A couple of January finishes

January has slipped away from me. We started off the month with the stomach bug and then went on to have an ice storm. Ian finally went back to school on January 12 but Maddie was still home with the stomach bug until the 18th. I wasn't sure I was ever going to get rid of them! This past week I subbed all five days and in the evenings tried to work on the year end tax stuff for my husband's business. I am thankful that this week seems to be a little slower! In the midst of all this I have been able to sew. I have finished up a couple of UFOs - always a good feeling!

These star blocks were last year's birthday blocks from our quilt guild birthday group. My goal was to get this finished before I get this year's blocks in May. I also send a block packet to my mom and to Nines every year - and so far they have always been kind enough to comply! I think this one might end up being Ian's Christmas quilt. The black makes it boyish.



These are Nina's (pink) and my mom's (green) blocks. The background fabric is snow flakes and I found it at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago.


This second one is for my daughter. Surprise, surprise! I made this same quilt using the smaller 6" blocks and Maddie of course wanted one just liked it. Because I have a great fear of running out of a fabric, I had more than enough fabric to make Maddie's 12" block version. I just had to buy half a yard of the green to finish the sashing and the binding.


I did very dense quilting on this one - spirals everywhere! Took forever to do - but I love the finished look.


I am working on another Christmas quilt now - made from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding fabric. You can see an example of it here. Can't wait to see this one finished! I have already requested that my dear hubby install a curtain rod on our big blank wall in the living room - so I can hang quilts up and enjoy gazing at them from my couch.

To all my northern friends - stay warm during this coming storm.

A new post for Nina!

Sorry Nines, but the blocks aren't for you! I just thought you would like to see these batik blocks I have been working on. These were all made for a member of my birthday group from quilt guild. I had to order some batik fat quarters and then I got addicted to making them and couldn't stop. I only needed to make one block - but ended up with six! The one in the bottom right corner was my first attempt - and I misread the directions and ended up with a 14 inch block instead of a 12 inch block. I am going to give it to the birthday girl anyway - maybe she can piece it into the backing!

Tomorrow is our monthly birthday lunch - at my house. We are having corn chowder and potato soup. For desert we will have Kentucky Derby pie and vanilla ice cream. Can't wait!

Hope you are warm and safe where ever you are. We have had two snow days from school because of ice. Lots of people from town who had gone to Arizona for the national championship football game are still stuck out west! Great reason to stay inside and quilt!

New Year's Resolutions

One of my resolutions for 2011 is to blog more often - mostly because I want to keep a better record of the quilts I make. I would also like to use more of my stash - instead of just adding to it!

One of the unshared projects of the last few months is yet another baby quilt. Baby Turner was born right after Christmas! The baby shower snuck up me so I needed a pattern that was quick and easy. I love the look of the rail fence - three fabrics and an hour or so and you end up with such a cute top!


And because I don't have enough unfinished projects sitting around here, I decided to start a new project yesterday. This summer my mom and I worked on blocks for a spiderweb quilt following Bonnie Hunter's directions. I loved the pattern but wanted bigger blocks. After checking into how much a ream of 11x17 paper costs ($25) - I started looking for alternatives for the foundation pieces. Since my husband is an architect, he has a whole box of old plans sitting in his office, waiting to be recycled. They measured 24x36" - so I cut them down to 12 inch squares. My star blocks ended up being about 17 inches. The problem with this project is that although it uses scraps - it always seems like I end up with more scraps than I started with!


Right now we are waiting for an ice storm to arrive. They have already cancelled school for tomorrow. It is already icing and snowing north of us - but nothing here. I never expected to have to worry about an ice storm in south central Alabama! Stay warm and safe!

Hello, 2011!

So sorry that I have disappeared for three months. I have been sewing some - but mostly I got caught up in subbing, PTA things, and the usual Christmas craziness. But now it is January and things should slow down, right? Ha!

My main reason for posting today is to share a brief moment of fame! Apparently I am not going to get my whole 15 minutes of fame at one time - but little bits are fine with me. If you read many quilt blogs, you probably have come across Blue Nickel Studios. Scott is one of those mythical creatures we have all heard about - a male quilter! His blog is a great read - go check it out! Anyway - if you read the previous post, you will have already seen the quilt I made following one of Scott's patterns. Today he featured my quilt and another quilt made by another blog reader.

Thanks again, Scott, for such a great pattern!