Looking Back, Flying Foward

Last night I finished piecing all the of the flying geese for my next quilt. For me these pieces are special. They are the first flying geese that I have ever made. I am so happy and proud of myself. Four years ago I never imagined that I would actually be the quilter that I am today. I am self taught and the early stages of my quilting were filled with many meltdowns and having absolutely no idea what I was doing. Then I only ever dreamed of being able to make something like flying geese. Now not only did I make them, but I knew what I was doing!

I think that I may really like flying geese! I know that they are time consuming, but I love the simple classic elegance of them. I foresee a lot of flying geese quilts in my future!

Especially since I have the Bloc-Loc flying geese ruler! I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love my Bloc-Loc rulers! I have a flying geese and a HST ruler and they are amazing. Now if only the rulers would trim all 168 flying geese blocks for me....

I will need to come up with something for all of my tiny triangle scraps? What do you all do with your triangle scraps?

Last but not least, Happy Hanukah everyone! It has been such a treat to sew with my menorah in front of me. So far no wax has dripped on my project, but there are more nights to go!

Snow Day Sewing

It has been a very warm December here in sunny Flagstaff, Arizona. I know most of you are probably envious of the Arizona sunshine this time of year, but I love snow! I used to live in Montana and absolutely loved winter! Needless to say, I was so excited when we finally got snow this week! 

Even better was that I was able to quilt all day long! It was one of the best snow days. Last year I found this awesome piece of fabric at Goodwill. It was just calling me to make a table runner out of it. I have never made a table nor used one. I guess this little guy was dying to be my first one!

I had cut and basted it last year, but never quilted it. I was confused on how I should do the quilting. Now for experienced quilters this might seem silly, but for me it took me a year to figure out. I pulled it out the other day and just said, "Duh!" All of a sudden it just seemed obvious. It has tons of straight lines, so I just paralleled some of them.

In retrospect I probably should have figured this out sooner. Do you guys like it? Simple, but I think it will become a nice country table runner!

WIP Wednesday: V & Co To The Point

I am very excited to share with you my WIP this evening. It is my first attempt at 60 degree triangles.  After I finished cutting today, I jumped right into piecing. In a very Maggie fashion I got a little ahead of myself and realized that the pattern instructions did not give detailed advice on pinning the triangles in place. So my first row looked like poop! So I did what I do best, and went into my LQS for help. Boy did they help! Turns out of was on the right path and just needed a tiny bit of help.

After 6 rows I think I can say that I have got the hang of it! I actually think my last row was quite good! Two more rows to go!

I'm a little surprised that I am getting everything to line up so well. If I can keep up like this, I may actually have nice points on my quilt!

The pattern had no instruction on which direction to press the seams. Does anyone else hate when patterns assume you know the small things? I looked up a tutorial online for help, and the directions for pressing the seams didn't make sense until row 6. For one row press all seams to the right, then the next row all seams to the left. Wow that should have been easy!

Nice pressed seams, finally!

The other thing I struggled with for most of the quilt is that lining up your triangles is going to depend on the direction that you pressed your seams. I do not have good photos of this. Im sorry I tried, but it is too dark in my quilting room for good photos at night. If you need help try, this tutorial. 

The nice lady at Odegaard's Sewing Center showed me this. If you pin parallel to your seam sewing the bias edge is easy. If you a lazy like me, you can place the pin just right so you don't need to remove it while sewing! I call this a win! 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

My First Craft Show

It seems to be a great task to actually sit down at my laptop and write a blog post these days. I have been so focused on the craft show that I haven't gotten in to a normal quilting routine. Although, does anyone have a normal quilting routine? It may be a far fetched idea, but I am still going to strive for it! On top of the craft fair, Christmas activities seem to be the main distraction right now. Especially sewing presents, at least this year I decided not to sew for everyone! But now the craft fair is over and I am almost done with presents!!

I am very proud to say that I have not only participated in my first Craft Show, but actually sold some items! I even sold my first blanket. This cute little minky blanket pictured below.

I was primarily trying to market custom T-Shirt Quilts. A handful of people were very interested, but so far no one has committed. Sigh...at least handing out more cards is progress. 

Here was my little table! A small beginning, but it feels good to start somewhere.

And then because I just couldn't resist, I bought my first handmade quilt! My little cat Riley is very kindly modeling the quilts comfort. It is beautifully made and I am so happy to have a Christmas quilt for the holidays! 

Has anyone else bought quilts that they love?

Piece by Piece

Slowly, but surly my new quilt room is coming together! I just put up a bulletin board. Now, you all may be saying, "Why is she so excited over a bulletin board?" I will tell you! I painted it turquoise!!! I absolutely love anything turquoise! Ta Da!!!

As usual the simple project of painting it did not turn out to be as easy and I hoped it would be. The paint would not stick to the wood because it had a shinny finish. Ladies, please please just sand the edges before you paint them. I though that I could skip this task and I was wrong. I even bought some of that "No sanding required primer". It DID NOT work! Once I sanded it, everything went great! It did take three coats to get the color to my liking.

I am super proud of myself because I hung the bulletin board all by myself! Now, this may seem like a silly thing to be proud of. But I am horrible at hanging everything! This time I hung it correctly (and level) the first try! Wahoo! Big girl in the house!

Don't fret, I have been doing some sewing too! I am preparing for a small craft show at my local gym. This will be my first craft show, so I have no idea what I'm doing! I decided to sew up a hand full of things and see what people like. Chevron burp cloths!

And some cute kids christmas aprons!!

To The Point Quilt

Hi friends!!  

I know I have been gone FOREVER! I swear that I am back now. I was gone for good reason at least, like fire season, surgery, moving back to Flagstaff, and setting up my quilting room. Yes, thats right I said, Quilting Room. I am sooo excited to have my own personal space to create in. Well mostly I am excited to not have to clean up my sewing to cook and eat dinner on my kitchen table. That and being able to shut a door so no one has to see my mess. Because lets be real, thats the true reason we all want a room to quilt in.


Today I cut the fabric for my first project in the new quilt room. I choose to do the V and Co. To the Point pattern in the teal and green colors. I am so excited that teal is very popular right now because I love all things teal and turquoise! Needless to say I was excited to start this project. Surprise, it is going to be a baby quilt for some good friends of mine!

I was very hesitant to cut into this fabric. I know it probably seems odd, because I just had to follow the straight lines between the colors. It proved to be a lot easier than I had imagined. 

I did notice that it helped to keep the edge of the fabric straight along one of matt lines. When I first started cutting I assumed I could just use my ruler along the fabric line. Turns out it helps your accuracy to keep the fabric straight.....This is where everyone says, "Duh Maggie" but alas I am still learning. 

Now my stack of fabric is all ready to be cut into little triangles.

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Friday Finish

I am so excite to share with you all my most recent finish! I was in a time crunch so I made another whole cloth quilt. I chose to use chevron fabric again because it is so much fun to quilt chevrons. The back is a cute animal print from Joann's. 

I tried to get a nice photo of it rolled up, but alas I need to work on my photography!

I realized that the thimble I have is too small for my finger! So I made a makeshift one out of tape and moleskin! It worked only so so. Guess I need to go thimble shopping! It is so hot in Phoenix that my fingers would slide off the needle because they were so sweaty! Sigh, I cannot wait to go back to Flagstaff! 

I am so pleased with the stitch quality of my new Juki! I really like quilting with it. Although, I am really struggling with adjusting the tension! Did anyone else have trouble getting used to their Juki after they bought it? After I finished the quilting I somehow messed up the tension and had to drive all the way back to the store for them to fix it. :( Problems of a new quilter. I hope I can get the hang of adjusting the tension, if not I am going to be sad that I can't work my brand new machine. Does anyone have any advice?

I did sew on my first custom quilt label! I got them from Spoon Flower! 

I would love to try to sell quilts one day but don't feel that I am quite good enough yet. I figured that while I get better I should try to slowly build up some business. I got a logo made from a wonderful woman Flora Bashley on Etsy. Now I have business cards and wonderful little quilt logos! With all the wonderful quilters out there it seems far fetched that anyone would want one of my quilts. I figure that I should give it a try! 

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday !

Travel Pillow

I was in Joann's the other night and stumbled upon the super cute dinosaur fabric! Who can't resist dinosaurs! My boyfriend just so happens to love dinosaurs. Yes, my 30 year old boyfriend won't stop pestering me for a dinosaur quilt! My rule with dating and quilting is NO boyfriend gets a quilt unless he puts a ring on my finger. I think its a fair rule. So instead he got to be the guinea pig for my first pillow case cover!

Sorry still no digital camera :( 

Isn't the fabric cute! Unfortunately it isn't soft. Hopefully it softens up, but I guess until then it is a good thing my BF has a beard. I even free-hand embroidered a little heart. I am not sure if he is going to like that part or not. 

I used The Texas Cottage Blog Tutorial. It was definitely a quick easy project. But I did learn a couple lessons. 

1) When she says use a half inch seam use it! I did 1/4 inch and didn't catch all the layers. So when I put the pillow in the fabric pulled away from the seam. 

2) When I sewed the hem in the photo, I did it too close to the end of the fold. I guess I should have given the raw edge a little bit of space. 

3) Use fabric softener for cheap Joann' fabric. 

The boyfriend doesn't really like presents, but I am hoping that he will use it when they are camping out on fires. I guess we shall see if it makes the cut!

WIP Wednesday

Today I just woke up in the mood to get some sewing done. After yoga I came home and sewed all day! It was great :) I made good progress on Maia's quilt. Since she likes traditional quilts my goal was to make it scrappy and rustic. I think I succeeded. This is my first attempt and piecing small stars and am very happy with my success so far.

I cannot wait till I get a new camera! I am so sorry for the poor iPhone photos! Only 24 blocks to go. I was surprised by how quickly these came together. Hopefully the rest go just as smoothly. 

Close up on one of my blocks. I am trying not to be too obsessed with matching up seams. Mostly to save my stress level, but also I want it to have a rustic feel. I am very happy to say though, that most of my seams are lining up very well ! 

I do look forward to the fall when I can go back home and have all of my quilting supplies and space. Do you all like my makeshift ironing board?

