proud quilt mama.

I'm a proud "quilt mama" today.

Jenn made not one...but two quilts.

One for the baby.

One for the baby's big sister's doll.

Sweet.
I love the simple pattern,

the stippling (how did she do that on her first try

of free motion quilting?),

and the scrappy binding.

Some musical fabric for a musical family.

The backs.
I'm so PROUD of my "quilt daughter".

wednesday

The last couple of Wednesdays have been

wonderful wednesdays for me.

I was given a few more scraps again today.

Why do these little pieces of days gone by

get to me??

Why do I love them so much?

I don't know.

But I do.

There isn't much here.

I really want to go play with them right now!!!

But I can't.

I need to deal with THIS.

and this.

and this.


Lots of celery with no place to go.

I AM adding it to a recipe that doesn't call for it.
Hope the spaghetti sauce doesn't mind.


I'm chopping and dreaming of fabric.
Old fabric.
Beautiful fabric.

What kind of quilt block will I use it in?
What did someone use it for years ago?
I love to dream.

I'm going to add this to creative

spaces over at kootoyoo.

bandanas

My son and daughter-in-law needed bandanas.

I have fabric.

I love to make things for my kids.

So glad they asked.

:)

While I made those bandanas,

I got to know a new friend.

Meet Frieda Foot Hemmer.

She is a joy to work with

but every time I began a side of one of those

bandanas I struggled a bit.

I will have to spend LOTS more time with

Frieda before I can say I'm

BEST FRIENDS with her.

I love the tiny hem she's able to make.

Have you met Frieda?

Are you still in touch?

I can think of some other projects she might be able to help me with!!

where's the girl?

Would you believe it?

In my little network of friends and relations

there are some pregnancies right now.

When I began this quilt....

I didn't know what anyone was having....

Well.

Guess what they're having.

Boy.

Boy.

Boy.

Where are all the little girl babies???

That's what I'd like to know!!!

This is a scrappy quilt.

I used JUST what I have on hand.

Which is kind of A LOT!!!

I still ran out of that bright green!!!

So...

I used another green.

This quilt measures 40"x50"

A little bigger than my usual

baby quilt.

I may start making them bigger.

What is your perfect size when making

or using a

baby quilt???

I even used my stash for the back!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

How many more quilts can I make

before having to go buy more fabric???

A LOT.

I think.

Oh....o.k.....

I know!

last minute

What do you do when a friend calls to say

her little boy's second birthday is tomorrow.

Her little boy has Cerebral Palsy

and you KNOW you have some printed blocks

from a cloth book project that

would make a great quilt gift for him??!!!

Have your bright fabrics handy.

Check.

Sew your brains out.

Check.

Quilt sparingly.

Check.



Make sure you have plenty of
orange backing in your stash.
Check.

That stash
sure
does come in handy!!!!

spray basting: 101

Some of you asked about my method of basting quilts last week.

I often pin the layers together....

but once in a while I cheat and use this.

I guess it's not cheating, is it?

This can is a relatively inexpensive brand of

basting spray.

I've heard that 505spray is the best option...

but I couldn't find it in my local shops.

I bought this instead.

The first thing to do is get your

quilt sandwich together!

Top.

Batting.

Back.

Find a location for your operation!

Today, I used my dining room table and

moved the chairs

Out of the way!

I did not want that spray to get all over the place.

The spray tends to float onto things you

don't want it to float onto!

I could use my kitchen floor....

That's washable...

But my kitchen floor is not

clean enough today!

I made sure that my quilt covers my table.

I don't want to spray to get there either.

O.k.

I'm set.

Fold half (or part of) the quilt top back.

Spray....onto your batting

Lightly.....lightly.....

no need to plaster it on there!

Now lay the quilt top section down and

smooth....

smooth......

smooth...it out.

Repeat on the other half, or section.

Great!

Now your quilt top is applied.

It's time for the backing.

Flip the quilt over.

Do the same thing to the back.

I always spray on the batting.and smooth as I go.

