Paganini

I took the challenge to complete the Le Petite projects for a year.  I was soooo crunched for time with work commitments, an applique class I began last week and traveling to see my daughter play college volleyball.  But a goal is a goal and I am determined to make it!!! I can't believe I did it, but I toted my sewing machine to Belton, TX and sewed in the hotel, and finished the binding on the 3 1/2 hour trip home.  I DID IT!!!!!  I am famous for starting projects and not finishing them (ask my DH, no....wait....don't go there).  Anyway, I am turning over a new leaf, and here is the proof:

The blocks are made using two Verna charm packs by Moda.

Be sure to click on the Le Petite button on the side or go HERE to see all the great quilts.

Quilt Festival Quilt

I am not new to sewing but I am very new to quilting and blogging.  My very first quilt (done the right way) is the one I am showing in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I have muddled through some in the past, but had no idea what i was doing.  I decided to take a beginning machine quilting class with a friend at work and this is what I made.

I am very happy with the way it turned out and think I will just hold on to it forever because it is really special to me since it is the first one.  (I may change my mind later, but for now I want to keep it.)  Around the same time I decided to take the class, I began a blog and decided to chronicle the making of my quilt.  I love blogging and all the bloggy friends out there that give me such inspiration and encouragement. 

Go check out the other quilts...Blogger's Quilt Festival

Green Fairy Quilts

There is a great site called Green Fairy Quilts.  It is really cute, has great prices on fabric and BONUS, they have a giveaway.  Check out her flower quilt.  It is beautiful!!! (while you are there, sign up for the giveaway.  Leave my name and I will get more chances to win.....thanks)

http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/

Woo Hoo--another GO! giveaway!!!!

Go to Alderwood Quilts to register for an AccuQuilt GO! giveaway.  I DID!!!!!

http://alderwoodquilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/alderwood-quilts-october-giveaway.html

Ironing Board Cover

I came across the Ironing Board Challenge and decided that my ironing board needed a new cover.   The old one was too thin and getting worn.  So I made a new one. It is bright and cheery and much thicker and sturdier. 

Here's the OLD.....

                         and Here's the NEW!!!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!

Go Here and Vote

Here is the link to vote on some items made from the Irridiscence collection of fabrics.  They are awesome.  You could win a prize for voting, blogging and spreading the word, but most of all you get to see these fantastics fabrics and the beautiful items made from them.

http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/2010/10/giveaway-yep-another-onespread-word.html

It's Finished!!!

I am so excited, proud, happy.....I finished my first quilt!  It took 8 lessons and some homework and I love it.  It turned out better than I expected.  (I don't know if any of you out there in blog land have ever had this experience, but i reached a certain point in the quilt top and really didn't like the color configuration.  I love the fabric, but was wishing I had place the colors differently.)  I plugged away, committed to learning, carefully piecing and finishing.  It came out great. (I think so anyway.  I would like to know what you think) 

 

I followed all my quilting marks on the quilt top and one-by-one removed the (300) basting pins as I went.  My hands were cramping and my shoulders were sore, but I got it done.

I quilted a 1/4" seam inside each of the green squares and diagonal lines crossing both directions of the tan/butterfly squares.

 I stitched in the ditch on both sides of the brown egg inner border and stiched a straight line in the center of the outer border with a wavy line on each side of the straight line.

This is the front of my finished quilt!!!!

And this is what the back looks like.

New Giveaways

There is a fabric giveaway at http://straystitches1.blogspot.com/2010/10/200-followers-celebration-giveaway.html

There is a business card design giveway and fabric giveaway at http://www.fromthebluechair.com/2010/10/business-cards-and-giveaway.html

Have fun and hope you win!

Found another GO! giveaway

Here is the site for another AccuQuilt GO! giveaway.  http://www.badlandsquilts.com/2010/10/accuquilt-go-giveaway.html 

GO Giveway

Go to this site for a chance to win an AccuQuilt Go!  I did.
http://alderwoodquilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/alderwood-quilts-october-giveaway.html

Another Great Site

Visit this site:   http://chatterboxquilts.blogspot.com/

Check it Out

Check out this blog for great ideas.  http://joyineverythingthruhim.blogspot.com/

Now Back to Quilting

This week we marked our quilt tops so we will have machine quilting lines.  It was very time-consuming, but still fun.

Look very closely-- the pencil lines are hard to see

Next we "sandwich" the layers. We put the back down first, right side down, then the batting on that and smooth it out and then put the top on last, right side up, smoothing all layers.

After getting all the wrinkles out of all the layers, we basted the layers together with safety pins.......LOTS AND LOTS OF SAFETY PINS.  I used 300 and could have used more. (look closely, they are there..)

Fast and Furious

Well, my life has been running fast as usual.  My husband and I went to Mississippi to watch our daughter play Volleyball in a tournament at Mississippi College.  It was great to spend a little time with her. 

On the way back, we stopped in Vicksburg and went to the battlefield.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was cool, the sun was shinig and there wasn't a cloud in sight.  The trees all around were just beginning to change.  It was very inspiring to just imagine what those men must have gone through battling in the woods and hills of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Check out this site. Very fun and a giveway!

http://kimsherrodstudio.blogspot.com/2010/10/fall-into-fall-giveaway.html

Fun Giveaway

There is a book giveaway to sign up for on Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Go check it out!!
http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/