Baby Pastel Flannel

This was one that Jill had cut out the pieces for a long, long time ago and had given up on, so she gave it to me. Of course. I accept all orphan blocks and partial quilts into my home. It has sat at my house for quite some time as well. I actually put the top together a year or two ago, and then earlier this year I quilted it. Again, I just eyeballed the diagonal crosshatch, using the corners as guides.

Thanks to Jacquie's challenge, it is now bound and finished, ready to go to some cold baby. I do have one more baby quilt that might get finished before midnight. I sewed the binding on by machine, and now all I have left is the handwork. Here's hoping. (If I can just get my kids to bed, I'm sure I can get it done while watching New Year's shows.) Maybe you'll hear from me again later tonight!

Lazy Gal Red FINISH!

Pin-basted. Yep, that sure took up a lot of floor space!

Quilted, not bound.

All finished. Washed and crinkly.

Back. I added the red to the bottom, since I didn't have enough of the black.

Can't go wrong with polka dot binding!

For those of you that are counting, that makes six finishes for Jacquie's Joy in the New Year challenge. I have one other finish that I haven't posted and one small quilt to finish binding that may make it in. Of course, I have TONS more wips to finish, but this is a good start, I'd say. I'll try to post the other two later tonight. Off to bind that quilt! Good luck with your finishes. I'll race ya!

Lazy gal red progress

See what you can make from scraps?

Love this one.

Nine Patch, Round One

Yes, it's just round one. Don't criticize. Round two is still in the works. I haven't given up on it yet. I finished round one; I can finish round two.

Back -- some of my home tie-dyed fabric -- just regular muslin, some RIT dye, and a whole bunch of rubber bands.

Diagonal crosshatching using the squares as my guides. I try not to mark any quilts if I can help it at all, so I just eyeballed this one. Don't look too closely, or you'll see the imperfections.

Low, wide stippling-type quilting around the borders. On its way to its new home.

Inspiration can come from the strangest places.

So Rebekah wanted squares and rectangles but not just concentric squares for her Common Threads blocks. She sent her fabrics out really early (aren't they great?!), and it took me almost the whole month to figure out what I was going to do.

This is what I came up with.

And this is where I got the idea.

Go figure.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Christmas is fast approaching, and I have already been given so much that it seems slightly naughty of me to ask for more. I guess you know me pretty well by now, though, so that shouldn't come as too much of a shock. It's just fabric. And that shouldn't be too much of a shock either. I have been to the Fat Quarter Shop, and they have a lot of things that would be very happy in my home. None of them are puppies or babies (but you're not the stork, so I guess that's not really your department anyway).

First to catch my eye was this.

Then there was this.

And then this.

You can see how my list could get very long. If Mrs. Claus were to visit their store, her list would be quite long as well I am sure. I'm going to wrap this up, because I have Christmas gifts to make, as I'm sure do you. You probably have a few more to make than I do. But see, if you brought me fabric, then you wouldn't have to make me anything. I would do all the making. = )

Love,

Jessica

All evidence to the contrary . . .

This quilt actually got finished Thanksgiving morning, but I was giving it to my SIL that day and it was a mad dash out the door. There was also a double-sided flannel blanket that went with it. I finished that too, but alas, there is no pictorial evidence.

You're just going to have to trust me on this one. I'm trustworthy.

As an aside, I used a new-to-me technique on this for which I can take absolutely no credit. You know I steal all my ideas from others, right? Okay, okay. The pattern of this quilt was mine, but the construction, the applique was from this website. Isn't her stuff amazing?!

Branching Out

A friend of mine made some of these little softies for some clients, and I just fell in love with them. Joann's had their version of Minkee on sale 40% off a few weeks ago, so I stocked up. These things went together so fast that they never even had time to become UFOs. I finished them even before Jacquie announced her Joy in the New Year Challenge, so they don't count for anything except progress (which is a very good thing in itself)!

Of course, now my girls want to make one for themselves -- my 9 and 14-year-old girls. Go figure. They are pretty cute, though. I'll give them that.

The Celebrate Spring Baby Quilt Saga

This quilt came from a charm pack of Celebrate Spring by Sandy Gervais. (I just love her stuff!) I had put the center together with the charm pack, and then I was unsure what to do. I hadn't purchased any coordinating fabrics to go with it. So it sat around for a year or so. Could be two. I can't be 100 % sure.

