WIP Wednesday #15

Today is going to be a Work In Progress Wednesday.   I will be linking up with Freshly Pieced.  

Completed Projects:

3 quilts finished this week One for Tanya's B-day and baby Pinwheels and Fire in the Sky

Ready To Quilt:
3 new tops this week added to ready to quilt.  Sadly I have still 1 or 2 others also in the box ready to quilt I am getting behind on this pile.

Ongoing Projects:
I have recently realised at the rate I am sewing my material together that I will run out of money or fabric before I run out of a desire to so and as of such I opened a etys store to sell some quilts to earn enough to while buy more fabric.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/RichardQuilts  Is the address of it also last night my wife talked me into trying more then 1 location to sell so also added a ArtFire site at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/richardquilts I had never heard of them before my wife told me about it.  Any way if any one has a desire for a quilt to be made I am available for work.

Planned Quilts:

I sat down this week with my wife and we made a list of a few things we have in the works and a few things I would like to do and the list has over 50 items on it.  So no lack of ideas here.

Totals:
Finished: 10 May, 8 April, 10 March, 10 February, 7 January
45 Total for Year wow only 10 more quilts tell I meet my 55 projects and I have to set the bar higher.
Ready to Quilt: 3 shown here

Is my long weekend really over?

Wow I lived though another holiday weekend.  I love these and hate these all at the same time.  Mostly because you try to do too much and never finish what you wanted.  Any way for a May for Me month I did what I liked best this weekend. My wife did also.  Sadly what she likes most is tearing my old house apart and then putting it back together.  Her present to her self (for her b-day) was that she was going to re-model the bathroom.  Now to be honest I never approved or even agreed to this mostly because of the hassles that it causes.  Tanya promised me this would be easy.  Quick and simple.  She is going to rip out the sink and vanity, remove the toilet.  Pull up the sub flooring and tile and paint.  No big one I would hardly notice and I would not have to help (other then haul every thing from point A to point B) which I am surprised to say has gone all according to plan except.

Tonight when I really had to go to the bathroom this is what it looks like.  The hole on the right is while what I needed and the one on the left is to wash the hands after.  But hey I will have to take the long walk down stairs to use the little boys room.  Oh and to add insult to it all about 10 minutes after I picked the toilet up and put it into the tub last Friday night my son Jared informed us the only other toilet in the house is over flowing all over the basement floor.  Any way we are having fun at our house, can't wait for work in the morning at least we have facility's available there.

Any way now that that is out of the way, what did I do this weekend.  Oh yea I have already posted the 2 quilts that I finished.  But not to show off or any thing these 3 items are what I did in all the left over time between plunging the toilet down stairs which I have done 5 times (Yes I am counting) .Why is it when you remove one toilet the other has to stop working?

This first quilt top is the biggest pieced thing I have done yet.  If you look at the quilt above and the one below you might thing they are similar in size they are not the top one is huge.  The top measures 64 x 64 (I know some of you saying that's not so big) but for me comfort zone is about 42 by 50 or so smaller lap quilts.  This quilt is called Soldier's Star the pattern was created by Deonn Stott over at http://www.quiltscapesquilting.com. This pattern won 2nd place in the AccuQuilt 2011 barn quilt design contest.  Some may wonder how I managed to follow a pattern (for those that don't know me well I am not huge on patterns, though its growing on me). I took a class at HMQS quilt show from Deonn Stott using this pattern and got a copy of it in class.  Any way because of my out side the box, mentality I um failed to get even one square sewn together during class (I did get all the HST sewn and learned that I while ironed backwards and while now I don't).  Any way Deonn Stott is a follower and I want to tell her here thank you for the wonderful class and what she taught me.  For those interested she is teaching the same class at the Panguitch Quilt Walk June 7-9th 2012 in Panguitch, UT (now how many of you out their even know where that place is.  I do because its where I fill up for gas when heading south to visit the in-laws)

The second top completed this weekend is a tiny, tiny quilt that I am working on for my Civil War Quilt Along.  I will talk more about it later.  You will notice its already basted Tanya did that while she took a minute not finishing my bathroom this weekend.  (yes Tanya I love you but I told you so)

Lastly I finished (or I had though) this quilt.  It is a 25 block of 12 different colors.  My wife and I are (while starting) to go bold on our quilting and after the 2 wonderful borders on the other 2 quilts done this weekend we (meaning my wife) decided that we should add (meaning me) 2 more borders around this quilt.  So since I have not decided yet (meaning her) what exactly that is I won't at this time give those details.  But I will tell you it will be wonderful.  Any way this long weekend is finally over. In fact this day is over (I writing this post yesterday, but looking at my watch its now Tuesday and since their is a strict policy of not sleeping at your desk (yes its in the employee hand book). I must go to bed or risk having to find some one else desk to sleep at during work today, when I wake up from my not quite full night of sleep).

