Where's the Sunshine?

One of the classes I'm teaching this year is called Hello Sunshine by Kimberbell. I'm going to change the name to Where's the Sunshine? What's with all that snow outside???  I did take pictures but if I'm to get the blog post up by 7:30 - those pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. I did a wee bit of shoveling already - had to around the back door and some of the front. The rest of the fun will come after the blog!

We had Monday sewing yesterday. Not a lot of people showed up as they were sticking close to home because of the weather. I think we were all out of there by 2:00. I must say that it can be nerve-wracking to drive in the snow, but to drive a brand new car in the snow? Oh well - I'll have to share the new car story with you one of these days. So much to tell and just not enough time.

I did manage to get a lot of stuff done yesterday. Some you see today and some you see tomorrow.

Guess what?  Oh my goodness - the gingerbread boy is DONE!!!!!  All the hand stitching is done. The block is DONE!!!!  That only took how many years? Doesn't matter - it's DONE!!!

Gingerbread boy block - hand stitching is DONE

I was so excited. That leaves three months of blocks to finish off. I spent the rest of the day prepping the applique for block number 12. I had forgotten the pattern at home and there is one more shape to trace onto freezer paper. That will have to wait until next week. Once that last piece is prepped, I can glue everything to the background and I'll have another block to stitch.

I also have the pieced blocks to finish for Month 12. They are cut and partially sewn together. That leaves Month 10 and 11 which I haven't touched yet but that's OK. Progress on the UFO is being made and I'm super happy about it. It's a great thing to do on a Monday. No need to transport that sewing machine. No cutting tools required. Just a wee bag with applique and applique tools.

I know that I have one more applique project on that UFO list - at least one and there's also a hand embroidery project. I've decided that Mondays are the perfect day - I can't get distracted. The lighting in our room is fabulous for handwork and so is the time of day.

Could it really happen that these quilts will get finished?

I love using my wool pressing mat. It's great to press the applique (both hand and machine) blocks (and machine or hand embroidery blocks). I place the block face down on the mat and give it a nice steam press. It helps to prevent flattening the applique or embroidery. The mats aren't cheap and they can smell like wet sheep if you get them too wet, but I love it. Check the mats out at your local quilt shop - I think most shops carry them. If not, ask for it. I'd show you the packaging, but I'm not sure where that is. 

Wool pressing mat

There are several brands. Here's the one from Quilt in a Day.

Quilt in a Day Wood Pressing mat

One of the things that I was supposed to take to my walking foot class was a hera marker to mark the fabric. Well - do you think I could find that marker? I thought it was in the marking toolbox, but alas it was not there. However, when I was searching through the tools in the applique bag, there it was. Now, why did I put that in the applique tools? No worries - what was lost is now found and back in the proper place.

Hera Marker

Thanks to Linda for the fabulous bicycle fabric. I know exactly where this is going to go. My "Hello Sunshine" quilt from Kimberbell has bicycles on it and we need some filler fabrics between the blocks. The coloring of this one is PERFECT.  Thanks again, Linda. It's going to be cut up soon.

Bicycle fabric

Here's the picture of Hello Sunshine in case you have no idea what that quilt looks like.

Hello Sunshine by Kimberbell Designs

It comes in two different version - The Machine Embroidery version (that's what I'm doing) and there's also a sewing version if you don't have an embroidery machine. It's super cute and a fun summer quilt. I'm determined to have mine done by summer. Every morning, I've been up early and embroider a block or two. I hope that machine noise doesn't travel throughout the house. No complaints so far.

We have to make several blocks of each design for the quilt and I had at least one of each block made for the class on the weekend. Now all the blocks for the first class are done. My blocks for Jingle all the Way (the Christmas quilt) are almost completely done.

Jingle all the Way

There's also a Halloween quilt - Broomhilda's Bakery and a new one coming out in February. Oh - they are so much fun to make!!!!

Broomhilda's Bakery

Now back to my quilt. Here are my cupcake blocks for Hello Sunshine. Oh - I was going to make the highlight on the frosting white! I forgot to change the thread and when I came back to the machine once the embroidery was done - well - it looks just fine like that! Thank goodness it wasn't black thread!

Two cupcake blocks

And then I did the ladybug blocks. They are so darn cute. We only need two of them, but I have three. Why? If you look closely at the picture, you'll see why.

Three ladybug blocks

It would appear that one of the ladybugs is a senior. That's a silver-tipped ladybug. Yes - I forgot to change the thread again. I've no idea why. Oh yes  - too excited to get to the next sewing machine!

The silver tipped ladybug and a regular ladybug

 I have two ice cream cone blocks finished and three kite blocks. They need to be trimmed and cleaned up. I'll show you when that happens. It's a challenge running between multiple machines. The machine doing the machine embroidery applique is very needy at the beginning of the process. 

Kite and ice cream cones blocks to be cleaned up

I did some quilting yesterday and very happy with the totally freehand results. Pictures are taken - no time to share.

It sounds like the entire city is pretty much shut down until they can clean up the snow. It's crazy out there and while the temperature is mild (-6), the wind is blowing. But it wasn't too bad. I'm excited to get out there and shovel some more! I know - I'm sick!

Don't forget that today is another day of QUILTsocial posts. Be sure to download that app on your phone or tablet so it's easy to read the posts when you have a minute somewhere. There are some amazing tips on the web site. And this week, there are some cool things I did with the HUSQVARNA VIKING Designer Brilliance 80.

On that note, I'm out of here. Oh, guess who is standing beside me begging for a walk. As if! The snow is so deep. I wonder how Linda's dogs (Little Tucker and Maggie) are making out in the deep snow. They are little guys!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

PS - shoot - missed the 7:30 deadline by 4 minutes. It's now 7:34!!!