"You've Got Mail"

Snuggle quilts have been requested by my grands in Texas (one boy/one girl).  I've always loved the quilt from "You've Got Mail" - perfect for 'my girl' and a great opportunity to action one from the list.  I worked on it last weekend (selecting fabric, cutting, sewing).  By Sunday night, I had a good start.  I should complete the last of the pinwheel blocks this weekend.  I was hoping to start putting rows together, but that was too ambitious (when factoring in spring bulb planting). 

Here's the beginning laid out on the spare bed.  At the bottom, you can see the fabric I've selected for the setting triangles and corners.  The pinwheel blocks finish at 7" (approx 10" on point).  I'm planning 7 rows of 6 pinwheels.  The quilt should finish 70" x 60".  It might be a tad big for a snuggle quilt, but it can be folded at the end of a twin bed for double-duty.

Off to finish the last of the pinwheels (15 to go!) and plan the quilt for 'my guy'.  

Flops

These two quilt tops did not turn out as I had expected. They were both made in the mid to late 90's. This first one is corn and beans. I took the pattern quite literally because, look, there is corn fabric, and vegetable fabric. There are probably beans in there somewhere. At the time this was made, I was working in a quilt store. Unfortunately, I let modern tastes dictate my fabric choices here. How could I not know that this wouldn't satisfy me? And, it was a fair amount of sewing.

This grid type quilt was an idea that I had wanted to try for some time. Maybe I hadn't been quilting long enough to know that it wouldn't be successful. If I could do it over, I would add another value of red to create four surrounds of value. The center is just too huge!These reds were real favorite fabrics of mine, and I used them all up in this top. Also, some of the skinny strips were the ends of some pieces that I really liked.

These two tops ended up in someone else's collection because I sold them to a local machine quilter.

I think the best thing that can be said about these is that I saw them through to completion. That probably would not happen today. They would be left, in parts and pieces, to languish on a shelf.

The Silver Lining ...

of a 'big' birthday - great friends!  I celebrated a decade-turning BD in July.  Jan and I caught up yesterday - look at the beautiful doll quilt she made me.  I'm a lucky girl!  What a treasure (both the quilt and the friend).  Some of my recent yardage stash purchases are resting on the chair arm. 

But that wasn't the only BD surprise.  My quilting peeps - Pat, Susan, Sandy, Bev, and Jan - made me birthday blocks!  Yankee Puzzle in beautiful, rich colors.  The blocks are sitting on the doll quilt back - one of my favorite fabrics (isn't Jan the best)!  Can't wait to go digging in the stash for the perfect fabric to pull together these beautiful blocks.  I'm not going to tell the number of blocks cause I know you see the correlation between blocks and years - I'll just say there are alot of blocks.  All these quilting surprises took the sting out of turning a 'decade' page.

Labor Day Weekend Sewing Update.  I had the house to myself Thursday night, so I pulled out some Lady Circle Patchwork Quilts magazines.  One little photo set the agenda for my sewing weekend.  Jan and I were dropping off tops for quilting and I needed a back.  Here's a pic of my inspiration (Bear's Paw) -

So, this stack of large triangles became this quilt back.  The top was fun
and quick - can't wait to get it back.

A Couple of Doll Quilts

Both of these doll quilts are from Temecula kits. The above quilt is from a Lori Smith pattern.

The one below is a Temecula pattern. This is just a fun, simple design, but I am really drawn to those. This would a good series quilt - doll, crib and bed sized. It probably won't happen, it is just fun to dream about. Sometimes that is enough, though, and it's on to the next project!

I'm really not much of a kit quilter, but these monthly ones from Temecula are really just the ticket for a small quilt sewing spell. The instructions are clear, and the fabric generous. I tend to keep little pieces, and have a stockpile starting from the leftovers. The idea isn't to make one exactly like the sample, and I like that. The result is similar but not a copy, although you could certainly do that if you wanted.

I like to baste the little quilts upon completion of the top. It is fun to choose the backing, and the basting goes lickety-split. Then they are ready to go when I want to do some hand quilting.