Got a flimsy made last night!

Yeah, I had enough time last night to finish the piecing on "Some Bunny Loves Me."  It's now in the pile with the 2 baby boy tops to be basted this weekend.  However, I was looking in my UFO pile and came across THIS quilt that just needs the binding finished.  It's perfect (IMO :-)) for one of the baby boys coming in August, so I'm going to finish binding it this weekend and prep the label (I don't know the baby's name yet) so it will be ready come August.  I think I'll use the construction trucks for the other August baby and put aside the trains for a future boy.

I also made plans to have a sewing night with a friend this Friday.  Her daughter has a teen activity with the youth group at church, so her hubby's going to have a boys night with the two boys, which leaves her free to hang with me :-).  Or maybe I should reverse that - she's hanging with me so that leaves the boys and daddy on their own :-).  As long as I have my camera batteries charged, I should be able to get some pics.

~QB29

Design Wall Monday - 10/3/2011

Yes, I'm back! and I have a Design Wall Monday! The center blocks are actually a white with a yellow polka dot print. I'm using the focus fabric for the backing on this one. It's one of those "just can't cut it" prints. This is a baby quilt for a friend who just had a baby.


You can check out other design walls at Judy's blog!

~QB29

I think I need to start Basting ...

I've got four baby quilt tops ready to baste and quilt. A fifth is almost done. It just needs the border and the rest of the applique stitching. :-). Guess we know what I'll be doing this weekend!

~QB29

Girl Baby Quilt Design

What do you think? This sketch was made in MS Paint, so don't mind the simplicity of it. The blocks are 8" and the sashing is 2". The border is 4". It should finish around 40" square. The green will be the same throughout all the blocks. The flower will be scrappy (I'll use 9 different prints). The yellow will be the same throughout. The flower, leaves, and sashing will be tone-on-tone of small prints. The border may be one of the flower prints or may be a medium to large scale print (not necessarily pink, will depend on what I have and what works). I'll probably bind with the border. I'm hoping to use up some more of my floral stash that went into this and this.

Once I look at the fabrics I have left, I may use a pale pink for the flower centers/sashing instead of the yellow.

Comments?

~QB29

If it's not one thing, it's another ....

My sewing yesterday morning basically set the tone for my sewing last night. I managed to redo the seams on the binding, but then it took me an hour to finish off the binding. I don't know what I was thinking, but I kept sewing the beginning and ending of the binding together in a 90 degree angle. Then when I finally got the angle right, I kept making it too big or too small. I think I literally spent an hour working on it. Oh, and both my bobbin and my spool ran out on separate attempts. But, the good news is that I finally got it finished and machine-sewed the binding down.

But more was to come...
I went to print the labels and realized I only had about 30 minutes on my laptop. And that my power cable was sitting on my desk. At work :-(. So I went to print the labels. First I had to change my black ink because it was out. So I did, but did not do so correctly, because when I went to print the labels, only the colored part of the name printed. Nothing in black printed! By then my laptop died. I fiddled some more with the printer and tried reinstalling the cartridge, but I won't know until later when I'm back home and ready to print again with a powered laptop if it's correct now.

Of course I couldn't find my quilt label pen anywhere, so I couldn't hand write the info on the label. I'll get one this afternoon to have on hand.

I did get photos of the quilt this morning, but since I'm at work I don't have a card reader. I'll upload the photos this evening. I also finished a UFO top. It's ready for basting. I'll post a picture of that as well.

I'll use this for a baby boy at church who is due in July. We have 2 more boys coming up in October plus a "surprise us" that month as well. We also just had a baby girl come a few weeks ago and the ladies are having a shower this month for her. So that's four quilts I want to do over the next several weeks before school starts back up.

~QB29

Valuing a Quilt for Donations

Hi Everyone,

Maybe you can help me. Please do so if you can.

When I mail the two quilts (Dillon's Critters and Floral Rows) for the auction I have to include a value. This is what they will reference when sending the tax receipt and should be the value I could sell it for. What price should I use for each of the these quilts?

Dillon's Quilts - all fabric & batting from stash, including a charm pack (so only had to cut 4 of the squares)
40" X 40", machine pieced & quilted

Floral Rows - all fabric in top from stash, some pre-cut from other projects, including batting. Did have to buy backing/binding
about 40" X 48", machine pieced & quilted

So the question is, what do I value them at? I've never sold any of my quilts - My family, friends, and church family give me more than enough babies to quilt for, so I have no need (or time) to make quilts for sale.

Thanks,
~QB29

Next Top is Pieced!

Here's the next top I'm working on. I got it pieced tonight and will (hopefully) baste and quilt it tomorrow, that is, if I don't fall victim to the dreaded Sunday afternoon nap illness. Okay, it's not so dreaded. I rather enjoy when I am stricken by it :-). Backing and binding will be in a light cream very similar to the sashing strips.

