TGIFNSI

Thank God It's Friday Night Sew In

First Up: Dinner and I'm in the mood for Italian

Next Up:  What I will be working on

Cathedral Windows Pillow

AND

Flutter By Blocks

Finally... ipod while isew - Sara Bareilles

See ya tomorrow,



My Own Private FNSI

Friday could not come quick enough this week.  We don't have spring break in my district til the END of April and we are all feelin' it.  Kids, teachers...all of us are draggin' and cranky.  All I wanted to do today was come home and sew.

I decided to tackle my cathedral windows pillow top first and now have half of the windows completed.  Lovin' it!

 And I must take a moment to give a little plug here for this amazing product I discovered.

The tutorial suggested using a temporary basting spray to hold down the window fabrics til they were sewn in place.  I was a bit skeptical.  AND I have a real sensitivity to any type of fragrance so was leary of trying this.  I had no idea what brand to get so I just dove in, read the labels, compared prices and ...well I just liked the small compact can.  It's odorless and didn't seem to have any adverse affect.

Anyway, this stuff works great.  I'm impressed. When you're sewing these windows you have to flip the block back and forth and I'm amazed at how well it holds those little windows in place. Not sure how it would do for a larger project.  I always pin baste my larger quilts and probably won't change that. 

But for this small project, I'm sold!

Then I worked on my Flower Garden Quilt...but will wait to post pictures for next One Flower Wednesday.

Oh, and I don't think I ever posted my online March finished blocks...just the sneak peeks.  So...

Here's the one for Let's Bee Together:

Tiffany sent the fabric and asked for a Star block.

This pattern is StarFlower from quilterscache.com

And for Block Swap Adventure:

Staci asked for red, white and blue fabric.

This is one of the pattern's she suggested, called Jessie's Flag.

And now it's April 1st...time to get going on the next two blocks.

Hope you had a great friday night!

P.S. And in keeping with the Friday Night Sew In tradition, there should be a giveaway of some kind...and since this was my own private one, I'm treating myself to more Dilly Dally fabric for the backing on my quilt. YAY!

FNSI Results

It's still quite windy outside but I think the rain has stopped.  As I kind of suspected, this week took its toll and kept my progress to a bare minimum. I definitely watched Roger play two tennis matches...and WIN!  So that was great progress ...  although not for my quilting/sewing projects.

As for those, just a tiny bit of progress on my

Be Mine Cathedral Windows pillow.

 Decided on the final layout and spray basted them down.

THEN I completed ONE window...right there at the top.

It's not perfect...but enjoying the process and like it so far!

Not too bad for a sleepy friday night!  Hope yours was productive too.

Stormin' Friday Night Sew In

What a perfect night to sew.  It's pouring down rain and freezing outside.  I'm thinkin' a nice mug of hot chocolate, ipod cranked up and the hum of my sewing machine sounds perfect.  (If I can stay awake past dinner that is.  It's been a loooooong week and I stayed up way too late last night.)  But, just in case, here is my project list and hopefully I can make some progress on at lease one or two of them....maybe even cross one off!!

• Be Mine - Cathedral Window Pillow
• Block Swap Adventure Block for Staci
• Watch Roger Federer win his tennis match (fingers crossed)!
• Let's Bee Together Bee Block for Tiffany
• "Just One Star" Block for wounded soldiers project
• Work on more blocks for Flutter By quilt
• Start Victory Quilt

Hahahahaha...yeah right.  I didn't realize my list was so long.  Oh well, now that it's there in blue and white maybe some of it will get done.  Or maybe I'll start with a nap.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Enjoy your friday night!

Flutter By

Last night was Friday Night Sew In and I was able to get some work (not really work...just fun) done on my butterfly quilt.  I started experimenting with a pattern I found with some 3D elements in it. 

The triangles in the middle are folded from squares and sewn into the seams of the four larger squares to form a butterly.

I just love the 3D effect!

And so simple!

The fun part is deciding which fabric to use for the butterflies.

I'm using fabric from Dream On by Urban Chiks.  Some of the larger print flowered patterns are out of my comfort zone but I love the colors and am now enjoying matching things up.

This next one is my favorite so far I think.  I like the butterfly print!

Here's a view of  some of the blocks together on my design board.

SPRING is definitely in the AIR, if not outside...in my sewing room!

There you have it...my FNSI results. I was able to finish several blocks and still have time to work on my lighthouse embroidery while watching my fav friday night shows, CSI NY and Blue Bloods. 

Hope you had a FUN friday too!

Cut 'n' Color

First of all, I'm referring to my hair. It was definitely overdue. Too much gray starting to surface and long heavy hair bringing me down. I just love it after a fresh cut and highlights.

And now for some fabric Cut 'n' Color.  I finished my February swap blocks. Here's the sneak peeks:

Block Swap Adventure	Let's Bee Together
I chose the color and block style based on my partner's preferences.	Fabric and block pattern chosen by my partner.

And, me and mom each completed one of our embroidered lighthouses:

Mom's...

Mine...

Been a lot of fun and very relaxing!

I also have 2 larger quilt projects in the works and will be joining tomorrow night's

Friday Night Sew In

hoping to get some real progress done on those.

My mini break (week) is almost over...they always go way too fast.

Anyway, good luck with all your Cut 'n' Color fun!

Friday Night Sew In

Well, I had a nice lunch with my friend Tabatha yesterday, did a little shopping and then made it home to sew.  This morning I'm sharing for Friday Night Sew In. 

I'm still working on the quilt I can't show since it's a gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise.  But I've been giving sneak peeks along the way.  Last night I got brave and machine appliqued for the first time!

Of course, I practiced on scraps first, just to get a feel for the fabric and motion of the machine and especially to get the edge of the stitch aligned with the edge of the appliqued piece.  But it still stressed me out a little...I was so afraid of making a huge mistake and regretting my decision....but I moved along anyway.

So in the above pic there's more sneak peek off to the right.

Not too bad around the edges huh?

Shaping up fairly nice.

And there you have it.  My first machine applique ever!

Alright, I'll leave you with one more peek. 

This is what I get to applique next....Yikes!

Anyway, I was glad to accomplish what I did and now I feel much more comfortable so the next few should (hopefully) be less stressful. 

Now I'm off to brave the shopping crowds...my mom's birthday today...she had to work...thank goodness I get an extra day to get her gifts.   Hope you all had a productive Friday and have a nice weekend.

Workin' for the Weekend...

I'm bummed I didn't get to make a flower this week so no posts for One Flower Wednesday but I'll be going over there to see the progress everyone else made. 

In the meantime,

I'm looking forward to TOMORROW since it's the last day of first semester and Friday starts Winter Break! YaY!  (I'm kind of a Scrooge right now and really in need of a break. Hopefully I don't look like that picture!)

Anyway I'll start Friday afternoon out with a friend (catching up on her latest trip), but will try to get busy with FNSI that evening.  Even if it's just to sew a hexie flower. 

Anyway, hoping I follow through this time.  And looking forward to a little rest before I start the mad rush of Christmas and birthday shopping (just love those December birthday's!)