Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WIP Wednesday

Black and Blue aka Black Crumbs aka Kelsey's Crumbs is now a flimsy! Black and very dark blue not baby blue! are the color preferences of Kelsey Wilson, resident protector of *non fighting* Milwaukee Admirals. :)





If you are looking for me~I'll be in section 227 at the Bradley Center, cheering on the Ads tonight. One point~only one point~and we will be in the playoffs! GO ADS!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Spring 2011 *To Sew* List

Time to set another set of sewing goals. I like to make lists, I think, just so I can check items off! In no particular order and with a few carry overs... Spring 2011 *To Sew* List personal:

  • rag quilt

  • grocery bags

  • graduation A

  • graduation B

donation



  • QOV A

  • QOV B

  • MHC A

  • MHC B

  • cancer recovery bags

long arm quilting



  • as needed for guild

Hopefully, I will be able to stay a little more focused and complete the items I seem to carry over from list to list. :)

My Winter 2011 Recap

In this post here, I set a few sewing goals for Winter 2011. I did manage to sew quite a few items off the list and a few that were not on the list! In the week since Spring began, I did finish the second Quilt of Valor. I also sewed more of the two color quilts than I had originally planned. But hey, they were sooo much fun~I couldn't stop! :)

Monday, March 28, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Piecing continues on the Black & Blue quilt. All the crumbs have been assembled into 12.5 inch (unfinished) blocks. Next are the sashings, cornerstones and border.


Sorry for the sideways picture~blogger continues to misbehave for me!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Stash Update Week #13

A little shopping and one finish~just barely!

Fabric added this week: +5 yards.
Fabric added this year: +62 yards.

Fabric used this week: -7.5 yards.
Fabric used this year: -87 yards.

Net fabric for the year: -25 yards (used).

What I accomplished this week:

Goals for next week:



  • work on black/blue quilt

  • set Spring 2011 sewing goals
The calender says *Spring* but the weather here has been *Winter*. Never the less, time to review my Winter 2011 Sewing List and create a Spring 2011 Sewing List. :)

A look at the +5 yards, this week.




For other stash reports, check out JudyL's blog.


okay...i cry *uncle*...blogger keeps changing my format even though i have typed it the same way ever since i started the stash reoport...maybe later~i'll edit it and blogger will behave :).

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Finally a Finish!

Just finished the binding on Andreas's Stars. Although this quilt is a little smaller than my usual size and 9 out of 12 blocks were already made~it stills feels like it took a looong time to finish.

The Popcorn quilting.
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A Slow Go...

...of it. I've been working on the binding of the Stars Sampler UFO but not much progress has been made. Just one side has been sewn back. Hopefully, tonight I will be able to finish after supper. :) and in time to count it out of the stash for this week! Thank Goodness for deadlines~even self imposed ones. Hope you have a fun day today in whatever you choose to do. :)
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

WIP Wednesday...

...just in the nick of time!

This afternoon I quilted the Stars UFO. I was trying on a few different names such as Pizza Box Stars, Stars Sampler, Stars UFO or Andreas' Stars. I'm not too thrilled with the names yet. I'm thinking the right name will popped into my head and I'll say, 'Yes! That's it!'

Any ideas?

Quilted with the Popcorn panto from Willow Leaf Studio.
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A Peek into my Mind

A Very Scary Place, Indeed!

Amy asked about the quilts I have been making centered around the Milwaukee Admirals' players. Let me try and answer her question here...

Last summer while blog hopping I found Margaret's Hope Chest. Carin and Carol's ministry to prison inmates' children struck a cord with me, so I decided to make a couple quilts to donate last fall. While reading their blog, they mentioned that boy quilts were needed. So...I have about 3 or 4 *go to* patterns that I make for donation. Those are the ones I donated last fall. While emailing with Carol, I asked what type of quilts they were looking for. Her reply was *any and all* would be very appreciated but boyish quilts are always in short supply.

At approximately the same time (October 2010), the family was at the Milwaukee Admirals hockey game where the players were wearing their *Hunt For Pink October* auction jerseys. DD and I were joking that they probably didn't really like the pink and wondered what colors they like. Now my DH and DS are pretty tired of me asking them quilting questions all the time~not really~just seems that way to them.
Sooooo...I thought where would I be able to poll a large group of guys, find out their color preferences and make donation quilts based on the guys' answers?!
See where I'm heading here?

The Admirals are a very family and fan oriented team. Every few games, they have an Autograph Corner (after the game) where fans are able to *meet and greet* two players. It is mostly at these *meet and greet*s that DD and I received players' autographs and I asked about color preferences. I kept a list and have been looking for patterns to go along with color choices of the Milwaukee Admirals. Since most of the front office I deal with is also male, I included those guys on my list, too. Last night I even asked the mascot, Roscoe what colors he liked. :)

The two players pictured here are Jeremy Smith (no hat) and Aaron Johnson (with the hat). BTW, they both like black, blue and white together. Most of the guys said this color combination as they are the colors of the Admirals' uniforms. :)

I wanted to make boy friendly donation quilts so I asked the *boys* about colors they liked. The most popular combination was black, blue and white, followed by black and blue, then green and blue, blue and orange then blue only. A few were very original and surprised me. One like red and black, another green and orange, another black and grey. Andreas was predictable. His colors are blue and yellow, the colors of the Swedish flag, his home. Another surprise was that no one liked red and white as a combination. We have many players who are native Canadians and one very famous (in the the hockey world) University of Wisconsin Badger graduate.

