Love Upon a Star {Emotional Finish!}

So, as you might already know... I did it!!  I managed to finish Love Upon a Star and doll it up to be gifted!  It was hands down, one of my most emotional quilts ever (the Mister would agree). 

The good, the bad, the ugly:

I fought through a sewing machine issue, my thread was doing weird stuff, the quilt wasn't squaring,

I had to make my binding twice, and the second binding was still a smaller width than I wanted.  What was I thinking cutting 1 and 3/4 instead of 2 inches?  And all the while I was up against a time constraint that seemed to be laughing in my face.   

...and then the final straw came when I pulled the quilt fresh from the dryer (two hours later than I was hoping to finish) and the brown flannel that I used as my background had pilled -- you know those oh so not attractive little white fuzz balls?  tears.

Tears, like Niagara Falls, baby.  Oh sweet quilting faeries save me.  Quilting moments don't get any more raw than that.  It felt like a serious dose of, "I'masuckyquilter."

At this point, my poor husband is not sure what the heck is going on.  All he can see is my balling my eyes out and a beautiful quilt made with beautiful healing intention, for a beautiful person.  

He asks what's wrong.  I tell him that the flannel pilled and a seam busted open.  He doesn't even know what pilling is.  He reassures me that it looks incredible and tells me that he thought I bought fancy fabric that was supposed to antique with a wash. 

Isn't he amazing? 

I dried my tears, dabbed a cold wash cloth on my face, and nuzzled the puppy.   Best medicine ever!  As I was pulling myself together I decided I was just too close to this project which is why I could only see it's every flaw.  I needed to just trust myself, fold the dang thing up... tie on pretty ribbon and believe it would all be ok.

And honestly nothing could have prepared me for what came next.  You see, this quilt was made to go live with my Mom (in love) who is recovering from a surgery, hence the healing intentions.  I hand her the folded bundle all nervous and worried that it won't measure up to how incredible she is, but you know... she simply bursts with joy.  She kisses and embraces me.  She may have even been holding tears back.  I know I was. 

It felt great. 

The Mister was right.  It wasn't about perfect quilting.  It was about caring, connecting, and emotion through stitches. 

It was about a warm quilt that would stand in for us and give her constant hugs and warmth when we can't be there.  It's about reminding her that she is our rock and how very much we love her. 

And that's where the name came from.  Love Upon a Star... and if you love upon all the stars... well, that's a lot of love, isn't it?

This quilt has been an emotional journey.  But now that I am on the other side... I am so glad I stuck with it. 

I know it will be treasured.

And I know I found a way to say I love you more than I ever could through words, and I believe even more now in the power of quilting and seriously how therapeutic it can be for the maker and the receiver. 

The end.

p.s.  I will be sharing this with some of the linky parties on my side bar and especially at Fabric Tuesday with Quilt Story.  I hope my story urges someone else to share love through stitches too -- it's rewarding beyond the ends of the universe and back!

I Can Hardly Believe It...

...the stars quilt is done!  Quilted, binding on, in the wash, as I type!!  Whohohoooohohooo!!  Here's a teaser and I'll show you all once it's delivered to it's new home!

Oh, and yes, I changed the name of this quilt one last time.  It was "Wish Upon a Star".... but late last night it hit me.... and it will now be called "Love Upon a Star!"   Final answer!! 

Hope you are having a beautiful day!

Wednesday WIP {A Lot of Secrecy}

I feel like I have a lot of secrets going on right now... can't wait to show it all to you!

--IN PROGRESS--

Forms of a Dress -- due 14 February

This is my first guild challenge!  I am finding myself sketching and re-sketching, and I have my final design ready.  Next step is to begin layering fabric!  Starting this one on Sunday!

Spinning Starlets {English Paper Piecing} -- a.k.a. I've reached a new level of crazy!

Following along with the Block Party at Selfsewn; creating Rose Stars.  I finished my second one and you can also see my post about my overall experience with English Paper Piecing!

Private Swap with Megan from Silver Threads of Happiness

I am starting the second part of the surprise.  Closer to shipping my box!   

Name Game Swap -- due by 15 March

We are swapping a mini quilt that uses the name of our swap partner in the quilt.  Cool, no?  I have gotten my partner's information, snooped around for ideas and inspirations, pulled a bunch of fabrics, adjusted my stack, finished my sketch and I am ready to begin putting fabric to batting.  My only hint will be that it's going to start with some ticker tape quilting!

Wish Upon A Star -- star quilt-a-long by Melissa at Happy Quilting and Sparkle Punch quilt-a-long by Oh, Frannson!

Great progress on this over the the last week... and you may notice that I added a new type of star.  I kept seeing the Sparkle Punch quilt-a-long by Elizabeth at Oh, Frannson and couldn't resist.  Besides mixing star types got my mojo going and helped me figure out what I want to do. 

