Q2 Finish-a-long Goals

It's that time....time to commit to my goals for the Q2 Finish-a-long.

Quilt 1
First up is a supper secret baby quilt for a friend and fellow quilter.  The top is made out of Batik's, it just needs to have the quilting, binding and label finished. Sorry no photo till it's complete.  Shhhhh.

Quilt 2
The next on my list is a special quilt for my cousin who is expecting in May.  It is a fun animal quilt.  The top is done and I am scheduled to quilt it on April 26th.  Can't post a photo till it's done, but I can hint that the animal is hanging from a branch.

Quilt 3
Next up on my list is my Dr Who Quilt.  It is getting close to being done.  I did quilt as you go, so I need to add sashing to the back side and then finish the quilting and pick out binding.  I am hoping to get this one done this quarter as I want to enter it into our upcoming quilt show.

Quilt 4
Next up on my list is my Border of the Month Quilt.  I am working on the hand quilting, and then will need to bind it.

Stretch Goals - hoping I can get them complete
Quilts 5 & 6
Last month I started two new quilts at retreat a Zig-Zag Batik Quilt and a Snowball Quilt.  I would really like to complete both of them and have them ready to use.

Linking up to The Littlest Thistle.


The rest of my lists will have to wait till Q3 and Q4, as that list is already quite large.

• Sister's Choice Quilt
• Easy Street Quilt
• Red/White and Black couch Quilt
• Grandmother's flower garden

Q1 Finishes - Summary

For the 2014 Q1 Finish-a-long I set some goals which can be found here.  

First let's start off with the Dr. Who Quilt.  

For my Doctor Who quilt the final blocks were release and I finished them as soon as I could.  I then began working on the quilting.  Right after quilting the last block my machine started having issues, and had to go to the shop.  Since I did quilt as you go, I have 20 quilted blocks and that is as far as I have gotten.  I am glad to report that my machine is fixed and I can continue work this weekend on my projects.  Unfortunately the Dr. Who quilt will join my Q2 goals as it is unfinished.

Now on a happy note let's talk about what I DID get done!

My zig-zag quilt is a group quilt.  Everyone made 4-9 patches and then I am responsible for finishing the quilt.  I am happy to say that the quilt has been completed!  It can be seen here.

Last year sometime I took a class, and make a log cabin top during that class.  It is finally finished.  Not sure where this one will end up, but it might be donated to charity quilts for my local quilt guild.

I also had a 1600 UFO that needed to be finished.  I decided to applique a lotus follower on the top, and have finished the quilting and binding.  It is now complete. Check it out here.

My Hexi table runner is quilted and complete.  I ended up quilting it by machine as I felt it would hold up better.  It still has not been washed, and therefore is not on display, but it is complete!

The last of my goals was to complete a baby quilt for my Husband’s cousin who was had their baby in March.  This may seem like a distant relationship to be giving a quilt to, but I grew up knowing my husband’s cousin, so I have known him longer than my husband J.  The baby quilt is complete and has been gifted, so now I can share it.  The Mom and son are doing well and started using the quilt right away!

I can’t believe I met most of my goals for this quarter!  I have lots in store for next quarter, and am already beginning the list.

Linking up to The Littlest Thistle: http://thelittlestthistlecraftshop.blogspot.com.

See everyone in a few days for my list of Q2 goals.  I already am starting the list, but will have more details soon.  As this list is too long to finish in Q2.

• Baby Quilt for expecting friend
• Baby Quilt for expecting cousin
• Dr. Who Quilt
• Border of the Month Quilt
• Zig-Zag Batik Quilt
• Snowball Quilt
• Sister's Choice Quilt
• Easy Street Quilt
• Red/White and Black couch Quilt

See you soon.

Baby Quilt - Finish-a-long

I love to make baby quilts for family, and when I found out my husband's cousin and his wife were expecting I starting to determine what quilt to make the new baby.  Just before I started I sent a message to my husband's aunt to find out if the gender was know, unfortunately she said they were waiting to find out. However later that night I got a new message saying that they decided to find out, after all, and that a boy was expected in March.

The new addition to our extended family was born in early March and is doing well.  The quilt was gifted through the mother's parents (as the new baby lives out of town), and was put right to use.

