Halloween... and UFO's

I'm making some slow steady progress over here with my Halloween quilt. So far, so good! I did go back and replace the repeated fabrics with different ones so now there are 25 different fabrics in it now. Here it is now.

The first three columns were sewn together in a a vertical strip, but the strips couldn't be sewn together until the the border pieces were done. I'm actually farther along than this right now but I didn't want to give too much away.
Are you curious where I found this pattern? Check it out here at Monica Solario-Snow's Happy Zombie blog. She did hers up in her own line of fabric, Holiday Happy. I decided to go with a different holiday for my version!!! I have some sneaky little fun things planned for this quilt that I can't WAIT to show you!!!
I also decided that I really needed to discipline myself to finish some things. My sewing room is currently overrun with UFO's so I decided to take a cue from Quilter in the Gap and do a whiteboard list of everything I need to get done. Here's the problem. I've already taken a picture of the list 3 times. Why 3 times? Cause I keep finding more to add to the list...and it's not a short list in the first place!

I didn't get really specific because most are tops that need to be finished before I can even get to the quilting part. The Skill Builder Sampler is the only one that is ready to quilt at this time, and the mini flag quilt just needs to have binding sewn on. Whew! I hope I don't find anything else hiding out in there that I haven't finished!

Starting a Finish

I'm still working on my Halloween quilt but decided to get some older stuff finished as well. I just finished getting my Skill Builder quilt pinned today.

Now I just need to figure out how I want to quilt it. I thought about just doing straight line quilting on the sashing and maybe doing some FMQ or echo stitching within the blocks.

Opinions Needed...

So if you saw my post the other day you probably figured out that I am working on a Chinese Lantern Halloween quilt. I won a fat quarter bundle of Halloween fabrics from Allegory over at Sew Allegorical last year (she now has a new blog called a thousand needles). I never could figure out what I wanted to do with it until our LQS started this 'going out of business' stuff. I knew I needed to pick up some things to go with existing bundles I already had while everything was cheap so I picked up a few more Halloween fabrics so I could come up with a quilt. So far, so good...but I do need an opinion. Here are my blocks thus far.

The setup will be different but I was keeping up with all the colors. I kind of wish I'd run one of those stripes horizontally, but... So here they are all mixed up.

Why am I missing one? Well, The original pattern called for 25 different prints. I didn't have that many so some had to repeat. I'm not sure I always picked the right one to repeat but I tried to pick ones that had actual Halloween things depicted. Okay, back to the missing one. I had originally cut two of the off white star fabric as a double, but once I put it on my board, I wasn't sure there was enough difference between the fabric color and my background color for it to stand out. I'm thinking I need to pick up another yellow...what do you think?

Close up you can see a bit of difference between the fabrics but not a lot.  Also, if I decide to look for more prints so I don't have to double, I thought about taking the seconds and making a couple of lantern rows on the back of the quilt. What do you think? Does it look okay as is or do I need to add some other fabrics? Keep in mind this is not the exact set up of the quilt, but it will be columns of five...there will just be space between the columns.

A Little Something Wicked

So am I working on finishing some of my many UFO's? Nope. I got a wild hair and a very specific idea. Want a hint? Check it out...

I'm so excited!!!

Sew, What Are You Up To?

I have gotten a minor amount of sewing done, though I am getting ready to pin my Skill Builder quilt into a sandwich. I am one of those people who goes to the grocery store and, without fail, will be short one bag. If I take in one bag, I'll need two...and so on. So when I came across this cool bag you can keep in your purse, I jumped at the chance to make on. I had some fabric I bought at Walmart a long time ago before I really understood the difference in fabrics. However, it's perfect for a project like this one. I used this little tutorial which even makes you a little zipper bag to keep it in. 

Here's my cute little bag. And I should say, it's not really little. It's plenty big enough for groceries, which I've already used it for.

You fold it up and slip it inside it's little pouch...

And then tuck it in your purse! How cool! I have a couple of more yards in other prints I think I'm going to use to make a few more.

I also wanted to show you what I've picked up at the LQS that is going out of business.

A little bit of this...

a little bit of that...

some things I don't know what I'll do with yet...

and some I do (a change purse!).

Some were things I just couldn't leave behind cause they were so cute. They also had that VW print in teal. I may have to go back and get some more of that for a giveaway! I'll let you know!

Looking for More Finishes

I have been working on getting some things finished lately. I finally got all the quilting done on my American flag mini quilt.

