Finished!!!

It's finished!!!  100% pieced and quilted and bound by me!  Design input from Jim!  We make a great team, I think!

Almost done!

I want to show you my progress on the Minecraft quilt.  Originally I wanted to finish it today, but that didn't happen.  Next up, the binding!

Machine quilting on my sewing machine.  My right wrist got very sore from holding the fabric!

My husband held up the quilt after I finished quilting it.

Trimming off the excess from the sides to get ready for the binding.

Clipping threads from the back.  I matched thread on the front according to each block so I had lots of starts and stops.  Not the perfect way to do it, but Martha Stewart isn't coming over!!!

Ta Da! Minecraft top completed!!!

After I got those other projects finished, I turned my attention to sashing the Minecraft quilt.  The squares ready for sashing:

I think the sword and TNT blocks are my and my husband's all-time faves!  And yes, my sewing room is a mess--that's why I'm trying to get close ups!  We chose to drop the pick axe out because getting it right inside of that size of a block is nearly impossible without working with tiny squares.

Originally we planned to put the dragon Kelli created on the reverse side, but I'd already bought 120" backing fabric at $19.99 a yard) and didn't want to waste it.  I might put the dragon on a banner for Halloween though.  (I've already bought the purple fabric too.)

Here's the beginning of the sashing process:

And wah lah!

Jim picked out the sashing fabric.  It needs to be pressed, but I think it looks cool!

The backing is brown in the same texture as the grey sashing fabric.

Now I'm trying to figure out what kind of pattern to follow in quilting this together.  Ideas?

Best laid plans

Sidetracked should be my middle name!  I seem to be very good at it.

I got back from vacation and tackled my diamond sword pattern.  And deleted it.  My measurements were off.  Kelli Fannin from Seriously. . . I think it needs stitches had already posted her pattern here so I used hers instead of figuring out how to fix mine.

I am glad I tried to create a pattern though--I learned a ton and mostly I learned to appreciate what others have done before me!!!

Here's the finished block:

Disaster strikes my sewing room

Oh dear.  It has been over a month since I've blogged!  I'm so sorry!  We've gone on vacation, I've finished the Hunter's Star quilt top, I've done some cross stitching, but I've blogged about none of it!

One of the major things that has happened is this:

It's not what is outside although the weed jungle is growing like mad with all the rain we have had.  My husband is taming it now that he has more time for yardwork.  He was laid off--did I mention that?  The picture also doesn't just show that my sewing machine table is a mess, but that's a major clue.

I finished the Hunter's Star and programmed my machine to write a label for it, and then forgot to change the presser foot.  The needle came down, broke in the machine, seriously messed up the timing, and the machine began shredding thread.

Even though I took my machine to the dealer's the next day (two weeks ago), the repairman attended training for at least a week so I still don't have it back.  I even tried sewing more blocks on my old Viking that is now my daughter's.  Getting the 1/4" seam right on a different machine is hard though.  Hopefully I really will get my machine back in a week because I have to sew the binding on the Hunter's Star quilt when it comes back from the quilter.  All before leaving for vacation the following week.

I have done these blocks so far on my husband's Minecraft quilt.

Notice the white chicken on the bottom row.  It was one of Kelli's bonus blocks that my husband preferred.  Since I've already purchased the sashing fabric and back, we picked and chose the blocks my husband wanted most and I'm putting all these blocks on the front.  Kelli recently posted a pattern for the pickaxe that I'm going to make for one of the blank spots although I'm changing it a tiny bit.  I spent last night graphing out a diamond sword for the other blank spot and figuring out how to make it without making it look appreciably different than the others, i.e., more pixelated.  I'll be publishing instructions for it soon--as soon as I write them up.  Making it into a 12" block was much more easily said than done.  I have no idea what software Kelli uses so I used graph paper and pencil.  I'll probably post pictures of that.  Very high tech--not!

Kelli has also created a large dragon for the back of the quilt that I'm duplicating too.  Here's the link to the tail section, mid section, and head.  Of course that means I bought far too much backing fabric.  Oh well. It will look cool when it's done after I get my sewing machine home.

