All Done With Time to Spare!

Hello!  :)

Yes I did it! I finished TWO quilts! There were times when I doubted whether I'd make it or not, but I did with days to spare!  :)  To say I'm happy is an understatement!!!  :)

Here's Mario & Co. ready and waiting for Christmas to arrive and my son to open it and see it. I can't wait to see his reaction!  :)

I quilted it with white thread in diagonal lines approximately 4" apart. It's bound with a solid red.

This time I remembered to take a picture of the back. It's a blend of some Spongebob fabric (the boy loves Spongebob), a yellow recycled sheet (the boy's favorite color) and another recycled sheet with stripes of colors from the front.

Of course Doobie had to get in on the action again.  ;)

My FINAL Official Mario Quilt Countdown

START Date  11/18/12

Blocks to make  12

Blocks completed  12

Blocks remaining  0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with  3888

Used  3888

Remaining  0

~

Sashing - DONE!  :)

Borders - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - DONE!  :)

~

FINISHED Date  12/21/12

I also put the finishing touches on the Batik quilt for my hunky dude. Yes I did!!! It's finished!!!  :)

You really can't see it very well but I quilted this with lines on either side of the black sashing in black thread. It's not really even (or straight for that matter) but it's done and I know he'll love it (at least I hope he does)!  ;)

My FINAL Batik Quilt Countdown

START Date  12/15/12

~

Quilt Top - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - DONE!  :)

~

FINISHED Date  12/20/12

Now with only a few days to go until Christmas, I started on the 6 pairs of jammie pants I need to make. Hope it goes quick. I'm hoping to finish them on Saturday as well as get everything wrapped and under the tree. Sunday I plan on baking some cookies and making a cheesecake for my dad's house for Christmas Eve when the family gets together and celebrates Christmas. I hope all goes smooth. ;)

What do you still have to do before Christmas? Are you one of the lucky ones who are already ready and waiting for the day to arrive? Regardless of where you are in your plans . . . I hope you and your family have a merry Christmas!  :)

Until next time . . .

Plugging Away...

Hello!  :)

I'm still here! I know it's been awhile since I posted. I've been very busy trying to get the quilts done before Christmas. I'm making lots of progress.  :)

The other day I finally got the Super Mario quilt basted.

It's actually already quilted too! I know amazing huh?! I ended up machine quilting it with diagonal straight lines. Of course I forgot to take pictures. Sorry!  :(  Right now it's quilted and the binding has been sewn on too. It's sitting waiting for me to hand stitch the binding down. The last step! I can't believe it! I never thought I'd be at this point. I now know that I will have this done in time for Christmas! Yea!  :)

My Official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make  12

Blocks completed  12

Blocks remaining  0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with  3888

Used  3888

Remaining  0

~

Sashing - DONE!  :)

Borders - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - need to stitch down

I don't think I told you but I had another quilt I needed to make for Christmas. I know I am crazy!!! This one is for my hunky dude. He's been asking me all year when I was going to make a quilt for him. I decided to make him one for Christmas. Somehow although it hasn't been easy I've managed to keep it a secret. He loves batik fabrics so that's what he's getting. The other night I managed to finish the quilt top.

I'm using Amy Smart's Lattice Quilt pattern again like I did last year for my oldest son's Hawaiian Getaway quilt. It went together pretty quick. Here's another view of it.

Did you notice the dog? The back is pieced from leftover batik pieces and is definitely random.  ;)

Last night I machine quilted this quilt. I also got the binding (black) stitched on and it's ready to be hand stitched down. I'm hoping to get this finished in the next couple of days.

Batik Quilt Countdown

Quilt Top - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - need to stitch down

It hasn't been easy working on these quilts since both quilts are surprises for my guys. I can only work on them when they're gone or sleeping. I'll definitely be back later to show you the pictures of the finished quilts. I really like how they're looking. I just hope my guys like them too!  ;)

Until next time . . .

My Friday Night with Friends

Hello!  :)

I had a pretty good Friday Night with Friends this month. I worked on cutting and putting the borders on my Super Mario Quilt.

I managed to get them done. So now I have a finished quilt top.  :)  Here it is with the borders added . . . 

