I've been keeping busy

And my thumb kind of aches. Weird. 

So this is a collection of close up shots taken of my baby boy's quilt. Finishing the personal touches and then it's time for the binding. Nervous about that since I am essentially trying a new method. But I figure these quilts for family and friends are all trial and error. 

Here are a few photos. This is about the typical crib size: 46x60. (Mine is actually more like 37x60) 

The back

I sewed little squares and screwy triangles around the points where the blocks meet. Now I am sewing x's in the blue blocks and two different sets of squares in the yellows. Looking more like a real quilt. My machine keeps having a fit so I need to figure it out. 

X marks the spot!

One set of blocks ...

The other set!

I'll keep you up to date as it progresses. Hopefully I get to finish it, as I am taking off for a few days (sewing machine in tow, so I hope to work more).

Waiting for the washer

Mojo's Happy Paws Quilt. Next up is the Mollie Quilt I started a couple years ago and is almost finished. Still waiting for the batting for the dinosaur quilt for my boy. Here are pics of the paws quilt before washing. 

It turned out pretty well. I will post an update when it is washed and dried (also the Halloween quilt of mine will go in the wash with it so there's a little something for each blanket to rub against). 

UPDATE: here's the finished product!

Next up on the quilting block

Another rag quilt but this time, using blocks almost double the size of my Halloween one. This will be given to some people who've helped us a lot with our dog. Here are the square sandwiches:

Snip snip snip (ouch)

My hands are so achy! Snipping those seams really does a number on the bones. But it is finished! I am so excited to see the final product, but first, here are pics of my snipping frenzy. 

I wound up having to use my kitchen scissors because my usual ones didn't have sharp enough tips (a no-name brand I got at Joann's for $6 though I intend on purchasing a pair of Fiskars as soon as I am able). Got the job done though. I am pleased with the turn out as far as the snipping goes. 

And now, the grand finale ... Did it turn out like it is supposed to? Or did I screw it up too bad?

Drumroll please ................………

Not quite. But I have faith that another wash or two will get the job done. 

Finished! (Almost)

All I need to do is Use my scissors to slice the seams a quarter inch apart and then wash and dry the quilt. As you can see some of the scenes are off quite a bit, and down at the bottom I made the mistake of sewing the same color blocks together but oh well. It is warm and plenty big to curl up under on the couch watching a scary movie!

So here they are, please pay special attention to my cute appliqué ghosts. I love them so much!

I decided to go around the outside of the quilt with black bobbin thread and red top thread, and used a zig zag stitch wider than the ones on the rest of the quilt. It gave the quilt a little something extra. 

After I finish cutting, washing and drying, I'll post a final final photo. So happy to have this almost done!

Still pluggin' away!

While the babies are asleep, I am working on a new rag quilt with animal footprint fabric my sister gave me. I am making bigger squares, originally intended to be 10 inches but ended up being 9 (don't ask how. Don't. Ask. How.) instead. So you know what that means ... 9 inch squares with 8 inch batting squares! Wee! So while babies sleep, this is my project. It's quieter than running the sewing machine. 

So since I haven't a photo of the new fabric or the squares, here's a look back at what I have accomplished on my other rag quilt. 

Yay! Stringing along nicely! 

My high tech way of keeping the sections organized! Big help by the way! I also have been referring to the picture I took earlier with the sections piled up (told you I'd need it). Here's the collection of my rows, with only 4 more to go!

 

Nifty, eh? I look forward to having this done ... The entire process is tedious but my next quilt will be slightly less tedious. I just need to make sure the stripes all face the same way. 

Stay tuned, and I'll keep you posted (get it? Blog post? Posted? Haha!).

Tedium

I finally finished sewing Xs into my sandwiches but found I had no more black fabric to cut from (if you remember I had run out of fabric/batting squares and had to cut more) so I had to improvise. 

Instead I have this beautiful yellow fabric with stars all over it and I decided it was Halloween-y enough. So I cut 5 squares which was what I had remaining of the charm packs, and I thought of a way to have them make sense rather than being 5 random squares. The idea I came up with was adorable and involved appliqué ghosts drawn freehand using fabric marker (the kind that washes out mind you) and fabric paint markers (the kind you draw on and then heat set with an iron or dryer). The ghosts were made using leftover muslin and I used the fabric paints to make black eyes for them. They are adorable! I then decided to write my kids' names next to each ghost and the rest of the yellow star squares would just be writing. 

The process of arranging these squares was tedious and painful on my back. Plus my children wanted to help or feel the fabric themselves ... It took some time. Here is the stack I was up against --

Curious George oversaw the operation as did my daughter's pink glasses ... When I had the rows of eight squares all lined up (ten of them FYI), I stacked them together and made sure they stayed in order (and took a picture in case I got loopy) --

Then, I started working on sewing these bad boys together. I messed up and got the first row slightly out of order. 

Then, I screwed up in sewing each piece together. Normally you sew them together with the right side of the fabric facing each other, and I am a creature of habit, so I made a few mistakes in the first two rows alone. I didn't sew them with the wrong sides facing and had to seam rip them c a r e f u l l y and sew them back together. I h a t e  seam ripping. The reason my quilts are not nearly perfect is my severe hatred of this act. Just ... I don't do it. I accept mistakes and move on. 

Ok it's more like denial. Serious, irreversible denial. I just pretend to not care and shrug off these mistakes as "oh well, it's just proof I am human!" No, it drives me nuts. 

I digress. 

I decided to get the full effect of this blanket, and to do it properly, I had to fix my mistakes this time. By George, I am turning a new leaf! 

I will finish tomorrow and you will see photos of it in all it's PERFECT glory. Rather, imperfect glory. And the close up photos of the special squares will be included. I'm very proud of my little ghosties. Reminds me of my two favorite Halloween cartoons, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (I got a rock ... ), and Garfield's Halloween (when he's trying to prove the one thing he's not is a scaredy cat with the little ghosts).

HAPPY OCTOBER EVE!!!!!! 31 days until Halloween!!

Boo Crew Pumpkin Party

Those are the titles of my two charm packs! I am making them into a rag quilt as you know, and my new pack arrived today so I was making little fabric sandwiches. Cannot wait to see these lovelies together and organize them into a cute quilt! Stay tuned! 

Oh and tidbits ...

Finished details of my spiderweb quilt and starting a Halloween Rag Quilt!