One-a-day x 10 weeks = 70 blocks = all done!

Now that I have all 70 of these block finished it's time for the tedious work ... the sashing.

We've been so busy lately this may be a project for another day or week ... or month.

Here are all 70 hanging out together. What a nice looking bunch.

Check out the one-a-day nine-patch quilt-along group.

Nine down, one to go

I can hardly believe we only have one week left in the one-a-day nine-patch quilt-along.

Here are my week nine blocks:

Week eight

More red and green for the one-a-day quilt-along.

The blocks look so merry and bright.

And then there were 49

Somehow I finished another seven blocks this week, bringing my total to 49. So if I wanted to, I could stop now and have a 7 blocks by 7 blocks, square quilt. 

Hmm. 

Nope, I think I'll stick with the group and keep going. I want a big, snugly, cozy Christmas quilt.

...

In weather news ... it rained all day. We got another two to three inches of rain but so far we're still dry, thank goodness. Many roads were flooded and some manhole covers were popping up - apparently that's really dangerous. I hope to never experience a popping manhole cover.

42 down

Tomorrow, Monday, April 8, marks the 42nd day of the one-a-day 9-patch quilt along.

Here are the week six blocks.

I wanted to see all 42 blocks together to see how well they all get along.

So far so go, I think. In the finished quilt, I will alternate the blocks so the primarily red/green blocks will be every-other (red, green, red, green ...). As you can see in this photo, I accidently had a few green blocks in a row. oops.

Each of the blocks will be sashed in white.

Think it has a Christmas look to it?

Speaking of Christmas, it snowed here yesterday. It never stuck to the ground, but there was definitely frozen stuff falling from the sky. A town less than an hour west of here had three inches of snow. Remind me again, is it really June?

Week five

I'm lagging behind but only by a five days. There blocks are for week five (which ended Monday) for the 9-block one-a-day quilt along hosted by crazymomquilts. This brings my grand total to 35 blocks.

Check out weeks 1-4.

Good thing I had a rainy day to catch up.

28 down

Adding to my productivity this weekend, I finished my week four one-a-day nine-patch quilt-along blocks.

Here are the previous three weeks of blocks:

Squares, squares and more squares

Here are my first nine blocks for the block-a-day nine patch quilt along. I am doing all red/green for a Christmas quilt. 

These blocks are for my 4-by-4 color quilt - I previously blogged about here. These are the first three finished blocks and I already love the quilt! As you can see, these are the green/aqua blocks. There will also be yellow/orange, red/pink, and blue/purple blocks. I found inspiration for this quilt here.

Join in the fun - it's a quilt along

As if I don't have enough quilting projects going right now, I decided to join Amanda's nine-patch quilt along (crazymomquilts). I think it will be very manageable - only one block a day!

I'm going to make this one with all red and green fabrics, with white sashing (the same color combinations as this tree skirt I made).

It will be a Christmas quilt. I've always wanted a quilt dedicated to Christmas. What could be better to snuggle under on a snowy December day?

If I stick to the plan (I'm already three blocks behind - eeek) I'll have enough blocks for the quilt top by mid summer. Yippee!

If you'd like to keep tabs on our quilt along group, visit our Flickr page.

Update @ 9:30 pm

I have my first three blocks done! yay I'm in the game!

A little trip to the fabric store and a new friend

I made a decision. Well, kinda. 

My next quilt will include these fabrics (I even started cutting them - yippee!). It'll be very colorful. I'm still deciding if I want the blocks to be composed of nine squares or 16 squares. It will roughly resemble this quilt (with blocks of nine squares) or this quilt (with blocks of 16 squares). I think will use either the Alexander Henry pears and apples or the numbers for most of the backing (I adore both fabrics too much to decide right now - maybe both?). The blocks will each be one color collection - either blue/purple, yellow/orange, aqua/green, or red/pink. Each of the little squares will be cut to 2.25 inches square and the final block will be bordered in white.

