My Protege . . . .

Last fall I got myself a Protege.

She wanted to learn how to make a quilt, 

and I was happy to oblige! 

We started with some 5" blocks I already had cut up.

We talked about colors and value.

Design and balance.

She caught on very quickly!

Her favorite subject is math, although she LOVES to read as well.

Math!  Yeah, quilting is tons of math and geometry!

So we met on Sundays for a couple of hours most weeks.

She learned the importance of a 1/4" seam

and how it makes your design line up correctly.

There were only a couple of jack the ripper moments.

(I bought her her own seam ripper, every girl needs one!)

After a few weeks the borders went on and Tada!

A quilt top was born.

Next up basting on the floor.

I let her do this, her back is much younger than mine!

She stitched in the ditch . . . 

And stitched in the ditch some more . . 

Then onto marking the borders with tailors chalk

for some straight line quilting.

One afternoon we had some time to kill between steps,

and I decided it would be fun to fool around with my chevron quilt.

My Protege helped me figure out a much design.

A better shot of the finished top.

She is awesome!  My protege, I mean!  ;)

We practiced sewing on binding on a small block.

Practiced those corners.

Then she was ready to sew her binding on!

I swear she picked this binding herself! 

(Haha, maybe she saw one of my other quilts.)

Binding sewn on,

now to hand sew on the back.

This was a longer process than I thought it would be.

But she stuck in there!

Even had Mocha sitting on her lap one day.

Mocha looks pretty comfy huh?

And now today . . . 

FINI!

A finished quilt. 

Quite an accomplishment.

I'm so proud of my protege.

She is smart, fun, determined and delightful.

Now I think we will take a turn at making some bags.

Hehe . . . . 

Thanks My Protege for all the fun!

A Lazy Sewing Sunday . . .

What a spectacular day in the northeast today.

I couldn't decide what to do first.

So I went for a nice long walk by the water to collect my thoughts.

When I returned I was ready for a bit of sewing.

I am working on a donation quilt right now.

A medallion of sorts.

It is inspired by one of Kathy's quilts at Material Obsession.

I can't find the picture right now, but I promise to show it in the next post.

While we were at Quilting by the Lake,

Kathy spoke about contrast and helping your piece pop.

I realized that while I use a ton of rich color,

sometimes there is not enough contrast.

So I am working on that.

This little project was started a month ago,

and has been hanging around ever since.

It is going to be a wreath.

It is taking FOREVER to tie all those scraps.

But I will keep at it, because I think it will be really fun.

Like my sewing corner?

It has reached the tipping point again.

A total chaotic mess.

I can barely cut anything.

This week I am going to visit my niece, nephew and family.

I wanted to find a cute little doll for my niece, one, who I haven't met yet.

Have you been to Toys U Us lately?

OMG, I know I am old because I was wandering around like

a shock victim.  I was asked if I needed help three times.

I was just trying to find a sweet baby doll for a little girl.

They all looked like they were on crack.

So I settled for this sweet little Peebles.

Soft, sweet and a red head.  Perfect!

On another note . . . 

I spent yesterday afternoon in the city.

In Bryant Park.

With some hilarious, very fun peeps.

You know who  you are!

Hope you had as much fun this weekend as I did!

Sweat Shop Sunday . . .

Well, sweat shop weekend really . . . 

So good to be home with nothing more to do than what 

I really want to!

I am almost done quilting the wedding quilt 

for my cousin and his bride. . .

And I started and almost finished a baby quilt for 

a friend that is going to visit his first grandson!

  

OWEN!

My friend has four girls!

And this is the first grandchild, a son! 

Hehe.  Love that.

I used Tonya Ricucci's book for guidance on the letters.

This is a GREAT book!

I also used clips for the first time for the binding.

No stabbing bleeding fingers.

Why did I resist?

Must be that redheaded thing . . . 

My two weekend projects one peeking out from underneath. 

on another note . . . 

How about this great gate I found?

I can say that many quilts will be photographed here 

in the future!

And the jean pillow has found a happy home

going off to college in a few weeks!

The perfect place to tuck a phone that is also an alarm.

Hope you got to do exactly what you wanted to do this weekend!

Sweat Shop Sunday . . .

It was a very hot and humid Sunday here,

so I decided to stay in and sew all day.

And I really did! I didn't get distracted at all. Hehe.

Yesterday I was at the thrift shop down the street and bought 

these cute kids jeans.  Three pairs, one dollar!  Love that!

Let the up-cycling begin!

I have wanted to make one of these wine bags after seeing 

it on Pinterest.  I added some trims for the bow.

So easy!

I was also going to make another jean purse, but I cut too short,

So a jean pillow . . .

This is my pinned photo, don't know what happened to my final photo.

I just whipped stitched the top in a matching double thread.

I think it needs a belt, or maybe some decorative pins  . . . 

Another easy peasy project.

After that little warm up, it was onto the wedding quilt!

I am doing it scrappy, so my sewing table has become 

a tornado of triangles!

I cranked up the tunes and sewed for hours.

Here is the squared top.

I did piece the back too, but something needs to be a surprise

for the bride and groom!

Layering this week and let the quilting begin!

on another note . . . 

You must have seen all the hoopla about 

the Double Wedding Ring Challenge that our

NYC Metro Modern Guild is hosting with a slew of sponsors.

My blog hop post is Wednesday and I have rulers and fabric to give away.

Make sure you stop back on Wednesday for a chance to win!

Hope you had a great weekend.

Catching up . . .

Where do the days go?

I seem to be quite distracted these days,

and haven't been doing a lot of sewing.

 I did finish my Whites-Lights quilt in time for our 

Metro Mod Guild meeting last weekend.

I love the way it turned out.

The quilting took a while, but was totally worth it!

This quilt is off at it's new home,

and was greatly appreciated by the special person who received it.

I also finally got my November Bee block off in the mail!

Sorry Dorothy!

I made you two, and they were fun!

My Jack Frost wreath got a bow and was dropped off

at the Nature Center for their auction.

I hope it did well . . . 

And now onto a new project!

I should really finish one of the 8 tops I have, but . . .

Look at all that yummy color just calling to me!

Ha!  Hope you are enjoying the weekend and the holidays.

A Lazy Sunday Sewing . . .

It has been a busy Thanksgiving weekend around here.

I got to see my niece and nephew and take them into the city . . .

I visited with lots of friends and family . . . 

And I did a little bit of sewing . . .

I wanted to do more, but I'm lazy today . . . 

I have been quilting my White's-Lights challenge quilt,

and it is coming along nicely.

Yes, I seem to need my reading glasses for everything now.

(I even had to put a larger font size on my phone.  Arrrrgh!)

I have the binding picked out and ready to go.

Hoping to finish this baby for our Metro Mod meeting next Saturday.

I also had the pleasure of visiting a baby quilt 

that I made 18 years ago!

This is a well loved quilt!

No one is allowed to touch it!  HA!

You can't believe that it is still holding together,

just by a "thread"!  Haha.

I am so thrilled that it has been so well loved.

And I'm told it is going to college next year.

I think I might need to make a little pillowcase for it to go into!

On another note . . . 

I received this beautiful wool felted hat this week!

It is a thank you gift from Carolyn for my writing of the cap tutorial!

How sweet is that!!  She made this!

It went on it's first of many chilly walks today and it was perfect.

Thanks Carolyn!

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend . . . 

Now back to reality! Whatever that is . . .