BABY QUILT PROJECT

A friend a couple months ago asked if I would make a quilt for a very special friend of hers that is expecting her first baby.  Sure, sounds like fun.  She ordered some really special fabric.

The new mom to be is a veterinarian and raises these Yellow Labrador pups. So my friend and I made a trip to a local quilt store and picked up these coordinating fabrics.  

 And now we are off to get this quilt done.  I took a brief break over the weekend to make up one block .  I just had to see how they would look. 

 And I'm off to get this quilt pieced and quilted before baby arrives in July.  

To Do Tuesday

Brooke at Silly Mama Quilts

The Needle and Thread Network

Susan at Mid Week Makers

STARTS INSTEAD OF FINISHES

I know by Friday we should have some finishes.  I have lots of in-betweens and now another start.  Yes some are almost done, but today I only have a start.  
When I scaled my job work schedule from first 5 days a week, then 4, then 3 and now finally 1 and well sometimes 2 I promised myself I would do two things.  One take more workshops.  My guild offers wonderful workshops at very low cost with a variety of really well know quilt teachers and lecturers.  Two I would join challenges that take place a couple times a year within my guild.  So a color challenge was thrown out on Tuesday night.  I drew February and the challenge is to do a color piece 22 inches wide by 18 inches long.  Yes, it is a landscape size.  I knew exactly what I  planned to do.  

 My idea, this from Carolyn Friedlander's book Savor Each Stitch.  The size has to be tweaked a bit, but it is perfect for my plan.  
So now to do some research on the gem and flower colors of February.  Then to dig in my stash, and a shopping trip. 

 I managed a couple pieces from my stash and then off to the store. The clerk graciously cut lots and lots of 1/8th yard strips.  Hmmmm, wonder if I will be welcomed there again, actually she was really nice about the stack of fabrics on the table.  

Violets and Amethyst, February's flower and gem come in a variety of lavender and purples.  The plan to have four rows of each color tone.  I am still in need of a couple more fabrics to complete the 6 pieces of each of the 4 rows.  I have until October to have it done.  So lots of time to appliqué all those tiny little blocks.  It may be a start rather than a finish but such a nice finish for me this week making the decision to go for it.  

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Busy Hands Quilts

INBETWEEN THE CHALLENGES

I have been working on two items these last few weeks that require a good deal of concentrated attention.  I can only manage them for an hour or so then find I must do something a bit more mindless to clear the cobwebs.  I dug around my UFO's and discovered two quilt tops waiting for my return.  One actually had all the blocks completed and some even sewn together.  So time to lay it out on the guest bed and take a stab at it. 

My Blithe quilt.  I love this Fleet & Flourish by Maureen Cracknell.  I actually have a smaller quilt in these fabrics hanging in our dining room with larger triangles that I actually quilted myself.  This top went together very quickly so time to work on the second one waiting for completion. 

My Bubble Bath quilt.  The pattern is by Kelly Young and I used my Curiosities fabric by Jeni Baker.  I love the white bubbles fabric, a Moda by Bonnie & Camille.  Wish I had more of it, but sadly it is no longer available.  This is just a part of one side of the quilt.  I have been constructing it one section at a time.  Most the blocks were complete, but I find for some variety I have had to make a few more of those little guys in some of the prints I originally did not think I needed.  
The change of pace has helped and I am still getting back for an hour or so each sewing day to that Fall Leaf appliqué project and my Double Wedding Ring.  These two are still works in progress, but likely to be complete before I manage the more complicated items.  So I'll just link these guys up with:

To Do Tuesday

Silly Mama Quilts

The Needle and Thread Network

Mid Week Makers   

LITTLE FINISHES

Some weeks it seems like very little gets done.  I find I am better at starts sometimes than finishes.  Two little completes did manage to get done though.

May's Fat Quarter Shop quilt along.  I normally make all six alike, but I had that one fabric on the right that only had enough to make one.  The stripe makes one a little dizzy, so only one.

The two center blocks are in the fabric I made the last four in.  So much easier than last month's block.  See my Featured Post for those awful little things.  I did finally manage to finish all six of them too.

 Finally I finished my laptop computer bag.  It now travels in style.  

I am linking up with at last a couple of finished items off my list of To Do's.

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Busy Hands Quilts

MOTHERS' DAY

On a recent trip to visit Brooke in Minnesota and have such a great time helping with some of her projects I discovered a major problem.  My iPad just does not work well for working on my blogs, answering e-mails and that sort of fun stuff.  She graciously allowed me to use her computer, but I knew something had to be done as my husband and I have taken to traveling a bit.  
Once home we took our selves down to the Apple Store.  Yes, I am a died hard Mac computer groupie ever since college days.  

