Just Keep Swimming

 I guess Saturday is pillow-making day! I finished Julia's Dory pillow this morning, so I could ship it to her today. She forgot to pack a few things for school, so she will be receiving a very large box in a few days.

Back in April(?) I paper pieced this Dory block from a pattern at Fandom in Stitches. I had to make some corrections to the eyes because the pattern was missing a couple of lines. I finally did the embroidery last week, hoping I could finish the pillow before she left for school. Didn't happen.

 

The only quilting I did was some wavy lines in the borders with variegated thread. I could feel that something was wrong with the first round of stitches, so I loosened the top tension and the rest looks great.

 

 Julia is settled back at school. She had to say good bye to Pete and we didn't even cry. She won't see him again until his graduation from boot camp in December. He leaves in two weeks. Gah!

Just keep swimming!

WIP Wednesday

Hello, blogland! I didn't mean to disappear for almost two weeks. I've been under the weather for the past week (allergies/virus/ear infection), but I'm finally starting to feel better. In the middle of all that, I picked up Julia from college for the summer. Yay!  We will be quilting a lot together in the next 10 weeks, so stay tuned!

No finishes to report. Instead, I'll show you my lovely Mother's Day gifts. Gorgeous roses from hubby, a peach bellini scented candle from Julia (we have a thing for bellinis!) and a bracelet from Pete.

I didn't even know this Alex & Ani Marine Corps bracelet existed. I love it!!

In Progress:
Our guild nine patch swap started last night with round 1. Twenty six quilters each swapped sixteen blocks. It will be fun to see what everyone does with them! This is my pile...

and this is Julia's. The blocks we made are at the bottom left.

Here's a peak at a secret project that I need to get moving on, like now! The colors are so yummy.

I pieced this Dory for Julia before she came home. I plan to embroider "Just keep swimming" on the border and make a little wall hanging for her dorm room. The pattern is from Fandom in Stitches, which is a really fun site.

Buyer beware: sometimes, you get what you pay for with free patterns. The eyes were just wrong. I caught one mistake before I started (a line missing at the top of the right eye), but that eye on the left was way wrong. I had to redraw and piece a whole new section to replace it.

I bought some fabric on sale at Fabric.com so I can add a few more things to the to-be-quilted pile. I knew this Martha Negley print would be perfect for the back of the magenta top, but I had no idea how big the grapes would be. Fun, right?

I also purchased a big back (108" wide) for the back of the three by three top. After a good press, this pile will be off to the quilter, Pat at Ocean Waves. I picked up the batting from Ryco with a 40% off coupon. Gotta love those!

I guess my sick leave is over. We'll be back to the machines tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be browsing the WIP Wednesday entries.