I love the way it looks!  :)  Thank you so much for everyone who said it was okay to add different size borders.  :)  The picture doesn't do it justice. The quilt is so big! It's 95" x 82". I did manage to get the binding cut and prepped too. Forgot to take a picture of it though . . . oh well. Now I just need to get the backing ready and get this baby sandwich and quilted.

My Official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make 12

Blocks completed 12

Blocks remaining 0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with 3888

Used 3888

Remaining 0

~

Sashing - DONE!  :)

Borders - DONE!  :)

Backing - not started

Basting - not started

Quilting - not started

Binding - prepped and ready to go!

Until next time . . .

Tonight is Friday Night with Friends

Hello!  :)

Tonight is the monthly "Friday Night with Friends". I just signed up to participate. I kept meaning to all week but kept getting side-tracked per usual. Right now it's 5:45pm here in California so I'd better be getting my Friday night fun started.  :)

I finally made it out and about today and got the fabric I need for the boy's Super Mario Quilt borders.

That's what I'll be working on tonight. I'll be cutting the fabric for the borders and sewing them on. Hopefully at the end of the night I'll have a completed quilt top! Keep your fingers crossed that nothing gets in my way.  ;)  I'm hoping to have time to cut and get the binding ready to go as well since I got the fabric for it too. I'll be back to tomorrow to show you my results. Hope you have something fun planned tonight as well. And for all my friends out there . . . I'm here sewing along with you all!  ;)

Until next time . . .

Super Mario Update! :)

Hello!  :)

I finally took a picture of the Mario quilt today. I couldn't get a really good pic of it but you get the idea. Please excuse all the loose threads.  ;)

And another view . . .

I really love it. Like I said yesterday I really want to add some borders to make it a little larger. I'm thinking 8" black borders on the left and right and 3" on the top and bottom. What do you think? Will it look okay with smaller borders on the top and bottom? I'd really like your opinion. I've decided to make the binding red. My boy loves red!  :)

I got a little frustrated today because I realized that I don't have enough fabric for the borders or the binding so I have to get more. I hate it when that happens. Guess Mr. Mario's gonna have to wait a little bit to get finished.  :(

My Official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make 12

Blocks completed 12

Blocks remaining 0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with 3888

Used 3888

Remaining 0

~

Sashing - DONE!  :)

Black Borders - not started

Spongebob Backing - not started

Basting - not started

Quilting - not started

Red Binding - not started

Until next time . . .

My Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Hello!  :)

I've been gone for a little bit but I've actually been getting a lot done. I managed to get the sashing on the Super Mario quilt but I haven't gotten a picture taken yet. I'm hoping to take one tomorrow so I can show it to you. I've decided to add some borders too. It's long enough but I want it to be wider. So I'm thinking about adding small borders to the top and bottom and wider ones to the sides. Do you think that will be okay? I know what I want to do and I'm hoping to sit down and work on it tomorrow.

So what have I been doing the last few days? I've been decorating for Christmas!  :)  I'm really enjoying it and went all out this year. Every time I finish decorating I think of something else to add. I really do need to stop though so I can get back to the quilts I need to finish. I'm hoping to take some pictures to show you later this week.  :)

I've been seeing a lot of those ornament wreaths around blogland. I love them! I've been wanting to make one of my own and I finally did!  :)  I actually remembered to take pictures along the way so I'll share them with you so this will be a mini tutorial.

Supplies needed:  

Wire wreath form (mine is 18"), tinsel garland (I used one plus a little more of another one), approximately 60 average size ball ornaments, approximately 30 small ball ornaments, hot glue gun with glue sticks. 

There are many ways to make an ornament wreath. I thought about using a styrofoam base but I wanted it to last for a long time and I didn't think styrofoam would hold up for the long run. Instead I choose to use a pre-formed wire wreath as my base. I forgot to take a picture of the wreath base by itself so here it is with the tinsel garland already wrapped around it.

I secured the end of the tinsel garland to the wire wreath form and then began wrapping. I tried to get it as evenly spaced as possible. When I got to the end I secured it with hot glue.

I got my bulbs ornaments at WalMart. I laid them out around the inside of the wreath to see how many I needed. I began gluing them to the inside edge of the wreath form with the top of the bulbs towards the wreath. Try to space them evenly so you don't have too much space between them or too much space leftover at the end. Make sure you hold the bulb long enough so the glue sets.

