1/2 Triangle Squares and another Dino

I just spent a full day of quilting with a dear friend of mine! We really got to catch up what was going on in each other's lives. I also helped her get caught up in the mystery. Wed. is the final mystery class. It will be so much fun, we're even having a potluck!
While she was getting caught up, I made another dinosaur block and spent the rest of the day working on making 112 half-square triangles. I sill have half of them to press and then they all need to be trimmed to perfection. I'm doing this for that other mystery quilt.

Mystery Finished, 1/2 Sisters, and Dinosaurs

Wow, I've had a few very productive days! I completed the first dinosaur block for my son's quilt and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.
Yesterday I managed to complete four blocks for my twisted sisters quilt and that gives me a total of ten, which is half of what I need!
And tonight, I completed the top of the mystery quilt I've been doing and teaching. I even added a border, which I felt really tied it all together. I'll try to get a picture posted soon. And I'm hoping to get it basted sometime this week.
I also got a very early birthday present from my mom. She made a beautiful purse out of this amazing butterfly fabric. It is the perfect gift for any quilter. :)
Tomorrow it is back to the dinosaurs. :)

Elm Creek Pin and Dinosaur Pattern

A day for new beginnings and wonderful surprises! I needed such a day! I have been so busy with Anniversary celebrations (My husband loves his quilt and doesn't like to share it with me, LOL!) and then a couple of health problems (nothing serious) that I haven't accomplished much of anything.

However, I did find the perfect green fabric and two other fabrics to get started on my son's bday quilt. It can be so difficult to match greens, I feel like God really was helping me out that day... in addition, I even had a coupon for 25% off! I'm just waiting now for Kinko's to finish printing up copies of the paper pieced pattern I designed. If all goes well tonight, I might even get a block done.

I also had a fun surprise. I won an Elm Creek Quilts Camp pin from Jennifer Chiaverini's site. http://www.elmcreek.net/blog.html I just adore her books. I've read them all. Right now, I'm reading the latest Earlene Fowler novel. Also a favorite series!

True Lover's Knot Picture

I finally have a picture of my hubby's anniversary quilt to show you. You can't see the variety of fabrics well or the use of the variegated thread, but it does show the overall quilt. Thank you, Jayn, for taking the picture for me. :)
I'm almost finished making the top of the mystery quilt. Only three seams left, seven if I add a border, which I probably will. I won't be working on it this weekend though. I'm going to be heading off shortly to start my anniversary weekend with my husband. :)

True Lover's Knot Finished!!!

I did it! It is finished. It is in the washing machine right now. My poor hand is so tired from doing that binding. I will admit that when I started this last month, I really wasn't certain that I could get it done. Such a feeling of accomplishment! I have a friend who will take a picture of it on Saturday, so I'll try to upload it on my next post.
My next big task is my son's dinosaur quilt. I need to re-sketch the pattern to be a lot bigger and find and purchase the rest of the needed fabric. But I never start on his quilts until May 22 each year. So, I have a week to work on many other projects... either of my two mystery quilts and maybe more on the twisted sister quilt. But for tonight, I'm done! :)

True Lover's Knot Binding

Well, I actually managed to make the binding last night while the hubby was home napping. :) A little bit of a much needed head start. I'm not going to be able to get anything done on Friday night because I'm going to be participating in an all night walk for cancer. So, hopefully I'll be able to get a little bit more done each night. Tonight I trimmed up the quilt and sewed the binding on the front. Now the long part of hand sewing the binding to the back begins. I'm going to try to get a bit done tonight. :)

Quilting Finished!!!

I finished the quilting tonight, I don't think I've ever quilted a lap size quilt that quickly. Taking a break until Monday when I'll make the binding. I hope I have enough fabric... when I bought it I didn't realize that I would want it to be the binding too, but it is exactly what the quilt needs! I can't wait for him to see it... I hope I don't give it to him early. ;)

Woohoo... Very Productive!

Wow, what an evening! I made the back, basted the layers, got the thread in the mail, and managed to do half of the quilting!!!! The thread looks even better than I imagined. And I planned out my quilting where the whole thing will be done with only two continuous lines... I did one tonight.
Tomorrow I hope to finish the quilting. Monday I can make the binding. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday will hopefully be all that I'll need to hand sew the binding on. If so, I'll be finished by the 14th and our Anniversary isn't until the 21st.
I was originally thinking of wrapping it up and everything, but now I think I'd rather sneak it on the bed to cover him up the night before so he'll see if first thing in the morning. Now, I just have to figure out how to pack it without him seeing it. We'll be going away for the weekend, I don't know where yet, it is a surprise. He likes us to have everything packed in the same suitcase together. Hmmm.... I guess I'll have to think of something...

20, Border & Finished...

I completed block 20 and the borders tonight... the top is finished!!!! It looks great, but I still worry if he will like it or not.
Now for a few corrections...on the last post I mentioned doing the "binding" on Friday, when I meant "basting". I always mix those two words around! And, silly me, I didn't even allow time to piece the back together... it is only two pieces, but I do still need to cut the yardage in half and sew them together. So, that is what I will be doing tomorrow night, so I don't know if I'll get to the basting then or until Saturday.
The thread hasn't arrived yet, so who knows when I'll be able to start quilting on it. But I guess I don't need to bother myself too much about it until after it is basted.
No cover work yet tonight, but I plan on cutting some squares for a fabric swap. And at quilt class on Saturday afternoon, I'll just get to work freely on that Twisted Sister quilt. I only have three blocks done, but I'm in no hurry with that one. And the week after that I'll be teaching the mystery quilt during class, so no worry about cover work then either. I will only need to come up with something on the nights I'm at home. Maybe more twisted sister blocks since they really are so fast to make.

