Secret Santa Swap Open for One More Week......and finished for friday sneak peak

I have been so busy.....super busy! I finished a quilt I have been working on all summer long last night and packaged it ready to send off. I have made many quilts and given all away accept for one and with each one, you feel a since of sadness to give it away but joy at the same time. 

This quilt I finished was not exception. The idea came about over a year and a half ago, then finally developed from an image in my mind to the real thing. It is my all time favorite one yet and I mean that with all my heart. It is truly my most proud accomplishment in my quilting. I hope I can show you full views next week, but here is a sneak peak.

This is the last week to sign up for the secret santa soiree swap. Please help me get the word out so no one is left out. It happens each and every year, the swap closes and I get emails with folks wanting to join. I hate to turn anyone away.

You will find the swap link HERE to sign up and if you can grab a button from this post, help me get the word out. If you have not filled out your questionnaire, please do so and forward it back to me, they have all been sent out so check your emails and spam folder.

Have a great weekend! Mine is packed......as usual! Today, I am linking in with Crazy Mom Quilts for finished for Friday.

Baby Girl Quilt ~ Baby Lattice Quilt Pattern

My husband most of the time happily does his part in the quilting process. You know what I mean, he holds the quilts up high in the air until his arms hurt and muscles burn from me taking too long to take a picture. What?? you don't know what I am talking about?? Oh...come now!!!

There is a girl who works in his office having a baby in a couple of weeks, and he sorta mentioned earlier in the summer maybe I could make her a quilt for her new baby. It was a subtle hint, but I picked up on it right away.

I was happy to do it for her. One of the things that made this one so fun for me as the colors she had chosen for her nursery were colors that are not in my typical colors I often work with.

Now, not knowing the lady personally, I was not sure what she might like. I sent my husband several styles of quilts via text to get an idea on her taste. He then, showed the pictures to her mom and we came up with this quilt. It is a nod to traditional quilt blocks in a way and that is what the new mom likes.

My husband sent me a picture via phone of the fabrics she used in her nursery. The colors were pink, bright green and the teal blue. In fact, hard it it is to believe, the fabric used for the name is the exact fabric she was using in the nursery bedding.  The pattern for the quilt is Baby Lattice Quilt and the pattern can be found on the Moda Bakeshop website. 

I added a border that changed it up a bit from the original pattern. I wanted to add the babies name to the quilt border, so I added diamond cornerstones in each corner. I love how this quilt turned out. 

Here is a close up of the quilting. The teal blue thread was used and it is just adorable on this quilt. (click photo to enlarge and get a better look)

I posed a question on facebook about the backing when I was trying to choose a backing fabric. I had this fabric in my stash, but only had enough for ONE quilt. I love this fabric, and was torn between using it, as it was perfect for this quilt or hanging on to it for a maybe project one day. I decided to use it, and love, love, love it.

I added the binding using Sweet Divinity stripe by Riley Blake. I am proud of this quilt, and can not wait to  hear what the mom says  when  my husband gives it to her.

Baby quilts are so much fun to make. I can't help but think about how precious a new little life is and all the things that are sure to come for the whole family. Best wished Brittany, as you welcome your new little girl to your family, babies are such gifts from above.

**Last night, Brittany sent a photo by text of the quilt in the new nursery. She had it draped over the bed along with her bedding. It was really special and fun to see how it worked in her nursery. 

It really does look so good with her colors. I was so excited to see the photos and happy that she loved the quilt. 

The colors are so rich and vibrant and really lovely for a baby girl. I have seen a lot of baby bedding in these colors this summer, so I am guessing it is the popular color scheme right now. I am really glad I used that wonderful fabric for the backing....it really was perfect in every way.

This is one of my very favotite quilts to date. This pattern was fun and easy, and it used up a lot of 5" charm squares I have aquired in various swaps online. I was fortunate enough that I had so many prints in my stash that worked in the colorway I needed for this quilt. This pattern may be my new go-to for future baby quilts. I really love the finished design and feel. I am excited for baby Blake to make her grand entry into the world very soon!

