Busy Week

I made this bag for my sister to use as a lunch bag.  When I told her she was very hard to buy gifts for, she came up with some suggestions, one of which was a lunch bag.  I had this pattern for the "Button Bag" from This and That Patterns  so I used the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum charm squares to make it.  It was quick and easy to make - I think I'll make some more of these.

My quilt guild hands out a BOM each month and I try to make one or usually 2 of them.  This is the block for July and we will be putting them together to make a quilt for the Fisher House  that is being built near the VA Hospital in Dallas, TX.  All the guilds in the area are making quilts for the beds.  I think it is supposed to open in September.

I've been buying a lot of fabric lately...I can't help it...really!  This collection is going to be used in my Polka Dot Girls quilt.  I am working on the stitchery for the first block, but haven't had much time this week.

This fabric is for the A Tisket A Tasket wall hanging by Liberty Star that I admired at a quilt shop (check out the designers blog here.  My girlfriend bought me the pattern and 2 of the fabrics as an early birthday gift!  I got the 2 fabrics on the top at the Mesquite Quilt Show on Saturday.  I still need more pinks and browns for this project.
I'm busy today getting ready for my DS#3, DIL & new GS to arrive.  They are moving from the Naval Air Station where they were instructor pilots, to another Air Force Base where DS will be stationed.  My DIL will be a stay at home Mommy!  I just took a blueberry pie out of the oven and cooked some potatoes for potato salad.  More cleaning & shopping to do this afternoon.  Have a great weekend, everyone!  I can't wait until they (especially Jonah) get here!  My rocking chair is ready!

Why are weekends so short?

I can't believe it's Sunday night already!  This weekend just flew by, but I want to show you what I have started.  This is my first stitchery from the Polka Dot Girls quilt.  It is really fun to work on!

I also finished 2 BOMs:  Noah's Ark and Capricorn Quilts.

Yesterday I went to a small quilt show and found a few fabrics for the Polka Dot Girls quilt and other projects.  

Tomorrow I will take DH to the airport so he can go to help DS#3 move.  On Friday, DS, DIL & new baby will come here on their way to their new home, so I will get to see Jonah again.  I can't believe he's a month old already.  I can't wait to see him again!

My other GS wants me to make him a new quilt, so I will need to get fabric for that.  Have a great week!

Baby Shower Quilt

This baby quilt is made entirely from my stash and it isn't real "babyish."  I decided to use the fabric in the border because the mom & dad have 3 dogs and at least 1 cat, so I know they are animal lovers.  I bought the fabrics several years ago and wanted to use it.  I had no idea if it would turn out or if I would like it.  When it was ready for quilting, I decided to do an overall design and I had this clam shell stencil - which I had never used.  I started tracing it with a tracing pencil and after tracing it once, my hands were tired and I didn't want to do the whole quilt that way.  So I decided to go out and purchase a "quilt pounce."  The top of the quilt is quite busy, and the quilt pounce chalk didn't really show up too well, but at least it was easier than using a pencil.  While doing the free motion machine quilting, I remembered what Bonnie Hunter said in her 6/10/08 blog post.  She was quilting by hand on a particular quilt and she found it easier to quilt it from the back.  Since the back of the baby quilt is predominantly black (an odd color for a baby quilt), the chalk showed up a lot better and I finished it from the back.

Here's the back view.  It has cats scattered on black.  The binding and green in the top of the quilt is balls of yarn and goes with the backing fabric.
Don't look too closely at the quilting job.  I'm about to give up on doing free motion quilting.  This was a pretty simple quilt pattern, but I still had a hard time staying on the lines.  
Here's a close-up of the border.  This is my favorite part of the quilt.  I love the pet shop!  This is the first time I have ever done a mitered border.
So, for better or worse, this is the shower quilt.  I guess I'm somewhat satisfied with it and hope she likes it.  It certainly is a baby quilt made to be used, dragged and played on.

Another Squirrel Story

Before I go into the squirrel saga, here is my latest stitchery from Capricorn Quilts.  I did the first 4 in blue and decided to do the next 4 in red.  I have the next one ready to start stitching on after I finish the little kangaroo stitchery for the Noah's Ark wall hanging.  That is almost finished (I worked on it while watching Miss Potter last night).

