another WIP and Maggie Rabbits

Here is another WIP that started out as a single block for a Sew We Quilt blog hop.  I thought to make a pillow with it, but then decided to make more Dresdens and make a quilt.

 The green one was the first for the hop. They are all made from Ombre Dots fabric.  This is the layout, and all the area in between them will be Kona white, same as the backing for the Dresdens.

 I have made three of these Maggie Rabbits so far and am working on a fourth one which will be a boy bunny for V.

 I love these sweet little bunnies so much.  You can purchase the pattern and buy your own supplies to make one (or more) or you can order a kit with everything in it except the stuffing.

 They  are designed by Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy.  She has a great little shop, Rosie Little Things. It is full of wonderful items.

 In fact, I love the things in there so much, I have decided that when I get to my 200th post, that will be my giveaway.

 I am working to set up the logistics with Alicia.  I am very excited about this.  I love to share when I have something I truly love to make.

So stay tuned here...only 1 more post and then...200!
See you soon.

My Friday Finish...Happy Summer

I am really trying to finish some quilts that have been languishing in my sewing room. Sew far, sew good.  here we go:

 This is my Spools Quilt, a pattern by Camille Roskelly.  I am in love with it all over again. I started this well over a year ago, I think.  Quilt top done!

 This is my Sunday Morning Quilts Bee, round two, quilt top. I chose the Gumdrops quilt and changed the colorway to aqua with pops of orange.

 And third, I am practicing my curved piecing with these. I will hopefully reveal the whole top soon. I don't want to give it away until it's done, so you get the full effect.

And I am saving these babies for a fun project that is still percolating in my head at this time.  Can't waste them! Happy first day of summer. By the way, this is post 197...ever closer to my 200th and a special giveaway...Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.

Back from Vacation

I just returned from a visit with my sisters and brother and sister-in-law in San Diego.  We had a blast, but it went by too quickly.  I wanted to check in here and say hello and post a few shots.

 My sister grows some very pretty roses, so a few shots of them.

 The beach...

 Some para sailing, and no, not me. I am afraid of heights.

A great cache of seashells...
And one of the best things...an antique quilt my sister owns.  This came from our great Aunt's house in Iowa many years ago. We don't know who made it or how old it is, but isn't it beautiful?

 I particularly love the way the edges were done. I don't know if I have seen this style of edge on a double wedding ring before, but I am going to try it, I think.

 You can see here, how worn out some of the fabrics on this quilt are.

Hope you are having a great summer so far. Back to work for me...talk to you soon.

My Ragged Squares Quilt

Ever since I saw the ragged squares quilt on Crazy Mom Quilts, I wanted to make one.  I saved the link and looked at it occasionally, waiting for the day when I would be inspired by the right fabric to make one.  When I made Noodlehead's divided basket last fall, I had some little 3 inch squares of Laurie Wisbrun's Perfectly Perched left over.  Not throwing these away, I thought. I kept looking at them and then it hit me...the ragged squares quilt!

And finally, here it is all done. I used the Perfectly Perched for the center and dug through my stash for the rest.  I think I bought one or two additional fabrics to finish it up.  And then it hung on a hanger in my sewing room for a few months.  My summer goal to finish some of the things that are languishing in there made me buy batting when I bought the batting for Baby B's birthday quilt.

 I love the colors in this quilt. It is so bright and cheerful. Kinda girly, but I'm okay with that.

 You can see how after even one trip through the wash, The edges are getting ragged and soft.

 For the back I found 2 yards of the most beautiful pale yellow with pale green and raspberry stripe running through it to make a sort of plaid pattern.  I bought that fabric at least 10 years ago, waiting for the perfect use for it. It is from Maywood studios.

 You can see the color a bit better here.  The stripe for the binding was a quarter yard I got in one of the traveling stash boxes.  I think it's perfect.  For the quilting, I stitched in the ditch horizontally and vertically on the largest squares, and to further anchor things and add some interest, I stitched a flower  in each of the small squares. The hidden bonus is how cute it looks on the back of the quilt.

 I took one selvedge and stuck it into a seam just for kicks.  The P raveled off in the wash.  Ooops.

Pretty pleased with Perfectly Perched Ragged Squares.  Oh, and this is my 195th post.  I'm going do a giveaway when I hit 200 posts. I want to think of something really great to give away though.  Keep watching.  Have a great week.