Summer 2013 ~ Graduation Quilts Part Two

Today, I want to show the other two graduation quilts I made this summer for a couple of special graduates. You may recall the other graduation quilt I post about this week, well, these two recipients graduated from the same town, just from a different high school. In fact, they were a part of the very first graduating class from Centennial High School which is also in Burleson, Texas. Both of these girls are cousins and daughters to my long time best friends in High School.

I chose the chevron pattern for these quilts. The design is trendy, and very popular among many this year as you see in in everything from home decor to clothing. I was in hopes these two young girls would love the pattern and not thing it too old fashion.

The purple and white chevron quilt was made for Victoria. I did not make it in her high school colors but instead made it in her new college colors.

I thought it would be great to take with her to her new dorm. Here is a close up of the quilting.

Here is a snapshot of the backing. I did not piece the backings on these quilts, but found a cute fabric that coordinated with the front.

Since these quilts had a lot of white fabrics up against such dark colors, I prewashed all the fabrics first before cutting and sewing together. I found that worked out better than I thought it would. However, I am still on the fence about doing it all the time.

Here is Victoria with her quilt. She is so cute and such a sweet girl. It was so much fun thinking about the bright future she has coming her way!

Victoria is off to Abilene Christian University this fall and is going to be a nurse. Best wishes to her and all that lies ahead in the coming year!


The second Chevron quilt was done in the Centennial School Colors. This quilt went to Brenna and I love this quilt done in the blues. 

I chose blue fabrics, one of them has a little darker coloring in it. I did not put any black in this quilt, which may be in the original school colors, but used a darker blue in its place. I thought to use black, but it was too harsh with all the white.

Here is the quilting in this quilt, I love how it turned out. If you have made one of these chevron quilts, you know how many half square triangles are in these quilts. Let me say, if you turn one the wrong way when putting the top together, it makes for a lot of resewing! ahem.....

Here is the back of Brenna's quilt. And the fabric with the darker coloring is that stripe on the right. I loved that piece of fabric.

Here is Brenna with her quilt, she was surprised over the weekend with her quilt and look how cute and happy she looks. Brenna is going to Tarrant County College ~ Trinity River  Campus and has a bright future ahead of her as well. Best wishes to Brenna and all that the future holds for her as well.

It was a lot of fun to make these two quilts for two special girls. Both of them are daughters to my long time best friends in High School. I was happy to be able to do that for them as their gift for graduation and give them something that they can keep for years to come. 

 I loved that there was a pattern for the chevron print and a design that was so popular this year.  I think it might always date the quilt back to around this time in the future and the year these two girls graduated from high school. 

Summer 2013 ~ Graduation Quilts Part One

Yes, I know the summer is almost over, and honestly any quilt that was a graduation gift for 2013 should have already been presented to its recipient. However, with my surgery this year, and other circumstances beyond my control, I am just now getting these to the special graduates. This post is part one of these quilts, I will have another post up this week.

This quilt was for my nephew. He graduated from my old High School, Burleson High School in Burleson, Texas. The school colors are red and black. (as always photos are click able for detail image)

I chose to make a string quilt using red, black, gray and white fabrics in the different colorways and shades. I have seen lots of string quilts without borders, but I decided to add borders to this one. I love the scrappiness of all the strings.

My long arm quilter, Joanne used a modern quilting pattern on this quilt, and I love it! It fits perfectly with the feel of the quilt. Joanne is wonderful about choosing the perfect quilting designs and does a fabulous job. It is so wonderful to send your quilt out to be quilted and know the person working on your quilt will not make mistakes with your work. It is a wonderful feeling.

This is a very modern backing, I liked the fabric well enough to use on the back and it really does bring it all together.

In the border, I off set the smaller string blocks on opposite edges, I really love how this one turned out. It is hard to find a design for a guy, and I think this one turned out really great for my nephew.

Here is my nephew, Keaton with his quilt. We went to dinner last night and I gave him his gift. He is off today to another state for the next chapter in his life. We wish him well in the months ahead. He is smart and so handsome and he will do well. We love you Keaton!

I have made a lot of quilts, and this is one of my very favorites. Maybe it reminds me of my old high school days a bit with all the red and black.....not sure.....but I love it and when you really fall in love with something you create it is a little hard to wrap it up and give it away! Luckily, it is going to a family member who I know will cherish it!

