Baby Owen's Quilt

My daughter and I went to my hometown Friday night, so it was the perfect chance to give my great nephew Owen his new quilt. He seemed to enjoy it!

 So did his brother, Emerson. We were celebrating his birthday as well as my mom's. I forgot to take a picture of her with so many photogenic boys around, but she had fun too.

 Emerson loves music, and loved his new mini piano!

 Yea, he's really photogenic and full of energy...one of the pics I took of him was just a blur.

Owen is growing so much, hard to believe he is a month old already!

 I've been spending a lot of time cleaning and getting my house ready for my sister's visit. She arrives on Tuesday night. They will stay at my house for a couple of days, and then head to my folk's house for the rest of their stay here. I will be back and forth to Earling a few times during her stay so I will see her again...we are planning a sewing day so she can continue work on her quilt.

I'd better get busy and finish cleaning! Happy Sunday!

Starflower Cascade class

The Starflower Cascade class went well on Saturday. The color choices were awesome! I can't wait to see them finished.

I spent all day yesterday cleaning. I don't know about you, but I tend to clean the main floor more often, but the upstairs where the bedrooms are doesn't get it as much. I guess out of sight -out of mind. So I spent some time cleaning up there. I am not finished, but two rooms and the hallway look good! I will have to move some stuff out of the spare bedroom before my sister and husband come next week....things pile up in there, mostly quilts.

My sister and her husband live in British Columbia and will be here for about a month over the holidays. Most of that time they will stay with my parents but they always spend a few days here first.We always have  family get-togethers while she is here, but it's nice to have some time alone with them too.

I'm off to brave the cold windchills this morning...hope you can stay inside and stay warm today!

Colorwheel Stash quilt finished

I spent some time thinking about the binding for this little quilt and decided to use several different batik fabrics to blend with the colors on the quilt.

I haven't done any more with the smaller colorwash quilt yet...I have it hanging on my design wall and keep looking at it as I walk past. It still needs something but I have to determine what! I also need to do some heavy duty cleaning this weekend in preparation for my sister's visit in a few weeks.

I am teaching the Starflower Cascade quilt at Cut Up and Quilt today. It's always fun to go out there and see what new fabrics they have gotten in since I was last there! 

A challenge

My small quilting group met Monday night. You might remember that we started a challenge at our last meeting. We all brought scraps of a certain size and variety and I threw in the green on top for everyone to use. Above is my pile of fabrics after we swapped.

It was fun to see what the others had done with their fabrics...Cindy is making these fun blocks. This will be a great scrappy quilt.

Debbie's quilt looks like she picked out the fabric especially for it. We could add some  of our own fabrics to the mix if we wanted to. She had to tear out one block ( lower left corner) and is considering fitting the pinwheel block in the space instead.

Rose forgot her blocks when she went to work that day and lives about 30 min. away so didn't have time to go home and get them. This just gives her a chance to make more! She said she is making scrappy nine patches. I can't wait to see them.

Below are my challenge fabrics...yep...looks pretty much the same, don't they? They haven't morphed into a quilt yet...but hopefully soon!

Rock Candy, part two

Here is Rock Candy 2, the larger version, as I began to quilt it. I used hte meander pattern on this one too, as I just wanted nice, overall quilting.

I took the picture below when I was about half way....it worried me throughout that it would come out uneven. I kept pinning the sides as I went to hold them into place, but when its stretched across the machine it could become distorted. I thought about basting it to the batting first and then loading it, but I wasn't sure if that would quilt well once I got it on the frame, so I didn't do it.

It turned out well, except for some slight bowing on two of the sides, which wasn't that noticeable to the eye, but once I started trimming it with a ruler I could see it. I attached the binding last night and plan to block it tonight. Wish me luck!

Rock Candy

I got three little quilts ready to quilt yesterday...the two Rock Candy toppers and the Colorwheel Stash quilt. It didn't take long to quilt this one, but I was worried about the shape distorting  so sewed straight of grain leaders on both Rock Candy quilts to help hold them steady during the quilting process.I also pinned and stitched down the edges as I went. I used a meander pattern for the quilting.

The backing for this one is a multicolored zigzag print from the Wrens and Friends fabric line that I used to make the topper. I used it for the binding and love the slanted stripes!

I had an easier time quilting the larger Rock Candy as far as getting it to lay flat and straight on the machine, but a couple of the sides bow in a bit, so I may have to block it. Not sure how to accomplish that with a six sided project. Any ideas? 

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...