finish it up Friday, 10/26/12

welcome to finish it up Friday! today all i can say is, "oh, my achin' back."

i've finally finished painting a few rooms in my house and put them all back together. i hate living in a state of limbo, but i've been there for 3 weeks. that much painting back to back is NOT a good idea. BUT...let's see the progress!

my daughter's room is finished. the walls were previously painted, but all the trim, windows, baseboards, ledge, door and closet doors got at least 3 coats of shiny white paint. isn't it a cute little girl's room? (i had to quick snap some photos while it was still clean!) i think she needs a few more pillows. and a few more quilts, too. they don't quite meet in the middle. :)

all that white trim it almost makes the hunter green carpet bearable. :)

i also finished all the trim, windows, doors and stuff in the master bedroom.

oh how I love the white trim. again, it makes the blue carpet not quite so bad.

everything in the master bathroom got a fresh coat of paint, too, including the trim. the bathroom is broken up into 2 different rooms, so the main part got a new coat of blue and then the other space got a fresh coat of off white paint. i don't recall that i've actually painted any walls white since i was at home living with my dad 19 years ago. i do love some color on my walls! but i had white leftover paint in the basement and i wanted to use what i had. so white it was.

still more painting to do, but i'm so glad that some rooms are finished! it's amazing what paint can do! if you have all kinds of time. :)

now it's your turn! link up your finishes of the week. thanks so much for joining me!

happy Friday to you!

finish it up Friday, 10/26/12

1.	Annemieke	38.	Elena
2.	Selvage Table Runner & Basket	39.	Tonya Jespersen
3.	Jo's Country Junction	40.	Kelsey @ Kelsey Sews
4.	my quilt diet	41.	katie z.
5.	AMH Star Quilt	42.	Duke Says Sew What
6.	Carin @ Shaped by Stitches	43.	Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts
7.	weekender bag	44.	amy @ the cute life :)
8.	Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts	45.	Maja
9.	Taryn @ Pixels to Patchwork	46.	Memory Quilt For Mam-maw
10.	Nat @ Made in Home	47.	Tracy
11.	Megan @ Tales of Ineptitude	48.	sewmuchwithme
12.	beth@lovelaughquilt	49.	April - Little Mama Hen
13.	Heather @ Crafting...	50.	Pokeytown Kim
14.	Megan @ Scraps for Omi	51.	Kristy @ Quiet Play
15.	Cathy Tomm Quilts	52.	Hearts and Flowers
16.	Flo@Butterfly Quilting	53.	Karolina
17.	Erin @ Why Not Sew? Quilts	54.	Train Wrek
18.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	55.	Snake in the Garden
19.	Tracey D	56.	Alycia Quilts
20.	Kerstin@sunset sewing	57.	Pretty Pillow
21.	Sonia @ Hobble Creek Quilts	58.	Ali
22.	Sewfrench	59.	Lynda M Otvos
23.	syglad	60.	rachel@fourwisemonkeys
24.	Simple Stripes Baby Quilt	61.	Heather @ QuiltsintheQueue
25.	Quilt Barn	62.	Memory Quilt for Mam-maw (The real link!
26.	Selina	63.	Karen @ Small Town Quilter
27.	Tina @ Seaside Stitches	64.	Theresa @ Sew & Sews
28.	Elaine @ Dashasel Sews	65.	Bur Oak Life - Crewelwork
29.	Beth @ plum and june	66.	Sarah C. and friends
30.	Renae @ Creative Chicks	67.	Nancy at joy for grace
31.	Kristan @ Doodle Do Designs	68.	Gemini Jen NZ
32.	Jennifer @ Glinda Quilts	69.	Amy in UK
33.	Amy @ S.i.C.	70.	Needle little balance
34.	Kat @ And Ladybug Hugs	71.	Inès @ Thready Bear
35.	Andi @ Glimpse-life	72.	mary
36.	Tessa @ The Sewing Chick	73.	Fall Stitchery
37.	QuiltnMama

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

in my mailbox

I've gotten some great mail recently. A few days ago the newest issue of quilty came in the mail. That's my math facts quilt on the front cover! Didn't they make it look good? I'm tickled that it was included in the magazine and then the fact that it made the cover? Woo-hoo! I'm pleased that my name made the front cover, too. Sweet!