Then I was at my LQS, and I saw some FQs of the green floral and yardage of the red polka thin border (also on the back). Then I got it to quilt top stage, and it sat around again. Then I got all serious and this summer I quilted it. I even made binding and had it mostly finished when I realized that my back was slightly -- like 1/2" too short on one side, and I was seeing batting on the back. I'm sure this never happens to any of you, but I was working with limited resources, so I was trying to eke something out of nothing. Needless to say, I abandoned it again. Jacquie got me motivated to finish it. So here it is, finished and now in transit to its permanent home.

I'm not sure the photos do it justice. I guess I'd better work on that. It is the sweetest little baby quilt.

Holiday Planners

Mish does these great notebooks, and I just love them, wanted to try them out. Here's what I came up with.

Raggedy Ann and Andy Hedgerow Quilt

I know it has been a while, but I haven't just been resting on my laurels while I've been AWOL. This quilt is based on Elizabeth Hartman's Hedgerow Quilt. I made it considerably bigger than hers, and instead of using 1.5 and 1.75 inch strips, I used 1.5 and 2 inch strips. My finished blocks are 13 inches instead of 12 inches. I have 2 inch sashing between them.

Finished quilt is 77x92.

I got a little overzealous on this one and made too many blocks. It was going to be enormous, so I used some for the back. I'm hard-pressed to say whether I like the back or the front more.

Close-ups.

I thoroughly love this quilt. In fact, the only thing I don't like about it is that it's not at my house. My friend Marsha had a significant birthday in October, and she LOVES Raggedy Ann and Andy, so it resides with her.

I think I will have make another hedgerow quilt. I love the look. It was time-consuming, but I think that's largely because I made 35 blocks. Maybe I'll go smaller scale next time. Aw, who am I kidding? Bigger is better, right?

Anyway, so now I'm down to 69 UFOs. I don't think I've been in the 60's yet, because I keep starting new things. This one counts for Jacquie's Joy in the New Year Challege too.

Greyson's Gift

My sweet friend, Meryn, had a tragedy in her life a few months back, and true to her form, she has turned it into a blessing for other people. She lost her baby boy prematurely, but out of that sad event she has started a charity to help other families who might be in her situation. Her blog explains much better than I can. I feel like I'm stumbling over my words.

She is looking for double-sided flannel blankets, sizes 12"x12" and 24"x24". She has more details on her blog about that as well as the crocheted or knitted blankets she has found a home for. So Joann's had flannel on sale last week, and I stocked up. The smaller prints will be for Greyson's Gift. The larger ones will go to some of the large number of babies being born in my ward and family right now.

I even had some small scraps that I pieced together. These blankets are so small that it doesn't take much fabric to fill the need. I hope you will help if you can. Meryn's contact info is on her blog with all the details of where to send your gift. Thanks in advance to all those who can help!

Applique Sunflowers

I was on a huge applique kick (and sunflower kick, for that matter) a few years back. I started many projects (shocker!) that took a long time. I have been working on this one for about 6 years. There are 64 hand-appliqued sunflowers -- all from scraps. I finally finished the applique on the very last one last week. Hee hee, I'm so excited about this! Now I just have to put the blocks together. I hope I still like this quilt when it's done. I also went through a phase where I did a bunch of yellow, red, and green quilts. Here's to finishing REALLY old UFOs. I'm so proud. It's only a milestone, but it was the biggest portion of it.

Tie-dyed fabric

Back when I was tie-dying those onesies for baby gifts, I didn't want to waste the dye that was left, and also, I was in the midst of a serious fabric-buying moratorium, so I took about 7 yards of bleached muslin and tie-dyed it too. I have some of it on the back of two quilts -- one pinned, one almost finished being quilted. This is all that's left of it. It's perfect for me since I have all those patriotic quilts. Hopefully, I'll have one of them finished this week for you to see.

Next I want to try some of that overdying or the bleaching technique -- where you put leaves or pebbles or whatever on top of your fabric and then spray bleach water on them and let the sun bleach out the areas not covered. I'll let you know if I have any success.

