Started another QAL (and a link party)

So many projects in my mind, very few down on fabric :) 

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - August pattern ready to share (cannot share)
2. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - new top started (see 3.)
3. Summer Solstice QAL - jumped in with the HST (will donate this quilt) (see below)
4. Minion QAL - 3 more blocks quilted, 2 missing
5. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
6. Hello Block Swap - paused until next month 
7. Splendid Sampler - two blocks done (see below)
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress on finishing my piece

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - no progress
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

--

Especially in the middle of the summer I feel usually creatively tired. The projects started early during the year look boring, no energy to dedicate to create new projects (even if there are many in my head right now), so what is the best strategy? Join one of Melissa's (HappyQuilting) QAL!

I love love love her QAL for a ton of reasons:

1. the designs are usually very simple but not boring (check out all the ones she designed over the years)
2. the time given between each step is usually about 2-3 weeks. I love this because there are QALs that ask you to make a gazillion of HST in 1 week.. and while you don't have to complete them all, I always feel behind with those timeline! More than 2 weeks for simple steps make me lose interest... so I think 2 weeks is the perfect timeframe
3. she uses very simple shapes, so that's refreshing for me since I usually make complicated paper piecing blocks
4. her tutorials are amazing! step by step pictures, with tips and great advices. Even if by now I know how to make HST, I always read everything through, because every time there is something that I may have missed before
5. she offers always many size options! many designers simply say "do you want to make it bigger? make more blocks! Do you want it smaller? make less blocks" :) ehm... ok... I have no problem with that... however usually I want to make it smaller by resizing the blocks because I want the overall design to be the same! That's where Melissa is amazing! She always have very simple tables that shows you the size of a finished block (multiple sizes) and how you many you want to have (1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4). So the only thing I have to do is decide the general design I want and then find the cutting and assembly instruction for that. Easy peasy!

I jumped in the QAL a little late, but I will make the flying geese after she releases the next instructions (that's also where the 2-3 weeks time is great: to catch up!!)

This week was HST

I used fabric donated, and I will make this to a baby quilt (2x2 layout).

Colors are terrible in the picture because it was night and I didn't want to wait to take the picture :)

--

The only other thing I made are two more blocks for the Splendid Sampler

Block 42

Bonus block

--
How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

A new obsession: pillow cases (and a link party)

Back in productive mode, with a new obsession...

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - June block ready and QAYG assembly started!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - three pillow cases done (+ 4 labels) (see below)!!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) 2 more blocks done (cannot share)
3. Minion QAL - Girl Minion done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - received May blocks! (see below)
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - heard back... will make few more blocks
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

--
I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
I decided to make a matching pillow case for each quilt.

3 new hot dog pillow cases: tutorial by Jennifer @ sewhooked

The tutorial is sooooooooo easy and fast... that I couldn't stop to one pillow case per quilt... I am making some extras because they are so fun!
I have seen this tutorial and pillow cases a lot, but I've always thought: "well, it's just a pillow case, I have pillow cases so I don't need more"... well... I realized that store bought pillow cases are just boring and now I want to turn my entire stash into pillowcases for me!! :) :) I won't do it, but expect to see some fun Tula and other colorful pillow cases for me here in the next future! :) :)

I also embroidered four labels so that they are ready to be added to the quilts after quilting!! :)

--
The other only thing I can share is another Minion

Girl Minion by Jennifer Rowles

I also designed my final quilt. I will have some alternative blocks and a different overall design... stay tuned for more.

--

And finally I received the two blocks from my Hello Block Swap partners (Amy and Audrey).

Aren't they amazing?!?!?

My dresden and log cabin patterns available on this page

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Uninspired but moving on (and a link party)

I kind of lost my sewing mojo this week... but I try to keep going because it will come back eventually!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - June block pattern almost ready!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - one quilt done (see below)!!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) maybe will drop this
3. Minion QAL - Vampire Minion (Minion block) one block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - waiting for June
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - waiting to hear about the blocks sent before making more
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

--
I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
I finally convinced myself to sit and do some FMQ on this quilt!