Speaking of sweet....a friend sent me some cookies last week. It was a "thinking-of-you-hope-everything-is-going-ok" kind of a thing. Almost made me cry. It really makes me want to be a thoughtful friend like that, you know? They sure hit the spot after a long day of painting. Thanks so much, darlin'.

And last but not least! My Gruber's retreat friends and I did a swap this fall. Rene made me this fabulous mini quilt. She put so much thought into it and I just love it! She even quilted "use your scraps" (that's the phrase I use to sign my books) into the background. I love that touch-so thoughtful! She sent me a super awesome seam ripper and some thread, too. Thanks so much, Rene, for an awesome swap package!

I'm so thankful for my friends this week. I am blessed with some pretty amazing ones.

finish it up Friday, 10/19/12

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last night at about 11:30 I finished up my super scrap happy quilt top. It wasn't in the plans to finish it up so quickly, but once I started working on it I couldn't stop. My sister thinks I might need an intervention. :)

Be that as it may......I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

It measures about 64" x 74".

(I can't stop staring at it!)

If you have a finish to share this week please link up! (Remember to link to a specific blog post.) Thanks for joining me and happy Friday!

finish it up Friday, 10/19/12

1.	Kathleen @CrabbitQuilter	36.	Natalie@craftinmechanic
2.	TraceyD	37.	Cutie and Co. Sunny Farmhouse Quilt
3.	Amy's Crafty Shenanigans	38.	Kristan @ Doodle Do Designs
4.	Amanda@Don't Tell Quilts	39.	Alia @ card table, inc.
5.	Julianne	40.	two.hippos
6.	Beth @ plum and june	41.	Annemieke
7.	Jo	42.	Martha
8.	svetlana@sotakhandmade	43.	Sonia @ Hobble Creek Quilts
9.	Tessa @ The Sewing Chick	44.	Maggie B.
10.	Lynn - King Size Point Me	45.	Elena - Cosiendo Sueños
11.	Heather @ Crafting...	46.	bee
12.	Carla	47.	Emily @ Greens & Jeans
13.	Taryn @ Pixels to Patchwork	48.	Candace
14.	my quilt diet	49.	Tonya Jespersen
15.	QuiltnMama	50.	made by ChrissieD
16.	syglad	51.	Heidi @ Fabric Mutt
17.	beth@lovelaughquilt	52.	...by CJ
18.	Jean Burke	53.	Geeky Zig Zag Quilt
19.	Jennifer	54.	table runner....by CJ
20.	LC @ L White Limited	55.	Good Fortune Baby Quilt
21.	Gunilla Winsnes	56.	Maja
22.	Kate @katiemaequilts	57.	Jennifer @ Glinda Quilts
23.	Our Busy Little Bunch	58.	Kathy@KayakQuilting
24.	Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts	59.	katie z.
25.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table	60.	Irelle@JibberishDesigns
26.	Pinwheel Quilt	61.	Karolina
27.	Halloween Quilt	62.	Lucy @ Charm About You
28.	kervei.blogspot.nl	63.	Mary
29.	Quilt Barn	64.	Sarah C. and friends
30.	Cathy Tomm Quilts	65.	Dresden Quilter
31.	Elaine M	66.	Julie @ Julie's Quilts
32.	Aunt Marti @52 quilts	67.	Shontelle @ England Street Quilts
33.	AllyJo @ Sweet Woodruffs	68.	Bur Oak Life
34.	Nicole@Mama Love Quilts	69.	Underwater, my Bargello
35.	Jen @ leaandlars

