Bento Box for Quilts for Kids

Sunday I completed nine 12-inch blocks for a Quilts for Kids top. Here they are up on the design wall. Not that pretty...but I guess it'll do. I wanted to use up the Butterfly fling jelly roll - that doesn't make for a cohesive design strategy :)

Man! My sewing room looks terrible doesn't it? It looks even worse on the other side where I've been cutting and throwing stuff in a pile. I think I've made 4 quilts without putting up the scraps and fabric. I didn't used to be this sloppy did I? I suppose I'm trying to cram too much in and not making time for maintenance.

Of course I say that and I think -- but I want to finish this Quilts for Kids pair and mail them off this week....and I want to make Jessica's tree skirt by Thanksgiving. I think I should just stop and clean up enough to get the cabinets to close behind my 'design wall.'

Check out JudyL's blog to see what other quilters are up to this week.

Yellow Submarine Quilting Finished!

Its so beautiful! Margaret at Three Bears Quilting did an amazing job!

I took a few pictures last night but I'll get some more with decent light when the binding is complete.
The quilting on the background and blooming nine patch is perfect.
I love the flower power daisies and LOVE!
LOVE again - but I shot the picture badly.
A custom designed peace symbol for the front hatch!

A beautiful motif of swirling musical notes!

The back is perfectly aligned and looks great!

It is beautiful! Emily will be overwhelmed. I want to show it to the world....but I guess I need to bind it. :D

The wool batting turned out great! Its fluffy and breathable and light. Shows the quilting so well! Its turned out so beautiful because of the quilting. I was proud of it before....but now its truly exceptional!

We had some bubbly with Margaret and Johnny to launch the submarine. So glad that its almost in Emily's hands.

Two Tops with 3 Bears

I finished up the Spring Log Cabin last week and took it to Margaret on Friday. Was a real learning experience on using lengthwise grain of fabric. Since there is no give and no easing, strips that are lengthwise grain have to be on top of crossgrain pieces so the feed dogs can ease in fullness. Even if they're exactly the same size, the feed dogs have to be on the crosswise because you'll lose 1/4" or so in a 15" strip if its reversed. That said, I really like using lengthwise grain....very predictable results.

The Spring Log Cabin is so bright that we're worried Judy won't like it. I'd like to keep it if she doesn't.

I quilted the Quilts for Kid piece and bound it using my sewing machine. I plan to piece a bento box quilt out of the Butterfly Fling jelly roll strips to send with the one made from their material. Hopefully I'll start that tonight.

Margaret said the submarine quilt was going on the frame on Saturday....but I think she's a little intimidated. I hope she'll just got for it....I'd like to get that one bound.

Spring Log Cabin

Worked all weekend on the Spring Log Cabin for Judy. Its a beautiful quilt....but I think I have to make another 5 blocks. 80x80 doesn't really fit a bed. 80x96 is more like it. I have just enough scraps to do it I think. I expect it will take me working every night this week to knock out another 5 blocks. Its been surprisingly slow going really. I guess its the 16 inch blocks - whew! need to put this quilt top in Margaret's hands soon or she's going to hate me....if she doesn't already.

Pieceful Weekend

This past weekend I was able to piece and baste the Quilts for Kids top. I've also cut about a third of the pieces for Judy's Spring Log Cabin. I hope it will be as beautiful as the photo. I want to cut the rest of the pieces before the weekend so I can just sew. Since Margaret agreed to do the quilting for me - I feel I have to get her the top soon. I should be ashamed to even ask for such turnaround! I'll have to agree to do something for her in return - she's way too good to me.

Projects for October

I did meet the quilt group challenge for the month and I've already met the group challenge for November by finally basting the cotton boll top! YEA!

How I did for October (vs. plan):

Finish Up Jobs:

Hex quilt binding -- nope - ruler never came

Ongoing Projects:

Finish yellow submarine top -- yes!!

1 more poinsettia appliqued -- Yes

Piece 3 poinsettias for next month -- Yes

Prepare for Quilter:

Yellow Submarine top & backing -- handed over October 30th

Bunny Quilt & backing - Margaret is afraid to do it

Hand Baste:

Cotton boll - Done!

New Piecing Projects:

Mug mats - Nope

Christmas Tree Skirt for Jessica - Nope

Not too bad really :)

Quilts for Kids Kit

Received my first Quilts for Kids kit in the mail yesterday. Linda sent it out the same day maybe since I signed up on Monday. The kit is really cute.

