Miscellaneous Crafty Catch Up

In keeping with the end of year catching up, here are some crafty projects I was working on. I'm tired just looking at it all! I honestly don't know how I did it all in two months.

I was really pleased with my craft show set up. Don't look too closely at the prices. I already know they are too low. 

The princess totes went to Abby & Olivia in Denver. The 2 mug mats were commissioned. I like that they are similar, but different. The two pillowcases were for Mollie's new pillow.

 My niece asked for collars and leashes for her girls' doll pets. Lily's dog is wearing the new collar, but Anna wanted to put hers on her new unicorn. It's a good thing I made them adjustable!

I liked the NYB postcards so much, I put them in tow blog posts! I spent one night in front of the TV making origami stars for a small Christmas tree. I need to get my paper folding fix from time to time! The brownie trees were my go-to party contribution. The candy cane bow tie is for my super cool son.

 

Twelve key fobs made from my father's ties were gifted to all of his kids and grandchildren.  Some people cried. Mission accomplished.

In addition to all the crafting and quilting, I did take a few breaks to cheer on my kids. Pete participated in the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps birthday ceremony. He's on the 45 yard line on the left, 6th from the front. (Julia and I watched the ceremony live streaming on line.)

That's Julia, number 11, playing in a rugby tournament that her team won. We also went to her Christmas concert to hear her sweet solo. She has the most beautiful singing voice, but can throw a mean tackle!

 

 There was some beautiful color in the house: birthday roses, pretty poinsettia and anniversary roses. Someone knows my favorite color!

Challenge Progress

I was happy to get this top pieced yesterday for the Modern Quilt Guild challenge using these fun Michael Miller prints. It's only 24 X 28".

The Rhode Island MQG gave us a fat eighth of 5 prints plus one solid. What was left over from piecing the front was pieced into the back, slice and insert style. I bought the coordinating green print last week on a quilty road trip with Julia.

Julia has been taking crafty breaks from cleaning her room and playing with fun charm squares. She's debating whether to piece them into 1/2 rectangle squares or 4-patches.

This time of year, I succumb to Peony Envy! Driving around town, I've been known to yell and point out all the peonies. I lucked out this year and have a few gorgeous blooms of my own. The biggest one was growing out from under a pine tree. Maybe I should sprinkle pine needles around my other plants.

Have a beautiful, colorful weekend!

WIP Wednesday

It feels great to make progress on sewing and home projects, but it is hard for me to maintain a high level of productivity for long. Balance is a buzz word that might play a large part in my life this year.

Finished this week: Crackers quilt for charity.

In progress: 
Clamshell pillow cover. I should be able to finish this today, and then start another one.

 Ninigret Friendship Star Swap. We had our second round of swapping last night.

Take it All with you bag. I'm going to a class this weekend to make this amazing bag with 42 pockets. There was a lot of prep work (cutting and fusing) so we can get right to work with bag construction in class.

Random:
I just got this gorgeous Riley Blake fabric in the mail. I have no idea what it will become, but I love it!

My friend, Kate, made this cute basket for me. Thanks, Kate!

And now, it's time to surf!

Catching up

 I visited my friend Karen on Friday to play with her toys! Yes, her sewing room (and entire home) is as amazing in person as it is on her blog.

She had gotten some new dies from Accuquilt recently. I copped up a box of modern scraps into clamshell shapes.

 

I don't think I like them all up next to each other like this. I think I'll have to cut some shapes out of Kona white or snow for alternating rows.

When I got home from Karen's, I was happy to see that the red amaryllis had bloomed. It was a gift from Julia's boyfriend, Fred. Red won the race against the white one from my mother-in-law.

 

 I know you've been wondering if Bill's car is in the garage yet. I was a day late, but it was done on Saturday. There is still a lot to do out there when it gets warmer. This is good enough for now. This month, I'm focusing on cleaning out my bedroom so the carpet can be replaced. Yay!

Have you ever been out and suddenly realized you did not have your purse or driver's license with you? It happened to me on Friday. I was going to risk it and go on with my day, but I just couldn't do it. I turned around and went back home to get it. It must be the Catholic guilt.

Have a great week, guilt-free!

Five -o- Five

 It is time for a giveaway! I like round numbers, so I was excited to see my 300th blog follower recently. (Hi, Pat B!) As I type this, there are 303 on blogger and 202 on Bloglovin' for a total of 505 followers. I know there are duplicates in there, but the numbers make me happy!

I'm giving away this gathered clutch and felted wool crochet flower to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment and say hi! (If you think your email address won't show up for me, leave it in the comment so I can reach you.)

 

The clutch was made from Noodlehead's pattern. I love these little bags and use a bunch of them every day. They are great for corralling small things in a giant purse or tote. The flower is just for fun. It has a pin back, so you can use it anywhere.