It just needs a binding and a way to hang it at this point.
I also picked up some great backing fabric for a quilt that's been sadly waiting for me to put it together. Remember this one?

Well, I picked up this great fabric for the backing from our LQS that is going out of business.

I love it! It will probably be another niece quilt since I'm a bit behind on those. I've also been getting a few more goodies from the LQS that I'll have to show later. Stay tuned!!!

Taking Stock...

A dear friend lost her husband this weekend. He started having some problems in early April of this year and was hospitalized a couple of times with some bleeding. After all the testing, they determined that he had cirrhosis of the liver caused by a cancerous tumor.  He and his wife were able to spend his last weeks in the home of his daughter and son in law, surrounded by family. He is a devout Christian and I have no doubts he is in the arms of our Lord right now. I am reminded of the battle my brother in law currently is in with colon cancer as well. He is 45 years old and has two kids. It reminds me that we are not promised tomorrow. For that matter, we are not promised the next five minutes. It really helped me think about reorganizing things in my life and giving them the importance they require; I just have to be diligent in following through with them.

1. I will strive to have moments with my husband and children. We are going to my other brother in law's wedding in Washington in a few weeks. We could have worked out leaving the children here but there are moments to be had; first trip to Washington, first trip on a plane, seeing and being there for family.
2. I will strive to better myself emotionally. I participate in a Bible study each week but I would like to be more consistent about reading it and learning what God has planned for me.
3. I will strive to better myself physically. I have always battled my weight but I've noticed a huge difference in my muscle tone since I fell and hurt my shoulder last September. I went for long periods of time doing nothing and, though the scale has not changed much, my muscle tone has reduced a lot.
4. I will strive to be healthier. I have not been eating like I should and I desperately need to lose weight. I need to do something to make a change.

A Finish! It Feels So Good!!

This is my latest finish! There are a lot of firsts on this quilt: my first queen size, the largest quilt I've made thus far, the first time using double sided binding (which I love!!!).

This is the Falling Charms quilting tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co. using Kate Spain's Good Fortune. It is queen sized and approximately 94x105. I accidentally lost some width from a miscut that I didn't catch until it came back from the quilter's.

The quilting was done by a long armer with a pale purplish thread.

I love how it turned out and will definitely be using this pattern again.

The backing is solid with the little floral you see above. I also created double sided binding for it since the front and back were so vastly different. It was totally easy and came together so well!!!

I'm so excited to be done with something. Now on to finish some UFO's!!

Living and a' Working!

I'm actually getting some work done on the Falling Charms quilt today. I got the binding cut out yesterday and and today I have to sew it together and get it ironed and on. I also have to get a crocheted wrap done for my MIL. I'm using this tutorial to do double sided binding. Here's what it looks like so far.

Here you can see both sides.

And here is looking straight onto the side of the binding.

Pretty cool! I'm excited how it is turning out. It will end up being totally reversible!

Mommy Stress

My kids meet their teachers today, and tomorrow my sweet girl starts middle school, the bane of the educational system! God bless her, I pray that she has a good experience and everything goes well for her and her 2nd grade brother this school year!!!

P.S. I plan to get some major sewing done while they are at school! Goodness knows I have plenty to get done.

The List
1. Binding on the Falling Charms queen
2. Finish crocheting wrap for MIL
3. Finish quilting and bind flag mini quilt
4. Complete READ mini quilt top and finish for school librarian
5. Back, quilt and bind orange, green and blue sampler quilt

The Ultimate UFO list
1. Red and white hexi
2. Carpenter Wheel
3. Scrappy Star
4. Simply Color 9 patch variations (two versions)
5. Gray, yellow and aqua granny square


And these are just what I can think of off the top of my head!!!

Lovin' Me a Freebie!

I save Coke Reward points in their online program. Last year I was able to get myself and one of my kids in free to the World of Coca-Cola Museum. Having to pay for only one child was helpful. This year we figured out that there are some restaurants that print points on their receipts, so my mom has been sending me numbers to input for a while now. School starts back next week so I thought I'd cash them in again; this time we all three got in free! Suh-weet! It was a lot of fun for our last hurrah before returning to school next week. The kids loved the tasting room where you could try various Coke products from all over the world.

I think my favorite thing was this cool pixelating frame they had. I got a great picture of my daughter's friend in it before they rushed us into the 'secret vault' where the original version of the recipe is kept.

The LQS that is closing had another markdown emailed out so I'm going to run by there tomorrow to see what I can pick up now that fabrics are a little cheaper. I'm going to look for some backings and maybe some rulers if she still has any I can use.