More Finishes

Some things are getting finished around here. The Costume is not one of them.

I finished this top for my girlfriend.

Originally, I was going to make this quilt for her. But since I ended up not really liking that quilt, I decided that I needed to make her another one. I had an ME Friends and Flowers Jelly Roll, so I decided to make this quilt. Since my girlfriend loves green, I used a green panel, and switched out the red borders for green borders. I have to say, after looking at this picture, that I'm too happy with the green that I used for the borders. I wish I would have used a green solid, or one of the greens that shows more as a solid. Oh well. I don't think that I'm willing to rip out those borders and redo them. Plus, I'd really like to have this done by November 6, when she's coming to visit.

I also completely finished this quilt.

It's from the Atkinson Quilt Book Happy Hour, and it's the Picture This quilt pattern. AmandaJean has made a few of these quilts. (Oh. My. Goodness. Is she fantastic, or what?) I loved this pattern when I first saw it, and after making a quilt with it, I am even more in love with it. I made this top back in August, because I wanted to make a top that I could practice some quilting on. I really wanted to try this quilt motif that Amy did. However, besides not being the freaking incredible wonderful quilter that Amy is, I realized that I was using the wrong thread. I used a Guterman 50 wt. thread, and it just blended right in to the quilt. It didn't stand out like a heavier thread would have.

You can see on the right where I was trying to use that motif, and I just couldn't see it well enough to make it work (well, that's the excuse that I'm using!), so I decided to just go with regular stippling. I had also decided that I was going to use my Bernina Stitch Regulator to quilt this quilt too (I'd not used it up to this point). So, trying to do two new things at once was just too much for me.

All that being said, I really do love this quilt. I finally finished the binding on Sunday night, and it ended up being cool enough that night that I could sleep with it. I washed it on Monday, and that gave it all of its crinkly goodness. It also seems to be much more pliable than the other quilt I recently finished. I'm not sure if the weight of the thread made a difference or not.

I did the binding with leftover pieces of fabric from the quilt. I LOVE how that turned out too.

You can see the backing here, too. I used this backing because I had it. It was some fabric that I was going to get rid of, and then I thought - why not just use it! It's just a practice quilt! It kind of reminded of using a vintage sheet, so I though it would work. My girls, however, gave me sh*t a hard time about using it, because they thought it didn't match well enough. Oh well. *sigh* And I also see that there are 3 squares up there going in the same direction. I wish I had caught that, but since I'll be the one using this quilt, I think it will be just fine.

Jealous Much?

Well, you should be. I know that I told you about my winnings from Anna, but what I didn't tell you is that I also won at Stephanie's. Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

How cute did she package it? She said that she got the keychain from Amish Country.

And look at my loot! The bag is adorable! And let me tell you, she hand stitched the fabric around the handles, and you CANNOT see a stitch! Wow! I was so impressed. Wonderful workmanship. Thank you again, Stephanie!

Now for sneak peak. I told you that I started this quilt on the weekend, and got all of the middle part of it pieced.

I have to admit, after getting to this point, I wasn't sure if I really liked it. It was a bear to piece. I had to lay out all of the pieces on a flannel board, which I really don't have, but had improvise with a piece of flannel that really wasn't big enough. I then took the pieces off of the flannel one by one and pinned in a long strip, because I was afraid that I wouldn't get them sewn in the right order unless I did that. I'm not very good at keeping pieces in order, and this quilt really requires that they stay in the right order.

Then I got the borders on.

And I am in hot love. I know that this picture does not do it justice. It such a great top, however, that I wish you could see it in person! The colors are just fabulous. Here's a close up of the borders, I think the colors are better in this picture.

It is just so wonderful!

I used the Oak Street Stacked Cakes pattern (the picture on my pattern, however, is different that the picture in this link). I also used (as most of you knew) Urban Chiks' 1974 fabric. I used a jelly roll and some additional fabric that I got from Z&S Fabrics (LOVE that store).

Now that I finished the top, I have to start on The Costume. Wish me luck.

My Winnings

Did you know that I won! Yes, I won over on Thimbleanna's blog. How lucky am I? Well, let's be honest. It wasn't all luck, there was skill involved! I had to guess what Anna was making - and I did! It was only a drawing between me and two other people - which also upped the odds in my favor. Look what I won!

The Vera Bradley Travel Organizer is really cute. I think I need to travel more to get good use out of it! Anna also sent me chocolate (always appreciated), some cute Mary Engelbreit notecards, and a very sweet note. Thanks Anna!

I spent a lot of time this weekend sewing. Much to the consternation of my youngest child. She didn't mind that I was sewing - she minded that I wasn't sewing her Halloween costume! The thought of which (sewing that costume) scares the heck out of me! Me and costume sewing don't have a good track record. In fact, my track record is so bad that my middle child said, "Mom, why did you agree to sew her costume? You shouldn't have." Now, I have to admit, part of the reason for having so many issues in costume sewing is that I generally wait until the last minute to make them. Last. minute. As in October 29 or later. I'm NOT going to do that this time. Really. I'm not.

Here's a sneak peek at was I was working on this weekend.

I hope to get it mostly finished today or tomorrow. Then I'm going to start working on that costume. Yes, yes, I am.