I have 3 pots hanging on the fence in the back yard.  In the summer, I usually put geraniums in the pots (or impatiens) and in the winter, pansies.  As you can see, in the picture below, the squirrels seem to enjoy these pots.  The tree behind the fence is an oak tree and we get tons of acorns in our yard.  The squirrels like to save acorns for future meals, and they found a good place to bury them  - my flower pots.  About a month ago I planted some geraniums in the pots so it would look pretty for the summer.  I would come home from work to find one (or more) of the geraniums on the ground.  Sometimes they pull it out by the roots, sometimes it looks like they chew it off.  I give up!

It looks like he's chewing on the pot in this picture!
This is how my yard looks now.  Empty pots!  I decided to leave them up so the squirrels can play in them.  They seem to enjoy it and we kind of enjoy watching the mischievous little rascals.  
Today I am finishing up a baby quilt for a shower tomorrow.  I will post it when it is finished. I'm not sure I like it or not. 

A couple projects

Last weekend I finished up this small quilt and Monday I took it to my quilt guild meeting where I turned it in for donation to the Children's Medical Center.  These blocks were made by various members of my guild and I won them in the drawing for that particular month.  I got enough to make a quilt.  I hope it gives comfort to someone.

Here's another BOM from Lynette Anderson Designs.

Go to her web site to sign up for a new free pattern drawing.  Or you can download her Noah's Ark patterns.  This one is the third and she added the kangaroo stitchery recently.

There is another drawing at Canton Village Quilt Works.  This one is a really special prize - she will quilt for FREE a quilt up to twin size!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!  

A stitchery block

I was planning to post this sooner, but I don't know where the time goes.  This is one of the blocks from capricorn quilts .  

I have another one finished but forgot to take a picture of it, so I will try to post again soon.  I tried to load three more pictures now, but they wouldn't load.  :-(

Go to Lynette Anderson Designs  to sign up for a free pattern drawing.

I had another picture on this post, but just lost it, so I will try again later.  Hope you have a good day!

Doll Quilt

I finished the doll quilt that I was making for my niece's little girl.  I hand pieced the flowers, appliqued them to the muslin and hand quilted around them.  Then, I kind of cheated and just folded the backing forward for the binding.  I don't usually do that, but wanted to get this finished faster (I guess).  Anyway, it's done and I think it's pretty cute!  I wouldn't mind keeping it, but I won't.

This morning I got up kind of early for a Saturday because I wanted to do a little yard work before it gets too hot.  When I was in front of my house, I heard some cheeping and I followed the sound.  It was coming from the hanging basket in front of my house!  I went to grab my camera and I did see the mama bird land on the basket and go inside.  The cheeping stopped!  I tried to get a picture of the nest, but it didn't work.  Maybe I will get a step stool later...Then, as I went past my front door (inside), I looked out again to see if I could see the mama bird - it's a house wren, I think.  I saw a huge bird standing in the street.  I grabbed my camera again and went out.  He was still there, so I sat down on my steps leading down to the sidewalk and waited.  I saw why he was there - a dead baby raccoon.  Slowly, he made his way over to the raccoon and starting doing what vultures do - I will spare you those details.  I looked in my bird book again and he is a black vulture.  That's pretty much excitement for one morning!

Hope you have a good weekend!  I'm hoping to get some cleaning and projects accomplished.

A Week with Jonah

We spent a wonderful week with our DS, DIL and new grandson, Jonah!  He is such a sweetheart!  We are so thankful for the birth of a healthy baby.  Here he is wrapped up in the airport quilt I made him.  Mom & Dad didn't get a lot of sleep, but they are having to feed him more often until he gets back to his birth weight.  We can't wait to see him again when they come to visit on their way to their new home at the end of the month.  It will be fun to see how he has grown and changed.

I had some spare time (between cooking & doing dishes) to do some quilting.  I got this charity quilt quilted.  Now I just need to put the binding on.  I also worked on some stitchery while traveling back & forth and some paper piecing for my grandmother's flower garden lap quilt that I am working on.
Today it was back to the grindstone.