As you can see, my yellow/orange collection was very lacking so I made a quick trip to the Bismarck, ND, Quilt Haus to stock up. Thankfully, I did find a few to beef up my collection :)

While at the Quilt Haus, I met Vicki, of WillowBerry Lane. I felt like it was a celebrity sighting - a real live fabric and pattern designer! She's (one of the lucky ones) going to the Quilt Market in a few weeks and needed some help finishing a few sample quilts. I was so honored to be asked! I'm making the Baskets in Bloom wall hanging.

Sunny slacker Saturday

Today is Saturday and it is sunny. I'm happy to see the sun again because it snowed yesterday. Yes, the white cold stuff. It was kind of crazy since Thursday was sunny and 80°F, then on Friday it snowed.

In honor of the warn sunshine, today while doing laundry I rigged up a temporary clothes line by tying string between the supports of our backyard arbor. I hung our sheets to dry in the sun and hung the comforter to fluff up in the breeze. I think they'll smell great when we crawl into bed tonight.

With all the spring to-do's around the house I've been a quilting slacker. So until I finish the quilt that I'm currently quilting, I'll show off some of my past projects.

This one is definitely my (ahem) brightest creation. The pattern is from this book (one of my favorites). It's a large throw ... about 57x72 inches. The blocks are 8 inches (8.5 with seam allowance).

I think I made it in 2005. Unfortunately, I didn't label it (bad bad bad) so I'm not sure exactly when it was made. This quilt is kinda funny - some people see it and like it and others think it's rather ugly. I like that about it. 

I'm going to get back to quilting this afternoon so hopefully I'll have something new to show off soon.

Black, white and red all over

This poor quilt has been a work in progress for way too long and I have changed my plan for its finished size too many times to count.

Last time I posted about this quilt I wasn't sure if I liked the look of the blocks with or without a white border. Obviously I settled on both - some with and some without.

I also decided on a wall hanging versus a throw quilt. I made this the width of a quilt bed (approximately 58 inches), and plan to hang it above the headboard in out guest bedroom. I have quite a bit of the fabric left and decided the large print fabric might be better suited for other projects.

This is another improvisationally-pieced quilt for Project Improv - no pattern, no rules. Just lots of sewing and creativity.

Any ideas for quilting it?

Thursday round up

First things first ...

New recipe! I'm getting more adventurous in the kitchen - I threw a bunch of stuff together and created a great little recipe. check it out. I call it Man Quiche.

I whipped up a batch of my Raspberry Kuchen Bars last night and took them to work today. I think I made a lot of new friends. Seriously, they are that good. They tasted especially good because this time of year we're not eating much fruit so the raspberries tasted magical. (I used frozen raspberries from my bonus mom's garden).

I finished quilting the ragged squares quilt about an hour ago. It took some wrestling to get it quilted in the square design ... and I broke two sewing machine needles ... but though it all, I think it turned out nicely. 

Now to sew on the binding. That'll be a good weekend project. Here is the quilt pattern. This would be a great beginner quilt - It's fast, fun and easy. As always, I'm looking forward to getting it washed and krinkly. 

As I was finishing up I noticed how neat and tidy my fabric shelves looked. Time to show them off. Here they are in all their folded glory.

I've beefed up my green stack lately ... time for a green quilt maybe? Or to use the black/white/red pile on the bottom right? Decisions, decisions.

This little stack of blue is super cute.

Six crosses is done! and a new recipe.

Here is is! All done. I quilted it yesterday and finished the binding last night.

Here's a close-up.

I am planning on submitting this in the Artists Celebrating Christ Art Show. I'll keep you all updated if I get accepted and then I'll post the show dates and details. The story behind this quilt is posted here. This quilt is part of project improv - a bunch of quilters dedicated to sewing a quilt without a pattern - check out our Flickr group.

I am also posting a new recipe. It's a good one. Although not low-fat, it's great comfort food.

As part of the recipe, I'm plugging Dakota Growers Pasta Co. pasta. Aside from how great it tastes (super good) it's made right here in North Dakota (Carrington, ND to be exact). Anytime we make something with pasta we try to use this kind. Doesn't that look like Corey and I harvesting wheat? 

No? 

Well I think it does.

Work(s) in progress

I'm about half way done quilting the ragged squares quilt. It just keeps getting more cute. The pattern is from here (that's a great quilting website, by the way).

