October UFO/WIP Wednesday All Rolled Into One Project

My UFO Challenge project for the month of October was to take my Walk in the Moonlight quilt to the next level by finishing all the blanket stitching.  (I started this quilt several years ago when I was hosting the Sloanies Club at the quilt shop where I worked, so it's also my WIP Wednesday project.)

 ...so this week I've been blanket stitching...

 ...and blanket stitching...

...until ~ Taa Daa!  All blanket stitching is now finished and tonight I'm piecing the backing, and putting all on the pile of "To Be Quilted" projects! (Well, one of the piles)

(The Walk in the Moonlight quilt is a Pat Sloan design, and the pattern can be found in her Learn to Applique with Pat Sloan book published by Leisure Arts.) 

Check out more October UFO projects at Judy's Patchwork Times Blog. The UFO number for November is #9 ~ On my list that is to piece the blocks for the Jo Morton Warm Wishes quilt that I started a while back.  If I can fit that in this month it could be finished just in time for Christmas decorating :)

And you can check out other WIP Wednesday projects from my friends on the Quiltsy Team.  Lots of Inspiration today!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ A little note about my Hurricane sewing on Monday.  We did lose our electric for a while, so I switched to knitting by oil lamp, but we got our power back up yesterday.  We were very lucky, our only damage from Sandy's gusts were downed tree branches that we have to pick up all over the yard.  Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and prayers that were sent our way, please keep our neighbors in your thoughts and prayers, there are so many with damage.   

Some Hurricane Sewing

 

What a difference a day can make.  We spent the weekend enjoying the Autumn leaves, but today Hurricane Sandy is bearing down here.  We still have our electric, so I'm getting some machine sewing done while I can.
 

These are some felt Baptism Banners that I needed to make up for my church that I finished up (I had a couple to make with the names and dates for children who were already baptized before I took on the job).   

 ...and I'm making up some extras that will be all ready to have the names added when needed.

 And blanket stitching on this month's UFO Challenge project.

Almost finished, as long as we don't lose the power, I should get it finished in October ~ and then there is always my knitting and hand applique :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn 

Challenge Pillow Finish

We had a challenge in the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild, in honor of our guild's second birthday.

We were challenged to make a 16" pillow using the fabric that you see in the center of my pillow (we had a fat quarter of it), plus any other fabric that I wanted to add in.  I used a hunk of it in the center, and in some strips going across my pillow.

I used it on the back too :)

I was in the middle of my photo session, taking pictures of my pillow from different angles so I could list it in my Etsy Shop...

...and Maddie decided to check out what I was doing...

 ...then she made herself comfortable...

...and I knew that my photo shoot was over :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

A Day of Charity Sewing for the Babies

This morning I packed up my car and headed into downtown Baltimore to the South East Early Head Start Center to spend the day doing some sewing with my friends from the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild.  We've donated items to the center in the past, so it was a treat to have our little Sew-In in their facility and see where our donations are put to good use :)  

I started my sewing day with making these easy fleece hats.  Heather of quilt.cook.keep showed me how to whip them up, and boy do they go together quickly. Click Here for a tutorial that Heather has on exactly how to sew them. 

Here are a few that I made. (Aren't they just adorable!)  One yard of fleece will yield six baby/toddler sized hats.

We had quite a little "sweat shop" going (See the pile of baby hats that Heather made!).  Amy started with making the baby sleep sacks that were so soft and cuddly.

Other members stopped by during the day to pitch in a bit, or drop things off.  Deb, Nancy, and Kimberly helped out with cutting and fringing, and Daniella came and dropped off a bag full of hats that she had made at home.  

We even had Gayne, the center's director, working away sewing up little sleep sacks too.

Here's the pile that Gayne and Amy whipped up today. 

Then after I worked on hats, I moved on to a few cloth books.  These were made from cloth book panels that my friend Sheri Thompson donated to us (Thanks again Sheri!)

 Once I made one, the second one went together even quicker, and they are so cute!

We had quite the assembly line going there for a while...

 Heather made up a Color/Counting book...

By the afternoon, along with the cozy fleece sleep sacks, we had a few of the cloth books made up...

And this big pile of hats ~ our goal is to make enough hats for each child to be gifted one, and for the center to have some extras for when the kiddies' hats are forgotten and left at home. 

