Tetris top done!

Wohoo!  I finished my Tetris Quilt Along top!  I am so in love with it!

Here it is in all its glory.  Yes, there are more blocks than we did for the quilt along, but I started my blocks with 2.5" squares.  And after I put it all together I realized my math wasn't adding up and then it hit me... I didn't use a .25" foot and that made my finished squares 1.875".  So it is smaller than I thought it would be... sigh... But I still love it!

The measurements are 46" by 66".
I made 4 times the blocks from the QAL.
There are 864 squares in this quilt.
There are 207 unique fabrics... no repeats in the tetris pieces.

I love the look from the back, almost like stained glass...

Clock to make bigger to see some of where the fabrics are from. 

I used fabrics that I have had forever and just a few new ones.  I have some "what was I thinking fabrics", some scraps from quilts I made for friends, and ones from the scrap bin.

I love love love this and wish I made it bigger.  I have very few fabrics left, though, that I haven't used yet.  Oh well.  ( I may be able to sneak in a couple more rows... hmm...)

Now to piece the back :)  That is going to be super fun, too.

Check out the other fun tops from the QAL at Happy Quilting.

Edited to say...
I couldn't help myself and added a few more blocks.  (Yes it required some unpicking and moving of blocks so it blends, but it is so worth it)
Now it is 46"x72"
There are 936 2.5" squares in this quilt.
There are 225 unique fabrics in this quilt.

OK, now I am really working on piecing my back.  :)

Matthew's Birthday (and his new journal)

Last Friday my my nephew's 7th birthday.  I can't believe that Matthew is 7 already!  I remember the day he was born, holding him when he was only 12 hours old.  He was a half a yard long when he was born (18') and only 5 lbs.  Now he is 7 and starting 2nd grade.  

For his birthday he asked for books.  So I bought him the first 4 of the Magic Tree House series.  I also bought him The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  For something special I made him a journal cover using this tutorial from Stitched in Color, which I paired with crayons and pencils.  He opened it, hugged it, and said it was so soft he wanted to sleep with it.  I free pieced the little triangles and just added strips here and there to make the cover to be the size I needed.  It was so much easier to make than how I made them in the past.  

The best quote of the day from him, though, was when he opened a gift from my other sister. She gave him and ant farm, haha!  He screamed, "I get to live with ants!"  Too funny.  :)

He was very good  with his little (super) brother getting into his presents.  It was great to be able to celebrate this special day.  I love to spend time with my little guys.  

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Tetris QAL week 6

Here are my week 6 blocks of the Tetris QAL.  I was so excited working on these blocks I forgot to take pictures before I sewed them into the quilt.  Oops... here they are.

Week 6 a

Week 6 b

They are sewn into the quilt already, but I am waiting to finish the entire top to show you.  Love this so much!  This quilt will be mine all mine :)

To check out everyone's blocks this week head over to Melissa's at Happy Quilting.

Goodbye Singer 538 :(

I got the call yesterday... Mom's sewing machine has sewn its last stitch. Her Singer Stylist 538 will be no more  :(

On Sunday she came to me and said, "the needle is hitting something in the bobbin case!".  So I went to check it out and something moved in the bobbin case and the needle no longer went all the way down.  As I was turning the hand wheel something felt off, like something inside was slipping.  I really wanted to take it apart and see what was wrong, but I didn't.  I was good.  Tuesday I dropped it at my LQS, he is not a certified Singer repair man, but he can fix them and is certified for other machines (Baby lock, Viking, Bernina).  He called and said that there is gear problems inside it and it would be $175 to fix it... $175!!!  Mom is super upset that her machine is broken because that is her machine, that is the only one she wants to sew on.  She got it brand new in the late 70's and loves it.  I can't even get her to sew on mine!

So I am slowly trying to put the idea in her head that a new machine might be nice.  We are going to do some checking and see what we can find.  She wants a "basic machine" (I told her to use my treadle machine is she wanted basic... she didn't find that funny).

Her old singer had all the disc for every stitch you can imagine so she wants a lot of stitch variation.  She wants a drop in bobbin, she doesn't like my front load one.  She said no computer at first, but I think a close friend who has a worse machine addition than I do convinced that computer isn't that bad (thanks Linda!).  I told her she might like the automatic needle threading (she said no) and automatic tension adjustment  (she almost jumped for joy at that).  Oh and she really wants one that will fit into her cabinet.  That is the only thing I am really worried about because it was made for her Singer.

