Finish Line: "Katie Loves Chris" and "Love Those Scotties"

I am in love with labels!!  Never a dull label again on my quilts.  :D


2011 Finish #15 is the quilt I made for my sister's wedding (Yes, this was in 2009~!) 

Katie Loves Chris (63 x 63) was pieced, partially quilted, and bound in a timely fashion, but when it came to the freemotion quilting I wanted to do on the Sue blocks, I just couldn't do it. Didn't have the skill yet and couldn't bear to ruin the quilt. Well, I finally bit the bullet and decided to finish it at the level I've acquired so far even though I have a long way to go for uniform stitch lengths, etc. So here she is, all finished! Had to make a heart label, of course! 

This quilt is waaaay different from my own styles. I purposefully chose a block and fabrics that made me think of our grandmother, who made hundreds of quilts and never let a significant event pass in a grandchild's or great-grandchild's life without making them a quilt. But she died a few months before Katie's wedding. This was my way of filling the gap a bit.

The hearts are all different reds, and were trapunto'd as the blocks were assembled. What a pain that was the way I did it! Really worth it, though. They pop out so very nicely. I let someone talk me into using filament thread on the Sue blocks so I wouldn't have to change colors 4 times - you know, to let myself focus only on the quilting. I don't think I will do that again. Convenient, yes, but it just goes against my grain thinking of a quilt with quality cotton fabrics and cotton batting suddenly having plastic thread. 


Anyway, it's completely finished and has its label!!  One more strike off the UFO list.  :)

~*~*~*~

Second quilt: An Oldie But Goody!!  

Love Those Scotties

Hubby's folks are down for a month - they bring their RV and park two miles away at the bay beach by the bridge to the Gulf. As long as I've known them they've had a cute Scottie dog that accompanies them. As newlyweds this adorable skirted friend was Maggie, and she inspired the 1991 Christmas present I made for them. I suggested to Mom that she bring it with them this time and I'd give it a label, so yesterday while the guys grilled, I stitched.

This quilt is a good sofa-sized specimen (58 x 75), made of scottie blocks with faux suede on muslin that are sashed with plaid flannel. Yes, I remember it being a pain to sew with biased sashing, but really, the plaid on the diagonal was the only way to go! The back is muslin - so perfect for this quilt even though I've never chosen it for anything else - and the batting is thicker poly from JoAnn's.






This is hand quilted. Scott even did one of the blocks himself for his mom! I actually had to scan the blocks twice yesterday to make sure I'd spotted the correct block - that's how good a job he did. I'm thinking I'll put him to work with me whenever I get around to hand quilting something for myself.  ;D


The label's made of cotton velvet - so soft and fuzzy.  Hmm - why didn't I take a pic of the current Scottie companion with the quilt?  ::sigh::  Lady Heather of Devonshire (named after our two older girls) would have graced my blog most adorably. . .

My WIP Wednesday #9

Good morning!  Most of this week's WIPping consisted of catching up my Glacier Star "BOM" work.  It's actually a "Technique of the Month", but I categorize it with my BOMs. Like most of the BOMs on my list, it had fallen 3 months behind due to LIFE. But I'm just about finished with the May portion. 

For those of you who are familiar with this style of paper piecing: that huge cream piece at the end? Yes, it *is* gargantuan for that last remaining portion of paper you see poking out. When I press it over, there will be tons of overage. I did that on purpose - when I was cutting the section templates out of the master strip, these were on the end of the strip. I just left the last bit on to maximize the size of the scrap when I trim the block's outer lines.  :)

Psst - If you're working on any BOMs yourself, check out my new 

BOMs Away Monday linky feature. 

I started this up because Lee's WIPs have been incredibly helpful for me and I hope to harness that effect for BOM workers.

Also got Katie Loves Chris all quilted and it awaits a time when we actually sit down in the evening again to watch a show - just need to bury the tails and sew on a label.  Oh! Tonight's Movie Night with my gal-pal. Finish #15 should happen tonight!  :D

I really **have** to finish appliquéing those owls! This *will* happen this week.

Thank you to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting WIP Wednesdays - it really keeps me motivated to keep those UFOs going!