Lunch plans?

Greek salad anyone? I have just been loving Greek salad lately. I swear I could eat it every day. This one has romaine lettuce, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and feta in it. You could also add artichoke hearts, cucumbers, green peppers, or red onions if you so desire. I also cooked a chicken breast and seasoned it with black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg. You could use just whatever leftover piece of grilled chicken you have -- or do without. It's delicious alone too.

The dressing is balsamic vinegar, olive oil, one small garlic clove, and a little Italian seasoning. I'm inexact, I know, but ladies, that's how I roll. I only made enough just for my one salad, so not more than a Tablespoon of each of the liquids (I'm guessing). Oh, yeah, and you can't do without the pepperoncinis on the side. Enjoy!

Raspberry Mod Quilt

My quilting group is doing the Mod Sampler Quilt, and this is my next version. I just pulled scraps from my stash. I did use some FQs, but mostly scraps.

Everyone has quite a variety of colors and fabrics, so none of them will look the same. It's going to be so fun to see how they all turn out.

I did eight sets instead of six, so this will be a slightly bigger quilt. I plan to sash it with white again. I had thought about black, but I don't know that I really love that look. I just have to stick with what I know and love. Have a great day!

Paris Flea Market

I finished this one during the blackout. It is one that I made quite a few years ago and then just sat in the queue. It's on my girls' bed. It doesn't match, but I'm still working on the one that goes on their bed (hand applique, oi!). And, yes, I did have to make the bed before I could take any photos. = ) And I carefully made sure you couldn't see the rest of the room.

This was really one of my first "quilt shop" fabric lines that I purchased, so I was loathe to cut up the fabrics into little tiny pieces. I loved the prints so much (and they are SO soft, BTW) that I just decided to do large squares.

I just did a loopy meander all over the quilt.

Soft stripe on the back.

I love this quilt because of its softness and because it represents a turning point in my quilting -- from "whatever" fabric to quilt shop fabric. I still use "lesser quality" fabrics as well, but that's because of budgetary constraints. If I could buy all my stuff at quilt shops, I probably would. Well, except for my batting, because that goes on sale at Joann's. And my muslin. Same reason.

Quilting Gallery Summertime Swap

I ended up being in two swaps at once, and I have to say that I kept getting a little muddled about who was getting which quilt. This is for the Quilting Gallery's Summertime Mini Swap. This is the quilt I got.

As you know, I love patriotic quilts, and I thought it was so sweet that my swap partner, Tena, looked at my blog and discovered that. She made it especially for me, and I love it. Thank you, Tena!

Here is the one I sent to my partner. Again, I don't know if she has gotten it yet, so I didn't take pictures of it with label on the back. I did label both of my quilts, though. This person said she did NOT like the bright, funky fabrics. So I made this quilt the opposite of the other. I'm pretty sure I sent them to the correct people, but I swear I had to double-check several times. I didn't want to send the wrong quilt to the wrong person.

This was based on a Fig Tree pattern called Petite Fleurs. I would love to make a larger quilt of this pattern, but I have so many detailed quilts already, that I can't allow myself to start it. It's still on my mind, though.

I used most of what was left of my Seaside Rose and a little bit of something else -- I can't remember what, though. Provincial Garden? Maybe Simplicity. I can't remember. I just have little pieces. Oh, I'll just go check, for goodness' sake! Okay. It's Tickled Pink by Robyn Pandolph for Moda.

Quilting detail -- crosshatch in the center with stippling around the border.

Block detail -- those are one-inch finished squares. It's a great quilt for honeybuns, although I just used my scraps. That was the very last of the blue floral from Seaside Rose. I think if I had like a Patisserie or Mill House Inn honeybun or two, it would go pretty quickly. I think I would HAVE to strip-piece it. Okay. You see how I'm dwelling on this? Didn't I just say I couldn't start it. Oh, this is not looking good on the finishing front. Every new start prevents a finish, right? Oh, but it's so fun. And I made three backs and pinned two quilts yesterday, so I'm making progress. Right? (Rationalization.)

By the way, have I mentioned how much I LOVE Fig Tree fabrics and patterns? They are just so soft and comforting. Anyway, enough rhapsodizing. Hope you have a fun day and get lots done!