Quilted, Bound and Finished

My mod baby quilt is quilted, bound and finished.

It measures 32" square and will be for the NICU unit at our regional hospital. I'd seen the pattern online and thought to try it.  It's a easy and quick pattern.

After quilting the last baby quilt flat with all the FMQ, decided to do just squiggly lines on this one. It'll do.  For speed I like to bring the backing from the back forward to make a quick and easy binding.  Always a bit stressful time for me as the way I'd done it before, I've nipped the back fabric.  Argh!

On the quilt before my mod one, I laid the sandwich right side up and flat on the cutting table once it was quilted.

Then I folded the backing all the way down, out of the way, so that I can trim off the excess batting. The problem was I couldn't see if the back was too close to the cut line due to my quilting.  Before I got any further, I happened to see a quilter online  (so sorry I forgot who posted this) who put the backing side up and folded the backing down then laid the ruler on the sandwich.

This showed me clearly if my quilting was too close to the edge of the backing. I took out a few quilt stitches and thus had a clear line to cut.

Once I'd trimmed off the excess batting, I turned it over and trimmed the back to bring it forward, fold and press ready to stitch it down as the binding. Phew - no more stress!  I now have done two quilts that way and feel a lot better about the process.

What are you up to?  I'm linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Muv's Free Motion Mavericks, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, and Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays.  Do go by and see all the lovely postings.

Another Pink

Made this for the RSC challenge yesterday.  Last day for pink.  Linking to Angela's party.

What are you up to?

DGS#4  - a Ninjago for Halloween with his cousins.

On my Design Floor

Back to this WIP.  I've added 7 more. You can see the first post here.  Don't know what size it will be as I may run out of the tan fabric before I make all the blocks I want to make.  We'll see.

I'm doing some more as leaders and enders and have gotten this far with the next six.

I'm linking up with Judy's DWM, Lyn's BOMs Away, Beth's Monday Making, and Em's Moving it Forward.  Lots of beauties there!

Some of This; Some of That

First the destashing:  Used 2.42 yds for 9 blocks I'm using in two projects and the binding for the t-shirt quilt.   I'm giving my neighbor another 2 yards for her stash - she's a new quilter and hasn't built it up yet.  So my YTD total now is 63.06 yards.

This afternoon, after my DGS leaves, hope to do some slow Sunday stitching on an applique block I prepped earlier this year.  I've been working on it as I take my friend to her radiation treatments.  I don't think I've shown this Anna's Garden block before:

This is one of my WIPs Be Gone projects, so I'm glad to be back to working on it.

Out in the garden I found a last and rare blooming going on.  One of the last flowers to bloom are my sulfur cosmos. These have grown taller and blooming later with each season I save seed. So I may have to start from brand new seeds next spring. When I first planted them, they were only about 2 feet tall when they bloomed.  Now if I let them - they'd be 5 feet tall.

I'm standing in a well around the house. That's why they look taller than I.  I see these from my kitchen window.  Here's a close up so you can see the luscious sulfur color. 

And the rare flower (well at least to me as it is a night bloomer and I rarely catch one open) is from a Pilosocereus cactus I noticed from my bathroom window.  

I'm linking the Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, and quiltpaintcreate's Sunday Stash report. Check them out. 

October is almost gone!  Blessings,

Quilted, Bound and Shown.

Commission quilt is done.
       Quilted, bound, and shown to recipient:

It's a t-shirt quilt. That's why it was so hard to guess the quilting motif.  Some of these fronts of the garments have a lot of paint on them, so all I could do was go around the designs.

Measures 55" by 59". Quilted on my domestic Juki. Still have to clip some threads. My mom put the top together and then handed it over to me to quilt.  It's quite heavy, and was more so, when I had all the pins on it while I quilted.  It's for my DD - a student adviser at UC Riverside for the past 19 years.  Besides guiding 460+ students a year the above is what she has been up to at work on the side of course. 

Drawing Outer Space

Working with students, it's always a surprise what interests them, or not.  Last month, I placed Draw 50 Outer Space on our art table in the library.  The art table (with various drawing instruments -ie pencils, markers, crayons) invites students to peruse the book there and perhaps contribute to our rotating art work display board.  This one didn't interest my 190+ students as much as the fairies book did. It's an excellent book with step-by-step examples by noted author, Lee Ames - just not as exciting as dragons, aliens or other worlds.  Here's what I was given from two artists:

Drawn by first grader, AS.

"Why did you use pencil?", I asked him.  "Space doesn't have color" was the reply.  Hmmm. 

"Tell my about your squiggly lines over your planet".   "That's space," he said.

Drawn by 7th grader, CG.

"Would you check out this book?" I asked.  "Maybe, if I need a drawing for a science project."

I received this book (published by Watson-Guptill Publications)  from Blogging for Books for this review. 

Friday Finish of Sorts

I didn't get a whole top done as I spent my sewing studio time quilting that commission quilt.  It's slow going.  Some of the blocks have a border around them before the sashing.  So, I'm concentrating on doing those before I go onto the actual sashing.  It won't have an outer border.  It's a bit lighter than it looks, however this is what I get when I take a photo at night.

