Thursday, April 23, 2009

Field of Brown

This quilt idea came from Amanda Jean's red and aqua quilt. That quilt is now archived in her 2008 quilts. You'll have to click her links on the side. Anyway, I made mine extra long so my husband's feet would always be warm. However, it is nearly too long to fit on the bed. I tell you, his feet are never cold, though.
I used a variety of fabric lines -- some City Girls by Kitty Yoshida for Benartex, some Shangri-La by 3 Sisters for Moda, and some Anticipation by Sandy Gervais for Moda. They went together so well. There might be a couple of Joann's pieces in there too. I was just using scraps left from other quilts. I didn't take picture of the back, and I haven't actually washed it yet -- partly because I didn't finish the stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on the strip yet. Yes, those are safety pins in there. I guess it doesn't count as a finish just because we're using it. I'll get it finished. I will. = ) Oh, and on the back is some Heidi Grace fabric that I got on sale at Joann's. I'm glad to have a quilt that fits my bed now. Yay!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Pink and Black Polka Dots

What could be in this beautifully wrapped package? Yeah, I wrapped it, but I still say it's beautiful. Not your typical baby shower wrapping paper, but it fit perfectly with what was on the inside . . .
This!!! I had found this Michael Miller Pop Dots in Joann's a couple years ago, got it 40 percent off, so I bought something like 6 yards of it. I made my second daughter's Easter dress from it (which I do plan to post, yes), and then I had to use it in this.
Initially I was going to just put plain white squares where the black 9-patches are, but I thought it might be too blah that way. I think I made the right choice with the black. BTW, that black has little white polka dots on it that you can't see.
I love when people have baby girls so I can make something girly. My girls are too old, and my four youngest are boys. They just don't appreciate pink. The mama who got this quilt certainly appreciated it though. It was very well received.
I hope you all like it too.

March's Card Swap Cards

Yeah, I'm late. Surprised? It has been a while since I posted any of my cards on here. These were for last month's swap. This month's swap is in two days, and no, I'm not done. Oh, but I will be.
On this first one, the flowers, stems, and leaf are from Papertrey Ink's Garden of Life set. For the sentiment I just used a wooden alphabet set that I got half off at Hobby Lobby. The backgrounder on the green is a wooden stamp -- I can't remember whose off the top of my head. Ink is from Stampin' Up! -- Cameo Coral [solid flower], Really Rust [flower outline], and Old Olive [stems and leaves]. The black ink is Joann's brand and surprisingly good.
This one was just a smattering of things from my stash. Leaves and stem were PTI's Garden of Life again. The heart is from an acrylic set of hearts by Inkadinkado. I used Martha Stewart inks -- Bamboo and Pink Dahlia. This was one I helped my friend make. Everything's sort of pink/red/green this month. Love those colors. She brought most of the paper, but I cut out images from some My Mind's Eye paper -- Out & About -- to make the flower. It's glittery, although you can't tell. Distress Ink is from Ranger, but I can't remember which color, and I've already run up to my craft room three times for names of ink colors, and I don't want to go again..

Maybe I can get this month's cards posted before next month's swap. Here's hoping!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Oh, Fransson Quilt-Along

On the side I have this listed as a BOM, which technically it is not -- really more of a quilt-along. She posted something almost daily about it, I think. She did two quilts and is done with both of them. This is what my quilt looks like right now. I would have done two -- it's very quick -- but I actually couldn't come up with fabric combos that I wanted to do for a second one. Is that crazy or what? Too much to choose from, I guess.
So now I just have to add the white sashing, and we're to quilt top stage. Lovely. I need a designated quilter. = ) If you want to do this quilt, just click on the Mod Sampler Quilt button on the side of her blog!

Friday, April 3, 2009

I am weak . . .

I hadn't bought fabric since before Christmas -- it was over 80 days -- and then last month, I caved. I should know better than to go into Joann's, but I always went in for seemingly innocuous things like stamping ink. I passed this up a bunch of times. Finally I just couldn't pass it up anymore. It was 40% off, though.
It's actually a much more vibrant green IRL. I couldn't get a better pic than that. And BTW, I did buy it for a specific purpose, not just because it's gorgeous. It's going on the back of this.
This, however, I just bought because it was gorgeous. And I bought it today, so I'm starting back at one. I used my 50 percent off coupon, and I have been coveting (I'll repent later) this for a while too. You can never have too much patriotic stuff.

I don't know exactly what I'm doing with this, but I'm envisioning a sundress for my younger daughter just in time for Independence Day, which -- if you don't already know -- is my favorite holiday. I should be thinking Easter dresses instead. My older daughter's is done except for the zipper. It's not Easter-y, but I'm giving myself a deadline or else it will stay zipperless for a long time. My younger daughter's Easter dress is still in my head. Hmm.

I got 7 yards of the above fabric, so I'm sure I'll be able to back a quilt with it too. I don't have enough yardages (that aren't either pink or already spoken for). I mostly have a yard or less of things. It makes my backs VERY scrappy, which is okay sometimes, but not all. And I prefer not to use a solid on the back if I can help it -- which sometimes I can't.