Busy like a bee.....

OK, between school, and home I've been busy. But I'm still quilting because I want to finish my OMG (One More Goal) and I'm there.  Got it done, did quilting as you go, but that's for another posting.  This weekend I finished a couple of other goals that I want to share with you because I'm so pleased with them. 

The first please.....

Made completely with left over pieces.  The cross in the middle was 2 1/2 inch squares of left over material.  Got all my bright colors and colors of fall and put these together.  This is the result.  The quilt tester says it's perfect.

 See the smaller pieces.  The quilting is straight line to help with the lines of alternate color strips.  I love the look of this pattern.  I originally intended to keep it for myself because I wanted something with fall colors but a friend asked me for a quilt to wrap herself up in and this is perfect for her for Christmas.  So off it will go.  And yes, those colors are the real colors (the yellow and gray) of the quilt.  It all came together with colors.  I was extremely pleased with that.  Luck.....

The next quilt (yes there are two) is a creation from Fat Quarter Blog.  It's a free pattern.    And this link is the YouTube video on how to make it with the pattern attached.

This is the actual pattern but not big enough for the baby quilt that I intended to make.  So I added a bit.  I made a couple of bamboo shoots to the side of the quilt and just a line on top to keep your eye on the quilt pattern.  It was really fun and not that hard at all.  Forgiving for the beginner quilter.

I took the bamboo from the center and just continued to make the leaves, using a long strip of green for the center unlike the pattern which used two different colors of green, I used just one because it changed color. 

The quilt ended up being 36" by 36", the perfect size for a baby quilt.  I'm very pleased with it.  Perfect for a friend who asked me to make the quilt for her first grandchild coming up.  She chose the color for the background and I had a piece of yellow with a hint of green that worked just perfect for it.

Between this and correcting a lot of homework I'm very satisfied with this weekend's work production.  Take care.

Another Month, Another Try

picture by Phillip Martin - the Grove Church

Good intentions are great, but a little disappointing if you don't make it.  But you got to remember that life is not on a schedule, it's random, and most days when you work full time at a high school, a little erratic as well.

I'm back to teaching full time, and I'm loving it.  I use to repair computers 1/2 time and teach the other half (usually with two or three different courses in the same block so I was constantly running).  Now I'm teaching the same amount of courses but full time, so my load is easier, and I'm spending more time individualizing student learning.  I love it!!  But I'm still running around, and I am tired when I get home. So I'm too tired to sew as much as the last couple of months.  I'm hoping that will change, and I know it will, with my courses taking on bigger projects.  But it is what it is, and as I said, I love it and I love teaching.  

So how do you fix this?  Exercise to get my energy up and going to bed at 9:30.  I hope this will help.  Also I have to realize (which I have) and recognize that I won't be able to sew as much, just in smaller amounts of time.  With that in mind, my goal for this month I believe is attainable, and will still give me the pleasure of creating something beautiful.

I want to finish my Harry Potter Quilt (I'm using quilt as you go) in two weeks (yes, even smaller than the OMG goal!) so I can show it to my quilt group and enter it on the SewFresh Linkup.  It's a lovely quilt by SewFresh, a BOM that was created by Lorna, a wonderful designer (I have about 15 of her patterns - can't get enough).  She uses the stitch and flip mostly, and the designs are so cute you'll love it.  The pattern for Harry Potter made a queen size quilt which I extended to a king.  Here's what it looks like so far

I did get the owl done.  You can see it on the chair, it was complicated but if you follow the directions that are mostly pictures it really is easy and fun to see it come out.  I even have some of the pattern on my sewing machine (see picture below).  Made a huge mistake, printed out the small bit of paper piecing for the castle the wrong size.  There were directions to print them at 110, so my bad....  I'll redo them.  That's what I'm doing below.

So that's my goal, to complete the FINAL block and put it together.  As you can see from the first picture 4 other blocks that I did last month are quilted, just need to put them together and attach it to the quilt part that already done.  Then finish the castle, attach it to the owl, and quilt that section, then attach it to the quilt.  And the final thing is to quilt the side panels and attach, and voila!!!  Done.

OK it sounds like a lot and it is, but it can be done...  That's my goal for the One More Goal (sorry One Monthly Goal) for October.  But I have to tell you, linking up with Elm Street Quilts has really been helping me with finishing off my UFOs and projects that need to be completed.  So link up here, and join the fun.  What's your goal???