Cutting, Cutting and More Cutting....

I am so excited because Craftapalooza is only FIVE days away!  My best and oldest friend, Milli, is coming from Denver with her sister Mary and friend Dawn.  They will be here for a week full of crafting (mostly quilting and fused glass), chick flicks, great food (& drinks!) and fun girl times.  Several of my local friends and my mom will also join us throughout the week.  Craftapalooza is my favorite week of the year!!

In preparation, I have been pulling fabric from my stash and cutting like a mad woman.  Today I am cutting squares for the Scrap Jar Stars quilt.  We will each be making our own version of this one.  I chose red, teal, aqua and gray and am debating about a background.  I bought a solid gray but I think it may not be enough contrast from some of the grays I pulled, so I may end up using a white or off-white for my background.  Here is a pic of the cutting in progress.

I am also continuing to work on the fish quilt for my dad.  I am sewing the completed blocks together and then will decide if it is big enough.  I still have fabric left, so I could make more blocks....not sure why I have been so indecisive with this quilt!  No matter how big it ends up, it is going to look great and be perfect for my dad.

It is cool and rainy today and football is on.  My favorite kind of day for quilting!

Prepping

Not a lot of quilting going on lately, but that's about to change.  I will be spending the next few weeks collecting fabric and cutting for some new projects because October 19th is the start of Craftapalooza!  Twice a year my crafty friends and I get together for a week and craft our guts out.  There are two rules of Craftapalooza: 1) no boys and 2) no kids!  We spend the week quilting, sewing, fusing glass, knitting and crocheting.  The week is also filled with 80's music and movies, chick flicks, yummy food and awesome together time.  These are friends from college 20 years ago and it gives us a great opportunity to catch up with each other, relax and leave our stress behind and have giggly girl time.  Craftapalooza is my favorite time of year!

We always pick a quilt pattern that we will all make and this year we have chosen Scrap Jar Stars from the A Little Bit Biased blog.  I am also planning to make the Starry-Eyed Quilt from Moda Bake Shop (I seem to have a star theme going!)

So, I have a lot of cutting in my future.  I will keep you posted on my progress!

Baby Quilt Done!

I successfully quilted the polka-dot baby quilt on the long arm.  Originally, I thought I would have to anchor the circles using my sewing machine first, but I 'floated' the top over the front bar instead of rolling it on and the glue was enough to keep the circles where then were supposed to be.  I did a loopy meander in the background and circles on the polka dots.  This is what it looked like before I washed it.

After sewing on the binding and a trip through the washer and dryer, the polka dots are definitely getting raggedy.  I think a few more washes will help make the circles lay flatter.

And here is the whole quilt.

It turned out better than I expected.  After I had the background pieced I thought the plaids and stripes would be too much but now that it's done I love it!

This is a sample to show my friend what I was thinking when she asked if I could do a polka dot quilt for her daughter.  If she likes it, I will make another one (she needs twin size and this one is only about 48"x48") in her choice of colors.  Then, I think this one will go to my niece.

Work In Progress

I am still working on a baby quilt from my own pattern.  I am not sure that I picked the right fabric for this quilt but it will be a good test of my idea.  I finished assembling the top and glued the polka dots on.

My next step is to sew the circles onto the quilt top.  The idea is that they will be raw-edge applique and after the quilt is washed the polka dots will have raggedy edges.

I also had a plastic bin of scraps that I started cutting into standard sizes.  I use a modified version of Bonnie Hunter's scrap users system.  My method is that I throw all scraps into a plastic bin while I am working on projects and when it gets too full I dedicate some time to cutting.  I Iron all of the scraps and then cut everything into 2" and 2 1/2" inch strips.  Anything smaller than that goes into my string bin.  I will occasionally save an additional size if I have an idea or a planned quilt that needs something different than 2" and 2 1/2" pieces.  Right now I want to make a twister quilt and it needs 3 1/2" squares so while I am cutting scraps I am making those, too.  If I cut a little bit each night after work, I should have my scrap bin empty by the end of the week. 