Baby Pinwheels

Today's finished quilt comes from a pattern found on the Moda Bake Shop it is made from the Domestic Bliss by Moda using Bella solid with it.  I won the 2 charm packs that made this quilt.

This quilt was quite a challenge for me because I followed a pattern.  Since when do men ever follow directions.  OK in all honesty I did not follow the pattern, Tanya handed me things I sewed and I handed them back to her(she was distracting me from what I really wanted to quilt).  All in all it did turn out nice.  Except for those silly little prairie points (that's the silly triangles) since I was not paying proper attention like most men who has a back seat driver (or in this case quilter). I did not quite get the whole make sure you sew the points down correctly and sadly they are a little worse for ware and some of the corners hang out.  Tanya sewed most of them back down, but I know next time I am not letting this be ran from the back seat.

But again Tanya took some great pictures an all in all this is a wonderful quilt.

I love Tanya - Happy B-day

Today as most of you know is my wife Tanya's B-day.  This is the 20th Birthday that I have celebrated with her.  Some might find this funny, but she has only celebrated 19 with me.  Our birthdays are only 2 weeks apart, but we met between our Birthdays.  The first b-day party I went to with her, it was 2 parties in one. Tanya and her then roommate Laurie shared the same B-day and we put candles on a watermelon and celebrated her 19th birthday and Laurie's 29th b-day.  What fond memories I have back when there was no cares in the world and all I had to do is make sure I got to school on time and made enough at the part time jobs to date.

I did let Tanya take the pictures again today on her quilt.  She seems to do such a better job.  Don't you just love the cat in the pictures.  Our cat (one of 6 I think? we have a couple strays that eat our cats food) Rat cat (yes a story behind that name but that's for another day, no it did not catch one we thought it was one).  Rat thinks that he is Tanya's guard cat.

I do not know why but I have just been dragging on getting this quilt done we have had it in the works for a few months now we got the fabric as a half win half overboard buy (got a $50 dollar gift card and spent 70+) at Fat Quarter Shop.  It is made of a line called Twirl by me and my sisters, a moda fabric.

I finally finished piecing it last night, Tanya basted it and then I quilted and bound it.  I finished about 1:30 am on Tanya's b-day. I then stayed up after throwing it in the wash and waited to put in the dryer, so that she could have it B-day morning.

Any way Happy B-day Tanya.  I love you and here is to another 20 birthdays.

Love Richard Healey

Tanya's Birthday Giveaway

Richard told me it was my Birthday, so my drawing.  I am making the post today and responding  to emails regarding it.  How thoughtful, right (?) In his defense, he has promised to finish the lap quilt with pinwheels that he is making for me as a Birthday gift.

To enter, please leave a comment with the month your were born. If you are follower, put a second comment for a second chance. I will put all twelve months or how many are mentioned in a bowl and have Jared draw out the month.  Then I will put all the listed names for month drawn in bowl and have Jared draw a name. This starts on my birthday, May 27th and ends Monday June 4th, which happens to be Jared's 8th birthday.  You have a day extra to enter than you did with Richard's Birthday Giveaway. If you haven't noticed all the birthdays seem to run together in this family. This time of year is almost as expensive as Christmas. This drawning is open to anywhere in the world. Enough about rules and my rambling, what do you win. 

You have a chance to win a five pack of Batik fat quarters by SewBatik.  It is called Golden Glow Multi (isn't it pretty, my favorites are the swirls and polka dots) and a cute miniature ceramic bowl, handmade by my sister Tosha Hoyt.  I know, what does a mini bowl have to do with quilting (it could hold pins).  Anyways good luck in the drawing.

 P. S.  Here is a quick peek at the quilt Richard made me.  I'm sure he will blog about it soon.

SMS Giveaway Winner

I am pleased to announce that we have picked a winner.  To review I requested that every one pick a quilt from my etsy store and you had 3 ways to enter.  Just to let all know any one that entered something that was other then one of the 10 quilts (err and hot pad) listed in etsy you were re-assigned to the quilt listed by the user above you.  First off we started with the drawing of the 10 quilts.