The six crosses quilt is about 90 percent completed. I quilted it today and will start hand sewing the binding (outer border) on when I get done typing this. I can't wait to show it off. Stay tuned.

For those that are wondering, the Grandpa Andy computer training went very well. I had a great time teaching and converting another Apple fan. ha ha. They even fed me lunch and sent me home with lots of leftovers, which were all delicious. The most eventful thing about the trip were the road conditions. On the way down there was lots of blowing snow but nothing too dangerous. But while I was in Linton, the weather and roads warmed up enough so that the snow was sticking to the road, causing lots of ice and snow drifts to form on the road surface. On the way back to Bismarck, I saw seven cars in the ditch (most were SUVs and pick-ups) and one was even flipped over on its roof. Crazy. Needless to say, it was quite a stressful drive, but I arrived home safe and sound.

Message to snow: Stay up there, we don't need any more!

My paper white bulbs and I are amazed at all the snow we have. We got another five inches of snow last night and another few inches this morning. Maria and Matthew, my bonus sister and brother have a snow day off school today - yahoo! They live 2 1/2 hours north of here and got over a foot of snow yesterday. 

At out house, we have snow piles over four feet high lining our driveway. It's crazy.

All the more reason to stay inside and quilt! ... I finished this quit top. No back yet and it still need to be quilted. It's probably the most girly quilt I've ever made.

and my second quilt of 2009 ...

I started an improv-pieced quilt. Basically this just means that I don't use a pattern - I just randomly sew pieces together to create a quilt. There is a Flickr group dedicated to this project. Check it out - just click the link. There are about 115 of us that are participating. The quilt I decided to make will represent my journey through RCIA – yes, I'm becoming Catholic! The quilt will be a wall hanging of six squares (crosses). 

Depending on how it turns out, I might submit it in the Artists Celebrating Christ Art Show. So far I think the quilt is looking pretty good - especially considering it's made of all batik scraps. Thanks to my Aunt Kristen for donating a bag of scraps recently – they came in very handy with this project. The squares have an amazing stained glass look which I am really enjoying. I will border each of the squares with white fabric (for a total size of about 10 inches square), then sew the six squares together, and then I will quilt it. 

2008 was great

Boy, o boy was I was busy in 2008. 

The above mosiac are all photos of sewing projects I completed within the last year.

The list includes:

1 quilted tree shirt
2 oven mits
2 stuffed bunnies
3 aprons
4 quilts
and over 10 embroidered dish towels

In other reminiscing fun, I found the following list I posted to my blog one year ago, in January 2008. Today I updated the list (in italics).

Some new, fun, neat stuff from 2007:

- Getting engaged to and marrying the man of my dreams, Corey. Corey is amazing. I'm so very blessed to call him mine :)

- My new and wonderful bonus family ... the Hagers and Schumachers, I already feel like I've known then forever. Ditto again this year. They are wonderful.
- Parker. My first and only cousin. I can't imagine how we survived so long without him. Still adorable and such a sweetie.
- Lazy football Sundays ... (hurray for quilting!) oh yeah, and watching football is okay too. Haha not much has changed here.
- Pancheros. This restaurant has single-handedly brought some of the world's best tortillas to Bismarck. yum. Still major yum.
- www.jcrew.com ... the clearance section is just fantastic - I'm especially partial to the pea coats and flip flops and pants and swim suits. oh my. I have everything I need so I haven't shopped much this year. Our bank account thanks me.
- Caitlyn. She's been a great roomie this year and she's very handy with her physical therapy tricks like taping ankles or taking my blood pressure. I miss her and her crazy PT tricks. Please come back soon! (she's in California for Christmas) Caitlyn moved out into her own spiffy apartment. She's kickin' butt in class and has less than one year of class left! yay Caitlyn!
- Pinochle. It gets me in touch with my competitive side I'm finally getting the hang if it. We even taught my parents to play. Definitely my new favorite card game.
- Cookin' and bakin'. This was more of a recent December 2007 item, but I have a new passion for bakin' and cookin'. Special thanks to my trusty 'ol crock pot and new Kitchen Aid mixer. Wow I've come a long way ... who would have thought I'd actually HOST thanksgiving at my house in 2008?
- Apple iPhoto Books. I like them. A lot. Thanks for the reminder - I need to make a Boston iPhoto book
- Bistro sushi night. Thursdays. mmm good. I don't think I've been there since I wrote this.
- Going for walks. Who knew our neighborhood was so neat? This is not a winter activity. Wishin' it was spring.
- The Quilt Haus. Super cool new quilt store in Bismarck. Still my favorite.
- Christmas music. This year I rediscovered my love for Christmas music in a big way. Super ditto for this year - check out my top albums.
- Gaining a respect for people who have successfully changed their name (and all their accounts, credit cards, paperwork). Wow, it is a lot of work. Yep, glad that's over.
and last but not least ...
- Coming home to a clean house after the honeymoon. that was awesome! Thanks again to the Zundel's and Vander Vorst's, you are awesome! That seems like ages ago.