I am very happy to say that my stitches are back to beautiful on my new Juki.  I do not know what I would do without so many wonderful quilt shops who continuously save me as I learn what on earth I am doing!!

Do any Juki owners have any advice for a Juki newbie? 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

Finish it Up Friday

I have a finish!!! Actually I have had it for a while now, but my lack of internet and fire season has delayed my blogging.

Ta da! My carpenter star quilt! I don't have anywhere to take good photos at my place in Phx, so I apologize for the bad pictures. The fabric is from a mix of Joann's and local fabric stores. I quilted the top in a light grey and the back in a light blue. I so wish I had better photos for you all! I really was looking forward to entering this quilt in the Bloggers Online Quilt Festival, but we had a fire in New Mexico and I miss it! 

I am really proud of how the quilting came out. Especially since I did it on my tiny Bernina Bernett! Lets just say, that quilting this quilt made me realize that I really need a new sewing machine.

Here is a photo of the quilt in its new home! I made my first quilt for my friend Wendy's first child. I am happy to say that this quilt is for her second! I probably would not be quilting today if it wasn't for her getting pregnant three years ago!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday!

No internet woes!

Hello blogland I have missed you so!


It has been forever since my last blog post! In that time I have moved back down to Phoenix for this years fire season. I am rooming with a friend and she unfortunetly does not have internet.
Hence, no blogging.


But life is all not bad because.......

Ta da! She is all mine!!! I am so excited to have a new machine!
I have wanted a Juki for a year and finally took the plunge and bought one! I got it from a local store in Phoenix. They were so sweet and even gave it to me at the sale price. We have been so busy at work with fires that I have not gotten to use it very much. But on my last day off I sewed for 7 hours!!

Look at all the flying geese I sewed up!

I saw someone do this on their blog to keep their blocks organized! What a great idea! 50 plates for a dollar! Gotta love the dollar store.

All of my friends seem to be having babies at once and I have four quilts that I need to hurry up and make. I am not sure if I am going to have time this summer do make them! But at least now I can attempt to free motion quilt!!

Hello Again!!

It seems like forever since I last posted but I have only just finished my star quilt and haven't had anything to write about! I guess this is why people have multiple projects going at once. My sewing machine also took a took week vacation at the local quilt shop getting a tune up. But I am back! I want to wait to post about the star quilt untill I finish the label. I actually finished it so quickly that the recipient hasn't even picked at baby name yet!!

So I will show you my new project!

I wanted to do a  sampler quilt for one of my best friends Maia! She loves traditional quilts so I thought I would do the Sisters and Quilters: Apple Pie in the Sky Sampler. But I started working on it yesterday and did not feel that my skills were ready for it.

But at least I have made my first flying geese! There were ok, but I have no idea how to trim them!

I did not like cutting the little peices for each block at once. I like having all my cutting instructions together and to cut strips or big squares and go from there. I layed out the first block and didn't like it. So i went to Odeegards in search of something easier. I found this!

I quickly realized that I didn't want to do the border strips, so I am doing 5x7 rows of stars and no border.

Cutting strips is much more to my liking!

I love love love some of these green fabrics!!

My little stack of squares!

WIP: A little wednesday quilting

I am limited to straight line quilting on my machine. I have a Bernina Bernette which I love, but it was not meant for quilting. This is my first attempt at any quilting that has starts and stops within the quilt. 

Can you see the quilting?

I am using a light grey on the top. 

The back is a light blue thread. I wish I had a better photo, but the shadow actually helps you to see the quilting on the back. My pattern is showing up on the back because of the quilting! I am so excited. 

There will be no close ups due to poor stitches, but you cant see them from this far away!!

I am starting to think about upgrading to a machine that I could free motion on. Anyone have any suggestions? I like the Bernina's with the free motion control but they are so expensive!!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP!

WIP: Star Baby Quilt

Here is my WIP for this week. I am so excited about it! This is my first attempt at HST and I am so happy with the result!

Only three more seams and then the border!!

The red in the middle is really a pink, darn iphone photos !!

I just signed up for the free Craftsy Class for the 2012 BOM Sampler Quilt. I checked out a couple of the videos today and learned a great new pinning technique! It helped me get almost perfect points for the my HST! So Excited!!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work In Progress Wednesday! 

Dinosaur Quilt Finish!

Can you believe that this is the 6th quilt that I have made! Eek! A year ago now I was starting on my second one! I am so grateful to all the ladies who helped teach me to quilt (i.e. rescue me in moments of panic!) I'm actually a quilter now!

Doesn't it feel so good to accomplish the things we have always wanted to do?

Learn to Quilt = Check off my bucket list!!

Here is my finish this week!

Dinosaur front.

Flannel back. Sorry for the poor quality photos. I still need to figure out the best place to take photos in my new place. 

I definitely started liking this quilt better once I found the perfect color for my binding!

I did my first label with a marker as opposed to embroidery. My applique stitch is getting a little better!

I am giving this quilt to one of my good friends nephew. I do really hope the little guy likes it!

It always feels so good to mail off a quilt that you made. I am so excited for the next one!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday!!