Craft Show Progress

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We were so happy to meet my newest grand-niece, Mollie. She is the cutest little peanut!

I've been very focused on craft show sewing and it feels great to get things done. I made two baby quilts this week. This is a simple patchwork made from a stack of fat quarters of Lizzy House "Outfoxed." I cut 6" squares and the top went together super fast. 

 

The backing is a DSQuilts print from Joann's and the purple binding was in my stash.  Big loopy swirls is my go-to quick quilting design. This quilt finished at about 39" square before washing. I expect some shrinkage and fun crinkling.

I had fun playing with these Dr. Seuss prints that I've had for a while.

 

Straight line quilting on this one with a great print on the back and a striped binding from the same collection. This one is about 38" x 46". This fabric was pre-washed, so it shouldn't shrink much.

I made a pile of fabric boxes. (see my tutorial here) I'm stitching on the buttons at night while I watch TV. There are 8 or 9 more to finish up. It's a great little catch-all for a desk, sewing table or nightstand.

Guitar straps made from one shabby chick's tutorial. They are so much fun to make! If anyone has a use for 2" black nylon webbing, please let me know.  Amber also has a camera strap tutorial that would go great with my tote bag that isn't finished yet.

 

Pete is doing great in boot camp. He enters the Crucible tomorrow morning: the 54 hour final test before he becomes a Marine. I could just burst from the mix of emotions right now! Fortunately, I can head back to my sewing machine to calm my nerves.

Have a great week!

WIP Wednesday

 I just have a few minutes to say hello. I've been sewing every day to get ready for a holiday craft show. I love these baby blankets made with flannel and minky. Please prewash your fabrics before making these. Don't ask me how I learned that lesson! I washed with Ivory Snow and they smell like babies! 

The blankie on top is for my sister who is now a grandmother! We can't wait to meet our newest family member. My sister is hosting Thanksgiving dinner which is why I am sewing today and not cooking.

I have a batch of fresh paper pieced lapel pins ready to go.

 

I love flannel infinity scarves. I wear them often through the winter. They are so cozy!

I wanted to have more quilty things on my table, so I made six mug mats to sell with matching mugs.

 

If you are in the area, I hope you'll stop by this great sale. There are almost 100 vendors! See the listing for quilts on the poster? That's me, so I guess I'd better get some actual quilts finished to sell.

Pete is excelling at boot camp. We are certainly going to miss him tomorrow, but we're so happy that he'll be home for Christmas.

Quick Baby Blanket

You know that feeling when you need the instant gratification of a quick project? That's how I was feeling this morning.

I dug out the minkie and flannel that I bought a year ago and made a cute blankie. I followed this tutorial by Melissa at Greener Grass. I cut around a Corelle lunch plate with a rotary cuter to round the corners. I did use a walking foot, so I had no trouble sewing this together. I was done in about an hour. Mission accomplished!

WIP Wednesday

It has been a red, white and blue week! To celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday and Veterans' Day, I've been playing with red, white and blue.

Finished: Pete's Album Quilt. Yes, I just posted about this. I wanted it to be a separate post from WIP Wednesday. Click here to read all about it.

New Start: I decided I need a cool tote bag for our trip to Pete's graduation, so I pieced some string blocks. Unfortunately, I'll need to set them aside while I focus on other deadlines.

Shipped: The itty bitty mini went off to my schnitzel and boo swap partner yesterday.

Top of the List: I'm booked for one craft show in early December and I really need to get to work! I have some computer work to finish up this week, then I'll be sewing full time for the show.

Time to Link up!

Pete's Album Quilt

 Pete's quilt is finished! I love how it looks on his bed. I'll get to keep it here for a while as he continues his training. He probably won't take it with him until he is assigned to a permanent duty station. This is not a true representation of his bedside table. When he's home, there would be a phone and ipod charging, headphones, and several knives of various sizes.

If you haven't already heard, my son will be graduating from Marine Corps boot camp in December. I'll give him the quilt then, and have his buddies sign a big label for the back. One month to go! I can't wait to be a Marine Mom!!

I'd like to thank my hive mates in the Modern Stash bee for contributing blocks for this quilt. We started with modern reds and blues. I added lots of oldies and goodies from my own stash, including a bit of Boy Scout fabric to honor his past accomplishments.

 

I totally love the back. The blue print is from the Quilts of Valor collection. It includes the phrases Thank You,  Miss You, Brave One, Home Safe, Proud of You. The bias striped binding is perfect.

It was fun to bring the finished quilt to Ninigret Quilters last night for Show & Tell. Pat, my machine quilter, happened to be holding the other corner. It is always fun to collaborate with her. There is so much you can do with a simple edge-to-edge design- resizing, flipping, shifting. We moved around the repeats until we got it right and it is exactly what I had in mind!

Quilt Stats:

Pete's Album Quilt

56" x 86"

Traditional Block, tutorial here

 Quilted by Pat Harrison, Ocean Waves Quilting Co

Pieced blocks from the Modern Stash Quilting Bee

Mini Swap Day

 I may be a little late, but I'm shipping out my swap package today for the Schnitzel and boo mini swap. My partner's favorite designer is Anna Maria Horner, so I've added two fat quarters. (I may have kept some for myself!) I threw in the key fob, even though it matches nothing. Partner, you have my permission to regift it!

 I received this wonderful package from Renae on Saturday. Can you believe this is her first mini? Thank you, Renae!

Isn't the embroidery fantastic? She said on instagram that it is a design from Urban Threads. I will certainly put the Aurifil thread to good use!

 

We had a great weekend, relaxing and celebrating. Providence dedicated WaterFire to all Veterans on Saturday night. It was a spectacular and moving event.

On a much smaller scale, we always enjoy our town's Veterans' Day parade and ceremony. It was a little weird that our kids were not marching. We've had someone in the parade every year from 1999-2012. I talked to a lot of Marines this weekend. I'm so excited to be joining the family!

Pete's quilt is done! I'll show it to you tomorrow after it stops snowing!

Red, White & Blue

 In honor of the Marine Corps Birthday (Nov 10) and Veterans' Day (Nov 11), I decided I would only sew with red, white and blue fabric this weekend.

I started string piecing these little blocks this morning and now I have enough for the top of this tote bag. I need a cool bag for the trip to Pete's graduation!

 I made a big mess, but it was worth it!

Pete's quilt is ready to bind. Which stripe do you prefer? Bottom or right? 

Pat did a great job quilting this. It is exactly the look I wanted, and I never would have been able to pull it off on my machine.

Ellie and I went to a guild rep meeting at the New England Quilt Museum yesterday. (Happy Birthday, Ellie!) The Fallen Heroes quilt was on display in our meeting room. This is one of seven panels. Each block represents a service member who died in Iraq or Afghanistan.  A story of the person is written on the back of each block.

I love the eagle in the center.

 

Enjoy your long weekend!

Semper Fi, Marines!