It's a Hoot Auction Quilt

My sister is a first grade teacher and the school she teaches at needs a new playground. They put on a great fundraiser where they raised almost $10,000 for new playground equipment. She asked me if I'd be willing to make and donate a quilt for the cause. And who doesn't love a good cause!

My dear sister had given me the tumbler block AccuQuilt die for Christmas, and it seemed like a great time to try it out - I don't mind cutting fabric strips, but cutting shapes with a rotary cutter and mat always makes me dread the process of making a quilt! Worked like a charm! I used the entire line of Momo's "It's a Hoot" - all 37 fat quarters in this quilt.

(If you look really carefully, you'll see that the binding isn't quite finished in these pictures. I was under a time crunch and knew the quilt had to be finished by the next day. It had been raining for days, and more was in the forecast for the next day, so there was no way I was going to get an outside picture of the quilt. I brought it into work because the atrium is all windows and figured that even if it was cloudy, there would be enough light for a decent picture.)

As you can see from the little blue marker spots, the quilt was unfinished and  unwashed in these photos.

I love the way it turned out. And I hear it went to a good home!

Cathedral Window Pillow

I have been enamored with the Cathedral Window quilt pattern since I first got into quilting. I think it's amazing and lovely. I keep pinning more and more of them to Pinterest. Truth be told - it intimidated the crap out of me! 

I got some new furniture a couple of weeks ago and decided it was time to conquer my fear of the windows.

I was more successful at sewing it than at photographing it, I think!

Now that I've completed a project, I can see how this would be totally addicting. I like to have a hand sewing project going for those days when all I want to do is sit in front of the TV - but still be productive. It's sort of delicate, so it's hard to imagine using it as a quilt, but I'm contemplating a large wall hanging to go above my bedroom headboard.

Another UFO Completed!

Well, after not touching my sewing machine for nearly a year, I've managed to make some good progress in the last couple of weeks!

This quilt is for a coworker who recently had a baby boy. Her shower is this week, so I had a good solid deadline to spur me along. It's not one of my greater masterpieces, but it turned out pretty cute considering it was started over a year ago with scraps of blue that couldn't seem to find a home.

UFO Finished!

Since bringing the puppy home over a year ago, my sewing machine has been languishing in the office, sad and unused (just like this blog!). But after returning home from Hawai'i, I was motivated to get a few things done. Hoku seems to be fine for an hour or so (and by fine, I mean he isn't whining his head off begging me to play) just laying by the gate.

I started this quilt sometime in Oct/Nov 2011 for a dear friend who was pregnant with her second daughter. Several pieces of the fabric in the star have special meaning - one is a scrap from a pair of PJs, one is part of my friend's dress from sometime in the 80s. The changing pad is made up of the same fabrics in one inch squares.

I used the backing fabric to guide the hand-quilting on the changing pad. The front seemed too busy to be bothered with quilting, so I focused on the back. It seemed an interesting way to tie the front/back together.

The design is based on a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop:
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/01/star-light-star-bright-quilt.html

A Work in Progress

I had small scraps left over from a baby quilt, and decided to put them to use by making a coordinating diaper changing pad. Each square was 1.5 inches for a finished square of 1 inch. The fabric for the backing is a favorite from my stash - it doesn't necessarily match the  colors on the front patchwork, but I loved it so much, I decided to use it anyway.

I've been thinking of hand quilting one of my projects, but fear of failure has kept me from it. But I decided this was the one. And because I'm never one for convention, I decided the quilting would follow the flower patterns on the back of the quilt. The front has so much going on that it didn't seem right to do a fancy pattern on the front - and stitch-in-the-ditch didn't feel right, either. I've managed one flower. My stitches are far apart and not very even (and nearly invisible on the front), but I'm content with this as a practice piece.

Out of the Garden, Into the Sewing Room

A sneak peak at a new project:

Favorite State Fair Quilt

I'm nearly certain the colored pieces are recycled men's ties. Awesome!

Finished: Boys of Summer Quilts

The sun was out yesterday! I managed to get a couple of pictures of the two Boys of Summer Quilts after stuffing myself with Easter dinner.

I was totally inspired by all of the strip quilts over at Film in the Fridge. I'm not sure that I selected the best fabrics for these projects, but overall, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. If I had them to do over again, I'd definitely bind them with a solid color - maybe the brown or dark green?

My lovely assistant! Although the sun was shining, it was breezy and a little chilly!

The Boys of Summer Quilts

I've been so inspired by the strip quilts over at Film in the Fridge, that I had to try one out (OK, I actually made two! - it was just easier that way - I was already cutting strips!). Most of the fabric in these two quilts is called "Oxygen" from the Fall 2009 Studio E line. I mixed in a couple of batiks I had stashed on the shelf and think it looks rather lovely. I'm working on some straight line quilting now and hope to have the quilting finished up on one by tonight.

I have friends due with boys in May and July, so I think these will find very nice homes in a relatively short period of time.

In other news, it was gorgeous outside yesterday - near 55F, I think. I took a little walk around the soggy yard and am now convinced that Spring is in fact, right around the corner. There are buds on the rose bush, the rhubarb is popping up, sedum is showing its little heads, and tulips, crocus, hyacinth, daffodils and the like are all making their way up. Not everything made it through the winter with such grace - more on that later.

A Nasty Night

Rain. Sleet. Ice. Snow. Wind. Thunder. Glad I'm not on the roads.
My computer is at the doctor so I'm stuck posting via email. Not ideal, but I'm sure I'll survive.
Just a little something I'm working on. With all the sogginess outside, a little punch of color is much needed.