60's Love...

I love all things retro- and VW's just rock!  I know someone who recently told me that they had a blue bug when they were a teenager and wished they still had it :)  So I knew the minute I heard it what I just had to do ;)!!!  A mug rug it is!  It measures 12" by 7".  I think it's just too cute!  And I sure do hope she likes it too!  It'll be headed to her in the morning :)  Such a fun surprise!

 I love the colors- it made me smile the whole time!!  And I found a good clip art image that I used as a guide for the appliqué.

 The quilting around the bug was my favorite part- flowers in the "sky", headlight in front, speed lines in back, and a wavy road.  So perfect!

 I quilted tiny loops everywhere else and just had fun with it :)  I think this is one of my favorite projects for sure!  I think I'm not the only one with 60's Love ;)

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!

DQS13 Complete and sent...

It's ready and off in the mail.  My secret partner should receive it today- oh, how I hope she like it!!  After trying two other things, this one stuck and I so hope that it's her style!!  She has some grandkiddos that I thought would love this too.  It's called the Balloon Tree.  The balloons were for sale until the peddler realized there was a tree with balloons growing on them.  Then he made them all free to share the love and joy!  What an awesome guy!  How I wish we could all be so kind and generous :)  The 1" flower, standing proud and strong next to his balloon tree, is one of my favorite parts.

 The balloon cart and escaping balloon- it's yellow to represent the sun that's shining in the sky. Who knows what adventure it will be going on :)

 The awesome tree- complete with squirrel and acorns even!

 The entire mini quilt- measuring 17x20".

 Some fun views...

 The quilting- 12 hours worth... enough said.  I really stretched myself and tried new things.  I love how it turned out!

So I'm crossing my fingers that it is well loved.  It was made with a lot of love and hard work!  And now, whenever I see a tree or a balloon, I will think of the whimsical Balloon Tree and smile :)

DQS13 Coming Along

Since my last post, my design has had to totally shift.  After watching things my secret partner liked and commented on, I realized that my modern spirals (that I loved) was not quite her thing.  So sad, but very glad I realized it.  She seemed to be more into "sweet and cute" ideas so I had to come up with something new. I thought and thought and stressed and stressed!  I finally came up with a carousel.  

 As much as I loved it, it just wasn't hitting me :)  But a little part, in the corner of the drawing, was!  The balloon cart- I loved it and so that became the center point of the new quilt!  It took lots of appliqué and piecing hours to get it to this point.  Here it is at the almost quilting stage.

The mini measures 17x20 inches.  There is a run away balloon in the top corner, and a tiny flower by the "special" tree.  The cart is still my favorite part.  Got the back made and then on to quilting...

 I spent almost a full 12 hours on quilting alone.  I so hope the recipient loves it!  Here is the breeze that's carrying off the balloon and one of the clouds quilted.

 And the grass and tree in progress of quilting!

And then the back (with label) once the quilting was done in the wee hours last night. It's the most intricate quilting I've ever done.  It was full of new tries and techniques, and I am very happy with how it turned out.  Now to get a binding on, and off to it's new home!  Now I am so stressed waiting to see if my secret partner likes it :)  Crossing fingers...

Just in time...

"Not my normal color palate" turned into this:

 and I am in love!!!  I could not be more thrilled with this quilt!  It measures 70"x80", larger than I had originally decided on, but I had to go big- I love big quilts!~  So a BIG lap quilt it is :)  This quilt, if you remember, was made for my dear friend who just began a three year chemo regimen.  So for on the days she may need an extra hug, here is a HUG for her!!  It is not my normal color choices, but it is oh so her!!  I am giddy with how much it looks like her!  And I absolutely loved watching the colors come together!  It was a work of love- a fast one too- my fabrics did not all arrive until four days ago, and with the holidays and all the obligations I had this week, I was up til the wee hours every night getting this done.  It has to be done by today to go in the "Hug" boxes her family is giving her for Christmas.  She will open a box each month- such a wonderful idea!  It is in the wash at the moment so it can get all lovely and crinkly in the dryer, and then it will be delivered to the boxer-uppers!  I can hardly wait!  What a fantastic surprise!

 For quilting, I chose my all time favorite, teeny tiny loops!  It just makes me smile, and it's an added bonus that it makes it crinkle up extra good in the dryer! ;)

I chose prints and solids for the front- and love how they play together!  It was my first time mixing in quite a few solids and I will definitely be doing this again!  A good thing!  The backing had to be a super soft vintage sheet.  I had found this butterfly one a while back and was so happy that it had not been listed (and cut into) yet!  The colors are perfect, and I love that it's a butterfly!  It reminds me of hope!  So it fit this quilt to a tee!  

Off it goes for a special Christmas box of HUGS!!!

Warm Cool Quilt Along DONE, Finally~

A year and a half later, the warm cool quilt along quilt I made for a kiddo is finally done :).  The top has been done for quite some time- over a year, but the child requested a minty backing and it honestly scared me.  I had read so many posts about what nightmare minky was to baste and quilt that I put it off as long as possible!  I LOVE how it turned out, and the child likes it even more, so everyone is happy!!  I love these colors myself so it was very fun to make too!

 The minky was not near as bad as I had dreaded!  The quilt is between a twin and queen so the size is what had me so worried!  When I sandwiched the quilt, I taped it down to the floor really well!  With duct tape :)  Then I used an entire can of 505 to spray baste it- told ya I was really scared it would wiggle or move.  :)  hehe!  Then I got the batting and top situated with spray, and then added pins to have an extra extra good hold of that minky.  

 Once it was all situated, I took it to the sewing machine and got to work!  I decided to quilt it to mirror the diamonds made by the colors.  I love the simplicity of it!  You can sort of (if you look really hard) see the design on the back a photo down.  

 The quilting...  The minky is the softest I have ever felt, and it gives the quilt a wonderful weight.  I love a quilt that's just a drop on the heavy side!

 All rolled up and ready to give to a sweet kiddo!!  So after so long, it is wonderful to have it done and to be able to see it being used!  Makes a quilter happy :)

Quilting for a Cause :)

As many of you know, Dyselxia lives at our house :) We are very involved with an amazing tutor and her center.  They are having a silent auction next week, in conjunction with a large conference, so I just had to do something :).  I told her I'd volunteer two items.  One will be a rosette necklace and the other I knew I would quilt.  I chose to make a wintery mini/wall hanging.  

It thought and thought about something that would last more months than just the holidays, and I adore snowmen, so JACKPOT!  I came up with the design out of my head and ran with it.  It's 14 inches square so it was perfect to try a few new quilting techniques:  pebbles (on the snow on the ground)

, zig zag and zig zag with swirls (on the hat), 

wavy lines (in the sky), spirals (in the eyes and button mouth),

large meandering (on the snowman body and stick arms).  

And I just couldn't resist some wooden heart shaped buttons for his belly :)  EEPPPPP!!

I also incorporated my love of embroidery with the Let it SNOW statement.  

I hope it helps the cause and brings in a good donation!  

 Only problem is, I wanna KEEP it :)!!!!