May Progress

I can't believe that the first 5 months of 2011 are already over. I was impressed to check in on The List and find that I have actually completed 10 quilts this year so far! Now, a lot of them are small, and I still have a big ole stack of tops and WIPs to finish, but that is a pretty satisfying number. Check it out!

Finished Quilts of 2011

1. 2 Christmas Tree Mini Quilts done 1/11
2. Baby quilt: spring strings (top done 3/10), basted 8/10, done 1/11
3. Bloom Mini Quilt done 1/11
4. 3 Quilted Book Covers started and done 1/11
5. Girly I Spy Quilt done 2/11
6. Baby Blocks: Blue #1 done 3/11
7. Garden Path baby quilt done 3/11
8. Grayson's baby quilt done 4/11
9. 12 x 12" Mini done 4/11
10. Memory Basket AAQI mini done 5/11
    

2011 WIPs:
My list is back up to 20- uh-oh! I added and finished the AAQI piece, then started a Block of the Month project hosted on the 15 Minutes Play site. It's too fun to resist! I spent most of the month working on other projects, so I didn't get any other quilts done.

1. Stars & Strings tabletopper (started 2009) top done 7/10, basted,hand-quilting in progress
   
2. Houses Donation quilt top done 8/10
   
3. Bright Snowballs (started 2009, top done)
4. Applique Flowers Wall Quilt top done 8/10
5. Indian Summer top done 12/10, expanded 4/11*
   
6. Gypsy Madness Leaders & Enders top done 1/11
   
7. Wedding Ring Table Runner top done, quilted 10/10
8. Amish-ish Mini Quilt top done & basted 2/11
   
9. Triumph Star top done 3/11
10. Stash Busting Bee International Log Cabin
11. Say Cheese Self-Portrait
12. Seasons Mat for R's preschool
    
13. Crumb Blocks-->stars
14. Pinwheel Quilt
15. Holy Night
16. Soup Dragon*
17. Yellow & Orange Log Cabins blocks done 5/11*
18. Rainbow String Quilt*
19. Scrappy Sixteens*
20. 15 Minutes Play Blocks of the Month
    

* Quilts I worked on this month

On the design burner (fabric has been pulled or cut, but no sewing has been done):

1. Bricks & stones baby quilt
2. Girl blocks baby quilt
   
3. 2233 Pineapple
4. Bento Boxes for S
5. Leopard Roses
6. Christmas quilts
   
7. Donation quilt for A's school auction
8. Retro Rail Fence
   

Quilting
I have mostly been un-quilting (ugh!) my Indian Summer quilt this month. I decided to rip out the progress I had painfully made and try again with better thread. I'm not sure what is slower- quilting with thread that just won't cooperate, or ripping out said quilting. Either way, it's a lovely quit and I am enjoying spending time under it. Even if it's picking out the quilting.

I tried quilting with a different color bobbin thread on my Memory Basket piece for AAQI. I learned a bit about balancing the tension to make it a success, and I am really pleased with how it turned out. I love these little mini quilts!

Stash
I had to get some more yellow and orange fabric this month- especially for my juicy Yellow & Orange Log Cabins! Other than that, no fabric came in (good) and I reorganized my stash storage so it's easier to use. Yay! It's exciting to be surrounded by so much gorgeous & inspiring fabric, and even more exciting to liberate it from being hoarded in piles and put it to use!

Building Blocks

I can't even remember how long I have been working on this yellow & orange log cabin quilt... a blogger search tells me it was at least 2 years back in December. Maybe 2 1/2 years? I know I have been collecting yellow & orange fabric for it for almost all of my quilting career!

But now I have sewn all the blocks.

64: enough for a queen size quilt.

This picture doesn't do them justice, I was just so excited last night at midnight when I finished the last block, I had to take a picture. They are are so happy! They remind me of little jewel boxes full of sunshine and joy.

I still need to assemble the quilt top, which comes with a catch....

These are lazy log cabin blocks... meaning that I was too lazy to get and press each log as I sewed, I just finger-pressed and squared everything in my lap. There is a lot of variation in size, so I'm going to have to add some coping strips to square them all up.

I'm definitely adding more yellow and orange strips but I'm tempted to throw in some of this pink & red Kaffe print as well. What do you think?

photo from GloriousColor.com

Button Blankets

I realized that I haven't posted here for 2 weeks! While my quilting time has been limited this month, I have been sewing up a storm on my daughter's 3rd grade class auction project. They are studying the Native Americans in our area, so they made these little button blankets.


They each designed their own applique based on animals in Native American folklore. Each piece is about 12" x 18".