Friday Sew Day

Since I only had to work a half day on Friday, my friend Tara and I got together in the afternoon for a sew day.  I started a new quilt, while she worked on a quilt for her niece. we worked away and I only stopped to make dinner and fix drinks.  :-)  Next thing we knew, it was 11pm!

For my project, I have a friend whose daughter wants a 'polka dot blanket'.  She asked me if that was something I could do.  Searching for polka dot fabric didn't sound appealing to me and I had an idea for a raw-edge applique quilt.  I am not sure if she will like what I have in mind so I decided to make a small version (baby quilt) to show her and she can decide if she wants me to make a bigger one for her.

The background will be simple squares; I got them all cut and sewn into 9 blocks.  They are on my design wall now:

Just a few more seams to sew and it will be a complete top.  Next I had to cut out the circles.  I raided my kitchen cupboards to find things that I could trace to make circles in the sizes I wanted.  The items that made the cut were a ramekin, a pasta jar lid, the cap to a plastic bottle (both from the recycle bin) and a K-cup from my Keurig.  I traced a ton of circles and started cutting.  Here they are all cut out:

I need to dig out a glue stick.  That is the only thing I can think of that I can use to attach the circles to the quilt top and keep them where I want them before they are sewn down.

While I was cutting circles,  I heard a strange 'whooshing' noise coming from outside.  I stepped out on the deck and this is what I saw:

They must have launched only a few blocks away, and what I heard was the burner they were firing to get up in the air.  Very cool!

It's a Flimsy!

Olymics on TV have given me tons of quilting time this week.  I have been sewing while watching and got the  granny square quilt top together.  I still need to add an outer border, since the blocks are all bias-edged, but I couldn't wait to take a pic because I love it!

I followed the Great Granny Along tutorial from the Bee in my Bonnet blog for the blocks, then did my own thing when I put them all together.  It measures 52 1/2" by 66" without borders.  The fabric is from the Twiggy line with a Kona solid for background.

Granny Squares

I have been fighting a sinus/ear infection for at least a week and it has officially won the battle.  Will be visiting urgent care today to get some antibiotics.  Even though I have not been feeling 100%, that has not stopped me from quilting!  I have seen the granny squares movement across blog-land and have had them on my wish list for a while.  Then I saw the Great Granny Along on the Bee in my Bonnet blog and knew those were the granny squares I wanted to make.  I dug out a layer cake of Twiggy fabric and ordered a cream Kona solid (I think it is champagne) and started working.

Here they are before squaring up (and I still need to add rectangles to each of the corners).  My plan is to make 20 of them.  Since the blocks will have biased edges I will not cut them into squares until I am ready to  sew the top together.  I think I am going to love this quilt!

I also made a cute little wall hanging for a friend who is moving into a new house this fall.

I made this using 3.5" squares and a pinwheel template.  It is small, about 12" x 18"  but it will be really cute once it is quilted and bound with a hanging sleeve.

Hopefully I will be feeling better by the weekend and can finish the blocks for the granny square quilt.  I also need to finish putting the top together for my niece, Sophia.  I have a couple rows left before that one is ready to put on the long arm.

What I'm Working On

Got a lot of organizing done today and then I DID make some progress on two quilts I am working on that will be Christmas gifts.

The first quilt I worked on will be for my niece.  It needs to be twin-sized as she will be moving into a big girl bed soon.  I am using the Sweet Pea pattern by Heather Mulder Peterson and pink and purple fabrics - perfect for a 3 1/2 year old!

