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. 

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. 

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. 

Slow Stitch Finishes

I finished hand quilting two quilts that I began several years ago.  The first is a mini quilt  that I started at a Jo Morton retreat in Nebraska in 2015.  The 1/2" hexis are fussy cut and paper pieced.  I used this project for car work when we traveled, so it took 2 years. 

 

 

The next quilt was a kit I purchased at Quilter's Corner in Sacramento.  I rarely buy kits but I just loved the border and vertical sashing fabrics in this kit.  Its been pieced for some time, just waiting its turn to be quilted.

 

 

 

I noticed when I hung it that the blocks were going different directions.  I planned it that way.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

On a personal note:  Finished chemo and thankfully have no lingering side effects other than a nearly bald head.  I will say that wearing a wig is much quicker than drying and fixing your hair.  I like to believe there is always a silver lining to every cloud.  I've completed week 1 of 6 weeks radiation with no problems.  They tell me I may get tired by week 3, but it should be nothing compared to chemo.  I'm happy to be in the last phase of treatment and anxious to get my life back. 

Better Late than Never

When preparing for quilt camp in late May, I wanted to bring some hand quilting but didn't want to bring a full size quilt.  I went through my WIPS and found these two quilts nearly completely quilted.  Why, I wondered, did I stop when I was so close to being done?  They were then put in a closet (you know, out of sight, out of mind).  It really only took a few hours to finish both of them.

 

This first quilt was a Jo Morton Little Women's Group quilt from 2006.  The hand applique and 95% of the hand quilting was complete when I rescued it from the closet. 

This next quilt was also hand appliqued and hand quilted.  It was probably 80% quilted when rescued.  Hopefully you can click to enlarge the pic to see that the background is closely stippled. 
This quilt was started in 2001.  It came from the book Once Upon a Season by Piece O' Cake Designs.  It was one of my earliest attempts at applique. Stay tuned for more "closet find" finishes in the future.  It's a great feeling to have them done.

On the home front, we had to replace my raised garden beds this year.  They weren't ready until June 1 and I was worried it was too late to plant (we have a very long growing season here in California).  Below are pictures taken June 1 and August 1.  It is unbelievable how much the garden has grown in 2 months.  I've already harvested more zucchini than we can freeze, eat and give away.  The tomatoes are just starting and the green beans are producing enough for dinner once a week (1 plant).  The eggplant and peppers have fruit starting as well.  We installed drip and the regular watering has made a huge difference.

Austin Bluebird Complete

I just finished my Austin Bluebird quilt.  I think this might possibly be my favorite quilt.  I enjoyed every step of the process.  There is something about a sampler that keeps it from becoming tedious.  I hand quilted it, and it was fun to pick different quilting patterns for the various blocks.  It is hard to tell from the pictures, but hubby was just  a little too short to hold up the quilt.  I needed my 6'4" son for this one!  I don't usually do kits, but I loved this quilt the moment I saw in on the Minnick and Simpson blog.  It was my birthday present last January and I was so motivated I finished it within the year. 

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching, as there are many hours of slow stitches on this baby.

Country Roads

I'm embarrassed by how long its been since I've blogged, but I finished my Country Roads mystery quilt and want to link with Lori at Humble Quilts.  Maybe this will give me the push I need to keep up with this blog. 

This is the third quilt I've made along with Lori.  I love her sense of color, so I never really change mine from the original.  I find these are some of my favorite small quilts.