When I reference back to a player~the quilt is inspired by that player but will be a donation quilt. Most likely to Margaret's Hope Chest or to Alycia's No Soldier Forgotten quilt drive. I am already thinking ahead to next year's donations. What about a series of donation quilts based on favorite animals?! lol

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Design Wall Tuesday

Another *late* edition!
I started the black and blue quilt. The plan was to make black crumb blocks with a dark blue sashing. The outer border will be stars and the backing planets. Sounded like a good plan and one a boy of any age might like. :)
one problem~I have way fewer blacks in the scrap bin than I thought. I just might not have a lot of variety in my crumb blocks.

Is it permissible to go shopping for crumbs?! sorta an oxymoron~I think. :)

Stash Update Week #11 and #12

Time to update the stash totals! Last week, the computers were down and this week~well, guess I am just a tad *late* :) Here it goes~a two week combination!

Fabric added (two weeks): +4 yards
Fabric added this year: +57 yards

Fabric used (two weeks): -21.5 yards
Fabric used this year: -79.5 yards

Net fabric for the year: -22.5 yards

What I accomplished (while I was away from blogging):

Goals for next week:

  • quilt and bind Stars UFO
  • begin another project

Sunday, March 20, 2011

National Quilting Day

How I spent National Quilting Day:

1. I made more hockey lace bracelets. The fans at the Bradley Center just can't seem to buy enough of these! For $1.00 each~they are the cheapest thing going at the Booster Crew table.

2. I quilted a neonatal donation quilt.

Yep...35 x 35 and I probably spent more time with getting it ready than actually quilting it. :)

3. The Angel Wings pattern from Willow Leaf Studio shows on the back more. Unfortunately, the long arm oil spotted the back in one place and I will need to research how to remove it.

4. I loaded the Stars Sampler. I'm thinking yellow or maybe the light blue thread.










A pretty full day then we went to the Milwaukee Admirals game, watch the boys lose the the Lake Erie Monsters and a Huey Lewis and the News concert. What a fun day and today~I'm dragging. :)


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Saturday, March 19, 2011

Star UFO Update

This player from the Milwaukee Admirals told me that his favorite color combination is blue and yellow. It makes a lot of sense as he is from this country. :)

Well, I kept wanting to make yellow stars on a blue background for this quilt. More traditional, if you know what I mean. As I looked at more and more star patterns, I remembered I had started a star sampler about 7 years ago. I put it away from some reason~frustration maybe? I pulled it out and I had 9 yellow stars on various blue backgrounds. I made 3 more uneven (were suppose to be wonky but didn't quite *wonk out*) then dug into the yellows for sashing and borders. Not enough for both and since I didn't want to buy~I just sorta cobbled it together. I also had 29 inches left of a blue/yellow print that I used in the outer border.

I learned a few things from this UFO.

1. Put away fabric with it if you ever plan to finish it!
2. I am not so worried about perfection in my piecing as I was 7 years ago!
3. Better pieced into a top rather than pieces in a pizza box! lol

Check out the one point on this friendship star! yikes.
I know I have a tri-recs ruler somewhere. Here is the block that proves it and look at these points! Just chopped off a little, right?!
What was I thinking here?! Don' answer! I don't want to know!


Once I seam the backing, it will get quilted and bound. It finishes at 50 x 63, the minimum for a Quilt of Valor, I believe.

Someone, somewhere will be covered and warmed with this quilt. :)

Out of the box and into some one's arms. :)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Jelly Roll 1600 Update

I finished sewing back the binding on my JR1600 Blue quilt. I am still undecided *if* I should add stars to it or not.

I'll think about it for a spell. :>)


This quilt reflects the color choice of two Milwaukee Admirals players~at the time. Both, Mike Bartlett and Blake Geoffrion, like blue as a solo color. Blake has since been promoted to our parent club, the Nashville Predators.


pattern found here.


I quilted it with the Star and Crescent panto from Golden Threads.

I backed it with this light blue patriotic fabric.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

WIP Wednesday

Today I quilted my friend, Cathy's Round Robin quilt. She had given me permission to do 'whatever' I wanted with it! I feel as if I committed several crimes against quilting with this challenge piece. The first thing I did was sew down the flange...gasp...so it wouldn't flap back on the backtrack portion of the panto. The second thing I did was sew right over the applique and couching...double gasp! Don't come looking for me! I'm hiding from the quilt police!

I must be in an ornery mood~wait till you see what I did to my Star UFO I pulled out of the closet to work on! Let me warn you~points just aren't as important to me now as they were about 9 years ago! :)

The Angel Wings panto from Willow Leaf Studio. It took me 4 months to figure out what to sew on this. I decided to go with the somewhat 'Garden Theme' and the look of butterflies. Plus they are very forgiving. :)

I'll link back to Willow Leaf Studio when their site is back up...okay?

