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.