Twofer

I put two tops together yesterday from donated blocks.  I had a stash of the border fabric which went nicely with the blocks.  I'm getting ready to load these two on the longarm, using one continuous backing.  I also have a sea turtles pantograph that will be just perfect for these quilts.  

These will make great summer quilts for kids.  I'm also using fleece throws for batting.  I was a little over generous with my borders, and I'm thinking of machine basting the fleece to the top--it's going to be close, and I don't want to do too much pulling with the tensioners on the sides. 

Heavy clouds but no rain..

Like the song by Sting, we keep getting the clouds, full of promise, but they choose other areas for blessing.  Yesterday afternoon it actually seemed like we might get a downpour, but it quit almost as soon as it started, my plants all straining to catch the few drops that fell.  

The skies keep lighting up both morning and evening, and it was so beautiful last night that I actually went out with camera in hand.  I love the cooler weather we've had, making daily walking to the post office doable.  My kind of summer.

 
 

First of many?

I've been collecting fabrics for grandbaby quilts for some time now.  And since we are anticipating our daughter's birth of twins which aren't due until January, I'll get to play with a lot of different ideas.  She has the right of first refusal.  Any that don't pass can become donation quilts before I make a second similar one.

  
I don't know that I love this first one.  I didn't have any clear vision of where it was going, and it just sort of took off on its own. 

Another finish

I started looking through my UFOs and found this top minus the (ar)resting strip and outer border.  I had set it aside because I wasn't in love with it, but looking at it again, I thought it was good enough to finish and practice doing free hand quilting.

I don't know why I hesitate so much.  With such busy fabrics, it's hard to find the flaws in the quilting, and then when it's done, I am usually satisfied with the results.  The recipients of these donations are hardly quilting critics, but I like to do the best I can, nevertheless.  It's an allover feather design from the "Pajama Quilter Reloaded" DVD.

Thrift store scores

You just don't find good deals unless you go often, and I've had lots of opportunities to go to Savers lately.  It doesn't hurt that it's next door to JoAnn's, and I've been armed with lots of coupons lately, which I always feel compelled to use in order to "save" money.   

Yesterday, I scored this great print with zebras.  A picture is worth a thousand words, and much better than my description of artsy zebra fabric.  There was about 2.5 yards for $1.99.

Found this interesting brown and pink "stripe" which if I don't use as a border, would make good binding.  Another 2+ yard cut for $1.99.   

Blazing skies

The skies were blazing again the night before last.  We get so many beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and I have so many pictures that I frequently just go out without the camera and enjoy the quickly changing colors.  Hard to believe that June is more than half over and the sun will be heading back to its southern setting spot.  

We could sure use some rain that actually hits the ground which is predicted for today. 

 

30 years in the making

Dr. Kaufman began making these blocks when she was pregnant with her son, who is about to become a father.  Along with the blocks she also cross-stitched his birth details.  But life got busy and the blocks and stitchery long abandoned.  It was fun to put them together with Pat's help into a small quilt.

I finally finished the quilting after a false start, which I took out since I wasn't happy with it.  Fortunately I had only done two blocks before deciding I didn't like the way it was looking.  It seems harder to me now to do freehand quilting instead of my comfortable pantographs.  I have a lot more variety of pantographs now, and usually I can find something that seems much better, with more even coverage than I can do freehand.  

It isn't an heirloom, but I'll be finishing the cross-stitch with the new details and adding it to the back.   

And two more...

I used some more of the fabrics I got from Dr. Kaufman for this cottage nine-patch pizzazz.  I had some blocks leftover which I used with the borders--so I could get away with only one cut of the fabric per side.  I also used more leftover blocks appliqued to the back.

And I also got another kitty quilt done.  I used a red polar fleece blanket for batting.  I sure like that better than just doing without a backing. 

I should go out and start making some kitty blocks.  I've never participated in a kitty block swap, and there is one going on now on the about.com quilting forum.  I have enough time to get blocks done for the swap.  I'm trying to convince myself since they make great kid quilts.

A granddaughter's quilt done

Dr. Kaufman is expecting her first grandchild and I wanted to make a quilt for her.  She had given me many fabrics--some coordinated half yard cuts, some coordinated fat quarters, several different lines.  When she learned that it was going to be a girl, I made this quilt.

 I decided on a nine-patch pizzazz.  I found the perfect flannel backing in the backing stash--the majority provided by Pat.  I had just enough, and that was barely enough to meet the top on the sides.  I frequently don't like to waste fabric by having a 2-3 margin all around, but this was skimpier than usual!  

 

Productive holiday weekend!

Pat was here, and as usual we were productive.  She posted pictures on her blog, but there were still more to finish, which I've been working on.

This is a variation of the one on Pat's blog, a nine-patch pizzazz.  We loaded one quilt following the other on the same backing, and while that took a little longer, it's nice to take it off the machine and have two of them done.






 
 This string quilt was an experiment with using polar fleece to back it, and no batting.  Given our particular style of loading quilts--perhaps the fact that I was in the army makes me want to be able to bounce a quarter off them--it was a challenge  not to stretch the fleece.  We will likely be using the remaining bargain fleeces as batting.