The mini that didn't get sent...

The Doll Quilt Swap was a wonderful experience- I must show you the amazing mini I got from my dear swap Mama!  It was such a great surprise and totally me!! That's for the next post... But the mini that my partner was not too hot about (Try #1) is something that I LOVE and IS totally me!  So I had to finish it :).  It measures 20 1/2" across and is circular!  I was brave and went for it- and am very pleased with how it turned out!  I was so stressed about the binding coming out wacky, but it is absolutely perfect- hip hip hooray!

 The design came completely from my brain and I didn't have any idea how I would make it come to life, but I did, and surprised myself. :)  It makes me happy on days like that. So here it is all done and ready to hang.  I call it Crazy Love!  It was my crazy idea and I love that I got it to happen!  And what's not to love about a spiraling rainbow??!!  

 I hand embroidered the rainbow spiral in the center hexie, and then quilted a billion pebbles all over it! It took for-ev-eh, but I love the look and texture of it and how it just blends into the quilt.  Just to give an idea of size, the small squares are 3/4". It was so fun to piece and get all the text going the right way in each section.  I'd love to make tons of these in all sorts of colors and designs- that is now on the never ending list of projects :)  For right now, I just look at this one and smile!

Teachers Give Us Wings Quilt

I don't think I ever posted this finished quilt. The summer got wild and it slipped my mind, so I wanted to make sure I got it on the record :).

This quilt was made for a special teacher. She loves aqua and red with some black and white thrown in. I was thrilled that there were so many wonderful fabric options to use. I went with a simple block layout to highlight the bird. There area also a few pieced blocks added in for personality! I "enlarged" a bird on the black and white print for the focal point of the quilt. The bird is 18" square to give you an idea of size. The quilt itself is 72" square. The binding is Kona turqouise. I quilted it with a turquoise thread in a loopy pattern, at a 45 degree angle across the quilt, to match the "flight" of the birdie :). It made me smile.

The simplicity of the quilt really makes the bird pop- which is what I was hoping for! Teachers are incredible people and have a special place in my heart. This teacher made all the difference in the life of a precious little boy I know, and she needed an appropriate thank you. When I was having the fabric cut, the LQS said they wished they were his teacher- hehe! This was the least I could do! And a quilt is like a big hug, so everytime she wraps up in it, she will know she's loved! What better gift!

Without further ado... Teachers Give Us Wings...

Warm/Cool Quilt Along Top all laid out...

An update on the Warm / Cool Quilt Along quilt, or as I call it, the Orange and Aqua Value quilt...

Well, I was silly and thought I could lay this quilt out in a 30 minute time period. It is now a running joke- it took well over two hours- never woulda dreamed it! HA! It was just a matter of keeping the pattern right and the prints spread out enough that took so long. I was frantically trying to pick it up, in number rows, of course, before feet ran all over it! I have never stacked anything like this so I am nervous how the rows will go. I just CANNOT mess it up- I don't want to be that friendly with my seam ripper :) hehe! So I snapped a few photos to double check myself as I go.
I loved standing back and looking at the diamond pattern the orange and aqua makes! The giftee requested that the diamond be centered, so there you have it! Now to figure out a border, binding and backing :). This person loves SOFT but I can't find any minkee that is to the liking- ugh! I tried flannel, but that wasn't "soft enough". This will be interesting! I'm praying for some orange and blue minkee to pop up somewhere ! hehe!

Supernova quilt top Finished!!

Looking at this project in the beginning, I knew it would take me forever. A week and a half later, it's done!! It's an old quilt along I found over at http://freshlypieced.blogspot.com/, designed by the lovely Lee. The very first time I saw it, I knew it was destined to be my very own, sunset colored, quilt. You see, sunset is my favorite time of the day. It's special, calm, peaceful- no matter how crazy things are around me at the moment, and I just am overcome with an inner quiet and strength. I grew up in the South, and we had beautiful sunsets there. I worried when I moved to the West years ago that there would not be "my sunsets". I was thrilled to find that the West holds it share of gorgeous sunsets also. There may not be as much green, but at least there are sunsets. :) So this quilt is a special one to me. It will be my "go to" quilt- perfect for an evening hot cocoa and for lazy day naps (oh what would one of those be like?? :) hehe!)!

I found ShaShaLaRue (http://www.flickr.com/photos/46563412@N06/) on Flickr and loved her extra touch of the pieced border. Her colors were so close to what I wanted to do, and that was all the inspiration I needed! So a border it was- love how the border corresponds to the colors of the closest star!