Dimensions: 60'' x 40''

I just decided to do some medium meander, some weird flowery things in the center and then I tried to do something different on the stars... that part is not great :) but I finally fully understand why I don't like quilting!
1. I love working with busy fabric... and that means that the quilting is hardly visible so I struggle a lot understanding what I am doing and at the end the quilting is not much visible anyway so why bother to struggle? :)
2. I don't like the continuos sound of the sewing machine! I love to piece, but I like the short burst of sewing followed by the silence of cutting that paper piecing requires. I don't even like chain piecing! My brain just goes into anxiety mode if I hear that sound for more than 15 seconds apparently :) 

Well, I guess I will have to find ways to enjoy it anyway and I think that using the walking foot (and stopping a lot) or doing all over meander that are very unstructured could help me with these issues.

--
The other only thing I convinced myself to stitch is another Minion

Vampire Minion by Jennifer Rowles

These blocks are sooooo fun to make!! The next one is half done so I should have it by next week.

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Planning and progress (and a link party)

My "ten days of finishing project" are over and I am back into new blocks new projects mode!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - April block has been released... it's technically free, so if you want to check it out and get back in the free QAL group, that's your chance!
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - no progress
2. The SK project - no progress
3. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - quilted and bound! (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Block Swap Adventure -  dropped out, group with too little  interactions. I will replace this with the Hello Block Swap! :)
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - quilt top 90% done (see below)
6. Splendid Sampler - 2 blocks done, I am back! (see below)
7. SECRET quilt 1 for exhibit - (FDJ) started pulling fabric for first block
8. SECRET quilt 2 for exhibit - (Breaking free) no progress
9. Road Home Row-A-Long - designed the entire row (cannot share yet)
10. 70273 Project - 2 blocks done (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
7. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

---
Let me start by setting the goals for the Finish-ALong Q2:

1. FDJ quilt for exhibit - current state: designed and fabric selected
2. Breaking free for exhibit - current state: designed, no idea about fabric yet
3. Table runner for Art with Fabric Blog Hop - current state: designed, have fabric, need to start
4. Bargello/Cathedral window charity quilt - current state: done quilting and binding yesterday but label and washing is missing
5. American Quilt - current state: quilt top 90% done, need extra border and quilting/binding
6. Play with me QAL - current state: 6 QAYG blocks done, three to finish the design, then I just need to join and bind
7. Charity quilt 1, flowers - current state: top done, maybe need extra border?
8. Charity quilt 2, Allietare - current state: top done, need quilting and finishing
9. Charity quilt 3, baby quilt - current state: pieces for the top cut, need assembly and everything else

I think this list is long enough :)

--
This is this month pattern: Go board (done with embroidery).

If you want details on how to get the pattern

visit this link!

We have about 50 people playing along, it is so fun!!

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

--

Finally my American Quilt top is done (almost)

Center: Americana QAL block made by me

Border: Snail Trails block received in my Block Swap Adventure

Quilt top inspected and approved by my sewing helper :) :) :)

I realized it a little bit too narrow for my tastes... so I will add a red scrappy piano border and then I will probably send it off to quilt because I won a gift certificate so why not take advantage of that and explore quilting services? It would be my first time, I am a little nervous, but I am sure it will be great!

--

Back in the Splendid Sampler journey. I made the April blocks and I will catch up on the missed one this week.

Block 15 and 16

--

This will be my contribution 70273 Project. For now just two blocks, but I designed the paper piecing pattern, so I can print and make more with my scraps!

If you want the pattern, please get in touch with me and I will send it to you. I will share it soon for download but if you want it directly in your mailbox, just email me! :)

I hope you will join this project! 

Jeanne is trying to collect 70273 blocks so she needs all the help she can get!!

--

I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

Cathedral window+donated block (front 1, left), Bargello Elm Street Quilt (front 2, right)

Size: 39'' x 41''

Still missing label and washing

--

Have you heard about Ello? It is basically Instagram without ads, no weird algorithm to show you only what they want you to see, no selling data, and it is for creative artists! :)

I never joined IG because I felt the goal was more about "showing off" than focusing on creativity, so even if I know there is a good quilting community there (which is creative and inspiring) I never felt it was the right place for me. Ello sounds much more fun!

