Two Finished Quilts

Well, it rained most of the day on Friday and I was able to finally get some tops quilted and finished since there was no thunder and lightning.  These will go into the box to be sent off to the Wrap Them in Love Foundation.  This great group has a mission to collect donated quilts and distribute them to children around the world, so they can be wrapped in love and comfort.

The first quilt finish uses blocks that I won in the Sunshine Quilt Guild’s block lottery – the color scheme for that month was red/white/black.  I’m sure an older child will appreciate these more sophisticated colors.  The back is black and white polka dots.  I took the pic when the binding was still pinned, but it's done now.

This quilt fulfills two of my 2011 Challenges:

   First, it was number 18 on my list for Judy Laquidera's UFO Challenge from her Patchwork Times blog.  I had more than 12 to put on a list so I doubled up and #18 was across from #6 which is the number she selected for January - I have already finished my #6 - read about it in this post.

  And Second, it is #3 of my 11 in 11 Challenge for WTIL - I'm making progress on making 11 quilts for that group this year.

Photo when almost finished

Detail showing polka dot backing

The second quilt finish was made with some fabric that I received when a dear lady passed away.  I fussy-cut some of the whimsical animals and framed them in the Attic Windows setting.  The borders have butterflies in the same colors.  The backing is an orange tone-on-tone.  A younger child is sure to latch on to this cute top that is soft and cuddly, even if it doesn’t photograph well (the camera operator, I’m sure)!

This is #4 for my goal of making 11 quilts for the 11 in 11 Challenge for WTIL.  Woohoo!

 

Detail with backing showing

View from the Attic Windows

The Attic Windows blocks are growing.  They still need the hot pink sashing and then borders and then maybe I'll have to put out a sunglasses alert because it will be so bright!  The cute kiddie fabric is from Helen's stash at Wrap Them in Love.  I had the blue fabric on hand and scored the matching orange and pink at wal-mart at 50% off (yep, our store's fabric section is going out of business, too) - this is the thicker, better fabric and I'm going to miss the wal-mart prices on that.  I've heard that in some areas of the country people have been successful at petitioning to have the fabric sections put back in the stores, but that is unlikely around here.  Oh, well. 

Had to shut down due to thunderstorms with lightning in the area - can't take a chance on the surge protector failing and being without my sewing machine ...  more Attic Windows tomorrow (or later today if the weather clears).

Progress to Date

Detail 1

Detail 2

Third of the Triplets is Done

The third of the triplets is now a finished top.  I though I was going to have fraternal twins, but it turned out there were enough blocks to make 3 children's tops.  One is a finished quilt that went in the box to WTIL already and here are the next two:


1 of 3
Donated Already
I've been playing with cropping-
haven't gotten it right yet!




2 of 3



3 of 3

Each has a little different personality.  This is the last of the blue/white blocks and I will finish quilting these two to complete the January challenge.  I'm already looking forward to the February color selection.

Meanwhile, I have started fussy-cutting some blocks for an Attic Windows top - here's a sneak preview (the colors aren't accurate - I'm better off taking photos in daylight):

Another Finish and a Surprise

I finished quilting another one of *M*'s tops to send off to the Sunshine Quilt Guild for Rotoplast.  This one was made of flannel and is extra bright and extra huggable!

 Detail showing the (ahem) sunflower that looks like funky chicken feathers instead - and that's the backing and binding that appears on the left.

And while I was quilting yesterday, my husband called me to look at the surprise visitor to our backyard.  We see quite a few of these small Florida deer this time of year - I hope she's eating the dollarweed back there!

WIP Finished

My work in process from last Monday is finished.  I kind of thought the yellow stars would pop out more, but it looks ok.  I think I would prefer not to have the star points interlocked like the designer had it (e.g., if they were separated by a block or sashing).  This design is modified from a pattern in the book called The Giving Quilt (Crazy Quilt Designs) and is a Sharon Craig design.

Since it had large blue/yellow dots on the front, I backed it with a small blue/yellow dot and bound it with the yellow paw print fabric.  It's very cuddly!  Some child somewhere in the world will like this one.  It's going into the box to be mailed off to Wrap Them in Love soon.

Stars of Avon is now a Flimsy

I finally finished sewing together the small squares and half-square triangles of the Stars of Avon top.  Sewing together small pieces is my least favorite part of making a quilt.  I love to read quilt magazines and/or seek our new designs on the internet.  Then I love to cut them out and lay out the design.  But when it comes to picking them up and sewing them together, I fall out of love.  Once they are complete, I fall back in love and feel particularly happy that another top is on its way.  What a cycle ... BTW, this doesn't happen to me with large blocks - those I love from start to finish.  I wonder why I ever work with smaller pieces ... Go figure!

I'm thinking of adding decorative borders at top and bottom to make this a rectangle - it is now 41 inches square.  We'll see what develops.

Work in Process

I finished up a top with a quickie design using fabrics from my stash this weekend.  I had to improvise from the pattern a little, since I only had a small piece of the aqua color.  This was the last of the works in process from a challenge to use your stash from a member of the Sunshine Quilt Guild.  Once quilted, this item will be included in the next box to be sent to Wrap Them in Love.  I had purchased a bunch of fabrics at one time and I have the perfect blue with yellow dots for the back, so this top should be moving along briskly to the quilt frame!

It is called Love Your Pet because the aqua blue has subtle hearts shaded in it and the yellow has tone-on-tone puppy paw prints.  Enjoy!

Block Swaps

I have been a member of an on-line quilt block swap called MailBlocks for about a year and have now accumulated quite a few UFOs from those swaps.  The group normally has at least one swap per month, the theme for which is chosen by the members, and a monthly block lotto. In addition, they periodically have round robins and fabric exchanges.    If you are interested, the MailBlocks Yahoo Group is located at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mailblocks/

I’m sure the UFOs will be the subject of another post, but today I want to show you a few pictures of some quilts from those swaps that I have actually finished.  The first three of these quilts were donated through the Sunshine organization that I mention in my profile and the last picture, the pinwheel quilt, was donated to an orphanage in Kazakhstan.   Enjoy the pictures!

The last picture shows a quilt made from the leftover triangles resulting from the squares-in-squares from the quilt above it.  The *squares* blocks were 12", so the triangles that were cut off were large and I couldn't bear to throw them away - voila!  a different quilt resulted!  What fun ...

Design Wall Today

OK, I must admit that I have been dragging my feet on actually putting UP my design wall - and these photos were taken on my design floor (LOL).  I have been thinking of rearranging my sewing room and haven't done it yet, so the design wall isn't up.  These two designs call for sewing smaller pieces together so they have been waiting patiently on the carpet for a few days until I force myself to get it done!  One is a magazine pattern called Avon Stars, done in 30s Reproduction prints.  The other is from a block swap of autumn prints that I've set with friendship stars sashing.  Tonight is Bluegrass music night on my local community radio, so I'll be sewing on one or the other!

Learning to Post Pictures

Today's adventure in blogging is going to be learning to post my quilt pictures to my blog.  I tried to change my header this morning and had a frsutrating experience with the text disappearing behind the picture, so I expect posting photos to go much smoother ... oh, ye eternal optimists!

Here are a few of my most recent quilts that were sent to a group called Wrap Them in Love.  You can visit their Yahoo Group site to learn more about this great organization:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wraptheminlove/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1

Quilt made from lottery blocks I received:

Scrap quilt with bows:

9-Patch Tribute to a special lady (Helen) with a heart for children:

Uses the Downy Fabric Softener pattern (modified) used for Quilts For Kids donations:

Bug Jar quilt uses the special lady's (Helen's) fabrics: