good morning sunshine.

It is hard to believe that the king sized quilt is finished, and all of it's crinkly goodness is on our bed.  I feel like a new momma photographing her precious little bundle of joy.

a few stats:

there are 440 - 5" squares 

machine pieced

hand quilted using perle 8 cotton thread

(the quilting was done loosely)

binding was first sewn on by machine

and then stitched by hand

made with love

linking to :

feathered nest friday

real life.

 

This is the beast I am taming today.  Hopefully, it will be finished by the end of the day.  You know how this sort of deal goes.  Things always look worse before they look better!  

All of Nathan's bedroom furniture (this use to be his room) was taken away last night by family members who purchased it for their little guy.  And so now, I am in the process of making this room, well, mine.  

Last week we (by we, I mean Woody) cleaned the carpets, and they are just like new!  As much as I love our hardwood floors, there is just something so comfy about having carpet under foot. 

The king sized quilt was flipped last night and now quilting vertically.  It is so close to being finished I can hardly wait!  I will show you when this stage is finished.  Binding and washing is next!  Yay!  Light at the end of the tunnel!!

Here is a little sneak peek at my Shortcake quilt :

All the blocks are finished and situated in a happy little pile, waiting their turn at the sewing machine. 

And remember this guy :

The batting arrived and the backing is ready to go ... just need a little bit of time.

After my room is situated the way it needs to be and everything is organized,  then I can start working on finishing up my projects.  I have a stack of quilt tops, that will be Christmas presents, that still need to be quilted, and as they are finished, I will show you. 

I hope your week is off to a great start!  I just love being productive, and as it appears I have plenty to do!  Thank goodness all my home school grading is completed.  Whew!  Now off to organize!!

half way there.

 I have 11 rows out of 21.  

Quilted.  

On one side.

The quilt still needs to be rotated and have 

the horizontal side quilted as well.

It's funny.  

As much fussing as I did in my mind 

about taking on such a large quilt, 

it really isn't bad.

Truly.  

It is just one stitch at a time.

Soon enough winter will find it's

way to this part of the country and we

will be cozy and warm underneath.

hand quilting.

*edited*

I probably break every proper rule in hand quilting, but it works and I would  be happy to show you how I do it if you would like a tutorial.  I will warn you ahead of time though ... I don't use a thimble, I don't use a hoop, and I don't use the tug and pull method to get my knots hidden under the fabric.  However, it works.  I just happened to have found some short cuts along the way.

I am over the moon giddy that our king sized quilt is finally getting it's turn on the quilting table.  It has sat in my closet awaiting cooler weather.  Grant it, the weather has only dropped a few degrees, but the table is situated under the a/c vent ... just in case.

As you might be able to see, quilting in the ditch is what I decided to do.  It makes a beautiful straight line on this mammoth sized quilt, which means there is no need to draw straight lines with a ruler.  That takes a good deal of time to do, and would not skip it for the world, except in this case, when there is a better alternative.

Here's a little shot of the back.  I needed to piece the quilt with several different fabrics and can't wait to show you all, once the quilt is finished.

 

I took these pictures while the sun was still coming up.

I just love how the rays peek through the shades and

gently wash over the room.  It is so peaceful.

I hope your week is off to a wonderful start.  I apologize for not visiting blogs as much as usual.  Last week was our first week of 10th grade in our home and between building spread sheets (a life saver for me), grading papers, caring for a sick pup, welcoming my husband home ... again ... for like the 6th time this summer (so over his travel schedule), and a fun birthday party for a favorite niece ...

ok- you get the picture.  {he he he}  I am off to read all your lovely blogs and catch up with what is going on in your sweet world.

in my near future.

The jelly roll won out in the competition.
So many of you said to get both ... layer cake and jelly roll ... and all I can say to that is ... I sure wish I had your quilting budget!  They don't call me Ms. Frugal Britches for nothing!

 (king size quilt top, batting, and backing, waiting to be hand quilted,

just as soon as it cools down a little bit)

On another note :

I continue to receive the same question as of late and thought it would be a good idea to address it on my blog.

The question : How are you able to get so much done?

