Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Another quiltlet...

In my last post, I mentioned that I had promised our local veterinary clinic a few small quilts to use when folks have to have a beloved pet "put down".  All they have right now is a pile of old donated bath towels to wrap the animal in - and that really bothered me (we've been there)...
So, I made up a few scrappy quilts.  I showed them to a friend, who thought that they might be too bright and cheerful.  A few days later, I was in our local Walmart, and noticed that they had some animal themed FQs - and of course, they followed me home....
I had pinned a number of scrappy quilts to my Pinterest board, so I chose one of the patterns, and before my husband could complain that supper wasn't ready, I had this top done!  It (and the other 2 tops that I made last week) still needs to be quilted, but that's the easy part.
And here's the finished top (I hope that my friend will appreciate the softer tone of the fabrics!).

Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts and  Kat & Cat Quilts

Monday, September 18, 2017

Quilting ADD

I'm not looking forward to summer being over just yet, but the fall season does mean a little more sewing time for me.  The garden has yielded most of it's goodies, and the bulk of the canning / freezing is finished.  Fair season is in full swing - I've judged at 2 local fairs so far, and have 2 more to do.  BUT, I've managed to set some time aside to sew!  I can't get over how good it feels to sit behind the machine again - and even pressing is fun right now.
But, because it's been such a long time coming, I've got a multitude of projects in the works.  Add to that, we bumped into a long-time friend last week, and she mentioned that her granddaughter had just had a baby boy!  Of course, that means either a quilt or sweater is needed!  Fortunately, I had some charm packs that I got earlier this summer - and I had even started cutting and sewing some blocks for a quilt.  UNfortunately, I can't find most of the fabrics / blocks right now.  I did piece together the ones I did find, and laid them out, but it's obviously too small and too "blue" (even though it is a baby boy...).  A quick search of my sewing room turned up nothing except the border fabric.  (I need to get in there with a search warrant, I'm afraid).
But here are the blocks so far....
Some of the fabrics are very washed out, and I may just leave them out of the finished quilt (or use them for the back / label).
Also, earlier this summer, our 8 year old cat ended up at the vet's - he's tiny for his breed (Maine Coon), but he was downright scrawny.  He normally tips the scale at about 11 lbs. but was down to just over 7.  He spends most of the summer roaming the neighbourhood, and we only see him for a few minutes here and there - but hubby picked Buddy up on one of his brief visits "home" to eat, and was shocked at how thin he was.  We've already lost 2 'Coons - one to a malignancy, and one to a heart condition, and we were both sure that we were dealing with something similar.  Long story short, it was a minor issue - and a change in diet has him back up to 10.5 lbs again.  What does that have to do with quilting?  Well, we were sure we'd have to have him put down - and the clinic wraps them up in old donated bath towels.  I asked if they'd like a few small quilts donated for that purpose, and they were thrilled!  I had been making some blocks with a bright teal Kona and a print as my latest "leader / ender", so I grabbed them, and stitched up 2 small quilt tops.  I picked up some cute animal print fabrics for the backs - and hopefully, I'll be able to finish these quilts up and deliver them next week.
And finally, today's project - I've been slowly adding to my stash of 'Raspberry Kiss' blocks - it's going to be a quilt for our bed - and I stitched up another 11 blocks.  Our bed is a queen, so I have a way to go yet, but there's no rush for it.
So, Quilting ADD seemed like a perfect description of my last 2 weeks of sewing!

I'm linking up to Scraptastic TuesdayOh Scrap!; and Sew Some Love

Monday, September 4, 2017

I've been busy - honest!

I see that it's been a month since I last posted - yikes!  I didn't realize that a whole month had already passed - and yet, when I see the jars of jam and pickles, etc. on the pantry shelves and survey my dining room table, I know that I've finished a lot!  There's also a lot of WIPs scattered around...
But first - my current quilt-y project... My oldest daughter has recently decided on a career change - which means a move for her - and that's happening on Wednesday.  We had a conversation a few months ago, and she mentioned that "You can never have too many quilts", so I decided that this move needed to be celebrated with a quilt!  I went through my Pinterest board for ideas, but couldn't quit thinking about some blocks that I'd done for a block drive for Kat's Covered in Love charity quilt project.  I love the modern look of black and white blocks with a "hit" of colour, so that's what I decided to make.  I have lots of pieces of Kona cotton in a rainbow of shades, so I was able to make a LOT of blocks without repeating the center colour.  This is what my "design floor" looks like this morning:
My hubby just texted me that we have company coming over after supper, so I guess I REALLY need to get sewing!
One of the other sewing projects that I had going last week was sewing some red, white and blue star blocks for Kat's July / August block drive.  We were free to make any kind of star block.  I found a few ideas and pulled my fabrics to make the starflower block at the top left.  Unfortunately, I cut some of the fabrics too small, but salvaged them with the block on the right.  But the one I really LOVE is the bottom one!  I looked for striped red and white fabric to make an American flag block for the center, but this red and white "zipper" fabric was the best I could find - I think it works!
And finally, I've been doing a lot of knitting in the evenings (my current sewing space doesn't have lights).  Both of my daughters have friends that are having babies, and I'm trying to knit a sweater for the firstborn in each family.  So, I got some yarn to make my new favourite sweater - Tenderheart by TinCanKnits.
This is a beautiful spring green, and will be going to a lovely little girl - the final sleeve needs finishing, and then the 2-colour yoke will complete it.  When it's done, I have to make another little girl sweater, and then still have 2 little boy sweaters to make, and one more for a baby due in October.  I might switch the pattern for some of those sweaters...
Thanks for dropping in to see what I've been doing!
Linking up to Kat's Sew Some Love, and Cynthia's Oh Scrap posts.