If there's a bubble just lift the

fabric and try smoothing again.

The adhesive does not act like

GLUE.

I am now ready to quilt a quilt!!!!

possibilities

Were you wondering how many blocks

I would be able to get out of those scraps???

I was.

10.

Yes. TEN!!!

woo hoo!

Now.

What am I going to do with them?

A table runner?

a small baby quilt?

Make some more blocks???

AND LOOK at that!!!

Maybe they'd like to join up with my

Nittany Party blocks!

Ooooh! All the wonderful

Poss-i-bil-i-ties!!!!

one man's trash

Is another "Man's" treasure...

or so the saying goes.

It came true today for me!!!

Look at those lovely little bits of fabric!

They came locked in a little bag.

Ooooh! They're tiny.

Oooooh! I love a challenge!

I made lots of half square triangles.

sorry.
Didn't count them.
That's not my favorite sport.
Sewing is!!!




Lots of little tails were trimmed.



A little nine patch.

How many nine patches can I get???
That's a good question.

Since I don't count.
:/

This one measures about 4 1/4"

I'm not going to stress about the size, etc.
since they're just scraps.

I'm having soooo much fun!!!
Thank you to the quilt fairy who dropped these
on the give away table...
Instead of dropping them into the
TRASH!!!

I'm crazy.

I was cooking and serving today.

No quilting.

:(

This is a quilt I made a year ago

(has it really been that long?)

for no reason.

Almost no reason.

That's why I'm crazy.

There was a wedding shower at my house

and these were the bride's colors.

Silly.

I know.

It hangs at a friend's house now.

Glad it found a good home.

:)

Pink and Green

Here's the beginning of a baby quilt.

The block is called Quail's Nest.

I'm using some small pieces of fabric I found

after Digging in my piles.

I love these colors.

This block starts here.

4 half square triangles.

Mine are trimmed to 4".

I started with 2 sets of 4 1/2" squares: white and pink.

I drew a diagonal line down the middle.....

followed along to make two 1/4" seams.

Cut along my line.

Now I have four half square triangles.

Press open to the darker fabric.

Then.

Important step.

Trim the square to 4"

How big do you think that center square is?

yep.

4"x4"

Here are my strip sets.

Can you see the notes I tried to attach to the picture?

I didn't think so.

That's my first attempt at adding type to a picture!!!

Woo Hoo!!

I got it on there...

But it's way too small!!

:)

The strips are as follows...for those of you who

cannot read that tiny, tiny print!

Pink strip is 2"x4"

green strip is 1 1/2"x4"

white strip is 1 1/2"x4"

Here it is!!!

When it's all together the block measures

11"x11"

Now I'm going to go make some more.

My goal:

12 blocks.

My purpose:

Baby quilt.

My dream:

Another quilt.

for a boy.

using blue and red!!!!

coming home.

I thought when my children moved out,

they might call or stop by wanting a meal

or something like that.

Maybe they would miss my

Yummy.

Home.

Cooking.

Today I got a call.

"Can I bring my friend over to go

shopping

In your stash??"

Yes.

Hooray!!

Something brought my daughter home

for a VISIT!!!

Who would have EVER guessed it would be

MY STASH!!!

They even stayed to sew!!!

Double and triple....

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

I wasn't going to sew today either!!

Oh boy!

Was I distracted!!!

I was supposed to be cleaning the house for

guests coming tomorrow for lunch.

AND

buying groceries for guests coming for lunch.

AND

making some food for guests coming for lunch.

BUT...

I just couldn't tear myself away from

these girls!!!

And their sewing adventures

in my new sewing room!!!

Guests coming for lunch will just have to

eat the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer

that I already bought!

That's nutritious...

Isn't it???

Well.

We had some success in my new sewing room

AND

we had some failure.

:/

She did a great job on the binding!!!

But the print is upside down!

Oh well....

She wasn't too discouraged

and I know.....

She'll get to make another one.....

and for that....I think

She'll have to come back and sew.