So we came home with this little beauty.  An early Mothers' Day gift.  Nice little guy just 13 inches, I do not need a bigger one as I have a large desk top at home.  This is my traveling buddy.  
Now the problem is that it has a wireless mouse.  I can use the mouse pad, but the husband prefers a real mouse.  Plus it has cords to deal with in order to recharge it.  The case I purchased is not large enough to contain them.  

So I fished around in my stash and found these Amy Butler fabrics. Originally there were to be a large bag that for some reason I never go around to making.  Perfect for this new plan. 

 Lining with fusible batting.

A zippered pocket for inside the bag.  This as far as I have gotten.  Work will continue later today.  
We had our Mothers' Day celebration here in our home with two of my daughters that live locally.  We normally do not do a lot of gift exchanging for this holiday, but both girls lost one of their beloved pets in the last couple of weeks.  So some close friends that do some lovely art work on rocks were happy to help out with a special gift for each of them.  

Peanut my daughter Jaci's dog and Oscar my daughter Kendra's cat.

Both were so surprised and say they look just like them.   I hope you all out there had a wonderful Mothers' Day.  Not a complete project done yet so I am linking up with:

To Do Tuesday

Brooke at Silly Mama Quilts

The Needle and Thread Network

Susan at Mid Week Makers 

QUILT, QUILT, QUILT

I have to admit that this past few days I have done little more than quilt, quilt, quilt, on my falling leaves tree project.  Lots and lots of pulling threads to the back to tie and hide threads.

I love the texture in the tree trunk.

Lots of leaves to quilt still too.

Plus a start on the sky  as well.

Lots more sky quilted as well. 
Not sure how many more hours of leaves and sky there is left to do.  One just keeps quilting and pulling threads.  It is not a finish, but it is getting there so I am linking up with:

Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Busy Hands Quilts

PAINTING ON FABRIC CLASS

I have mentioned a couple times that I have begun to dabble with painting on fabric.  The learning curve on this is challenging.  My guild offered a class so I took it yesterday.  

This doesn't look like much, but I did learn I can paint my entire fat quarter of PDF fabric with water diluted paints.  

I now have grass on the lower potion of the fat quarter.  The green paint droplet will have to be cut off.  I got a bit to eager with the paint brush.  

 Time to add more blue, the teacher said mine was too light.  The colors lighten once dry.  

While paint dried outside in the sun.  We played making trees with yarn and thread.  Placed between Sulky Wash A Way you sew on top of it all over the threads.  Once washed away you get a nice little lacy tree.  

Learned several useful ideas to play with, and face it the most important thing was I had a great time.  

So I'll link up with a whole new set of WIPs.

Brooke at Silly Mama Quilts

The Needle and Thread Network

Susan at Mid Week Makers

MINNESOTA PROJECT FUN

I mention on Tuesday that I had been in Minnesota for a week playing with some of my bestie Brooke's projects.  Here is just a peek at what we dabbled in over the week.

One of the first projects we worked on was preparing some tee shirts with borders for a large tee shirt quilt.

Here I am working on a wedding quilt for one of her family members.  We had no pattern and limited theme fabric chooses which involved a number of inset blocks to fill in the spaces.  It was a challenge for ones math abilities, but in the end it not only looked wonderful, but even laid perfectly flat.  

One of our last projects was this quilt.  However we ran into a little problem.  The pattern made a 60 by 72 inch quilt, and Brooke needed it to be 80 by 90 inches.  The pattern could be widened but not lengthened.  
After much fusing and frantic scratch paper drawing we determined  to solve it with a pieced border.  

The 10 inch finished blocks at the bottom of the picture was our solution.  We made 30 of them and placed them all around the four sides. 

Projects on their way to being finished and time for me to head on home so I am linking up with an end to my wonderful visit with the best friend ever so I'll link up with:

Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Busy Hands Quilts 

SIDE TRIP TO MINNESOTA

I just arrived home today from a trip to Minnesota to visit my bestie Brooke.  One of these trip always includes a day trip to Gruber's Quilt Store.  It is such a treat as they have one of the largest selections of fabric to tempt one.  

 I picked up these batiks for an appliqué project I have in mind.  

One of these white fabrics will be the background for some flowers.  I love these new word and pictorial prints.  

These two just grabbed me and refused to let me go without bringing them home.  Now to figure out a project for them.  Any ideas out there?

Last rock fabric for a workshop I am taking next week.  This was what I came for in the first place, but one can get way laid along the way with other tempting treats.
Brooke and I also worked on a number of projects while I was there and I give you a sneak peek on Friday.  

I am linking up to show off my spending spree.
To Do Tuesday
Silly Mama Quilts
The Needle and Thread Network
Mid Week Makers