In a rush...

A young couple that we go to church with just had a baby a couple of weeks ago - actually he was born on my birthday! The dad also has a great-nephew that was born in early June. The little boy has been having several health problems and late last week they had to put a trach in because his wind pipe kept collapsing. Anyway - you guessed it - I made him a quilt.


The letter fabric I just bought in June - just to have on hand because so many ladies at church are expecting. The 9 patches are made from my hand-dyeds, three different greens and three different blues. I think it turned out really cute.


Tomorrow it will be winging its way to a little boy in Colorado. Get well soon, Jacob.

I'm so blue!

Guess what I did today! I cleaned the garage on Tuesday so I decided it would be a good time to dye some fabric. I got started early - about 9 a.m. - before it got too nasty hot outside. Then I let everything bake in their little plastic bowls, sitting in the sun, for a few hours. Maddie wanted to do lots more purples and reds, but I wanted blues and a few greens. I am loving how everything turned out!

Everything should be clickable for a bigger view.

Paying it forward!

Last year at about this time I signed up over on Tami's blog to do a Pay It Forward craft exchange. She just emailed me for my snail mail address. I did a search on my blog and apparently I never "paid it forward"! So...

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week... but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Repurposing!

As I said in my previous post, I have been trying to get some of my tops quilted. I thought this top was done, but apparently not! The bento blocks are done but the rows are not together. This row had two blocks together so as I was adding the third block, I got to thinking (dangerous, I know!) that this reminded me of an Amish quilt. Kind of a modern day Amish...an Amish quilt on steroids...an Amish quilt with electricity.

These three blocks are the perfect size for a table runner. Sure, I have enough blocks to make two more table runners, but I can worry about those later. My question for today is: How should I quilt this? I was thinking about just doing it on the featherweight with straight lines, maybe a quarter inch in from the seam lines. Or should I do something else on the big quilting machine? Let's hear your suggestions!

Have a great weekend!

Getting things done - a.k.a. avoidance

I made up my list of "things to get done in June" and posted it in my sidebar several weeks ago. I have been successful in finishing a few things that have been hanging over my head - quilting a top for a friend in Florida and making a baby quilt for a customer in Pennsylvania. Done - out of the way. The only thing still dangling over my head was the curtains I was hired to make. They are really very simple. Just a simple valance and a curtain behind it. No lining. I got started on the valance last week when the kids were gone, but did not get very far.

What have I been doing instead? Quilting all of my tops that have been sitting in a drawer waiting their turn. Avoidance? Yes. So far I have quilted: the Denyse Schmidt wall hanging ; the big block quilt ; the orphan block quilt ; and a green YBR quilt. Well, technically the orphan block quilt is not completely quilted. The tension somehow got all out of whack and I didn't realize what a big section was messed up until I rolled it up to quilt the next section. I was too frustrated to spend a couple hours picking out the mess, so I just took it off the machine. I will face it later....maybe.


What have you been up to?

Copy Cat quilt done!!

I got this cute little thing quilted up on Tuesday and put the binding and label on today. I even took it to the post office and sent it on its way to Pennsylvania. Check it off the to do list! I really love this pattern - I am already planning on using it several more times!

I got the backing off the sale rack at Quilting By the Bay in Panama City while we were down there last weekend. Beautiful beach! And it wasn't packed yet so we didn't feel like sardines while trying to get into the water.

Don't you just want to go jump right in that water? The sand is so fine and soft. That whole area of the Florida is called the Emerald Coast and has beautiful beaches.

On to the next item on the to-do list!

Dancing to the oldies

Anyone else out there having 80's flashbacks while looking at this quilt? A friend of my sister made this quilt several years ago. She had it basted and I guess she thought that someday she would hand quilt it. Here it is 12 years later and now it is done.
I don't know if you can see the lace around the edge of the fan - but I nearly drove myself off the deep end this morning after it got caught under the hopping foot. Pain in the backside!

But now it is done and will be taken to my mom who will be putting the binding on for Tammy. I told her I wold have to charge $50 an hour to apply binding because of my great hatred of binding! Mom kindly agreed to do it for her!

Off to pack for the beach!

Quick quilt

This is a quilt for another one of my pregnant cousins. Her and her sister are both expecting their first baby sometime late this year. My mom pieced the top - mostly from my stash! She was kindly directed to Bonnie's site for the pattern.

Very sweet and simple!

I am debating on what to do next. I have a quilt sitting here waiting to be quilted for a friend of my sister. She made the quilt about 12 years ago and never got around to quilting it! It is basted so I will have to take it apart first. And then there is the commission baby quilt that is ready to be quilted, just have to find a backing.

My kids are spending a week or so at my parents' house in June. My dad and Ian are going to drive to Wisconsin to visit my grandfather. Mom and Maddie are going to stay home and get in trouble ! What am I going to do with a week to myself? Hopefully get a lot of tops quilted. Mom sent me an email yesterday saying that Joann's has batting on sale so I will have to stock up while I am up there.