...and did I tell you that cupcakes were involved ~ Thanks Daniella for bringing the cuppies! It was a great way to spend the day and celebrate the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild's Second birthday :)

Click: The Kennedy Krieger Institute SE Early Head Start Program for information on the center and to contact Gayne, the director on how to make donations. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

I'm a Cover Girl!

...Well, at least my Infinity Scarf is...And my son's girlfriend Oksana who so graciously agreed to model for me :)  It was a nice mail day today, when I got my copy of Sew-It Today in the mail, and saw that a picture of one of my projects made it to the cover (And I even took the photo!).  I was asked to make an Infinity Scarf for the premier issue of Sew-it Today magazine with these beautiful batiks, and then I was asked to take a shot at the photography...and they actually used some of my pictures :)

These are a couple of the shots that I sent.  (There were a bunch of others too)

Oksana is a sweet girl with a beautiful smile ~ I've never had one of my projects make the cover of a magazine before...and now I know that the key is to have it displayed properly :) 

Here's a picture of the scarf showing the piecing and the inside fabric.

And I have another project in this magazine too ~ my Holly Lane Tablerunner is on page 22 :)  I didn't take this photo, it was sent off to the magazine to a professional (this is a scan of the page).  I love it with the props...I'm still smiling :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Break to the Regularly Scheduled Life...

I took the day off today and hopped the bus with my Quilt Guild and headed off to God's country...

...we set a course for Lancaster Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the beautiful country and lovely October weather.

And of course there was fabric shopping involved!  Our first stop was Sauder's.

I love exploring shops like this...

 ...you never know what treasures lie in wait :)

And there were many treasures to be had (can you see the prices on the bargain tables?).  I'll just say, it's a good thing we had a large cargo hold in the bus!

After a wonderful lunch at Shady Maple, and a little shopping in Goods (where I picked up some great gifts for Christmas, some household finds, and even some boxer shorts for the hubby ~ and of course some more fabric), we headed over to Intercourse, PA and I had to stop in Zooks first.

Then down the street to The Old Country Store (and yes ~ I bought some fabric at each and every stop).

And to top off my day, Jo Morton's quilts were still on display at the Quilt Museum!

(I asked and was given permission to snap a couple pictures for my blog at the entrance of the museum.)  It was small, but admission was free and it was displayed nicely ~ well worth the stop if you're ever in the area!

Tomorrow is back to work for me...I have some catch up to do with my sewing (and no, I still haven't finished that Halloween Quilt yet, but I'll get to it) ~ this past week was spent moving out of my multiple sewing rooms (the upstairs bedrooms), and combining it all into one large sewing studio in my basement.  So now I have my very own Quilt Cave!  Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as I get a little more of the fabric put away, and a large, no-longer-used weight bench apparatus out of the way for more important things :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Practicin'

Today I was practicing quilting free hand straight lines on a quilt made from a pre-printed panel.  I'm so happy with my Tru-Stitch, it really does help ~ even when my lines go a little wobbly, the stitches are still nice and even :)  I like the open toe foot on for this kind of quilting too.  I'll show you the final outcome later...

Check out Team Quiltsy for other Works in Progress ~ What are you working on this week?

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Getting UFOs Finished on Retreat

I was retreating last weekend with my sewing buddies.  We had a blast spending time with good friends, good food, good music and of course fabric!  On Friday, I used my friend's HQ Avante with Pro-Stitcher (computerized quilting system) and practiced some of the things we were learning while out at HandiQuilter training :)

Using the Pro-Stitcher, I finished this quilt top that my Mom had hand pieced and hand appliqued.  With a bit of help from my friend Mary, I put Pro-Stitcher computerized designs in the borders and the corner blocks, then I practiced meandering around the applique and put curves in the inner borders.  I'm totally counting it for my UFO Challenge finish for September.  (I have this same quilt top that I made and that was on my list for this month's UFO, but I did my Mom's first.)  The pattern is called Second Hand Rose designed by Jo Morton, and it's made with Jo Morton fabrics as well.

I also worked on swap blocks, a Round Robin Row, and a Guild Challenge pillow while Retreating.  I'll show those later, when I finally get to unpacking all of my Retreat projects and snap a few pictures :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn