Sewvivor - Off The Wall - Trisch

There is a blog that I recently discovered called Family Ever After that is having a contest called Sewvivor. I also discovered this is the 3rd year of the contest. For several days I debated whether this was something I was brave enough to do. Well, I have decided to go for it and as an audition quilt, I am using my recently finished Giant Churn Dash Quilt from Elvy Crafts. The blocks are 24 inches finished and boy did this quilt go together fast! I had been wanting to make a churn dash quilt for a while and I am so glad I picked this one. It really gives the fabric lots of space to show off!

At first I thought I would make the background white but then worried with so much open space it might start to look dingy after awhile. I decided a navy would be a nice backdrop to the teals and grays. Because I seem to have a little trouble with staying focused I accidentally made an extra teal block that found it's way to the back of the quilt.

I really love how that turned out!!

Here is a close up of the block on the back.

Isn't she just so pretty!!! 

This is me being modest! hehe

As you can see there is a lot of open spaces in this quilt which made me think long and hard about how to quilt it. I pretty much use straight or wavy lines when I quilt. On small things I have branched out and done a little FMQ. But since this was a gift for my recently married daughter and husband I really wanted it to look nice. 

So... I hand quilted it with #5 DMC Perle cotton. I used two different colors of variegated thread. I really love how this looks!!!! I spent the month of June quilting and it was so relaxing sitting in my comfy chair looking out into my backyard garden. I think I may have fallen in love with hand quilting. Since the thread was so chunky, I made big stitches. I will definitely be using this technique again. Especially since I have a few new calluses built up on my fingers!!! 

Just a couple more pictures because I just really love this quilt!!!!

 Better get back to my Saturday chores!

lots of sewing

 I have been doing lots of sewing since my last post. 

I made a very cute (if I do say so) baby quilt for a friends grandson. 

Of course there was Christmas sewing. I made a few mug rugs.

A sweet little owl that I am hoping to make for myself sometime soon!!!

A couple of big fabric buckets, one of which I did keep for myself!!!! 

There were some microwave hot pad bowls for a couple of newlyweds I know!  ; )

I also whipped up a small bag. But didn't take a picture of that.

Another thing I made and didn't get a picture of was a sewing machine cover/caddy. I think I need to make one of those for myself also. 

I think that was about it for Christmas sewing. It was so much fun making handmade gifts last year and plan on starting a little sooner this year. As a die hard procrastinator we'll see how that goes!! hehe

I have been enjoying my sewing time so much! There's something very satisfying about creating something with your hands and heart. I have more sewing projects to share but the time is late and bedtime is long overdue. 

Falling Leaves

I really love fall! The beautiful colors of the leaves. I love how the air is so crisp! I snapped this picture of  the backyard.

This however is a picture of the front yard on Saturday. Hubs and I mowed and raked and ended up with 12 yard waste bags! It looked like this when we were done.

Yay! I just noticed I got the tail end of the dog in this picture. She is a cutie but not much help!!

Unfortunately the tree was not finished dumping leaves and today after work I spent about an hour and a half raking. 

Even after all the raking I still REALLY LOVE FALL!!!!!

Last night I finished up my fall quilt top. I was playing around with the idea of adding a gold border around, but decided not to. I think I will use the gold as binding unless something else catches my eye. I also need to figure out something for the back. I usually back my quilts with one piece of fabric. I can't wait to get this done. I have enjoyed putting this together so much.

It has taken me too long to write out this post. I am still trying to get the hang of putting in pictures. I think I may need a blogging for dummies class!!! 

My achy muscles are telling me to go to bed. 

So off I go.

Fall Quilt

This morning I was up early so I did a little chain piecing before going off to work.

This evening I finished up the blocks and laid them out on the living room floor.

Hubby and I decided we liked the blocks better with some space between them. I couldn't find any fabric in my stash for the sashing. I guess that means I will have to go out fabric shopping tomorrow. I know what you're thinking. What a chore! Right! hehe I really did want to make this quilt totally from my stash but oh well. The batik fabric came from a scrap bag I bought last fall from a local quilt store. I am loving the colors and can't wait to finish this. 

Jumping in

Okay. So I spend a great deal of time looking at other people's blogs. I have wanted to start my own blog so here goes. I bought a pack of batik scraps last fall and have finally got around to using them in a project. Pieces are cut and I have one block put together. It is the scrappy block that will be theodd man out. What do you think? Husband thought it was good. Me too!

Please excuse the poor lighting and old ironing board cover. Well I'm off to finish up laundry and sew a few more blocks before bed.