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

 

What's Under YOUR Needle?

 

I am making progress on all my projects.

Tea Time:  My sister's birthday lap quilt is back from the LAQ and I have the binding and label all ready to go.  

I'm rather proud of myself that I finished this for the VERY birthday I planned to give it - instead of 5 years later.  

 

I want to send it to her NOW, but her birthday is in April.

 

Jagged X:  It is about a fourth assembled.

I hope to have the top completed this week and ready for borders.  A trip to the fabric store will be required to buy fabric for the borders.  I'm thinking orange.  

You cannot see from this picture, but some of the blue fabric "X's" have small dots and one of the colors is orange.  I'd like to pull that out.

Long Time Gone:   

 Block 1 (Bow Tie)  & Block 2 (Square in a Square) are done.

 

  On to Block 3, Crosses of the UK.

 

Plucked from the Internet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the process of cutting the fabric for Block 3-- TWO startling discoveries! 
Not only are these pieces small, but I need to make six teeny Crosses blocks! Oops! Back to the cutting board.

Truth be known, though, I'm kind of anxious to get to them....hummmm...wonder if I should call in sick.....

Happy Sewing!

Long Time Gone being assembled on Miss Ellie.

Making Progress

Jagged X

Sewing the two pieces together is a bit tricky.  You need to lay the pieces together in the proper way and sew the diagonal line between the proper corners to get the proper shape...what a concept!

To help me remember, I've laid it all out using one of my Design Boards
(by Bee in My Bonnet. See my post from January 10, 2021.)

It does come together quickly, if not a bit monotonous.

Long Time Gone

I couldn't help it....Here's the deal; work on the D-I-L birthday quilt and then I can work on LTG.  It's like dessert!

Piecing LTG on Miss Ellie and binge watching an old night-time drama, Melrose Place.

 

About half finished with the piecing of Jagged X and here is the first block (2) for LTG.

Rabbit Trail:  It's no secret I like watching quilt videos on YouTube.  A while back I watched one of my favs,
Laura of Sew Very Easy, give a demonstration for using a tailor's clapper when pressing quilt blocks.  HERE.

I've been paying more attention to pressing of late and I decided using a tailor's clapper when pressing was worth a try. 
Do you know how EXPENSIVE they are?!  IF you can even find one at a local shop.  Of course, I checked Amazon....
all the options had some negative reviews.

I came across a craft project one of the g-sons made in Vacation Bible School a few years ago.  A piece of wood with colorful paper glued on top (it had a picture of him binder-clipped to it.)  I didn't want to throw it away, so I made my own tailor's clapper!

 

Saved money and every time I use it I'll think of my little buddy! 

 

 

Happy Sewing!!

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!