Tumbleweed Quilt

My first April finish (because I am secretly hoping for more this month)

My rodeo quilt!!

I have to admit.  

I had reservations if I could make this into a quilt I love.  I am am still not exactly over the moon about all the fabric.  But free fabric?  FREE fabric?

It'll do!  

I think I mentioned it before, but I won a bundle of cowboy/cowboy inspired fabric last year on Carla's blog, Lollyquiltz.  I guessed her least favorite color!  Magenta

I am really happy with the tumbler pattern layout. It really showcases the more novelty prints.

 Yeehaw!!! 

Cowboy hats!

 Horseshoes with loops

 More loops with....horseshoes.

Last but not least, boots....with spurs.  Cute no?

All of the above quilting was freehand by tracing pencil on paper, over and over, the images I pulled from the internet.

Except for the boots.  

 I needed a little guide for the first few to get a rhythm. 

 The toe/shoe angle was tough for me to get right on my own.

My trick?  I moved my laser for pantographs to the front and traced the boot off to the side.  You might have noticed I ran over loops in the image above because I was busy trying to race the pattern the first time!  But I finally got the hang of it and didn't need it anymore.

 Side note: I love the pattern so much that it is on my wish list for the next batch of pantographs I plan to buy soon!  I am sure that I will need it for a few Texas clients!

I did not have enough of the free fabric for a backing so I chose this brown fabric.  

The flowers reminded me of Texas bluebonnets.

 I am pretending the roses are some sort of Texas rose too! 

Don't burst my bubble, okay?

I had enough of the scraps to do a binding, but I really liked this print when I saw it at the LQS. 

I definitely used it to bring interest to the backing.

I had intended to just put the label in a random corner, but I just didn't like the way it was glaringly popping out.

 I decided to piece some scraps at an angle and then needle-turned it to the center of the strip where I had a large expanse anyway.

Worked out brilliantly.

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Quilt Stats:

Measures: 54" x 63"

Pattern: Tumblers (end to end horizontally)

Fabric:  Various floral and cowboy motif fabrics from 

Moda and other high quality quilting fabric lines

Quilt Pattern: Loops with Rodeo motifs by myself.

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I have to laugh because as I was editing the pictures I noticed a stray thread from my EPP project on the left of the backing strip a few photos above!

 

Proof that I have already snuggled under this with Button!

Who has somehow managed to steal MY rodeo quilt and renamed it from my awesome name of Tumbleweed quilt to

Little Horsey's quilt.

Nothing is sacred in this house.

WIP: Last minute post

I was about to type up my WIP post earlier, but was distracted by white smoke!

 I don't expect everyone to understand all the hype about the Pope, but it is a very exciting thing for us in our home! I am not one to wave my Catholic flag because I respect that so many others have other religious organizations they belong to or not at all!  I am just super glad that the boys were home from Spring Break to see it live! 

 Now that I just gushed my excitement...back to quilting!!!  

Things are relatively quiet since we had company in town taking advantage of the fact that the boys are home from school this week!  

I had a finish RIGHT before they arrived and did some hand sewing late in the evenings!

Finishes:

The Giant Star

Still love this quilt today as much as I did Monday!!!  I highly recommend this quilt to anyone looking to use their large motif prints, especially if you have Fat Quarter bundles waiting for a good project.

In Progress:

Spiders and Webs, part deux Quilt

I have been working on the binding the last few days.

Actually...it is done, but I haven't done a quilt label yet.  I am determined to do a quilt label before I call it a full finish.

Stars and Stripes

35 white hexies basted

15 to go.  Not to mention that I still have to address the blue stars.  I am still thinking hand embroidered stars.  I still have 3 more months to get it done, right?

No Progress:

I was going to list all of my quilts, but decided that I would list the quilt that is next in line and needs my attention.

Rodeo Quilt

It is waiting for me to get quilted.  The Houston Rodeo is almost over.  My goal is to have it all done by the Championships on Saturday.  Why?  Just because.

 I am also actually chuckling...as if a quilt has the ability to beg and whine for me to quilt it!

  I must be a quilter if I think my quilts can *speak* to me!