Baby Quilt Finish - It's the little things!

I have been busy working on several quilts the last few weeks and have several finishes and a couple of almost finishes. This one is one I can share with you now, but more will be coming in a few weeks.

One of my co-workers had a baby the first of this month and I wanted to make him and his wife a baby quilt. I quizzed him for several weeks on what colors they used for the nursery, as to baby gender and every thing in between. He was totally clueless as to where all of these conversations were going.

This is the top of the baby quilt I made for him and his wife. I ran out of  time to send it off to the long arm quilter, so I just straight line quilted it myself. It was far from perfect and this was the first time I pre-washed the quilt before giving it to the couple. It dried up all soft and crinkly, and helped hide the imperfections but most of all they loved their quilt. 

This is the back, my husband said he liked the back better than the front, I just laughed, as I totally expected him to say that! The picture below is the basting and using these neat plastic thingies on the end of straight pins. I ran out and still had to use safety pins to baste the quilt together.

My place of employment never does anything in regards to employee relations and I asked if I could do something for him after he came back from the birth of his son. I got the approval, and took up a collection from the other employees and put a little something together for him and he was totally surprised. I made a three layer diaper cake that included a gift card from everyone along with cute little baby things as decorations. We served muffins, donuts, cinnamon pretzels, cupcakes and we had a fruit tray. Baby boy napkins and the gifts served as the decorations. It was well received and he was really surprised and appreciated everything we did.

Everyone who knows how I do things would not believe how scaled down this event was, but it was not my choice, I knew if I over did things, (the way I would have wanted to do) it very well could have been the last special anything I would be allowed to do at work. It was most difficult to do it on a low level!

However, his expression and gratitude made me feel that I had done the right thing in organizing this to mark such a special occasion. His words spoke volumes to me, he said, "When someone does something for you and you absolutely expected nothing, it means the world and touches your heart so much." 

So for my finishes for 2013, I can add this not so perfect baby quilt, which was perfectly loved and appreciated so very much. It is the little things that have the most impact!

Jubilee Quilts - A Timely Finish......or Not!

The year I turned 50.....the year I decided to make a Jubilee Quilt. Well, not just one Jubilee quilt, but two actually. I started working on these a couple of weeks after turning 50 Last March, and worked on the blocks following the Barrister Block Sew Along each month. I know I have mentioned this fact about my quilting before, but I so love the actual construction of quilt blocks, one by one. However, it is in the actual construction of all the blocks into a finished top where I lose focus.

I posted about completing this top back in February. To date, it is still not off to the long-arm quilter. I fully intended to have it quilted and bound by today, but alas, it just did not happen.

I really do love the Farmers Wife blocks and this is a favorite to date of mine. So once this one was finished, I started working on the layout of the second set of blocks, which were all Christmas fabrics.

This is what I ended up with on the setting of the blocks. Using Kona Snow, these are set a bit differently that the other quilt. The blocks finished up at 9 inches. It is hard to imagine that the same blocks, using different fabrics and a different setting can make such a drastic difference.

In all actuality, I was on course to finish my goal of completing these two quilt tops by today, my 51st birthday, but life seemed to have different plans. My husband was hospitalized the first weekend in March and was in ICU. He is better now, and doing much better, but things certainly came to a screeching halt around here. And all that really is not as important as you think they are  has been sorta put on hold.  

I told myself this morning, that in truth, I did not start this process until about two weeks after my 50th birthday so if I want to look at it that way, I still have about two weeks to get the top put together. That is, if I can stay focused, remember I said I have a problem with that step of the quilting process.

I have had some bricks cut in the same Christmas fabrics with the intention of using them in another quilt. I think those are going to be turned into the outer border followed by a 2.5 inch border of Kona Snow to finish this top up. I really love how this one turned out as well and so glad I kept up with the process that took a whole year to complete...ahem....almost complete.


Side-note: I know I have been a bad hostess the past month and never got any links up for Vintage Thingie Thursday. I will try and have that back starting next week. I have just not been up to blogging at all....and that is really not like me to just leave ya with no explanation.

