Week ending January 14, 2024

I got a lot done this past week. I finished my quilt to auction off for Black History Month.  It's quilted and bound. It will get its official photoshoot soon.  

I quilted my flannel quilt made with the Twilight Garden Collection. 

I received my next Collection to sew for Jaftex - Out of Farms Way. 

I got out my blue and green scraps / remnants and started pulling fabrics for a quilt to make as a retirement gift. 

I put the pieces on my design wall to figure out the color flow. 

I'm making a quilt inspired by those made by Molli Sparkles. 

After cutting my first block wrong twice - I made a cheat sheet. 

Here's what I got done by Sunday evening.

Here's the other side. 

I'm hoping to finish this Molli Sparkles inspired delectable mountain quilt this coming week.  

Week ending January 7, 2024

I started off the New Year finishing my New Year Blessings Wall hanging. 2024 will be the Year of the Wood Dragon. I was born in the Year of the Fire Dragon and am looking forward to what this year may bring.  

I got started sewing together the blocks for my Black History Month Quilt Auction. 

I was finally able to post my finished Victory Block quilt and announced I will be in FreeSpirit Fabrics Circle of Makers for 2024. 

I have a bunch of work trips coming up and went to the thrift store to buy a few blouses.

I washed them and embroidered the EPA logo on them. 

I will be taking some time off from work this coming week and plan to finish my Black History Month Quilt and maybe get started on a second. 

New Year Blessings Wall Hanging

I ended 2023 making the New Year Blessings Mini Quilt by The Weekend Quilter.  The mini quilt shows the symbol for the Chinese word Fu. This is the most popular and auspicious word used during the Lunar New Year celebration. It means happiness, blessing, and good fortune. I think we could use that this year.

I knew I wanted to make a wall hanging for my entry way that was bigger than the 20" finished size of the mini quilt. When I first planned this project, I went to Spoonflower and found fabrics  to use to add around the mini quilt. Here you can see the pieces up on my design wall as I worked on my final design.

When planning my wall hanging, I wanted to use a color palette that was very heavy in blues and greens with pops of red. This was because originally I was going to wake a double sided wall hanging and the other side was going to be my Christmas wall hanging. I ended up finishing my Christmas wall hanging so I could hang it this year and didn't have time to may my Lunar New Year wall hanging then. One element I wanted in one of my fabrics was a depiction of each of the Chinese Zodiac characters. The print I chose is shown below and I selected it for it's simplicity and the bright red on white. This is Chinese Zodiac #4 print by Susiprint. 

I also wanted prints that showed the celebration of the Lunar New Year and was drawn to designs of lanterns and couldn't resist the red origami paper cranes. Here you see Symbols for Chinese Holidays Fabric byannapogulyaeva_art (lanterns) and Cranes origami, scales, waves, sea, ocean, abstract geometric japanese asian pettern aqua blue turquoise red Fabric byekaterinap (Origami cranes). 

Here you see vintage vase, Chinoiserie Ginger jars & Foo dogs, blue and white. Fabric bymagentarosedesigns (Dark Blue Chinoiserie) and chinese lanterns - blue Fabric bya_spacecat (lanterns).

A few of the designs I picked were of a larger scale and I cut them into 10.5" squares to keep more of the design intact. Here you see chinoiserie with beauty symbol - emerald Fabric bydesigned_by_debby. I was drawn to this design for the beautiful emerald green color. 

This one is New Year Lion Dance Chinoiserie Fabric bysusan_polston. Right below it you can see asian china chinese new year oriental children toddlers lanterns lion dance kanji spring good luck charms lotus water lily lilies traditional flowers Fabric byraveneve. It was also a large scale print and I selected it for the depiction of the Lion Dance. 

I quilted by New Year Blessings Wall Hanging on my longarm and used the Paper Lanterns pantograph from Urban Elementz. It was the perfect pantograph for this project. This is one of the many free pantographs that is available and I plan to use it again when I finish the quilt for our Guest Suite. 

I hung the wall hanging on New Years Day (according to the Gregorian Calendar). Many Chinese household keep the word "Fu" up in their home all year long. I'm just early getting mine up this year.  

I am so happy with  how my wall hanging came out. I plan to put it out each year for the Lunar New Year. My plan is to have wall hangings for many holidays and seasons that I can hang here. I think my next one to make will be for Easter.