You might find it funny that when my son first came in the room he said Ahh do I have to do this again.  Which I thought was funny.  Jared is one busy child and yes that stirring of the bowl is a normal reaction out of him to something like this.

Jared when we had him come back in to pick the name after the long time trying to make sure we did not miss any one just walked in the room and picked a name.  No drama, so we had to make him try again but had to share it with you because it cracked me up.

And the winner is (assuming that you could read it as it was smashed into my camera lens) Melissa Palmer I have emailed her and will get her the prize off after I get her snail mail address.  Remember that on Sunday May 27th we are giving more stuff away.

Link A Finish Friday #16

The Goal for me this year is 52 Finishes in 52 weeks help keep me honest and show off your own finishes at the same time its a Link A Finish Friday!!

The most popular link last LAFF was Strings from http://www.tarnyiamarycatherine.blogspot.com.au/  (One not of reminder on the links make sure you link to the specific post so that those following the links later can find the item they were looking for.)

I have completed 2 quilts this week one for my dad and the orange quilt.  There  is one more finished, but I have not had time to post it and give it a name (by the way when do you guys pick names for quilts I tend to make them and quilt and bind before I ever even consider the name).

Please remember also I have a giveaway going as part of the may giveaway week.  I on my B-Day gave some batiks away and this Sunday 5/27  is my wife's B-Day and we have more to give then.

So for the rules.

1) Who likes rules. Toss them out.
2) Add a link to your finish blog or where ever you show off your finishes (Not limited to quilts but I like them the most).
3) Visit a few of the finishes and comment or encourage them on.

Not Required but fun to do

1) Follow my blog.
2) Follow the blog of all those that link.
3) Link back to my blog.
4) No finish, go quilt and stop reading the web.

Fire in the sky

This quilt was made from a block pattern called Disappearing 16 patch and following that link you can read about these blocks that I made in that post.  This quilt top was was completed April 3rd and shown in my WIP wednesday post the funny thing I posted this quilt first yesterday on my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/richardquilts  so that it could be picked as one of the choices on the giveaway I posted yesterday.

The responses to this quilt are happy to me.  When I first made these blocks my wife told me they were horrible and ugly and only some one that is trying to keep from being shot while hunting would like it.  I think its amazing and I hope all of you like it too.

Just in case your wondering no she does not think its so horrible now.  In fact my wife Tanya is the one that took all of these wonderful pictures.  

Which picture by way do you like best?

linking to 2nd Quarter Finish Party As listed on  My 2nd Quarter todo list \ Color Blast Quilt Pattern

(closed) A tad late but not forgotten Giveaway

Contest is over and Tanya (my wife) is calculating the winners.  I will announce them when the boss tells me what they are.

Today is GIVEAWAY DAY ok maybe it started on the 21 I am only fashionably late.  But that just means I have something better to win.  You can go to http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/ to find the full list of sites to visit and win at.  The contests opened May 21, 2012 and will close May 25 at 5 p.m. PST.  My contest will be open to any one, any where in the world.

Today I am giving away 4 fat quarter of Reunion, one of my favorite lines.

I am not a fan of  random number generators, so I will not be using that to pick the winner.  What I have done in the past for giveaways and which works well is to give you a choice of items to pick.  When the contest ends, I put the name of all the items picked into a hat (bowl)  and draw it. After picking one of the items,  I then put all of the names of those who picked that item and put them into a bowl and let my 7 year old pick the name.  So not complicated, but no random numbers either.

If you are the type that just hates this kind of thing, just put in your comment same as above and I will use the choice of the one above you (or below you if none above made a choice).  For those with no zeal for fun you can still play the game.

This contest I want you to pick your favorite quilt or item (I have some hot pads) from my Etsy store.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/richardquilts again if you don't want to visit use the above option to pick some one else choice you can also look at the Etsy Mini on my right side bar.