~QB29

3 Visits to the Same Quilt Store in the Same Day!

Well, my title about sums up my day so far. I started out this morning running to JoAnn's. I went by the quilt store first, intending to get a jelly roll for this quilt but when I got there I suddenly couldn't remember if I needed a honey bun or a jelly roll. This store doesn't sell the magazine the pattern will be in (Quick Quilts) so I ran to JoAnn's to get what I needed and check the shelves. They don't have any. So I try Target and Meijer since they're across the street for JoAnn's. Mejier carries it, but still had the June/July on the shelf and the pattern's in the August/September issue. I'll just have to wait until it's on the shelf :-(.

So I headed home, but my car detoured me back to the quilt store for visit #2 to pick up some blues for the snowman quilt I'm going to make at Quilt Camp. The sample uses a variety of fabrics, but I'm going to do mine in blues & whites, so I need to stock up.

I came home and decided to see if I can get a second quilt made to go along with Dillon's Critters. I pulled out my leftover 4.5" squares from this and another baby quilt, also a disappearing 9-patch. I decided I didn't want to do the D9P this time, so it will be a surprise what I'm making. To get it finished this weekend I needed backing and realized I didn't have any creamy/white that would work, so back to the store I went for trip #3.

I told one of the owner's (Cora) about making the quilts for Dillon and about the auction. Guess what??? She donated three pillowcases for me to send. I'll be including them in the package I mail out on Monday.

So if you're ever in the Lexington area, go to Q First In Quilting on Old Harrodsburg Rd. The ladies that own it are super sweet. Even though it's been months (I think beginning of Feb) since I've been in there, they remembered me :). I can't praise them enough. The store is spacious and well-lit. You'll love it, I promise!

~QB29

Pink Baby Quilt Finished!

Picture's not the greatest, but it's finished. Except for the label, lol. I just had to call and check the spelling of the name. Done before the baby shower for a change, though not before the baby's birth. The baby was a preemie and is still in the hospital. They are anticipating she'll go home beginning of November. Our church is hosting a baby shower on the 22nd for the mom. The family had just joined our church when the mom began having complications. The baby was delivered a few weeks later. I machine stitched the binding, but I definitely need practice. I followed the directions that came in a magazine this month - I think the AQS magazine.

~QB29

Baby quilt pieced!

Sunday Morning Happenings .... Jill actually sews!


Max (above) and Masiy (below) have been great. Max is squished between my thigh and the chair arm as I type.


And I finished piecing this baby quilt. I started it last night around 10 or so and had the center almost put together before calling it a night about 1:30. I finished the center and got the border cut before heading out to church. When I got back, I added the borders, mitered!



The backing will be the print that's in the border. It was an easy FQ friendly pattern that I picked up at the quilt store liquidation store I stopped by the other week. I had purchased the butterfly print some time ago. I pulled it out of my stash this week and started grabbing coordinating tone-on-tones to use. One more top done! It will go to one of the new baby girls at church.

UPDATE ~ I just found the pattern designer online. Her name is Tammy Tadd. Here is her website, her blog, and the link to the pattern, Fatty-Fatty 2x4. The only change that I made was that in the original pattern, her small 4-patches are the same 2 colors throughout. I alternated the blue and the green to bring in more colors from my focus fabric. Check out her site - she has lots of great patterns. I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for her stuff when I look for new patterns.

~QB29

Saturday Happenings

Guess what? I'm Ninja Approved!




I've been a busy beaver here at Jill's. Last night I finished piecing this paramedic/EMT baby quilt. It is for a baby boy at church. Both his momma and his daddy are paramedics/EMT's for a nearby fire station. I found the focus fabric when I visited Indy a couple of weeks ago. The coordinating prints are all from my stash. I did buy some blue marble today to use for the backing. I should have enough of the black to use for the binding.



I also got the yellow borders added to this YBR quilt this morning. When Jill and I went shopping, we picked up backing, binding, and batting for it. I happened to find yardage of one of the purples used in the YBR blocks at the 2nd quilt store we went to. I decided to use if for the binding. The backing I picked up at the first quilt store and is a very light cream, almost white, print. Jill helped me load it on the frame this afternoon and I was done quilting it by 7 PM, including a 30 - 45 minute nap/quiet spell on her couch. I just did a simple meander on it.



I'm going to work on piecing some baby quilts tonight. I'll post pics if I make any progress.

~QB29

Weekly Quilt Goals

1. Assemble "My Bonnie Quilt" wallhanging (16 crumb/heart/star/letter blocks from a workshop with Bonnie Hunter)
2. Cut/piece top for gentleman at church (housebound due to Alzheimer's)
3. Add border for lady at church (#2's wife, housebound caring for him)
4. Piece baby boy F quilt (paramedic theme)

~QB29

Border Colors & Starting a Quilt Group

Do you have a favorite color to use for borders? I do. It seems like I use blue a lot. I guess for me blue is a "finishing" color. It mentally frames the quilt and says "the end". If my quilt has blue in it, I tend to use a blue for the border. The darker the better, staying within the color scheme of the quilt. The background of the border print in the Paddington quilt is blue.


