Four Finishes (Makes 11 for 2010)

They say done is better than perfect, and I'm not real proud, but I am happy. I always knew that I didn't have artistic talent, but after doing several meandered quilts, I'm starting to think that I'm not even a good scribbler, lol. It's ok though, the recipients of these quilts won't care. The top quilt is the "last" of the big boy quilts, and is for Caleb, who loves music, thus the music border. He plays in a rock band, both guitar and drums.





























The pink and blue nine patch quilts are from Crazy Mom Quilts quiltalong, now 2 out of 3 are done, better late than never, at least that's what I tell myself.















This is my "Unstrip Road" front and back, and it is for DH and I, probably. I hope to finish my Iowa "Carolina" Christmas before the holidays also, but if I don't I'll at least have one Christmas quilt.



























PS. They aren't washed yet, so they will improve after they are, and the soft crinkles will hide a multitude of sins. That's what my MIL used to say about curls, and I think it's true for my quilts, too.

Whew! Two More Finishes

Now I need to start looking for a big box, as I have all 4 quilts ready to go. The two above are just like my other big boy quilts except different borders, and I still have 1 more to do for my 17 year old grandson which will also have the music border like the one on the right above.
The next group will have to wait a few days before I start basting again, I need to do some housework and go to some appointments.
DH went to the grocery store yesterday and came home with some flowers for me. They are really pretty and colorful and are very cheerful to look at.


PS I just figured up and these make my actual quilt "finishes" for this year, seven. Not so good, but I'm on a roll now.

Big Boy Quilt Number 2 Done

This looks a whole lot like big boy quilt number 1, just a different border. It is done but not perfect. The front doesn't look too bad, but my machine was giving me problems and the back is not as good as I'd like. I picked out the worst of it, and as hard as it was to pick out, it should hold together well, lol. This is for my grandson, Micah.
I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful Fourth of July weekend.

Second Quilt for 2010 and Second Finish for the Week

I don't know if anyone remembers my four big boy quilts which I thought were quite homely.  This is the first one finished (finally; the back says Robert 2009) and I'm actually very pleased.  The pattern doesn't show up well here, but each block is a medium strip, a small strip and a large strip.  I copied it from a quilt on another blog, which I thought looked quite good, and easy.  The four are all basically the same, although the blocks are random, except each has a different border.  Now, only about ten more tops and I'll be caught up, lol.

I have decided that although I'm not good at it, I do enjoy the free motion quilting.  I don't know if I'll progress to much more than meandering, as I don't have any artistic talents, but I am improving a bit, and it is fun as long as the machine cooperates, and my Juki has been doing well.

The part that hangs me up and makes me procrastinate is the basting.  Boy do I dislike basting.  I tried pins, not so good, as I tended to run over them now and then and break my needles.  Next, I tried Sharon Schamber's board method, which I rather like.  I tried it with basting spray instead of thread, and it worked wonderfully except for the sticky mess.  Also, my DH got pneumonia and I felt that the spray could have contributed.  On my GGD's baby quilt, I used Sharon Schamber's method with the thread, and it worked well, except it is so time consuming.  I guess, unless someone has a better suggestion (other than a frame, lol) I'll keep doing the thread.  I have a goal to get my backlog done, and then to not do tops unless I finish them right away.  On one of the Yahoo Forums someone was talking about unquilted tops being closet clutter, and it sounded right to me, lol.

Here's a link to the board method:
http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com/free_area/videos/basting/index.html

P.S.   I hope the boys (ages 13 to 17) find them manly enough, there is nary a pink, purple, or flower to be found.

Bindings in Progress

I haven't gotten a single quilt quilted, but I am doing the bindings in advance. I have seven sewn and ready to press and it sure does make my sewing room a mess. Kind of reminds me of icicles hanging everywhere, but we still have the air-conditioner on.

Five Down! On to the Borders

I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone, I almost feel like Amy or Soscrappy who get 'so' much done. I have my five tops ready for borders, the red strips and then each boy will have a different five inch border. The leftovers from the blocks I have cut out three and a half inches wide and I'm going to sew them together and put a pieced border on the top and bottom of each quilt. Then it's on to backs and embroidering names and I'll be getting closer and closer.
My grandson was over yesterday and he liked what he saw, so hopefully they will be a hit. I don't know if I'll be finished when they all get here, but I'm sure going to try.

Will Work for Crumbs!

I've been sewing quite a bit this past week, and sometimes it is also thinking time when you are sewing full strips assembly line style. I am trying to do quilts for several young people and with just a "little" encouragement. That's what I mean by crumbs. One is due to:
"I get cold too, Grandma.", another when my niece got the quilts for her 3 little ones the older ones were there and wondered if there was something for them too, and the one for my nephew is due to his getting tearful when he accidentally burned a hole in the fleece blanket that I made him. Just a little bit gets me sewing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
(Edited to leave out parts that could be seen as negative)
I got a package from Thousands of Bolts today. The red is for a little border around each quilt, and the other fabrics are for 5" borders. That way they will be similar to each other but different.








The other picture is my new iron. I had a $15.00 off coupon from BJ's, but unfortunately they were out of that iron. Since I had a lot of strips to iron I wanted one "now" so I got this Black and Decker. I have a Maytag cordless, but it is across the room and I was walking myself to death and taking up way too much time. The geometric fabric is what I bought for the binding, and the tan fabric underneath is for the backs. My husband says that way maybe they'll like the fronts better, lol. I got the tan fabric at Ikea for $2.99 a yard and it is 59" wide. The last fabric I got there seemed to be good, and the price was right.
This is the first top without borders, and it doesn't look too good in the picture, but in person it has promise.

Problems at the Quilt Shop

Not really, but so far my blocks kind of look like there was an explosive illness at a quilt shop. These are piles of 4 blocks each, and I have 2 more sets of 16 blocks of 4 each to do. I'll end up with 192 blocks, but all the same 16 fabrics. Hopefully, with the different combinations of blocks and the borders and quilting, the quilts will be something that will please boys and young men. If not, I'll give them to them anyway and they can keep them in the closet in case of emergency.
I promise, the picture of the quilt that I saw on the ladies blog was quite pretty. Of course, it was pretty florals and in one basic color scheme. Details, details.

Assembly Line Sewing

I haven't gotten to the sewing part yet, but I have been cutting strips. I decided to make 5 young men quilts for my niece's 2 boys, my nephew, and 1 grandson, 2 grandson's if the other shows any interest, or for me if he doesn't, I really like some of the fabrics. I saw a quilt on a blog that I liked the looks of and that I thought that maybe I could assembly line enough to get them done in a few weeks. I wish that I remembered which blog so that I could ask permission to put the picture on mine, but I can't. It is just 3 different width strips for each block and then they are turned different ways. I plan to put a narrow probably red border and then different larger borders for each one. So they'll be the same but different. They won't be art, but they will be warm and hopefully will turn out cute. Size about 57" x 81", enough to tuck under the toes and under the chin.
I had enough of the fabric left to make a 2 1/2" strip from each fabric to use in my 9 patch quilt from Crazy Mom Quilts sewalong so that is still in the works and I also need to quilt the 2 tops that I have for my niece's two girls so I have plenty to keep me busy.
I may not be able to reach my goals, as I think that my niece is coming the second week of August, but maybe I can get at least her kids and my nephew's done by then if I keep my nose to the grindstone.