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 . . .

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 . . .

What I Did on My Friday Night Sew-In

Hello!  :)

Did you notice the title of this post? It kind of reminds me of the infamous, "What I did on my summer vacation" from my school days of long ago. Do you remember those stories we had to write about what we did?

Anywho . . . last night I participated in the Friday Night Sew-In

I had the chance to work on my Vintage Holiday quilt with that awesome Dear Mr. Claus fabric I shared with you yesterday.

I sat down to start the night off with that pile of prepped fabric. I couldn't believe I was actually prepped and ready to go (a rare occurrence for me).  ;)

The night started out well and keep going pretty darn good. I managed to get all 12 blocks done! Yea! It was a long night but I really enjoyed watching them come together. I had a couple little hiccups here and there but nothing major (thank God!).  :)  I even added a little bit of rick-rack to some of the ornaments for that extra little touch. Here are Blocks 1 & 2 . . .

Blocks 3 & 4 . . .

Blocks 5 & 6 . . .

Blocks 7 & 8 . . .

Blocks 9 & 10 . . .

and the last ones . . . Blocks 11 & 12 . . .

I'd say it was a pretty productive night!  :)  When I purchased the fabric for the quilt I couldn't afford to get the backing I wanted from the same line. I figured I'd see if I had something I could use or pick up something less expensive. Yesterday JoAnn's had their "Holiday Inspirations" Christmas fabric for 65% off (for one day only) so I went to see if they had something that I could use for the backing. I found a great fabric that doesn't match perfectly with the fabrics on the front but does match perfectly with the binding fabric. I got 4-1/2 for only $15.75 (that's only $3.50 per yard). Now that's a deal! Here it is . . .

What do you think? I really love it! It's called "Candy Cane Snowflakes" by Beth Logan. It's a pretty thick fabric and not paper thin like some fabrics from JoAnn's are. Doesn't it look great with the striped binding I'm using?

I had a great Friday Night Sew-In! I hope you did too! Thank you Heidi and Bobbi for hosting! You're the best!  :)

Well I'd better get going so I can work on the quilt some more. Maybe I can finish the top today and start cutting another one. All I have left for this one is the sashing, and borders. They should go together pretty quickly. I'll probably go ahead and get the binding ready to go too since it's already cut. Wish me luck!  :)

Until next time . . .

A Very Productive Day!

Hello!  :)

Yesterday I was in the mood to sew! It's been a long time since I've wanted to just sit and sew. I actually managed to get quite a bit done. Every time I finished a project I picked up another one and worked on it. I made my first bag yesterday. Yes I've never made a bag before. Here it is . . .

Isn't it adorable?!!! It's made from all Ruby fabrics except for the inside which is just a red plaid I keep on hand. (You can never have too much red plaid laying around!) Here's the other side . . .

I finished them both the same so it doesn't matter which way it's facing.  :)  Here's a side view . . .

And the other side . . . 

Since I love red so much I quilted it with red thread.  :)  Did you notice? Here's a view of the inside . . . 

It's an awesome sturdy little bag. I love it! I got the tutorial from Sharon over at Daisy Cottage Quilting. You can find the tutorial for the bag at the following links:

• Part One . . . http://daisycottagequilting.com/2012/09/03/daisy-tutorial/
• Part Two . . . http://daisycottagequilting.com/2012/09/04/daisy-tutorial-part-2/
• Part Three . . . http://daisycottagequilting.com/2012/09/08/daisy-tutorial-part-3/
• Part Four . . . http://daisycottagequilting.com/2012/09/08/daisy-tutorial-finale/

I didn't follow the above tutorial for the handles. I used this tutorial she just posted the other day for them.  :)

The tutorial I followed showed a Halloween bag. It was funny . . . every time I showed my hunky dude the picture of the bag he kept asking why I was making a Halloween bag the day after Halloween. I kept showing him the fabrics I was using but he just didn't get it. In his defense he was tired.

