Babies, Babies, Babies

Three new babies are due in June and July.  Our niece is having her first, a boy, and I made this adorable quilt.  I just love this pattern, and it was so much fun to make.  It was designed by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts. 

 This next quilt is for my good friend.  She is expecting her first grandchild, also a boy.  His parents chose a celestial theme.

 Finally, this quilt is also for a good friend.  Her daughter is expecting, you got it - a boy!
They love the ocean, so if you look closely you can see the ocean print.

Its been raining here in California.  You will seldom hear a Californian complain of rain, but our local cherry crops have been ruined.  I feel bad for the farmers but I have enjoyed the inside time sewing. 

Slow Sunday Stitching with my New Toy

Last summer I decided I simply HAD to have a Hinterberg quilt hoop after seeing one at a friend's house.  I didn't realize that they were no longer being made, so I scoured Craigslist and Facebook markets for a used one.  I finally found one in Arizona (I live in California), but since we have a vacation condo in Scottsdale I crossed my fingers that it was still available when we went down in May.  It was meant to be!!  We drove two hours south to get it but it was well worth the trip.  It is a lovely piece of furniture and I'm hoping it will allow me to quilt more in the summer because the quilt won't be on my lap. I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

I recently completed and gifted this Fleur de Lys quilt to my husband's 90 year old aunt.  She was delighted with the reference to her heritage.  She is Very. French. 

I always say I'm going to get back to blogging and don't follow through.  Hopefully my new I-phone camera will make it easier to take pictures.  I'll share some finished quilts in my next post. 

This Week's Progress

Its been a productive and fun week in the hovel.  First, I finished this small snowball quilt top that I started sewing along with Temecula Quilt Co. 

Next, I reorganized my scraps.  I had been cutting/storing them in strips and squares by size, but I realized that I work more by color than by size.  I now have plastic drawers with assorted sized scraps by color, and it seems to be much easier for me to work this way. 

Yesterday a group of  us took a day trip to two shops in Northern California.  The first was Friends Around the Block Quilt Shop in Colusa.  It is housed in a refurbished old mortuary that looks like a chapel.  It is bright, airy, well organized and well stocked with a wide assortment of fabrics.  The people are delightful too.  It may be my new favorite shop.

Next we headed up I5 to the Quilt Corral in Willows.  Again, this shop had very helpful and friendly owners, although it was rather small.  No problem!  We all managed to support the local economy in Willows.

I found the border fabric and background fabric for two quilts that are in progress as well as a few orange fat quarters to use in a Halloween quilt (someday). 

Today I finished the gold round of EPP on Summer Circles.  Next up is dark/med. blue. 

I have many options for keeping busy this weekend--I hope you do too.  I'm linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict.



A Finish!!

I actually finished a quilt including piecing, quilting, binding and EVEN A LABEL!!  Working with the l inch strips was such fun.  I never count pieces in my quilt but this one has 3,879 pieces.  The pattern is called Four by Four by Temecula Quilt Company.  I saw the quilt in person when I was in the shop and fell madly in love with it.  Just my style:  Reproduction fabrics and zillions of tiny, scrappy pieces.

It finishes 50 x 64 and I machine quilted an all over meander to let the piecing take center stage.


Meanwhile I've been working on Summer Circles.  I'm not really sure what color I'll do for the next concentric square, maybe blue.  Any suggestions?

Hand quilting has come to a standstill, as it is too hot to sit with a quilt in my lap.  No problem, I'm never at a loss for a hand project to work on.  We continue to have fire after fire here in our beautiful state.  Fortunately none in our area, but the smoke from all the fires collects in the central valley.  Not good for people with breathing problems. 

Handpiecing and Applique

For Slow Sunday Stitching  http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com I'm working on my basket quilt.  I have 135 blocks completed and 17 left to applique.  I'm thinking maybe a lap sized quilt for these blocks.  I have really enjoyed the applique on them.  I used the back basting method because they're such simple shapes.  Very addictive!

Another addictive slow stitching project comes from Temecula Quilt Company.  Its called Summer Circles.  I adore all the small quilts this tiny store creates.  Go to their blog http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com to learn more. 

We took a road trip to Oregon to visit family over the 4th, so I had plenty of time to stitch.  Sadly, much of our state is on fire.  We encountered two huge fires on our trip.  One on the northern border closed Interstate 5 to traffic, but we were lucky to have made it through before that was necessary.  It was clear that the fire was out of control and spreading everywhere.  Fortunately this area is sparsely populated.  I've have lived in California all my life, and I've never seen the amount of fire activity that we're seeing now.  My prayers go out to everyone involved, especially the fire fighters who risk their lives on a daily basis.



Moda Blockheads is a Top

I actually finished this top in mid-April when I went to Quilt Camp in Lake Tahoe, but since I haven't been  blogging and the Blockheads II started yesterday, I thought I would share it.  I'm not sure if I'm going to do the second one, but I'm printing them off just in case.  I'm contemplating doing it in red, white, and blue to be used as a Quilt of Honor.  I thoroughly enjoyed working on the first one but I'm in the middle of so many projects already.

 

 

 

 



I also started the Sarah Johnson quilt at camp.  I've had the pattern for years, but didn't feel I had the time or expertise to attempt it.  I got most of the middle medallion finished at camp and began working on the 172 star blocks needed.  As of today, my star blocks are done and my applique blocks are prepped.  I should be able to start assembling next week.  I included the second picture with my hand so you can see the small scale. 

 



Here is a link to the pattern and some background on the quilt.
https://www.hooplapatterns.com/shop/Shelburne-Museum/p/Sarah-Johnson-Quilt-pattern-x20241186.htm

A Few Finishes

I've been slowly and steadily working on many projects, and actually managed to finish some.  I posted about this quilt a few posts ago.  It was my first scalloped edged quilt and binding was quite the challenge.

 

 

The next quilt is for a soon-to-be-arriving grandson of a good friend.  His parents live by the ocean so I chose a sea theme.  The pattern was from a Mary Ellen Hopkins book.  I believe Mary Ellen said it was a kindergarten block but I found it difficult to choose fabrics.  I usually use many small fabrics in a quilt so limiting myself to only a few was really a challenge for me.   I meet with my Quilt Sitters group later this month and look forward to seeing what the other ladies do with this pattern.

 

 





Finally, I embroidered and created these small quilts from Jenny of Elefantz. 

 

 



This doesn't look like much now, but this was in addition to hosting a St. Patrick's dinner party for 11 and cleaning out my quilt closet.  Whew!  I need a rest.