This week's stats:
New Projects - 0         (Yes!)
Completed Projects This Week - 0 
In Active Progress - 3 
        (Devon's Owls, Katie Loves Chris, Marissa's Moment of Freakishness)
UFO Firing Range - 36.667 (This is down 1, but higher than last week because I found some sneaky old projects hiding out)
Finishes for 2011 - 14  

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Two charity wheelchair quilts
Dreamy Unicorns
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Mr. Hernandez's)
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Heather's)
Be Attitudes
We Love Kelly
Sailing with the Flying Needles (is at the longarm studio!!)
Wagon Wheels West #2
Devon's Silk Spinners
Marissa's Minky Squares
Kelly's Thirties Hand Quilter
Kelly's Calico
Leap Frog Lily Pond
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 Years Ago #1

My WIP Wednesday #8

Whoa! It's Wednesday already!  My girl graduates tomorrow!  Grandparents are here!!  I think Grandpa was truly blown away at the quilt tops hanging by the machine, awaiting their turn to be brought to full life. Just a little bit of quilting has been happening this week, but here's what's up at the machine:

Katie Loves Chris - I have 5 gals left to do, then a label, and this is finished!


and Dev's owls have glue-basted wings and hearts, waiting for the hopper foot to be exchanged for my satin stitch foot.


Oh, and my piecing machine is seeing some intermittent BOM catchup activity.

Thank you to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting WIP Wednesdays - it really keeps me motivated to keep those UFOs going!

This week's stats:
New Projects - 0 
        (Good Girl.)
Completed Projects This Week - 1 
        (Romancing the Rose.)
In Active Progress - 2 
        (Devon's Owls, Katie Loves Chris)
UFO Firing Range - 36.667 (This is down 1, but higher than last week because I found some sneaky old projects hiding out)
Finishes for 2011 - 14  

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Two charity wheelchair quilts
Katie Loves Chris
Dreamy Unicorns
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Mr. Hernandez's)
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Heather's)
Be Attitudes
We Love Kelly
Sailing with the Flying Needles (is at the longarm studio!!)
Wagon Wheels West #2
Devon's Silk Spinners
Marissa's Minky Squares
Kelly's Thirties Hand Quilter
Kelly's Calico
Leap Frog Lily Pond
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 Years Ago #1

My WIP Wednesday #7

Life continues to fly along in a blur!  My Heather is home again after a successful college freshman year. Drove 1700 miles in 48 hours to pick her up in St. Louis and scurry back down to Florida for her sister's high school graduation week. Current "Active Progress" is minimalized for anticipated Real-Life business.  :D


At the sofa sewing station (where hand work happens in the evenings while I watch a show with Scott), Romancing the Rose will finally get its label and become 2011 finish #14. 

At the piecing station (where my cheap-o Singer reigns supreme at that task), my Flying Needles and Swap Adventure BOMs will materialize.

At Saphira's station (the expensiver Husqvarna machine used for quilting and fancy stitching), Katie Loves Chris will *finally* get finished.


This quilt was made for my youngest sister's wedding since Grandma could not make one for them, having passed away not long before. I purposefully chose a traditional style that was typical of quilts created during Grandma's heyday of quilting. Got it pieced in a timely fashion, as well as the straight-line quilting on the patchwork areas, but the free-motion quilting I wanted to do in the Sunbonnet Sue blocks INTIMIDATED me!!! I'm feeling confident enough and have let go of the demand for pure perfection, so now it's up for immediate attention. We won't mention how long ago the wedding was. . .!


This week's stats:
New Projects - 0 
        (Soo very good, and believe me I've been TEMPTED this week with awesome sales! Plus, according to my UFO-buster plan, I am allowed to start a new project as a reward for finishing 6 from the list. I'm saving this allowance for a quilt for my cousin's wedding - he's getting married in THREE days!!! Got a great design idea, modern style, gelling in my mind.)
Completed Projects This Week - 6 
        (Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 years ago #2 became 3 quilts for Bama Bound Quilts tornado relief, and 3 totes for the quilts.)
In Active Progress - 3 
        (Charming Love, Devon's Owls, Katie Loves Chris)
UFO Firing Range - 32.667 (-1)
Finishes for 2011 - 13  

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Two charity wheelchair quilts
Katie Loves Chris
Dreamy Unicorns
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Mr. Hernandez's)
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Heather's)
Be Attitudes
We Love Kelly
Sailing with the Flying Needles
Wagon Wheels West #2
Devon's Silk Spinners
Marissa's Minky Squares
Kelly's Thirties Hand Quilter
Kelly's Calico
Leap Frog Lily Pond
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 Years Ago #1