Some of the things I'm looking forward to in 2008
- Parker will turn one in March He'll be TWO! yahoo!
- Caitlyn will graduate with her undergraduate degree in April She'll graduate with her Doctorate in May, 2010!
- We'll be flying to Boston in October for Megan and (my new brother) Jesse's wedding. This will be a blast! We're so excited! Ahhh, that was a great trip. Not to self ... need to make iPhoto book ASAP.
- Our one year anniversary in November. We're well into two years of married bliss already!
- I have a feeling I'll be quilting more in 2008 I have a feeling I'll be quilting even more in 2009. I'm also planning on teaching a few eager folks how to quilt!
- Basically, I'm just really looking forward to being newlyweds. Are we still newlyweds? Regardless, I'm looking forward to another year. I have a feeling 2009 will be awesome.

Show and tell

In browsing through some recent photos on my computer I realized I have lots for show and tell.

Oven mits given as Christmas gifts. Patten from here. They match the aprons I made earlier this year.

These aprons are awesome and super cute! Apron pattern from here.

This is a golden oldie quilt I completed in 2003 'ish' I call it Asian Springtime. It's actually four quilts of the same pattern (40x40"), arranged two by two, to made a large (80x80") quilt.

I just finished this one mid-December to give to my Grandma Katy for Christmas. See the work in progress here.

Our tree has a skirt.

This evening I put the finishing touches on the tree skirt. It's so darn stinking cute - I just love how it looks under our tree. I had so much fun making it and using many of my scraps in the process. It is fun looking at the pieces of red and green fabric and remembering which quilt I used it in and how long ago it was. Some of the fabric I used in high school. The binding (tiny outer border) red dotted fabric was used for the backing of Jesse and Megan's wedding quilt just a few months ago. 

Here's a close up of the stitching ... I'm still learning how to stipple (free motion curvy designed) quilt, so this is by no means perfect.

Recognize the red dotted fabric?

How about some red plaid fabric (also from Jesse and Megan's wedding quilt)?

I realize this is early ... but ...

Yes, my tree is up. Yes, I'm happy as a clam about it. Here's how it went down. I decided to take the plunge and invest in an artificial tree this year - for a few reasons, primarily the fire hazard that are real trees and the mess. So anyway, off tree shopping went. I quickly got frustrated and confused to I turned to google and stumbled upon a nice artificial tree seller called Balsam Hill. Their clearance area and free shipping lured me in and viola! a few day later we had a very large box of Christmas tree (seven feet of Christmas tree to be exact) on our porch. After about an hour or two of fluffing, we have a very lovely tree in our living room :) I couldn't be happier. It's so bright and festive.

Corey, however, thinks it's still a wee bit early to be having a lit Christmas tree on display, so we made a deal that I'll leave the lights turned off until Thanksgiving – at which time it will be lit in full beautiful wonderfulness for all to see. hurray!

Also in Christmas tree news, yesterday I finished quilting the tree skirt I've been working on. This is turning out to be one of my favorite quilting projects yet – primarily because it's small and I don't get sick of it before I finish it. Here it is – I had to "try it on" the tree before sewing on the outer edge (binding). The pattern is from here.

I'm so darn excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas, they are definitely my two favorite holidays. Later this week I'll share my list of favorite Christmas CDs and evergreen potpourri. I'm joking. Well, on second thought ...

Stay tuned.

Our tree: