Fabric Tuesday 9/30/14

I got the next five blocks finished last night:

 

I'm up to 23 finished Union Jack blocks.  I need only 5 more and I'll get started on them tonight.  Then I can start to add the sashing.

Here is a rundown of the sewing machine blocks for the Quilter's Garden Row BOM.  It's not too late to join in as we're just finishing up the first month.

 

One each of the blue and green are going in the swap and I'm keeping the others.  Can't wait for the next row!  

What are y'all working on?  Head over to Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday and take a look at the links for inspiration.

 

Design Wall Monday 9/29/14

This has been my constant companion for the last week:

 

After spending Monday and Tuesday going to work and then crashing as soon as I got home, I spent Wednesday and Thursday in bed.  I finally started to get some sewing done Friday after work.  Here's my design wall as of this morning:

 

I have 18 Union Jack's finished.  Here are the ones I finished on yesterday morning:

 

 

I have five more almost finished so I should have them done tonight.  That only leaves five more to go and I can start putting them together!  Can't wait to see this one finished up.  

I also got the last sewing machine done for the Quilter's Garden Row BOM Swap.  

 

 

This week I'll find out who gets my swap blocks and get them sent.  Once I receive mine, I'll be able to assemble the first row.  These are so cute and the next row is adorable, however, Deana is seriously pushing my piecing abilities with her designs.  If nothing else, I'm learning A LOT!  It's not too late to join in, y'all!

Linking up with Patchwork Times and Freshly Pieced.

Sunday Stash 9/28/14

It's time again for Sunday Stash!!  I know, I know, I've been so bad about these posts lately.  And it's not that I haven't had anything coming in, I definitely have, I've just been so busy playing with said fabric!!  But today, I really wanted to share these fabulously yummy fabrics.

 

Have y'all had a chance to play with the Cotton + Steel fabrics?  Let me be the first to tell you, the fabrics feel so soft!  The colors are deep and gorgeous.  

  

Erin at Sew at Home Mummy is hosting a Cotton+Steel swap.  She is going line by line and is swapping fat eighths and charms.  These two were my fabrics for the basic round so they've already come in and gone back out.   I've been participating since the first swap and having Erin hold mine and send them all to me at once.  I can hardly wait to see all this yumminess in one stack!  Already scoping out projects for this bundle.

Speaking of yumminess, have y'all heard of Massdrop?  They have an awesome price on Aurifil right now. Twelve spools of gorgeous 40 wt. Aurifil for $81.99!  But hurry, only one day left for this one!

 

Linking up with Molli Sparkles!

Design Wall Monday 9/22/14

I got so much done last week! My design wall is getting pretty full.  I need to take 5 minutes and hang the other one up so I have room to expand.

 

I'm up to 14 Union Jack blocks.  After seeing them all on the wall, I think I overestimated how many blocks I need to make.  I think that 4 columns of 7 blocks will make it big enough.  Especially since Cassidy wants sashing in between the blocks.  Here's a look at the blocks I got done last week:

 

 

I love this one:

 

 

And here is how you know it's late and you really need to go to bed.

 

 

So Saturday morning, I ripped and reassembled and finished up four more:

 

 

Had a football game Saturday night so didn't quite finish up my sewing machine blocks until yesterday.  But look how cute they are!  I really cannot wait to see where this design is going. 

 

 

The one with the yellow spool of thread is the one I'm keeping and I'm swapping the one with the blue thread.  For those of you that are just seeing this, it is part of a mystery swap quilt along being hosted over at Dreamworthy Quilts by Deanna.  It's called the Quilter's Garden BOM.  It's not too late to join in!  I also finished up this one last night and it's one I'm keeping:

 

 

I need to make one more sewing machine and I'll be done with that for this month.  What are y'all working on?  Linking up with Patchwork Times and Quilt Story.

 

WIP Wednesday 9/17/14

I'm making steady progress on the Union Jack quilt.  Here's Monday's block:

 

 And the one from last night:

 

 

 Those polka dots are a new addition.  My aunt bought me the rest of the fabric I needed to finish up this quilt plus a few extras and the polka dots were a complete surprise!  But they fit in perfectly.  Almost done cutting everything (I cut enough for 3 blocks every time I make one), so starting tonight, they should start going together much more quickly.

What are y'all working on?  Link up over at Freshly Pieced and show us!  

Design Wall Monday 9/15/14

Here's my updated design wall this week:

 

I didn't get very far as I had an extremely busy week.  However, I did manage to make another Union Jack block:

 

 

I love this one.  The fabrics are just yummy!  And I made two new blocks.  These are for the first row in a mystery, BOM, swap (I think that's right).  It's being hosted over at Dreamworthy Quilts.  You have to sign up, make at least one block a month to swap, and then she will email you the next month's pattern at no charge.   Deanna is a wonderful designer so I just couldn't resist joining in.  Look at these darling sewing machines:

 

 

One is for me and one is to swap.  There are 3 more sewing machine designs and I need 6 for the first row so I'll still be pushing through on these.  Now that the first ones are done, maybe the rest won't be so intimidating.  That applique' will not beat me!!!

Linking up with Patchwork Times and Quilt Story and My Quilt Infatuation.

 

WIP Wednesday 9/10/14

Now that the Texas quilt is done (insert happy dance here), I've been able to move back to my Union Jack quilt.  My daughter goes to Churchill High School and, of course, the Union Jack is their school flag.  She graduates this year so it's time to get moving on her graduation quilt.

Sunday I made this one...

 

I'm using my stash of "Chance of Flowers," by Moda.  Aren't they fantastic colors??  Monday came this one....

 

The pattern is from an issue of McCall's Quilting from early this year.  And last night was this one....

 

Here's a shot of what I have done so far on my design wall...