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

really random thursday

thanks for all the sweet comments in my last post. i should have mentioned that we are moving back to central MN. we have no idea where we will land specifically yet...still need to figure out that piece. my kids want to go house hunting in the worst way, but i am insistent that we start looking after ours is listed for sale.

i've been painting trim and doors for 7 days and boy am I cranky! there is still so much to do. i feel like i'm in painting purgatory.

last night after my kids went to bed and my husband was at work, i treated myself to some quilting time. (there has been so little quilting time lately, which is making me even more cranky.) this is my super scrap happy quilt. the top is still in several sections that i need to fit together, but i am really loving it! LOTS of time invested in this baby. it's a medium lap size now, so i might keep going and make it a bit bigger. (it's all constructed in slabs, as described in sunday morning quilts.)

i've all but emptied the bowl and bin of scraps that i designated for this project. hurray for progress!

just to clarify, i'm not running out of scraps. not even close! :)

on saturday i will be one of the featured artists on the river falls art crawl. i'll be doing a trunk show at riverside quilting in river falls. i'll also be doing a book signing and selling copies of the book...and perhaps some other goods, too. if you are in the area i'd love it if you would stop in and say hello! the hours are 10am-4pm.

last saturday i went to a quilt show in hastings, mn. 300 quilts were displayed in the sanctuary of St. Luke's. it was absolutely beautiful. both vintage and new quilts were draped over the back of all the pews. it was spectacular.

hands down my favorite quilt at the show was made by Ann Mayhew. it was made of pinwheels and shoo fly blocks that finished at 1.5"! it was absolutely stunning.

it was made from all solids, which i loved. it had a total of 23,808 pieces. wowza. it only took her 3 years! i must meet this woman someday.

i'm linking up with Cindy's really random thursday.

getting ready for market

No, I'm not talking about quilt market. I don't have 12 super secret projects that I can't show you. I'm talking about getting our house ready to put on the market. My husband accepted a new job last Thursday and he started today. We are headed into transition (again) and we are going to have to move. I'm sure it will be alright in the end, but getting there will be a little painful. I'm not a big fan of change. (that's an understatement.)

This means that my sewing time has been replaced by....

painting trim. Fun. Times. I know that you are supposed to change your sewing machine needle after 8 hours of sewing. I wonder how many hours you can paint with a brush before you need to change it? I bet I'm due for a new one!

It's going to be a hard transition, but at least I have a pretty box of tissues. :)

finish it up Friday, 10/12/12

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Today I'm happy to share my finished big big bento quilt! It uses the technicolor tidings collection (and lots of white), all from Connecting Threads. I love their stuff! I think I said this before, but I love that there is ORANGE in a Christmas line. It's perfect!

I did my concentric ameoba quilting on it. (LOVE!) White would have been an obvious thread choice, so I went with an ocean mist color. Since I used a very thin thread (70 weight) the color doesn't stand out too much on either the white or the bright colored fabric. I love that!

I bound it with some of the original Flea Market Fancy dots. I'll be so sad when I run out of them. They make perfect binding...and it's such a pleasant color green.

For the back I used 4 one yard cuts of dots (also from Connecting Threads, but these have been in my stash for almost a year) with some patchwork squares left over from the front. It was a concept that popped in my head and I had no idea if it would work or not, but the final results exceeded my expectations. Yay! I do love a pieced quilt back. Just another opportunity to play.

Aren't those dots just perfect with the patchwork?

The quilt currently lives at the end of my bed.  I've been using it for my 4th layer at night. (And it's only October! It's a darn good thing I'm a quilter!) It measures 72" square. I'm not normally a fan of square quilts, but they are growing on me. I blame/credit Cheryl.  :)

How about you? If you have a finish to share, please remember to link to a specific post. Then go ahead and visit a few other finishers and cheer them on. Thanks for joining me! Happy Friday!

