Swoonin Again

Many years ago, when the pattern for the Swoon quilt was released, I jumped in with everyone else and made a swoon quilt. (Pattern by Camille of Thimble Blossoms) A couple of years ago, I bought the Swoon 16 pattern for 16 smaller blocks, and made one for a friend in need. My sister has long loved this quilt pattern and wanted one, so I finally caved and said I would make one for her. The only condition I put on it was that we would have to find a quilter to quilt it. She wanted 16 full size (24") blocks so it would drape all the way down on her bed. It is about 104 inches square.

 She agreed and we set about the project. I had her go on line to find the fabric she wanted. I told her the best way was to choose a fat quarter bundle. That way it would already be fully coordinated. She knows how to choose colors she likes, but having to choose that many fabrics is daunting. This way, there would be enough fabrics for 2 per block, times 16. She knew she wanted a creamy color for the background. That was easy. We used my Kona color card once the fat quarter bundle arrived, and chose the perfect cream color.

Now, if you have never made one of these quilts, there are 81 pieces in each block. It very definitely is a precision piece of work. I would cut the fabrics for 2 blocks on one day. The following two days, I would sew a block each day. I did have to use the seam ripper a couple of times, but over all, it worked out fine. I have my copy of the pattern stapled together so I can just flip the pages as I work through the steps.

This is the finished quilt top. This is a queen size bed. The 24 inch blocks are centered on the bed. You get a sense of just how big this thing is.

The fabric she chose is Mill Creek Garden by Jan Patek. It a a beautiful collection of purples, greens, brown and cream. I had her pair up the fat quarters the way she wanted me to sew them. This way, the designing of the quilt could be hers. It worked beautifully.

It took me several weeks to get all the blocks made. I didn't want to rush it, and it was hard some days to stay on track. I truly think this will be the last quilt of this size I will ever make. I am just getting too old to struggle with that much fabric. It is tough. But I am glad I did this and can't wait to see it quilted.

I sent her to the local quilt shop to get recommendations for long arm quilters. I have found that that is the best way to locate one. They gave her 6 business cards and she sent out emails to 4 of them. She has chosen one and we will go meet with her tomorrow at the quilt shop. I have explained about batting and backing, and this quilter can provide both, which makes my job easier too. The only thing I will still have to do is to bind the quilt when it comes back from the quilter. I am hoping that when it is fully finished, I can get a full photo of the quilt to share here with y'all. Until then, have a lovely day.

Color Me Happy

My only finish for this week is these fun crayons. I got the pattern from Chelise Patterson. If you have never read the books, you need to. They are hilarious.

 This one is my favorite. Pea Green changes his name to Esteban the Magnificent.

 He wears a little yellow cape. Here he is sitting in my sewing room, suppressing a giggle. I might need to make one of these for me to keep. These will be for my grandchildren.

I am also making orange and yellow, who argue about which one of them is the true color of the sun. And purple, because my daughter says that is N's signature color. More pictures soon. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts. Have a great weekend.

...So Eight Years Later...a Finish

I started this quilt about 8 years ago. The first two grandsons were toddlers and I thought it would be great to have a fun quilt we could spread out for picnics or on the floor to play. I got it pieced pretty quickly but then I lost interest, got busy, moved on to other projects. I pulled it out a couple of years ago along with some other long time tops that needed quilting and finally now it is done.

 I chose all these fruit prints and seed packet prints. I thought it was so summery. I loved the bright colors and decited to surround it with black. Not sure why, but it does make it pop.

I think this is where I got stuck. I couldn't figure out a backing or how to quilt it, so I quit. But last week I decided it was time to just get it done! So there was one two yard piece of fabric in my stash that I could not figure out how to use:

V and I did some tie dye a few years ago and I dyed a piece of Kona white. I loved how it turned out, but never knew quite what to do with it. Until now. It looks amazing. The pictures don't really show how vibrant the colors are. It is such a happy fun fabric.

 Have you ever wondered what tie dyed fabric looks like as a binding? So cool, right?

       Now I'm not sure which side of this I like best. It's like having two quilts in one.

I was going to give this to one of the grand kids, but I think I'm going to hang onto it for awhile. And for now, it is on the back of granddaddy's chair and it looks quite at home there. See you soon.

