My Sewful Retirement

March Finishes

Happy Monday!  Hope the new month of April brings many blessings to you!

Sometimes life gets in the way of my sewing and writing in my journal.

I tried to update my embroidery software on my laptop and got the blue “death” screen. Recovery was a failure…I was so angry and disappointed the laptop wasn’t even a year old!

The best part of March was my daughter’s wedding in Punta Cana. Our family and friends enjoyed 7 days of fun in the sun.

My 3 beautiful kids:

2018 Punta Cana – My Kids

2018 Punta Cana Nikki and J

I did manage to finish my March one monthly goal before the wedding but didn’t get to write about it — no laptop 😦

OMG – March 2018 Finished

OMG – March 2018 Envelope Quilt Block

OMG – March 2018 finished Back

My quilt measures 48 x 72 inches. I experimented using fleece as the backing. I used a 60% coupon at JoAnn Fabrics and purchased their LUXE fleece fabric  which is  59 inches wide. I found the Luxe fleece to have a luxurious silk like feel to it, very similar to a minky fabric but a little heavier.

My original plan was to not include batting but quickly changed my mind because the backing fabric was slippery. Using batting with the Luxe fleece was a great stabilizer which made the quilting much easier.

After getting the quilt basted my next problem was not having enough Aurifil color 2000 thread to complete the project. I used my trusty Gutermann all purpose thread that I use to make the items I sell in my Etsy shop. I had no problems and didn’t experience or notice an unusual amount of lint build-up. I did use a 100/16 needle due to the thickness of my quilt sandwich. Using my walking foot I did straight lines echoing the seams and I machine stitched the binding on.  All in all it was a great learning experience!

I used the scraps from the quilt and pieced a smaller half hexie project.  I haven’t decided if this will be a table runner or a floor rug.  I wanted to use my Hex -N-More ruler, and this was a great practice project.

OMG – March 2018 hexie scraps

I stumbled across the blog, Kitchen Table Quilting who offers a Giant Block Tutorial Series. I love big blocks.  Below is my version of the March 36 inch giant block. This was super simple to make.  The quilt top measures 72 x 72 inches.

In March I made mug rugs to go with my Irish Chain table topper I made last year for St. Patty’s day. My hubby is really liking all of the monthly mug rugs!

My last project for March was a custom order for a baby blanket. I’m really happy with how it turned out! I’m getting better with my machine applique stitching!

Nevaeh custom 2

Until next time Happy Quilting!