With the help of a couple other parents, I added borders and hanging corners on the back so they can be displayed hanging on a dowel.


I like these 3 different takes on a whale:

Fabric Dreaming

My Hancock's of Paducah catalog came in the mail yesterday... this always challenges my resolves to minimize my fabric purchases! How much do I love Brandon Mably's fabrics for the Kaffe Collective collection?

The other colorways are delicious too.

April Progress

I'm wrapping up April with a look at The List . This was my big quilt-a-thon month, which kicked off which great success on Grayson's quilt. Then the throw I planned to quilt next morphed into a full size quilt and has been a pain in the neck ever since. I am taking a break from it, then I am going to rip out that quilting and try again with better thread!

Since I only finished one quilt (and a mini!) I am going to continue the quilt-a-thon into May... and as long as it takes!

Finished Quilts of 2011

12 x 12" mini

1. Christmas Tree Mini Quilts done 1/11
2. Baby quilt: spring strings (top done 3/10), basted 8/10, done 1/11
3. Bloom Mini Quilt done 1/11
4. 3 Quilted Book Covers started and done 1/11
5. Girly I Spy Quilt done 2/11
6. Baby Blocks: Blue #1 done 3/11
7. Garden Path baby quilt done 3/11
8. Grayson's baby quilt done 4/11
9. 12 x 12" Mini done 4/11
   

2011 WIPs:
This list actually got smaller! I finished one quilt, and added and finished another for the 12" x 12" mini quilt swap.

1. Stars & Strings tabletopper (started 2009) top done 7/10, basted,hand-quilting in progress *
   
2. Houses Donation quilt top done 8/10
   
3. Bright Snowballs (started 2009, top done)
4. Applique Flowers Wall Quilt top done 8/10
5. Indian Summer top done 12/10, expanded 4/11*
   
6. Gypsy Madness Leaders & Enders top done 1/11
   
7. Wedding Ring Table Runner top done, quilted 10/10
8. Amish-ish Mini Quilt top done & basted 2/11
   
9. Triumph Star top done 3/11
10. Stash Busting Bee International Log Cabin
11. Say Cheese Self-Portrait
12. Seasons Mat for R's preschool *
    
13. Crumb Blocks-->stars
14. Pinwheel Quilt
15. Holy Night
16. Soup Dragon
17. Yellow & Orange Log Cabins
18. Rainbow String Quilt*
19. Scrappy Sixteens*

* Quilts I worked on this month

On the design burner (fabric has been pulled or cut, but no sewing has been done):

1. Bricks & stones baby quilt
2. Girl blocks baby quilt
   
3. 2233 Pineapple
4. Bento Boxes for S
5. Leopard Roses
6. Christmas quilts
   
7. Donation quilt for A's school auction
8. Retro Rail Fence
   

Quilting
I had a great time free-motion quilting Grayson's Quilt. Then I tried quilting with a different kind of thread for Indian Summer and it has been a real disappointment. Lesson learned! It's time to go back to the stuff that works, even if it costs a little bit more.

I am hoping to finish at least 2 quilts this next month... with decent thread this time!

Stash
My stash situation has not improved. There were a few thrift store finds that I could not pass up, then some reds that needed to be restocked, and then the cuteness of the new Denyse Schmidt collection. The good news on that front is that all this beautiful fabric makes me so happy and gets my creative juices flowing!

Happy Easter!

I made these adorable felt bunny finger puppets for my daughters' Easter baskets. How cute are these? We're hunting for eggs at our house today, having brunch at a favorite restaurant and visiting with family.

Things I love about Easter:

1. Spending the holiday with family
2. A time of renewal
3. Lots of baby animals!
4. Pastel colors everywhere
   
5. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate
   

For my Easter gift to myself, I found the new Denyse Schmidt collection for JoAnn's at my closest store. So cute and spring-y! I could not resist getting a few of the prints. (I got some chocolate, too.)

Wishing a very happy Easter to all!

Over the Rainbow

I've been working on my rainbow string quilt bit by bit... I thought it would be fun to lay all the blocks out together to see how they look...

Stunning!

I have 32 blocks so far, so I'm less than halfway to the 80 I need for a twin size quilt. Unfortunately, some of my color-sorted bags of strings are still bursting and some are dwindling. I have a serious purple string shortage! I guess I need to do some more sewing to restock those strings!

In other scrap sewing news, I made this mini quilt for the 12"x 12" Something From Nothing Challenge Swap over on the 15 Minutes Play site. I love all these bright bits!
And now- back to more quilting!