Backing, Fronting & a few in-Betweens

I've been sewing lately, just not quite as much as usual. I have a 3rd kid now out of school, which makes things more hectic. He doesn't sleep in as late as the others, and naps are off his agenda! Plus the dynamic between he and his 5 year old brother leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, making me too mentally frustrated some of the time to be an efficient and accurate quilter.

None the less, there has been a little progress. I have learned of a local machine quilter who's price is very reasonable (~$100 for a queen). I'm going this afternoon to see some of her work. I saw a small piece she did that my mom received as a retirement gift and it's nice. If all checks out OK, then she will be quilting my older son's quilt. I spent time the last 3 days getting the backing (below) pieced. It's all from leftover Bento blocks and pieces of the Kona/Bella solids. It's busy, but I like it.
Yesterday, I had just had enough of working with the very large backing (above) pieces, and needed to make progress on a flimsy that I could quilt this week. Sooo...I pulled out 12 6-1/2" squares from my dwindling pile of Kaffe Fassets, and bordered them up. The borders are bold, in-your-face type prints, but colorwise, they coordinate well with the center squares.

I hope to get this quilted and finished this week. That should leave things wrapped up nicely for starting the sewing on my daughter's birthday dress next week.

(the Foxgloves pattern is one of my favorites...I may have to stock up on some more :-)))

And, one week later, as expected, I have all 20 of these pieced stars for the Tree of Life quilt. They finish at 4.5" square (on point). It took until about the last 5-6 before I really had a good rhythm on the piecing! Needless to say, I'm not disappointed that this part of the quilt is done. It was some of the tiniest and meticulous piecing I have done. ...On to the center tree~

And last but not least, here is Kate's birthday block, and the end to the swap she so patiently hosted. She asked for texture, and short of glueing burlap to a square, this is what I came up with. It gives me a new appreciation for this type quilt. This is 10"x13", and took about 6-8 hours of hand work. I'll need a lobotomy before I make a full bed quilt in this pattern!!

A year of birthday blocks

You can double click for a better look. These are most of the blocks I made for the Birthday Block Swap. I was in 2 groups, making 1 block for one group and 2 for the other group per month. I missed taking a picture of a few blocks unfortunately. It was a fun swap, despite the headaches for the awesome host, Kate. She did a great job of managing so many people. Some of these blocks challenged my patience. Some I just dreaded making. But most streached my abilities as a quilter, and my limits of creativity.

The blocks (Broken Heart pattern from www.quilterscache.com) that I received from Group 3 were used to make 2 quilts similar to this one. Both of these quilts were donated to the children's quilt charity, Project Linus. My Group 4 blocks, New York Beauty, were used to make these for my dining room.

I'd love to see links to things that others have made with their blocks!

Blocks 'n Rows

These arrived last week, on another rainy day like today. It's my favorite thread to work with, despite it's price. Hard to imagine these six spools ought to cost $50. Even harder to swallow that they charge another $7 to ship them. Oh well...

Thought I'd show a couple of my recent things. Here's my last birthday block, for Michelle, who asked for purses and/or shoes on white. I really love how it turned out and hope she does too. I am finishing up Kate's block. Hopefully before month's end...

The row robin swap, despite not having a host anymore, is on the 3rd row too. This is for Robin, who asked for a "beachy" feel. My row is the umbrellas. I'm not a fan of machine applique, but I did it so as to match the previous row. Parts of the umbrellas have Fairy Frosts, so they shimmer like real umbrellas might.

...and a closer look (maybe if you dbl click!)- I had a very productive weekend. I took my kids off to an animal park Saturday morning to give my husband a break. He watched them on Sunday morning until lunch so I could sew. Sounds fair! I managed to get these block/row finished, a binding on a Linus quilt, and work most of the machine quilting on my SFRR3 quilt, which arrived last week. It has some hand beading & label to still add, but the binding is even on! It's really awesome and I can hardly wait to show it. The gals that worked on it before it came to me did a FANTASTIC job! On Sunday, I even got started quilting my ALQS3 Orca mini. This one is looking really good as well, but has a bit of quilting left still before it's July due date.

- Yesterday I shirred a piece of blue check that I've been waiting to make a smocked dress from, only to find I really dislike it. I've had it a couple years, and everytime I get ready to use it, something changes my mind. I have decided that this 5 1/2 yards of 60" check must go elsewhere. I perused the web for something I like better and found this. It will look fantastic, and is nice and playful for my daughter when she turns three in August.