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Week ending December 2023

I took a few weeks off from  posting because I didn't really have much to post. I had surgery on my left foot the week before Christmas and took some time to stay off my feet and  let them both heal. The right foot is still not 100% healed, but it's getting better every day. I was able to sit at my cutting table and sewing machine and work on items I had cut out before my surgery. One was this project for Jaftex. It's my January project and I was able to finish the top this week. 

I also managed to make a quilt coat. I used a Bog Coat pattern and it was super quick and easy. It was also a zero waste pattern. 

I sewed and cut  my  HSTs for my Black History Month Quilt Auction. 

I went to StitchHouse and helped make quilts  for Jonathan's Place. 

I also donated this quilt I made with the Spirit of the Wolf Collection from Studio e Fabrics to Jonathan's Place while I was at StitchHouse.

I trimmed all my HSTs  and now they just need to be pressed and have the "wings" clipped.

My last make of 2023 was this New Year Blessings Mini Quilt by The Weekend Quilter. It depicts the Chinese word Fu which means happiness, blessing and good fortune. 

This coming week, the beginning of the Gregorian calendar, I plan to finish my "New Year Blessings" wall hanging. I also hope to  get  started on  my  quilt for Black History Month. I also have a few other things I want to work on and need to plan out a few over the year. 

Week ending December 10, 2023

I got a few things done this week some I can't share for a bit.  I made a block using the French Quarter Quilt Pattern from Maywood Studio.  

I received a box of wideback 1 yard cuts from Jaftex. 

They also sent a 2.5 yard cut of dimple minky.  It was perfect for my Karnak Quilt so I immediately put it on my longarm and finished it.  

I made a wonky hexagon log cabin block. 

I received my fabrics for January to sew for Jaftex. 

I got started right away. 

I have surgery coming up and I'll be traveling for work in January. I need to get ahead while I can. 

I took a break and pulled out a wip bin and put it on the design wall. I got this unfinished quilt from a lady along with a bunch of other fabrics. 

I finished it - mostly.  The pattern calls for two borders. I need to see if I have enough fabric for them. 

This week I plan to continue working on my January project and then I might work on more wips. I have surgery this coming week and won't be able to do much for a few days. 

Week ending December 3, 2023

I'm really happy with what I was able to get done in my sewing room  this week. I finished a throw sized Karnak Quilt - Pattern by Tessellate Textiles. I had all my columns pieced last week and I just had to sew them together this week. I need to decide on a backing and get this one quilted.

I finished sewing all my scrappy HSTs for a pattern I tested for Rachelle Handmade. 

I got my binding  cut and prepared for this quilt I made for the FreeSpirit Fabrics Influencer tour. 

Here are the scrappy blocks I made with all those HSTs. 

During the Black Friday sales, I bought  some charm packs and label pieces from Mami Wata for my Black History Month Quilt for 2024. I found a pattern I liked that takes 5" charms and had some solid black charms that I could use with them for a quick but beautiful quilt. I'm hoping that I can find the time to make at least 2 quilts to auction in  February.

I received fabric from Minerva. The floral print is a cotton lawn by Dashwood Studios. The green is a sheeting that I will use for a quilt backing.

I finally made the Minerva Victoria Blouse and used this plaid also from Minerva.

On Sunday I finished making a blouse using the  Dashwood Studios Cotton Lawn.  Modeled photos of both will be done when  I am no longer wearing a boot on my foot. 

I ended my Sunday playing with fabrics to make a few quilt blocks. This  one is not sewn together yet and just sitting on my design wall. This pattern is called the Friendship Star. I thought it would be fun to  fussy cut this Tula Pink fabric. 

This week I'm hoping to be able to lose the walking boot and get some things photographed that I have finished recently. I also want to get my FreeSpirit Quilt bound so it is finished and I can find a fun location to take photos. I'll be revealing the finished project in January. Then, I'm hoping to go through my WIPs (works in progress) and see if I can get any finished before my next surgery on December 15th. 

Crushed Velvet Nusle Joggers

I've had the idea to make a pair of velvet joggers for a bit. I needed the right fabric for them. When I saw the Tranquil Moment crushed velvet at Minerva, I knew it was the perfect choice. 

The photos of this print really do not show the colors well. The background if a lovely dark plum and the print has a beautiful light green and taupe. 

The velvet has a very light crushed texture. I took care to ensure all my pieces were cut with the nap going in the same direction. 

The velvet has 60% horizontal stretch and very little vertical stretch. It met the requirements for the Itch to Stitch Nusle Joggers. These joggers have a great fit and are easy to make. I also made a tee with an oatmeal colored french terry to pair with my joggers. These will be nice to wear into fall. 

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