EDIT: 9 years ago I lived in South Lyon, Michigan. 7 years ago I lived in Southlake, Texas. Therefore I think the Star UFO was begun in Southlake and is about 7 years old. :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Jean's Quilt

My friend's Jean's quilt.

Popcorn by Willow Leaf Studio.
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The Finished T*Shirt Quilt

WooHoo! The computer guru fixed the sd card problem~over the phone even! :)

Here is my niece's finished t*shirt quilt. I need to make and sew the label then I will be able to mail it off to her.

A little peak at the peace symbols on the back and the Inkblot panto from Willow Leaf Studio.
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Another Computer Update...

Well, when DH told me the computer was a 'go', I thought I would be able to update complete with pictures. wrong! for some reason, now Picasa is not detecting my sd card. yikes! Back to my computer guru to see if he can figure it out! In the mean time...back to sewing for me. :) until later...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Jinx Continues...

...now I can't find the pictures on DD's MacBook. That's two computers I have put out of commission!

Want me to use YOUR computer next?!

I have been working in the sewing room and when the main computer is done restoring I will have some to share!

Hang in there, okay?! :)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

WIP Wednesday

I finished adding the borders to my jr1600 last Saturday but this is pretty much what has been done quilt wise.

I did quilt the t*shirt quilt and now the hand work remains but no picture. Photos to follow in a later post. :)

I also loaded my friend's quilt. I neglected to ask the size and yup...bigger than I am used to at about 85 x 95. wowza! I was going to start the quilting today but an unexpected snowfall combined with a non-working snow blower and broken shovel had me running to the hardware store to drop off the snow blower.

Miss Daisy Dog also had a grooming appointment. More time away from the sewing room.

That's my story and I am sticking to it!

Many thanks to DD for letting me borrow her laptop as our main computer is still gone. I think to add photos to the blog from the iPad that I need a photo share app~just not sure which one. Any recommendations, anyone?

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Stash Report Week #10

I shopped a little and finished one project.

Fabric added this week: +6 yards
Fabric added this year: +53 yards

Fabric used this week: -8 yards
Fabric used this year: -58 yards

Net fabric for the year: -5 yards

What I accomplished this week:

Pieced t*shirt quilt to a flimsy
Bound Chris' pineapple blossom
Pieced blue Jelly Roll Race to a flimsy

Goals for next week:

Quilt and bind t*shirt quilt
Quilt a friend's quilt

Sorry~no links back to projects and the format is a little different. Our main computer has caught a virus and I am on a mini laptop. Still not sure how to work it all. :)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Happy FAB Birthday

This is the present I mailed to Pam. She loves 30's prints and Mary Englebreit!

Pam is also collecting selvages so I included what I have been saving for the past year!

Happy FAB Birthday, Pam!

As part of our FAB Birthday party, Pam suggested we have a sewing day and she chose the Jelly Roll Race Quilt for our project.

Here is my inner part of the quilt. I took a little longer than the lady in the video~about 90 minutes from when I first started sewing the long seams. It also took me about 30 minutes to press...lol. I like this technique except you have a lot of twists in the first long seam but it straightened out for me as my center grew. I had to double up on some of my strips and wouldn't you know, the same fabrics fell together in a few spots. iiwii.
I wonder what it would look like if I sewed joined 2 blues then 1 yellow in the long strip? the possibilities are endless! :)

Check out the other FAB's blogs as they finish their Jelly Roll Race Quilt.

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Friday, March 4, 2011

A Little of This and a Little of That

I finished piecing the t*shirt quilt to a flimsy.

pattern source: LindaJ's T*shirt Tutorial


DD and I found this backing the other day when we were looking for a bigger(!) Andreas' scrapbook.

+6 yards, stash counters. :)


Saturday March 5th, the FAB's are celebrating a birthday! There will be presents for the FAB Birthday girl and we are all making the same quilt pattern!






Our pattern is the Jelly Roll 1600 Race quilt but we won't be racing...lol. Today I cut into all my blues for the 40~2.5 inch strips needed and will add a border to bring it to the QOV size. I'm thinking I might raggy edge applique some gold or maybe red stars~if it needs some perking up. :) I'm excited to make this quilt and *see* how it turns out.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Shadows

I added the shadows to the framed t*shirts. This completes the block. Next up: time to add the horizontal and vertical sashings.

pattern source: LindaJ's Sorta T*shirt Tutorial
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WIP Wednesday

I've been working on the latest t*shirt quilt. My *magic* number for the t*shirt width is 12.5 inches~it really should have been 13 inches but~I have a 12.5 inch ruler which made the cutting easier. :) The *powder puff* t*shirt just looks a little squashed is all. Figures, I cut it a little skewed, too. Oh well...

I cut my framing units at 2.0 inches.

Next up: I will need to add the shadow portion of the block unit.


pattern source: LindaJ's T*shirt Tutorial
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