Elissa's Quilt - Day 5

I'm in the home stretch of finishing this quilt. I finished quilting it yesterday and just need to finish up the binding, add a quilt tag, and wash and dry it. As you can see, I didn't use free motion quilting. I decided I just didn't have enough time to learn and practice free motion quilting on this gift, as I need to give it to its recipient tomorrow. I decided, however, that I would bind the quilt by hand, which isn't as hard or time consuming as I originally thought! To be honest though, I'm a little afraid I'm not doing it right. You all will be kind in case I'm not, right?

P.S. There's a sneak peek of another project I'm working on in the picture above. That project deserves its own (or several) post another day. Can you guess what it is?

Elissa's Quilt - Day 3

So, my mental break has done me well so far, though I admit I fell off the "avoiding-wedding-blogs" bandwagon only a day into it. Still, I feel like I've adopted a new approach to this wedding planning business: keep it simple, keep it fun. I'm sure this seems obvious, but it's a bit unsettling how I needed to remind myself of this.

What has been fun this past week is working on the birthday quilt for my niece, Elissa. I orginally intended to use the Hopscotch pattern from Super Simple Quilts #1, but in the end decided on a variation of the turning twenty quilt (variation means I made up my own pattern because I was too impatient to wait until I was able to buy the original pattern - I had to quilt NOW!). This lap sized quilt pieced together quickly. Last night I made the quilt sandwich and basted it together. Now I get to quilt it, which I'm both excited and nervous about. I've never done free motion quilting, but I hope my BSR foot will prove it's worth the price tag. The only decision left is how to quilt it. Should I do a meandering pattern, or loops? Opinions welcome!

Elissa's Quilt - Days 1 and 2

Cut and pieced.

I love productive weekends.

A little mental break

I am a bride, and I am obsessed. I've been pouring over wedding blogs, magazines, and yes, tv shows too. Last night I realized that I needed a break, a little step back from most things wedding related, or else I'll explode by the time I walk down the aisle if not before. More likely, I just won't enjoy the wedding if I keep obsessing constantly over the little details, and that is exactly what I don't want to happen. No no no.

So, for at least the next week I have cut myself off from wedding blogs and magazines and thinking about any wedding decisions that do not need to be made right now. Instead, I'm going to focus on what's really important in life. Like a sweet niece who is turning six (her age is now on two hands!!!) and a machine that is desperate for some quilt action.

I'm starting to feel more relaxed already.

Wishing instead of working

Where I wish I could be today. Sigh. Here's hoping this week goes by quickly.

Seed stitch scarf

Before all the pattern making and wedding dress shopping (more about that soon), I was on a fierce knitting kick. One of the things I made was this seed stitch scarf. I wanted a chunky scarf and this fit the bill perfectly. Also, because the yarn was super bulky, it was a very quick and gratifying project. I recently bought more yarn to make a matching hat, but until I finish the bag pattern, I don't think the knitting needles will be seeing much action. At least my neck and chest have been staying nice and warm this winter!

Pattern: No pattern, just simple seed stitch
Needles: Size 15
Yarn: Cascade Magnum in Moss