3 Chances to enter.

1) Every one gets to pick one quilt (one entry)
2) Followers of my blog get to pick another quilt (one entry)
3) Favorite one of my quilts (or the store) on Etsy for a 3rd entry. (or you could share on Facebook)

For those that are new to my blog, my name is Richard Healey I am a Web Programmer by day and Quilter by night.  I have been quilting for around 5 months now, but boy have I made a splash into  quilting.  I have not made many large quilts, but I set a goal to make 55 finished projects this year (1 a week) and I am well ahead on my goal.  At the rate I am going I will be done in another month or so.  I am making a lap quilt for every member of my extended family.  So far I have delivered wonderful quilts to both of my grandmothers (wife's grandmother and mine) that are still alive and recently one to my dad who is in a rest home.  The rest of the brothers and sisters, and their kids will get their quilts for Christmas.

Any way on with the giveaway, but I would love for you to visit me back again some time and please comment on my quilts.  If you have suggestions and ideas on how to improve please let me know.  I blog to learn more about quilting and learn from the wonderful things you can teach me or maybe I can teach you?

P.S. This Sunday is my wife's B-day and will have yet another giveaway, so make sure to stop back by.  On Mothers day was My B-Day and you can see what I gave away and what I have for my wife's B-day to giveaway.

WIP Wednesday #14

Today is going to be a Work In Progress Wednesday.   I will be linking up with Freshly Pieced.  

Completed Projects:

1 Dads Quilt is finished and delivered.

Ready To Quilt:
4 Quilt tops ready to quilt here are 2 of them.  My wife is pressing for me to do the pinwheel quilt soon. (A change from last week is the orange quilt is quilted and bound and in the wash will show it off most likely Thursday)

Ongoing Projects:
I am opening a Etsy store and my wife has tasked me to finish a bunch of my homeless projects and a couple new ones designed for the store.  This week and next I will focus on those projects.   Other then that though we have enough fabricl for 8-9 new projects starting soon. http://www.etsy.com/shop/RichardQuilts

Planned Quilts:

Wow so many of these I have given up counting.

Totals:
Finished: 8 May, 8 April, 10 March, 10 February, 7 January
38 Total for Year
Ready to Quilt: 5
On Going Projects: Too many to count
Planned: Way more then I should be working on.

Today's WIP is not much changed from last week.  I swear I am working on things just not got much finished.  I hate to say it but personal life just blew away the last week.  But I promise you something good later in the day.  Not to be bested by the work I am going to join up to the week of giving and add my blog to the list of those giving things away this week.  a couple days late but my wife after entering 100 contests insists we have one of our own and for lunch today we will go buy something to give and then she will run home and make the post live so be back later today.

Dad's Quilt

Today I have a new quilt finish to share.  Some of you may remember this top it has been done and ready since before Julia was born 2 months ago (And to think I use to not understand how people collected UFO's and now I have a pile of them I am trying to finish)  To read more about it go here.  My wife told me at the time it was UGLY but now I think she likes it more. (mostly because it left the house) but hey I loved it.

You might find it funny I asked my dad how he liked it and he told me "No - Its not long enough" he is a tall guy and the quilt is short.  I tried to explain it was a lap quilt but I think he was too distracted looking at Julia.  My Dad turns 71 on 5/22/2012 and he has now been in a rest home for about 9 months I talked about him once before here.  Where I talked about the fact that he had yet another stroke.  He is not doing so well he talks very little and does not smile much any more.  I think the visit made his week.

It was funny though during the visit we took him to the dining room so he can eat.  It takes him more then an hour to hour and half to eat (we did not stay the full time).  While in the dining room one of the old ladies at the table next too us kept saying things to us (which I could not understand and we tried, we got something about boxing, strawberries) any way she got mad at us and she threw a spoon at us.  My kids not quite understanding what was going on kept talking and looking at her which seemed to only egg her on.  A few minutes later along came a fork.  I joked about that maybe we would have a food fight on our hands.  About 10 minutes later she threw a glass at us which shattered on the floor.  I guess my family brings out the rage in others.  As we got on the elevator to leave (she had been taken out of the room for bad behavior and was sitting at nurses station) she was saying something about us being bad people and to not let us come back.  Any way it was hard not to just want to sit there and laugh.  Its sad some times to visit my dad, but I enjoy going as he will not be with us for all that long.  He is slowly going down hill and he is not expected to make it all that many more years.

Here is a closeup of the quilt.  I quilted it by I believe its called echo quilting, next to the seams where it was sewed together.  Looking at the picture below you can see how neat the back looked and the front above.  I will do another quilt like this one as its one of the nicer quilting jobs I have done..

linking to 2nd Quarter Finish Party As listed on  My 2nd Quarter todo list