Here it is.  It was backed with Red and Yellow material.  The colors of the high school the parents and I graduated from.

Hexi Table Runner - Finish-a-long

One of my first goals for the finish-a-long was to finish my Hexi-Table runner.  This table runner will eventually end up in my living room, but first I need to clean up my son's toys.  For now it is complete and living in my Quilting room.  I machine hand pieced, machine quilted, and hand finished the edges.  It matches the side table hexi's that I complete a year or two ago.

Checkout my other goals here: http://quiltsbyheather.blogspot.com/2014/01/finish-long-q1-goals.html

1600 Quilt - Finish-a-long

For about 2 years this quilt has sat unfinished because I thought it needed something besides just the jelly roll strips.  One day I determined that a lotus flower would look good.  I then used some of the fancy stitches on my machine to quilt the border.  It is backed with white flannel, and is now nice and cozy since it has been washed.

ZigZag quilt

One of my finishes for the Q1 finish-a-long is this Zig-Zag quilt which is a gift for a fellow quilter.  It is made up of block that four individuals plus myself made.  I then pieced the quilt, had another person quilt it and then finished the binding.  It is now ready to be gifted this weekend.

Log cabin - Finished

I finished the Log cabin quilt!  There was some stretching which made it a bit wonky, thought. Can't wait to get another UFO complete!

Finish-a-long Q1 goals

For the 2014 Q1 Finish-a-long here are my goals:

My Doctor Who quilt is waiting on the final 3 blocks to be release, then I will be adding the borders for each block, sashing, quilting and binding it.\

 My zig-zag quilt is a group quilt.  Everyone made 4-9 patches and then I am responsible for finishing the quilt.  I need to finish the last 8 half square triangles, then assemble the quilt, quilt it and bind it.

Last year sometime I took a class, and make a log cabin top during that class.  I would really like to finish the quilt this quarter.

 I also have a 1600 UFO that needs to be finished, as it has been in this state for at least 2 years.  It just seems like it needs something more

I also have this table runner to finish by hand.

Finally I have a baby quilt which is a surprise that I need to finish.  It's red, green, blue and yellow.  I can't show a picture here as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

That is my list of goals for this quarter.  

Linking up to The Littlest Thistle: http://thelittlestthistlecraftshop.blogspot.com/2014/01/finish-along-2014-quarter-1-now-open.html

Baby Quilt - Circles (Finish-a-long)

So today I completed my first finish for this Quarter of the Finish-a-long.  This quilt was designed and quilted by me.  For the quilting I did straight lines down the length of the quilt.

Close-up of the quilting.

I was able to gift the quilt to the mother-to-be today and she was surprised and excited to use it.

Finish-a-long

This quarter I plan to participate in the Finish-a-long hosted by She Can Quilt.

This is my closet with many of my UFO's.

Here is what I plan to work on.

 #1 Baby Quilt - Needs Binding and Label

#2 Baby Quilt - Needs Binding and a Label

#3 Baby Quilt - Needs Binding and Label

#4 Doll Quilt - Needs Binding

#5, 6 & 7 - Need to find backing, quilt, bind and label all three

#8 Doll Quilt - Needs Binding

#8 Baby Quilt - This little gem needs the Binding finished and a label.  Then it will be off to its new home with a baby girl who is due soon.

Those are my items for the Finish-a-long.  Wonder how many will be finished.

Happy 4th of July

With the 4th of July quickly approaching and Canada Day currently occurring I thought I would offer a promo code to my ETSY store.  Through July 6th use code IndependenceDay for 15% off purchases of $15.00+.

This week I am working to complete a top based on the Sister's Choice pattern by Bonnie Hunter.  I am not actually following the pattern, but winging it based on a friends top I saw last month.

So far I have 42 blocks complete.  I planned to make a twin sized quilt, so theoretically I am done....but I have changed my mind and now have 14 more blocks to make.

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.

My ETSY store has reopened

Last year we changed my quilting studio into a bedroom, in order to sell our home.  Due to the pending move and some of my items being at the local quilt show, I put my ETSY shop in Vacation Mode.  I am happy to announce that my shop has returned:  Heather Berg Quilts - ETSY.

Friends and Family can receive a 10% discount through Friday using coupon code 10percentoff.