Birthday Fabrics and a Linus Completion

I quilted the "Sherbet" quilt last weekend. It's just a simple and fairly mid-sized meander. Initially I was not sure I had something for the backing, but then I found a few yards of this wild Henry Glass dot fabric. Here's the whole top...
It washed up nicely (and didn't turn the rest of the wash pink - always a good thing!). Here is another look at it folded up. That's a coming post behind it - in very similar and coordinating bold orange-red colors! Michelle donated these fabrics and it feels SO good to have the quilt finished. Many thanks!

Last week's retail therapy....Ahh... On Friday morning(which was my birthday), I went online to equilter.com and made a little order for myself. I rationalized that it was a present that I was certain to love. At about 2:30pm, later that same day, the postman arrived with a package, and the return address was none other than ...equilter.com! I did a double take. And it was addressed to of all people, my husband. I'm at first puzzled, and then it all makes sense. My mom had been over on Tuesday and was looking at a quilting mag I had. When she left, it was open to a quilt we liked, and on the opposite page was an advertisement for www.equilter.com! This magazine stayed out on the coffee table for a couple days before I cleaned up and put it away. I think my hubby must have seen it in his desperation to find me a present I'd like. Here's what he picked out. It's 25 fat quarters of hand-dyes (basic batiks). I don't think he really knew what to look for, or knew how adventurous my taste may be. Oh, I love the more printed Bali's A LOT! This is nice, and I am already planning, of all things, a quilt done with maybe multi-colored New York Beauty blocks. Maybe a larger project?...Maybe something to show at the Maine Quilt Show next year?... Time will tell.

And here's the stack of therapy I picked out for myself. I added the black & white batiks on Tuesday after I saw what he got me. These are mostly from the Tree Top Fancy line. I was trying to get more of the pink birds, which I already had. It's hard to find though so I settled for some others. I'm not sure where these are going towards, but definitely a few pillows for Sophie's room and perhaps one for part of a twirly skirt for her. Otherwise, it's nice to have a few more modern options with which to sew.

My sincere thanks to Tami for sending me this. Her craftiness is just lovely.

Also, last week Anna sent me some Noah's Ark fabrics to use in Linus projects. It was incredibly generous and I am greatful. Thanks!

I have a few great things to show in the next week. I am awaiting an order of 6 spools of King Tut thread in order to finish one of them (more "retail therapy"). I have done something awesome and HOT with these blocks...

Up to No Good

OK, not so much "No good", just not overly prolific sewing going on here. Last week I sent off some of my birthday block swap blocks. This one went to Debbie - she wanted a depiction of our favorite vacation place. Duh...France.

Here's a 12" NYB for Michelle in what have to be some immensely bold batiks. Honest, it is square and not as wonky as the picture looks.

And a birdhouse for another swapper (Connie). Obviously, birds are not my thing. Or I should say, sewing birds isn't. We've actually been spending a lot of energy lately watching dueling hummingbirds outside my kitchen window.

And for my version of the Four Seasons swap this summer, we are making sets of 20 of these "Colorblocks". I have actually made up close to 40 of them now. Just trying to get things off my list of To-Do's.Someone special's birthday is soon to pass and I have not made a gift. I envisioned this as a summer table piece, perhaps with a flag and slice of watermellon, etc appliqued onto it. In the end, I pieced it and I'm not sure how much it actually resembles a watermellon. I am toying with embroidering the seeds in black, but making them resemble ants. Perhaps this is nuts. I hope ot quilt it this week once that plan is finalized.
I also made my next part of a ALQS3 quilt this weekend, but I won't show it just yet. I still have this sinking feeling I may change my mind and keep this one. Sigh... OH how I love to create work for myself.

This week's sewing agenda includes...

~make double hanging sleeve for Little Dresses quilt. Needs this before it can be submitted for Maine Quilt show in July. It'll give me some evening hand work to do.

~Maybe make last couple June birthday blocks - something with texture and a purses-shoes block (that should be a hoot!)

~I have a round robin and a row robin expected to arrive any day. I have plans for both so these should only take a few days. Just need to see them in my hands to match fabrics.

~Find a design for an appliqued Orca. You'll have to stay tuned for what this is for!

It's been an uninspiring week...

I'm not really sure what I accomplished this week besides sewing 25 squares together. This is just the top. The borders will be done once the fabric arrives (hmm...I should just order 4 yards too many each time I place an order!). My son likes it this far, so maybe he will still when it is done. I did design the borders, but that didn't take too much precious time. Mostly I procrastinated this week :-)
I have been puttering, mostly this week. Without a stack of flimsies to quilt or a pile of blocks to sew, my direction is confused! I have hand sewn/appliqued one of my birthday block swap blocks. I'll show all of them soon - one is still on paper, as it is a New York Beauty. I'm not that motivated to conquer it. HA!