A Birthday Gift

Even though the sewing is slow going here, when it came to my best friend's birthday, I just felt that this year, I wanted to make something for her. She lives half way across the country and I haven't actually seen her in 15 years. Travel is expensive and so we keep in touch on line and on the phone. And it's just like we were together yesterday, each time we talk. She has been such a great support for me these last few months and I really wanted to make something small, that showed how much I appreciated her friendship.

 So, since her birthday's in April and I had these lovely bright spring colors in my stash, I decided a single Swoon block that she could either hang up or use as a table topper, would be wonderful.

 The solids are Kona, but I am not sure what the print is. I won it last year some time in a fat quarter bundle. But I just love it. The quilting is one, big mum, starting in the center.

 The corners I decided to quilt a leaf in each one. I love the way it turned out. I think it finishes the corners so nicely.

The back is a small chunk of Sweetwater's wishes line I also had in my stash. Just the perfect size.

So, Happy Birthday to my friend. I hope you love it and have many more birthdays ahead.

Got Nothing Finished Friday

I realized I had not been here since Monday. I love being able to link up with all the Friday Finish posts and have people stopping by, but I seem to have so many things in progress that are taking longer to complete. Hence the title of today's post.

So here is what I have in the works right now...

 This is my Belle Waves quilt top. I finally got another couple yards of Kona white so I can continue on with the piecing of this. I am half way done. I did swap out the two partial blocks at the top for some made with the Essentials floral print in keeping with the pattern I have in mind.

 Then this guy got a backing an all pinned up in anticipation of quilting. I can't believe how many pins it took and how long. But my Aurifil 40 weight thread that I ordered came, so now I am ready!

And lastly, a bit wrinkled, here is the first half of the queen size Concerto quilt I am piecing for my daughter and her new husband. I love this pattern and each size requires different size blocks, so it is going together quite nicely and quickly too. These squares are 7 3/4 inches.  This one really gets me excited to see it together.

And so, these are the projects that are keeping me busy these days. Thank you for dropping by, even if a linky didn't get you here, I love that you did. Talk to you soon.

Summertime and the Living is Busy

I know things are supposed to slow down in the summer, but really, do they? I don't have kids at home any more and I am still very busy with work and projects and planning vacations. I know those who still have little ones at home are busy now that school is out. There are camps and swim lessons and trips to take and family to visit. When I was a kid, we had maybe one week or so where we took a trip, but other than that, summer was very unstructured and loose. I miss those days.

So in the land of projects, here is some (not all) of what I have going on:

 I cut out all the rest of the pieces for my Belle Waves quilt. I am about a yard short on the Kona white, so I will pick some up later this week.

 I changed the arrangement of the blocks to one I like better. I am putting all the squared elements blocks in a row and then the essentials block in a row and alternating them. I just realized this morning that the two partial blocks on top need to be switched out for essentials, so I will do that too.

 These are really making my heart sing! The fabrics are so very soft and the colors so joyful to me.

 Then, I got the fabric for the boys' quilt backs. I was able to take advantage of a Kona sale at Fort Worth Fabrics and bought 4 yards of these two. I love the blue. The yellow was originally going to be Kona Curry, but they didn't have that so I bought a brighter yellow, which I think will be just fine. For now they sit for a few days while I wait for the thread to arrive. I ordered some 40 weight Aurifil from Hawthorne Threads to do the quilting with. I want to test out other weights of threads. I am also looking for a project to use an even heavier weight thread for quilting.

And lastly, for today, I have made these. These are two balls of string scrap "yarn" to make a crochet rag rug like Crazy Mom made. The tutorial can be found here. This is going to be my beach project. I need a hand work project to take with me to the beach in August. For my rag rug I will need 3 balls of this that each weigh one pound. One of these is done and one need a few more ounces to weigh in at a pound. I am using my kitchen scale to weigh them. I can't wait to get started crocheting on this! Have a great week and I will see you back here soon.

#300-A Friday Finish and A Giveaway

So here we are at post number 300! I almost can't believe it. That is a lot of words and pictures. I have come a long way since I started. I have learned so much from the quilting and blogging community and I want to say thank you to all of you who have inspired me.

For my Friday finish this week, I raced to finish one of the many baby quilt tops I am working on this year. I really wanted to get this top done, and I did, but there is a small mistake that will have to be ripped out and fixed. Let's take a look.

