We need 2 more

"We" would be the 8 quilters in the Comfort Quilt Bee that Angie at Summerfield Quilts has started.  We are making quilts for people in need, like cancer patients etc.  It's an easy 2 blocks per month from February to November.  See Angie's post here.  C'mon, don't you want to join us?  We'd love to have you.  And now, a picture, because you can't have a post without one, right?

This is one of my two February blocks.  See how easy this is?  Thanks everyone!

Manic Monday

Not really, just a bit.  I am not really working on anything that I should be.  I am playing around.  Wanna see?  Okay, here goes...this first little item is for the Dress Up Your Roll campaign.  My grandson loves Angry Birds.  My daughter suggested I try this, so here it is.

 I put a bit too much fluff in the top, I think.  The cover won't stay down over the roll very well.

But I don't care and neither will V.  I can't wait until he sees this a little later today!!

 One more shot with the flash.  My photography skills aren't very good, I'm afraid.

 This is a little stuffed fabric bird.  I saw these on a blog, can't remember where so I'll have to try and find it an get back to you on that.  The blog is spoolsewing.com.  There is a download-able pattern for it.  This is the first of what I'm sure will be many.

 The belly of the bird is a wood grain print.  My daughter saw that on one of the birds and though it looked cool.  So I did this one for her.

Isn't he cute?

One last look.

 This is the quilt I made for my book group.  I finally got around to binding the edges.  I have it hanging above my desk.  My husband is right though, I need to do a hanging sleeve and ditch the binder clips.  They don't add to the look.

That little quilt is one more item checked off my 2012 to do list.  Progress!
Have a great week.

Sunday Stitchin'

Trying to get a few things done today.  And some sewing too.  I was able to get fleece inserts made for the crochet hats for my brother.  He lives in Vermont where it is very cold right now and with the chemo, he has no hair and I want to help him stay warm.  His daughter crocheted him 4 hats and I made fleece liners for them that will really help hold in the heat.

Then I finished up the Swoon block I started last night.  Had it all done and took it out to show the hubby.  His knit brow made me ask "What?"  "Is that supposed to be the other way?" he asked.  I looked and ...OOPS!  I turned one section the wrong way.

 So, I got out the ol' seam ripper and now it's fixed.  If you look on our Flickr group you might notice that I am not the only one who has had this happen.  While this pattern is not too difficult, it does require you to pay attention.

 Then I started on my Bee blocks for February.  Angie at Summerfield quilts has started the Comfort Quilt Bee to make quilts for Cancer patients.  This is my first ever bee and I am excited to participate.

Well, lots more to do, so back to the sewing room.
Have a great Sunday.

My "Hey Girl" moment

This is a true story.  But first let me just say that if you haven't read this post on Quilt Dad, go do it and then come back.  I'll wait.

Okay so terribly funny, yes?  Here is my moment.  I picked up hubby at work and we'd both had a long day and were tired.  Driving home I shared my frustrations with him about my day.  When we got home and got in the house he looks at me an says (I swear) "It's just you and me, it's only 5:15, why don't you go change out of your work clothes and go sew for a while."  John's post immediately jumped into my head.

So I really do have a sweet, caring husband who does understand me.  And I put in 45 minutes on this before dinner (which he made)

I couldn't make this up.  See you soon.

Why I Live to Quilt, But Don't Quilt to Live

I think this from time to time, but today, I felt the need to write it down, perhaps as a reminder to myself.  I love quilting, sewing and all things crafty.  And there are many times when I am at work and I just wish I could quit my job and stay at home and do this all day long.  But I can't, and I really don't want to.

Now I know that there are lots of quilters and crafters who make a living at it.  And I am glad you can and do.  But I know me, and it would take some of the joy out of it if it was my job.  Plus there would be a bunch of days like today.  I'm off.  I'm home. Alone.  I can sew whatever I want as long as I want.  And I can't decide what to work on.

There are lots of possibilities.  There are 16 items on my in progress list.  None extremely pressing, but still, there are people waiting for their quilts.  Family members mostly.  There is this one that needs more blocks made:

 There is this, my second try at paper piecing.  Not bad, but it would go smoother if I took a class I think.

 This picture is of a beautiful scarf my daughter made me.  I know it's not sewing, but it is cold today and this is keeping me warm.

 Then there is this little quilt. number 11 on my list to be exact.  My list is not in priority order, just in "whatever came into my head" order.  I pieced this in an evening last summer.  I had bought a charm pack of what I think was Kona Rainbow Charms.  When I got it, I flipped through them and loved the order they were in.  So I cut some white charm squares and laid it out and Voila!! A rainbow charm quilt is born.

 I pieced and pressed it and hung it up to look at for a bit, then into the closet it went.   Until today.  It is grey, cold and rainy here today and the perfect day to let the sun shine on a rainbow.  So I found some bleached muslin in my stash and my last chunk of batting and set about pin basting on the floor.

 And now, we quilt.  And something else about me: I won't be able to do anything else until it's done being quilted.  It may not get the binding on it soon, but it will get quilted.  I have a Swoon block cut and marked and waiting to be stitched, so I need to get a move on.

Hope there are rainbows in your week.

A few Peeks

Lots of sewing going on here, but sometimes, the pics just look the same.  So here are a few new things to show:

 Have you seen the dress up your roll campaign? There's a Flickr Group for this with a great prize.

 This is some fabric I bought to use as a backing for a baby boy quilt for my new grandson, due in June.  Currently he is affectionately known as "Thumper".

 I found this and had to have it.  I actually LOVE the whole line, but I showed restraint and just bought one yard of this one.  The line is "a stitch in color" by Malka Dubrawsky for Moda.