The answer : Oh boy.  How do I answer this question?  I am able to do as much as I do, partly by timing and partly with the fact that I work in stages (ie; still waiting for Joann fabric to put their batting on sale - so I have 4 quilt tops that will be finished all at once - which appears to be a lot of work - but the tops came together quickly).  I have always tried to use my time wisely and one of my favorite quotes reads :

"It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing" - Thomas Jefferson

But I think the best answer as of recent projects would be - I just have a lot of free time on my hands.  As a home school mom of only one now, we are on our summer vacation schedule.  I am a bit of a home body, so no real running to and from, and my recent caring for an elderly couple has come to an end.  I am cleaning a couple of homes for extra spending money (for fabric) as well as contributing to our family budget, but besides that, I don't have a great deal of pressing matters in my life.  Not to mention, quilting is my very favorite new love and passion, for being creative, so that is where my energy is going.  When you make your seconds count, you will be amazed by all that can be accomplished.

I hope that answers this question.  I feel like such a tiny little spot on the web and not the least bit gifted in quilting.  I have never had any formal training and have such a long ways to go.  I start way too many projects and blogging keeps me accountable to finishing them.  All your sweet comments enable me to press on and step beyond my comfort zone.

two things.

 

Easter jumped into my blue fabric box 

just as soon as I made room.

I am able to piece yardage for the back of our king sized quilt.  I will put a 5" strip of fabric right up the middle ... just had not decided which one to use.  
The navy blue flower fabric is the Denise Schmidt line that I found at Joann fabrics (on line).  

The plaid fabric is Pampered Pouch by Chloe's Closet (Moda), then the cream is a basic 100% cotton fabric, purchased at Hobby Lobby.

*** and now for the Pay It Forward results ***

the three individuals chosen through the old fashion way of putting names in hat are :

1.  Debbie at Happy Little Cottage

2.  Kathy at Kathy's Cottage

3.  A Basket of Strawberry Pi

Thank you to those of you who participated and to these dear ladies who won ... I can not wait to get started on your projects!!  :o)  Please email me with your mailing address.

right out of the drier.

I just had to show you what ended up with all the extra rows from my gigantic, over calculated, king sized quilt.  It will be perfect for a couch throw, not too heavy and a nice size for those mid afternoon naps.  

I just love the little cherry fabric binding.  It looks so happy to me!  

You all had such great ideas and I appreciate every one of them.  The king sized batting will be ordered in the next couple of days and I also need to come up with a plan for the backing ... that's a lot of fabric.  

And to answer a question of yours, I will be hand quilting the king sized quilt with perle 8 thread.  I just love that chunky look, don't you?

oh boy.

See my dilemma ???  Perhaps I was a little over zealous in my measurements.  Now to decide how many rows to take off.

over the moon

 

When I won the Moda give a way, I could hardly wait to tell you!

Such cute cute fabric and I have really enjoyed this fabulous book.

Here is a little glimpse of how the hexagons are coming along.  They really are the perfect carry along.
Thank you for sharing your craft of choice when you are not quilting.  It was so fun reading all the different preferences.

Aw ... no more running for a few days and so will spend time getting all the blocks for our king sized bed sewn together.  I have wanted to do this for some time now and so thankful for these free moments.

v is for

voila!

All 25 blocks of 25 squares in each, 

are sewn together!  

Can you hear the angels singing??

Now to press, trim and make 5 rows of 5.

Light at the end of the tunnel is visible now!

I am so excited to create our own 

king sized quilt, I can hardly stand it!!

u is for

 under construction

fourteen out of twenty-five blocks 
are now sewn together

q is for

 quilts

 here are a few images of our king sized quilt blocks

I simply adore calicos, florals, ginghams, 

polka dots, and stripes.

This has been an insanely busy week.

Please forgive any lack of responding to comments.

After this weekend, life will begin to slow again.

And I will be a much better blogging friend.

l is for

little details :

Katie's graduation banner

m is for

making progress

Each block (there are 25 blocks of 25 - 5" squares) are now sewn into rows.  The next step is to iron and sew each individual block.  It is all coming together and I can hardly wait to finish and have it on our bed!!