A finish and a fun demo day!

 I finished Owen's baby quilt last night. I had already made the binding so it was just a matter of trimming the quilt and sewing on the binding and label.

 I used the gray dotted backing fabric for the binding since it pulls out lots of the colors of the quilt.

 After all the trouble I had quilting this one, I'm happy to have it finished...I was starting to wonder there for a few days!

 I spent Saturday at Cut Up and Quilt demonstrating how to use the Sidekick Ruler by Jaybird Quilts during their holiday open house. I talked to lots of holiday shoppers and spent some time playing with the diamonds I cut! It was a lot of fun! I need to get my versions of Rock Candy quilted now so that they can hang them on display at the shop for the class I'm teaching in Jan. I have several small quilts that need to be quilted, so I plan on working on those today.

Conrad liked Owen's quilt even without the binding... 

Baby quilt quilted....whew!

I finished the quilting on Owen's quilt Wednesday...I'm still not sure why I had so much trouble with thread breakage, but I was just glad that it worked! I made the label for the quilt too, so it's ready to finish. I will take more pix then.

I spent Thanksgiving in my hometown with family and had a great time!

We are helping my daughter move today...she recently bought a house. The weather is supposed to be cold, but dry so it should be a nice day to do it and she will have the rest of the long weekend to unpack. 

I'm doing a demo tomorrow at Cut Up and Quilt on the Sidekick ruler, so if you live in the area, come and see me there! I will be teaching a class on this tabletopper using the ruler in January!

Baby will get here before the quilt is finished!

...but it will be close! I got the quilt for my niece's baby loaded on the machine Sunday afternoon and wound some colorful bobbins.I'm using a multicolored So Fine thread.

I only got one row quilted but hopefully I will be able to quilt a few rows tonight. 

 The panto is Mini Will O'...makes a nice circular pattern, which I thought would be fun with the jewel shaped patches.

 The binding is ready to attach...it is the same fabric that I am using on the back. My little nephew is due to be born today, so he will be here before his quilt is finished...but I should have it finished soon. Hopefully his grandma got his quilt bound so he has that to cuddle up in!

Later...The baby arrived safe and sound...8lb. 1 oz. They are naming him Owen....I can't wait to see him!

Baby quilt finished...

It's not the Lotus baby quilt I'm making for my nephew's birth, but the one his grandma made him. My sister asked me to quilt this adorable twister quilt for her soon to be born grandson. Twister quilts are so much fun to make and a good excuse to use as many cute fabrics as possible! This one is no exception. Since he is due to be born on the 12th, it's important Grandma gets it back so she can get the binding sewn on.

I forgot to take a picture of the back, but she used the gray giraffe fabric.

I want to get my Lotus quilt finished before the baby is born as well, but I still have 9 days, right?

Back to back

I decided to use this gray/teal/brown/green dotted fabric for the back of the baby Lotus quilt. It is one of my favorite fabrics in the quilt. I'm not sure what I will use for the binding yet. I have enough of several of them left, and can't decide at this point...

Tonight is my last block class with the beginners. I'm offering a finishing class for them in 2 weeks. They can take their blocks and make them into a throw or a runner and learn to finish their quilt. I'm excited to see how many blocks they've gotten finished since last week.

Busy busy baby quilt...

I finished sewing the blocks together on the Lotus baby quilt yesterday. I  love the colors and patterns! This quilt pattern is fast and easy to make. I made a couple of versions last year...one out of batiks. Now I need to get a backing fabric and get it ready to quilt.

I also spent some time on class prep stuff.  I had cut some samples using the ZigZag ruler during the demos I did at Cut Up and Quilt in Sept.  I will be teaching that class next month and I want to have as many visuals as possible, so I sewed some of them into squares. I'm not going to sew them together right now, they are more fun to play with this way. Then I got some strips ready for a demo for class.

Then I cut some demo pieces for the Central Park class this weekend, and got the paperwork ready for the Starflower Cascade class. Teaching classes is more than making a model and showing up for class...there's a lot of prep work involved. I like to show variations on patterns too, if I can, so that people get some other ideas of what to do with the same pattern during class. Especially if they are buying a specialty ruler. Those rulers make our lives easier, but they add up! If you are going to use them multiple times, they seem like a better buy.

TGIF and a puzzle quilt

I finished cutting out the puzzle pieces last night for a baby quilt I am making. I then worked on a layout. I am using bright colors with some cars, tractors, & sports fabrics so some of the fabrics are pretty busy. I laid it out on a flannel backed tablecloth so I could just fold it up when I was finished. I forgot to take pictures, but will the next time I work on it. This quilt is for my niece's baby boy,  due in Nov.

The Twister quilt and the T-shirt quilt classes meet again tomorrow. I am excited to see how the twister quilts look after being recut and sewn back together and will take lots of pix!

Hi ho Hi ho, it's off to work I go...