Fat Quarter Stars top

Forgive the poor photo quality . . . I'll post a better one when it's done.

Over my lunch hour I dropped off this quilt top with Carly to quilt.  It's my Fat Quarter Stars top done with the Ellie II fabric line.  I have another set of identical blocks done in greens, blues, and purples that I still need to put together.

I picked out a beautiful red backing fabric and will leave it in her talented hands to decide how to quilt it. It's always a pleasant surprise to pick them up when she is done.

While in The Pin Cushion I lingered over a gorgeous machine embroidered wall hanging.  It made me realize that I really, really need to make use of the embroidery unit for my sewing machine. I've had it over a year now and haven't taken the time to even try it out. It's time!!!

Pinwheel Star top is done

I had to get my husband to hold this one up for me to photograph.  The colors are a bit muted in this picture. Guess we should have tried outside, but the wind is blowing so that presents a different problem.

This is a baby quilt that I'm making for a cousin to give to a friend as a gift. It is large enough for a toddler and not too "baby-ish".

Once it is quilted and bound, I'm making a label that the giver can write on before she gives it to her friend. That way she can personalize it however she would like.

Yesterday I cut all of the pieces for the remaining 11 pinwheel star blocks. I had already made 1 block as a test to make sure my math was accurate.

Today I've been working on the blocks themselves.  All of the squares, rectangles and triangles became these sections of the blocks.

And this is the result.  I have all of the rows sewn together but I needed a break. So I'm watching the Vikings  football game. Then I'll finish the blocks by putting the rows together.  And later in the week I'll work on the sashing and cornerstones. Last step will be adding the borders. I have set a deadline for myself on this quilt because it is a "commission" project for a gift being given by my cousin's wife to a friend. 

1 hour project

What can you accomplish in an hour?

A self-binding baby blanket. This is the second one I've made now and once I figured out the technique it was really fast.  Cut, sewing, top stitch, press . . . all done in just less than an hour, start to finish, last night.  I have the flannel for 2 more so now I need a couple of more free hours.

Spur of the moment

Just call me an impulse shopper!

I stopped into The Pin Cushion yesterday to buy some white thread. Just thread - honest!!

First thing, Carma took me to the back where Carly had my blue stars quilt on the frame. I just love the quilting she is doing on my quilt and can't wait to get it back. It will be beautiful.

Then, I had to chat with Cindy and see what she was working on because it looked so cute.  It was this darling little table topper called Tankini. Another great pattern from Atkinson Designs. I love their patterns - have done several - so of course I had to buy it.  And then of course I had to go dig out some Halloween fabrics from my stash and try it out last night. I really was just going to start it. But about 90 minutes later I had the top all done.  It is going to be even cuter once I quilt it and add the striped binding. 

Self-binding baby blanket

This self-binding baby blanket is made from 2 flannel pieces and is one of the easiest projects I've done in ages.  It is so easy in fact, that I am going to make more of them so that I have some baby gifts ready to go when needed.

The Pin Cushion has done some classes on this and I've wanted to attend, but just couldn't make any of them work out. So I decided that somewhere on the Internet must be instructions for this. And I was so right - several different tutorials showed up in my search.  Just search for "self-binding baby blanket".

Planning Day

Today is a planning day - not a sewing day. Partly because I have a lot of projects that need some planning and organizing - and partly because I'm going to play some golf this afternoon while we have a gorgeous day.

One of the projects I have to work on soon is a baby quilt that I am making for one of my cousins as a gift she wants for a good friend.  This is the design I've come up with so far. I drew this up on EQ6. The border fabric will be a soft blue baby print with tans/browns/greens/blues in a jungle print. I'm hoping she likes this design so that I can get started on it. Or we may start from scratch with a new design. That's OK too.

The other planning I've been doing today is finishing up my UFO list for our quilt guild challenge. I know it doesn't reflect every single project laying in a drawer or box in my sewing room. But it covers most.  Right now I have 26 UFOs listed, plus 7 quilts that just need binding and a label, plus 5 more that need quilting, binding, and label.  And I've added 15 more projects that have been purchased but not started.  So . . . that is 53 projects total that will be on my radar for the next 12 months.

I'll turn in a copy of this list at next week's guild meeting. And I'm posting this list in my sewing room above my cutting table . . . here I will have to look at it every time I'm in there!  I'm hoping it is inspiration to get things finished.