When to say it's good enough!

I took a lengthy break from Minecraft skins, but I finished the Witch after completing the placemats.  Here she is.  (My daughter informs me that witches are always girls and boys are called warlocks.  The Harry Potter world certainly reinforces that idea.)

Back to Minecraft.

The witch caused me a lot of issues because it didn't make sense to me.  My husband helped me pick colors until he asked, "Would it help if you saw the character on the game?"

Immediately I responded, "Yes!"

Once I saw the pixellated figure on screen, I could see what I couldn't figure out before.  Unfortunately what I saw made me realize that Kelli had really simplified this and other blocks into something a beginning quilter could handle and have that important sense of accomplishment.  These animated figures are *highly* pixelated.  There is another quilter that I've seen on Instagram that works with probably 1- or 2-inch squares in order to attain that pixelated look.  I tweaked the colors that I used in this version because of seeing the real one, but I'm not sure I'm totally happy with it.

What I changed

Skin

The first thing I noticed is that the witch has grey skin, not flesh tone, so that made picking that color easy.  I've run out of the skin tone so I was searching for the next best color.  That picture above doesn't show the grey very well so you'll have to trust me.  It's light grey.

Top Row

I had to really study this to see what this figure was depicting.  You need to know that the witch is wearing a pointy hat.  There is a vivid green jewel or something at the front right above the brim, and then that green extends around the hat like a greyed-out green ribbon.  I didn't have fabric that looked remotely like that so I opted for the dark grey instead.  It would make more sense if you saw the hat continued to go up to a point, but there isn't room on the block.  By the way, the blue in the top two corners is sky.  I wished for a different blue fabric but didn't have anything I was willing to cut into.

The Black and Brown Strips

I'm still struggling with this or actually.  The witch should have a strip of skin exposed between her/his eyebrow and hat brim because his eyebrow should be black.  It's a unibrow so I'm calling it in the singular!  Obviously there would be no difference between the hat and brow if they were both black so I used dark brown for the brow.  

Nose

Yes, that's a nose.  Go figure.  My husband pointed out that the witch has a mole so I appliquéd one onto the witch's nose.  I also used a lighter shade of brown for her nose because, in my opinion, skin and hair should not match no matter what color either one is.  

Summary

Overall, I think this looks a turkey with a Pilgrim hat.  However, my all-important judge (my husband) is pleased with the overall effect.  I suspect I'm going to struggle with the translation between the actual pixelation and the blocks.  Knowing what the character looks like helps me translate the block, but I'm struggling with that perfection thing again.

Okay, that's my answer.  I'm leaving it alone and moving to the next one, the Zombie Pigman.  Yeah, I struggled with whether to leave that one as is or pixelate it too.  I'm leaving it.  I won't enjoy making it if I have to figure out how to do the pixelation, to say nothing of having to buy more fabric of the various colors.  Besides, the blocks wouldn't work together if I changed stride mid-stream!

Speaking of fabric, I'm out of skin tone and nearly out of black.  I'm beginning to wonder if I needed all the colors in the fat quarter pack since there are several I've not touched yet.  There are still a lot of blocks left though!

I catch up then I procrastinate?

After all that sewing and all my good intentions to complete the Squid last Monday, it didn't happen.

First, I realized my fabrics didn't match Kelli's so I waited for my husband to come home and choose colors.

Then somewhere around Wednesday, I cut out pieces and laid them up.  And realized that those pieces that said Cut Two only had one.  Yeah, I can read. It's following directions where I seem to be hurting.  :-)

I went ahead and sewed what I had together, meaning the eyes were sewn.

Then my daughter had a State competition for Odyssey of the Mind in Bowling Green, Kentucky, all day Saturday.  They are actually on Central Time vs Eastern Time so the trip down was quick, what with gaining an hour.  Coming home wasn't so fast since we lost it again. For a few brief hours, we shared time zones with Missouri again.  The competition was a good experience, and our daughter had fun, but we won't be going to World in Iowa.  :(  Sad, but it was fun to watch our daughter and her teammates!!!