It is a relatively new platform, so it has some issues (not too fast because it is still in beta but it's getting better, the signup is easy but if you don't pay attention the default groups that you are "following" may not be the ones you want, etc). If you want to join, it is free and there is a fast-growing quilting community. For helpful tips and finding your quilting tribe, you can read what the coordinator of the account @elloquilt says!

My handle is @alida-tweloq and to bring the community together I decided to coordinate a Block Swap!

You don't need to have an Ello account to join! Just fill this form http://goo.gl/forms/upr4FSDW6x to leave me your contact if you are interested. I am still collecting general info to see who is interested in what. I highly recommend to have an account, as I plan to post reminders, pictures of blocks, etc over there!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Holiday projects (and a link party)

Slow but steady this week.

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Block Swap Adventure - just received Dec partner info, need to decide on what to make
2. Charity quilts - one quilt top done (see below)
3. Americana QAL - no progress
4. 2016 QAL (secret) - no progress
5. Allietare QAL - second clue done (see below)
6. Knitted hand warmers - maybe I will make another one, but not sure
7. Jane T - no progress
8. Xmas present 1 - knitted scarf: done! (see below)
9. Xmas present 2 - crochet caterpillar, no progress
10. Pantone Color of the Year 2016 - did you see what they picked? need to think about what to make with those colors :)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
3. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. the Ender project - no progress
6. Embroidery calendar - no progress
7. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
8. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
9. As You Wish -  no progress
10. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
11. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
12. B quilt - no progress

--
Another Xmas present is done!
My first try at knitting a bigger project (I just did 2 pairs of hand warmers before today)

Pattern by favecrafts 

(the pattern has some missing brackets and * but it's easy to understand where the repeats are)

The scarf is still in blocking stage, but I really like how it looks. I don't like knitting though :)
Small pieces like hand warmers are ok, but bigger pieces like this are harder on my hands and brain :) plus I am not able to undo rows that have mistakes: it's easy to do it with crochet, but when knitting, everything is super unstable if you start undoing rows. So I just left the mistakes in there and they are pretty visible in cool and clean patterns like the one below. But despite the goofs I like the finished scarf.

--

The second clue of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery QAL is out. I decided to follow along, but I will make 1/4 of the units because I don't need a big quilt and I am not sure if I will like the design :)

I decided to go with brighter colors: cyan/aqua/teal (instead of red) and bright yellow (instead of gold). I will probably donate this quilt to charity as a baby quilt, so I want it to be fun and colorful!

For this clue, I was a little nervous about the "sets". I want it to be very scrappy because I didn't pick a constant grey so I am a little worried that now these "set" units will make the design look too "planned" and not scrappy enough to sustain the scrappy grey... however I decided to take the leap and not mix up the grey and neutrals in the units. So each set is the same, but they are different from each other.

I don't like chain stitching, I get bored, distracted and then I make mistakes :)

That's why I used chain stitching but I alternated two projects: the mystery quilt and the charity quilt (see below). And my sewing buddy helped keeping the chain stitching fun and challenging :)

Second clue of Bonnie's mystery QAL... 

with my new pattern Holiday Gingy to wish you Happy Holidays :) 

Linking up at the Monday Link-up party!

The pattern for Holiday Gingy will be available soon on Fandom in Stitches! :)

--
And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

One more quilt top done!

Toddler quilt top - 64 x 46 inches

This is a project from my long Q4 list of projects! (Project 5. in the list)...
This is not done, but it's a good progress since the initial state was "I have the fabric, but I don't know what to do with that" :).
This is a super simple pattern, I saw some quilts online somewhere and I grabbed that idea but I cannot find it any more to link it here :( it's a very very simple pattern overall: it's just alternation of squares and nine patches, but the color placement makes it a "granny square" look. I think it's a perfect pattern for big prints, and for sure it's a quick and easy pattern.

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

So much to share (and a link party)!

