A Big Finish - Aidan's Quilt

A month ago Aidan's quilt was a top, and now it's a finish.  A big finish!  81" by 98" to be exact.  It should work okay for a few more years until he's done growing.

It was "fun" (you know what I mean!) man-handling that thing to machine stitch the binding on .....

.....and it was very warm hand-stitching it down. (The weather is not cold enough yet for that!)  I didn't even ask Hubby to hold it up for me to take pics because it's so big.  I just threw it onto the ground and had a fall photo shoot.

I had the fun of gifting it in person when the family was together for Thanksgiving dinner.  

He was a good sport about wrapping himself up in it ....

..... to reenact a photo of him with another of his "Gramma Quilts" when he was three years old.  I didn't dare ask him to pose at the window, though!  

He really likes his quilt, and I think it's big enough .....

..... for now!

September Goals

My grandson needs a new quilt.   It seems he has outgrown all the quilts I've made for him.  It's no wonder.

 

 

Look at this child!  I think he gets taller every day!

He wouldn't give me any ideas about the style or colors I should use.  He wants to be surprised.  I bet that would be risky with a lot of 16-year-olds, but I'm pretty sure he'll like whatever I do.  I've decided to use the "Cartwheel" pattern by Stephanie Sheridan.  It was featured in the Aug/Sept 2016 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts magazine.  This is what I have done so far .....

..... 60 string blacks partially made, and a huge mess in my sewing room!

The plan is to turn the string blocks into HSTs with a navy or dark blue monochromatic print.  My September goal is to have the top finished and ready for quilting.  

I'm all set up and ready to get back to work!

Linking up with One Monthly Goal and So Scrappy

Scrap Attack Goal - January

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time to see what my Scrap Attack Goal is for January.  I had my grandson pull a slip from the bag.

Hooray!  It's an easy one.  The first goal for the year is to cut up my blue scraps into useable pieces.  (Can you tell I'm glad?)

Fortunately my pile of blue scraps is on the smallish side.

Well, maybe it's not that small, but wait until you see the greens!

I've started with the smaller pieces, pressing and stacking. The plan is to cut them into 2", 2.5", 3", and 3.5" squares, and 2.5" x 4.5" bricks.  What's left will be cut into strips, and pieces less than 2" are going into the trash.  (Don't tell anyone.)  By the way I'm only cutting up scraps - not stash.  I want to make sure I have large enough pieces left for other projects.  

I'm hoping to get this done quickly.  I have lots more goals to work on, and I need to get busy!

I'm linking up with Sarah's Scrap Attack 2018. 

Golden State Warriors Wall Hanging -- Done!

I can't tell you how happy I am to have completed my July goal for ALYoF.   (A certain little boy is, too!)   This project, however, was not without its problems.

The fusible web I bought at my local quilt shop did not have the best directions I've ever seen.   Even though I read them repeatedly I ended up wasting several hours (and a bit of fabric) by cutting out the logo without having reversed the pattern before tracing it.   Honestly, the directions never said anything about that very vital step.  That means it ended up backwards, and I had to start over.    Thank goodness I got it right after that.

Once the logo was stitched down I decided to baste and quilt before adding the team name.  I didn't think it would be too much fun quilting around all those letters.  

The original plan was to stipple inside the logo and do some straight-line quilting on the background, but I needed to finish this so I decided to keep it simple.  And this is how much of the quilting was left to do when the bobbin ran out.  Isn't that always the way?

It's been a long time since I used my Clover mini iron.  Just a reminder -- don't hold your letter down with one hand and blindly reach over and grab the iron with the other hand.  Ouch!!

Then don't just drop it onto your cutting mat when you run to the sink to put cold water on your hand.  Oops!!

The top letters were just too small to cut out and iron on (for me, anyway!) so I embroidered them with a double row of outline stitch.  I really like the way it looks.  

Finishing this little quilt was so much fun.  I'm really happy with it. 

Aidan is pretty happy, too.  Look at that smile!  All decked out in his Golden State Warriors cap and Championship shirt and standing in front of his new wall-hanging.  It doesn't get much better than that!  

I'm linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for their ALYoF July Finishes Party. 

I'm also linking up with WIPs Be Gone Week 31 at A Quilting Reader's Garden.

July Goal for ALYoF

After barely being in my sewing room at all for the last nine weeks I am more than ready to get in there and do some serious sewing!  

Aidan has been very patiently waiting for his Golden State Warriors wall hanging, so that has to be my A Lovely Year of Finishes goal for this month.  I had the team logo enlarged some time ago and bought the fabric for it, too.  

Last week when I visited a new (to me) Local Quilt Shop I bought some fusible web so I'm ready to go. 

And the best news is ......

..... I got to take off my sling!  WooHoo!!!!!  

This month I am going to sew and sew and sew some more.  Starting with Aidan's wallhanging.  After all, doesn't a cutie like this deserve the quilt he asked for?

I'm linking up with the July Goal Setting Party at Fiber of All Sorts. 

A New Quilt for Aidan and March Stash Report

This cutie pie, my 9-year-old grandson, Aidan, has informed me that it's his turn for a new quilt. 

In his (barely) nine years I've made him not one .....

..... not two .....

..... not even three .....

..... but four quilts .....

..... AND a quilted Christmas stocking.

After being a dedicated Miami Heat fan for several years he has just changed his loyalty to the Golden State Warriors, so he thinks he needs a new Warriors quilt.  I convinced him that a wall-hanging would be an even cooler idea.  

  


















I enlarged the logo and bought the fabric.  I'm planning to just make a simple raw-edge appliquéd top and free-motion quilt it.  It set my stash-busting back a little, but that will motivate me to get it finished quickly.

Besides, I need to get it onto his wall before he changes favorite teams again.

March

Fabric Added in March - 2 yards

Fabric Used in March - 19.48 yards

Fabric Added Year to Date - 2 yards

Fabric Used Year to Date - 55.30 yards

Net used in 2015 - 53.30 yards

Strings Galore!

Like most quilters, I have a difficult time throwing away small scraps and strings of fabric.  I've been tossing mine into a basket for a long time, and I've actually 

managed to make several string quilts and scrap projects.  Recently though, I've noticed that my basket is overflowing.

So I started digging.  Yikes!

Starting out slowly I pulled some pages from a Yellow Pages book and, using a paper foundation, made just one simple yellow string block.

Too ordinary and not enough fun!  I just started sewing strips together.

I had seen several string quilts recently, so I pulled some gray fabric from my stash, and ended up with this cute quilt top for a baby quilt.  I believe the quilt I used as inspiration was actually made with fabric selvedge edges. 

Then I pulled some more stash and made the backing.

When I was cleaning up the scraps and shoving them back into the basket I found something in the middle of all those strings that brought back precious memories from when my grandsons were little enough to play in my sewing room.  They had a blast with my strings basket, played for hours, and the mess only took 10 minutes to clean up.

I highly recommend it.

Oh -- what did I find?  Aidan's little sock.  Awwwwww!   I must have sent him home without it.  I think I'll keep it.