What are you doing with your summer?

Copy Cat

This little quilt came together VERY quickly. It is the same pattern as Nina's latest QOV , just took a couple of rows off and left off the wide final border. I think it makes a cute baby quilt. This is a commission quilt for the same lady that hired me to make a baby quilt for her son's first child about two years ago. She wanted this one to be in the same colors, just a different pattern. So I used 30's repros again.

I am hoping to get this quilted and mailed off this week. I also want to get the top quilted for my cousin's baby. Then it will be taken back to my mom for the binding. Then we can discuss what to do for my other two cousins that are expecting. One of them is having baby # 2 - so we need to decide if we are gonna stick to our one quilt per family rule. Charlie is my one of only two cousins on my dad's side of the family. My other cousin is only 6 months older than my daughter. Yes, my first cousin. On my mom's side of the family I have 9 cousins - all within about 6 years in age of one another. That could be a lot of babies in a very short time! So we are thinking about breaking the rule for Charlie and then making sure that all the other quilts are very gender neutral. Mom is the top piece-er and then I quilt them on the long-arm.

What family traditions do you have regarding quilts?

May goal #2 - check!

Yeah! Goal number 2 is done! Just gotta slap the label on the back this afternoon and I can give Nicole the quilt tonight at bible class. I love how it turned out.

So I have got one week left to accomplish goal #3 - curtains for Ella's room. Ella is the baby I made this quilt for back in January. Her mama and I went shopping for the fabric several weeks before she was born - so yes, I am a little slow. Hopefully Ella has not yet noticed that her nursery has no curtains.

Once I get the curtains done I need to move on to the birthday challenge. I think I have already changed my mind about what I want I to do. By the time I get around to actually making it, maybe my mind will be changed back!

Only three days of school left! Our summer already seems to short with all we have planned. My sister's answer to this complaint would be "Home schooling!" - but since she refuses to offer a distance learning program, we will have to learn to accept our overly short summer. We are starting our summer off with a trip to Panama City Beach where hubby is participating in a mini triathlon. The kids are worried that he will have no energy to haul himself down to the beach afterwards! I am looking forward to some (read that as LOTS!) of fresh gulf shrimp. My favorite!

What are your plans for the summer?

I Will Survive!

Can't you just hear Gloria Gaynor singing that now? If you need a chuckle, go watch this video on YouTube.

Nines will be glad to know that I did indeed survive my day of getting the binding done on this huge quilt. It is gone - out of my home - out of my life. I got the binding done around 2 p.m. Took a very short nap and then put the label on it and took it to Jessica.

Thankfully she loved it. The only direction she had really given me was that she wanted it to be pink and brown. I was worried she wouldn't like the pattern I decided on.

Here is a picture of the finished product. It was so big I couldn't get a picture of the entire thing!

I am hoping to be able to finish the blue and brown baby quilt by Sunday. Nicole's baby shower is a week from Saturday, but we will be in Boston. So I am hoping to get done by Sunday in order to give it to her for Mother's Day!

Forced

Today is being spent forcing myself to work on the binding for the pink and brown quilt. So far I have trimmed the quilt and ironed the binding. Why am I sitting here surfing the net? Avoidance.

I thought by posting this maybe it would force me to be productive. Send me some encouraging thoughts or comments.

Or you can come help.

Please?

Working, working, working....

The girl who commissioned this quilt is moving home to Birmingham next Friday - and I would really love to be done with (a.k.a - rid of) this by then. I am tired of it hanging over me. Maybe that's why I make so many baby quilts - because I lose interest by the time I am almost done with a big quilt. Anyway... I made myself work on quilting it yesterday - for a total of about 5 hours. Until I came to a point where I had a HUGE amount of fullness - just on one side. So in the midst of freaking out, I call Nina and beg her to tele-transport herself down to my house and help me. I even said "PLEASE" several times. Still a no-go.


Can you see all that fullness? And that is after I quilted it! The next row is just as bad. All I can figure out is that the pieced blocks are stretching. Only one, maybe two, more passes to go. And then I can move on to my favorite part, binding this monster. Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? Good.



You can tell by the amount of batting hanging off the bottom that I am almost done. Unless I made a huge mistake measuring the batting....which is entirely possible! Anyone want to come help put the binding on?

UPDATE: 9:45 pm - it id DONE!!! Unpinned and waiting to be trimmed and bound.

Another top in need of quilting!

My question for you today is : Is this quilt finished? Or does it need another border? Size-wise it is big enough to be finished, but I don't know if it looks finished.

What do you think?

I have plenty of fabric to put another border around it. What should I do?

Waiting anxiously for all of your opinions!

Current vote: 14 votes for adding a border

Thanks for all of the sweet comments!

Friday's sewing time

Well, I finally got enough pieced blocks done and got the rows put together. Getting the rows sewn together is like a wrestling match. I remember why I like small quilts - not so much fabric to wrestle through the sewing machine. Now I need to go make my bed so I can lay the top out on it and see if it is big enough or if I need to add a border. Hopefully it will be big enough!

