Melinda Quilts etc
What a fun class yesterday. Robbi Joy Eklow showed us how to do a fused quilt, her way. Here is her quilt that I started my version of.
Here is my quilt so far.
So far, so good.
I am heading off soon to the guild meeting – can’t wait to hear her lecture and see all the pretty quilts. Love show and tell.
Melinda
Lots of blocks made last night. The colors are looking good. Can’t wait to see the log cabin blocks next week.
Melinda
The lesson this morning was the square dance block and double four patches. The student with the black, white and blue blocks missed the last two weeks so is very far behind. Hopefully she will be able to catch up.
Five students for this evening – more photos tomorrow.
Melinda
Kids and zippers seem like an unusual combination. On Sunday, we had seven girls in the shop eager to make a zipper bag. Here are the samples I made to show them.
They did a wonderful job. I had cut the screen and the strip of fabric to use for decoration. We had a whole selection of zippers and they each chose their favorite color.
Here they are with the finished bags.
The girl in the back row on the left had never sewn on a sewing machine and turned out she loved it. The rest of the group has sewn with us before. Several of them are signed up for the Kid’s Block of the Month.
It is really fun to see young people get interesting in sewing/quilting.
Melinda
I made a lot of progress on my sampler quilt. All the blocks are made and half of the sashing is on. It is amazing how different the blocks look when the sashing goes on. I keep changing my mind on which block I like best but I think the hexagon one is leading at this time. Which one do you like best?
Just an hour or so more and it will be ready for borders. First will be a 3 inch white (like the background) and then 6 inches of the purple sashing fabric. Once I get that done, I will be able to write the supply list for the class. I have several people signed up but am still unsure how much fabric they need. One of the disadvantages of designing your own project.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I finished the last blocks for the sampler quilt yesterday but forgot to take a photo and it is in my car. Later I will get it out and start putting the blocks together so will get a photo for tomorrow. I took it to the shop last night where I facilitated a mystery evening until 12:15 am so left it in the car. We had a great time though. For some reason I forgot to take photos of the evening.
About my stash – nothing in and nothing out this week.
Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 220.5 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 302.75 yards
Net Used for 2012: -82.25
Today I am teaching 7 little girls how to make a screen bag with a zipper. Wish me luck.
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I made three more blocks yesterday. Only three to go.
Working on an Ohio Star variation this morning and then need to decide on the final two blocks. Getting close.
Tonight is Mystery Till Midnight. We start at 4 and finish up at 12. It is always a lot of fun. I need to make some brownies for part of dessert.
Melinda
I have added 3 more blocks and am working on a spool block to add to these. The drunkard’s path block was not hard but I am thinking that the little blocks might be too small for people new to curved piecing so I might make another one as an option with larger blocks within the block.
I liked the Dresden plate but really like it now that the center is on.
Still having fun.
Melinda
Only two students in the morning class.
The evening class has five students. Here are their blocks.
These are going to be fun quilts when finished. Next week we will be working on double four patches and a square dance block.
I have been working on more blocks for the follow on sampler class. I have 6 finished so far.
Melinda
I have wanted to make a Dresden plate quilt but for now, one block for the sampler quilt will suffice. Here it is – still have a little applique to finish and then put the center on. I also started on a drunkard’s path block with little 3 inch blocks to make up the design. I got it cut out this morning and hopefully will piece it tonight.
At least I am having fun with it.
Melinda
I finished piecing the center of the quilt for the kid’s block of the month. It is really turning out cute. I need to pick out borders and binding. There is some embroidery still to do on the Pumpkin and Snowman. After it is quilted, there are buttons to be added to several blocks.
Don’t you think a kid would love to make this?
Melinda
I am showing both my design walls today. Usually the second one is more like a bulletin board than an actual design wall but I have active stuff on both today.
In the upper corner is the first two of the advanced sampler class I am designing. I have several more blocks in EQ7 but haven’t found time to actually piece them. The class doesn’t start until late September but I would like to firm up the supply list and can’t really do that until I make all the blocks.
Under that is the top left part of my Smokey Mountain Stars – slow progress on this. I still have to unsew some of the right side blocks and turn the ones that have one corner – they should face out, not in. I didn’t see it until I posted it a couple of design walls ago.
Here is the other design wall.
I have started sewing together the upper left side of Smokey Mountain Stars. I need to get it off the wall soon.
In the upper right is the first seven blocks for a nine month kid’s block of the month that I am running at Tiny Stitches. The first block (the apple) will be sent out in September. It is a school year program. I hope to get the other two blocks made this afternoon.
In the upper left is the first of the Nancy Halverson Christmas Block of the Month. I have started tracing the patterns for the rest of the blocks but it is large and takes a lot of time for each block. Hopefully can get at least one more block completed this week,
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check out all the inspiration.
Melinda
I made three zipper bags today – I love the lime green screen. I used three different color zippers. One is for a class sample for kids, I gave one to a friend and I am using one to store the embroidery block of the month kits.
Also, I received my monthly Kaffe half yards. Lovely as always.
I made 2 more blocks for the kids block of the month but took them to the shop and forgot to take photos. Will post them soon.
Melinda
Here is the second block for the sampler class. Only ten more to go.
I love English Paper Piecing and hexagons. This block is simple enough to give students a taste of it without committing to a full EPP project. It also gives them a small taste of applique.
For the next block, I think I will try card trick or Dresden plate. I also hope to get Drunkard’s Path templates today so that will be coming soon also.
Melinda
Yesterday was Beginning Machine Piecing day. The morning group was sparse as two of the three had other commitments for the day. Here is the results of the morning.
The evening class has five students and everyone was there. Look at the beautiful blocks they made.