Few secret pieces revealed and several finishes!!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Block Swap Adventure - paused until Dec
   (but making scrappy blocks for block lotto, see below)
2. Charity quilts - one quilt done (see below)
3. Americana QAL - no progress
4. Adam's wall hanging - finally I can show this off!! (see below)
5. 2016 QAL (secret) - no progress
6. Allietare QAL - first clue done (see below)
7. Knitted hand warmers - another pair done (see below)
8. Jane T - no progress
9. Xmas present 1 - knitted scarf (done about 15 inches)
10. Xmas present 2 - crochet caterpillar (found pattern)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
3. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. the Ender project - no progress
6. Embroidery calendar - no progress
7. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
8. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
9. As You Wish -  no progress
10. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
11. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
12. B quilt - no progress

--
Finally I can reveal a big project I am super proud of!!

Happy Pigeon - 20 x 20 inches

A while ago I decided to participate in the AMB challenge and I made a mini inspired by the wonderful work of Adam Lister (adamlistergallery.com) and his interpretation of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night". If you want to read more about that project, you can read the whole story in this post.

After I sent Adam the picture of the quilt, he said that he really liked it and that he wanted a quilt for himself :) so he proposed a trade: I make a mini for him, and he makes a painting for me. Of course I thought this idea was wonderful! He sent me a picture of a old painting he made ("Pigeon") and he said that my mini would be used as a decoration for his daughter room (she is one year old).

So I decided to mix up his style with my own... so I made a very square horizontal/vertical style background, and I quilted it. Then I designed the pigeon to have fun angles and I paper pieced that block. I then appliqued the big pigeon on the background.

Once I completed the mini, I decided to make a little something for Adam as well... because everyone needs a little custom handmade object! So I made him this little mug rug.

Nintendo Mug Rug (9 x 4 inches)

--

Another couple of Xmas presents are done!

Hand warmers for a friend (I really love the cable pattern... and they are extra comfy too)

Pattern by weezalana (knittywhipped.blogspot.com) 

And a little crochet bag for one of her kids: because every little lady needs a cute bag, right?

Pattern by Sara (tangledhappy.com)

--
In our Block Swap Adventure group we decided to add extra things to swap, just to make it more fun. Next year we are going to run a block lotto, where each month one person will win a bunch of scrappy 16 patches (1 inch finished little squares, each block measures 4.5 unfinished). Each month we will enter 4 blocks in the drawing... I used this project as a "break" between other more "brain demanding" projects as here there is no thinking needed: just grab squares and sew!

Two months of squares are ready to be entered in the block lotto drawing!!

--

The first clue of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery QAL is out. I decided to follow along, but I will make 1/4 of the units because I don't need a big quilt and I am not sure if I will like the design :) I loved the Celtic Solstice, but I didn't like the one done last year (which I didn't follow along anyway).

This time, I am still not sure if I am going to use her colors or replace the red with blue.
I have many more blues than red... we'll see...
In the meantime I already made a change from her instructions, as I decided to use a scrappy grey instead of a constant fabric... we'll see if this will work or not :)

Some of my trimmed HST... and a pile of many more to trim!

Linked up at the Monday Link-up party!

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

One more quilt done!

Baby quilt - 40 x 40 inches

This is a project from my long Q4 list of projects! (Project 2. in the list)...
and I completed TEN projects since the beginning of October! WooooH me :)

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Learning new skills (and a link party)

Good project this week and a new skill learned!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. SYS2015 future projects - Nov project shared early this week and missing tutorial skill learned! (see below)
2. Block Swap Adventure - partner assigned, Oct blocks received (see below)
3. Charity quilts - next top done (see below)
4. Zipper pouches - paused for a while
5. Americana QAL - received Nov pattern
6. Applique pictures - done! (see below)
7. Adam's wall hanging - no progress
8. 2016 QAL (secret) - no progress
9. Allietare QAL - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
3. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. the Ender project - no progress
6. Embroidery calendar - no progress
7. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
8. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
9. As You Wish -  no progress
10. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
11. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
12. B quilt - no progress

--
These are the blocks I received from Cathy from Australia!
Two great blocks and the most wonderful aboriginal fabric ever!!!

--
This is a project that will be included in a Xmas present. I will fill a photo collage with pictures, but I wanted to add something different, so I made these two blocks as we identify with these two characters  :)

This is a project from my long Q4 list of projects! (Project 10. in the list)
--
I have to be honest with you: I organized the Stretch Your Skills series basically to "force" myself to learn or practice some crafts that I usually ignore (like crochet) or to learn some that I never tried before (like EPP or knitting).