Its a four-patch quilt and the plain blocks, strips and borders are already cut for me. I think I could knock the top out in a couple of hours one evening. Its so exciting to think of preparing a quilt so quickly and for a good cause! I'll ask Margaret if she's got any batting scraps I can piece together for these quilts. For the moment I'm sure I have something I can use. I want to get two of these pieced and quilted in the next month. Maybe I can do a couple in an x-blocks pattern.

Yellow Submarine Top & Back Complete!

Whew! It took me all day Sunday to finish it up. The top was complete for the quilt meeting and Maria very kindly said it was the best thing I'd ever done.

I was upset by the rippling between the top border and the center panel. I ended up ripping it out and resewing it after extensive measuring and trimming. I have a feeling that Margaret will be able to tell me why its slightly off....but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter.

The back was exhausting but fun and unique to see finished.

The quilt is certainly not perfect, but I have to admit, I'm proud of it. It is so inspiring to meet with other people and discuss our work and challenges. I get a lot of forward momentum from it.

The challenge for next month is to have the Cotton Boll basted....maybe accepting the challenge will be what it takes to get the ball rolling on that one at last!

Quilt Plans and Hosting Bee Saturday

Had a very productive meeting with Margaret last Friday. Pretty much scrapped my all-over current lines over the submarine. She had some really cool patterns to use and thinks she can even out the slight lumpiness caused by the fusible. Tonight I'll trim and sew the borders on and try to finish the backing and take a photo.

She's also pretty adamant that she doesn't want to tackle the bunny quilt. I'll either have to hand quilt it or have Sarah do it. Very bummed. I love the way Margaret goes around applique.

I'd like to try to do a reproduction of a battered Baltimore Album Quilt. I wonder if there are people out there who are looking for someone to recreate a battered beauty?

I'm hosting Maria and Cathy on Saturday. We had a mini-challenge to each battle our current design/execution humps with a project. Maria has to get past the tree design issues in her mountain lake photo, Cathy has to put the leaves on her 11th bunny block and I've got to finish the sub top. Since I'm still working on mine, I've got lots of sewing to do tonight!

Visit to Three Bears

I am planning a visit to 3Bears tomorrow to talk about my Yellow Sub quilt. Margaret & Johnny have just finished a weekend of training up in Virginia that specifically addresses applique quilts. I can't drop off the quilt for quilting because my back's not ready and because I'm not ready :) I also want to look at the bunny quilt one more time and prepare that backing.

Blooming Nine Patch Border

Finished the border sections for the Yellow Submarine over the weekend. Working under the influence of pain pill was a real challenge - made huge errors and had a rip out a bunch. We laid the middle section and the two borders out on the bed and I got Connie to climb up on the chest of drawers to take a photo. I want to add a few more bubbles...but this is essentially it.

Yellow Sub Progress

Exciting seeing it come together. After piecing the whole bottom blooming nine patch, I realized it would only be 84 inches long. I decided to open the piece up in two places and put in 2 more strips....each with purple batik substitute squares for the frog print. This will hopefully extend the border to 95 inches or so.

Yellow Submarine Quilt

Major progress on this quilt last night. Pieced the strips for the blooming nine patch dark side. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Tonight I plan to sew the strips together and then to the center section. Maybe I'll piece what I can on the the light side blooming nine patches too. It makes me crazy that I can't see or get my hands on that yard of fabric Judy is giving me for my birthday! I need to know if its going to work as is or if I need to buy something else.

I'm getting truly excited about this one coming together. I'm already thinking of putting the back together with a long strip of Beatles portraits off center. I want to make a pillow case to store it in. I'm at the momentum point in a quilt plan where everything is pretty much decided and little lagniappe ideas start creeping in.....like doing the sides wavy or what colors to bind the sides (dark green, jade batik and medium ocean blue? all three!!). I'd like to add one more row and I have everything but a block of the dark blue-green dark....but maybe I can just throw in something similar or slightly off . It would still look good - only quirky -- maybe even a specially pieced Beatle. The possibilities are endless - to quote a famous quilter :)

First Post

After getting very inspired by reading other quilters' blogs, I decided that I want to document my own quilt work. My memory has become cheesecloth since I turned 50, how else will I remember my quilt design issues and decisions without a journal of some kind? Nobody needs to read it but me. I've got photos on Flickr of completed quilts, but I've never recorded work in progress before. Should be interesting :)