CAMDEN STATION UPDATE AND PILLOWCASE PROJECT

It has been a busy week.  Lots going on, but I finally was able to get back to working on my Camden Station appliqué project.   I finally have it to the half way point.  Six done and six more to go. 

On the 19th of this month my quilt guild got together and we celebrated National Quilt Day.  Every year we work on pillowcases that are donated to a local children's hospital.  So a large group of us spend the day turning out 125 pillowcases.  I got three completed on that actual day, but came home to finish up these 5 extras to add to the aloted number we needed.  We all try to come up with equal numbers of girl and boy theme pillowcases.   

Right now we have a major landscape project going on at our home.  Thank goodness we hired it out to a landscape company.  Our area has been hit very hard with drought restrictions.  Our city has provided grants for taking out lawns and water needy plantings.  Our plan is to replace with artificial turf and decorative rock.  We do have 2 pecan trees and a birch tree that will have drip irrigation.  The driveway required replacement and widening as well.  Right now things look pretty much a rumbled mess of dirt and broken up cement, but we are assured over the next 2 weeks all will be finished.  

Our oldest daughter just sent this picture of their new English Mastiff puppy.  He is 10 weeks old in this picture, 45 pounds.  Yes, he is going to be a big boy right around 200 pounds when full grown.  Apparently he does enjoy his meals a great deal.    

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FLOWER GARDEN QUILT FINISHED AND MARCH GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER DONE

Life has been crazy around here.  You know it is bad when your calendar has most of the days filled in.  Between preparations for my guild's quilt show on April 9th and 10th, and being treasurer for the guild only adds to the re-landscaping of our front yard.  That means digging up all the lawn and doing lots of rocks and a bit of artificial lawn instead.  We are on a corner lot, which really means twice the front yard to do.  When the water bill started looking like the national debt, and we can only water twice a week now due to drought restrictions things had to change.  All this upheaval means more time in the sewing room, lots more, sewing is a stress reliever for me.    

I finished my Flower Garden quilt and finally got it back from the quilters this past week.  Getting the binding on it and now up on the wall in the dining area was really nice.  Just in time for spring.

This is the March instruction for the Garden Party Down Under all finished.  This leaves me with almost two weeks of free time to work on some other UFO's hanging around in the sewing room.  

I did decided since there are two of the four patch units in the quilt I would take the time to get ahead and work on the second one.  They are a bit fussy and given I had the system down really good making the first one I would skip ahead and get the second one done.  Still have to finish it off, but I should have it done in a day or so.

I saw this finished baby quilt on the internet a week or so ago.  Very simple, I think I will take a couple days and work on something that doesn't have appliquéd flowers on it. Does look like those eyes need appliqué, but I think I can handle that.  A bit of graph paper and pencil should get me a quick pattern together for it.  

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A NEW ADVENTURE & DOT DONE

 A couple of months ago I took one of my appliqué quilts in to be quilted at my local quilt shop Blossom Quilting in Escalon, CA.  The clerk asked me if I would be interested in teaching some appliqué classes, particularly some for beginners.  Hmmm, it sounded interest. 

I originally made this wall hanging, which could also be used as a table runner, in 2013 or 2014 as a blog Christmas fabric line advertisement for Gina Martin a fabric designer for Moda.  I thought it would be a perfect beginners raw edge, fused, machine appliqué project.  So it is scheduled in July for  Christmas in July.

The second class is scheduled for September.  It is a fast and fun project for the fall.  I originally made this runner last October for my oldest daughter's birthday.  So fortunately had left over fabric and was able to whip this sample up.  Looking forward to this new adventure. 

The Dot quilt is done.  Borders all on and now off to the quilter.  Back and binding, well it has to be dotted fabric!

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DOT QUILT PROGRESS AND MORE CATS

 March has not brought things calming down very much.  The calendar has more filled in days than not.  My guild's April 9th and 10th quilt show has all of us scrabbling to get things done.  But I did manage to get my Flower Garden Down Under February instructions completed and had a bit of down time to work on my Dots project.

The appliqué work is all finished and the cross and square in a square border is sewn on.  Now just the second border to get on.

Now I just have to add those dot wedged pieces on to the border.  They are a bit fussy, but I am happy with the results.  Those border pieces are cut to finish at 6 by 9 inches.  I am toying with once on. and after taking a good look at the finish top, cutting them down to 6 inches instead of the 9.  Just have to see what it looks like in the end.

March's instructions for the Garden Party Down Under are so much easier this month.  Just this one pieced block and one 12 by 14 inch vase with flowers block.  I was able to finish this block in just a couple days.  A bit fussy I will admit, but it when together perfectly.

This is the newest free pattern up for March on Suzy's Sitcom.  I have not had time to even start last month's pattern let alone this one, but it certainly is cute.  The site has all kinds of appliqué patterns with all sorts of themes, many of them free in monthly downloads.

  

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