17, 18 & 19

Well, due to circumstances not under my control, I have fallen behind. However, I have managed to find the time to complete blocks 17, 18 and 19. Just one block left and then the border left to finish the top! If all goes well, that last block will be done tomorrow, the border on Thursday, binding on Friday.

However, I'm not sure if I'll be able to start quilting on Saturday or not. I couldn't find the right thread anywhere, I want to use a variegated thread the colors of the different fabrics. I finally had to order it online this weekend from Hancock's of Paducah. I do hope it arrives on time.

I haven't managed to do any "cover" work, so I'm sure it appears that I'm being very unproductive lately. I am doing some thinking about participating/hosting a fabric swap to make a charm quilt. Using all those different fabrics that don't match and no two repeating, wow, that will really challenge me!

Day Behind, 16 and more Trees

I'm a day behind. My hubby worked last night, but decided he would drop by at some point in the evening to drop something off. So, I couldn't risk him discovering my little secret.
Tonight, however, I completed block 16 and have the first four rows completely sewn together. Only one row left and I managed to spend quite some time tonight planning the actual layout of the different fabrics, and drawing the lines on the last of the little squares that will become triangles. I'm going to the quilt group tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to play a little bit of catch up then. My schedule doesn't actually include my doing any work on his project on Wednesdays, so if I finish a block tomorrow, I'll be all caught up.
For my "cover" work tonight I worked on sewing the remaining of my tree blocks together for the mystery quilt. I don't have much more cover work I can do regarding that project. So, hopefully I'll finish the True Lover's Knot quilt before then.
Maybe I can find a friend with a digital camera who would take a pic for me to upload here. I'll have to check into that.

15, Sisters and Trees

Very productive day today. Block 15 done! And for my "cover" work I did another Twisted Sisters block and a bit of work with some tree blocks for the mystery quilt. I love having productive days! But I don't like working on multiple things... I would prefer to be able to focus on one thing at a time. Actually, that is not entirely true. Sometimes, I break from something that I'm not enjoying to work on something new and exciting can be very helpful. But working on multiple things tends to overwhelm me and things don't get finished as quickly. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side!

Block 14 and Heaven

Block 14 done! Each block completed gives me a little more relief. I can't wait for this one to be finished. Then I can start working on my son's next birthday quilt. This year my 3 year old said he wanted a "dinosaur" quilt. I couldn't find a pattern that I really liked, so I designed my own paper piecing block and quilt pattern and am looking forward to seeing how well it works out.
For my "cover" work tonight I completed that trying block from the mystery quilt. It isn't actually a block, more like a partial quilt. It looks wonderful, filled with various different star blocks... reminds me of a little piece of Heaven. I'm now anxious to teach this part to the class! It is always such a high when I accomplish something in quilting... not to mention having something beautiful to look at. I'm also feeling such a relief that it all came together properly!!!

Block 13

Yes! I completed the 13th block. I also managed to do some "cover" work. I am teaching a mystery quilt at my church and the instructions for the current block are off. It has taken me several days to rewrite and redesign everything, but I finally found something that will work. So, I pieced some on that tonight. I have finished just in time, as my hubby will be home shortly. Now I can enjoy some of my favorite reading by Jennifer Chiaverini. I just got her latest book, "The Sugar Camp Quilt" on Monday. It was actually a wink from God what happened. I tried to buy the book over the weekend, but sadly my usual bookstore was sold out. And while I was browsing at her site, I accidentally clicked on the events link and discovered that she would be making a one and only stop to my town on her book tour... and it happened to be that very same day. I rushed to the store and was unfortunately rather late, but I did get to hear her speak for a few moments and she did sign my book. :) I must say, she came across as very sweet and personable! If possible, I may even like her books more than before. If you love quilting and you haven't read her Elm Creek series, you are definitely missing out! Well, I'm going to go cut some more fabric for that mystery quilt. All of a sudden I'm feeling rather productive tonight. :)

True Lover's Knot

I am making a True Lover's Knot quilt for my husband. It is supposed to be a gift for our 10th Anniversary. It is hard keeping it a secret. Every night while he is at work, I have to take everything out, work on it and hide everything away, before he gets home. In addition, I have to work on something else to show him what I've done. LOL! I know it will be worth it, but it is a bit much. And while it is looking really great, I must admit I'm getting a bit sick of it... I have 12 out of 20 blocks done... I try to get a block done each night he works. I still have tonight's to do. But the weather was hot today and my house feels like an oven!
On a more upbeat note, I made a new block yesterday (as my cover to what I'm really doing) and I loved it! I finally tried my first "Twisted Sister" block and so pleased at how easy and fast it was!!! Plus I love the fabrics, I chose them for myself. I've never made a quilt for myself before. I make one each year for my kids' birthdays. So, it is nice working with more "grown up" looking prints.
Well, I have procrastinated enough for now. And now that I have vented for a few minutes, I feel ready to back to work.