my NEW ENGLAND quilt! July 9, 2010

After many enjoyable hours spent in front of the television (really when do I ever get to do that?)

I was able to FINALLY finish hand stitching the binding on my New England inspired quilt!

I love LOVE love how the quilting looks after I washed it…

and how soft the Echino fabrics are now!

And how this quilt brightens my otherwise neutral toned room!

And I especially love how HAPPY it makes me to snuggle up under it

even though its wicked hot out right now ;0)

(Note to self: finish bedroom quilt in the Fall or Winter next time!)

Happy Friday,

Colette

Sneaky Peeky June 29, 2010

A little sneaky peaky at my Echino Turning Twenty quilt!

I’m just finishing it up by hand stitching the Kona Raisin binding…

and enjoying every moment of it.

This has to be my most FAVORITE part of the whole quilt process!

I can RELAX, watch a movie, and NOT feel guilty because I am actually accomplishing something ~ tee hee ;0)

Isn’t the long arm quilting by Barbara from Alewives Fabrics BEAUTIFUL???

Happy quilting,
Colette

Its Official! June 27, 2010

I am no longer a quilt class “dropout” because this time I’ve GRADUATED!!!

Rhea from Alewives fabrics (here) taught a “Virtual Turning Twenty Class”(of course I HAD to take it)

and this quilt I made for my Father was completed by me from start to finish

including the machine quilting and the binding!

Eeek!  I feel so legit now…like a REAL quilter ;0)

This is actually the second Turning Twenty Quilt I made using Rhea’s on line class tutorial,

but the first (here) I sent to her shop to be quilted and I have yet to add the binding…

hope to complete that this week!

Pappy this will be coming to you soon with LOTS of love from all of us!

Just as soon as I finish stitching my label made from this tutorial over at p.s. i quilt HERE.

Happy quilting,

Colette

A Bit of Binding June 24, 2010

How silly was I to be so worried about binding my first quilt?

I honestly did NOT think I would like hand stitching the binding…but I LOVE it!!!

Its very ZEN!

At this rate (it is QUITE addicting) I shall be finished binding Pappy’s quilt by tomorrow ;0)

And then I can tackle binding my Echino queen sized quilt (I just wish it wasn’t so darn hot!)

Happy sewing,

Colette

It could always be… May 14, 2010

Did you know I was a high school quilting class DROPOUT???

Yes indeedy, my Mum and I took a quilting class together when I was about seventeen

but we NEVER made it to the point where we finished our quilt tops.

I have a TERRIBLE time making up my mind when it comes down to

picking fabrics for the quilt

and border fabric

and binding fabric…

so WILLY NILLY, I know, right?

Well no more, I am finished with my Turning Twenty quilt top AND

I am DETERMINED to finish my Virtual Turning Twenty Class (original post here) with Rhea at Alewives Fabric =0)

(This crazy amount of work was for classes four, five, and six!)

I also got my (very simple) back sewn up and I had to laugh at her instructions that said basically

to forget about those lovely pieced backs by Denyse Schmidt or Ashley from Film in the Fridge

that until we understand the rules we can’t break them.

Ha, ha she MUST have know that was going to be my next question.

I do ask A LOT of questions.

Off in the mail to Alewives Fabrics (here) it all went today to to be long-arm quilted by Barbara.

I am so anxious to see what design she picks to quilt it!

When it returns all pretty and quilted, all I will have to do is add my binding.

Kona cotton in Raisin (on the far right) is what I am going to use for the binding (well, I am MOSTLY sure anyways).

I REALLY am trying NOT to second guess my choices with this quilt so far,

and I figure if it doesn’t look good in my bedroom it can always become a picnic blanket, ha ha  ;0)

Happy sewing,
Colette

Sewing Queen… May 13, 2010

Sewing queen sized quilts is for the BIRDS!

What was I thinking???

My poor seams are FAR from perfectly matching up in a few spots

but nonetheless I am LOVING this Turning Twenty Quilt!

My bedroom was in desperate need of some brightening up

and I am pretty sure this quilt will do the trick.

I’ve decided to go with a Kona “Lupine” solid border around my pieced border

and then will bind in Kona “Raisin”.

I am DEFINITELY sending this to Alewives Fabrics (here) to have Barbara long arm quilt this ~

I know my LIMITS, ha ha, I can’t IMAGINE trying to quilt this myself.

My sewing loft is kinda small for a such a large quilting project…

I even tried convincing my Husband to move R. into the loft and us into her room

so I could use our bedroom for MY sewing room.

Just think of the huge flannel quilting wall I could have!!!