So for my breaks in between quilting sessions I made a couple of blocks.  This first one is a pink one for the 2017 RSC challenge.
The second block is one I saw at Angela's linky party, and I liked it so much I visited the blog from which it was posted and found the directions for it. Thought it was a great block for scraps.  I may embroider or applique something in the center unit. Still thinking about that.

Both of these measure 9 1/2" square.  The blue one came together as a leader and ender creation as I made the pink block. I see two WIPs being added to the pile. Such is life.

I'll be linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Muv's Free Motion Mavericks, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays, and Angela's 2017 RSC Challenge.  Do go by and see all the doings posted.

Have a blessed weekend.

On my Design Wall

is a mess.  Wanted to make another quilt as last week's, but it went awry.  I thought of making each block have a different solid.

Ugh - I didn't like it.  No cohesiveness as before with only one sash color.  So what to do?  I decided to take those blocks I'd made and change them a bit.

This I like.  Need to change out the other blocks to decide for sure.  Has this happened to you?  I see the use of making a color drawing first before one starts to make blocks.

I've finished quilting the blocks on that large commission quilt.  Here's another block:

Have you guessed what's on the other side yet?  The quilting was getting difficult because the quilt is so heavy.  I've never been one to use gloves, but my hands were getting a rough workout. Maybe I should go to the LQS and buy some.  Then I remembered. 

Not long ago, I bought a pair of gardening gloves at the 99 Cent store.  Gave them a try, and they worked! Made moving the quilt around much easier.  With all the blocks quilted on to the sashing.

The mailman delivered a wonderful package! Free Spirit was celebrating National Sewing Month (September) all month long with a big giveaway.  The top prize was a Janome machine.  While I didn't win the Grand Prize, I was one of three winners on day #11.  

Yes, 24 fat quarters of Amy Butler's new collection Soul Mate plus Coats+ thread to quilt what top I make.  I know just the top I want to make.  Ah, WIPs get farther down on the list. Linking up to Design Wall Monday, BOMs Away, and Monday Making.

What are you up to?  It was 98 degrees outside today, so it was a good day for being indoors and quilting.  Blessings,

WIPs, Where are You?

I've been sucked into the whirling space of "new project".  I feel like Dory - I'm going to finish what I started - Oh look such a cute new project.  Am I hopeless?  Here's my latest start - I've finished all the blocks for it.  They're even sewn together (didn't get a photo of that - it's gone to another St. Anne's member for sandwiching and completing).

 I love this pattern. Anyway you turn the blocks the seam abut very nicely to give one flat intersections. It went together fast once I found all the scraps of leftover baby fabric to make the centers.  These were all in a scrap bag - another one almost emptied.  The blue strips came from my stash.  I just happened to have the yard I needed. Once I had those 49 centers,  I used chain piecing to whip through the blocks

 I laid down the strip on my machine, right side up and put a center piece on top and sewed them together.

Left a teeny space (1/8"-3/16th) and added the next center. Once the strip was full, trimmed the blocks and added added strip on the other side of the block doing the same procedure. "Top measures 39 1/2" square.

And then my next distraction from my WIPs is a commissioned piece I am quilting.

Crazy motif, but all will be explained when I can show you the front.

What are you up to?  Come by and I'll go see your WIP.  I'm linking to Sara's Can I get a Whoop Whoop?  and other (you can check them out under my More tab).  Blessings!

Some This; Some That

First in destashing:  Had to remake my four-patches for the QAL, so I used another .3 yards of scraps for those. The first set was on my design wall here.  The new YTD total now is 58.64 yards.

On my design wall is the completed top for the Palmateer Point QAL.

You can go to Lori's post and see all the ones shared on her linky party.  They're great!  I had a bit of an issue with my obsessive, compulsive nature and the 2"squares aren't as random as I wanted.  I really like the more scattered look of others for that. Could also be I had so many darker squares. Maybe I'll try again when I find the first set of four-patches.  One frustration I had with this 21" square top is trying to nestle seams when assembling. I'm sure there's a secret to that. Just haven't discovered it, especially with having to turn the four-patches this way and that to get the colors where I wanted them. Live and learn.

What are you up to?  Let me know and I'll come by. I"m linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday and a couple of others.  Check out my more tab to see those. Blessings.

Mod Baby Top Finish

But first let me show you my DH's pride and joy:
This is why he grows cactus.  They may only bloom once a year, but when they do, they're spectacular.  And look at their color combination!

An analogous combination right out of the color wheel. Wow.

He's got quite a few ariocarpus in bloom.  It's like going down and seeing a carpet in place.

Below you'll find what I call my Mod Garden Plots.  The top will come off the design wall and get sandwiched and begin the quilting this weekend.  I wish I could tell you who should get credit for this pattern.  I saw it on the internet with white sashing and loved it.  But for a baby, I was hesitant to use white.  Now I wish I did.  Maybe I'll make another one with white.  The squares measure 8 1/2"  square when sewn.  I wanted it to be a size usable in the NICU.  It will measure 32"  square when I'm done.  Think I'll try using a Baptist fan type pattern when I quilt it.  I bought some rulers that will make this doable on my Jukie.