 I tried to arrange all the blocks to spread out the colors. When I make a quilt like this, I don't plan it out very much, so I just grabbed two fabrics that paired well with each other to frame the center. I always figure I can work out the block arrangement afterwards.

 See the two blocks in the top row that are blue on the outside? Those weren't supposed to be together, and I don't think they were, when I laid things out. But in my haste to finish the top, something got mixed up.  So they will be separated before I quilt this.

 So many fabrics in this one. Sweetwater's Noteworthy, Pearl Bracelets, Squared Elements, Flea Market Fancy, Malka Dubrawsky, and some other older fabrics from my stash. This was a fun fabric pull. Now, a few of my favorite blocks:

              The blue fabric here is a batik that I love, with tiny yellow and orange dots.

 One of my favorite grey stripes from Sweetwater, and I am sorry I can't remember which line.

 Navy blue Dimples surrounded by a great stripe from the Noteworthy line from Sweetwater.

                       Here is Denyse Schmidt playing nicely with Squared Elements.

I love this quilt already and I hope the new parents love it too. I don't know the gender of the baby yet, but I think this is cute enough to go either way. Now, since you have read all this way, let's talk giveaway.

 I have this pretty fat quarter bundle that I put together. These are all Kona Cottons I bought at my LQS. I wanted something bright and springy to give to you.

 I looked at lots of fabrics and chose these to hopefully appeal to a wide audience. And then, for fun I added a spool of Aurifil thread from my stash and some pretty springy zippers from Zippit.

I know you could find something fun to make with these. So, in order to be entered into the draw, since it's spring and all, in your comment please tell me what your favorite spring flower is. That's it. I will draw a winner next Friday, May 2nd. Drawing is open to any and all. I will ship internationally. Thank you again for reading about my quilting adventures here.
Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.
Giveaway over. Winner has been chosen.

Sunday Stash #12...and a winner!

 So I was at my LQS and picked up these three half yards in bright, lovely fall colors for a quilt.

 This is the pattern on all of them and they come in a large range of colors and make great blenders to add a bit of interest to any quilt. I have used them before.

And here is the name of the designer and the manufacturer. Look for them in your LQS. Mine keeps them with all the Kona Solids and other background fabrics that are now standards.

 I got them to go with these Kona colors: Coffee, Earth, Orange, Canary Yellow and Lipstick Red.

These are all destined to be this quilt, for my daughter and her new husband. Can't wait to get this one started.
And now, the winner of my Nancy Zeiman book giveaway: number 5, Heather! I will be emailing Heather for her address. Thanks to all who played along. Another note: I am very close to 300 posts and when I get there, there will be a celebratory giveaway! Talk to you soon. Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Sunday Stash #10

I got just a couple of new things this week.  I am planning a wedding quilt for my middle daughter and she loves fall colors. I wanted to make something modern using fall colors and I am going to use mostly Kona solids, so I had to start getting some of them. Sorry the pics are not brighter, but cloudy and rainy is the order of the day here.

This is the pattern and the first of the fabrics. The pattern is Concerto by Aria Lane, a pattern company that was started by Alyssa Lichner of Pile O' Fabric. I fell in love with this quilt when I first saw it and am so happy to have a reason to make it now. I still need to work out what other fabrics I want to incorporate. The pattern and fabrics came from Christa Quilts. Colors are lipstick red 1194, orange 1265 and Canary yellow 26.
Next, I was blog reading and saw an adorable quilt by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew using this sweet goldfish fabric by Timeless Treasures. I fell in love with it. It is actually a brighter white background.

I scoured the internet and found it at Fabric.com. They are out of it now, so I am thinking I am not the only one.  I bought a yard to use in a baby quilt. Allison has a great pattern that she used this in, but I haven't quite decided if I am going to use that pattern or another.
Here is the fabric I pulled from my stash to go with this one:

         This is the complete pull, for now. I may add or subtract. Still thinking on it.

 Some Sweetwater, Squared elements, Emily Herrick, Malka Dubrawsky and some older blues.

        Some Pearl bracelets, Denyse Schmidt, Alison Glass, and Laurie Wisbrun.

                                 These are the darker blues I chose.

And this is an older batik that I have used pieces of in many things. It is a bit hard to tell, but the dots in it range from a yellowish orange to a darker red orange. I have always loved it and it will be perfect in this.  Linking up to Sunday Stash.