Sailboat quilt

I made this quilt about 5 years ago for baby #5. Baby #4 had one just like it that was red and blue. That one is so raggedy now that there is no way I can show it. It has been well-loved. He still sleeps with it, and he's almost eight.

I just outline quilted it on my machine. I didn't even have a walking foot -- just my regular foot. Previous to this I pretty much hand-quilted everything. It's no wonder I have 60 quilt tops. I'm not exaggerating. It takes a lot of time to hand-quilt but not so much to piece the tops. Now that I can machine-quilt everything, I am hoping to whittle down that number.

Wish me luck!

Sneak Peek

This is just a little peek at one of my in-progress quilts -- the pastel 9-patch. I saw this quilt here and loved it. She hasn't done a tutorial on it yet, although I think she has future plans for it. She inspired me to make my own version. She used vintage pillowcases. I just used whatever florals I had on hand -- largely from Jill and also a lot from Provincial Garden by Sarah Rose for South Sea Imports (mouthful!).

I didn't want to strip piece this, because then it wouldn't have the randomness that I wanted, so I'm piecing them all individually. It's time-consuming, but I like the way it's turning out. I have to make 81 9-patches. I think I have about 50 done. Getting there!

Seaside Rose Hourglass

Here it is! I finished the top some time ago, but I just quilted it week before last (during Spring Break, if you can believe it), and I finished binding it just this past Thursday.

I've never really been a pastel person, but I went through a phase of buying all those pastel lines, and now I've got to do something with them. I do love how this turned out, though.

I mostly stippled all over, but I did a spiral in the corner squares and a vine with flowers on the border. This is only my third quilt using my free-motion quilting machine, so I'm not very skilled. But it washed up really nicely, and it keeps us warm when we need it to. I probably should have at least pre-washed my binding so it wasn't quite so wrinkly. Oh, well, I love it anyway.

Star Quilt-Along, blocks 10, 11, 12, and 13

I don't even know what week we're on. I think it's 11 now. Really? We started that long ago? I guess it was January. Anyway, I've finished all the blocks (except that I messed up #11 and am going to have to take it slightly apart to fix it). I need to do the setting blocks now as well. Jill is way ahead of me, but I don't have any kind of deadline for this thing. I do want to finish it, though, because remember -- that's what I'm doing this year -- finishing. I have to keep reminding myself of this, because I'm also starting quite a bit.

Block #10

Block #11

Block #12

Block #13

So I don't even have this on my list of in-progress quilts. I'll have to update that list. A number of the quilts on there are all finished as far as quilt tops go. They're just in queue to be quilted. I guess I need to make a separate list for that. Except that that list would seriously be like 60 quilts long. Seriously. I'm going to do another post today, because I actually have a little time. This may be it for the whole week, though. I hope not, but I seem to be averaging one post a week lately.

Star Quilt-Along, week 9

Only four more to go. I told Jill that I was okay with working ahead on this one, but I'm crazily involved in so many other BOMs that I'm not sure I'll have time to work ahead. I don't know. Feast or famine, though, so maybe I'll just plow through and git 'er done. I can't believe I just quoted Larry the Cable Guy.

Pay it FORWARD, baby!

Okay. So my new friend, Julia, had a pay-it-forward on her blog, and I am one of the lucky three, so I'm posting it here. I'm also one of the lucky three on my mother's blog. Is that greedy? So does that mean I need to pay it forward to six people? Okay. Maybe it does. So that's what I'll do. The first six people to leave a comment on this POST will receive a handmade item from me. According to Julia (and many others I've seen), I have a year to complete these items. I'm hoping not to take that long, but you never know. Obviously, the only stipulation for this is that you pay it forward as well. Post a pay-it-forward on your blog and send something out to THREE lucky friends or blog-readers. So fun! Spread the joy, my friends.

Baby Shower Cake

This is a cake I made for my friend's baby shower a month or so back. Baby boy. He's here and healthy a couple weeks old now. My, time does fly. I think the idea for the cake was good, but the execution, not so much. A little sloppy. I suppose if I made cakes every day I would get better (and fatter!).

Star Quilt-Along, week 8

Block 8. I'm caught up. Are you proud? I even have block 9 finished and ready for posting next week, and block 10 is cut out and ready to be made. I'm such a feast or famine kind of girl. I don't mean to be. I am not a slow-and-steady. I wish I were. Then I might finish more stuff. Maybe next week there will less pink and brown to show you and more of something else. I've been working on some stuff, but it's all still just in the block stage or the cut-out-and-not-remotely-put-together stage. Have a great weekend! Make something beautiful!

Whirlygiggle

I needed a break from pink and brown. Didn't you? This block is inspired by Amanda Jean, although I know others have done one of these quilts too. I just saw it on her blog first. You can see her finished quilt here.

All the blocks are done now. The top is ready to be put together, but I'm thinking it might need some kind of border (perhaps smaller windmill blocks around the edge). Of course, that will lengthen the finish time, but we all know that's not a surprising thing for me. Some other great versions of this can be found on Simplify and Lovely Little Handmades. I just LOVE this block. Kind of want to make it more than once. Actually, since I messed up my cutting, I'm going to have to make it twice. If you do this quilt, make sure you cut all pieces with the right side up. Otherwise, you'll have some windmills going one way and some going another. Trust me.

Star Quilt-Along, week 7

They're all starting to look the same to me. I hope I still like this when it's finished. I think I had better get started on the sashing blocks.

Star Quilt-Along, week 6

Yes, I am aware that it is now week 8. My husband took my camera to work with him for a week and a half, so that was part of the problem. The other part is that I have been working so much that I haven't had time to quilt or blog. So, I'm going to try to catch up pretty much in one day. We'll see if I get interrupted. So here's block six.