Friday, February 7, 2014

Feline Friday

QA/QC

As you may or may not know, I'm an engineer and QA/QC is part of my daily language.  QA/QC is Quality Assurance and Quality Control.  This is an important part of any project ... including making a quilt.

Luckily, I have four of the MOST highly qualified QA/QC quilt engineers living in my house:

This is Khaleesi testing one of baby Madalynn's quilt.  She passed it with flying colors! Later it even passed the critical sleep test.  Khaleesi says this blanket will be perfect for many warm snugly naps for baby Madalynn!
And here, as you can see, Nala is passing this quilt for the ever so critical sleep test.  Nala is one of my senior QA/QC Engineers.  Later, as can be seen below, she had Khaleesi try it out just to make sure she knew what she was doing.  Training the younger generation is very important.  Neela (at the top) is observing.  She prefers to do her work on fleece blankets as you can see.

I can't leave out Keira, I have no photographic evidence of her inspection because it's Keira's job to inspect the backside.  She tasks herself with crawling under each one and inspecting each stitch.  Often times it interferes with the sleep testing that may be occurring on the top. Eventually though, all aspects of each quilt are tested and checked.

How could I ever manage to get a quilt bound without all of this assistance?!!

Happy Feline Friday, Y'all!!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Mini Quilts from 2013

I'm finally getting a chance to get caught up posting some of the small things I finished last year.  My definition of finished is being bound and ready to go ... not just quilted. I actually got several other quilts "done" last year ... as a matter of fact, my rack that holds them is full so this year may look like I've been extra productive as I get them bound.

Anyway these are mostly all wall hangings from Tara Lynn Darr's book Simply Charming. I love these little miniature quilts in her book.  I've still got a few more to make.  I love, love, love the little pieces. 

First up is "Juliana's Jewels":
Next is "Worn Old Clothes":
Then "Columbia's Vintage Charm":
Next "South for the Winter":
And ... "Hopscotch":
 The last little quilt was from the Temecula Quilt Shop. It's called "Blessing Baskets":
I'm excited to see what all I can get done this year.  I've decide not to make a list of goals for this year.  Last year I only completed one on my list of twelve.  This year I'm just going to keep going and see how many I can complete.  If I finish 12 or so that would be awesome ... and if not then there's always next year of course!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today so it looks like it's 6 more weeks of winter.

But so did Mrs. Bobbins:

 I think it'll actually be more than 6 weeks for me though!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Baby Blanket Mania

Today was my friend Susan's baby shower for baby Madalynn.  I completed 3 baby quilts and one crocheted blanket for her.  I've got one more baby blanket off being quilted then I'll be done.   

First I made Pinwheel Parade, a free pattern from Jo's Country Junction:
Next up was Vintage Days by Sew Emma:
 
Then there was Primrose & Poppies by Sew Emma:


 And lastly the blanket I crocheted:
I made this before we knew Madalynn was a girl so it's a nice neutral color.

In between all of this, I managed to also finish my Icicle Kisses quilt top and it's off to Quilts by Phyllis to be quilted:
Now it'll be time to get back to Celtic Solstice.  I'm making more chevrons .... I hate making chevrons!  I think I've got three rows done now.  Four to go!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Celtic Solstice Reveal

At midnight last night, Bonnie posted the final part to Celtic Solstice.  I got up this morning and put together 10 blocks so I could see what my quilt was going to look like:

Yeah ... I can live with that!!!  I like it!!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy Sew Year!!!


I'm wishing all my friends and family a very Happy New Year .... or if it applies to you as well ... 

HAPPY SEW YEAR!!!!


Welcome 2014!!!!!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Celtic Solstice Part 5

I had great intentions of being all caught up by the time I was ready to write this post, but life just got in the way.  My hubby and I have both been off for the Holidays and spending time with him won out over doing hardcore sewing.  I did manage to make some decent progress though.  First off I want to share with you the awesome gifts that my hubby got me for Christmas.  First is this back saver:



Excuse the baggy comfy clothes ... my surgery is working.  Yay!  Now I will be able to sit at the sewing machine longer without getting the back strain that I always used to experience.  So far it seems to be helping, but I haven't done any marathon sewing yet.





I'm super excited about this cabinet!!  It's custom made and although it didn't make it here for Christmas day, this is the picture of my actual cabinet with the maker's Featherweight in it that he sent to us yesterday.  It's ready to ship and will be in the mail tomorrow!!  Hubby will do the finish on it when it gets here.  It's a replica of the actual cabinets that Singer made for the Featherweights only this one is solid wood and the originals were not. Soon my purple baby will have a sweet home!




Friday I cut out Part 5 of Celtic Solstice.  It didn't take that long once I got in a rhythm.  I'm really anxious to see how this quilt is going to all come together.




Sunday I finished Pinwheel Parade for Baby Madalynn.  I think it turned out really cute.  And if anyone decides to make this quilt based on the link I provided earlier, please note that the directions are not quite correct.  It takes 3 charm packs rather than the 2 it calls for.  You could fill in with scraps from your stash if you wanted.  I have about 18 squares left over from the third charm pack.  They will probably find their way into a pieced back for the quilt.



And just for good measure, I did assemble a few of Part 5, Celtic Solstice.  They aren't so bad to make.  I forgot to mention that I did sew some more chevrons from Part 2 on Friday.  Those pieces are my nemesis!!  I've broke the remaining parts into little baggies and will try to do one a week.  I don't know why I hate making those so bad, but I do.


Check out everyone's progress HERE on Bonnie's Blog.