 

 I'll choose a random winner on Monday morning, August 12. Good luck! 

Now if I could only figure out how to number my comments, I'd be in business. I've tried a couple of tutorials without luck. If you found one that worked for you, please share. Thanks!

Sew Every Day 13 & 14

 My "cottage" garden is bursting with perennials and scary looking iridescent blue bees.

 Sew Every Day 13: I stitched exactly 4 seams. I did a quick paper piecing demo at the RI Modern Guild meeting. Going to the meeting and shopping for fabric has to count, too!

Day 14:  I needed 10 more 9-patches to add to the swapped blocks for the layout I chose.

By dinner time, the large units were all pieced. It shouldn't take long on Monday to get the top finished.

Julia finished piecing the top she's been working on.

 

 She's really happy! The goal is to get it quilted and bound next weekend.

 When Bill was in his basement office last night, he heard something scratching the window screen. A turtle was trying to climb out of the window well! This morning, he found this baby snapping turtle dug into the mud in the bottom to keep cool. 

I won't be digging a hole in the mud for myself tomorrow, but I think I will need to move my machine back to my air-conditioned bedroom. It's going to be another steamy week.

Finish it up Friday

 I didn't get a whole lot of sewing done this week, but I did manage to complete this top for Habitat for Humanity. I'll try to prepare the back and binding tonight, then set it all aside until we buy batting. I'm calling this a finish!

This is the X's and O's pattern from Missouri Star. We had a stash of 6" blocks donated by guild members years ago, and I found the tan in our outreach stash, too. This will make a great quilt for a 10-year old boy.

Julia has been playing with fabric, getting ready to make a quilt for her boyfriend. Most of these squares came from the Big 10 Inch Swap that Monica hosted on Flickr last year.

She decided to go with the Old Italian block from the cover of Anita's book, because the boyfriend will be an Old Italian man someday soon! The first two test blocks didn't turn out very well. The rotary cutter slipped on the blue one, making the center square not square, and the dimensions of the red one are off. One more test block is in order before we start full scale production.

 

The bleeding hearts are blooming this week. Those little blossoms are so cute!

 

We'll be in Boston tomorrow for the "To Boston With Love" exhibit at the MFA!

Now, hop over to Crazy Mom Quilts to see what everyone else finished this week.

Love and Hope for Boston

 I've been sewing for Boston today. First up, a flag for "To Boston With Love." This initiative is being lead by the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.  The goal is to bring messages of peace and love to Boston. Rhode Island has an anchor and the word hope in the middle of the state flag, so I chose both for my flag.

I paper pieced the wonky letters. I didn't trust myself to free piece them and have them come out the right size, so I drew out the paper piece blocks.

For the back, I used freezer paper stenciling to paint the anchor. I'm not happy that the front shows through, but they asked that no batting be used so the flags can fly free.

 

Click on the button for details, and be aware that the deadline has changed to May 21. The flags will be displayed during Memorial Day weekend.

 

Next up is a block for "Quilts For Boston" by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild. I had just signed up for Jacquie Gering's new Craftsy class, so I watched a few lessons and made a mini swirling stars block. The yellow star looks more like a diamond, but I'm OK with it.

Click the button for details:

This is what happens when I can't find the right vase! Beer bottles are the perfect size for a single rose (from Pete's senior night track meet).  And an aperitif glass is perfect for a bunch of stray grape hyacinths, picked out of the lawn before mowing.

Up next, a couple of bird blocks for the Modern Stash Bee.

Really Random

 Pete is home from Nicaragua! His team had a fantastic time- everything we had hoped and more. He really didn't want to bother with a camera, but I convinced him at the last minute to pick up a disposable one. This is the best of his 24 shots. Spectacular!

 A man working at the hostel in Leon made this knotted necklace for me and wire rings for Julia. Pete really enjoyed talking to him as he worked.

 On Friday, I had the pleasure of taking a class with Cindy Needham. If you are not familiar with her work, spend some time browsing her website. Her work is absolutely stunning! Stay tuned for more on my project using my grandmother's linens.

I couldn't resist the colors of this grocery store bouquet. Check out the fluffy green thing in the front. It is a Green Trick Dianthus. Who knew?

This zig zag row will be shipped out to the February Modern Stash queen bee.

 I'm going to try to play along with Karen's BOM on Sew Many Ways. I don't have a great track record with BOM's, so we'll see how far I get.

I figure if I make them in the same fabrics that I started using for Jackie's BOM last year, I can combine them at the end. Of course, they are different sizes, so that will just add to the challenge of putting them together.

 It's time to start thinking ahead to our guild retreat next weekend. I can't wait!