I'm Hexy and I know it!!!!

I have a big surprise coming up :) You are all gonna love it! In the meantime, here are some pics of what I have been up to:

Busy huh? Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is starting May 6th... you know I'm in it!!!!

Here are more pics for you:

And more:

See you soon!
Mike.

Bloglovin'

I don't know if you all heard, but they are discontinuing Google Reader. I use it to follow blogs. Seems like everyone is switching to Bloglovin'  They told me to paste this text in a new post to claim my blog on my Bloglovin profile:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Anyway....

Until next time,

Mike.

I'm on the Rag - Blog Hop Party & Giveaway!!!

Well, it's that time again. To help chase away the Winter Blues, Quilting Gallery is hosting another Quilters’ Blog Hop Party. Everyone with a quilting/sewing related blog is welcome to participate, even if it’s not Winter where you are. Sew, I'm participating :)

If you are wondering about the title of this post, well, here it goes. My Pfaff machine (Vicky) is getting serviced, et cetera, et cetera, so I needed a machine to sew on during the 3 week hiatus. I bought a sewing table a couple of years ago, a very old one, and it had a sewing machine built into it... a Singer Touch Tronic 2001 (circa 1978):

I took it out of the basement, plugged it in and lo and behold. It worked! It's loud, but a real workhorse! Anyway, I did not want to continue any projects on it, just for consistency, so I started on my first rag quilt! I already had the pieces cut (for a while). I did not have a quarter inch foot for this machine, but half inch was already indicated on the plate, so I figured this would work since generally a half inch seam allowance is used for rag quilts. I also discovered some interesting features on the machine. Bobbin winding: the bobbin winds while it's still in the machine without having to unthread the top. Cool. It also has a little red light that comes on when the bobbin is low, although you can see the bobbin through a little window while you sew. I don't like the fact that it does not have a needle up/down position. I am constantly using the dial on the right to raise and lower the needle. I thought for sure it would need oiled or something. The manual said never needs oiled (yeah, right). The answer to all the trouble shooting in the manual said "check bobbin area for lint." LOL!

Here are some pictures of my progress on the rag quilt. I love owls on fabric, so this one will be all owls with all solids on the back:

In honor of this occasion, I am giving away these rag quilt snippers (they're awesome) and some of the leftover flannel:

Ok, you are not going to win all of this :) It's probably like 8 yards of flannel. I'm going to cut up about 4 yards of it. I will give all of the owls and some of the solids. I think you could make a nice baby quilt out of it. The only catch is... if you win, print out this post... put it on your stack of fabric (like I do when I win) so that when you finally make something you LET ME KNOW!!!

Here's a photo of my latest quilt I'm working on too (not rag). And a photo of some inspiration:

The rag quilt snippers were on my Christmas wish list last year and two people got me a pair. So, in turn, one of you got lucky :)

The giveaway rules say make it simple, so here goes. You don't have to be a follower, but feel free to check out where you can follow me on the right side bar and go ahead and do so if you desire :) Leave a comment on this post. I would like to know how you make rag quilts. What size square do you use? Do you use batting in the sandwich squares or flannel or nothing? Do you always use flannel, maybe minky, regular cotton? Do you always sew the X in the middle or do something else? What size seam allowance do you use? If you have never made one, let me know how you envision you might do it, or why you would never make one.

You don't have to answer all of these questions. These are just some ideas. Write something that might be a good tip, trick, idea.... something I and my readers might want to know. Make sure I can contact you so I don't have to pick another winner! The giveaway will go until midnight Eastern Time, Sunday, March 17th!!!

Be sure to go to the Quilters’ Blog Hop Party and visit the other bloggers that are participating.

Until next time,

Mike.

Green and Hexy & Link a Finish Friday!

I finished a couple of things recently so I decided to write a quick post and participate in the Link a Finish Friday and Richard & Tanya Quilts. I posted about this finish last Saturday but did not link up anywhere:

Tonight is the belated holiday party at work. This is my Secret Santa gift.
This week I also finished the quilt top for the Green and Hexy quilt:

 The border fabric has inspired me to maybe quilt it with a loopy flower design. This fabric was also part of the bundle I won.

