And another little dude...

I had one more little dude quilt to make...and finally got it finished!  It only took me a day to do it since I already had the blocks cut out from another project.  It's just the doing it.  

But, in my defense, I did break my right foot (5th metatarsal) and had to wear a boot for 6 weeks.  Yes, I can sew with my left foot on the pedal...but it's not the most fluent.

The photo below shows the quilt with the binding.  I absolutely LOVE binding with striped bindings!!  These quilts went to little cousins.  Both baby boys are my hub's cousin's grandsons.  Whooo...that was a mouthful!!

Since I was kind of out of commission for awhile with my foot, I've been mentally putting together several projects.  The FIRST is to organize my sewing room.  Now to just do it...

For a new little boy...

I did this one this past week.  Hub's cousin just had another grandson...so a quilt was in order!

This one also used fabrics from (gasp) my stash.  All the prints in here were used in 2 quilts I made for my granddude, Grant.  I just love the bright primary colors.

The design is Fishing Net by Suzy Quilts.  This baby size is 35" x 39".

I love the little caterpillars on the backing fabric.

I did all the quilting with the Dual Feed (aka...walking foot) that's attached to my Bernina sewing machine.  I love the straight, precise, quilting with this design.

And another!

Yes, I've been bitten by the QuiltingBug.  Is there a 12-Step Program??

My knitting has pretty much taken a back seat.  I've got a cardigan over 3/4 done.  I just need to finish the one front yolk section, block & seam...and then the button band/s.  Guess I've lost my knitting mojo.☹️

This one started out as just 'playing' with fabric.  I had the 5" charm pack sitting around for awhile.  When I saw this design, I knew it was perfect for what I had.  I even had the white background fabric.  This was another fun one...with nothing but HST (half square triangles).  Also easy to quilt, doing both FMQ and also using my (attached) Bernina Dual Feed (aka...walking foot).

Once completed, I decided to donate this throw size to Quilts For Cure.  This is my 2nd to donate.

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Christmas Quilt

I finally made a 'couch quilt' for my daughter, Kendra.  I used some of the same fabrics as the one I made several years ago for her hubs, along with some leftover from Marshall's quilt I finished last summer.  

This was another quick project.   Since there was absolutely NO matching of seams involved, I zipped right through the piecing.  It was also quick to do the FMQ.  I worked 1/2 (3 long panels) at a time.  Personally, I think I did a bit toooooo much quilting on it, but that's just me.

 Here you can really see the dense quilting.

 All spread out on my couch before I wrapped it.

And...there was enough for a pillow case, too.

I have (for ME) the exact same quilt design cut out and strips (somewhat) pieced...just needs subcut and pieced into strips.  I just couldn't bring myself to FMQ the exact same thing right away!  I actually had mine cut/started first, but put it away to make this for Kendra's Christmas present.

I've been busy...

...since my last post!

I've been busy watching my little princess/granddaughter.  She is now officially at a sitter full-time. She was ready.  I was ready.  But...I miss seeing her (almost) every day.

I've also been quite busy quilting.  I did one of Angela Walters (The Midnight Quilter) Quilt-A-Long (Glorious Dawn).  As you can see, there were a LOT of pieces...and sewing...but it was so worth the effort.  I worked like a mad-woman to get it completed.  I almost sent it out to my long-arm quilter but am so glad I decided to plunge forward and to the FMQ myself.  Yes, there are 'not so perfect' quilting lines, but it turned out beautifully, even if I must say to myself!

This quilt currently has a place of honor on my living room couch.

Finally...

It's DONE!  I've only had the fabric for a couple years.  This is for my older son for his couch.  He wanted something he could curl up with...and completely cover his body for when he takes his 'Friday after work' nap.  

I got it back from the long-arm quilter on Friday, sewed the binding on Saturday...and gave it to Marshall when he came for breakfast today.

My original plan was to do some sort of Drunkard's Path (my all-time favorite design), but it just wasn't working for me.  I defaulted to the easy (and much loved by me) Rail Fence.  It's a perfect design for those fabrics!!

 Pre-wash/dry

 There he is, holding up the long quilt next to his 6'3" body. 

 I love bindings that have some sort of a stripe to them.

Didn't take long to machine sew the binding.

