A quilt for my dad and his wife....

My dad and his wife are the only immediate family members that I've never made a quilt for. Partly because I have always been on the hunt for "the perfect" fabrics for them. Their house is all in whites and various shades of beige. It's been a hard hunt these past several years for some neutrals that weren't "country" looking. 

Then came "Little Black Dress" by Basic Grey. I knew that was it! It's the perfect colors and fabric patterns for them. I liked that there was some blacks and greys in there b/c it's adding a "color punch" but without being to "colorful", if that makes sense! 

Then to figure out a quilt design that again, wasn't "country" looking. (My dad had mentioned before that they don't like "country-looking" quilts) I also only had about 3-4 days to make it, so it needed to be an easy pattern. 

Enter the Postage Stamp Quilt!

1200 2.5" squares! But I pieced it P.S. I quilt style and it was a piece of cake! I literally worked on this for about 3 or 4 days. I wish I tracked the actual hours because I finished this one pretty fast and it's BIG. 60" x 80". I cheated on the binding and machine attached both sides. Which I HATE doing because I'm not very good at it, but I just didn't have the time to hand stitch the back on this big one. I had to get it in the mail today for Christmas. 

When making this one, I didn't plan the fabrics out AT ALL. I literally pieced all the strips and then cut them up and when making the block grabbed whichever one. Then when I made the top, I grabbed finished blocks and sewed them together. I did alternate the "A" blocks and the "B" blocks but I didn't lay out the top or plan it in any way and I'm pretty pleased with the result. I love the randomness of it.

I love this fabric line with all the different whites, beiges, and grays. I hope they like it and I definitely need to make a postage stamp quilt for me. I LOVE the way they look!

Toddler Stepping Stones

I was commissioned to make a quilt for a friend for her son over a year ago. (gosh, I can't even believe it's taken me that long!) My summer vacation got in the way and with the hubs home all the time this past year and not having to deploy, I haven't been sewing much!

I gave her a choice of a few different patterns and this was the one she chose.

 It's made with several fabrics I picked out from Fabricworm/Birch Fabric store in Paso Robles, CA. I was able to visit the store before we left Southern California on my way to Monterey for a weekend. It's a great store by the way!
I also used a Kona cotton grey (not sure which one exactly) and a few other prints from Connecting Threads.

It's backed with a print I got from Connecting Threads, as well.

The pattern for this quilt can be found here. I think I altered the size of the sashing, but I can't remember. I think mine was the same width as the color pieces.
It measures 40" x 50".

Now all my "To-Do" projects are done! I just have a whole bunch of mini quilts to catch up on. (but I don't count those as "to-dos"!)
I still have a goal to finish up a bunch of WIPs, so I hope to get going on those as well!

DEVASTATION...a lesson learned the hard way..

Today I decided to pull out my Cathedral Windows quilt that I started several months ago. I wanted to see how many white squares I had pressed and ready to go so I can start working on that again. 

To my HORROR, this is what I discovered on my completed blocks and one incomplete block.

this is the incomplete block, only the 4 windows on the right are sewn.

one of the completed blocks.

Look closely. See all the RUST spots! OMG! The block not completed was tacked with pins and on the edges, quilt binding clips. The completed block, the edges were tacked with pins.

I'm guessing it's the humidity here in RI. I'm not used to it, I don't know much about it being from California and never even thought that it would affect my pins and binding clips!

These are all the FRONT of it. At first, I thought, it will be ok....once I attach all these blocks together, I'll be putting windows over these and it won't show at all. No big deal.
WRONG... Here's the BACK!

 These are the 2 completed blocks that just had pins in them. Now these I think I'll still keep because this quilt it for me and the rust marks are small enough that they won't bother me too much.

These are the back of the incomplete block. Top one here shows all the binding clip damage, the bottom picture shows where I had pins holding the window to be sewn in. So needless to say, this block is getting trashed.

Here are some of the pins and clips. You can see the rust if you look close.

So here's my lesson learned (that maybe all of you already know!):
I will never have pins or binding clips "hold" my work for me and let it sit. Especially when using white fabric. And especially if I live somewhere where there is humidity!

A quilt for Finnegan

One of my great friends had a baby a few months ago. I knew I'd make her a quilt, of course. She loves the Nicey Jane fabrics by Heather Bailey and fortunately I have a pretty large stash of it. So I chose some of the blues and greens from that line and a few blues and greens from others and make this little baby quilt set on point. It was my first quilt set on point and I LOVE it! I love the colors, love the fabric and love the design. I wish it was a big one for me! Maybe someday, I'll make myself one! 

It measures 38"x45" and is quilted with a free motion meandering pattern. 

FINALLY....

....back at the machine

More to follow soon...

2nd Pay it Forward Gift

Here's my second Pay it Forward gift. This one went to Trish.

It's a table runner made with Delilah by Tanya Whelan. The block pattern is the Quatrefoil. And if you want to make a table runner like this one, here's the pattern for that!

Sorry the pictures aren't that great! This one was very hard to get a good picture of for some reason!

I'll post pics of the 3rd Pay it forward in a couple weeks. I still have to mail it and I don't want to ruin the surprise! ;)

On another note, we leave for our month long camping trip throughout New England on Sunday! I'm super excited! Let the summer begin!!

Pay it Forward completion

Here's one of the Pay it Forward gifts I made. This one was for Amber.

It's a mini quilt comprised of wonky stars all from scraps of various projects I've made over the years. I love this little mini quilt!

A Birthday Gift for my Pen Pal

I made this quilt for my dear friend Crystal, for her Birthday. It was actually suppose to be a Christmas gift this past December, I just didn't get my act together to get it finished.