finish it up Friday, 10/12/12

1.	Jo's Country Junction	31.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle
2.	Kat @ And Ladybug Hugs	32.	Nina
3.	Megan	33.	Chevron Quilt
4.	Lynn - The Little Red Hen	34.	Sweet 15th birthday gift set
5.	Our Busy Little Bunch	35.	recycled zip purses- Karen NZ
6.	Heather @ Crafting...	36.	jeanette @ Stamp Stitch Create
7.	syglad	37.	Elena - Cosiendo Sueños
8.	Kristan @ Doodle Do Designs	38.	Beth@SewingForSanity
9.	my quilt diet	39.	Kathy@KayakQuilting
10.	Sonia @ Hobble Creek Quilts	40.	Rene' Creates
11.	Pieces of Cotton	41.	Maja
12.	Alia @ card table, inc.	42.	Everyone’s Favorite Platypus
13.	Tessa @ The Sewing Chick	43.	Deb@asimplelifequilts
14.	Jess at Lifeunderquilts	44.	Kristy @ Quiet Play
15.	Becca @ bryanhousequilts	45.	LC @ L White Limited
16.	selina	46.	Kathleen @CrabbitQuilter
17.	Beth @ plum and june	47.	Karen H
18.	Thalie Coloris	48.	SuperMomNoCape
19.	Becky at Solar Threads	49.	Dreaming in Patchwork
20.	beth@lovelaughquilt	50.	Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts
21.	Quilt Barn	51.	Barbara
22.	Swoon Finish	52.	Sarah C.
23.	April - Little Mama Hen	53.	Nat@Craftinmechanic
24.	Cheerful Homemaker	54.	Susan: coasters
25.	Lizzy House Quilt	55.	rachel@fourwisemonkeys
26.	Alycia in CO	56.	Shannyn
27.	Colby - sew. quilt. explore.	57.	Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
28.	Jean at QuiltAwhile	58.	I QUILT FOR FUN
29.	Cathy in Ontario	59.	Diane Swett
30.	Teresa @ Jolie's Junebug Boutique

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

finish it up Friday 10/5/12

Welcome to finish it up Friday! If it weren't for this linky party there is no way I'd be done with this project this soon. Just another reason to love this community of bloggers that I'm a part of. :)

SO...I finished my boy's huge pillow cover. It's 36" square. The cover fits per-fect-ly! I talked about the quilting in this post. It is finished with a zipper closure. Is it scary that I just happened to have a super long one in my zipper stash to finish it off? I think it might be a little telling of the amount of supplies that I squirrel away. Oy. But...it did save me a bunch of running around to try to find one. So there IS that...

This was my first time adding zipper tabs into a project and it went swimmingly. I tried to look at a few tutorials on-line, but they weren't loading fast enough (impatient much?) so I used a little common sense and kinda made it up. It worked, so I'm happy!

My son really likes his pillow. We all do, actually. It's ginormous, ridiculous and fun! The grey and orange are so his colors. (It's unusual that his outfit doesn't match his pillow. I'm telling you.) So there it is. A happy finish.

(My goodness, does he look like a pre-teen or what??? When did that happen?) 

How about you? Do you have a finish to share? If so, please link up here. Please remember to link to a specific post. Thanks for playing along as we finish up our UFOs and WIPs!

Happy Friday to you!