I am working at a frantic pace to finish by Saturday and will reserve further photos (to keep this a surprise) until it's done!  And did you know that this is the first time I've done anything (purposely) wonky... what fun!! 

--ON PAUSE-- 

Laughing Leaves with Frieda Anderson

More of the project can be seen here.  Can't wait to roll up my sleeves and dig back in!  You can also check out what I learned about using fusible in an art quilt!

{Your're My Sunshine}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

Still no deadline for this one.  The way things are going, maybe I pick this up once my show pieces are done?

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 7
New Projects: 0 (might add one next week)

Finished Projects: 0
Total WiP's: 7

And a dose of Katie and Sammy antics --a typical scene straight from my sewing room....

If I were to narrate it would go something like this...

Sammy, "Trying to catch my tail... gotta get that tail"

Katie, "Hahaha, wouldn't it be funny if I stuck my nose in the shot.  I'm so funny"

Sammy, "Hey... get your nose outta my shot.  This is a video about meeeee!"

10 Snaps from a Lazy Blogger

I could say I've been really busy the' last few days or I could say I've just been plain 'ole lazy.  Both are true. 

And as I'm sitting at my desk with the sun shining in all I want to do is turn on a movie and rev my sewing machine into action.  So, here are quick ten snaps from the last few days!!

 

 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!!

Wednesday WIP {Seeing Stars}

Managed quite a bit of sewing time this week and it feels good to get back in the groove!!

--IN PROGRESS--

Forms of a Dress -- due 14 February

This is my first guild challenge!  I am finding myself sketching and re-sketching, but can feel myself getting closer to the One!

Spinning Starlets {English Paper Piecing} -- a.k.a. I've reached a new level of crazy!

Following along with the Block Party at Selfsewn; creating Rose Stars.  And.... drum roll please.... I finished my first one!!  Whohohoooo!!!
On the ironing board waiting for a nice press (and in terrible yellow closet light)

Pressed and happy!  I need to grab a better daylight picture, but really liking how it came out!

Private Swap with Megan from Silver Threads of Happiness

I have mostly finished up the pincushion I made for Megan and getting to work on her surprise surprise.  Yup, I'm having a fun time with this one. 

Name Game Swap -- due by 15 March

We are swapping a mini quilt that uses the name of our swap partner in the quilt.  Cool, no?  I have gotten my partner's information and am starting to snoop around for ideas and inspirations.  I did pull a bunch of fabrics, but want to make sure they are her style/colors -- this is going to be out my normal style and should be interesting!

Star Struck or Map to the Stars -- star quilt-a-long by Melissa at Happy Quilting. 

I am up to eight stars -- you can see more here!!  Feeling good about it.  Now, I just need to figure out how I want to lay out the design.  I was originally going to just lay them out next to each other, but it feels heavy and unbalanced.  Still trying to figure out what to do next.

A bunch of new stars.

All the stars together.  You know.  Looking at this picture again (and sorry for the low light) I'm thinking it's the blue check and bold bottom right star fabrics that are throwing the design off.  The softer colors are melting in to the brown instead of fighting it.  Hmmm....

Naughty Notions Challenge -- I've decided not to enter in this round due to everything else going on. 

--ON PAUSE-- 

Laughing Leaves with Frieda Anderson

More of the project can be seen here.  Can't wait to roll up my sleeves and dig back in!  You can also check out what I learned about using fusible in an art quilt!

{Your're My Sunshine}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

Still no deadline for this one.  The way things are going, maybe I pick this up once my show pieces are done?

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 8
New Projects: 0

Finished Projects: 1 (backed out on Naughty Notions challenge)
Total WiP's: 7

And a dose of Katie (left) and Sammy (right) playing in the snow we got over the weekend!

FNSI with the Stars

Hope you had a great Friday Night Sew-In (FNSI)!  I decided to work on my stars quilt.  (Star Struck or Map to the Stars -- star quilt-a-long by Melissa at Happy Quilting.)

I started my night by gathering up my assistants.  Katie clearly knew something exciting was about to happen in the sewing room.

Sammy wasn't far behind in snooping.

I spent most of the time making flying geese for the five stars that I am working on with Block 1 instructions (picture from this morning).

I managed to complete two stars!!  This first one with the blue and yellow might go down as a practice block.  Between the color combo not really working and the points not being very good... I guess I was just rusty and needed a block to work out all my kinks on. 

This one however was much better and pretty cute if you ask me!

The stars are made from vintage sheets and the background is a cocoa colored flannel.  I wish you could reach through the screen and feel how amazingly soft this quilt is going to be!

 Here are all three of my blocks so far.