Are You Kidding.....???????

When I sat down at the sewing machine this morning, I was certain I'd finish all the sashing for this quilt. I had all the strips cut and ready to go. Once I started sewing and cutting, I soon discovered this......

See how the left side is a little incomplete?? Yep, true....I am out of that pink sashing fabric. I started with 3 yards and really thought it was enough.....nope.....4.25 inches short. **Good Grief**

I had looked for this same pink fabric from the Sweet Divinity by Riley Blake on line a couple of weeks ago and there were several shops that had some still in stock.....tonight.....after much searching...I found one shop that had it......ONE.....I ordered two yards. I know it is more than what I need, but I have not decided on binding or if I need extra borders or not.....better safe than sorry.

What do you think?? Does this need borders or just let it stand on its own? If I scrap the border idea, what to use for the binding??.....as always decisions, decisions....and please tell me I am not the only one to get this far in a quilt and discover one has used up all the fabric they had on hand and not having enough to finish. Please tell me I am not the only one to have to frantically search online for fabric to finish.

On a side note: my husband said I had plenty of pink fabric, just find something I had in the closet that sorta matched and use that.....um.......thanks, but NO........that will not do!  :-)

I can not believe I ran out of fabric, and more, how much of that pink Sweet Divinity fabric it took for the sashing.....I am going to go sew that last that I have into sashing now, and wait till the end of the week to finish all the sashing strips. It is almost the end of January, and this is not finished, and the other quilt has not even begun to be put together or finished. My goal is to finish both by my Birthday in March....I don't know about making it....I am sure gonna try.....after all, I did not spend the whole last year piecing blocks for both of these Jubilee quilts to stall now at the finish....I have got to get busy!

Sewing In January....and a lot of cutting too!!!

I have been so busy sewing and trying to get things done that is on my to do list for 2013. First, and foremost is to not start any new projects until the ones I have sitting get completed.....or at least near completed. I did however sneak in a couple of projects in December that would carry over onto the "to-do" list for 2013.  One of those projects was to sign up for the Winter White Friendship Block exchange, I talked about it HERE.

I cut into that fabric and constructed a block to see if it was going to work in regards to size and pattern. I have to admit, I worried, fussed, ripped and worked on this one block more than I do believe I have ever worked on a block before. I told ya' I was worried about joining a swap like this, so I stressed over this one!

But I did manage to get all the fabric cut, and the middle section sewed together on the other eleven blocks and this will most likely be ready to send off to Lala towards the end of the week.

I do hope it fits well with the other blocks and hope it reads winter to others besides myself. The unfinished block measures 9.5 inches. The block itself blends with the design wall fabric...but I think you can see that cute swirl white on white in the photo.

I did save the bonus triangles from cutting the blocks....I may have to sew these tiny things together into squares and maybe use them in the quilt...believe me, they are small.

Here is my sewing table....some of the winter blocks are still sitting waiting to be sewn together, those strips are going to be the sashing for one of my Jubilee quilts. I did two of the jubilee quilts, one in Christmas fabrics and one in fabrics I loved from my stash.

I had both of the quilts on my design wall, but had to remove the Christmas blocks and work on one at a time. I am ready to sew the sashings together and cut the corner stones and assemble this one. I also need to finish the other one, and have them done by my birthday in March. Both of these will be my Jubilee Quilts, both made the 50th year of my life. I love how they are looking finally all together on the design wall, and want to thank Randy over at Barristers Block for the great sew along this past year.

Lastly, here is my Easy Street quilt which is the new Mystery by Bonnie Hunter. I have everything cut and ready to sew. Part one is on the right, all done and now just need to get started on the rest. I did not use Bonnie's colors, as you can see, so I am excited to get a little further along on this and see how it all comes together. It is rather difficult to see all the progress on this quilt by others and realizing I just could not keep up the pace during the holidays this year. But I will work on it a little by little and get this one done this year.

I have a few other blog post I need to get done this week, and try and get back on a schedule. I have lacked time and motivation for several weeks.....need to get over that slump and get back to what I enjoy doing....just wish I had a little more time in each day and wish I felt a little younger with a lot more energy!!

Have a great week everyone!!!