But no such luck ;0)

Back to sewing borders…

PS – can’t WAIT for my new sewing chair to get here ~ that folding chair is quite uncomfortable!

Happy sewing,
Colette

Turning Twenty Class 3 April 24, 2010

My new Rowenta iron (here) finally arrived and it presses/steams perfectly!

I did a bit of research and considered going with another brand but in the end I stuck with Rowenta.

My past two irons were Rowentas and I didn’t have any trouble with them…other than smashing into my wood floors, ha ha.

I love how heavy they are and they get really hot and give a good steam.

Remember my “B” block?

Finally finished up those “A” blocks which completes my Turning Twenty Class 3!

I spent the afternoon yesterday moving into my new sewing loft,

(spent most of the time moving my daughter’s stuff out of it!)

but managed to squeeze in some time to start working on a Mother’s Day gift for my Mom.

Here’s a sneak peek at the fabrics…

Everything has been cut and pinned and is ready to sew…

of course I do not have the color thread I need and will have to pick some up today =0)

Hoping to finish it up tomorrow and will post a quick and easy tutorial so you can make one for your Mom (or yourself!) too.

Happy sewing,

Colette

Mishaps April 22, 2010

So I think I earned the dunce award in my Virtual Turning Twenty quilting class!

Remember these stacks of blocks I sewed up for class 2 here?

The ones I was soooo proud of?  ha ha

Well, I sewed the rectangle to the wrong side of the square.

Ended up having to seam rip and resew 14 of the 20 blocks.

(thanks Molly for chatting on the phone with me with while I did this mundane task!)

On the upside, I learned how to do a proper pinning =0)

See how my pins go in and out of the fabric a few times?

Also learned to NOT sew over pins, but to remove them instead.

AND to think I have been doing it wrong for all of these years ~ yeesh!

Rhea (our teacher from Alewives Fabrics here) is full of “little pearls of wisdom” (I love her term), such as proper pinning, and I highly recommend taking this class the next time she offers it.

A proper finished “B block” with the small rectangle now on the left side.

So where are all the “A Blocks”?

Laying in a stack on my ironing board.

My new iron did NOT show up yesterday =0(

R. has dropped mine on our wood floors half a dozen times, each time smashing a piece off of it, and it officially will no longer produce steam without water leaking everywhere.

Ran into town and picked up a spray bottle (I know, right, I couldn’t believe it myself that we didn’t already have one!) to try my hand at steaming the old fashion way.

Let’s just say I prefer using a steam iron and leave it at that.

Will finish pressing those “A Blocks” when my new iron finally arrives.

AND not to worry about her dropping this one…

I AM GETTING MY OWN SEWING NOOK IN THE LOFT UPSTAIRS and it is carpeted!

YIPPEE ~ SKIPPY!

Received this sewing table (here) as an early birthday present!

I love that the sewing machine drops in for a flat sewing/quilting surface.

Hoping to get working on my sewing room and do a little tagsaleing for some shelving and a chair this weekend.

Happy sewing,

Colette

Turning Twenty Class 2 April 19, 2010

Yippee Skippy ~ I am all caught up in my Virtual Turning Twenty class!

The idea to add some Kona solids to the blocks was tossed around for a bit…

but I decided to stop procrastinating (way over thinking it!) and start sewing.

My heap of chain pieced blocks.

My beautiful (almost flawless, but not quite) stack of blocks.

Oh la la ~ stacks of neatly pressed Echino fabrics!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love to iron???

Really, feel free to send anything over that needs a proper ironing.

Finished just in time to start lesson three =0)

Happy sewing,

Colette

Turning Twenty Class 1 April 15, 2010

Finally got my cutting finished for my Turning Twenty Quilt (original post here and fabric post here).

I was just getting ready to work on this weeks homework, sewing (yaay I picked up my sewing machine and it is all tuned up!) part of the blocks, when I came to the conclusion that it might look better some Kona solid pieces in there.

This handy little Kona cotton solids color chart with swatches really comes in handy when matching up colors.

I ordered mine from Pink Chalk Fabrics (here) and I’ve seen them on Etsy as well.

I love love love all of these gorgeous Kona colors!!!

I think I have decided to go with Kona “Coal” for the border and “Raisin” for the binding.

I know I want to add a couple of pieces of coal to the quilt blocks…but am considering throwing in a few squares of solids in green and aqua and maybe even raisin…

Still undecided on which fabric or fabrics to use on the back.

I’ve ordered a couple of fat quarters off Etsy (from Sew Deerly Loved here) and am going to wait until I get them before I start sewing any blocks.

That will leave me behind in the class though…

DRAT ~ I hate being behind!

Happy sewing,

Colette