Fabric: California Dreamin' by Jenean Morrison.

Quilt Pattern: by Film in the Fridge found here.

Measures: 52" x 71"

WINNER

I picked a winner today via Random.org and the lucky number was #22

AmyMay 21, 2012 7:15 AM

This quilt is charming. I especially love the detail in the actually quilt stitching. Thanks so much for the chance to win. Crossing my fingers! Have a great trip to New England. I've never been there, but you may want to look for places to see and eat on Yelp or Tripadvisor. They are my two favorite traveling sites. =)

Amy, I sent you an email requesting your mailing info.

Thanks everyone that stopped by and entered and I truly appreciate all the tips on what to see and do! It's going to be a fun trip and maybe I'll even get some pictures on here after our trip!

May Giveaway Day!!

Sew Mama Sew is hosting their May Giveaway Day again! I haven't participated in the last couple ones and since I've been so absent from my blog lately, I figured I'd make this a good one! (well at least I hope you all think it's a good one!)

 I'm giving away my "Love in a Mist" quilt!

It's been folded sitting in my crafting closet for about a year and I think it's time to let someone have it that will appreciate it!
This quilt measures 35"x39" and it's hand quilted!
I love this quilt, but I'm willing to part with it.
More pictures and the original blog post for this quilt can be found here.

(you'll have to excuse the 'fold' pucker in the middle. that's just from being folded in my closet for some time!)

How to enter, you ask?

Well...here are the rules:

One entry per person

and all you have to do is leave a comment. (Please make sure if you are a "no-reply" blogger that you leave your email address. If there is no way to contact you, I'll draw another person)

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

IF you are so inclined...I'd love some suggestions on places to go and see in the New England area! We are packing up our travel trailer and hitting the road for the whole month of July to explore New England: Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and anywhere else nearby! So if you know of a great spot to camp, visit, see, eat at, shop at, whatever...please share!

Giveaway will close May 25th 8pm EST/5pm PST

I'll randomly draw a winner after that. (oh and that should be interesting since with this new blogger change I lost my numbered comments!) ;)

Good Luck! 

*COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED*

April's mini

Here's April's Mini Quilt for Crystal. As most of you know I love Vintage Sheets. So I gathered a bunch of scraps and made this little string quilt. 

 It measures 18"x18"

Here's the back. I love this print!

We had some real nice weather here and I was excited to work with the vintage sheets again. Now, of course, we have horrible, raining, dreary weather and it's put a damper on my quilting. I actually did some sewing last weekend but I'm now at a standstill since I need to do my basting outside and it's all rainy! Hopefully it clears up soon, because I'm excited to show you the other stuff I've made!

March Mini

I got to this one late. We had some friends from California visiting last week, so of course in the days ahead I was getting the house ready and then had packed the sewing machine up for a couple weeks. Anyway,  I got this one finished and mailed and it's been received so I can show it!

This one is all wonky starts of varying sizes. I had a lot of fun making this one because I love wonky stars! I tried something new using rectangles to make a few of them. I loved the way those turned out! It's made all with Kona solids with exception to the butterfly print.

I forgot to measure it, of course! I think it's around 18"x18".

Now I need to get busy on April's!

I'm still alive...

Seriously? .....

It's April????

My last post was in February???

Oh my! Ok, so I'm alive and well and I'll have a new blog post with pics on a project I completed soon. It's off in the mail today, so I have to wait until it's received to post it.

I've never gone this long without a post. I've never gone so long without a completed project. I've received a few inquiring emails and I appreciate it! I am ok. But it lead me to do a little thinking. I'm in such a funk right now and have NO MOTIVATION to sew. This is a first for me! So I really thought about it and I think I've realized having hubby home and not doing the "usual" Navy work has really cramped my sewing time! (For those that don't know...my hubby is in the Navy and usually wherever we are stationed for however long, he's home maybe half the time. We are now at the Naval War College in Newport, RI and he's getting his Master's Degree, so he's home by noon most days now....everyday....no deployments....here all the time....always around...no breaks.... Oh, wait...does that sound bad?!) Don't get me wrong, I love having him home and not deployed, but I never sew now. I do most of my quilting when he's gone as I have the time, and I find myself way more creative during the absences. So as hard as deployments and time apart is, it works for us. I don't mind being alone....because then it means I SEW!

I'm determined to get back in the groove of things. My goal for this year was to finish up some WIPs and I've got quite a few. So I'm going to buckle down and get some quilts FINISHED! Stay tuned and I'll show you my latest completion in a few days!

February Mini

This one is my favorite mini quilt I've made, so far. I love this block so much that eventually, I'll be making a whole quilt out of these, all with DS Quilts fabrics.Tutorial found here.

These "Granny Squares" quilts are popping up all over, and every time I see one it makes me smile because every single one is so cute!

I hand quilted this one and washed and dried it to give it the soft crinkly look before sending it off to Crystal.

I haven't been motivated lately to do much sewing and yet I have so much sewing to do. I'm hoping that this coming week I'll get back to my machine and crank out some of my unfinished projects I've got going on!

January Mini Quilt

Here's my January Mini Quilt for Crystal. 

I could not think of an idea at all! So I came up with this just using some scraps. I think I need to start coming up with several ideas and write them down since I have 8 or so more of these to make! But boy are mini quilts ever fun! Making mini quilts has got to be one of my most favorite projects I've done! They are fast and practically instant gratification!

measures: 16"x19"

fabric: "California Dreamin" by Jenean Morrison