 I got 2 yards of this for the price of one at 50% off Christmas prints at my LQS.  It just called to me.
Now next is a small sneak peek at the quilt I am making for my middle daughter.  The fabrics, as I have mentioned before are "scraps" that I won from Moda Lissa a couple of months ago.  To show how off the lighting can be in my house, even with a flash, the light grey fabric in this picture is actually a light blue green.

 All these strips came to me pre-cut.  There are tons, left from a log cabin quilt Lissa made.

 See, all these light greys? Yup, really blue green that is very pale.  It's looking good, daughter.

 Here is my latest Swoon block.  Again...the lighting issue...the darker fabric is navy blue.

So that's it for today.  Gotta go sew, so I have something new to post tomorrow.

Lots Going on Here

So I did get some sewing done yesterday, in addition to some Swooning.  I had on my list to make some covers for the arms of the new couch, which I mentioned before.  V and my daughter M were here and we spent part of the afternoon knitting and crocheting and being comfy in the living room.  This is what that ends up looking like:

Lots of quilts everywhere.  But no matter.  So on to the couch arm covers.  I felt the need to protect them from dirt and such.  I thought I could make some and easily change them out if I want.  So I made two small quilts basically.

 And you can see the back is already protected with my Sunkissed squares quilt.

 I made the arm covers/quilts out of scraps.  Rather large-ish scraps, but I had nothing else in mind for them anyway.

 I stitched in the ditch to quilt them.  I figure I can go back and quilt more later if I want.

 It looks very bright and spring-like, even though it's January.  I love it!

Here's the whole thing, and the cathedral window pillows I made look good there too.  I plan to make more pillows eventually, 'cause I can and I like to.  And now, for my sister especially, some pictures of a few quilt squares for her new queen sized quilt.  I actually have 7 of these done, out of 20.  There will also be some half squares to do as well.  I wanted to get a look at how it was coming along.

 So I set the 6 squares on top of the rest of the focus fabric, which will also be the sashing later on.

 I think it gives a pretty good idea of how this thing will look.  We are planning to have it quilted by a professional long arm quilter.  I just don't really want to do another large quilt right now.

So what do you think sis?  Oh, and there is an envelope of scraps coming to you too this week.  You can start looking for drapes etc.
Happy sewing everyone.

It's Swoonday!!

I decided today would be the day that I started my Swoon-along quilting project.  I was so excited when I started this morning.  These were the Reunion fat quarters I had decided to use.

 I had bought a bunch of a cream colored fabric that I think was supposed to go along with the Strawberry fields fabric I had.  I decided to go ahead and use it, even though it wasn't white.  I think I will like it.

 I cut out all the pieces for the first block.  I decided to only cut one block and then sew it before I cut and sew the next.  I will need to go slow and pay attention, to avoid having to rip any mistakes apart.  I already had two such mishaps with this one block.

 I also remembered that I had read about the quarter inch foot many people were using.  I thought I might have one.  I can't believe I never knew I had this thing!!  So I am now using it and it works great.

 Here is the first batch of pieces put together into their  units.  So far, so good...

 Now I have just nine units to join to each other.  I am very pleased, but anxious to get one block done.  V spent the night here last night and so I had to stop a few times to fix lunch and tend to other things going on.  My guess is it might have taken about 2 hours, start to finish.  It took longer this time.

And here  she is!!!  I L-O-V-E it!!!!!  The colors, the shape, how it came together and my points and joints were all pretty darn good even if I do say so myself.  The cream background fabric is nice.  It softens the whole thing up, which I like. 

So...one down, eight to go.
Happy sewing, friends.

Back to Work Tomorrow

I kinda hate it, but I am ready to head back to work tomorrow.  It's been a great, productive 10 days.  I am so type A, I measure the success of vacation time in terms of productivity!  Well, this wasn't meant to be a sit on my butt vacation anyway.  So here, on top of all I blogged about last week, is the weekend's work.

This is the beginning of the quilt for my middle daughter.  I won a box of scraps from Moda Lissa a while back and when I saw all the strips and even 3 little beginnings of Log Cabin blocks, I knew what I wanted to do with it.  I made these 6 log cabin blocks and now I am adding strips around them.  I am letting the colors lead me and stopping to look and consider.  The outer strips are a very pale blueish green, with some grey tones.  They look grey here.

 I am making two of these, pieced and quilted, for the arms of my new couch.  I never thought I would own a white couch, and it's really off white, but the arms need a bit of protection.  Besides, there is already a quilt on the back of the couch and two pillows I made.  I will post pics soon.

 I really did have this on my list for 2012-The Swoon Quilt.  When I saw the Swoon-Along, I jumped in.  I have had the pattern since November, but the fabric was stumping me.  I didn't want to buy any, and I didn't want it to be too scrappy.  I had a fat eighth bundle of Strawberry fields, but that wasn't enough to make it work.  So I decided on the Reunion fat quarter bundle that I got just before Christmas.  More than enough fabric in that.  I am glad for the push!

 Next there is this project.  My sister's quilt.  I drew up the plans to be similar to this quilt that she liked by Amanda Murphy.  I simplified it to make the assembly a bit easier.  This quilt will be for a queen size bed so it will be big enough as it is.

 I had to start cutting, and I dreaded it.  I wasn't sure if we had enough fabric.  We bought the fabric before there was a plan for it.  I did go back on New Year's Day to the big sale a bough 3 more half yard cuts.  The little yellow post it notes are the number of pieces in each pile.  I am relieved to report I even have a few extra pieces.

Here are the scraps from the cutting.  I love looking at them!  Now, gotta get sewing on this and get the Swoon quilt pieces cut out.  With 3 big quilts going all at once, I need to find a good way to store all the pieces neatly during the piecing stage.  Anyone have any ideas that work for them?

Have a great week.  See you back here Swoon...I mean soon. :)