Next week we move on to friendship stars – should be fun.
Melinda
I am making a new sampler quilt for the shop. The purpose for the quilt is to be a class sampler for a new class. What I hope to accomplish with the class is to take people who have completed a beginner class or have basic knowledge to a new level. The quilt will consist of 12 blocks that are 12 inches, plus sashing and borders. It should turn out to be a good sized lap quilt.
Here is the first block.
This is not a difficult block but does have a lot of pieces. I think I counted 52 pieces in the block. As a reminder, here is the fuzzy photo I took of the stack of fabrics.
I think this is going to be a fun quilt to work on and hopefully inspire students to sign up.
Melinda
Here is my second raffle quilt block. I need to get it in the mail to Heather who is going to put the quilt together. Once she get it pieced, I am going to quilt it. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it.
Melinda
My design wall looks very much like it did last week. I have added one new block for the Christmas BOM. I finished doing the buttonhole stitch around the applique this morning. It still needs buttons but looks pretty good.
The black/white-bright is my Smokey Mountain Stars – upper left quarter of the quilt. Haven’t sewn on it at all this last week.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I went crazy adding to stash over the last couple of weeks. Most of this was this week but there were also some packages that came in the mail that I hadn’t opened until last week.
I got 7 dot FQ, batik squared I ordered from Wanda, Christmas FQ from guild, my Kona 1/2 yards from 2 months, Christmas charms and fat quarters for the guild project. I also got pillowcase fabric, house quilt backing and more polka dot FQ. Lastly I added the monthly Kaffe 1/2 yards, a few more polka dot FQ and fabric to make glow in the dark Halloween pillowcases.
All that and I didn’t actually complete anything. I also started a Christmas Block of the Month for the shop but I am not counting that fabric because it is not actually part of my stash.
Here are the results so far this year.
Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 220.5 yards
Added this Week: 31.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 299.75 yards
Net Used for 2012: -79.25
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times here.
Melinda
I still have more fabric to show. Missouri Star Quilt Company has a daily deal – unfortunately for my stash report, one of them this week was polka dot fat quarters. If you have read my blog for long, you know I have a big weakness for Polka Dots.
Look at them! What a great variety of colors of little bitty polka dots.
Melinda
I finally got around to opening all the mail from my trip out of town and opened up 2 bundles of solids. I get one each month and the second one arrived this week.
Here they are:
There was more in the packages but all the photos were fuzzy. Will try to take more photos for tomorrow.
Melinda
Another wonderful class last night.
As you can see, most of the students selected bright colors for their quilts. The one traditional one in the middle is a wonderful contrast to the others. Next week we will be making nine patches.
Melinda
We started sewing in the morning class of beginning machine piecing. The first row of the quilt is rail fence blocks, using two of the three colors they picked out for their quilts.
Here are the first rows. It will be fun to see them progress.
Melinda
I showed what was on my design wall last week. I started putting Smokey Mountain Stars together. It doesn’t go together as blocks so I decided to put it together in quarters. Here is the upper left side that is all sewn together.
I took this down and replaced it with the upper left side. This one is just on the wall, not sewn together yet.
Actually, now that I look at it, it isn’t correct on the wall. I need one more row and either have an extra column or need to take one off. I will check it later and fix it before I start sewing it together.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them all out.
Melinda
I used the random number generator and it picked #2. #2 is Julia Wood. I will send her an email so I can get her address to send the box on. Sorry there wasn’t enough for everyone who commented.
Melinda
Judy posts in her blog today that she sometimes wonders why she is continuing with the stash report even though she hasn’t been sewing much lately. Since I have consistently brought more in than out, I sometimes wonder the same thing. But I decided I will continue to track, at least for the rest of the year. No promises after that.
First the in report. I am designing and making yet another quilt for a class at the shop. It will be a sampler quilt of 12 blocks, each will be 12 inch finished. My plan is to have blocks beyond the beginner level that will allow the students to build on what they have learned in the beginner class. I posted a fuzzy photo of the fabrics at the last design wall post. It requires about 6 yards.
I finished the jelly roll quilt which meant that I needed to get backing for it. I have plenty of fabric here to make a back out of but because it will be a shop sample, I needed to get new/current fabric. The fabric line I made the quilt out of still isn’t released (except for the precuts) so I found an extra wide backing fabric (gray polka dots!) and bought 2 yards.
The jelly roll quilt is ready for quilting so I am counting the 2 yards backing and 4.25 yards for the front. I started sewing Smokey Mountain Stars together so hopefully will have more progress soon.
I will be picking a winner for the traveling stash later today so if you are interested, comment on my post here.
Finally, here is my stash report.
Used this Week: 6.25 yards
Used year to Date: 220.5 yards
Added this Week: 8 yards
Added Year to Date: 268.25 yards
Net Used for 2012: -47.75
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
We are starting a new block of the month at the shop – for kids. Here is the first block.
It will be a nine block quilt and should be a lot of fun for the kids. I hope to get the rest of the fabric chosen for the blocks tomorrow so I can get the quilt made before the BOM actually starts.
Melinda
My design wall is not large enough to hold the whole Smokey Mountain Stars quilt so I decided to make it in quarters. I have one more seam in the upper right side to do and then I will move on to the upper left.
Lots and lots of black and white fabrics in this quilt.
I finished piecing the Mama Says Sew jelly roll quilt and picked up backing for it this afternoon. Need to quilt it next.
Melinda
I have half of the quilt top sewn together and am getting ready to go upstairs to work on getting the rest done. I think I like it better now that the rows are going together.
It is too wide for the design wall but you can get an idea of how it will look.
I have also been working on a secret project for guild next week. Here is a little sneak preview.
That is all for now.
Melinda