I am sad to see the machine go.  I learned to sew on it and made countless projects before I had my own machine.  My first quilt was made on that machine when I was 17.  I made so many store samples for Rag Shop when I worked there on it... dresses, bags, pillows, and quilts.
I think it will have to come home and live with my other machines because I can't say goodbye to it yet.

If anyone has suggestions of good machines that won't cost more than $500 I would love them.  Thanks!

Or if you think the $175 is worth paying to fix it that would be great to know.  I am still thinking of heading to the certified Singer guy, but I need a ride to that because I can't drive that far right now.

iPad Case

The other day I was playing with my fun batik strips that I pulled from the scrap box at my LQS.  I love all the colors they had in there that day.  I am guessing that they must have been cutting kits because they are all in the same color pallet and range in size from 1.5" to almost 2.5".  

They look so pretty in their little bin.

I was thinking that they would be perfect for a case and since I just made a kindle one for mom, why not make an iPad one for dad.  I pulled out the strips that were the most masculine and pieced them together onto some sew in interfacing.     I made the piece for the outside 21.5" x 9".  I added some fuseable fleece and sandwiched my layers with a white lining that I added batik strips to the end of so it looked pretty along the top edge.  

I sewed it (adding a hair tie for a closure in the stitching), turned it right side out stitched up the end, did some straight line stitching, and then tada... all done!

Dad's new iPad case.

Dad said he liked it when I gave it to him.  It took a few days for him to look at it and realize that it was fully lined and soft for traveling... then he liked it more.

I am linking up to Linky Party Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

Tetris QAL week 5

I keep getting my blocks in just under the wire for my quilt along.  Tuesdays seem to come quickly lately.  Ok this week I was a slacker since I spent a day and a half with my 2 year old nephew attached to me.  Poor little guy had gotten into some poison ivy and apparently he is very allergic.  So Aunt Carolyn to the rescue and I can't complain.  I got to cuddle him all day long and that felt so good.  It was the multiple times we watched the same few episodes of Little Einsteins that I could have done without.  

Ok, back to the topic at hand... here are my blocks.

Week 5a

Week 5b

 And here are all the ones done so far.  I am sad this is almost over and I am thinking it needs to be bigger... hmm... I still have fabrics I haven used yet ;)

Only one more week left for the blocks.  I may be repeating this fun project in the future.  I like the pattern-less effect it gives.  

Head over to the Tetris QAL at Happy Quilting to see all the variations of the blocks that everyone has come up with.  

Tetris QAL Week 4

Here are my tetris blocks for week 4.  I am loving how this quilt is coming together.  I think I will be needing to make this even bigger.  I guess I will be making up a few more blocks to expand this once all my other blocks are done.

So blocks for week 4...

Week 4 a

Week 4 b

Here are my two catch up blocks since I started doubling them after the second week.  So this is week 1 b and week 2 b.

Week 1 b 

Week 2 b 

And here are all the blocks for the first 4 weeks together.  

So loving how this is coming together!  Check out the other fun blocks at the Tetris QAL!  (Link on the side)

Pillow Shams Completed

I finally finished the pillow shams for my mom.  No, I didn't finish the hand stitched pillows yet... but I promise soon.  

I alternated the dark shell fabric with the light blue starfish fabric.  When they sit on the bed they will alternate the same way.  I quilted down the middle of the white on white nautical fabric with a straight line.  After I quilted it, I serged the edge and then put the back on.  After I turned it right-side-out I then top stitched around the edge about a quarter inch in from the edge.

I backed it with a coordinating plaid (I think it is from the Stella line).  I am loving it so much that I think I will need to pick up more of it sometime soon.  I did a simple envelope style back to make it easy to take them off and wash them.

I am linking up with Linky Party Tuesday at Quilting by the River and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

Tetris QAL Week 3

I had these done early, but it just took me this long to get a chance to put the pictures on my computer.

Week 3a

Week 3b

Wait, why are there two blocks you ask... well because I decided I wanted my quilt to be bigger.  I am making my blocks with 2.5" blocks (out of my scrap bin).  I decided that I wanted this to be a quilt for me, instead of for the pack and play ( I have a couple for that already).  So I am doubling up the blocks.  I have plenty of fabrics to add to this so I won't have to double up on any for my pieces.

Week 3 a and b

Week 1,2 and 3 a and b

I also have week 2 b done and week 1 b is on the table waiting to be sewn.  I will have to finish it tomorrow.  

Head on over to the Tetris QAL (on my sidebar) to see all the fabulous blocks made for week 3.