Saturday, January 28, 2012

I Spy a Cute Quilt for Someone!

My great-nephews Phenyx and Kingston recently got new beds.  Big boy beds!  I noticed that one of them has been sleeping with his Gramma's Hubba Hubba Quilt, so I decided they need their own quilts and set out to make them this week.  I have lots of novelty prints left over from other kid quilts.  This is what's on the design wall so far...






This Over and Under Pattern by Paula Hughes looks complicated but it's really simple.  The prints are cut in 4.5" x 6.5" blocks.  Then a green 1.5" x 6.5" strip is sewn onto each side.  






Alternating the blocks results in a woven pattern.  Black sashing gives a really distinct look as seen in this Halloween quilt.  


I'm making one quilt in green and one in blue.








I can't wait to get these done so the boys can have their own quilts.  AND so their Gramma can have her Hubba Hubba quilt back!


Friday, January 20, 2012

Scrappy Pineapple Blossom

Are you ready to hear more about the Pineapple Blossom quilt I've been working on after seeing the sneak peeks I have been posting?  This started as a block swap last year with a group of friends.  I ended up with 24 blocks but wanted to make a bigger quilt instead.  It turned out to be much bigger!  You've already seen the stack of blocks and some of them on the design wall.  I wanted the quilt to look really scrappy and really random so I just threw the blocks in a big pile on the floor, pulled them one by one from the pile.....  




.....and started sewing them into rows.  I used 121 blocks (that means there are 1,573 pieces in this quilt!) in order to make it big enough for a king size bed.






I had to lay it out on my patio to get a picture of it because there was no place else it fit.


My friend Angela at Quilted Joy is going to quilt it for me.  She does amazing work so I know it will be beautiful.  


The corner triangles that were cut off to remove bulk will go to another friend, Wendy, so she can make a "something from nothing" quilt.  There are a LOT of them!


















I know whatever she makes it will be very scrappy!

Friday, January 6, 2012

A Look Back at 2011

Until I looked at my spreadsheet today I honestly thought that I had not accomplished very much in 2011.  Seems I did!  I was really surprised to see that, especially with our move from Missouri to Alabama and not having access to my sewing room for several months.  Here's a list of the projects I completed, most of which are linked to blog entries about them.  Some of them were new projects, some (three) were UFOs, some (eight) were Charity quilts.  


1.   Sunrise Sunset (Charity Quilt)
2.   Quilt for Huckabee Baby
3.   Passion (UFO)
4.   For Young Jedi Aidan
5.   Quilt for Pobst Baby
6.   Pink Patches (Charity Quilt)
7.   Lots of Pink (Charity Quilt)
8.   Something from Nothing Challenge
9.   Quilt for Becker Baby
10. Funky Monkeys
11. Green NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
12. Green NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
13. Purple NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
14. Purple NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
15. Yellow NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
16. Kandinsky Inspiration Challenge
17. Secret Sisters Quilt (UFO)
18. Happy Housewarming (UFO)
19. Pay Day (Challenge Quilt)
20. Memories of Naomi


I see that I never shared with you the quilt I made for my little great-nephew Christopher.  I just took some blue strips and some white squares and when I got it all together and hand-quilted it, I realized it was exactly like the Allegro pattern.  Great minds must really think alike!




Another quilt I haven't told you about is my "Something from Nothing" Challenge.  This is just a little 12" quilt that was made from scraps in my basket and embellished with a few beads I picked up in Paducah.  I really like how it turned out and so, apparently, did my swap partner!


Then, there is #20 on the list, "Memories of Naomi."  I'll have to wait a few months to share this one with you since it's for a baby due in March and I want it to be a surprise. 


The only other thing I made last year was this little Arkansas Razorback mug rug for my secret quilter at retreat.  














So, I guess if I could accomplish as much as I did last year with everything we had going on, I will have no excuses for not getting a lot finished this year.  Guess I'd better get busy!