The border for the tractor quilt is blue. The border for tilted animals is blue. My nephew's soccer quilt had a navy blue border.

And now the border for "boy oh boy" is blue. I started a piano key border, but it wasn't doing anything for me. I had yardage in a yellow, a mint green, and the blue. I didn't like the yellow a bit. I tried the green, but it didn't say "the end". So I tried the blue and it worked! It gave me the "edge" I was looking for.


And about starting a quilt group ... several ladies at church have commented on the quilts I've been working on/recently finished (most end for church babies). I'm thinking of seeing if anyone is interested in getting together once or twice a month to work on quilts - I can either supply directions/instruction or they can work independently. Any suggestions?

~QB29

Update on the baby quilt

I have the top almost completely pieced. The center is done and the side borders are added. The bottom border is made while the top while still rests in pieces, lol. This is actually going to be a backing, not the front, of a quilt. I am using this panel:


As the front of the quilt. But I did not want to use just a plain backing - to me a quilt needs piecing to make it a quilt. (Whole cloth quilts NOT out of panels aside). The panel is only about 29" wide, so I'm adding a piano key style border on each side to bring it to within a couple of inches of the backing. The length is sufficient. The quilt should end up finishing around 38" x 42". I am wanting to do more of a custom-quilting on this rather than the all-over meander that I've been doing. I'll keep you posted :-D.

~QB29

Another Baby Quilt ...

Is on the design wall. Can you believe I went from this somewhat neatly ordered display of small squares, large squares, and rectangles ....



to this much better arrangement of small squares, rectangles, and large squares?....



in only a little bit? Okay, so, if you look closely, the blocks are not actually sewn together. I promise, I do have each of the three center columns sewn together now and am starting to sew the columns together to make the center. I wanted a pic before I started moving stuff to sew to make sure I didn't mess the layout out. (Yeah, really, you thought I couldn't?)

Gotta love this pattern. It's out of a magazine from a couple of years ago. We made it at my very first quilt camp (they gave us all the magazine!). The magazine is now lost in my shelf of magazines, but the pattern was easy to recreate. It's fresh in my mind because the pink baby quilt I just finished binding was the one I made at camp.

BTW - don't forgot about my 100th post giveway". Contest closes at the end of the month.

~QB29

Just Needs a Label...

Finished the binding on this tonight. Will make the label when I go upstairs and applique it tomorrow. I need to check on the shipping address, but should have it mailed out this week.


And yes, those are mitered corners and yes, they did come out very near to perfect. I was quite OCD about the stripes matching, lol.

~QB29

Goals for week

1. Finish quilting Ian's Quilt
2. Bind/label Ian's Quilt - parents will be back in town coming weekend
3. Bind/label Bubby's Dino quilt
4. Cut sashing strips for Pink/Brown SBS blocks
5. Cut strips for Bonnie Hunter workshop
6. Cut fabric for baby Adam's quilt

~QB29

A Finish!

I stayed up to sew the label on. I finished binding it last night. It was the quilt I made at my very first Quilt Retreat - almost two years ago! I finished piecing it at retreat, but did not know how I wanted to quilt it. I ended up taking it to NC with me last summer to do at my aunt's. However, I ran out of time and it was one I had to leave there. She quilted it for me and got the leftovers all sent home. And there it sat, for several months, lol. I pulled it out for Peeps retreat, sewed the binding to the front, but never got it sewn to the back. Well, it's done now, labeled, and awaiting to meet its new owner. I left a message for my friend, so hopefully I'll be able to get together with her soon to gift it. It is for her daughter who will be two in the fall.

~QB29

top is finished!

Top is all finished. I just need to baste (thank you, oh thank you, 505 :-D) and quilt and bind and label. The backing fabric is the print from which the animals are cut.

I have a primary colored variegated thread I'm planning on using to quilt it. I'm thinking of a basic meander just to get it done so I can gift it while the little guy is in town this week.

Not too sure about binding - there's not enough of the blue left, which doesn't really match the blue in the print (backing). Maybe red? I may have enough of the white w/ colored dots, but I don't want to do a white binding. I'll decide when it's quilted. Any suggestions?

I really do like how this pattern turned out. I may use the floral scraps that are left still to do something like this. I think it would be interesting.

~QB29

I have a design wall!

Look! I put up a design wall. It's just a simple flannel backed vinyl tablecloth. In the hour or so that I've had it, I can't believe I managed this long without one, lol. Here's a pic. You probably can't tell, but the inner border will be the white print that's in each of the blocks. I do have 2 of the strips up there. The outer border will be the blue that's in the blocks. I wanted to get this posted, but I'm heading back up to get the top finished. This is the "Ian" quilt I referenced earlier.

~QB29