Mini Finish

Finished the binding on this mini migrating geese quilt. The quilt will be part of the silent auction to benefit my quilt group at the show in September. This isn't the way I thought the quilt would look. I thought the individual blocks would be rectangular, not square. 

The triangles in the corners are for hanging the quilt. Maybe someone will want a little 9" x 9"  quilt for a wall or doll. 

Teachers went back to work last Monday and kids showed up Thursday, so my sewing time has been drastically reduced. It is so hot, I don't feel like doing anything. The heat index is over 100 and who knows how hot it is in the buses. 

Thank goodness for air conditioning. Hope you have a good week!

8 shops in 3 days

A little more details about my free style quilt shop hop in Atlanta. I drove over Wednesday and ate dinner with my cousin Lynn before going on to my brother's house. His wife Doreen is a super quilter and knows the area quilt shops. She had planned which shops we would see each day. 

Thursday we went to Kiwi Quilts and Stitch 'n Quilt. I found some fabric to go with my Japanese girls fat quarter at the first shop. That evening we had dinner with another cousin then went to Gene and Doreen's dancing group. Nancy and I caught up while they danced the night away.

Friday we drove south to Quilts and Fixins and A Scarlet Thread. The happy news was the first shop was having a fat quarter sale, so I stocked up. The second shop was having a Christmas demo day and offered a free pattern and yummy cookies. I found some Christmas fat quarters that I liked and that was day 2.

Saturday we stopped by the Marietta Art Museum to see the Yarn Bomb installation. Doreen helped with the set up and said it was a great way to meet other community members.

We went to 4 shops and this was the cutest place-Cottontail Quilts in Kennesaw. We also went to Tiny Stitches, Little Quilts, and Red Hen Quilts. I found something at each shop from sale fat quarters to the Japanese brothers of my little Japanese girls. 

It was so much fun! Here is my haul. Many days of sewing ahead. Can't wait to share with you.

Free Style Quilt Shop Hop

I am in the middle of my very own free style quilt shop hop around Atlanta. Wednesday I drove over to visit my brother and sister-in-law. (She is my quilting idol.) So far we have gone to four quilt shops. Today we happened upon a $2 fat quarter Friday sale at one shop where I got fat quarters for two baby quilts. The next shop was in the middle of the Holly Days shop hop where we got some free patterns, holiday cookies, demonstrations, and brand new Christmas fabric. Tomorrow we are trying to get to four shops before I head back home. Unfortunately I didn't take photos of our purchases but when I get home I will post a photo of all the new fabric.
Sew much fun!

Dinosaurs Go Round

Finished this 38" X 38" baby quilt last night. Everything except the center fat quarter is from my stash. The baby will be my grandson's first cousin on his father's side of the family. All the borders and backing fabric was left from Liam's quilt, a kit from Connecting Threads.

This is the back. I hope new baby boy has fun times playing on, under, and around this quilt.

Molly's quilt

This quilt is for the daughter of my sweet friend Vicki. Molly is 12 and was adopted by Vicki this spring. I gave Vicki a quilt for Molly from my stash of practice quilts. But I wanted to make a quilt specially for Molly now that she is here. (She is also one of my English language learners at school.)

I asked Molly what her favorite color was and she said 'purple'. Then I asked what her next favorite color was and she pointed to her aqua/teal shirt. Then I had fun finding fabrics in those colors, from light to dark. I chose musical fabrics, flowers, and animals because I knew those were some of Molly's interests.

The original idea was to randomly sew the squares together but then I found purple/lavendar minky with hearts to use for the backing. I decided to use the purple dark squares to make a heart. Didn't quite have enough so some other darks were included.

I cut 12 fat quarters into 12 five inch squares and arranged them in this pattern. Next time I will take a photo of my plan. It goes from light at the top to dark at the bottom. That was what I wanted. Now I wish I had centered the dark squares on the 10th row. But since it is all finished I will be happy with how it is.

I hope Molly will enjoy cuddling with this quilt. 

My wish is that she will feel the love coming from her new family and friends.

I thought about naming this quilt 'Loving hugs for Molly'.  What do you think?

Saturday Finish Posted on Friday

This is On Point by Bits N Pieces. I started it in the summer of 2011 thru Stitchin Heaven's Summer Block Party. I received two blocks each week for seven weeks. I enjoyed getting the fabric and directions in the mail each week and then completing the blocks. I purchased the finishing kit and found the backing fabric at a local shop because I wanted something different. So, blocks were finished and they sat until the next summer when I had time to put them together. Then I decided to take the quilt to a longarm quilter. Pam was fantastic. She does lots of quilts and told me there would be a two month wait but I was willing to wait until she could do the quilting. She made a plan that changed the pattern in each block. I hope you can see some of her beautiful quilting in the photos below. I LOVE IT!

Mini flying geese blocks

Flying geese blocks are my least favorite blocks to make BUT these were really easy. I used the no-waste flying geese method. The blocks are going to be labels for a quilt show in Jackson in September. Each quilt guild in the area has been requested to make some mini turning geese for the show. At the last quilt meeting several quilters complained that the block was really difficult to make. A challenge! That's all it took. I had to try to make some. The block is a little tricky but not impossible if directions are followed.

I may make some more of these. They are great scrap busters. The largest piece needed is 3 1/4 " square. With this block and the migrating geese block, I may have to stop saying 'I hate flying geese.' ;-)