Rainy Days and Mondays

On this dark rainy Monday, since I didn't have to go to work, I thought it would be a perfect day to sew. There is almost no place as cheering to me on a dark rainy day, as my sewing room. And I have a very cheerful project too.

 This is the beginnings of a new quilt for my grandson J. He is 7 and is very interested in science and all things scientific. He has a particular fascination with the periodic table. So when I saw this collection, Science Fair from Robert Kaufman, I knew it was "the one".

 Here is the first block. See what I mean? Perfect. The star points are all made with shades of Crosshatch Sketch by Timeless Treasures. I comes in a wealth of colors and goes so well everything.

 Here is the second block. I love all the beakers and test tubes. More shades of Crosshatch Sketch. I am sure this is going to be such a fun quilt to make and I just know J will love it.

And for me, a bit of crocheted comfort. Working on a blanket made with Blue Sky cotton yarn.  It is so soft. So how about you? What do you do on a rainy Monday?

Sunday Stash #22

Another Sunday and another stash addition to share with you. Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far.  Here we go:

 First up, I have long wanted some of this, and I finally found some on Etsy. This is a long out of print Henna Garden by Sandi Henderson. This is from her Meadowsweet collection of about 4 years ago. I love this stuff!!

 Not a great picture, but this is Science Fair by Robert Kaufman. I have a grandson who LOVES science so much and this, paired with a couple of tone on tones I am planning to get, will make his newest bed size quilt. Not sure what quilt pattern I will use yet, but I want big enough pieces to show off these great prints. This one is available in another colorway also.

 And last, but not least, I bought two panels of this alphabet print from the Petit Fleurs collection by Carolyn Gaven.  I am thinking of ways to incorporate them into pillows and quilts.

 Each one is different and cut apart they would be very versatile. Not too expensive either, about $7 per panel at Hawthorne Threads where I bought mine.

                                      Here is a C for Charlotte.

And a G for Grammie. Linking up with the ever shiny Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash.

Sunday Stash #16

Ahhhhh...Sunday. I love Sundays all year long, but in the spring, with the birds singing in the background it's heavenly. So here is my stash post for this week. I know I said I would settle for the horse print in white from the Wee Wander line, but after that post, I thought, lets just look and see if any more had come in to Hawthorne Threads. You know, just a look. And then this happened:

 They had completely restocked! So I bought a half yard of each and now I have all three colorways, which was not my original intention. But these are so pretty.  And then, just to get something else I had been thinking about, I bought this:

 This is the Fox and the Houndstooth by Robert Kaufman. I love those dapper little foxes and I thought this would make something cute for B.  I think it's going to become a pillowcase.

 Those vests! Those hats! the bow tie and monocle! I love this cute fabric! I am now waiting on some grey houndstooth for the pillowcase edge.

And look at the selvedge! How cute is that? Hope you have a great Sunday. Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash.

Christmas Trees and Tie Dye

I've been quilting away here this week pretty steadily. I have finished one quilt that just needs binding and am quilting another before I bind them both. Meanwhile, I spent a little time piecing and doing some tie dye with my sweet Grandson, V. Let's start with that.

 Here is a t-shirt for baby B. We watched the video that came with the tie dye kit and I let V pick the ways in which we would tie each of the shirts.

 He wanted a swirl for his shirt and even though I doubted my ability to do this one, with his encouragement, I did just fine.

                                        We did the dots and spots for his mom's t-shirt...

 ...and a scrunchy line down one side of mine. We were almost done when he said we needed to make something for grandaddy. So I found a pair of white socks to use up the last of the dye.

The other reason I wanted to tie dye was to make this:

It is two yards of Kona white, or rather it was Kona white. Now I need to decide what to make with it. It is almost too cool to cut up.  Any suggestions?

Now, about those Christmas trees. Christa, at Christa Quilts is having a Modern Christmas Tees Quilt Along.  And this is my interpretaion of her pattern:

I cut the trees from a Robert Kaufman print from the classic quilts line. I thought they would make very cool modern trees.  I struggled a bit with the background. I knew I wanted it to be pink, but I auditioned a couple and wasn't satisfied. I tried green...nope...red...nope. Had to be pink. But I didn't have a lot of any one pink. So the solution was to make it patchwork. I used one pink around the trees for each row and am now filling in the rest with patchwork.  I have a love/hate relationship with this little quilt top. Some days I hate it and I walk away. The next time I see it, I love it again. Well that's it for today. See you soon.

The One With Lots of Pictures

It has been very busy around here this last week.  Not too much actual sewing, but some.  Also there has been sewing prep and gardening.  Once I get to sewing this week, I should be able to make some great progress.  Here's hoping.

 First up is the 4th bucket hat that I made for my brother.  He is a chef, so I thought this print by Monaluna for Robert Kaufman was appropriate.  I have a pair of chef's pants in this print, made by Chef Wear.

 The other side is this swirly green batik.  I love this one and it's been in my stash for years.  I have used bits of it here and there.

 Went to the big box hardware store Sunday and got these...African Daisies, I think they are called.

 And these little beauties.  The picture doesn't do the color of the tiny blossoms justice.  They are a deep periwinkle blue in real life.  There was a large one there that was just gorgeous.

 Lots of pots of Mondo grass for edging.  Our yard is a bit of a disaster, but we are going to try and fix that.  Poor soil, critters etc. can only be overcome by diligence.

 One of the nicer things we do have are the Azaleas that someone planted before us.

 These are just a few of the many we have all over the property.  All are abloom right now.

 V is here today on spring break, and we are going to paint the faces of some of the Angry Birds and pigs on these cans that I spray painted yesterday.  I saw the idea on someone's blog, but I can"t remember who.  If you Google Angry Birds, I think it will show up.

 Next I spent some time prepping some sewing in an effort to get some of my many projects moving forward.  The original 19 items on my 2012 list have been joined by 11 more so...gotta get going here.  This is a diaper bag I am making for the arrival of baby B.

 The backing fabric and batting have arrived for my sister's quilt.  She chose a lovely Moda Marbles in grey, which will really compliment the front.  Just need to piece the back and off to the quilter it goes.

 I went against my own rule and cut out all the rest of the pieces for my last three Swoon blocks.  I had been cutting as I sewed, but I was losing ground fast, so I hope this helps get me back on track.

This is the pieced back for the Jack and Jenny Zigzag quilt for baby B.

 Sorry, this picture should have been with the other up above, but I couldn't make it move there.  This is the Amy Butler book with the pattern for the diaper bag I am making.  Her patterns are so detailed and they take me quite awhile to assemble.  I do love the result though.  So I had to get it all cut out.

And Saturday I bought all these stabilizers and fleece for the above diaper bag.  This better turn out good.  That is a lot of fleece and stabilizer.  Almost $30 worth for one bag!! Yikes.  So, what are you doing this week?