Now it's Monday, the witch is up, and I finished cutting out and sewing the Squid.  Yay, me!!!

So after all the procrastination, I'd like to introduce you to Squid.

Next, the Witch.  Out of habit, I think I'll let Jim pick the colors and design since Kelli kindly gave an alternate design.  (More choices--is that kind? kidding!)  Maybe tomorrow?

There's a lovely Flag Day quilt block on Craftsy that I might do right now though.  Do I have a friend that might like to do this too?

P.S. It seems that the Minecraft fabric packs might be sold out.  I was kind of sad because I'd thought about making more of these quilts, but then I realized that gives me the opportunity to expand my fabric stash so I have more fabrics to choose from.  Think of the opportunities!  Check out Kelli's blog for what fabrics some other quilters are using.  Some are super clever!

Yesterday's blog post was so lengthy that I didn't want to add one more thing, but that one thing was the last block before catching up to the Minecraft sew along.

Enter this freaky dude:

My husband plays hardcore, which means that you can be destroyed and the world you create as well in a single stroke of bad luck.  I guess the other way gives you multiple chances and maybe doesn't destroy the world you made?  My kids and my husband have enjoyed this game through the years although my husband is the only one who prefers the chanciness of the hardcore game.  My kids would interact with each others' worlds when they played although they tried not to mess each others' games up.

Jim, my husband, tells me that you know when Enderman comes into play because the music (if you can call it that) sounds like nails on a blackboard.  Really pleasant, NOT!  So sinister dude, he is.

Today is the day for the squid and it's already up at Seriously I think it needs stitches!

This week's project is getting the sashing done.  My daughter and I found some awesome fabrics so I hauled my husband to the Cabin Arts store in Kentucky to pick out his favorites.  That's a tiny cabin crammed with fabric from top to bottom!

That grey fabric facing us is the one Jim chose for the sashing!  It reminded him of the rock in Minecraft (that he spends so much time chipping away!!!

Here's the shop in all its quaint cabin goodness. They're on Facebook too and they keep that page current.

Racked and stacked with delicious fabrics!  Along with the sashing, Jim picked out the backing and binding fabrics:

The grey sashing, brown backing (reminded him of dirt), and charcoal black for the binding.  All 3 fabrics have black running through them.  If you've been reading my blog for long, you have probably picked up that I'm good at completing quilt tops, better at buying more fabric, and lousy at getting the backing fabric.  I think I may have found fabric for this violet/pink quilt although I only need a 60" width, not 120" backing.  At least I have a direction, and I guess I could always use the leftover fabric if needed.  I found some black corduroy in my stash that I might use for the Advent calendar.  Not very Christmasy, but nobody will see the back right?  I have some really cute Christmas fabric, but it seems a waste to have it facing the wall.

And I may have succumbed to my love of all things Independence Day (USA):

Quilt shops are dangerous places, I tell ya!

Where my head's been at . . . and introduction

I have been working hard all week to get these blocks done and catch up to Kelli over at Seriously I think it needs stitches and I've wondered if I would ever get these done.  Have you ever had times that you simply felt overwhelmed and it takes everything you've got just to kick it in gear?

Yeah?  That's been my week this past week.  Sometimes it was 10:00 at night before I finally got to it.  I can't say I've gotten an exceptional amount of work done--my yard work still needs to be done for example.  We've had a lot of wind this past winter, and a bunch of trees came down in our wooded area so that is a MESS!  The weather was nice so I kept thinking I should get out there, but I didn't.  New week now, right?  Our lawn mower died at the end of last summer too so we need to buy a new one, but you got it--that hasn't happened either.

