Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Week 6 Section 5 done!

I am done with Week 6, section 5 which are made up of cute little Nyan Cat's feet! This Nyan Cat Quilt-Along is definitely beginning to get harder.

It is so hard for me to stick with one project before jumping headfirst into another but I am determined to stick this out. Just from what I'm seeing so far I believe this is going to be a great quilt.

I was a little worried because my galaxy background fabric is very dark and I'm hoping the black cat outline doesn't get swallowed up in it. I don't think it will because the background fabric has a lot of sparkle whereas the black fabric I used for the outline is a smoky batik-like (yes, I said batik-like) color.

Take a look:


Week 6 Section 5

Hello again!

I am excited because Week 6 is finally here in the Nyan Cat Quilt-Along! Tonight I am up really late and I am too exhausted to sew. Plus my significant other would not be pleased if he awoke to the sound of the sewing machine.

Instead of sewing the section together tonight and posting it, I took care to cut my fabric and label it. Therefore it is ready to put together and sew and I will resume tomorrow.

Here is a picture of my cutting mat with my carefully cut and labeled pieces. Goodnight, folks (at least in my home)!


Friday, October 11, 2013

Week 5 Section 4

I'm still here! If you're following I'm still in the Nyan Cat Quilt-along and I've just finished section 4. 

Tell me what you think!


Thursday, October 10, 2013

snEEK pEEK!!

Do you remember my snEEK pEEK from a few weeks ago? No? Here's a refresher:

Yes, that's right! It was a string block. I wanted to use up some odds and ends I had.

Anyway, I've made a little progression on it, see:


I think I'm going to do something really simple with it. I think I'll make the letters to spell Boo and then in the last square put an applique of a ghost.

I'll take more pictures as I go. Halloween is almost here!!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Week 4 Section 3

I'm sticking with it! I'm loving the results so far. If you've been following along you know that I am participating in the Nyan Cat Quilt-Along. I started late so I'm hurrying to catch up and that's just what I'm doing.

Here is my version of Section 3 of the quilt, enjoy!


Week 3 Section 2 Done!

Moving on... I couldn't stand to leave home this morning without completing this second part of the quilt associated with the Nyan Cat Quilt-Along Week 3 post. Seriously, it would have bugged me all day at work and I wouldn't have been able to concentrate. I'd be thinking about the fabric, just waiting for me to come and cut it.

So I got up this morning and decided, the heck with it, and here it is:


This part worried me a bit because it doesn't line up perfectly. I think that may be due to the fact that my 1/4 seam allowance is not perfect.  Eh.

I'm going to keep going and not look back. I may have to revisit it to tweak something but for now, moving on.


I'm participating in the most awesome Quilt-along!! (Week 2 Section 1)

One thing that you may not know about me is that I'm an almost-38 year old who loves a mixture of the strangest things. Things that most people my age wouldn't be interested in. But I am. And I refuse to change.

I love video games. I love crafting. And not just quilting and knitting. I love painting and I love creating things made of polymer clay. I make duct tape wallets. I sprinkle glitter randomly. I doodle in meetings.  I fold origami cranes. I crochet the most kawaii cups of hot cocoa. I love horror movies and all things geek chic.

And that is why when I saw this Nyan Cat Quilt-along I couldn't resist the opportunity to jump in! I love the way the fantastic designer puts this together in different sections! Her directions are concise and she includes lots of diagrams and pictures. I'm so excited to follow her quilt-along! As of today I am behind in the group but since she posts the steps weekly, I'm sure I'll catch up. I just started cutting and sewing tonight and I've completed the first section. This quilt will be given to my oldest daughter who loves Nyan Cat also!

Here it is in all of its starry splendor:



Let me share with you information about this fabric. First of all, too many people have advised me against buying fabric from Wal-Mart. As a matter of fact, the lady in front of me in line at the cash register went on and on about the cheap quality of the fabric...blah...blah...blah. Guess what, my pocket was in Wal-Mart mode and Wal-Mart is where it lead me so there it is. And if I hadn't gone there I wouldn't have found this awesome galaxy print that I'm using as the background. It looks like a batik with sparkles. The white is actually a patterned fat quarter.

Hey quilters, do you ever get that overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when you piece something together and your seams line up perfectly? That was me tonight and I'm saying this because it doesn't happen all the time. When I sewed my pieces together and then peeled it back I practically did a victory dance in my sewing room!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Change of heart

So in my last post I listed two of my WIPs. One is a lap quilt for my mother-in-law and the other is a baby quilt for my niece's newborn son. I had a change of heart at the last second with the baby quilt. I decided to go in a different direction to make it more youthful so I will keep the other one for something else.

One thing I've learned that was of great importance was to square up your quilt. I was in such a rush with the baby quilt I did not square it up correctly on all sides. Another thing that I did was I should have alternated my sewing directions. The quilt is a bit bowed, it's a lot bowed in the middle!! It's a lot more obvious as you look across the quilt.

Somewhere along the way I messed up my seam allowances. This would've been okay had I made the quilt taller. So in the end I ended up with a very small baby quilt. Basically just big enough to lay your newborn on or big enough for him to drag around and cuddle with when he gets older.

I found the tutorial for this blanket on Elizabeth Hartman's "Oh, Fransson! site here. It is a super easy (unless you are me) pattern for a beginner and you can download a PDF of the pattern right from her page. She has a bunch of different patterns that she offers for free and she has some super-neat patterns in her Pattern Shop and in the book she published.

I do intend to make a bigger lap version of it in the near future. Enjoy!

I purchased individual fat quarters from Walmart to make this quilt top and I purchased one pre-cut packaged yard from Walmart for the back. I paid less than $10 for the entire thing. Score! I quilted this on my Singer Simple 3116 using a Walking foot. I used white thread for the top and brown thread for the bobbin. I sure wish I had a new machine. THAT is another post for another day. Anyway, here are a few pics of the quilt:


"Initial layout"


Had it folded and ready to go so I had my daughter unfold it


Wavy-like quilting