Zippling!

This week's Free Motion stitch was Zippling.  It's a lot like Stippling, but it's all straight lines.  I thought this one was going to be great, but my machine had other ideas.  It was not a fan of this stitch.  I had all kinds of machine issues - I even broke a needle.  Oops!  I was moving the quilt too quickly in directions the machine did not want it to go.  I think it's a fun design though.

 I had to laugh when Leah was talking about it being a masculine stitch and here I am stitching it on a busy, floral quilt for a girlie girl.  This quilt is going through an identity crisis.  I'm kind of glad that the quilting blends in.

 I started out making the stitches boxy looking, but liked it better with more V's.   Although my machine was not a fan I really like the texture Zippling leaves on the quilt.  Here's a picture of the back:

It's All About the Numbers

We've been reading books with numbers all this week, and it's been a lot of fun.  Even Little Lady likes these books.  The book that has been the most interesting for me has been the Bugs By Numbers by Sharon Werner & Sarah Forss.  Even the pictures are made out of numbers.

 Although sometimes disturbing, a lot of the facts are really fascinating.  Here are a couple that I was particularly taken aback by:

• Mosquitoes can smell your breath from 75 feet away, and during a full moon their biting increases by 500 times.
• Cockroaches can hold their breath for 40 minutes, and they can survive 168 hours without its head. 
• Bed bugs usually seek blood every 7 days, but can live 540 days without food.  They are also their hungriest about 60 minutes before dawn.
• The largest earthworm measured 22 feet (same length as a moving van)

Feel free to use any of these amazing facts as your next conversation piece.  I'm sure you'll get quite a reaction.  :)

Pointing Issues

When I was mirco-stippling I kept getting frustrated by the number of points I was getting, so I was excited that this week's stitch for the Free Motion Quilting Project was Sharp Stippling, and wouldn't you know - just when I needed points I was only getting curves.  I tell ya - the second I wasn't specifically thinking "pointy- make it pointy" I'd end up with regular stippling.  Aw well.  After practicing for a while on scraps I decided to point stipple in 2 of my blocks on the Yellow Flower Quilt.

I didn't exactly want the look of flames on a flower quilt, so I used white thread, and I think it blended in a little too well.  I finished this first block and was frustrated by my difficulty with making good points.  It took me two days to force myself to top stitch the second block.  I'm so glad I did though, because it was so much easier the second time around.  I guess I just had to get stippling out of my head.

 I really like the texture it gave the quilt block even if you can't see it unless you're up close.

 I thought the white would be a lot more visible on the back, but it blends right in.

I had 1 issue and therefore 1 question.  My thread was running low on the spool, and somehow the  the other end of the thread managed to get interwoven with the rest of the thread enough to keep the spool from turning.  My thread broke with about 1 inch left to quilt on the block (of course).  I've never had this happen before.  I'm worried that this loose thread will unravel.  Thus, my question:

Is there something I can do to prevent this thread from coming loose and unraveling all of my top stitching?  Am I overly concerned?

Busy Bees

Heard this fun song before?

I love the 5 Browns and I love Rachmaninov.  The Flight of the Bumble Bee was originally an orchestral piece that Rachmaninov transcribed to piano.  Programmatic music is great to use with children, because it's a lot easier for them to connect with it when the music is depicting a concrete story or idea.

Here's an easy little project for kids, so they can "fly" with their bees to the music:

 It doesn't take much to go from this to that:

Hits and Misses

Quilt top #2 is done.  This is the one for the girlie girl who wants to be grown up who also happens to love the color yellow.

I saw a similar design at Bijou Lovely and knew that's what I wanted to do.  I also got the back done and now it's all pinned together ready to quilt.  I really enjoyed putting together this quilt, because I usually only use yellow as an accent color, so it was a deviation from my norm.

The Miss would be my latest Skill Builder Block: #29- The Apple Core

It actually turned out ok, but the ugh part was the making part.  It's a pain in the tookis to make this block and after pinning tons - not pinning, using starch - not using starch, I still couldn't find a rhythm with this block.  It looks better than I thought it would, but I don't see anymore of the Apple Core block in my near future.

Happy Friday!!

A Tale of 2 Quilts

2 Twelve-year old girls with 2 very different personalities = 2 very different quilts:

1- A tomboy whose favorite colors are red & blue.  I went with simple, stream-lined with solids and lots of negative space.

I'm about half way done with the back.  It's going to be a reversible quilt -a play on the front.

2- A girlie girl who loves high heels and wants to be grown up like her older sister.  Her favorite color is yellow.  I went for busier patterns that include flowers with a more "sophisticated" feel.  Here's a sneak peek at some of it.  I'm hoping to be done with this quilt top by tomorrow.

Other projects:
Skiill Builder- I think there's a new block.  I should probably check on that.
Blogger BOM- Up to date
Christmas blocks - no progress
Halloween Wall-hanging- no progress

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 0
WIP- 7

Check out what everyone is up to this week over at Freshly Pieced.

A Little Nerdiness Never Hurt Anyone

Just a little music nerdiness for you to enjoy this fine morning:

(My favorite part is where the cello comes out of the buffet as a String Bass). 

Quilting to Owner's Taste

I am in charge of Activity Days for the 8-11 year old girls at my church and 2 of the girls turn 12 and "graduate" this month.  I'm making a quilt for both of them, and it's been fun coming up with a plan for these 2 quilts because these girls are very different from each other, so it makes the quilts very different.  I like the challenge of matching a quilt to its owner.

The first quilt is for a major tomboy whose favorite colors are blue & red.  I knew right away that I had to stay away from flowers and anything froofy (is that a word? - well, I suppose it is now).  I wanted something simple and clean.  I chose mostly solids and a lot of negative space.