I've just felt overwhelmed these last few weeks.  I have twin sons, and both have left home for 2-year missions for our church in the last 6 months, the last one 3 weeks ago.  I've missed him a lot, and it brought back some homesickness for his brother who has been gone longer too.  So I think I've been grieving them being gone a bit.  They are good company and I've had them with me much of the time for the last 19 1/2 years.  We homeschooled them all the way through school so the ties have been even closer.  They both started working full time about 1.5 years ago and they worked until right around the time Steven (actually the 4-minute younger twin) left.  James (the last one gone) quit his job about 5 months before he left and has only been working part time at a ranch so we have had more time to spend together.  It was wonderful to have a little bit of time with each of them individually before each of them left.  I still have one daughter in high school so I've been spending a little more time with her after she gets home from school.  Still, I'm home all day with no one else here and it's taking a bit of adjusting!!!

Steven (the first twin out) with his beloved truck right after he bought it.  He sold it before he left.

My daughter often curled up in Steven's room to study because it was warmer than her own room, but then James came in and they started playing a game on her phone.  So much for studying!  

One more of James goofing around at the Aquarium when he and I went shortly before he left:

My life has been closely intertwined with all of my children's lives so I guess it's natural that I'm at a loss right now.  I'm pretty proud of what they have accomplished to date! Both boys earned all their mission money before they left plus what their success with their high school studies while we homeschooled.  Good young men.

Onward to the Ocelot.  Jim (my husband) has been helping me pick out the colors, and he pointed out that the colors are a lot more true on the computer screen than on the page I printed.  So be forewarned:  If you print out the directions, refer often to Seriously I think it needs stitches to compare shades of colors.  I bought the fat quarters from the Fat Quarter Shop but the link to that collection seems to be defunct.  Maybe they've sold out that bundle?  They have some other luscious bundles though!

I followed the Ocelot instructions exactly.  I love Kelli's diagrams!  They are fantastic!  I was a little worried about the top strip with the dark and light yellow rectangles because that piece was much longer than the pieces underneath, until I realized I was forgetting about the dark yellow strip down the left side!  Then it fit perfectly.  My 1/4" seams are getting better too.  Yay!

The villager and the pig

I'm still struggling with the scant 1/4" seam.  I think maybe I'm starting to get it, but I don't have it every time.  That makes the pieces not line up exactly, but I'm getting closer I think.

Pig:

Villager:

He kind of reminds me of Bert of Sesame Street fame!  However, I'm out of the fat quarter for skin tone now so I'm wondering if I just need to switch to the next color closest to skin tone or what.  My villager is paler than Kelli's.

Speaking of Seriously I think it needs stitches, Kelli has created this pattern:

I'm thinking of my missionary son Steven in the California Fresno Mission.  Change the bike color to lime green and eliminate the basket of flowers, and I'd have his bike.  (Sorry, I couldn't find one with him riding it!)

Here's a better one with him on the bike although it's still dark at night!  Dark suit, dark night--not much detail to be had!

Having fun!

Tonight I got two more Minecraft character skins finished.  (Aren't you impressed? Kelli at Seriously I think it needs stitches taught me that these are skins.)

Skeletor:

Alex:  (Who is this character anyway?)

I made the modifications to Alex that Kelli noted at Seriously I think it needs stitches.  The pale pink mouth is really pale!  I'd probably step it up a shade next time.

Creeper and Cow

So this was a fun (and easy) block to make:

Hello, Creeper!

The cow was also fun to see take shape!

Minecraft begins!

After finally getting all the pieces cut and laid out for the first Minecraft block, I made the Advent calendar.

Yesterday, I put Steve together!

Meet Steve!

Elven Garden

I just found some information on Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) on the Elven Garden Quilts blog.  Here is the link:  http://theelvengarden.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/free-motion-qal-choosing-colours.html.  There are more links at the bottom of the page.  I had wondered if it might be best to either tie or stitch-in-the-ditch quilt my Christmas quilt, and one of the posts reinforced that thought.  I think that might be the best strategy for me as a beginner.

Also here is a cool Minecraft tutorial:  http://www.thatlookslikeitneedsstitches.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2016-02-17T12:42:00-08:00&max-results=1

Just wanted to pass those along!