WIP Wednesday

i have been busy in sewing land the past week.  getting things done & checked off of my to do list.  here are 2 of my bee blocks that needed to get done for August.

both gals wanted wonky star blocks.  so thanks to them the blocks were easy.

this past weekend i knocked out the quilting & binding on this quilt.

i made the top awhile back with a quilt along over at ps i quilt.  but i never got it quilted or bound.



i decided that i needed to get it done so it could come to the Gorge with me this weekend for the Dave Matthews Band shows.

its a little wild & wacky.  sort of like me at the concerts.  so its fitting to be going along.



i also got 3 more of my Cartwheel blocks done.

now i am left with the last 3 that all have frogs in them.  i have all of the frogs traced on the fabric & some of them cut.  maybe during the days this weekend i can work on getting the rest of the frogs cuts out & ready for the blocks.

tomorrow is September 1st.  i have been waiting for September to get here since January.  September is going to be a great month for me.  kicking it off with a long weekend at the Gorge to see my favorite band & spend sometime with friends.  then another long weekend away after that.  a weekend at home then another long weekend at quilt camp.

so not much sewing will be getting done over the next couple of weeks which i am okay with.  i will take my hand work along but if i don't touch it i don't care.  my focus is going to be on other things.

i will still post each Wednesday it just might not be about sewing.

enjoy September everyone.  its about time it got here.

WIP Wednesday

hey there.  i hope that you all are doing well.  i have been getting some sewing done this past week.  i finished my Opening Day quilt (finally) which i posted about here.  i have since been working on my Cartwheel quilt.

i love this block.  i fussy cut the fabric so that the frog head is in each one.  lots of work but totally worth it.

i have 6 blocks done & i am almost done with another 3.

the final 3 will all have the frog in them.  i haven't cut that fabric yet so that will take me some time.  i hope to have them finished up this coming weekend & the top together.

September is a packed month for me kicking it off at the Gorge to see DMB & ending it with a quilt camp & a lot of fun stuff in between.

The Winners Are

i have sent emails to the winners. if you are one of them please email me your mailing information so i can get your prize out to you.

renegadequilter (at) hotmail (dot) com 

and the winners are......

of the 2 Bareroots wool kits

Kell said...

Congrats on reaching 100 followers!

August 18, 2011 8:05 PM 

Doo Da Daisy quilt pattern by Amy Bradley Designs

Teresa Felgueiras said...

You have a new follower: ME!

August 15, 2011 11:25 PM 

Freebird layer cake by MoMo

Pam said... 

Very nice giveaway, thanks.

August 14, 2011 4:59 PM

thanks for all of the entries & i see that i am getting closer to my 200th post. i think i will have to do another giveaway at that time.

Finally.....

if you are looking for the giveaway click here.

finally......

its finally finished.  i finished my Opening Day quilt.

its not quilted.

but the top is finally finished.

after.....  2 plus years & what i am sure was a million pieces.

its finished.

i think i got the pattern on my 1st trip to Sisters.  i got the fabric on maybe my 3rd trip to Sisters.  its made with fat quarters & i am very pleased with how it turned out. 

WIP Wednesday

if you are looking for the giveaway click here.

i am pulling this baby back out & working on it again.  i have finally gotten caught up with a few things so its time to have some fun.  its my Cartwheels quilt that i started in Sisters.

i am looking forward to seeing the next few blocks come together.

i have also been working on my Opening Day quilt.  the sides are on & now i have to put together the 2 boarders for the top & the bottom.  i hope that by this weekend this quilt top will be finished.

16 days to go until the Gorge.  if this was a normal year i would have already seen the Dave Matthews Band a time or 2 by now.  but, nothing about this year has been normal for me.

i hope you all are getting a lot done.  happy sewing.

Giveaway Time!!!!

thanks to Sarah from over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict i have reached over 100 followers. so, with that achieved i must have a giveaway. not just one chance to win something but three chances to win.
item # 1 - Freebird layer cake by MoMo

item #2 - Doo Da Daisy quilt pattern by Amy Bradley Designs

item #3 - two wool projects both patterns are from Bareroots. Turkey Candle Mat & Fall Leaves Candle Mat.

so to win - what do you need to do??????

for 1 entry - leave me a comment.

for another entry - blog, tweet or facebook about my giveaway & come back here & leave me a comment letting me know you did that.

for another entry - become a follower of my blog. if you are already a follower let me know that as well.

so, that gives you 3 chances to enter. you must leave a comment for each entry. one comment saying you did all 3 will not work.

i will leave the giveaway open until Friday the 19th 5:00 pm (pst). i will post the winners on Saturday the 20th. international entries are welcome.

good luck.