June...Birthdays and Blueberries

There are two grandchildren with birthdays this month. First up is baby B.  He is 1 year old today! Happy birthday sweet boy. I wanted to make him a quilt for his birthday. No surprise there.

 I got this great Zoofari fabric at half off from Fat Quarter Shop on a Friday sale.  Loved the monkeys.  I haven't made pinwheels in years, so I of course jumped right in to HST making.

 My hubby helped me figure out the best arrangement for the blocks once they were made.  I quilted it in a swirl pattern in each block to give it some motion.

 I made a bias binding so I could make rounded corners. This is only the second quilt I have ever made with rounded corners. After I washed and dried it, I noticed the binding had not covered the back of the quilt edges well enough in a few spots and it raveled.  So I patched it up with those little strips you see here.

 I used an extra block and all the rest of the yardage to piece the back.  I love the look.

 And I fancied up my little label with a scrap of the striped material. 

 One more shot of the rounded corners.  Oh, and the blueberries in the post title?  Bought 2 cases at an amazing sale and we had blueberries in B's yellow birthday cake and now this little rustic tart.

More blueberry baking to come.  Mmmmmmmmmm.
Have a great week.

My Best Blank-o-let

When my oldest grandson was a toddler, he had two almost identical baby blankets in blue, with the silky blanket binding.  They were so close to identical, but one was just a bit thinner. We made sure there were two, to avoid unpleasantness on wash day or if one got left behind somewhere. But V knew the difference between the two from a very early age.

 And when he could speak relatively well, he pronounced that the slightly thicker of the two was his "best blank-o-let".  Whenever he was going anywhere, it was "Where is my best blank-o-let?'

 He is almost 7 now and he still calls it his "best blank-o-let".  When I finally finished this light weight summer throw that I started last year, and I cuddled up under it the first night, I though "my best blank-o-let"!

 It's about 52x58 inches. It is made from Maturi Lawn that I bought from Connecting Threads last year.  Crazy Mom did a quilt with it, although she used it mixed with quilting cottons I believe.  I did what I often do, no real plan, just start cutting. I wanted to keep the pieces big so they would go together easily.

 It is a slippery fabric to work with, but oh, so soft! I didn't use batting, I went to my LQS and bought a couple of yards of quilter's flannel in white.  I pin basted it, then I turned the edges to the inside by 1/4 inch and hand basted them in place.

 I did some stitch in the ditch in big blocks and then did a zigzag around the edges to finish it off.  The back is kind of wrinkly. I have been sleeping with it since I finished it.  I haven't washed it yet either.

 It is the perfect weight for summer, when the ceiling fan makes me a little chilly in the middle of the night, but a quilt is too much.  You know what I mean, right?

 And it is so soft. I can't get over how great it feels.  I don't know if I will ever make another one, but I do have some Little Folks Voile in my stash...hmmmm.  I might have to think about that.

 But for now, I am just going to enjoy my best blank-o-let.
Talk to you soon.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It is that fun time again, for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side.  This is such a great opportunity to share tons of great quilts made by quilters around the world. I love seeing all the creativity.  So without further ado, here is my submission:

It all started with the book, Sunday Morning Quilts. That book really struck me in a way no other quilting book has in a long time. I read it and reread it many times thinking how wonderful to make some of these quilts. Then, I thought even better, get some help from others by starting a Bee. I asked Cheryl and Amanda Jean for permission to name the Bee, Sunday Morning Quilts Bee. They were very gracious and said yes. This quilt is from the blocks made during round one of our bee. (SMQ bee is now in round 2)

For round one we made slabs in a particular colorway and swapped with each other until we all had all the colors of the rainbow, plus pink.  All made from scraps.  I took my 14 blocks and made 2 more in aqua for an even 16.  I worked to find a pleasing arrangement and bordered it with Kona white.

The back is a two fabrics from a Benartex line called Floralicious that I bought quite some time ago. I was originally going to make curtains from it, but when I need a back for this colorful quilt, I knew this was it.

I quilted it all over with flowers in the style of the backing print. It was such fun! The borders have pebbles in 3 corners with wavy lines representing water, running in between. The 4th corner has clouds and rain drops falling from them. Just a bit more fun for me.

I chose to enter in the Bee category, since all my blocks were made by my Bee mates.  I hope you enjoy it.  The statistics: Made mostly by me, quilted by me, approximately 58x58.