The second one I pulled out and worked on is a quilt I started for my Dad a couple of years ago.  He is an avid fisherman and I found some cute fish fabric that is perfect for a quilt for him.  I bought some coordinating fabric at the same time, and started a simple pattern of framed squares to highlight the fish.  Unfortunately I did not have enough of the coordinating fabrics and by the time I realized I needed more I couldn't find them anymore (of course!).  I sewed the blocks together thinking I would just make it work but it was way too small and ever since then it has been abandoned in the UFO pile.  I actually found some of one of the fabrics recently and pulled it back out.  I have decided to just find some additional fabrics that match and make it more of a scrappy quilt.  Here are the blocks I made today.  I am going to have to unsew the blocks I had originally sewn together, but those are not in the pic.

As a reward for getting organized and making some progress on these quilts, I raided the stash to find fabric to start a new project.  I want to do the Great Granny Square Quilt Along that is going on at Bee in My Bonnet.  I found two layer cakes that are orphans in my stash, so I may just end up making two of these quilts, since I couldn't choose between the two.  (ugh!)

I pulled out my color card and ordered some solids to coordinate.  I love the Twiggy line and have been holding on to this one for a long time.  The other one is American Primer by Minick & Simpson.  It would make a good QOV, so I guess I WILL make two of these.

Tomorrow will be a quilty day, too, so I should have more progress to show.  Gotta go, I have a lot cutting to do!

Getting Organized

I haven't done any quilting in the last couple weeks, but it is going to be so hot this weekend that I plan to stay inside in the A/C and make progress on some of my half-done projects.  Of course, I've also found a new pattern that I want to start.....

So, today is my 'get organized' day.  I have two quilts started on that will be gifts for family members and I want to get them to flimsy stage in the next few weeks.  I am telling myself that if I can get those two UFOs out and ready to work, then on my reward for making some progress on them will be to pull fabrics from my stash for the new one I am dreaming about.

Hopefully I will be back later today with pics of my progress!

Am I the Only One...

...whose cats decide that the best place in the entire house to lay down is ON TOP of whatever quilt project I am currently working on?

I am making a pieced back for a baby quilt and I laid it on the back of the sofa to check the size.  As soon as I came back with the quilt top, this is what I found.

Star Quilt Finished

Since it is WAY too hot to be outside, what better way to spend a holiday than doing a little quilting!  I started my star quilt in March at Craftapalooza.  (Craftapalooza is what my girlfriends and I call our semi-annual get togethers when we spend a week crafting.)  I found the pattern on the Oh, Fransson! blog, it is from the Sparkle Punch Quilt-Along.

I loved the way it turned out, and was anxious to get it quilted.  But I couldn't find the 'perfect' backing in my stash and ended up ordering some.  I loaded the quilt on my long-arm about a week ago and have been quilting it a little bit at a time whenever I've had a few minutes free.  This morning I finished the last two passes on it and put the binding on.  I LOVE IT!!!

For the quilting, I did my 'signature' loopdy loops.  I wasn't brave enough to try something new on this one because I liked it so much and did not want to mess it up.  The loopy design is one I do a lot and even though it isn't fancy I think it looks good.  I like the contrast of the pointy stars and the curvy quilting.

The star quilt is in the washing machine now and I can't wait to see it all wrinkly and soft.  It is going to go right onto the back of my sofa.  This might be my favorite quilt of any I have made so far!

First Post!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now.  The hardest part has been deciding on a name!  Every brilliant idea I came up with was clearly not original because someone else already had it.  I finally found one that I like and is not already taken, so no more excuse not to get started.

Night Owl Quilter is actually perfect for me because I am definitely at my best after 9pm.  If I didn't have a full time job I'm pretty sure my bedtime would be somewhere around 2am.  Plus, I collect owls and they have a special meaning to me because I am a member of the Chi Omega sorority, for which the owl is a meaningful symbol.  I may be 20 years out of college, but I love my sorority and am still close friends with so many of my sisters.  Obviously, I am also a quilter and I expect that most of my posts will be about my quilting and other crafts that I love.

So, expect to hear about my quilting, fused glass, knitting and other crafts, plus my 2 cats, my super cute nieces and nephew and anything else that crosses my mind.  Thanks for visiting my blog!