Here is more of my EPP (this is for a secret project).

And when the knitting tutorial was cancelled, I was super sad :(

I tried knitting about 20 years ago and I didn't really like it because of the "boring" look of knit/purl flat scarfs (that was the only thing I could learn from my mom as she was not a knitter herself). Plus I had to use those long and heavy metal needles and my kids hands really didn't like them.

In preparation of the SYS knitting tutorial, I started looking around for knitting needles and I discovered that heavy metal needles were not the only option. So I bought myself a set of bamboo double pointed needles and a set of bamboo/plastic circular needles... not even knowing what they are used for! :) :)

Having the yarn and needles and no SYS project to use them for, I started looking around for a simple project that used circular needles and not just "boring" knit/purl. Then one day I found a perfect project: small, with a fun design and useful... knitted mitts!

After watching several youtube videos (as I had no idea how the circular needles work) I decided to jump right in and make the mitts! I knew that I was using the wrong size needle but the right size was too thin and my stitches too tight. So I decided to use the first mitt as a "test" project, to practice the stitches, getting comfortable with the process, design and gauge. I will count it as "left done" for the purpose of finishes projects linkys as it is technically done (and not even too big), but it has holes here and there (I don't know how it happened but I got confused several times on which thread to use for stitches increases, so it must be that). I will redo it after I finish the right one.

Pattern by weezalana (knittywhipped.blogspot.com) 

My impression on knitting: I absolutely love it! even if I am slow at it...
The circular bamboo/plastic needles are just wonderful! They are light and easy to work with, perfect for projects-on-the-go, they fold easily and they keep the project safe without the need of needle tops.
I still struggle because I don't "see" the stitches (meaning that if everything is done properly, it's cool... but if I make a mistake, I don't know where I messed up and I don't know how to undo it properly), but I guess this will come with practice (I had the same experience with crochet).

--
And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

I finally finished another top! In this I included orphan blocks from one donation, with fabric from a second donation, charms from a third donation and fabric from my stash! I really love to include a little bit of love from different people!

Now I have 2 quilts done and 3 tops to quilt... yes, I don't like the quilting part, but I will work on that next week so maybe I will report a finish next week!!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Halloween: a horror story of FMQ (and a link party)

Horror story about my experience with free motion quilting (FMQ)...

The Ongoing Project List:

1. SYS2015 future projects - waiting for Oct project
2. Block Swap Adventure - waiting for Oct project
3. Charity quilts - second quilt done! (see below)
4. Happy Halloween wall hanging - started quilting, horror story! (see below)
   This is my project for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" (Oct)
5. Zipper pouches - paused for a while
6. Americana QAL - waiting for Oct project
7. Applique pictures - new project, done designing

The EverythingElse List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
3. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. the Ender project - no progress
6. Embroidery calendar - no progress
7. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
8. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
9. As You Wish -  no progress
10. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
11. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
12. B quilt - no progress

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Jennifer put a call for designers to design a Halloween fandom piece and I couldn't pass on that!
I was so inspired that in a day I designed the block and tested it!

Peanuts in a Pumpkin

One patterns, two different characters! Just switching the color and the embroidery details!

More Fandom/Halloween patterns will be shared on Oct 31st on Fandom in Stitches, so make sure to stop by and see many new cool designs!!

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Happy Halloween wall hanging. This is my project for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" (Oct).
I finished the last block

Pattern by Janeen (with colors changed to get a calico look)

Pumpkin is posing next to her fabric portrait :)

Until here, everything was fine, 

Actually it was great, because I completed all the blocks and I could go on and assemble the top. That went pretty smoothly too (even if I calculated the overall size wrong and I had to rearrange a little bit my blocks from the original plans).

And then the horror begins...
Since I wanted to get more practice on FMQ (I started with the quilt below and went pretty well) I decided to use this piece to keep practicing! Since it's a wall hanging for us and doesn't have to be perfect after all...