The final hand sewing took 4 hrs. 10 min...but who's counting?!

Good thing for the NCIS marathon on tv!

Definitely one of my favorites...just love the colors he picked out!

...off to decide on my next quilt project.

It's DONE...

The little guy's quilt is done!!  What started out as a quilt for a twin bed at my house...turned into a full size for his house!!  Go figure...


I didn't have enough of the blue for the entire backing, so I put an 18" green piece off-center.  It looks like I planned it that way...not that I didn't have enough fabric!

I did all the free-motion-quilting in one day, then finished up the borders (straight stitching with a walking foot, not FMQ) and the binding the next day.  Good thing my 1st attempt/try at FMQ is for a 2 year old who won't notice!!

The next day I made 2 pillowcases, burritio method (only way I'll make them).  As soon as DD/SIL puts up his double bed, I'll deliver this to him.  He's currently (finally) sleeping in his toddler bed...so the crib is going back to the nursery for Baby #2's arrival next month.

All fabrics were purchased from fabric.com.  THIS is the pattern I used.

Sneak Peak...

Here's a little sneak peak of the quilt I'm making for our little granddude for when he's having a sleepover...or just napping...at our house.

Now if he'd just willingly use his 'BigBoyBed' at his house...rather than preferring his crib!!  He loves the piano/guitar quilt I made...just doesn't want to sleep in that bed!

Oh, the trials of a TWO year old...

New Bedding...

I had a LOT of fun this week!  The little dude is being transitioned into a toddler bed...and OUT of his (much loved) crib.

Since the 'big boy' room is going to be music themed, with a guitar and record albums on the wall (and there's a piano in their living room), I went with music fabric.  All fabrics were purchased from fabric.com.  The piano/guitar fabric was almost like a panel, and I 'fussy cut' to make it work.

 I had the entire quilt finished and was working on hand stitching the binding when I thought to send photos to my one sister.  I just couldn't come up with how to quilt around the piano keys and guitars. I think I just looked at it toooooo long, I couldn't see it.

 Low and behold...she came up with a brilliant idea!!  I stitched around the sets of black piano keys, then did a little zig-zag around the sections of the guitars.  I did this machine quilting after the quilt was completely done.  Perfect...

 I did a serpentine stitch on the straight areas (you can see in the photo) and did just a simple X and outline stitch around the rectangles in the center of the quilt.

 The fitted bottom sheet is the fabric with the cream background.  I'd never made a crib sheet before...oh what fun!!  The top sheet is out of the white background fabric and I put elastic on the bottom corners...and the piano/guitar fabric on the top edge.  You can see I used both panels for the pillow case, which was done 'burrito style' (the only way I'll make them anymore!)  Since his toddler bed takes a crib mattress, I photographed the above on the crib I have at my house.

Here's the little guy playing piano with his cars!!  He actually got a sneak peak of the quilt when we kidnapped him from the sitter mid-week.

Here's Grant after we delivered it.  He immediately put his head on the pillow and did a little fake sleep.  His dad got out a guitar and he had so much fun!!  Wonder if he'll actually give up his much loved crib to sleep in his 'big boy' bed!!

Now to patiently await the arrival of Baby#2 in mid-April...and find out if its another boy...or a little princess.

Start of another project...

It's time for another quilting project.  No, I haven't forgotten about my knitting!  I've got one sweater waiting patiently to be wet-blocked...and another I've finished the back.  No photos yet on either.

My older son, Marshall, has been 'requesting' a quilt for some time now (we're talking several years) so I thought it was time!

Here's a sneak peak...sorry, it's just a pile of fabric.  I've decided to NOT use the lightest gray in the stack.  It will be some variation of Druckard's Path, my favorite pattern.

More to come...

Pittsburgh Quilt Show

Thought I'd let you know about an upcoming quilt show this fall.  The Beaver Valley Piecemakers is a 100 member guild north of Pittsburgh PA.

Their 18th Annual Quilt Show is Oct 12th, 13th, and 14th.

The judge will be a National Quilt Association judge.

Here's a link to the show's information.

Hope to see you there!

It's Done

I got Darby's Couch Quilt done yesterday. The picture is on my chair but it will work perfectly for Darby's 'side' of the couch. Kendra's excited to get rid of the big (ugly, cheap) quilt she's been using.