Thinking of VACATION!

Another sleepless night and I was not in the mood to put the binding on my Santa's Ride quilt, so I got on the internet and bought some new designs from Embroidery.Lib.com, did some work and decided I still had a couple hours to spare before I "officially" had to get up and go to the office. I thought this sweat-shirt jacket looked a little naked, so I have started to add some color to it. It will be perfect for my vacation next week. My sister and I are leaving our husbands at home and along with our dad, we are going to go on a cruise to Alaska. It will be so wonderful to get out of the heat. I think this jacket still looks naked, so if my non-sleeping pattern holds, it will be quite full before the trip. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Ready to Quilt

I put all the blocks together and used my double needle to sew on ribbon to make the "window frames". Surprisingly, all the blocks matched up pretty well. I added my borders and currently everything is sandwiched together and ready quilt. It has been such a fun project. I am looking forward to the next one already. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 20 (Final Block)

With block 20 done, I am now on to sewing all the blocks together. Matching up all the details can be a little tricky, but if I pin enough and take my time (not two of my best things), I will get it all done. From there I will use ribbon to cover the seams and make it look like a window. Still on track to finish this weekend. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 19

I am feeling some accomplishment. With one block to go and most of the metallic thread out of the way I do believe that I can completely finish this weekend. I will have to start thinking about matching up all these blocks when I sew them together and that can be tricky, but I'm up for the challenge. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 18

I am surprised that I am still on track this week, but feel I'm on the home stretch to finishing. I may have to take a quick break and actually sleep. I have not had such a long period of insomnia like this in a while and it is starting to wear thin..... but on the positive note, I'm getting stuff done. "Happy Sewing"! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 17

The village below Santa is appearing and I want so much to finish. After a 12-13 hour day at the office, I'm just pooped so I catch a few hours of sleep and thanks to my insomniac issues I have been able to sew from 2AM to 4:30 AM. Time to hit the shower, down a protein shake and repeat. The next two blocks have metallic thread again.... Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 16

At last, the final row has been started. I feel like I am on the final stretch to get this finished, not only before vacation, but before Christmas. The detail in each block is quite amazing. I love it when a project comes together! Happy Sewing.... Carole

Santa's Ride Block 15

Row 3 is finally complete. My hair is officially being ripped out from metallic thread frenzy. The next and final row is all done in a white background to show Santa flying high over the village below. The goal is to work on this throughout the week and finish the final project over next weekend. Hmmmm...... Good to have a goal. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 14

It's really coming together. The next block should be a breeze since it is Santa's bag full of goodies. Not as much metallic thread to deal with. I should complete row number 3 sometime today! Happy Sewing!! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 13

I managed to get through metallic stitch frenzy for block 13. It certainly was a challenge, but not as bad as I was prepared for. After 3 stops I was able to locate Sulky 6031 so I can finish the sled with no problem. I was thinking I'd have to wait for an internet mail order, so whew... another problem taken care of. Not sure how much I can accomplish this weekend. Work has thrown some curve balls this week and I've had to spend a great deal of time with that. Never a dull moment. Goal for the weekend is to complete the row. Wish me luck. Happy Sewing!! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 12

The reindeer are officially complete and now it is time to start the sleigh with all the metallic thread. I'm a little scared. This has been an awful week at the office and my patience is a little thin, so if I have too many problems, I may skip the next two blocks and come back to them later when things have smoothed out a little. The next posting may show me screaming.... Happy? sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 11

Well, I am officially past the half way mark and just about done with all the reindeer. The upcoming parts of Sant's sleigh are going to require great patience as I think the sleigh alone has over 20,000 stitches of metallic thread. I may require wine or a good martini to get me through. Happy Sewing. Carole

Santa's Ride Block 10

Santa's Ride block #10 and full 2nd row of the quilt is done. As you can see, I have to do a little more reindeer work for the next two blocks. I finally found a way to work with the metallic thread. I found that if I loop it around the thread uptake twice and adjust my machine speed to half, that it works pretty well. It is not perfect, but much better than throwing the spools across the room! Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 9

And finally we get to see Santa!. I am still having difficulty with my metallic thread, but I have to continue to fight with it because it continues throughout each block and if I change now, it won't match. I'll meet my goal and finish block 10 later today. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 8

Block 8 is the start on Santa's Sleigh. It was nice to be somewhat done with the Reindeer. The next block is 35,000 stitches and very detailed showing Santa. If I can get through two more blocks, I will be half way done. My friend Christina and I had to get organized for another upcoming project yesterday and we took time out to catch a really good thread sale at 35th Ave. While we were there we checked out the new Creative Vision upgrades. They sure look great. Also got some tips to try when using the metallic thread. I will meet my goal some time this weekend! Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 7

Well, here is block #7 and I am finally ready to start on the top part of the sleigh. My goal this weekend is to get through block 10 (or farther). I enjoy watching the blocks fall in to place to create the picture. When I finish one block, I try to get all the threads and fabrics prepared for the next one, so when I can grab the chance to sit down to sew, I'm all ready to go. My BF Christina is coming over this morning and we are going to work on some crazy quilt blocks, so I will have to put this aside for a short time. Happy Sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 6

Block 6 is done! I wish the pictures showed the sparkle of some of the thread. It really is pretty. I would be done if work did not get in the way. The great thing about these designs is that you feel like you can accomplish something even if it is only 1 block at a time. Happy Sewing. Carole

Santa's Ride Block 5

Block 5 was very quick and easy. Something I could do during the work week at least. It is really starting to look more like a picture each day. There is still quite a bit of reindeer work to do before I get to Santa's sleigh. I should be able to get to that sometime this weekend. Sadly, my job has to take priority. Happy sewing! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 4

Santa's Ride block #4. It is really starting to look like a picture. Sixteen blocks to go. Block #5 should be a breeze. It is the top half of the moon which is appliqued and then a bunch of stippling. I am anxious to finish the reindeers and start on Santa and his sleigh. Carole

Santa's Ride Block 3

Block 3 of my Santa's Ride Picture Quilt. What I've learned so far is that my machine really hates metallic thread. I've tried different needles and moving the thread almost across the room. I've switched to the shimmer thread that seems to be less brittle and certainly less of a headache! Carole

Santa's Ride Block 2

Here is Block 2 of my Santa's Ride picture quilt along with a picture of both blocks together. Already starting to form a picture. Carole

Santa's Ride Block 1

This is Block #1 of my Santa's Ride picture quilt. Ok, it does not look like much just yet, but I will be building a picture out of 20 different blocks. This is a fun process and at the end you will see how wonderful this turns out. This is another design created by Anita Goodesigns. They really do make the picture quilts fun and easy to do! Carole

New Project-Santa's Ride

Well, it's time for a new project. I have decided to do another picture quilt. I have gathered all the necessary "ingredients". My fabric is cut and stabilized and all the thread colors have been chosen, sorted and organized. (This took several hours using My Threadbox software). This picture quilt has a total of 20 blocks. The above picture is what I hope to achieve once all the blocks are sewn together. I'm starting tomorrow and I plan to post each block to show how the progression of the project comes together. Happy Sewing! Carole