Working on my PhD

I have been SUPER busy in the last couple of days getting some quilt tops done.  I saw a picture on my Mom's Facebook page that really made me think, I had better get some sewing done before I start any more quilts.

With that being said, I cracked down and not only finished the Jump Rope quilt, but I have made a ton of progress on the Gryffindor quilt I've been designing.

I found this pin on Pinterest which gave me the inspiration to pick up the Gryffindor quilt again.  For those of you new to my blog, I drafted this pattern from a knitting project I did.  I turned each stitch into a 1" square of fabric.  The end result was 600+ tiny squares I need to assemble for the centre crest on the quilt.  I was doing them one at a time, block by block and I was really dreading my decision to make this quilt.  Not only was I pleased with the ease of assembling the centre crest now, but it makes the piecing more even.  Check out this section I re-did after seeing the results from the iron on interfacing.

I'm a little ashamed of my piecing, but I think you can see how much better the result is.  If you are ever considering doing a quilt with this many small pieces, I 100% recommend this method for constructing it!

On that note, I've been up far too late sewing and I need to get some sleep.  I have to be up early to hem my day dress if I want to wear it to work for Halloween tomorrow.  Some people go in store bought or scary costumes, history nerds go in period costume. :D

Another Day, Another Topper!

I think this is how I earn the "crazy" part in Crazy Crafting Cat Lady.  As I finish the top to "Home at Last" I started ANOTHER quilt.  If you're surprised, you must be new to following my blog!  My fabric stash has been getting out of control, so a scrap quilt was in order.  I have 13 of 30 blocks assembled from my progress tonight.  It's coming together nicely and I think the colours will complement each other.  I have scraps from my fall table topper, my brothers quilt, home at last, Tiny T's table topper and a few miscellaneous pieces.

Home at Last has been put on the back burner for the time being.  I have material for the backing but my plan to use up the remaining batting from my brothers quilt is not going to pan out.  There wasn't as much as I had thought.  For now, I think I'll focus on making the quilt tops for my scrap quilt, the Gryffindor quilt and Katie's Jump Rope quilt that I started back in early 2011.

A few of the blocks pieced and pressed for the Scraptacular quilt.

Home at Last quilt top assembled!

I have some very exciting news! My blog has been added to Quilting Gallery's blog list! This is a huge directory of some very wonderful quilting blogs and I feel quite honored to be included in this list!  Make sure you check out some of the other blogs listed there!

Cabin Fever Free Winter

Saturday night was intense!  I got so much accomplished with my two quilts and they are really coming together nicely.

"Home at Last" now has two rows done.  It doesn't seem like a lot of work done but doing the applique takes a fair amount of time.

Most of the plaid squares are assembled now.  I have enough to get most of the way down the quilt.  I figured it was time to start assembling!

Three rows done on the Gryffindor quilt.  Each row has 19 blocks so it's a decent amount of work to assemble each row.  I'm managing to do a fairly good job of keeping the seams lined up.

The new machine is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!  I love its features, how easy it is to wind a bobbin and how seamlessly you can transition between stitching.  This machine is a good investment even at regular price!

On that note, off to do more sewing! Weeeeeeee!

New Toy!!

After the scare of my sewing machine almost crapping on me before Christmas, it decided to start for real the other night.  Nessie came over for an evening of sewing to work on the Harry Potter house quilts on Thursday.  She was sitting on the floor cutting fabric while I assembled some of my plaid squares.  I paused to adjust my material and heard the faintest *pop*.  I thought it was possibly my tummy telling me I shouldn't have had so much coffee and let it pass.  When I paused a second time I heard *pop pop sizzle snap pop sizzle* coming from the ground.  Realizing that this was not digestive issues, I picked up my foot pedal.  It was HOT!  Turns out there was a short in the pedal causing it to go off when in use.

I consulted a friend in the MLHS who is our resident expert on all things sewing.  She advised she had a similar thing happen and managed to re-wire her machine and it worked fine.  I tend to be somewhat of a magnet for bad luck and decided that a 12 year gap in any soldering or electrical work was not the best idea.  The other option was to take it to her sewing machine guy to have him repair it.  I paid $25 for the machine two years ago and knew that repairs would be more than the initial cost.  The machine only does straight stitching and as my creativity evolves it was only time before I would need a new machine.

I had to pick up some things at Walmart tonight and decided to stop by the craft section and drool over the shiny new machines. (The 3 I've had in my life have always been used).  Wait...what's this!  A Brother sewing machine on sale for $99!  This must be too good to be true.  Sure enough, some poor associate failed to remove the tag from the sale that ended on January 6th. Darn, so close!! It was then that I thanked my Mom for all the little lessons in saving money over the years.  If it's tagged at that price, it must be given to me at that price.  My mind was made up, I was buying the new machine with it's extending table for quilting and 35 stitch option!  What I forgot was that Walmart adheres to the scanning code of practice, and at the register the cashier reminded me that I would also be getting another $10 off for their mistake.  What's more is when I stopped by my parents place for dinner and to show them my wonderful find, they offered to treat me to the machine for all my hard work and deal hunting!  So here, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my BRAND NEW SEWING MACHINE!!!!

It even has beautiful, quilt specific stitches!!