I am going to a local fabric fair tomorrow morning. I heard of it a couple years ago - it's known for having dirt cheap bargains! Just hope my daughter won't be still under the weather so she can go to her last day of daycare (and I can have my morning in peace.).

I sewed up 40 9-patch blocks for the 3 by 3 swap I joined. These are fast!

And, if you are a follower of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap, you know that I am gearing up for a Block Swap, of some form or fashion. Check it out if you think you might be interested or may have some block suggestions for me to consider.

Current Workings...

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern right now. My oldest is off from school this week. Plus, we have a number of doctor, dentist, haircut appts that we are trying to get taken care of. On top of that, I have a nasty sinus infection and my youngest awoke with a 102F fever, and is very clingy today. Joy!

I got my Diamonds quilt trimmed and added the outer border. It is ready for quilting, but I am sending this out as it is larger than I like to do on my machine in 1 piece. I'm delighted with how it turned out. It has great color, noce point matchings, and is super girly.
Here's one of my April birthday blocks that I just finished. I somehow goofed up and did my May blocks instead of these. I'm not totally in love with this "By the Sea" block, but it is OK.

This flag is for the start of a Yahoo groups round robin. I want a patriotic mini that I can hang during June-July. It won't come back to me for 15 months, but here is the starter 4"x4" (sorta!!) block.

Other things...I have pieced another and the last of the Linus tops from the SFRR3 donated blocks. It still needs quilting. I have even added my 2nd border to the SFRR3 flimsy. That I canot show at all. I'll do a sneak peek in a couple weeks. I remade Lil's (yes, the secret is out) 4SQS5 monochromatic quilt and it will be posted (hopefully to arrive this time) tomorrow. I won't show any pictures yet though so as to keep something secret. It's great though - I'd love to keep it!

Progress on the little things

1. Row Robin Swap - Here's my row for Lori. She sent me this as her first row. It has flappy 3D geese and pinwheels. I'm not really sure how she's going to quilt it, but that's not my problem to figure out. She wants rows that are blue, yellow and white, with a clean feeling and/or some movement. I used mostly all batiks, since she had also used batiks. I designed this ebb-flow ocean wave design using EQ6. I hope she likes it because the paper piecing took about 5-6 hours for this 48" row!

2. Here's one of my April birthday block swap offerings. Cheryl wants this diamond pattern with Asian prints - I had quite a few on hand to play with!

I still have another April block to do for the bday swap, and it is a vacation themed block. I have this one in the planning stages, but no further. It will be about my favorite place on earth (Paris!).

3. Progress on those pesky little bows...12 of 16 are hand sewn on. They are very cute. And then I must go back and confirm that I have in fact completed the quilting in all areas.

4. SFRR3 - a sneek peek at my 1st border...a little hand work and a little curved piecing.

Now, I am nearly free to start on something new (once that PP mess is cleaned up downstairs).

Heavy Picture Posting

First off, a HUGE thanks to Miss Emma for this scrumptious set of 40 6" squares - all Fairy Frosts! It was part of her 1km giveaway, that is one kilometer of fabric in her stash.
And not surprisingly, with that kind of stash, all 40 squares are different!! I love them, and am already spying a project or two to use some of them on.

Another inquiry...

I have joined a row robin swap, and really would like to use the greens below as part of my background. Foolishly, I only bought about a third of what I really need. Dumb me! Anyhow, has anybody seen any of this, or have any in their stash they'd like to trade? One of the selvages says it is Timeless Treasures, from the 2007 collection of Lotus. I am pretty sure all three are from that line. Please email if you can help...

Here's a few of the Project Linus quilts that I have finished recently. I showed this flimsy last week, but here is the finished and unwashed quilt. The back is a wild tropical print of banana leaves.

Kid #2 wanted to pose with this one. Being a Univ Alabama grad, I still to this day can hardly stomach blue & orange together (UGH - Auburn Univ colors!), but that is what I chose so I hope someone appreciates it.

I used up some bolder prints, some Kaffee Fasset here. I don't love that tan sashing, but it was free so there. The back is a sweet floral I had which wraps all colors on the front together.

And lastly, the peppermint Patty quilt...or my version of scrappy bento boxes. It quilted and washed up beautifully.

My March birthday block swap blocks are now done. Forgive me, I have no idea who specifically they are for. This one is supposed to have a Hawaiian theme. It is kind of simple, but the hibiscus and tropical fish ought to make it Hawaiian enough.

This one took me all afternoon, but I like the end result. The recipient is kind of particular in her fabric likes/dislikes, so I hope it passes muster. If not, she can just send it back and I will give it a good home :-) She wanted anykind of block design that is on a Kona white with some version of "geese".