FNSI was just what I needed to get my sewing mojo back... and with this being the view from my sewing room today I think I might just keep sewing. 

This is the next star up for sewing.  I'm on a roll!!

Hope you are off to an amazing start to the weekend and yes of course my assistants are with me again this morning.  They can be so cute when they aren't fighting or barking.

Wednesday WIP {Three New Things!!}

I can feel the pace of the year starting to pick up as swaps are beginning and I am getting back into my rhythm to enter an art show in March and my guild quilt show in May. 

--NEW--

Spinning Starlets {English Paper Piecing} -- a.k.a. I've reached a new level of crazy!

A new blog friend of mine Kris from Duke Says Sew What has turned me on to the idea of English paper piecing.  Sounds so formal, right?  Well, you might remember that I had paper piecing on my list for 2012, so when I looked over the Block Party at Selfsewn and saw how cute the Rose Star was... I caved. 

So far, I've cut out the template from paper, cut my fabric scraps, based most of the pieces, and begun hand sewing them together.  I think I may do a seperate post on my experiences with this process so far.

Private Swap with Megan from Silver Threads of Happiness

Adding this here so I don't forget.  I have so many ideas to surprise Megan and I'm tickled that we have the same silly forest, mushroom, elephant, and button likes!  And have you see her Pink Granny Blanket?  It's totally sweet!  Makes me want to get started on a crochet blanket.

Name Game Swap -- due by 15 March

We are swapping a mini quilt that uses the name of our swap partner in the quilt.  Cool, no?  I haven't gotten my partner information yet, but am going to pull together an inspiration mosaic to help my partner stalk me!

--IN PROGRESS--

Star Struck or Map to the Stars -- star quilt-a-long by Melissa at Happy Quilting. 

I made zero progress on this last week.  Bad, bad, me.  I really need to just sit down and whip up a bunch of stars.  I'm feeling more inspired to sew after last night's guild meeting! 

Naughty Notions Challenge -- make a clutch using lots and lots of notions by the end of the month

(you can still join if you like)

I have a pretty good idea what I want to do now... just need to make the basic clutch and start embellishing!

 
--ON PAUSE-- 

Laughing Leaves with Frieda Anderson

More of the project can be seen here.  Can't wait to roll up my sleeves and dig back in!  You can also check out what I learned about using fusible in an art quilt!

{Your're My Sunshine}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

Still no deadline for this one.  The way things are going, maybe I pick this up once my show pieces are done?

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 5
New Projects: 3

Finished Projects: 0
Total WiP's: 8 (creeping up as we get closer to quilt show time!)

And, how about a picture of Sammy and Katie?  That was a lot of rambling and not a lot of pictures.

Forms of a Dress -- due 14 February

This is my first guild challenge!  I have completed my sketch and am ready to pull fabrics to get going. 

Wednesday WIP {More Planning Than Sewing}

As I admitted yesterday, there hasn't been a ton of sewing on this end, but as I was thinking about it more, I think that is also because I am in the planning stage with a lot of my new projects.  Let's take a look.

--NEW-

Forms of a Dress - a guild challenge

I don't have anything to show, but I have started sketching what this small art quilt will look like and I think I even have my thoughts narrowed down to two ideas.  And of course I am extra nervous because this is my first guild challenge!

--IN PROGRESS--

Star Struck or Map to the Stars -- star quilt-a-long by Melissa at Happy Quilting. 

I have a bunch more stars pieces cut out and ready for sewing. 

Naughty Notions Challenge - make a clutch using lots and lots of notions (you can still join if you like)

I started this by pulling out a bunch of notions that were easy to get my hands ... goodness knows I have a bunch more .. as I wanted to let the notions be my inspiration, since I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. 

So far I have pulled out a pile of colorful zippers, snaps, beads, lace, floss, and some green and turquoise fabrics, and and buttons (not pictured).

I'm leaning (at the moment) toward using the hexigon print on the outside.

The more I am stewing on this project the more I would like to be sure I use these specific brown and turquoise beads.

And I'm sure I will find myself also reaching into this bag for a few of my treasured favorites (that are so overdue of being used in something).

 

You're still asking what I'm making aren't you?  Well... so far I am thinking a rounded bottom clutch and the rest will have to be a surprise for next week.

--ON PAUSE-- 

Laughing Leaves with Frieda Anderson

More the project can be seen here.  Can't wait to roll up my sleeves and dig back in!  You can also check out what I learned about using fusible in an art quilt!

{Your're My Sunshine}: Bottled Rainbows {ticker tape quilt-along}

Still no deadline for this one, but I am sure it will be an awesome winter project and just the right thing to pick up after all the crazy holiday sewing!

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 4
New Projects: 1 (started Forms of a Dress)

Finished Projects: 0
Total WiP's: 5