Thursday, June 4, 2015

A Super Quick QAYG!

About a year or so after I learned how to quilt, I started looking online for different ways/options to do things such as binding, basting,etc.  As a new quilter, binding was my least favorite part of quilting.  I dreaded it!  There had to be an easier way of binding than how I'd been taught! 

One of the first sites I came across was Quilting In The Rain. It was love at first sight! Jera's instructional and pattern tutorials are simple and quick. I found her binding tutorials very refreshing.  I stalked her blog many a night and always left inspired.  I've made several of her patterns over the last few years; the latest being one from her book Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern which I won an autographed copy of on an Instagram giveaway!

I needed something that would go together super quick for an upcoming baby shower and chose the Queen Anne Steps pattern. 


It worked perfectly for the 3 fabrics I'd chosen to match the decor in the baby's room and it's a good size; 48 1/2" x 60 1/2".  

It's definitely a pattern one could complete in about 8 hours or so...depending on how fancy you get w/your quilting however,  I did it in about 4 shorter sessions. 

I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice FMQ, however it proved to be difficult for me because I matched my thread to the fabric and couldn't really see what the heck I was doing! Since I did match the thread to the fabric, I sewed all the pink strips first, then the blue and lastly the orange. I did practice FMQ on all the pink strips and quickly switched to simple wavy and straight lines for the next 2 colors. 

I used the leftover strips to make a matching pillow.

In case you didn't notice, I finally made a blog signature! I used this tutorial I found on Val's Quilting Studio  Tutorials page.  Afterward I started looking around on how to make a custom header and came across this tutorial using Pic Monkey.  I've been playing around w/it all week...but my blog header is still a work in progress! Hopefully soon I will get it and my blog looking exactly how I want it. But for now, what you see, is what you get! =)

A Thread for Life
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, 
is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4

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Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

My First QAL

What is a QAL you ask? It's a Quilt Along! I first read about about  the Hillside Houses QAL by Cristina at  Pretty Little Quilts here and here...and thought, why not?  

So began my first online QAL!  It started on April 29th...so I had a bit of a late start but I'm making good progress. I've finished blocks 1 - 3. You can find instructions for each block by clicking on the link above or the badge below this post.  There are 3 sizes of quilts; I'm making the wall-hanging 30in x 37in. 


Block #1

Block #2

Block #3
I've never done a quilt w/just solid fabrics, and my selection is very limited, but I'm liking what I have so far.  
And...it gave me an opportunity to finally use a the HST Bloc-Loc Ruler I bought myself for Christmas. It squares up HSTs nicely!
I'm off to get started on Block #4.

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life
And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! - Isaiah 30:18 AMP

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Hillside Houses QAL


Pretty Little Quilts Hillside Houses QAL





Monday, May 4, 2015

In Between Times

Hi y'all! Long time, no post! Oh how I've missed you! So let me fill you in on what I've been doing.

I finished my Cats Galore commission. I used a full loft batting and stitched in the ditch and around the cats which made it nice and puffy. My customer is very satisfied and looking forward to giving it to her mother-in-law for her birthday! I'm looking forward to hearing how she receives it!

I've also made a few bags.  The first being this snap-ruler bag. Pictured here w/a nifty coffee mug!


The snap-ruler bag is a project from Kids Camp. Kids Camp is week long day camp, hosted by the Quilters Anonymous chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild, where kids, 10+ years come for 3 hrs a day and learn how to sew and make various projects while doing so.

I first volunteered 2 summers ago for an afternoon.  Last year I volunteered for 2 full days.  This summer will be our 4th annual Kids Camp and I'm excited to say, I'll be volunteering for the entire week!

The 2nd bag I made is this canvas work tote   A while back I found several, brand-new panels of this grey IKEA canvas fabric at Goodwill. I'm sure I didn't pay more than $2/panel for it because I only  go on 50% off Saturdays. I'm glad I finally found a project for some of it!


I also made this gorgeous Mondo bag. I love this pattern! I used lovely Japanese fabric given to me by a good friend stationed in Okinawa. Thanks Izola! I also made two more snap-ruler bags out of the same Japanese fabrics and gave one to to my sis.


And speaking of my sis...she's still stitchin'!  She had put quilting on the back burner for a few months but recently got back in the saddle and made this gorgeous jellyroll race quilt!  Way to go Sis!
I saved the best for last!  I made this blue beauty for David's birthday, which was May 1st. I named it My Baby's Blues.
Oh I almost forgot! I've worn my hair super-short for many, many years. Back in October I decided I was going to start growing it out. I'm sure some of you know what a long, grueling process growing your hair out can be. Alls I can say is Thank God for extensions!! I got my hair braided to get me through the ugly, awkward stages! What do you think?



Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life
Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding - Prov 3:13

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