DC Mod Charity Quilt...Dr. Seuss Style

I received the quilt from Elle

And put off grading tests on the cell.

Open the bag, see the pieces;

Lay them out to minimize creases.

Finished top, strips for the back

Attach some white space...that is that.

Starch the pieces, smooth them out.

505, I can't live without.

Thread the machine, practice stitches.

 

Work out many possible glitches.

BIG quilt--eats lots of thread.

 

If it weren't so much fun, it would fill me with dread.

One bobbin, 

 

two bobbin...

 

Let's go thread another bobbin!

 

Thanks to everyone at DC Modern that helped make the top and back a reality...you've given me a real treat to work with! 

I'm linking up with Plum and June's Monday "Let's get acquainted" link up and WIP Wednesday.

Also...the new Free Motion Quilting Friday with Leah Day :)

Quilt Along #36 and #39

This weekend's trip to Nashville was WONDERFUL!  So great to see Mom and Dad...and it will be even better to see Steph too at Christmas.

Mom and I discovered two great shops: Haus of Yarn (beautifully organized, great service, very knowledgeable) and Stitcher's Garden (an incredibly diverse shop...totally organized, but so full of fabric it can seem overwhelming...go with a plan and ask or wander for hours...either would work well here.)

Yarn for a new sweater.

During the moments I could snatch tonight and last night I did a few more practice squares of FMQ.  Among the many great things at Stitcher's Garden, I found Angela Walter's FMQ book.  So a few squares are inspired by her book and some are Leah Day's Free Motion Quilt Along.

#39 Quilt Busting Matrix

#36 Trapped Paisley

I love the purple and the paisley...of course I like most patterns involving paisley and love the color purple.  So I'm probably biased.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday and the Free Motion Quilt Along.

 

I also made a jar of red pens as "flowers" while watching Castle tonight. I'm hoping now they won't walk away when students borrow them.  I was going for obnoxious to hold but pretty to look at in a group.

I'm also looking forward to starting Leah Day's class on Craftsy! So much to do and so little time!

WIP Wednesday-November edition

Well, it's been a crazy few weeks.  Hurricanes, grades due, units to plan, quilt deadlines.  I've had such a hard time keeping up with my own life; my heart completely goes out to our neighbors and neighboring states that are picking up the pieces of their homes and lives right now.

I did manage a few things...
The Purple Bunny Quilt is finished and mailed to Grace for her birthday!  More pictures of the quilt are here.

I've finished quilting the colorful charity quilt!  I added a few corners of yellow and all the red, green, and blue quilting recently.  Totally missed the quilts for kids deadline, but I don't think the future recipient will mind :)

I'll be trying to bind this using a top-stiching method I talked over with a sweet woman at the Quilt Patch in Fairfax...I'm ever in search of the perfect binding method.

Then next up will be the t-shirt quilt that I restarted for UFO Sunday at the Free Motion Quilting Project.  Finally, I'll have a quilt to snuggle up with--right in time for the cold weather.

Then it will be a Five Yard Quilt for Cynthia using these great fabrics.  She wanted pink and floral...I think this will suit.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday after a long hiatus.

MMM...good

Just a quick post to say you should check out these two recipes if you need a quick, delicious meal.  We had everything in the house!

First, Mid-eastern chicken thighs (you'll need Garam masala, curry powder, onions, and red wine)

Second, Sauteed Broccoli with Cumin and Mustard Seeds (okay, I know not everyone has black mustard seeds lying around...but we cook Indian food often around here.  I'm sure yellow would work.  Also, we used frozen broccoli and ground cumin.)

And then we used a box of pre-seasoned couscous as a starch.  Mmmm...delicious.  I would've taken pictures but it didn't last long enough!

Purple Bunny Quilt is finished!

 My new favorite binding trick...Steam and seam 2 before hand finishing your quilt.  No pins!

UFO Sunday Successes

Well, it really has turned into UFO Sunday everyday here at our house.  Any day I've been able to quilt I've been working on the unfinished baby quilt or my unfinished t-shirt quilt.  Sundays have become the days to tackle the tasks that I'm weary of...such as binding...I just haven't done enough binding to feel good about it.  And the coaster I made recently for a friend? I did an atrocious job with the binding so now I'm "afraid" of the task.

But this week, I continued to avoid binding but put some other helpful hints to work.  As Leah suggested, as I sewed the strips of sashing to the shirts, I didn't pin.  No ripples!  Also, as B suggested, I used the lengthwise grain instead of selvage to selvage and it worked much better.  B suggested pinning; I'll have to try that and compare.  So far, I've had more success with no pins and careful feeding of the fabric no matter what I'm working on.

So here's the progress so far...

And without a doubt my favorite shirt is the Baby Einstein reading Science magazine.  Never would I have guessed I'd be teaching my high school students to write papers that they could submit to peer-reviewed journals someday as I bought my first STUDENT edition of the magazine (the t-shirt must have been a "free" gift.)

But wait, there's more...my UFO progress has extended to my knitting habit too...
The pair of socks I started during professional development in August...finished!

Before blocking

Blocking in progress

Of course, I've come to the awful realization that the Christmas knitting season has arrived.  Here's  two upcoming projects:

Use the white Misti Alpaca "baby me boo" to make another cowl.

And finally, my hubby made a great meal tonight...we bought a spice mix for tandoori chicken, marinated overnight and broiled.  I found a fabulous recipe for spicy Indian green beans here.  And the garlic naan was from Trader Joe's...yum!