I have stressed over the backing for months now- I'm not much for roses or big flowers, and most of the prints that had the colors I wanted in them were florals. I had almost settled on one of the new LouLouThi prints, but I didn't just want to "settle". So after more hours than I care to admit of searching the internet, I thought of Hawthorne Threads (http://www.hawthornethreads.com/) color grid (I had already searched their site, but not using that tool). It won the day and found my backing!! It wound up being the first Castle Peeps print called Castle Town in Cardinal Red. It has all the colors I wanted and looks like sunset has hit the town and is reflecting off all the buildings :). And I wanted something fun and cozy- castles are a little more grand than I was thinking, but every home can be our own "castle", and that sealed the deal! So I ordered it, and will have a back to the quilt soon! So exciting!

I am almost done hand sewing the binding on my Bottled Rainbows quilt. I have seen 2 tutorials in the last week about machine binding (thank you Kaelin http://theplaidscottie.blogspot.com/ and Jeni http://incolororder.blogspot.com/!!!) and will never hand sew another binding- wonder of all wonders!! I am beyond giddy! It takes me so long and I think of all the things I could be sewing instead :) hehe!

Now to fix my opps on Kermit's Path and see what I will have to do to make it work! I think I will wind up adding a border because I accidently cut all the pieces at 8.25" instead of 9.25 inches- gotta love that! HA! So off to get a section done! Have a great week!

Take Two

You know how things can just eat at ya- well, that's what this butter churn block did all this weekend. It didn't have enough contrast and I just had to make a new one to get it "right". The old one will become a matching pillow, I think :) Much better--- ahhhhhh.

Then, I have all my thread spools in an antique sewing chest. I love it- it was my Grandmother's, but it is overflowing and I can't find colors I need when I need 'em. So I found these at Joann's , with a sale, of course, and also an extra 10% off coupon! Love a good deal! Fabric is about the ONLY thing I buy that's not on sale :). And I go nuts when it is :). hehe. So these are now hung in my bedroom (I would so love a sewing room - someday) and it is so fun to see all the colors smiling back at me. I can find the color I want now too- added bonus!

Working on lots of quilts this week- hoping to also get the binding handsewn on my Bottled Rainbows quilt- almost there. I finally figured out I wanted to use Annie's Farm Stand to make the Farmer's Wife quilt, but all the prints I want are over $300. Yikes- definitely not within the budget. I've called all my lqs, and none carry that line. Shoot! We'll see what I come up with :)

Binding!!

I worked all day today free motion quilting squares- more and more huge squares on my Bottled Rainbow quilt! And I LOVE it- oh, so much better than the loops ever dreamed of being :)! Yipee! It was worth unpicking for over 8 hours to be able to quilt it in lines. And it was my first line project too. I really like the look. I got the binding cut, sewn and stitched on the front. Now to pin the back and hand sew away :)!! hehe! I'll be busy tomorrow!
I can hardly wait to put in the the wash and watch it come out crinkly :)!! Oh, I have a hard time being patient! It will be worth the work- the colors just make me smile, and the Kona Ash with the lines on it look great! So excited!

Then I'll be on to my next project- or several at one time, probably :) Here's how my first block of 36, it was 3 a month, not 1, HA!, turned out. I love the Pink-ness! Going to be so much fun seeing all the pink in this one :)

That's my progress at the moment- wait a day or two and I'll have FINISHED Bottled Rainbow pictures- woot, woot!! :)

Getting so close!

No, I have not fallen off the earth- we just got back from our "stay-ca-tion"! We had a blast going and doing all within about an hours drive! It's so fun finding things close that give you the perfect opportunity to have fun with your dear family! So now I'm back- posts will be regular again :)--

My Bottled Rainbows is peiced and ready to go! Here it is in the nice sunshine- finally! I was so excited that Rachel mentioned it over at http://stitchedincolor.com ! Oh the stories this quilt tells- each square has it's own narrative, and then there are a few things running through them all! I have been itching to get this one finished. Therefore, I have been not so patiently waiting on the remaining fabrics :)! They finally came, and I am going to be throwing myself into this today- yipee!
Here's the Kona ash for the border- I may throw some of the stripe in at the points where I have to stitch the border- still working through this in my head! Then the Remix argyle for the back, and the stripe for the binding. I looked at the remix stripe, but this one was more "Us"! It is an Alexander Henry print and I loved how the lines look like crayon on either side of the stripe- too perfect! So there is all, ready to be cut up and put back together! YAY!! Here goes...