my birthday block

Here is one that I worked up, this pattern is called Shooting Star. The block finishes at 12 inches. I did mine in fun novelty fabrics, but I think it would also look great in bright modern prints, so it is up to each quilter on which they will choose. The star points are solid black, but any black would be fine as long as it is the same black throughout the block. *A note for the members of my birthday block group who are reading this: if you don't have a good variety of prints, just leave the block in rows of three and I will piece them with other units.

cleaning up

I think I have 8 quilts hanging on my quilt rack, ready to be sandwiched and quilted. The problem is that one is for us, one is for a future gift (date unknown!) and the others don't have a home!! I think I see my problem! I need more occasions for gifting quilts or selling them so that I can get them done and out of my quilting area. I am quite the started when it comes to quilts, it seems.

Here is one example of a quilt top that is finished:


And not to mention all the quilts that are not precariously perched on the quilt rack waiting to fall off! I have no idea the number of those. There are several put away in boxes. Perhaps more than several. Plus all the quilts of my grandmother's. Here is one of those:

quilt for me

Here are some photos of a recent finish--a quilt I made for ME! Blues and greens are my favorite colors. I have to admit that I finished this at least two weeks ago and I still haven't trimmed the threads or washed it yet. :( My son has used it downstairs a time or two, though.

In the coming days (weeks??) you should expect to see some more unfinished works in progress. I took a bunch of photos one day but have not remembered to post them there yet. I also want to showcase some quilt tops that my grandmother made (mostly to sell, judging by the price tags pinned to them) that I one day hope to complete.

mistakes in quilting

Ever make a stupid mistake while you were quilting? Yep, me, too. Here's one to prove it!


I was quilting along, thinking that the quilting was looking especially nice. And then I finally took it out of the machine and...whoops! I sewed the backing down. If you look closely you can see the quilting where it is even turned down a bit extra. Yes, I did this along almost an entire 40-some-inch edge. D'oh!! I think I am going to leave it like this and offer it up as a gift to someone who expressed interest in it instead of selling it. I just don't have the heart to take out all the pretty quilting!

Here is a quilt I made for myself LAST YEAR. I am happy to share that I have finally gotten around to quilting it thanks to the recent times that my son has had "quiet time" in the downstairs area, "So you can sew, Mommy." Now I just need to trim, square it up and add the binding and this thing is ready for cuddling. :)

In the mean time I have been finishing up a quilt for a new little baby girl. It has robots on it! I think she is going to love it. :) I have 3 quilts ready to quilt and list on etsy when I get around to that!

halloween-y

I actually had time for some sewing over the weekend so I got a Halloween bag done for Henry. And I started on a baby quilt on the same day the baby was born, so I guess I have some motivation for getting it done now. :)

I have also been working on a few quilts, well, 2 quilts so far, that I plan to sell on Etsy. So far I have the tops done but have plans for quilting soon.

The Halloween bag was made using the same fabrics from the Halloween wall hanging that I made last year. The pattern is based on this one from allpeoplequilt.com. I made some Christmas bags with that pattern last year (minus the buttons, because who puts buttons on gift bags?) that I loved so this was super easy to modify to make into a large bag with bigger handles.

help a librarian out

Take this survey and help out a librarian*! You could also win some fabric. This survey is open until October 15.

*FYI I used to be a librarian and my husband currently is one. ;)