2012 Bee Blocks

Just a Quick rundown of the SD Bee blocks that I made in 2012.
For Amanda




For Barb



For Pam

For Jen

For Theresa

For Susan




For Sandi, although for some reason I only have a picture of half at the moment. I'll update when I've recovered from the plague.



For me

Jungle Links

A co-worker's wife is due any minute and while it has been impossible to get any useful nursery information from him, she stopped by the last day of work and mentioned monkeys on the walls. I got a great selection from Hawthorne Threads.

I used a block from Modern Blocks and managed to keep this one baby sized at a little over 41 inches square.




The book recommends flipping the bottom strip on the block to make them line up but I liked them offset. I also left off the pesky side strip and just put a 3 inch strip to sash. Hmm, and I cut the center squares larger. I guess i used it more as inspiration really.


I've got a green flannel for the back and probably will bind in hot pink. If my cold meds kick in then I might hike over to Pippi (my longarm) and get it quilted up today too. I suspect it will take as long to quilt as it will to load it.

Also I noticed that I blogged half as much this year and have 3 times as many followers now.  If I stop blogging altogether I would probably be crowned Empress of the World.  Since I'm not ready for that kind of fame, I will try to blog just enough to stay incognito.

I'm a Maker

I'm also a sleeper so didn't do proper photos. But I made a zippered pleated wristlet.


And look, there's proof of a great photo under the glass of my desk.

Making Plans

Our guild is taking part in the Madrona Road challenge with many other modern quilt guilds in the next few months.

Christmas Hot Pads / Trivets

I made these as a hostess gift in December. I meant to make more but got busy with life so these are the only two for now.

I pieced them directly to the batting and thermal layer, then straight line quilted with the backing on.

Front


And the backs

Donated Blocks for Sandy Relief

I volunteered to put together a quilt for Jen at Knotted Thread's call for quilts to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. I was sent 30 blocks from a variety of quilters and put together this quilt. Since everyone was working separately the blocks don't necessarily get along perfectly but it's a warm bit of comfort, I hope. I'll post separately about the extra quilt I managed too.




I quilted swirls all over which shows up well on the blue and green flannel backing. Amanda did the binding and attached the label so that I could get these done in time.





This quilt made possible through the generous support of Jim's garage.

Aurora Aloha

I got a round about request for a Hawaiian quilt for one of the families of the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting. I was surprised at how little Hawaiian fabric I had left in my stash. That was soon changed with a walk up to the fabric store near my house.

I did a disappearing nine patch pattern, finished size of 64 x 72. It's bright which I do like, of course.




I used the very last hula girl bit that I had. I stippled the quilt overall but did outline a few little bits.


The backing is flannel and I did have trouble finding Hawaiian flannel for some odd reason. I'm sure they need lots of flannel on the islands, right? I did the back half green and half blue.




The binding is another print that's mostly red.

It's labeled and washed, ready for hand off. Hopefully it brings a small bit of comfort to the family. This quilt made possible through the generous support of Jim's garage.

I'm Awake

It's pretty amazing. I think I was a combination of jet lagged and sick that knocked me down for so long after this trip. Possibly the African Sleeping Sickness, if there is such a thing.
I missed sewing though so I did manage to pull out the strips from the guild swap and make a version of the quilt that is on the back (or front I suppose) of my handy quilt size guide from Pink Chalk Fabric.




The top is finished and guarded well. It is an odd size though, wide but not long. I guess I can only use one size of the guide at a time.




I also started trimming the Spawn. These are the corners that are cut off this quilt. Which is now a finished top.
So from this stack...




To this pile...




To this...




You may not see a huge difference but sewing them together is like butter. Or eggplant because I prefer that over butter.

Give a Little Back

I am trying to give a little back when I travel these days. While visiting Hawaii I donated this one  to foster children through a quilt shop in Hawaii.

So the Saturday before I left for Turkey, I started a new project. Based on the backing fabric, I pulled a few fabrics and whipped up a zig zag quilt using a tutorial from crazymomquilts. I got the quilting done the Tuesday before I left (aka late the night before I flew out) so just had the binding and label to attach along the way. It's nice to have a little handwork to do on flights.


I finished the binding on the boat near Demre.


Resting on our hotel room porch in Cappadocia. The hotel owner promised to take it to the local children's charity for me.


With guild label attached so they would know how far it traveled.


This is some of the quilting detail. I left the colorful zigs mostly blank, just stitched near the seams. I alternated this swirl in the blue zags.


Extra bonus? The space it takes up in the suitcase on the way there can be used for bringing home gifts or fabric :)

Three and Four

I got in some supplies for some more circle zip pouches. These two are for my travel buddies.

And one from last week.

Oh and a fun little Madrona Road pouch.




I've also been trying some camera cases and what not. So that I can tske pictures of happy babies.

Circle-y Zippy Thing

I'd been meaning to try this headphone case tutorial for awhile and Sunday morning seemed like as good a time as any. I had a recipient in mind but when I pulled out a bin of scraps, this fabric begged to be used. I used my circle cutter to fussy cut the mermaid and then based my sizing on that for the rest of the pieces.




I used a pink scrap for the lining and tried to serge the inside edges but it turns out the serger doesn't like circles. So I just zig zagged the edges with the thread color in my regular sewing machine. It shows a little. Lazy usually does.



Anyway, it's been sent off as a back to school present although I suspect it will be pirated by a little someone.

Now I need more jump rings. And a smoother circle. Actually I have a few small changes planned for the next one.

I Mustache You to Have a Happy Birthday

My brother turned 40 last week so I made him a skull quilt from the Dare to be Square book by Boo Davis. Nice, right? Lots of scraps including bits from other family member's quilts.



But wait, there's more!! This is the quilt that has been making me giggle. Why?



Changeable facial hair!!!!!!








While I don't know many of the words, I also sang a lot of Jimmy Buffet's Pencil Thin Mustache while working on this one.  For those that want it stuck in their head - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGFRYI8ZfO4&feature=related

The backing is minkee and shows the diagonal quilting and the outline of the skull.



Super soft!


It ended up a nice 58 x 70 size.  And I also made a pillowcase to go along with it. To be really fancy, I used French seams.




Happy Birthday, Shad!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner*!

I mentioned I won a prize on the Finish Along. It arrived today from Swell Cloth Fabrics. It's an adorable Etsy shop and the lovely prize was a bundle of FMF. Pictured below with my Turkish friend.

What a fun prize, thanks Rhonda and Sarah! I'll be sure to start a new project ASAP!





Go check out her shop and then tell me what to name the Turk. It's a picture of a statue in a museum in Antalya, Turkey that I just had printed on canvas.


*just kidding on the chicken dinner, I had chicken at lunch.

Binding Away

I did a bit of binding at the guild meeting today. I don't always like to lug my machine up and it is much easier to chat with handwork.




Last meeting or so when I was up at Quilter's Paradise I bought a little blue box of Thread Heaven thread conditioner for my hand stitching and it's just great! The threads run smoother through the fabric and it doesn't tangle as much. I made it through 2 corners in the short time I was there so I count that as 50% done. It's the new math but anytime I finish a corner I call it a quarter done even if I start 10 stitches before a corner.

Note - these colors are truer than the last post. It's really a lovely collection.

Backing for Polka Dots Whirlygiggle

For the Polka Dot Whirlygiggle, I decided to pull put whatever dotted flannel I had around and see what I could come up with. So I went from this -




to this, note the pen and paper for math -



with some precise-ish cutting to this -



Which has just the right amount of overage to fit on the frame. Mostly. Sort of.