Next do the same thing with the outer edge of the wreath. You will end up with bulbs on the inside, on the outside and the tinsel showing in the center. The wreath will be kind of flimsy at this point. When you add the bulbs in the center it will become much more stable.

At this point I just started adding bulbs between the other ones one at a time. I tried not to get glue on the other bulbs where it would show but it did happen. If it happens to you too you will be able to cover it up. Just try to avoid it if possible.

Each time you add a bulb glue it to all the bulbs it touches and squeeze them together until the glue sets. This is how the wreath becomes stable. Do the same thing all the way around. You can either add the smaller bulbs at the same time as the larger ones or get all the larger ones on and then do the smaller ones later. I actually did it both ways. The small bulbs are basically filler bulbs. Use as many or as little as you like. Put them where you have holes. You will be adding more tinsel in the next step to fill some of the smaller holes so don't worry to much.

After I had all the bulbs on I cut tinsel in pieces that were approximately 1-1/2" to 2" long. I added them randomly around the wreath where there were holes. I carefully pushed the tinsel down into the holes with my finger (you can also use a tool to do this). At this time you can also add tinsel to those places where you may have dried glue showing that you don't want to see.

Now you have a beautiful finished wreath!  :)  You can always add ribbon to it (or anything else you like). I'm really happy with how mine turned out. I immediately hung it on the inside of my front door.

Here's another picture of it . . .

So now I have a wreath on the inside and outside of my door.  :)  I also have an heirloom wreath to cherish from year to year. If you make one of your own I would love to see pictures so please share.  :)

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with Mario quilt progress to show.  :)

Until next time . . .

The Blocks are Done!

Hello!  :)

Yes they are! They're ALL DONE!!!  :)  I finished the last three blocks today. Here's the Shy Guy Block . . .

And the Star Block . . .

And the LAST one . . . the Turtle Shell Block . . .

To say I was happy as I completed the last block is an understatement!!! That's a big load off of me. I thought they were going to take forever. Once I got going on them it wasn't that bad. The worst part was only being able to work on them while the boy was not home or sleeping. My goal was to have them finished before the 1st and I did it!  :)  Here's my updated countdown . . .

My Official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make 12

Blocks completed 12

Blocks remaining 0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with 3888

Used 3888

Remaining 0

~

Sashing - not started

Border - not started

Backing - not started

Basting - not started

Quilting - not started

Binding - not started

Yes I've added the rest of the process for the quilt. So as I may be pretty far along in the process I still have a ways to go. I'm planning on starting the sashing tonight after the boy goes to bed. He usually goes to his dad's house for the weekend but he'll be home this weekend so I won't have too much time to work on it then. I would really like to get this quilt behind me. Not because I'm not enjoying it because I am. Just because I won't worry about whether I'll get it done in time anymore.

My plans for this weekend are to decorate the house and tree for Christmas. I'm also hoping to get a chance to start quilting my Vintage Holiday quilt I made a couple of weeks ago too.

What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it's something fun!  :)

Until next time . . .

Mario's Hoppin' Along ;)

Hello!  :)

I finally took the pictures of the Mario blocks I finished this weekend and Monday. Of course, again, they're not perfect. The first one is the Pipe Block . . .

Then there's the Question Block . . .

And how about the Red Mushroom Block . . .

How about Mr. Luigi (I did reverse him) . . .

And the most important block of all . . . Mario himself . . .

I'm still having fun with the blocks and they're still time consuming as well. Every time one is finished I look at it and smile. They make me happy.  :)  I'm sure they'll make the boy happy as well. I'm hoping to get the last 3 blocks done tomorrow. Then I'll work on the sashing and be on the way to a completed quilt top. Yea! I can't wait to get it done. It's going to be so awesome!  :)

My Official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make 12

Blocks completed 9

Blocks remaining 3

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with 3888

Used 2916

Remaining 972

Until next time . . .

A Few Finishes!

Hello!  :)

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.  :)

I've taken a few days off from blogging but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. I've managed to finish up a few more Mario blocks but haven't taken pictures of them yet.  :(  I did work on them everyday except for Thanksgiving and today though.  :)

Today I had to finish up my Christmas Stitches Exchange gift for my partner as it had to be mailed today. I made the deadline. Nothing like cutting it close!  ;)  While finishing it up I looked over at my waiting to be worked on pile, and saw my Lizzie Kate monthly stitcheries waiting to be made into pillows. I had them sitting there with the fabric waiting until I had a chance to sew them up. I'm going to go backwards as I show you what I accomplished today.

