A few more mini's

I have two more mini's finished that I'll be donating to my guild to send to the NQA Little Quilt Auction.  I made another version of Elizabeth Hartman's "Sparkle Punch" quilt.  I really like this pattern and maybe one day I'll make a larger version.

I also made another mini quilt using Lori Holt's "Quilty Barn" tutorial as inspiration for the Barn quilt.  

I also recently finished sock #1 for my DH.  I've never enjoyed knitting socks, my first pair took a year to knit.  For whatever reason, I'm actually enjoying it this time.  It could be because I'm knitting on two circular needles which I like way better than the double points.  Sock #1 only took me one week to knit and it actually fits! Now I just need to finish sock #2.

The next few weekends I really need to spend getting some quilts quilted.  The finished tops are piling up!  I just ordered a Grace Speed Control for the Juki that I have on my frame so hopefully that will arrive this weekend so I can spend the weekend quilting.

I now leave you with a photo of the boys sunbathing...

Mini Sparkle II

I pieced another mini Sparkle Punch quilt this past Saturday.  This time I used a solid gray for the stars.  There are were so many squares to sew together!

I used scraps left over from my Pop of Color quilt and love the result.  Now I just need to get it quilted and finished as well as the Barn Block mini quilt - if only I didn't have to work!

On a different note, my old boy keeping me company while I quilt:

Busy weekend

This weekend I worked on two more mini quilts.  One quilt is based on the Quilty Barn tutorial from Lori at beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com.  When I first saw the block I knew it would make a fun mini quilt.

The block went together very fast and I think I may have to make a few more.  I'm looking forward to quilting this one.

I also went crazy chain piecing my next mini quilt.  I'm doing the Sparkle Punch again, only smaller.  The squares are 1 1/2 inches finishing to 1 inch.  Next weekend I should be able to finish the pressing and trimming and assemble the top.

Last weekend I finished piecing the quilt top to my $10 BOM Quilt that I participated in with my LQS.  I chose the neutral colorway for the blocks but in the end I decided I needed some color after all.

The first Mini Sparkle Punch quilt is finished, quilted, labeled and hanging sleeve attached. 

Little Gracie

A few months ago I had the opportunity to get a Little Gracie II frame for FREE!!!  A lady no longer had the room for it and just wanted it to go to a new home.  Luckily my Florida room is big enough to accommodate the frame and my DH was understanding.  The frame has been sitting here for a few months taunting me to use it.  Last weekend my dear, sweet Mama surprised me and brought me down her Juki 98Q "on loan" so I could use it on the frame.  I was going to set up my machine but it only has a 7 or 9 inch throat so I wouldn't have had much room to quilt, the Juki has an 11" throat so at the most I get about 4" of quilting space, that is fine with me.

Sunday my DH went over the frame, tightened screws and did some maintenance on the frame, while studied YouTube videos on how to load the leader clothes, quilt top and backing.

I finally loaded the Juki in the carriage and was ready to sew but quickly ran into a conundrum.  The frame came with a Grace Speed Control which you hook up to your sewing machine and it will replace the foot pedal.  Well, I set it up correctly for the Juki and all it would do was trigger the thread cutting feature on the machine.  I tried putting the foot pedal on top of the carriage so I can use the handle controls but it blocks the thread, so until I can replace the Speed Control I have the foot pedal on the floor.  It's not the ideal set up but it works for now.

The first quilt I practiced on was a quilt for charity with a simple meandering design.  It was so much fun!!  My DH was even impressed with how fast the machine sewed!  The setup will be great for simple quilting on utility quilts and hopefully I'll get better at making some simple designs, but it won't be anything too fancy (I'll still have to quilt a few quilts with my checkbook).  For now though I'm happy.  Thanks Mom for "loaning" me the Juki!!!  And a huge thanks to my DH for supporting my habits, I mean hobby.  I'm looking forward to finally getting some quilt tops quilted.

Quilt of Valor

About two weeks ago, I joined a group of ladies from my quilt guild for a Quilts of Valor workshop.  I had an enjoyable day sewing, meeting different members of the guild and a wonderful lunch.  It was a very enjoyable day.

I had a nice spacious work table all to myself.  I had my quilt pieces pre-cut so I was ready to sew when I arrived.

By the time the day was over I had most of the quilt top pieced.

All I had left to do was make the large flying geese blocks, sew the rows together and add the borders.  Last Sunday I finished the flying geese components and today I was able to complete the quilt top.  Now I'm working on piecing the quilt back.  I thought I bought enough of an extra-wide quilt backing but once I washed it and squared up the edges I found out that it was cut all wonky and I was inches short, so now I'm working on piecing the back.  Oh well, at least the top is done, I'll finish piecing the back tomorrow and I'll be able to turn it over at next Tuesday's guild meeting to be quilted by the longarmer.