As you can see in the picture, there are a ton of heavily PP blocks with bulky seams everywhere... I didn't think that would be such a big problem if I go slowly and try to go around those areas... well... I was wrong :(

First of all I couldn't really keep a consistent speed because the foot keep getting stuck (even if I adjusted its height). This created super small stitches and super long ones... not pretty... but not the worst part either. Every 10 minutes (max) I broke a needle!! HORROR... I tried all possible things to avoid that: change direction, change speed, be more careful on where exactly I stitch, change the size of the needle... nothing made a difference :( I quilted maybe half of the piece and broke 6-7 needles. I had to stop because now I only have 2 needles in the house and I cannot afford to break another one before buying more needles!
On the good side, this forced me to change my needle, which is something I don't do quite often normally ;)

Oh well... I guess I learned the hard way why people like to quilt negative spaces or simply pieced tops! The quilting went pretty smoothly in ares where just a charm of fabric was there...
Oh well, I will practice more FMQ on my charity quilts, where I have big panels and simple piecing! I like the overall process as it's much faster than using my walking foot.

--
And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

I am happy to report that I made some blocks to accompany the stars blocks donated few weeks ago! 

Star blocks donated by Dolores and 

my first try at cathedral windows by Jean (Missouri Star Quilt Co)

I already designed the rest of this quilt so we may have another baby quilt top done soon!

And another finish was added to the pile!

Size: 40'' x 40''

The first quilt I ever FMQ on!!

This was my success story in FMQ! I did meander on the bargello sections and spirals in the white corner. It turned out pretty consistent and nice for my first attempt!

The success is mainly because of the use of the best trick I read on the internet: a Teflon cookie sheet! :)

I was thinking to buy those "supreme sliders" and similar to cover my extension table and make it easy to FMQ. Reading the reviews on Amazon I realized that while people loved them, they were "complaining" about the fact that it was not fitting properly their machine and that they had to tape it down. Then one comment said something like "it's just those cheap reusable cookie sheet you get for few dollars" so I said "well... if it's just like that, why don't I buy those, cut it and tape it to my extension table and see how it goes?!?". I did that and absolutely love it! I could put the hole exactly where I wanted it, cut it to size and tape it to be stable. The good thing is that it's taped to the extension table and always ready to go, easy and fast setup for FMQ!

I tried to FMQ with my feed dog down, but I heard that it may cause issues with the stitch quality. So I decided to keep them up, even if my machine doesn't have the option of 0 stitch length. The solution was simple: just add some layers of cookie sheet/tape on the back to cover the mat and protect it from getting eaten up by the feed dog! Of course this is not a permanent solution, but it serves the purpose and since the hole is easy accessible from the back of the extension table, changing the broken tape is not a big deal! Using this method I got more consistent stitching and I was having fun FMQ (at least before the horror story on the other piece ;) )

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Ups and Downs (and a link party)

Sunday I had wonderful progress... then I got hit by a cold :( oh, well, some progress was made anyway!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. SYS2015 future projects - working on SYS tutorials, waiting for Oct project
2. Block Swap Adventure - waiting for Oct project
3. Charity quilts - another quilt top done! (see below)
4. Happy Halloween wall hanging - one block done! (see below)
   This is my project for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" (Sept)
5. Zipper pouches - paused for a while
6. Americana QAL - Sept block done (see below)
7. Applique pictures - new project, started designing

The EverythingElse List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
3. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. the Ender project - no progress
6. Embroidery calendar - no progress
7. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
8. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
9. As You Wish -  no progress
10. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
11. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
12. B quilt - no progress

--
September block for my Americana QAL is a Sunbonnet Sue, my first applique try at this very traditional block!

Pattern by Deana

Americana QAL

--
Happy Halloween wall hanging. This is my project for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" (Sept).

One more block done... just one last cat block is missing!!

Pattern by Sonja (with slight changes to include tuxedo look)

Halloween Kitty

--
And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

I am happy to report that I received a great donation from Gigi! 

Orphan blocks that are going to find their ways into future charity quilts!

And I already used some of last week donation: I cut some of the fabric in 10 inches square and tried another of Jean's block from a video tutorial!

Disappearing Hourglass (Missouri Star Quilt Co)

After making those blocks I couldn't stop and I pieced together another top (the first toddler size)!

 about 40''x60''

(I know, the piece needs ironing ;) )

I really like using these big prints as they make a full quilt top come together super fast!!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up