Fireflies Block for QAL & Snuggly Layer Cake Throw

I have sewn the last stitch on the Snuggly Layer Cake Throw! I used the tutorial from Moda Bake Shop. I had previously only done a rag quilt, so I had zero experience with quilting at a larger scale or binding a quilt. I chose this pattern because I wanted something I could do rather quickly and that I wouldn't be completely devastated over if I made a few mistakes. The quilt top came together super quickly and would be perfect for a quick gift. I used a Domestic Bliss layer cake and wine-colored Minky. I am so grateful I found The Minky Boutique, because I shopped all around town and could not find anything but the standard pink, blue and purple. I did struggle feeding the Minky through at sometimes. I should have gone slower and basted more extensively. The struggle was worth it though! It is so soft and comfy!

I really enjoyed hand sewing the binding, which surprised me because I thought I would hate that part! It might be because I am not on speaking terms with my sewing machine right now.* I needed my space! These video tutorials really helped me with the binding: How to Hand Sew a Binding to Back of a Quilt by The Crafty Gemini and How to Bind a Quilt by Connecting Threads. It feels so good to have a finished project! There are a million imperfections in this quilt, but that makes it all the more snuggly and lovable. I plan on spending a lot of time with it and the recliner today! Domestic Bliss indeed!

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I also finished Block # 6 for the Sew. Happy. Geek. Quilt Along. I need to fix the right side, but overall I am so happy with the color combo on this one! My biggest struggle has been slowing down, especially when cutting. When I worked in advertising, everything needed to be done as quickly as possible and usually with as little notice as possible. Speed is not rewarded in sewing! The upper right hand block is a quarter inch to short, which is going to cause big problems when I  go to put it all together. Craftsmanship problems aside, I do love this QAL! I have learned so much and it has really broken me out of my comfort zone. I can't wait to see the finished product. Six more blocks to go!

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I am truckin' along on the robot quilt. Strip piecing is a dream! I would of course pick a pattern that was all corners, after complaining I struggled getting my corners to meet. From the advice from non-pinners in my last post, I figured out that it was my pinning that was causing the problem. I was shifting everything when I took out the pins. I'm not quite comfortable without pins yet, but with smaller pins that seem to hold the fabric tighter and waiting until the very last minute to remove the pins, my corners have improved exponentially. I cannot wait to see the robot start to peek out! I have to take a break on it this weekend, because the husband is back home. Between his nosiness and my ability to last five seconds in an interrogation, I can't work on it when he is here!

I seriously need to do some smaller projects after this one. I have no idea how I got caught up in all these quilts!

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*While quilting the Snuggly Layer Cake Throw, my sewing machine went on strike. The take-up lever got completely stuck! I got brave and opened it up and it turns out there was thread wrapped around the gears. I removed all the thread and it seemed to be functioning normally. I was seriously amazed at myself, but before I could even put my application in at the sewing machine repair shop it started sounding alarms every twenty stitches. Dreams of being a sewing machine repairperson dashed! It seems to be working normally after it rested overnight, but I don't trust it just yet! Hopefully it was just a one time thing, because it was just repaired two months ago.

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WIP Wednesday - Crimson Cross

After much starting and (a lot of) stopping, I finished my Crimson Cross quilt top! I got the pattern from Little Bits Quilting Bee by Kathreen Ricketson. I used 2 layer cakes and a honey bun from Fig Tree Quilts Butterscotch & Roses collection. I picked the pattern because it seemed easy enough for me to start out on and it gave me a good opportunity to practice 1/4" seams. I probably should have considered the size, because 72 blocks of straight lines got a little monotonous after a while. It didn't look like so much from the stack above, but it took me all day to piece it! A lot of that was because I had issues keeping my rows matched up, but once I switched to smaller pins I had less trouble. Any advice on that topic would be appreciated!   This project is now going to enter quilting limbo, while I decide what to do with it!

I've been so busy finishing the blocks and top for the above quilt, so my To-Do list looks almost the same as last week!

1. Snuggly Layer Cake Quilt - I want to finish quilting & binding this by Friday.
2. Robot Quilt - This is for Valentine's Day, so high priority! I got the blue jelly rolls to speed up the process, but I still need to go the store and get the colors for the robot.
3. Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL Fireflies block.
4. Put my January HST block back together.

I really need to start finishing projects before I start a new ones!

Week 3 - Star Block & Finished Sewing Table

This is the third week of the Sew. Happy. Quilt.  QAL. I am so proud of myself for keeping up so far! This is the Template Star Quilt Block. I have to admit that I put this one off until the weekend because the term "advanced beginner" freaked me out a little bit, but once again the instructions were easy to follow. I love the encouragement at the end of each one! After I finish a block, I also find myself saying, "She's right! I do totally rock! :D!"  This block also came together really quickly. I might end up redoing it with a solid, because it is so busy. I'll wait to see how it all looks at the end though!

We finished my sewing/craft table this weekend! I have been needing something taller to work at, because I already have horrible sitting posture and my back has been hurting when I am cutting/sewing at the folding table.  We are lucky enough to have a spare bedroom, so we made it 4'x6'. Before & after time!

At first my husband was going to build it from scratch, but I knew it would probably end up in garage limbo for months and I would really like to park in there sometimes! We decided to go with premade bookshelves and actually came out cheaper. The four Ikea Billy Bookshelves, medium-density fiber board and the wood for the opening brace ended up costing around $200.  I was worried about the height (41") which I thought was a couple inches higher than necessary, but it has actually been the perfect height for me. I finished the rest of my 84 Crimson Cross blocks with no pain. Yay! My husband doesn't know this yet, but I lined the bookshelves with wallpaper (Allen Roth Spanish Tile). I have been dying to line a bookshelf because of Pinterest and this was my chance!

I also had a good week, because I had some kind of crazy lucky streak and won two giveaways. I won a $25 gift certificate to ErinCondren.com from Danny at Mommy For Reals (I purchased the Life Planner in Multi Trellis) and a fat eighth bundle of Good Fortune by Kate Spain from Kaye at Miss Print. I'll have to post pictures when I get everything in, but I had to share my anticipation! ErinCondren.com documents ever step of the printing process and since I am the girl that stalks UPS tracking information on an hourly basis, I am also the girl who is causing a huge bump in ErinCondren.com's traffic numbers while checking my order status on an hourly basis lol

On the schedule for this week
1) Sew together the Crimson Cross top
2) Quilt and Bind the Snuggly Layer Cake Quilt
3) Start the robot quilt for my husband's Valentines Day present! He will be out of town this week, so it is perfect timing!
4) Transfer all the blogs I follow to this account. This will be a good task for when I am procrastinating the other three goals.