Friday Finish!

It's been awhile since I have been able to post a Friday Finish.  I actually finished this about a week and a half ago but I didn't get a chance to write a post last week.  My kids started school this week so we had one last really fun weekend to end the summer.  This wall hanging is done with a pattern by Cynthia England.  It was 18" x 18".  If you have never done one of her patterns you should give it a try.  Initially, it looked super hard and overwhelming but she breaks her patterns down into small sections that aren't so bad when you only worry about them one at a time.  This pattern is probably not for someone new to paper piecing though.  Some of the pieces were really small and it really mattered where you placed directional fabric.  I love paper piecing and I still needed to take breaks from it after every few sections.  There were more than a few times where I said I wouldn't make another piece that was so intricate.  But after seeing it done and being so happy that it came out so well makes me rethink that.  This one was a gift and I hated giving it away.  It looked so good on my wall.

Here are some close ups.  See his cute little feet? I I didn't do very much quilting on this.  I just quilted around the squirrel and the leaves with Mono Poly Superior Thread Clear.  I loved this thread.  I have had problems with invisible thread before but I didn't have any with this one.  

The detail work was done with hand embroidery.  I used 2 strands of black DMC thread.  I love the little acorn in his paws.  

I am linking up to Finished it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.  I can't wait to see what everyone else is up to.  Its been awhile since I have been able to keep up on my blog reading!

A return to WIP Wednesdays!

Wow, the past few weeks have been crazy!  If you follow my blog you know that I just recently moved.  We are still getting settled in and there are still random boxes around.  I have my own sewing room now which is amazing!  I have it semi set up.  I need to get some storage units though.  Until now I always kept everything in totes and I want some shelves to display all my fabric.  This way I might actually know what I have and don't have.  Life will be so much easier. 

I did get time to get in a little sewing.  I have been working on the above pieced for a few months now.  A lot longer than I should have been.  I needed to keep taking breaks from it.  It is a commission piece for a friend.  Thankfully a very patient friend.  However my absolute deadline is in a week from now so in between unpacking I have been finishing this guy up.  He is going to be a gift for a birthday.  I only have one small section to do for the lower right hand corner and I am done the top.  Then I need to embroider some detail to his face and hands.  All I have planned for quilting is some stitch in the ditch around him and the leaves.  There are so many seams in this that I couldn't imagine doing any free motion.  There are a few random pieces of paper I need to pick out of a few of the seams.  Hopefully I can find my tweezers soon.  But I think I am well on my way to finishing him in time.

This week I am linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced for the first time in quite a few weeks!  

Finish it up Friday 5/17

I only have one finish this week.  I made this tote for my Aunt.  Its just like the one I made a few weeks ago for my daughter.  My Aunt saw it and thought it would be perfect for her to use for Sunday school.  The picture is a little blurry.  I am not sure why.  It looked ok on my camera screen after I took it.

Other than that I have still been busy on my Squirrel wall hanging.  I will spare you another picture of that for today.  I am up to section G.  I think it goes up to section T.  The good news is that the sections are not taking as long.  As I move out of the middle the pieces are getting bigger.  

The plan this weekend is to sew and organize scraps.  I finally ordered some plastic organizers that I blogged about a few days ago.  

Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors and I ordered Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors as well.

Small picture but you get the idea.  I was hesitant on ordering because the reviews were hit or miss.  I am supposed to get them tomorrow.  I will do a review and let you know what I think.  I am using them so that I can start using Bonnie Hunter's method of saving scraps.  

This week I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF over at Ms Midge today.

WIP Wednesday 5/14

I don't have a whole lot to show this week but I have been busy working on this Squirrel wall hanging.  It's a Cynthia England design.  I pulled out the center pieces so I could see what his head looked like so far.  I am not sure I like one of the fabrics near his nose so I plan on ordering some fabric markers to darken it up a bit.  And of course, it needs the hand embroidery in the face before it will really start to take shape.  But overall, I pretty happy with it so far.

I am still working on my Jamestown Landing quilt.  I am half way through the 840 HST's.  I am using them as leaders and enders for my wall hanging.  You can read more on leaders and enders on Bonnie Hunter's blog or in her book Adventures with Leaders & Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time!  It's a great book.  

I also wanted to share a special bonus for my readers today!  If you follow my blog or visited during giveaway week I gave away a Quilt Halo.  So many readers loved it but didn't want to spend the money to try it out.  During the week I emailed Christy at Purple Daisies and asked her if she had a coupon I could give to you when I annouced my winner so those of you who wanted could try it out could at a reduced price.  Unfortunately she was super busy getting ready for Quilt Market so she just got back to me yesterday.  Understandable right?  

But she did give me a coupon!  For 15% off any order use the code, INSPIRING.  Pretty awesome!  She was super nice in her email and very apologetic about missing my giveaway.  I have shopped at her shop before and was very pleased with my purchase.  I buy applique foundation from them that I use for all my hand applique.  Its great for the glue stick method.  I am working up a tutorial on that as we speak.  They are not a sponsor of my blog and I am not getting compensated for this post I just really like them.  Christy's mom is Sharon Schamber who developed the quilt halo and many  more quilting techniques and tools.  You can find the Quilt Halo here.

I hope everyone else is having a great week.  I am off to see my son perform in a school play tonight!  He is very excited and so am I!  I am linking up to Freshly Pieced this week.   I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on.  

Finally Friday

Wow.  This week has been crazy!  I usually do a Wednesday post but didn't realize til late Wednesday afternoon that I didn't do it.  Wednesdays are supposed to be about WIPs.  I had already talked about my Jamestown Landing Monday.  I did add about 200 HST's to my count though and pieced some into the bigger blocks.

And then I worked on this project.  It's a paper pieced squirrel by Cynthia England.  It's a commission piece I am doing for a friend who wanted a Squirrel wall hanging to give as a gift.  It took two nights to get that one section done.  Its a good thing there is no deadline on this one.  Its been super fun to make so far though.

This is my little kitty Arya keeping me company while I was cutting some more fabric for Jamestown Landing.  That is the end of my cutting table.  :)  Creative and neat just don't seem to coincide, do they?  I have about 4 projects there that I am currently working on and a stack of fabric that I just bought that needs a home.  The problem is finding it a home.  I am running out of storage space.  I think I am going to order this, Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors,  today and see how they work out for scraps.  They also have similar ones that look like they would work out for fat quarters.  I might get those too.  Here are those, Whitmor 6754-373-5 Plastic CD Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors.  Not bad for 25 dollars, huh?

If you haven't read it yet, I am doing a giveaway on my blog.  The deadline is tonight so head over to that post and enter if you haven't already.  You can find the post, here.  I loved doing a giveaway so look forward to some more.  It was a lot of fun hearing about what everyone was up to.  I got a lot of new followers which is super.  Welcome to everyone who is new!

Today I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts so be sure to head over there to see what everyone is up to this wonderful Friday!