The World Woke Up!

The last few weeks my day-job has been so darn busy!  It's like the whole world suddenly woke up after months of sitting at home .... waiting .... waiting ....waiting .... for the government to say "OK, you can live again."  (I know this pandemic was serious, but .... whew!)  

This past week was 12 hour days .... too exhausted at the end of the day to do anything but eat a few morsels and fall into bed.

BUT THEN THE WEEKEND! And, I didn't HAVE to do anything!  I didn't even start my car!

 

 

 

And, that is pretty much exactly what I did all weekend .... throw in a few naps.

FINISHED!

Jagged X bound and ready for gifting.

Cat Walk bound and ready for gifting.

 

 

 

It feels good to get things finished and marked off my list.

 

AND!   A cute little something for the Little Miss for her half-birthday.  Kewpie has her own little quilt.

 

Laura Coia of Sew Very Easy has a YouTube video featuring this Kewpie doll gift box.  (HERE)  When I saw this earlier in the year I decided I MUST have it and make it for the Little Miss.  I'll gift it to her along with the above quilts for her mom and big sister.  We'll have a PARTY!

 

It's early June and I've totally finished five lap quilts this year and one quilt top (not yet quilted and bound.)  Plus a few fast, fun projects thrown in for good measure.   I'm feeling pretty smug.

(Better be careful...pride comes before a fall.)

Take A Penny - Leave A Penny

 We've all seen these trays at various check-out stations. (Secretly, have you ever been tempted?)

Well, it works with quilts, too.  Take a quilt (Jagged X.)  Leave a quilt (Cat Walk.)

Faith, my LAQ,  is doing much better after her terrible reaction to the second COVID shot and now she's getting back in the game.  

Of course, it still needs binding.

 

As usual, she did an excellent job on this Birthday Quilt.  Just need to get it bound and labeled before the June birthday.

Backing.

Quilting close up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat Walk was a definite cake walk to piece....until the mitered corners.  It was a bit harder than I anticipated. Of course YouTube had lots of videos on the subject.  Unfortunately the first one I watched had me so confused I nearly gave up, but the second one did the trick. Click Here 

 

 

 

 

I had only done mitered corners once before and Miss Wanda was here to walk me through it.  I like them.  They give this quilt a nice look, don't you think?

This is my July Birthday Quilt.  Then I'm finished with Birthday Quilts until later in the year.  There is one in December and two January birthdays to consider.

We can all moan and groan about COVID and being locked down, but one big plus is having time in the studio

 

A Fast - Fun Quilt

As one of the Birthday Quilts for 2021, I picked a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop,Cat Walk.  Click Here.

 

I thought it was a good choice for a 12 year old girl.

What a fast and fun pattern.

Here is my progress so far:

Cutting all the different fabrics from the Jelly Roll took one evening.

 

Then organizing the rows took another evening.  I used a cookie sheet to keep track of all the pieces.

 

Finally chain sewing the rows went fast, about two evenings.

 Finally I will sew the rows together and applique the cat and it's off to the quilter.

LAQ UPDATE:  COVID 19 upsets the apple cart, again.  The Jagged X birthday quilt is finished and ready for the quilter except my LAQ, Faith, has had a bad reaction to the COVID vaccine.  She will let me know when she is feeling better.

In the meantime the Jagged X Birthday Quilt, with red grunge backing, just chillin in the studio...waiting.

Fresh Inspiration !

Now that the baby sister's quilt is off to the LAQ, I'm looking down the list of birthday quilts.

The next birthday is the D-I-L in June and right behind her is the eldest g-daughter's 12th birthday in July.

I've decided on the patterns:

For the D-I-L, Jagged X.  A free pattern from Jordan Fabrics. HERE

This picture was plucked from FB.

 

 My color choice is blue and white; Robert Kaufman, Dappled Blue.

Now to decide on a pattern for the almost-a-teenager (who thinks she is 16, already!) 
It can't be too childish.

And the winner is......Cat Walk.  They have a cat, a black cat, who sits on their block wall and watches the world go by. 

This is also a free pattern, from Fat Quarter Shop.  HERE

My fabric choice is Elizabeth Hartman Library by Robert Kaufman.  Not too cutesy.

Then I have a bit of a break with the next birthday quilt needing to be ready mid-December for the littlest little "Q". 
She will be 2.  Here she is, wearing a dress her Auntie Ana wore when she was about the same age.

 

Happy Sewing!