 There's a thunderstorm blowing in soon, so the wind was a little crazy this morning...

I plan on doing a fun twist of the front on the back, and then it's time to start the second quilt. 

Stay-At-Home-Moms

The other day Little Man asked me, "Mommy go work?" I said, "Nathan, you are my work." It was a bit tongue in cheek, but the point being is that staying at home with my children is quite a bit o' work.  As someone who has both worked full-time while raising a child, and now "working" full time in the home I can tell you that both options are incredibly difficult and also very rewarding in their own right.   

I usually try to avoid politics and such on my blog (and in conversation), because for some reason it tends to bring out the ugly in people. Not really sure why, but anyway, I was saddened by the recent comments made by Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen that Ann Romney 'never worked a day in her life.' I think the comment is a rather ignorant one. I don't particularly care which woman belongs to which party. I just don't appreciate the degrading remarks (and follow up defensiveness of the comments).

I'm no philosopher or great orator. Sometimes it's hard for me to put in words exactly how I feel, but I read a post that resonated with me in defense of the stay-at-home-mom, and I wanted to share it with you.  Lori hits it on the head at Uncommon Common Sense. If you get the chance you should definitely read it. Go here for the post.

Fellowship Indecision

If you have been following the drama/saga of my husband's fellowship program process you probably know that we are having an incredibly difficult time with our rank list.  We know which programs are in the top 3, but we keep switching around their order.  Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, Nationwide Children's (Columbus, OH), and Children's Mercy Hospital (Kansas City, MO) all have pros and cons, but in different areas of consideration, so there isn't one that particularly stands out.  We've hemmed and hawed over this decision, talked it over 'til we're blue, prayed a ton, talked to friends and family, and the decision just seemed to be getting more and more difficult.  All 3 have been at the Number #1 spot at one point or another - all for different reasons. 

So.....the rank list is due in less than a week, and after much deliberation, we have finally come to a consensus, and feel good about our rank order.  Drum roll, please!

>>>

1. Nationwide Children's (Columbus)
2. Children's Mercy Hospital (Kansas City)
3. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
4. Rainbow Babies (Cleveland)
5. Riley Children's Hospital (Indianapolis)
6. Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Yep- we're putting our current location at the top of our list.  We love it here in Columbus, so even though there may be a couple of things we prefer with the other 2 programs, we don't feel a huge urge to uproot when there's not a clear winner of the 3 programs.  Having said that, there's always a chance we could match at any of the 6 programs, so we will find out our fate on May 2nd. 

Wherever we end up I know it will be for the best, and since I don't really have any control over the final match- I'm letting go.  I feel relieved that the decision is finally made.  I think I'm going to sleep better at night now.  We'll let you know the final verdict on Match Day.   

Happy Progress!

1- I'm so excited that I completed my first wholecloth quilt this past week.  Phew. 

Full post here, but here is one close up of the micro-stippling. 

2- Skill Builder- #28: Tumbler Block

Notice anything funky?  I didn't cut down the rows small enough before piecing them together, so when I cut the block down to the 12 1/2"- the top row was a lot shorter than the other three rows.  Oops.  I think my exact words when I first saw what I had done were, "Oh- For the Love!" and then I just laughed.  I'd say it was a dumb blonde moment, but I'm not even blonde.  Good thing it's a sampler quilt, so it doesn't really matter.





#3- I finished a project, so that means I can start another one, right? Right!  It was time to work on some Half-Square Triangles.  Here's what I got done yesterday:

Other projects:
Blogger BOM- Up to date
Christmas blocks - no progress
Halloween Wall-hanging- no progress

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 1
WIP- 6

Check out what everyone is up to this week over at Freshly Pieced.

He Lives!

I saw this on my friend, Macy's blog and just had to share.  We all know how much I love choral music, and well, this is beautiful.  Enjoy, and have a wonderful Easter Sunday. 

2nd Quarter Finishing Goals

I can't believe we're already into the second quarter of 2012 - crazy!  Well, I have plenty that I need to get done this quarter - here are my plans for the 2012 Finish-A-Long:

1- Finish the Heart & Feather Wholecloth quilt:

2- Finish my Christmas quilt: I have 13 of 16 blocks done, so I need to get a move on.  It's been sitting in the back of my closet without any progress for months.

3- I also really want to get one of the two Skill Builder quilts done.  Both quilt tops are done.  Maybe if all the stars align I'll be able to get both done.  We'll see.

Goodness - I better get busy.

New Progress

This has been a week of firsts for me.  I completed my first bag, and started working on my first wholecloth quilt. 

I'm really trying to improve my Free Motion Quilting and this helped immensely.  This gives me the courage to try designs on my quilts. 

This first step was the outlining...

 The wholecloth fabric is cut at 18 x 18."  The picture isn't the greatest because it's wet & overcast outside, but the fabric is pink with white thread.

 A couple close looks...

 This was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be.  It's far from perfect - particularly the travel stitching on the feathers, but I don't mind, because I know it's all about the practice.  Next step is the micro-stippling.  Here's a view of the back - not too shabby - just a couple of hiccups.

Other projects:
Skill Builder- Up to date
Blogger BOM- Up to date

No progress:
Christmas blocks
Halloween Wall-hanging

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 1
WIP- 6

Check out what everyone is up to this week over at Freshly Pieced & Free Motion Quilting Project.  

A Sneak Peek

This is what I've been working on....

This is my first Wholecloth quilt ever, so we'll see how it goes.  I'm excited for the challenge.

Happy Monday!