We are attending a going-away party tomorrow for the girl that commissioned me to make her this quilt. I had brief thoughts earlier this week of trying to finish the quilt in time for the party, but quickly realized I had lost touch with reality! Probably somewhere around the time that I found out I needed to make 7 more of the pineapple blossom blocks! Actually I think I could probably get the thing quilted by tomorrow but then getting the binding on would be a whole 'nother matter!

I also need to get back to the blue and brown baby quilt. Her shower is going to be on May 17th. I will be out of town (in Boston!) but I would like to be able to give it to her on the following Sunday when I see her.

What are you all up to?

Reasons I am not a math teacher!

Apparently I can't even count to 32. 32 is the number of pieced pineapple blossom blocks I need for the commissioned quilt. I realized a few weeks ago that I needed more of the pieced blocks and set to work piecing them. I finished them up and started assembling the rows. Last night I got down to putting the last two rows together. And yes, I was short 7 pieced blocks. I had started them at some point and then they got set aside. Fine, fine, fine. Finish them up. Nope - I don't seem to have enough of the fabric I was using for the triangles. UGH!!! I do a quick search of the internet and can't find it. What to do? I have one strip remaining and I have to get 8 triangles out of it. I was able to squeeze 6. So the last two triangles had to be pieced. This is the result.

Someday, a hundred years from now, Jessica's great-grand-daughter will look at this quilt and noticed these pieced triangles and wonder what happened!

Last week I pulled the kids out of school for a couple of days and we headed to Nashville to see my family. We missed out on spring break because me and Ian had the flu. My mom and I got to make a quick run up to Franklin Kentucky and go to a cute little quilt store. It was mostly Civil War Repro type fabrics.

I did manage to find a few fabrics to make a table runner for the annual Nina and Sarah birthday challenge. This year the table runner are going to other people, but I won't mention names in case she reads this blog. Nina - the person receiving your table runner already knows so you might not want to post any pictures!

Time to go get something accomplished - besides sewing that is!

April Showers

How am I supposed to get any sewing done when my work area looks like this? I kept telling myself I was going to clean it up today, but every time I went in there I just wanted to sew for a few minutes instead. So today I got my 150 4-patches done for Bonnie's Orange Crush mystery quilt. That took a lot longer than I thought it would. Since I had left-over pink and brown 2.5 inch strips scattered everywhere on my table, that's what I used. I cut then down to 2 inches. I need to sit down and re-read her fabric directions and figure out what else to use.

The left-over strips were from this quilt that I have been hired to make by a girl at church. The log cabin squares are actually going to Bonnie's pineapple blossom blocks. And the blue strips should be brown - but I am lazy.

Here are a few of the pineapple blocks to show you the colors I am using. All the pineapple blocks are pieced already - so now I just have to put everything together. I am hoping to have it done by the end of May - so I can have some spending money for mine and Nine's annual birthday get-together. We are supposed to meet up in Tennessee again this year. I can't wait to see her!

Another reason I love Nina!

I knew there was a reason I love Nina so much, a reason she is my quilting hero. It is because she points out the obvious things to make a quilt better. You will notice that I went back and flipped the four-patches to make the blue into a strong diagonal line. Her idea. All hers. So brilliant! I like it SO much better now. I wondered how I had missed this in the first place but I went back and looked at the original pattern and they do not have a strong diagonal color in their block either. The pattern is from the June 2008 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. It is called the Big Block Beauty - because the block ends up measuring 18 inches.

Anyway - I just wanted to thank my dearest Nines for her very helpful suggestion. How would I survive without you? I tried to call to tell you thanks but of course someone was on the phone line!

What do you think?

I was tired of working on the project I've been plugging along at (32 of Bonnie's pineapple blossom blocks in pink and brown) - so I decided to make a test block of the next quilt I am making. It will be a baby quilt for Maddie's teacher, who is due to have a baby boy in the middle of June. Her due date is the 19th but I told her that the 17th is a great birthday! Mine!

Her colors are chocolate brown, the blue in the block, and then a sagey green (the cross-hatched fabric in the picture). I like the block pattern - it would only require 4 blocks, some sashing, and a couple of borders.

I guess my question is - does the blue stand out too much? Would it work better somewhere else in the block?

I asked Maddie what she thought of it. She said "I like it - make me a quilt just like it." Why isn't she always this easy to please?

So, what do you think?

Boston anyone?

Is there anyone out there in blog land that lives in Massachusetts? I will be going to Boston in May with DH for an AIA conference - the same reason we went to San Antonio last year! We will be at the Hyatt in Cambridge. We won't have a car but I could take the subway. If anyone knows of any quilt stores that are convenient to the mass transit, let me know!

I am also interested in any other must see sights in Boston. I am already planning on seeing as many of the historical sights as I can. Thanks for the help!