WIP Wednesday

hey there. i know i am a day late with this. but, as they say. better late then never right? i did some sewing this past weekend but not anything that i can show you. what i can show you are these two adorable monsters.
my brother & his family came into town this past weekend. i got to help watch the girls for a couple of nights. my brother & SIL were worried that the little one would be hard for me at bedtime. she was a dream. the big monster was another story. in short it was 10:00 or after by the time she got to bed & grandma did the trick both nights.

i love this pic. i just had to share it. she is so much fun with her faces and noises that she is making.

this past week i did finish up Roxanne's baby quilt. i think i showed you a pic of it but it wasn't bound yet.

i just did simple diagonal quilting on it.

the backing is flannel.

went together super quick. the baby was due August 7th & i wanted to get it to Roxanne before she had her.

today is August 11th & poor Roxanne still hasn't had the baby. we are all trying to come up with ways to get her to go into labor. its pretty funny around here.

on another note. i see that i am almost to 100 followers. once i hit 100 i will have to find something to giveaway. so spread the word & lets get those 2 additional followers.

22 days until the Gorge & Dave Matthews Band. woo hoo.

hope you all are having a great week.

Cartwheels Class With Tula Pink

you all know by now that i took a class from Tula Pink when i was at Sisters this year for their Outdoor Quilt Show. i have been wanting to get this post up but time & issues with Blogger it has taken me longer then i wanted it to. but here it is.

the class that i took was her Cartwheels quilt pattern. she brought her quilt with her. not only is the pattern amazing but the quilting on it is amazing as well. it was quilted by Angela Walters. the detail in the quilting is wonderful & it really accents the pattern.

the back of one of Tula's quilts that has her Parisville Hair Spray Can label on it. Love It!!!

one of the quilts that Tula brought to share with us was this one that she had played around with removing color from the fabric. as you can see above the pink/red has been removed from the flowers. this was done with Rit Color Remover. Rite Color Remover removes the red dye from the fabric 1st.

this whole quilt has had the fabric altered either one way or another. Tula told us that she also uses bleach to change the coloring of fabric. we all gasped when we heard that. she said that she starts with 2 cups of bleach in a medium to full washer. bleach removes yellow dye from the fabric 1st.

again, here is a pic showing the normal fabric on the left with the pink feathers & then the color removed fabric on the right with the neutral colored feathers.

another quilt that Tula brought to share is her Spiked Punch pattern. she said that this quilt was made mostly from scraps & that it is her most popular pattern.

Tula also shared her Modern Alphabet quilt with us. she was teaching that class the next day. she showed us the fabric that she was going to be using & she had picked a navy for the background. i wonder how that quilt turned out?

taking a class from her is great. i learned a lot from her. one of the greatest things i learned from her is how she pins her fabric. yes. she pins her fabric. Tula said that she is a traditionalist when it comes to the sewing part of making quilts. anyways, back to pinning. most people pin their fabric like i have the pins on the top half. Tula pins her fabric like i have the pins on the bottom half. i asked her why & she told me that they are easier to take out as she is sewing. she just uses her right hand & flicks the pins out as they go by before the needle. i tried it in class & its now how i pin. it really saves time because you don't have to stop & remove pins. you just keep sewing & flicking them out as you go. i then used my magnetic pin holder to gather them all up.

a few other sewing things that i learned from Tula during the class is that she sews most everything with grey thread.

she also sews standing up. yep. we talked a lot about that one because i have back issues & that is the reason she sews standing up. its easier on her back. she just uses bed risers to raise up her sewing table.

oh, she also has 3 machines that each have a project on them at all times. that way if she gets board with one she can move onto something else. brilliant idea. now i just need a couple more machines.

Tula is great to take a class from. she helped me put my fabrics together for my Cartwheel quilt. Tula has a great story of how she got into the business & you can tell how passionate she is about what she does. she cranks out the quilts as well each year. i think she told us anywhere from 80 to 100 each year.

i know i already shared these but this is what i got done in class with her.

i am getting caught back up on some sewing stuff & hoping to get back to this quilt soon. i really would like to get it finished because i love Prince Charming & i want to get it done to see it all together.

if you ever have the chance to take a class from Tula Pink don't think twice about it. do it. it is well worth the time. she is a wealth of knowledge & a blast to spend a day with.

thanks Tula for the education, the fun & the memories.

WIP Wednesday

i'm back. i think. for awhile there i thought i had lost my mind and then someone told me 'you haven't really lost your mind. you may have stopped paying attention to it, but it's still there.' very true statement. so, i am going to start paying attention to it & maybe i will get some stuff done.
so this is what i have been up to with regards to sewing.
a few bee blocks for the different bee groups that i belong to.

i am caught up with my July blocks & now i need to get to work on the August blocks.

i have also been working on a baby quilt for a gal i work with. its roughly 48" by 48" so i went to my scraps of batting to see if i had something that would work. i didn't but i did have 2 pieces that i could sew together to make work. have you ever done this before? i just put the 2 edges together and zigzag down them.

it works great for using up those scrap pieces of batting.

i found this fabric on my trip to Sisters & knew it would be perfect for the baby quilt.

i did simple squares just alternating the 2 fabrics. i had lost the light by the time i got it quilted last night so its a bad picture. once i get the binding on i will take another one to share with you.

the backing is flannel except for 1 corner of it. somehow i did the math wrong on that trip and was short. that was the 1st part of July when i had lost my brain. now that i know its still there i shouldn't be having issues like this. right??????

hope you all are having a great week!