The next project I worked on was the Fat Quarter Shops 2012 Designer Mystery Block of the Month. It started back in June. I have the supplies for the first 5 blocks already and the 6th one will be out soon. Since I'm so far behind I figured I'd better get working on them. I started with Block One.

It's not perfect but it's done. I'm really loving the Vintage Modern fabrics, which I knew I would. I can't wait to play with the leftover scraps from the blocks.  :)  Here's Block Two . . .

This one is off too. Oh well . . . at least it's done. I might go back and fix it as it does bother me. Here they are together . . .

Looking good!  :)  I wanted to work on more of them but I wanted to get another project done first so I moved on. I'll get back to the rest of the blocks another day.

The last project looks pretty simple but it's for someone I love very much . . .

My little Doobie!  :)  I always seems to kick his water dish and spill the water all over the floor. Then I wipe it up and put a towel under it. I decided he needed a doggy food mat so here it is . . .

I found the cute dog bone fabric at JoAnn's. The batik came from a traveling stash box. It reminds me of little paws (okay maybe bird feet . . . lol). Here's the back . . .

It's just a simple little mat to put his food and water bowls on. Maybe I won't kick the water now. Of course I need to mop the floor before he can use it. Nothing but the best for my boy!  ;)

That's it! For yesterday anyway. I got a lot done, huh?! It felt really good. There's still a big pile of things to catch up on so hopefully I'll be able to start again on Monday. If I can get some of this finished and off my mind I'll be able to start on the quilts I need to make before Christmas. I'm quickly running out of time. At least I'm enjoying it again.  :)

Have you heard about the . . .

Cheryl over at Gone Stitchin' has started another Friday night for us to all sew and craft together. It's a great idea with us being so close to the holidays. She has the blessing of Heidi and Bobbi from Friday Night Sew-In. This Friday Night With Friends will take place the 1st Friday of the month which happens to be today!  :)  I'll be participating! Will you? Be sure to go sign up and craft the night away! Later this afternoon I will be taking my new bag filled with cross stitch supplies to my friend Karen's (from Sew Much 2 Luv) house to stitch and spend Friday night with her. I'm really looking forward to it.  :)

Until next time . . .

Friday Night Sew In & More

Hello!  :)

Well . . . I didn't really accomplish what I planned for my Friday Night Sew-In this month.  :(

The design I ended up putting on my "My Favorite Things" quilt border ended up taking quite a bit longer to quilt than I thought it would. Oh well . . . that's the way it goes sometimes. I ended up loving how it turned out though and that's all that matters!  :)  On Friday I ended up running a lot of errands so I didn't get much done that day. When the night rolled around I sat and stitched more on the border. On Saturday I sat and stitched more and the border. On Sunday I finally finished the border quilting! Yea! I got the binding cut, sewed on and pinned today. Tonight I plan on sitting and stitching the binding down to finish it off. I don't know how long it will take but I don't care. I love it! I can't wait until I'm finished. Here's a small sneak peek . . .

Now no more peeks until I completely finish it. You'll just have to wait!  ;)

I can finally show you the blocks I made last week for my monthly block swap. Here's the one for August that I made for my partners. The theme was camping.

I got my inspiration from My Sew Sweet Studios blog (just scroll down a little to see her camper). I made the same block for myself but with the camper in colors just for me.  :)

The second block was for September. The theme was school.

I love how this one turned out!  :)

Thanks for your patience with me and showing you my projects. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to show you my finished quilt! The deadline to finish is October 31st so I'm really cutting it close.

Until next time . . .

The Rows are All Done!

Hello!  :)

I did it! I finished the last 2 rows for my "My Favorite Things" quilt! Yea! Here they are . . .

Sorry but the pictures aren't too great as it was late and dark.  :(  I took some other close-up pictures to show more of the details. Here's the top . . ..

the middles . . .

and the bottoms . . .

Next I'll be adding the strips between them. It's really coming together!  :)

Until next time . . .