 Backing fabric. I did not win the backing fabric. That would have been a huge win :) I picked most of it up on sale.

 Leftover border fabric that will go on the back.

 Owl fabric for the back.

Monkey fabric for the back.

I back piece large chunks of fabric usually, so these are a few that I had in my stash saving for the day I finished the Green and Hexy quilt. 320 hexagons later and many hours on NJ Transit and PATH trains, I finally have the top finished! Yay!

I'm linking up at Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts.

Until next time,

Mike.

Quilting: A Love Story

It's been awhile since I posted but I have tons to share :)

I finished the scrappy quilt for my Secret Santa person at work. We have our party next week. We do it later so everyone can make it. It seems someone is always on vacation around Christmas.

I hope she likes it! From my experience, everyone loves getting a quilt!

Made some progress on my Aunt's scrappy and pink quilt. This will be a queen size. It's going together pretty fast. It will be my next finish.

Finished the hexagon sewing on the Green and Hexy quilt. Just need to square it off and add the fabulous border that came with this green stash when I won it. Then, I have to make the back and quilt it.

That being said, I had to start another Hexy quilt. I need something to do while on the train to and from work everyday. It's a long ride. This one is using a huge bundle of fat quarters that I won. The collection is called Picnic Pals. I won it from Penguin & Fish.

They had a sale at Joann's this weekend. I walked out with a load of Valentine's Day fabric at basement bargain prices... with a coupon, of course! I have a year to finish it :) I got the Olive the Ostrich fabric from Hawthorne Threads.

I went to the Road 2 California quilting show in Ontario, CA. I took a class with my Aunt C. Boy was it a bitch! A quilt that had lots of tiny pieces to cut up and sew back together. It was a total mind f**k. I don't have any pictures of it yet. Will keep you posted :) Here's the pattern. The designer taught the class.

But, look at some things I picked up:

Check out these peeps:

And of course, I love the Owl fabric. Check out my pinterest board for owls :) I couldn't resist the bacon either :)

I'm still contemplating the Monday linky party, but as you all know, I tend to disappear from the blog for awhile, so maybe it would be too much work. :(

But if you got this far, pin the scrappy Secret Santa quilt to your pinterest page then leave me the link in the comments. I will send a random commenter this fat quarter. It's the poison poppies from the Wizard of Oz. I have a stash of Dorothy stuff :) U.S. only this time. Ends Saturday February 23 at midnight Eastern.

Until next time,

Mike.

Look What I Made! (Monday?)

So, I been thinkin'... I do most of my sewing and quilting on the weekend. That's just the way it works for me. I have a full time job during the week with a very, very, very long commute. If I get 4 hours of sewing on Saturday or Sunday, yay! So, again, I been thinkin'... WIP Wednesdays or Linky parties on Fridays just really don't work for me :( I share on them, but I have to make the post on Sunday night and wait a few days or more to share... and I have to remember to link up at a later date! I am ready to share after the weekend! There aren't many Monday linky parties, so I was thinking I should do a Monday party! What do you think? I'm thinking it will force me to post at least once a week and I will have fun sharing :)

Well, anyway, this is what I made this weekend:

I'm still working on my Craftsy Block of the Month. This is the first block for August. I'm way behind. The fabrics are Michael Miller (at least some are). They came from leftover scraps from my friend Mel up in Massachusetts. She doesn't quilt, but she is crafty!

I also wanted to give a shout out to Missy, Lily, Sandy, and Mary. I had my very first ever sewing class/event. I drove up to North New Jersey to the store that sold me the long arm quilter. It was show and tell and a small class type of thing. I had a great time! It meets every two months and I can't wait for the next one :)

Let me know what you think about the Monday share party thing. I am thinking it should incorporate some giveaway thing too!

Until next time,

Mike.