finish it up Friday, 10/5/12

1.	Karen @capitolaquilter	36.	The Quilt Barn
2.	cathy@blueberrypatch	37.	Nat @ Made in Home
3.	svetlana@sotakhandmade	38.	Needle little Balance
4.	made by marika	39.	Amy @ Sew Incredibly CrAzY
5.	Jamie Lee	40.	katie z.
6.	Scrappy Neighborhood	41.	Kelli@ Seriously..I think it needs stitches.
7.	Heidi @ Fabric Mutt	42.	beth@lovelaughquilt
8.	syglad	43.	Karen
9.	April - Little Mama Hen	44.	100% recycled / upcycled quilt - NZ
10.	Megan @ Mia Dolce	45.	Cathy in Ontario
11.	Janice Elaine Sews	46.	selina
12.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	47.	Candace Wragg
13.	my quilt diet	48.	Maja
14.	Susie at ProsperityStuff	49.	Duke Says Sew What
15.	Heather @ Crafting...	50.	Kristy @ Quiet Play
16.	Pieces of Cotton	51.	natalie@craftinmechanic
17.	Kathleen@CrabbitQuilter	52.	Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
18.	Lynn - The Little Red Hen	53.	Elaine M
19.	Amie @Fabric Warrior	54.	Karolina
20.	Rachel @ Snippets of Sweetness	55.	Jane @ Where Jane Creates
21.	Mina @ Kinda Quilty	56.	Pokeytown Kim
22.	Kerstin@sunset sewing	57.	Jennifer @ The Days Dewings
23.	Cheerful Homemaker	58.	Barbara
24.	Charm About You	59.	Valerie @ Evening in the Garden
25.	Cathy Tomm	60.	Lisa
26.	Emily {Creative Chicks}	61.	Denise Russell
27.	Kate @katiemaequilts	62.	alex @ teaginny designs
28.	Little and Lots HST baby quilt	63.	Shanna @ Sweet and Sassy
29.	Terri @ QuiltNCards	64.	Breath of Fire Zig Zag Quilt
30.	The Life of Riley Ruby Windows Quilt	65.	lindaroo
31.	Kelsey @ Kelsey Sews	66.	Fiona @ Finding Fifth in Australia
32.	Colby - sew.quilt.explore.	67.	Rachel@fourwisemonkeys
33.	Irelle@JibberishDesigns	68.	Foster
34.	Elena	69.	Diane Swett
35.	Sonia @ Hobble Creek Quilts

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

working on a deadline

I'm hurriedly working on a finish to share tomorrow. It's surprising how fast the weeks go. Yikes! (But on the other hand, I do love a deadline...it's a motivator like no other.)

I quilted up my son's gigantic pillow panels using this tutorial by Oh Fransson. It was a lot of fun! It was great to be able to use the patchwork as a built in guide-that made the quilting so easy. Plus it reminds me of my apple cake quilt...one of my all time favorites. Now to tackle the zipper and wrestle the pillow into it's cover. Oh, yay! :)

Hopefully your finishes are coming along nicely. See you tomorrow for finish it up Friday!

making it right

A few weeks (months?) ago I was looking closely at this rug, which resides in my kids' bathroom. I love the scrappiness of it, but it never was quite right. (Kinda like me, ha!) Anyway, the rug was shaped like a trapezoid rather than a rectangle. It always kind of bugged me and folding it in half only disguised the oddball shape a little bit. I decided to a take a stab at making it right. The worst that could happen would be that I had a big ball of fabric 'yarn' to knit again. Right? So I pulled out the cast off edge, picked up the stitches to the best of my ability and started knitting again.

I'm happy to say that it worked! I finished the rug (again) this afternoon. It's about double the size that it was....now measuring about 33" x 41". It feels soooooooo good to step on it. Truth be told, the new and improved shape doesn't make the texture any better, but my obsessive nature sure feels better about it!

So, my question to you is, have you ever done anything like this? Please tell me that I'm not the only (crazy)one who has to go back and fix things after they are finished...even if it is years later.

A bit more detail on the rug....

This rug is knit with a single strand of fabric 'yarn' on size 17 needles. More details in this post.

I've also made a bulkier version using size 35 needles and the tutorial for that is here.

I'd also like to mention (because I get asked this all the time) that they are machine washable and go through the dryer just fine and dandy. They wear very well, too!

scraps

sometimes i think that people who pass along their scraps to others are much smarter than me.

scraps can be overwhelming and time consuming.

(sometimes i wonder if i will ever touch my stash again???)

but then again, they can turn into such good things....

like super scrap happy quilts.

when i work on projects like this i remember all over again why i love scrap quilts so much!

i'm hoping to empty the bowl and basket and see how big the quilt ends up.

i'm predicting twin size.

(i hope it's not a king. although wouldn't that be fantastic?)

happy Monday to you!