Baby Quilt Finish

It is so nice to have a finish this week!  The last month or so has been extremely busy, with little time to sew, so I have been determined to get to it this week.  And I finished the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" baby quilt!  Hooray!

It is in the dryer as I write this, hopefully getting soft and fluffy in preparation for gifting it in a couple weeks.  That's right, it's even finished early!  I am so proud of myself!

This quilt is a combination of fabric from my stash and some I needed to purchase.  I definitely got a little polka dot fix from this project:

It was also fun to see what I could do with my walking foot for quilting it.

Please ignore the little bits of thread that I didn't notice were on the caterpillar when I took the photo!

And finally, last weekend I got to see my Scrap-a-Palooza Bricks quilt in a silent auction benefitting a special charity that helps families with large medical bills due to unforeseen circumstances with their children.  I hope someone will love it as much as I enjoyed making it!

My quilt is underneath the doll and minky blanket, all sold as a package together for a little girl.  

Happy Sewing to all of you!

Something New!

Hooray for Spring Break!  Although it didn't allow me much sewing time, it was a great break from work and a nice visit with my mom in the Valley of the Sun: Phoenix, Arizona!  We had lots of patio and pool time, as well many opportunities to get outside and go for walks.  I did help my mom trim t-shirts for a graduation quilt for my youngest niece, so that counts for something anyway.

While looking for a hand sewing project to take along, I rediscovered a stash of Color Me Happy (leftover from this quilt) charm squares that I had forgotten all about!  I have been wanting to try some English Paper Piecing with hexagons for awhile, but hadn't gotten around to it yet, and it turned out to be just the project to take along on this trip.

I am a pretty slow hand stitcher, and it isn't usually usually my first choice for sewing, but this was fun to take along and try for a vacation!  I have enough charms left for one more flower, which I think will be enough for me to make a mini (which I do love to do!) and then I will call it good!

I did discover that the Two in One Pouch which I made earlier this year makes a great travel sewing kit for packing the scissors, thread, glue, needles, etc., that are required for EPP.   I love being able to make useful things for myself and for gifts!

Arizona is a very different climate and environment from Colorado where I live, so I always enjoy the chance to get out into the desert for a hike.  We spent several hours one day exploring the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which is a state park east of Phoenix.  It was full of opportunities for walking, photography,  and birdwatching, all of which are activities my husband and I enjoy.  We had a great time exploring this fascinating place!  Wouldn't these colors make a beautiful quilt?

Time to go back to work tomorrow, but now that Spring Break has passed, that means we are closer and closer to summer.  I'm ready!

Linking up to Oh Scrap today, one of my favorite places to hang out on Sunday afternoon to get lots of scrappy inspiration!

A Fun Baby Shower Quilt

One of my favorite books to read to my boys when they were little was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  So when I saw this panel at my LQS last summer, I knew I had to get it!

I wasn't sure what I would do with it until I found out that a sweet young teacher at my school is expecting a baby this May.  Then I knew what would make the perfect gift!  (My teaching partners are adding the book and a few other little things to make a team gift!)

I decided to add some sashing out of the leftover Kona Snow jelly roll strips from my Winter in the Woods quilt. And then I thought of the leftover yellow and white polka dot fabric I used for the backing of this quilt.

It's going to be adorable!

A few more signs of Spring... And dots!

Seen in my flower garden this morning: the first daffodil!

And a Spring-y finish:

I love the teal, flowered backing I found in my stash for this one.  

I am definitely slow at the big projects, i.e., I am still quilting Winter in the Woods.  But the little ones are sure satisfying for me!

I have been adding to my stash of dots this week.  Fun shopping, for sure!

Looking forward to the Oh Scrap! link-up today, for more scrappy inspiration!

The 10 Minute Quilt Block

Have you seen the 10 Minute Quilt Block?  (Find the tutorial at this link.)  I had never heard of it until Thursday evening when I went to my quilt group and a friend demonstrated how it is made.  So simple!  Then another member of my group shared that she had just finished a quilt top made out of these blocks.  When I saw her quilt, I was hooked!  Perfect for the scrappy quilter!

Here is my first try at the block:

Inspired by my friend's quilt which is completely made out of dot fabrics and is so adorable!  I'm going to have fun with the dots in my stash, and maybe even collecting a few more wherever I can find them.  

Due to work and family obligations the last couple of weeks, I haven't done a lot of sewing.  I did put my hourglass mini together and started quilting it.  Love how it is turning out.  Reminds me of tulips coming up in the spring!

And, speaking of spring, I think it has arrived in Colorado!  Hooray!

Linking up at Oh Scrap! today and looking forward to more scrappy inspiration!

Playing with Hourglass Blocks

While slowly quilting my Winter in the Woods quilt,

I decided I want to experiment with hourglass blocks.  I had a little bit of Color Me Happy leftover from the Charm Pack Cherry quilt I made last spring and this mini:

Probably when I sewed up that mini-quilt, I had sewn all the rest of my charm squares into HSTs, so it was easy to cut them again and sew into hourglass blocks.  Just to be sure I was doing it right, I checked out this tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts, another one of my favorite bloggers.

I ended up with 16 little hourglass blocks, which I have been busy trimming and squaring up to 4 inches.

A goal I have for myself this year is to work on the accuracy of my cutting and piecing.  Trimming and squaring up are not my forte, as both seem fiddly and tedious!  But I am sure I will appreciate the results.  So far, I am working toward another mini, something like this:

It makes me think of spring, tulips coming up and green stuff growing, something I am looking forward to immensely!  

It's fun to see the pinwheels that form when you look more closely!

Linking up to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.  Go check out all of Cyndy's fun ideas for using up scraps and orphan blocks.  Great quilty inspiration!

WiP and a Finish

Okay, basting is not my favorite part of quilt construction.  Today I've been working on basting my "Winter in the Woods" quilt so that I can begin to quilt it.  I tell you what, I was sweating when I was finished crawling all over the floor to get it flat and straight and smooth.  And I promise you I work out regularly!  There is definitely an aerobic component to parts of our hobby!

On another note, I finished up my sweet Best. Day. Ever! patchwork quilt a couple days ago.  And I love how it turned out!  I backed it in a yellow and white polka dot, and finished it like a comforter without any binding from this tutorial by Svetlana at s.o.t.a.k. Handmade.

I like the way the yellow backing shows a bit on the front:

And, I even have a matching bag to go with it!  Fun! (or funny!)