 Hope everyone is doing well this week!

Since it is on my mind...do other religions have interesting traditions for the "passing of the baton" of leadership like the Catholic Church?  I have learned a bit through the years about other religions, but do not pretend to know them well!

 I am really truly interested!!!

Linkin up!

Too Many Irons in the Fire?

I have been feeling like I have a lot of projects, but I actually feel like I am making significant progress and so there is little to no anxiety!  However, I am sure Mr. Boss thinks I have too many irons in the fire, anyway.   I have a ton of things in progress, but I really want to keep this short since, well, the irons are getting HOT!

 

I have five complete tops and four pieced backings in waiting in line for a turn on Ole Betsy.  You can see them on the rack in the background.  The order of quilting goes Giant Vintage Star, Primarily Sean's Quilt, Spiders and Webs, and then Blizzard.

They are all gifts or quilts for our family!!  

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My other slightly time consuming work in progress is my long arm business adventure.

My soft opening of my Buttons and Butterflies Quilting Services is underway this week!  

The great thing about having quilting friends that will be guinea pigs for you is that you don't have to be too embarrassed about layout problems or typos.  I get to have them try my links, read my instructions, and fill out forms before going "live".   I already some questions have come up and are already helpful for me to fine tune things!!

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But, I digress, you want to see quilting, right?

Rodeo Quilt

   

I am excited about this project!  I was able to piece this completely Monday night.  It went together pretty quickly.

I already picked up my backing fabric and binding fabric.

I love the nod to a bluebonnet on the brown and I am calling the rose a "Texas Rose" even if it isn't.  The cool biased stripe is Grace from 3 Sisters and I love it.  

Of course, I am having a debate. 

The top and bottoms of the quilt have a cool angle that I want to keep. 

 But it would require a continuous biased binding.  Which means I would lose the diagonal effect that I would get if I cut it WOF?

Help me decide?

Bias binding and I will get a straight boring lined up pattern?

-or-

Cut it the opposite direction and hope I get a "striped" look?

-or-

 

Cut the cool edge off and just cut WOF binding to get a diagonal stripe?

 HELP!!!!!!!

Linking up with Lee!!!!!

Weekend Bits

The weekend brought little bits of time here and there.

The teen boy's birthday is approaching. He loves Mr. Boss and I's alma mater Marquette University basketball team.  Since his bedroom bedding/decorating project is at the finish line, I thought an MU pillow would be perfect for his room.  

I thought?  A foundation paper-pieced project would be cool?

Until EQ7 shut down from mulitiple errors on me!!!

So I simplified my logo.  It isn't perfect, but I hope it is close enough?   

Now I just have to sew it.

I also was really excited, because it was the first time I used my portable table out in the family room.  I bought it from Target so I don't always "rabbit hole" into my studio at nights.  It also came in handy on my scrapbook retreat.  I like to have an L formation and it helped me!  Dual purpose!!

I also cut some more hexies! 

Still have to address the 50+stars

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On Sunday, I was had a different mission while doing the laundry. Of course, it all happened AFTER the laundry and the kids went to bed!

The mission was this stack of rodeo prints that I "won".

 It was more of a contest than a giveaway by Carla at Lollyquiltz.

I was actually super excited to win the bundle because, if you have been following me, you know that we get excited about the Rodeo around here.

I was waiting for the perfect rodeo pattern to fall into my lap since last year and it never happened. 

I found a couple of cute patterns, but I was looking for simple.  The rodeo officially starts this week and I want it...well...NOW, of course!  After some thought, I remembered I have the Accuquilt Tumbler die cut.  That would be simple.  I wouldn't lose the motifs!  So I hunted down a few tumbler patterns and found these three.

Sources: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right

Last night, after laundry, I sat and starting cutting my tumblers.

I couldn't figure out why it was taking me so long, until I realized...I cut out 100+ tumblers!!

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This morning, Button and I have been arranging the blocks. 

 I also made the decision to cut into the last two fabrics in the top right corner since I still had a handful of "background" fabric tumblers leftover (middle photo).

For now?  I am off...Button and I have a date on a wagon.

I just wonder if he is bringing his friends along with us again!