One last top for September - A Schnibble!!

I cut it close, but I finished!

On Sunday I started work on my September Schnibble (a Schnibble is a small quilt designed by Carrie Nelson from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.).

I decided to give a try to a new method of making Flying Geese blocks, described by Carrie on her site, but since I didn't have the particular ruler to trim the geese, it took me a little longer than I wanted to spend cutting them down to size.

I love how sweet the geese came out, none of the tips were sacrificed. Yeah!! I started the project late because I wanted to use Camile & Bonnie's new fabric line Simple Abundance and the yardage didn't hit the stores until last week.

Not sure about the blue border. I think I would have liked a darker border so it would look more framed but I think I can live with it.

I have the backing and the binding so I guess I have no excuse to leave this one un-quilted. I'll be adding the quilting as an October project.

Last finish for September?

I'm still working on my Schnibble for September and I hope to get it out today but I did finish quilting the baby quilt top I had worked on earlier this month.

I marked the top last week and over the weekend I quilted and bound it.

The weather cooperated to take the pictures. This one was completed just in time. I hear that the baby should be arriving at any moment!

Now I need to finish quilting the other two tops but before I do that I need to finish my Schnibble!!!

Another one done plus an Extra!

This one has left me a bit iffy. I am not a real fan of solids but with all the beautiful quilts that emerge with white sashing or solid backgrounds, I had to give it a shot.

After seeing Vanessa's table topper here, I was inspired to use the same concept for a baby quilt. So last weekend, after I finished the other baby quilt I started this one.

I set off to make the strips for the nine patches. I made them 6.5" in length to have different sets that would add a bit of variety to the blocks.


I then cut the strips into the 9 patch units.


And auditioned the blocks. These will end up being 3" finished blocks.


Off to sew the sets into the 9 patch. I am a pinner as you can see. I TRY to get my points to match, seams to meet, etc. The only way I can do that is to pin and honestly, it doesn't always work, but at least I try!


Then I trimmed the blocks. Since I don't have a scant 1/4" foot and have to fudge things a bit during sewing, I trim to get to the proper size.


I sewed the remaining scraps to make one of the borders, then I put it all together and I was done!

Now, I almost didn't finish this one because after I made the center I was not thrilled with the whole solid white. I REALLY was not happy with the whiteness of it all. I eventually did finish it this weekend because I don't want any more UFOs in my pile and I have hopes that after quilted and bound in blue it will look great!


But in the mean time... I went off searching for a bkup. I saw a pattern made by Crazy Old Ladies called Baby Boom that was VERY simple and was inspired to give it a try. I needed something quick and easy to make and this fit the bill. This is suppose to be a two hour quilt and I can say it is definitely that. I sewed the squares over the strips leaving the raw edges so that after washing it will look a bit scruffy.


I used Moda's Horsing Around fabric. I think it looks soo darn cute! I think I need to make a few more. Add a few borders and it can easily be made into a lap quilt (I skipped the border to make it smaller)

So that was my weekend. I have these all marked up for quilting so I just need to baste and start quilting. I think I just might be able to get them done by the end of the month.

This week I'll be traveling to New England for business but also to visit my sister but before that I'm going to my guild meeting and most likely will join in the workshop being offered on Wednesday by Lynn Roddy Brown. I'm defintely keeping myself busy!

Where were you?

When it comes to world events, I never experienced a moment in my life that I could say I remember exactly what I was doing when that happened. The closest I had was when Elvis Died and I thought "dang! Now I'll never marry him". I was 11. I don't remember the death of Lennon (I'm a huge Beatles fan) or the death of Mother Teresa (although I remember the date) or the death of Princess Di (don't get me started on the whole Mother Teresa / Princess Di thing), or the wedding of Charles and Diana or the shooting of Ronald Reagan. I could never tell you what I was doing when these events took place. Oh don't get me wrong, I remember these events but they are not engraved in my memory.

Sept 11, 2001 is a day that I will always remember.

I remember I was already in my office dealing with my first client (I did Technical Support for Progress Software in MA) and my office mate came in and told me that a plane crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I completely dismissed him becasue we were always trying to out bluff one another. It was a matter of pride to be the most convincing liar between us. This one was so outlandish that I just said 'yeah right'. He turned his computer monitor towards me just as the second plane crashed in to the other tower.

I remember getting out of my chair and walking over staring in stupefaction at the bizarre scene in front of me. There was alot of silence in the office. The phones just seemed to die down to nothing. I think the world had been shocked into the same stillness that had grabbed us.

I remember that we were glued to the live internet feeds and when the first tower collapsed I actually gasped. When the next one dropped I grabbed Tro (my co-worker), who was standing next to me and said "Holy Shit!". We watched the tragedy unfold from the safety of our office but we had never felt so 'unsafe' in our lives.

I will always remember that day. I will remember the lives that were loss. I will remember the voices of parents, siblings, husband, wives and children pleading for information about thier loved ones. I will remember how proud we were of all the rescue workers and for those that rescued without ever receiving recognition. The stories of unity and fellowship that emerged inspired us to give more of ourselves. It made the nation remember why we are the UNITED States of America.

Yeah, I will always remember that day.

First Baby Quilt completed!

This top took no time at all. I highly recommend this one for a quick day project.
Reading the instructions I found myself a bit confused but a quick email to Camille Roskelley (the designer) got me on track. I didn't get the whole sewing the strips in place because I originally thought that the quilt was pieced based on strips but the top has the strip layered on. Check out the pictures and you will get what I mean.

First I cut the strips and found the right layout. As you can see the background for each block is cut whole and then the strips placed on top, giving the illusion of a strip pieced quilt.


Of course I am very anal and had to make sure that the strips would line up properly with the block next to it. So, I took time to mark placement lines on to the background fabric.


I then lined up the strips and pinned in place before sewing the strips on.


Here you can see that the strips are sewn in place with the raw edges exposed which will give the quilt a scruffy look after it's quilted and washed.


Before the rows are sew together I lay it out to make sure everything is in place. At this point I noticed that I screwed up and rotated the blocks incorrectly during my first layout session. Now if I were to follow the pattern the block movement would have been a bit different but at this point the only ones that will know I screwed up is me and Camille (and all you folks now). I decided that any baby snuggling under this will not care so I left things as is.


Added my borders and got the applique in place and I'm done!



Now I'm off to get the next top done before marking, basting and quilting!

What's up for September...

I think I'm going to be a bit over extended in September but if I don't put it out there, there is not even the remote chance to get anything done.

For my Charming Girls Club I have some baby quilts from Thimble Blossom I want to get out the door by the end of the month. I reviewed the pattern and it seems fairly straight forward so I hope I can get them done AND quilted in September. Here is a pic from Connecting Threads where I purchased the Kit (teddy not included):


The pattern for September's installment of A Year of Schnibbles was announced today. We will be making the Winter White Schnibble.


Not fond of the colors but love the flying geese. I'm thinking maybe the new Simple Abundance line by Camille? The whole line is not out yet so, I might have to improvise but I'll worry about this after the baby quilts are done.

I'd like to get a few blocks from my Gobble Gobble Quilt done because I have a trip to New England planned and you know what that means... A trip to my favorite little quilt shop and some quality time with my favorite quilt shop owner. I'm hoping to check out possible sashing for the piece but need to get a few blocks done to visualize it.

On top of all that, I have the Quilting on The Red White and Blue piece I just finished and some quilty fun with my Guild when Lynn Roddy Brown comes to our meeting and then gives us a workshop.

A lot of quilty stuff on the to do list for September. Let's see how much actually gets completed.

Wish me luck!