Here's the January pillow . . .

I decided to go with a vintage pink rick rack to match the snowman's (or is it snow-woman's) hat & gloves. Then I added a snowflake button to finish it up!  :)  Can you believe it?!!! I'm actually ready for January and it's not even December yet!  :)

I also finished up the December pillow . . .

The picture for this one isn't too great as the table background doesn't show off the fabric too well.  :(  It's a muted red fabric with pinkish snowflakes. I added the vintage green rick rack and red buttons. Now I'm ready for December (pillow wise anyways) a few days in advance!  :)

The next pillow is November . . .

It's actually not stuffed yet.  :(  Since I didn't make it at the beginning of the month I decided it would be easier to store for the year if I didn't stuff it yet. I added a deep red (almost burgundy) bias ribbon to it. I stitched it on with a decorative leaf stitch. I'm not sure if you can see the stitching or not. I will stuff this during the year so it will be ready to go before next November. Yes I will!!!!  ;)

Believe it or not . . . this October pillow . . .

was completed a few months ago. Yes it was! I was ahead of the game. Kind of. I never stuffed it. So alas it too will be stored away unstuffed until next year. Then I'll stuff it and maybe add a button or two.  :)

This September pillow . . .

was also completed a few months ago. I never stuffed it either but it was ready to stuff. That's something, isn't it? I will store it along with the others and stuff it next year as well. Do you see a trend here? I'm not done yet.

Yes I even did the August pillow . . .

a few months ago. I'm guessing I sewed these up in August since this is the earliest one in the pile. Of course it's not stuffed either. I would love to find a sunflower or bee button to add to this before August comes around again.

So yes I did accomplish a lot today. No Mario blocks for today though. I may not get any done tomorrow either since Edison will be turning off my electricity from 10:00am - 3:30pm. At least I know about the outage but it doesn't make it easier to deal with. I'm thinking that maybe I'll get some Christmas decorations out and get started decorating. I'll try to get the Mario block pictures done soon so I can show you my progress. It's actually going pretty good. I'm more than half way done. I really want to get this quilt done quickly so I don't stress about getting it done in time.

Hope you're getting a lot of things done whether sewing, decorating, or anything else your heart desires.  ;)

Until next time . . .

Getting Started with Mario

Hello!  :)

On Monday I sat down and got started making the blocks for the Super Mario Brothers QAL.

As I mentioned this quilt will be a surprise for my son for Christmas. I know he will absolutely LOVE it! The QAL mentions using Pellon stick-n-wash Stabilizer for the blocks. It's way to expensive for me so I'm making the blocks without it or any other stabilizer. The first block I made was the Green Mushroom block . . .

It turned out really cute! It was hard lining up all those 324 1-1/2" blocks. It's not perfect but it's good enough for me. It took about 5 hours to complete this block. There's a lot of tedious work there. It is totally worth it though. The next block I made was the Cloud block . . .

Of course it's not perfect either. I sense a trend here.  :(  Oh well. It's very cute!  :)  That was all I had time for that day.

On Tuesday I sat down and worked on the Fire Flower Block . . .

I like the way it turned out too! I have a feeling I'm going to love all the blocks. They are pretty big at 18-1/2". They are going to make a really nice quilt. I also managed to get the Goomba block done that day.

I messed up one of his teeth and had to re-do a section but it was a quick fix. He's definitely cute (in an ugly-cute kind of way).

Even though it's taking a while for each block I'm very much enjoying the end result. I can't wait to work on the next block. It won't be until Friday or Saturday though as the boy comes home early tomorrow and will be around for a couple of days. During this time I'm hoping to get started quilting my Vintage Holiday quilt. That's when I'm not busy with family and Thanksgiving. By the way . . . wasn't it just Halloween???

Here's my official Mario Quilt Countdown

Blocks to make 12        

Blocks completed 4        

Blocks remaining 8

~

1-1/2" Squares
Started with 3888
Used 1296
Remaining 2592

Until next time . . .