I'm linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday and some other parties as in my "more" tab above. Check it out for some great projects.  Have a great weekend!

Some of This; Some of That

First the destashing.  What with renewing my design wall; finishing a baby quilt top, the quilt a long, and a charity block, I've used up 4.2 yards in the past month.  That brings the YTD total to 58.34 yds.

That charity block is for Covered In Love  and is still on my design wall:

My DGS finished the pot holder for his Mom.  He's also made a placemat. Forgot to take the photo of that.

Found a delicious recipe for stuffed eggplant on Facebook post by Delish.

The recipe called for regular eggplant and a half of one made a serving - too large for me.  So I used Japanese eggplants and made it a side dish. They are so good!

Off to finish my Palmateer Quilt A Long.   This is going to be a cute 21" square quilt.  I'm looking forward to the link up to see all the ones made by others.  There are already quite a few on the Humble Quilts facebook page.  Lori is going to give us quilting ideas for it.  I'm almost to the put the quilt top together stage.

Hope you all had some time to quilt. I'll be linking with Judy at the DWM party.  Check out my tab above (click on More) for other parties. Blessings,

Quilted, Bound and Ready for NICU

So I didn't get my 7 WIP blocks finished. Ugh, I'm falling behind.  Maybe next week.  But I did finish that NICU quilt.  It is now quilted (see last post), bound,

and ready to give to our local neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

 It is part of our regional county Medical Center. Measures 30" square.  In case you didn't read my earlier post, this is a Nearly Insane block I enlarged to make this  baby quilt. It went from a 5 1/2" block to 30".  I'm linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday and others under the tab above. Click on more to find the Linky Parties tab.

Have a blessed weekend.  Please continue to pray for all that were affected by the natural disasters. They still need help.  Blessings!

WIPs Not Forgotten

I have made progress on the next seven blocks of the WIP I'm working on, but nothing worth showing yet. Maybe Monday. I did finish quilting the neonatal quilt. Hoped to have finished Tuesday, but sick DGS needed me.

Here's another view:

And a close up of the corner so you can see the actual green plaid of the back.  I'm happy with my corners.  Those were free motion this time. Do them enough times and they get to be more even.  We had a speaker at Tuesday's guild meeting who spoke on free motion quilting on domestics.  She inspired me to get this done. It was a great session!

I'm linking to Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?! and other in my linky party list. See tabs above; click on more.

Have a great weekend!

Design Wall Monday

Another baby quilt has been started - this one with a modern twist:

Half way done already.  This may be the fastest baby quilt top.  Will measure 32" square.

And on the other design wall:

These are the four patches we had to make for Lori's Palmateer Point Quiltalong.  We just started last week, so if you're interested, you can join us and be caught up in no time. Quilt will be around 21" square.

I'm linking to Judy Hansen's DWM here. Go by and see all the goodies other quilters are working on. More Monday linkies under tab above.

Have a quilty day!  And please say a prayer for the Leeward Islands who are facing Hurricane Maria in a few hours.

Back to the Hexies

My circle is growing.  The diameter is around 20".  Have a half of a seam on the one at the to sew, and then I can add the four I've done to my circle.  I don't add them to the former rounds til the whole 'donut' is done.  That's my slow Sunday stitching for today and Help for Hexie-aholics. 

And here's DG#4 (he's 6) with the potholder he made (mostly) for his Mom.  I'm so proud of him. I only did the cutting and ironing plus the changing of the feet on the machine.  He did the rest.

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh, Scrap, Sara Did it, and others as Alan's project was just from scraps.  Linky Parties under tab More above.

What are you up to?  Let me know and I'll come by.

Some of This; Some of That

Finished sandwiching a baby quilt on my kitchen table:

It's 30" square and my fourth enlarged Nearly Insane block.

I use a cardboard fabric cutting board and a clamp to sandwich these smaller quilts.  I like how I can stick the pins into the carboard to anchor the back and be sure I don't get pleats while I"m quilting.

DGS#4 decided he wanted to sew something, too.  He's at my house three days a week and we do a bit each day.  So far he's taken to it like a duck to water.

Did you get to quilt today?  I'm linking to Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilts and a few other parties you'll find under my so named tab above. Click on more to go to it.

Quilted, Bound, and Ready to Gift

Quilted:

Bound:

Ready to Gift to a new low-income Mom:

Another baby quilt finish. 

 I'm sharing this with some linky parties listed under my tab by the same name.  Hope you get to quilt today. Blessings!

Next WIP

This is probably NOT the next one recommended to do on my challenge list. It might not even be On my challenge list.  But it was the first WIP I got my hands on yesterday and well, I'm just going to work on it.

Had 4 done, made 7 at retreat.  Just have 25 to go.  Linking to some of the linky parties in my tab.
Blessings,