Three Finishes

 

This is a UFO from over a year ago.  It was a mystery quilt.  This is the second piece I have finished for the fund raising auction. I am very happy to have one more UFO finished.

 

 

This is the finished quilt for Bella's baby sister to be.  We are expecting Hayden's arrival any time now.  I backed this one with flannel.

 

 

The last finished quilt is for our grandson who is due in May.  He and his parents live in France, so this one will be boxed with some other baby gifts and put in the mail in a few weeks.

 

I am very happy to have these done and checked off the to-do list.  Now, on to finishing up Criss Cross, the string quilt, the March AAQI quilt, and Bella's big sister quilt.  What fun!

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Catching up

This is where I am so far with the D9P quiltalong hosted by Freda at Adventures of the Empress of the Universe. Take a look at what is being done at the Flickr site.  I still have a few units to add and some rearrangements to make before I start sewing this top together.

In the meantime, I have finished sewing Bella's baby sister's quilt top together.  I have the backing for it and I think I am going to use that satiny feeling blanket binding just for the texture.  This is very different from the extra bright one for the grandson due in May.  Now I need to quilt them both.

In a completely different direction, I finished the mini spider web top.  I did a few new things for this quilt.  The spider web, the Dresden plates, and the piano keys are all new for me.  The top and bottom borders are from a cotton linen jacket that was a size 18.  Now that I am a size 8, I thought it would be nicer to use it in a quilt rather than keep it around to grow back into.  It was too nice to throw away, and I liked the colors so I kept it.

Lastly, I finished my addition to the first round of the 2013 Improvi-Robin.  Take a look and see what is going on this year.  Most of us from last year joined again, and we added a couple of new people.  You can see below that block I received.  The rules for this Robin encourage improvisation.  I really enjoyed playing with this start.  All the rest of them are going to be just as much fun.

I am still working on the Criss Cross string quilt.  I spent some time cutting strips to measure today for another couple or rows. I figure if I have units cut and ready to sew, I can sew a unit or two when I have a few free minutes. It won't be fast, but it will get done.

Tomorrow, I will be working in the studio while Tom watches the Super Bowl. I will post what I get done.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Some old and some new

Remember my Improvi-Robin quilt from last summer?  I have finally decided to get it finished.  I found some Alexander Henry fabric when I was out with my sister.  Actually, she found it and I bought it.  I also found some of the fabric Stephanie used on the left and bottom so I could add more to the top.  I cut out the three ladies and put them near the top.  I have fabric for the back so now all I need is the thread.

Here are the three ladies a little closer.

I am also working on a couple of baby quilts.  Bella is going to have a little sister in April and our oldest son and his wife who live in France are having a boy in May.  The baby girl quilt is not as far along as the baby boy quilt.  I still need fabric for the sashing.  

This one is for the baby boy.  I know his parents like bright colors.  I hope he does as well.

Lastly, I think I have finally figured out how to make a quilt similar to this one.

The antique is hand sewn and the strips are much narrower, but I am not one for such fussy sewing on a large scale.  This strip is 6" wide.  The strips are cut 1 1/4" wide and the base triangles are from a 2 1/2" square.  I made the first one on a piece of paper just to get the measurements, then I chain pieced the next four.  Now, I only have 75 units to go. I am making this from goodwill shirts and scraps.  It will take a while, but I think it is going to be very cool when done.

Back to the spiderweb quilt another day.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Progress on the baby quilt - Rasberry Lemonade

Today, I got all the blocks pieced, the hearts stitched, and the top put together for the commission due on Saturday.  I sewed the borders on, cut the backing and sewed a strip of the medium pink up the middle, cut the backing, and put everything on the frame ready to quilt first thing tomorrow. 

I was very pleased with my fabric calculations for this quilt.  We bought just the right amount of fabric, and that is always nice.  No extra trips to the fabric store.   That is really good since I bought the last on the bolt of one of the fabrics.  I was pretty organized for this quilt.  I cut all the shapes I needed before I got started on the sewing.  Then, I sewed all the smaller units, like the flying geese and the center blocks.  This may seem like a no brainer to most of you, but it is a new practice for me since I do so much without patterns, just asking myself "what if I . . .?"  I am getting more comfortable making quilts with repeat blocks so I can now use chain stitching to its fullest extent.  What used to take me way too much time is now taking a reasonable amount of time.  I am still a slow stitcher, but I find the process so enjoyable, I don't feel a need to speed it up completely.  Even the process of putting the quilt on the frame went smoothly today.  The good thing about all this is that I will get the quilt done on time.  I will have plenty of time tomorrow afternoon and evening to stitch down the binding by hand and put the label in its proper place.  I will post a photo tomorrow when it is all finished.  I plan on using the darkest pink for the binding. 
In other news, look what arrived at my doorstep today!

 

Green Fairy Quilts had a sale on the fat eighth bundle of Perennial by Kansas Troubles for Moda.  I really like the Kansas Trouble Quilters designs, so I spent some of the money I am making with the commission quilt on these yummy fabrics.  I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I have some ideas.  Right now, I am just going to enjoy petting them and enjoying all the great colors.

Productive Studio Day

After a very busy Sunday shooting a wedding with Tom, I finally got into the studio the 6" heart onto the SteamASeam paper, folded it in half, and cut about 3/4" in from the outside line.  That gave me a good rim around the heart, and the center is still soft and pliable.  After cutting out the 8 I needed, I took them to the pressing board and got them firmly adhered.  I was very pleased that my idea worked.  Now, I have 8 small SteamASeam hearts for another project.  This quilt has 16 8" blocks, 8 stars and 8 hearts.  I got all the parts cut and the flying geese and square units sewed together, so now I just need to stitch the hearts, and put the star blocks together.  I did get two of them together so you could see where I am going with this.

I noticed that the dark pink square is a bit wonky in this.  I think I can steam it straight.  For the hearts, I have decided to use different decorative stitches for them.  I may use four or eight, depending on my mood.  After I took this photo, I did another one and used a heart motif.  This one has a blanket stitch.  One of my readers suggested that this color combination reminds her of pink lemonade, so I am calling this one Rasberry Lemonade. 
Tomorrow and Wednesday, I am with my granddaughter.  Tomorrow night is guild.  I will get back to this quilt on Thursday.  I need to get it pieced on Thursday and on the frame Friday morning.  I haven't decided how I am going to quilt it yet, but I am sure it will be an all over pattern.  Maybe swirls and hearts.
Joyful quilting, all.