Llama Love

Drop And Give Me Twenty...

My goals were set for the month of February and you can read about it here.

Granted, it's only the 4th day of February, but I've sewn every day and have far surpassed my goal of 20 minutes daily.  I mean really, who only sews for 20 minutes anyway?    Actually, setting a short 20-minute goal is great for anything having to do with quilting...cutting, trimming, pulling fabrics, cleaning the machine and winding bobbins.  These little things add up to completed projects when you tackle them 20 minutes at a time.

Llama Love

My youngest daughter, Ally, has been somewhat short changed on the quilt front.  Granted, I made her a fishie quilt as a baby that she slept with for years, but as she got older she wanted a bigger quilt. Life has a way of interfering in best laid plans, so after about 8 years, Ally finally asked me, "Do I have to be on my death bed before I'm ever going to get my quilt?"  Uh...point made.

The search for the perfect fabric begins...



Ally fell in love with the adorable llamas in Monaluna's Modern Home fabric.  She really wanted large pieces so that the llamas really stood out.  The pattern "Framed" from Camille Roskelli's book, Simply Retro, proved to be the perfect fit.

Using the Martelli Enterprises rectangle template system, I was able to easily and quickly fussy cut the large rectangles and get to piecing these wonderful fabrics together.  

Cut around cutting template

Using outside frame to center llama

Place cutting template inside frame

Llama block perfection

I tried glue basting (a technique I learned while doing some paper piecing on another project) and I have to say I'm hooked.  I'll explain more about that in a future blog but suffice it to say that I'm a new glue basting convert.  If you want to learn about it sooner rather than later, please visit Cristy at Sew Much Like Mom and get your glue basting supplies at Purple Daisies LLC.

Glue basting means using glue, a bit of extra ironing, but NO pins.  Seriously, no pins!  And, my seams are virtually perfect.  Yay for that!!  Suffice it to say that I'm a glue basting convert.  I loved sewing long seams with no stopping to remove pins or fuss with shifting fabric.

 If you forget about a few mistakes requiring the aid of the handy dandy seam ripper

or the fact that the spool of thread ran out just before the finish of the quilt

 Or that the bobbin ran out at the very end, of course (why does that always happen?)...

  This quilt came together easily and quickly.  

I'm so happy to report that the top of "Llama Love" is completed for my Ally girl.  

Oops...it's upside down!

And just wait until you see what I'm doing for the back.  Once I get the fabric in, I'll get to quilting this and will report back when it's completed and on Ally's bed.

 Until Next Time...

Drop and Give Me Twenty - Challenge

Let me start by saying HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!   May 2014 be a year of happiness, health, success, and lots and lots of quilting.

Secondly, check out my new mascot.  

Isn't she just adorable?  Thank you to Alexandra of Blue Chair Diary Illustrations for reading my mind and creating exactly the design I wanted.  She's a wonderful artist with a huge heart!

And Now...Raise your hand of you have a project or two (or ten) just sitting in a drawer or bin just waiting to be finished *waving hand wildly*.  That's kind of what we quilters are all about anyway, isn't it?

Beth at Quilting Hottie Haven the blog of EvaPaige Quilt Designs is having her 3rd annual "Drop and Give Me Twenty" in the month of February.  No, this doesn't mean you have to drop and do 20 pushups (although you can if you want)  it means you will commit to 20 minutes a day of sewing, every day in the month of February.  Why?  So you can finish up a few of your UFOs, WIPs, or whatever you call the unfinished projects you have piling up.  From what I understand, there were a lot of quilts finished up during the month of February last year and the year before with the DaGMT challenge.  I, for one, plan to add to that list for 2014.

It's going to be fun and you won't want to miss out.  Head on over to Quilting Hottie Haven for the official rules.  Here's the gist of it though...commit to sewing 20 minutes a day in February (easy peasy), tell the world that you're committing to DaGMT2014 either on your blog or Facebook page and link back to Quilting Hottie Haven so we can follow you and cheer you on, and get to work.  Seriously, how much easier can it be?

PRIZES...yes, of course there are prizes and several ways to get your name entered to win.  Head on over to Beth's page to see the official details of how to get your name entered and what wonderful prizes are up for grabs  (And thank you Beth for allowing me to be one of the sponsors of this event!!  I've got some fabric waiting for one lucky winner)

HERE'S MY COMMITMENT 

I vow to sew a minimum of 20 minutes every day in the month of February, although I'm going to shoot for more than that, so that I can get a few things finished up...

1.  Finish Ally's Birthday Llama Quilt (but hopefully it will be done before Feb even gets here).

Gotta love her fabric choices

2.  Remember the quilt pattern I tested several months ago for Beth at EvaPaige Designs (who just happens to be the very same Beth of Quilting Hottie Haven)?  If not, you can read all about it here.
Well, that quilt needs to be basted, quilted and bound.  I'm gonna get that done and get it listed in my Etsy store.

Ka-Bloom 

3.  I have a baby quilt that's been done forever that needs a binding so it can also be listed on my Etsy store.

4.  There are 4-1/2 quilts for charity that are patiently awaited their turn under the HandiQuilter to be quilted.  I would be thrilled to get these finished and back to the shop so they can find their way to the loving arms of a child battling cancer.

I promise to post my progress, which also means I'm committing to blogging a little bit more too.  Please follow me, join in on the fun, and share what you are working on.  Quilting is so much more fun in a group, and this will be a great group to be a part of.

Let's get 'er done in February!

PS.  If you didn't know, my shop has moved to Etsy and I have lots and lots of fabric just waiting to be shipped.  Follow me on Etsy if you'd like to know when new fabric lines are posted (which is fairly often)