So of course, after unpacking the quilt and giggling like a maniac, I got right down to some sewing.  I got 4 blocks and the first row of the "Home at Last" quilt done!!  I feel like the luckiest girl right now!!

I really love how the beige thread makes it pop!

Four blocks complete and sewn together!

Time to get my ridiculously tired self to bed before work in the morning.  I'm happy that it's only a 4 hour shift, but they frown upon sewing machines at our desks.

Harry Potter Quilt

Welcome everyone to 2012!  I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate!) and a wonderful new year!

I have been working very hard on the Gryffindor quilt and Nessie has begun her work on the Slytherin quilt.  They are shaping up to be pretty darn epic and I can't wait to see more of it come together!

Cutting out the pieces using my new quilting supplies!

All cut out and ready to go!

Plaid pieces sewn together.  I folded them to get an idea of what they will look like!

Here we have Nessie cutting out her pieces.

Strips cut down into their smaller pieces for assembly!

I haven't done anything on the Gryffindor quilt since aside from starting to pin together all the tiny strips for sewing.  I went to Fabricland on the weekend and bought some more material with my gift cards.  A quilting magazine that I picked up during hunting had the cutest lap quilt called "Home at Last" featuring applique houses and hearts.  It showed it in rather modern colours, but I've always been a sucker for quilted items taking a log cabin feel to them.  I managed to clean out the Christmas clearance section for some great finds! 

Here is what I have cut out and laid out to make sure everything works.  It was VERY easy to cut out and was done in one evening.  It is machine applique with a zigzag stitch.  I've attempted one by hand so far as I don't have a zigzag capable machine.

A nice close up of some of the blocks.  This will be so nice when it's done!

Have a wonderful week everyone!  I look forward to sharing more quilting progress with you this week.  I have a hot quilting date with Nessie this week so hopefully we will have more to show you on the house quilt extravaganza!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It's the post you've all been waiting for!  I finally gave away my last hand made Christmas gift and the recipient loved it!!

Here's my brother with his Christmas gift...a Batman quilt made in the Turning Twenty pattern.  This is the original of the pattern not one of the variations.  I would definitely attempt this pattern again as it was very easy!

Here's a close up of the quilt.  It's folded in half.  I haven't measured the final dimensions but it does cover the top of a queen sized bed.

I will update the post later with more pictures and fun things.  I got a TON of quilting supplies from Santa and I have a friend helping me with the Harry Potter quilt.  But now...time for Christmas brunch with Mom, Dad, brother Josh and Big D.  I can't wait!! Ham quiche, hash brown bake with cheese and mushroom soup and old fashioned molasses muffins!

UPDATE!!

So here are some pictures of the wonderful sewing fun that Santa brought me for Christmas...

Tim Horton's coffee for my new coffee maker, hand soaps, body spray, body wash and shower gel from Bath and Body Works

Two new Head Chef kitchen utensils from my brother and a bottle of Christmas cheer that Santa left in my stocking!

The best part!!! The large quilting ruler is what Tiny T's mom got for me two weeks ago.  My Mom and Dad got me two cutting mats, a square and triangle ruler, binding clips, quilting pins, tape measure, quilting pen and a magazine.  My Grandpa gave me another gift certificate to Fabricland which will most definitely be put to good use!!  With the material I bought for the Harry Potter quilt, I should be all set for a nice long cold winter full of quilting and fun!

There was also the obligatory personal hygiene items in the stocking, socks, new dish towels for the apartment and a toque to cover my bad hair cut.  (Everyone thinks its cute, I think its too short!!)

Here is the green and grey that my friend Nessie is going to use for her Slytherin quilt.  She is helping me test the pattern.  The green is similar to the red and yellow I have, but she wanted something different for the grey.  She thought it would add her own artistic flare.  I think it will be an amazing and cozy quilt!!

Well, now that I've spend the day snuggling with Big D on the couch and watching "The Walking Dead" (very Christmassy, I know) with him and my little brother it is now time for Christmas dinner.  So I bid you adieu and a Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Sew begins the insanity!

I have two steps left on my final Christmas sewing project.  With the end in sight for my quilting projects it was time to splurge and spend my Fabricland gift certificate.  Ok, the real reason is they had an AMAZING sale on. Buy one meter of quilting cotton get TWO FREE!  That's right folks, three meters for the price of one.  If I had a credit card with no limit I would have bought the store.  (Actually, maybe it would just be easier to move in there).  I picked up the fabric I would need to make the Gryffindor lap quilt as I managed to figure out the yardage for those four easier than the giant house quilt.  I have two friends already willing to help me with testing the pattern and my measurements.  I just need one more person to help me test run Hufflepuff.  Here is what I found.

I'm very happy with the colour and the slight pattern on the material.  I think it will be a little more interesting than just plain material.  I hope it turns out well.  I can't wait to see what my friends pick out for material.  I told them as long as they stick to the appropriate colours for their house, I wasn't concerned about the pattern on the material.  Both are fairly new to sewing and/or quilting.  If they can figure out what put together for the pattern, then it should be simple for everyone.  Here's hoping there isn't too much tweaking involved.

EDIT: Thanks to my cousin for the suggestion of changing the title!