Traveler's finds

Last week I was in Savannah, Georgia, participating in an NEH teacher workshop. You can read about that on my other blog.

Before the workshop began I was able to find a fabric shop in Savannah called 'Fabrick. 

Of course I had to buy some souvenir fat quarters. But as I looked around I saw they had some Liberty of London. My favorite fabric. I bought a half yard for a future project.

Here are my purchases. The three fabrics touching the bag are from Savannah. The red one is from my short trip to Boston. Below is a book I found at Fabrick. I'm working on felt animals for the grands and this book had some cute patterns. 

We are off to Memphis to take the finished gifts for Baby Girl. You can see those here.

My finish this week is 'summer vacation is finished'. Back to school Monday.

A Few Things for Baby Girl

I thought I would make a photo spread of the different items I have made for Baby Girl. Eagerly waiting for her appearance in September.

First, Little Red and her collection of accessories. The bag is my original design.

Next, a giant 9 patch with a whimsical germanic-style doll family. The corners are hopscotch designs and the green fabric has trees with many colored leaves.

The back of the 9 patch is pink flannel with owls sitting on tree branches. I rolled the back around to the front instead of binding.

Included in the photo below are two flannel receiving blankets. One pink and the other has cute animals on a white background.

Finally, Here is the "Baby Love" quilt I made with fussy cut centers, scrappy pink hearts and scrappy cream/tan/ecru background, pale green and cream borders. The double fold bias binding was sewn on the back and top stitched on the front. 

Close up of a curved corner. I traced a salad plate to make the curve. 

The back is pale pink minky dots.

Can you see the outline of the hearts? I did very little quilting because I wanted this to be a snuggly, soft quilt.

Linking with Crazy Mom.

This and That Quick Finishes

This giant 9 patch is for baby Lydia. Her mom is a former children's choir member and Sunday School student who is now an elementary teacher. I found the fabric at our recent June Gathering. I'm thinking of calling it "Lydia's Zoo".  I love the purple elephant. 

The back is the last piece of zigzag flannel. Hope Lydia enjoys finding the animals.

Recently I made this needle book to hold my embroidery needles.

I'm getting ready to smock something for Baby Girl.

The pink and green is left over from a lap quilt I made a few years ago for Vicki's first girl.

She wrote about it here.

I love the kitten button. The felt pages are pink.

Now to start smocking.

Closing in on a finish

Before I show you my progress on "Baby Love" (that's my name for the quilt I'm making for Baby Girl) I have to share my favorite quilty tool. I decided to bind the quilt using bias binding. It's been a long time since I cut bias binding. I usually just cut strips across the width of the fabric. Since I needed to refresh my memory on how to cut bias binding, I got out my trusty Quilter's Reference Tool. This little book has helped me so many times as I figured out how to a make quilt without a pattern. The next step is to cut the fabric shown under the book for the bias binding.

Here is the top with borders.

Most of the quilting is finished. I'm only quilting in the ditch around the hearts and between the blocks.

Another view.

I rounded the corners for a softer look.

The back is pink minky. It is no problem to quilt but it was tough pin-basting through it and the bamboo batting. I want it to be very snuggly for Baby Girl.

Getting ready to cut binding this week end.

Celebrating the 4th and our daughter's birthday. I'll be in Boston next week end and hope to find a quilt shop to visit.

Linking up with Crazy Mom. Happy Fourth!