I have listed quilts, custom t-shirts, bibs, as well as a de-stash of Cross Stitch book and kits.

Stop by and take a look.

Organizing my fabric

The other day I found this wonderful tutorial on how to fold fabric to make it appear nicely on the shelf.  With our pending move to a new house, I thought it would be awesome to try her method.   Check out the tutorial written by Angela of Cut to Pieces: Fabric Folding Tutorial

The past two nights I have spent my free time folding fabric.  So far I have two tubs of fabric folded.  Both tubs had fat quarters and other small pieces which I will folder later on, but I probably have 50 fabrics on boards!  I LOVE the mini-bolts and can't wait to fold more!

What have I been working on?

Back in March I dropped a quilt top off at my Quilter to have it basted.  This quilt was a King sized border of the month QAL that I completed in December.  For some reason I decided that I would hand quilt the massive one (not sure what I was thinking).  Anyway, the past couple of weeks I have been working on the hand quilting.  So far I have the Center, and two filler borders complete.  I am about two-thirds of the way done quilting the 1^st pieced border, flying geese.

 

Things should pickup here in the next month or so.  I am taking a Marti Mitchell class on June 2^nd, and will be moving to our new house on June 6^th and 7^th.  Until then my machine is feeling neglected as it sits in the spare bedroom, surounded by a growing pile of packed boxes.

For those in the US, have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Where have I been...

Ok, so I know I fell off the bandwagon and have not posted lately.  Life got busy with being out of town for 16 days and then going to a quilt retreat for 4 days.

Retreat was lots of fun.  We had a great time talking, laughing, quilting, shopping and eating.  During my time at Retreat I had two main goals.  Quilt a baby quilt for my friend Desi’s baby shower, and piece and applique two animal baby quilts.   I am happy to say that not only did I complete the two tops, and quilt the baby quilt, but I also was able to decide on borders for my Easy Street quilt and add two of the borders to the quilt.  The last border will have to wait till April 7^th’s quilt get-a-way as it is too large for my current workspace.

So here is a list of my projects in process –

·        Pink animal baby quilt – Quilt (3/28) & Bind
·         Easy Street – Add border #3
·         Green animal baby quilt – Quilt (4/11) & Bind
·         Doll Quilt & Baby Quilt tops – Quilt & Bind them
·         Todem Pole Wall Hanging – Applique
·         Hexi table runner – Baste & Quilt

 So my list of UFO’s is really not that short.  I also one project that I am not working on at the moment: a Red/Black/White Twin sized quilt, which is ready for backing and to be quilted.

While out of town for work I visited 5 quilt shops and found lots of yummy treats.  I am hoping to share them in a post this weekend.  For now I am on a Quilting Supply freeze.  My goal is to not buy any quilting supplies (fabric, thread, etc) for the next 6 months.  I know I will probally not make it the full 6 months, but if try then I can save more money for our pending house move.

This evening I am off to quilt the Pink animal baby quilt.  I still have not decided on how I am going to quilt it, but hopefully the owner of Quilting-By-You can help with some ideas.

That’s it for now.  Have a Hoppy Easter weekend.

Stash Report

I am happy to say that I have sucessfully managed to not add any fabric to my stash this week.  I did buy batting, but no fabric!

I have been working on cutting up scraps into usable sizes and while doing so I found that I had some pieces large enough to make kleenex tissue holders.  This weekend while at a sit-n-sew hosted by my local guild I made 17 kleenex holders.  This used about 1 yard of fabric (maybe a bit more, but we will call it one yard).

Fabric used since last report:1 yd
Fabric used YTD: 12 yds
Added this week: 0 yds
Added YTD: 12.25 yds
Net Used/Added for 2013: .25 yds


That means that since I started tracking my fabric purchases and useage I have only added 1/4 yd to my stash.  I am working on a new quilt, but it won't be done for another month or so.

Here is a sneak peek.

February Challenge

My challenge for February is to blog at least twice a week on the progress of my quilts.  This will be a difficult one for me as my work schedule is about to get busy with travel.  Despite that I plan to take some handwork with, and am hoping this challenge goal will keep me plugging away.

This is one of my hand quilting projects.  There are two totem poles I would like to complete the stitching on.

I am linking up to The Girl that Quilts.

Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas 2012

So I know it is quite a bit after Christmas, but I thought I would do a summary since all of the quilted gifts have been given.  For me this was the year of the Quilt.

For my Grandma & Grandpa I made my own version of the + quilt out of fat quarters.  My grandma has always like the shade of green in the quilt and when I saw the fabric at a "steal" of a price I had to purchase it.

Here is the One Block Wonder I made for the little Redhead.  Of course he is showing the back of the quilt.

I managed to keep the next one a secret for many months.  I created this one from the Geared for Guys book.  I really love the book and have now made two quilts from the book. DH had tried to trick me multiple time to find out what his present was, but I stuck to it and kept my secret.  This quilt has gotten lots of use since it was gifted.

A few years ago my sister gave me here old fabric from when she was in high school.  Then in 2011/2012 I participated in a quilt guild raffle block giveaway and won.  The front of the quilt contains the blocks I won, and additional blocks I created, and the back of the quilt contains some of the yardage my sister gave me.  When I made this quilt I knew I was going to give it to my sister and BIL.

This next quilt...if you are keeping track this is Christmas Quilt #5 was made for my youngest Sister and BIL.  This was an origional design, they live on the West Cost near the ocean, and my new found love for Batiks made for a wonderful "water" combination.

The next quilt was a pattern from the Sizzix blog and was designed by Amy Friend.  I had known that I wanted to try a triangle pattern and when I saw this design I knew I had the right fabric bundle from Connecting Threads to use, and the perfect "Grandmother" to give it too (my mom).

The final quilt I gifted at Christmas was to my oldest Nephew.  His younger brother received a quilt when he was born and I thought it was time for my oldest Nephew to also have one.  Due to his age I first asked him early in 2012 if he would like me to make him a quilt, and I got a big YES.  Since I know kids can change favorite colors I asked him if he had any color preferences, and his answer was Yellow and Black.  My dad and his dad were standing near by and were quick to point out that those were Iowa Hawkeye colors, and that got a big grin.  I thought I would run with it and added Herky to the quilt in a few spots.  I also big stitched around Herky to give some additional color to the quilt.


That about sums up my Christmas gifting.  All I have to say is 7 quilts as gifts in one year is a lot of quilts ... and that will not be happening again in the near future since I am amazed that they all were completed on time.

My One Block Wonder

So I initially started this blog long, long ago and planned to show my One Block Wonder quilt.  Here it is (sorry for the photo quality, I am not sure where my other shots are).

The origional fabric used was solar system fabric.  I love how the One Block Wonder method allows you to have a very unique quilt.  Here is my little Redhead showing the back of the quilt which has the origional fabric.

Thanks for stopping by.

2013 Progress Report

So I have been meaning to continue writing this blog for a while, well who am I kidding a really long while.  So I figured I would hop on the bandwagon and keep track of my stash yardage in and out for the year.

So last week I was planning a new baby quilt, and bought 6.75 yds of greens and other tones for the multi-colored animals.  I know that seems like a lot of fabric, but I know some of it will end up in the stash. 
 Here is an image of the quilt I am planning: http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/1571204911/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0&isremote=0

Then I also am almost finished with my border of the month quilt, and needed a backing, so I bought 5.5 yards to back it. 

The cream border now has flowers, a vine and some leaves, but I have to finish button hole stitching them on Friday.  Then it's time to find a long-arm quilter who will baste the quilt for me.  I think I am going to hand quilt it.

In addition to the fabric that has come in this week I am also happy to say that my latest Queen sized quilt is finally finished.  It has been back from the Quilter since October/November and now is complete.  So I can count this in my fabric out.  Since I did not keep track of my exact yardage, for this quilt I will call this 11 yds of fabric between the top, border, backing and binding (it's probably more than that, but I can't find the pattern).

Fabric in MTD: 12.25 yds
Fabric in YTD: 12.25 yds
Fabric out MTD: 11 yds
Fabric out YTD: 11 yds
YTD fabric added to the stash: 1.25 yds

When breaking it down like this it really looks like I did not add much this month.  Let's see if I can continue to keep on track.  I do know that I will be purchasing border fabric for my Easy Street quilt in March as well as for a Baby quilt.  I have looked all through my stash and can't find the right fabric. 


Thanks for stopping by.