 

 

She's like me and doesn't really like small quilts so I'm making this one pretty big and doubling the number of blocks from the original pattern for a total of 36 blocks.  They are paper pieced and go together pretty quickly.  The actual assembly only takes about an hour per block but the cutting takes time.  I'm getting a rhythm though so hopefully I'll get it done soon.  My niece is also a senior this year and I have another paper pieced quilt to get through (hers is much more time consuming) so I need to get a move on it!

What are y'all working on??  Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

Around the World Blog Hop!

Hi everyone and welcome to A Quilting Chick!  I was tagged in this fun blog hop by Erin over at Sew at Home Mummy (*waves* Hi Erin!).  Have y'all been following along on this one?  It has been so much fun to explore and meet so many new people and find so many new blogs!  So without further ado, let me tell you a bit about me!

I'm a single mom of three wonderful, almost fully grown children, the last of which hits 18 this week (how is that even possible???).  Quilting is my stress reliever which I'm sure many of you understand.  My kids get this and whenever I'm starting to flip out, they pour me a glass of sweet tea, and point me to my sewing machine.  Awesome kids, right?

I just finished up my Deep in the Heart of Texas Roadtrip QAL.  Here's a pic of the finished top...

 

Love that one!  And a few closeups of it...

I would say that my style is more traditional with a modern twist.  I much prefer the more traditional block, put together in a new, fun way or with some awesome modern fabric.  I love scrap quilts like this one...

This is my version of the Scrap Jar Star quilt.  To me, a scrap quilt doesn't have to look like a scrap quilt.  I pulled all of these fabrics form the scrap pile, but making sure they were from the same color family really made this one gorgeous.

I help test patterns for Persimmon Quilts who writes mysteries to help benefit the Quilt of Valor program.  Here is one I recently finished up testing...

I just finished up testing another for her and should be able to share a finish soon.  I love sampler quilts.  But again, I like to put my own twist on them, like on this one...

I combined the sampler blocks with a star block to make my one unique setting for the sampler.  One of my absolute favorites (click on the picture for details!).

Traditional doesn't have to mean boring and modern doesn't have to be, "out there!"  Take the elements of both, the ones you love, and make them your own!

I can't wait to see meet more people as we follow along on this blog hop!  I'm tagging:

Melissa - Tension Issues (she uses sewing to relax too!)

Sabrina - Sabie Sews (Love!  Awesome fabrics and tutes!)  and...

Anna - Mod Quilt Girl  (Another Texas Gal!)

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts:

Deep in the Heart of Texas Roadtrip Quilt

It's finally done!!!  Can you tell I'm a little excited?!?  I finally finished the top for my Texas quilt.  And here she is:

 

For those of you stopping by for the first time, or if you've never heard of it, this was a quilt along hosted over at My Fabric Relish called the Deep in the Heart of Texas Roadtrip QAL.  It was a combination blog hop and quilt along.   The patterns are still there so you can make your own version at anytime!  Here are some closeup shots.

First up is the fourth quadrant...

 

 

From left to right we have a bed and breakfast block for the Hill Country, then the block I designed for Austin (I needed to represent UT), and right next to that is College Station (Gig 'em), and then Beaumont.  The star I designed for my hometown, San Antonio, with an Astros block representing Houston.  Then we have a beach house for the coast, Lady Lexington for Corpus Christi, and a sea turtle for the Rio Grande Valley.

Next up is the first quadrant...

 

 

We have the longhorn for Ft. Worth, then the Texas Star Ferris Wheel for Dallas, and a rose I found elsewhere online to represent Tyler.

The second quadrant....

 

 

Another paper pieced rose for Amarillo, and the Southwestern style block represents Lubbock.

And an "in the making shot" of the third quadrant as I forgot to take a finished closeup...

 

Here we have a railroad block for El Paso, the oil derrick for Midland/Odessa, and finally the camper block for Big Bend. 

Can you tell how much I love this quilt???  I simply adore it.  I printed up all the instructions as I have a ton of family here in Texas and have a strong feeling this won't be the only one I make.  My son tried to claim it and when I told him it was for me, he pulled the, "after you die," card!  Wow.

I hope you enjoyed the roadtrip with me.  On to the next project!  

Linking up with Quilt Story and My Quilt Infatuation and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Also with Val for Tuesday Archives.

Design Wall Monday 9/8/14

Notice anything different here?

 

Yes!  The Texas quilt top is done!  I'll be posting the pics this week for a Friday finish.  So today, my design wall is showing that I've gotten back to the Union Jack quilt.  Those flying geese blocks are still marinating.

What's on your wall?  Link up over at Patchwork Times. 

Fabric Tuesday 9/2/14

Did y'all have a great holiday weekend??  We sure did.  Sewing Friday and Monday with two full days of family, friends, bbq's and pool time in between.  What a wonderful, official "end of summer" celebration.  

And notice, I said sewing time??  I have gotten several more blocks done for my Texas Roadtrip QAL.  First up, here is the block I decided to do for Austin.  Those of you that are new here may not know, but I am NOT an applique' girl.  These blocks have really been pushing me to learn.

 

No sooner had I posted the Austin block to my Facebook and a friend was booing and hissing at it!  So, not to be outdone, here is the block for College Station....

 

And then we added in the bonus blocks.  I have family down in Corpus Christi and just spent a fantabulous Fourth of July visiting them, so Lady Lex had to be added to my quilt...

 

And then with so much coastline here, we had to have the beach house block.  Pretty sure she's going on the coast between Corpus and the Valley.

 

Only two more blocks to go!  I have the hill country and my hometown, San Antonio.  San Antonio is changing up from the block given but I haven't decided what needs to go there.  Leaning towards a spur.  :)  What do y'all think?? 

Have a great week!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday with Patchwork Times.