And we have finally come to the last set of works for the past week or so - a few completed flimsies. I think I have six flimsies in my pile now, all destined for Project Linus. This uses the remaining Broken Heart blocks that I got in the birthday block swap. These were ALL different sizes ranging from 10" to 10.5". Many were "misfit" blocks that were made and then remade since the size was off. They were a bit of a pain to work with given the size fluctuations, but then. I even shimmed the 10" blocks (don't look too closely!!) so I could use them. The last quilt I did with these blocks, I did not sash the blocks. It has a very different look.

These last two are blocks donated from Kate. They are actually the two blocks that are a part of the Spring Fling Round Robin I am currently posting, but Kate decided to clean out her strip box, and she made 24! The participants of this swap are making 2 blocks - one girlish and one boyish, which I will make into Project Linus blankets. Their donations are in trade for me mailing their swap packages all over the world (all in the name of anonymity). You really ought to take a look over there at that blog - the quilts that are started are awesome, and will only get better with the coming months.

This one, with the pink and purple, is destined for a girl - probably even a teen given the unjuvenile-ness of this quilt.

And this is the boy-ish version. Lots of black, blue and green. MANY thanks, Kate, they are invaluable to whoever will receive them. And I am most greatful for your gift.

February Birthday Blocks

I thought last month was my least favorite set of blocks to make, but I think I have changed my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love how these turned out; I just loathed the process of trying to come up with something creative.
This grandmother's fan is for Randi (group 3). I have not added any trim or lace, but still may before I send it across the big pond.

Amy (group 4) asked for things with a "circle" theme, in black, white, blue, green, and/or purple. I pulled lots of fabrics with dots or circles, as well as found the circular geese pattern. I have since thrown this pattern in the trash as I never want to make it again. It was so tedious! I hope the few lost triangle tips are not too obvious (a few out of ~100 tips is not bad!).

And lastly, this is for Wendi (group 3) for her "town" theme. Yes, another paper pieced pattern from Hell...far too many pieces. And do not even ask how I lobbod off the top of those topiary trees!... I may still embroider "City Hall" on it. The next pic shows the clock face embroidery, which is obviously not my forte. All in all, though, I think all three blocks look pretty good.

Small bits of Progress

A couple weeks ago, I won a 12" square giveaway that Kate was hosting. She had received the blocks in a swap, and decided not to do anything with them. I got 25 in all, but since one was actually stiched with an error, I opted to use just 24, and make 2 smaller quilt tops for Project Linus. Though not entirely obvious from the photo, they are done from batiks. I separated them into 12 that looked more feminine (ie, pinks & yellows), and 12 that better suit a boy. Girly ones were sashed with a bold purple print, and the boy with a blue. I will also bind the quilts with these fabrics. I am undecided on an outer border. The quilts are currently 40" x 54", which is a good size for a child, and works for me since my roll of batting is 45" wide! Thanks Kate!!
Here's another set of blocks I got in a swap. This is all but 2 of the 8" New York Beauty blocks I got from the birthday block swap. I have all but given up hope on getting the other two (which the quilt top is obviously missing!!). It's too bad when swappers don't live up to their end of an obligation, especially after receiving one's own month of blocks. These blocks run the complete gamut. Some need a little repairing - some stitches came lose in transit. One had to have some picking out because I thought that it ought to have a few points showing. And one I am not yet sure what to do with, as there is a huge (over 0.5") chunk missing because it somehow came out out of square.
The color combination is very hot. I like that. I can not say I totally enjoyed making the 2 of these that I did, or that I look forward to the prospect of making 2 more! But it's interesting...Maybe I will ditch my 2 least favorite and make the quilt smaller :-) As for the arrangement, I have no idea how I will place them. Despite the seemingly critial critique here, the gals that made the blocks did a fantastic job. Thank you- Kate, Helen, Amy, Terri, Julie, Michele, and Anne (and 2 more who's names are just escaping me tonight).

January Birthday Blocks

Here are the Group 3 blocks:
left: she (can't remember who w/o pulling paperwork) wanted a traditional style block in CW prints. It's 9.5" square. Thanks Amy for loaning me the reds!!
right: something woodsy. It still needs to be trimmed to the 12", and if the pic were clearer you could see that I used 2 red batiks, and that on the tail looks like tail feathers! ...aha, so I have added a birdie detail :-)
These were definitely not my favorite blocks to make, and that is why I actually waited until January to do them (unlike the fall's blocks that were all done ahead!).

This one is for Helen in the UK. It's the group 4 (more advanced) offering. She requested any size color, but with Africal appeal and applique. I found the picture below on the internet and proceeded to mimic it. Not bad, eh?! I figure Helen can use her quilting to help delineate the creases in the lady's gown around her neck and the baby on her back. It too needs some size trimming, but is essentially done.