get the degree. But this has been such a battle that I think that once I finish, I MUST walk down that aisle and receive my degree. So, Salt Lake City here we come! ( probably next year though since they only have two ceremonies per year.)

Oh, how about a 3rd Work in Progress:  The Cuteness!



He will be progressing for a while though I know time is flying pretty quickly.  Its so hard to believe that he will be 2 years old next week!  My husband and I have been looking at his baby pictures and some from just one year ago. Its just amazing how much kids grow in such a short amount of time!


We are planning to take him to Legoland. Hopefully I will be able to visit a quilt shop in the area while we are there!  Stay tuned for more  pics and updates!