A Huge Finish!

The quilt I told you about in this post, I am happy to report, has finally been completed.  This has been an interesting journey.  And a long one!  I started this Blooming Nine Patch in 2002, then set it aside for about 8 years.  Last year I got it out of the cabinet, determined to finish it.  Once it was put together and basted, it was set aside again for a while.  I was beginning to think this would be my "take-it-to-the-home-with-me" quilt!  After 7 months of working on it nearly every day it's finally ready for the big reveal........

I appliqued one of each of the blocks onto the back to create a design.  

You can see the blocks a little better in this close-up.

I am holding onto this one for a while before I hand it off to Aaron and Leah.  I'm thinking I may enter it in a few quilt shows first.


This one has to be my all time favorite quilt.  (Until I finish the next one, of course.)

Quilts for Japan

Leave it to quilters to come through in a disaster.  The recent earthquake and tsunamis in Japan have touched quilters' hearts and several groups are organizing efforts to get donated quilts to those who have lost everything.  I missed the deadline for mailing them to Quilters Newsletter Magazine so I will be mailing my quilts to eQuilter.com.  They are working with Mission of Love to get the quilts there and have also made available an address for sending quilts directly to Japan.

Since I am so math challenged I had 46 pink 4-patches leftover from the Pink Quilt I told you about in this blog  I just used them and some fabrics in my stash to put two quilts together in the last few weeks.  For the first one I alternated 4-patches with a cute polka dot fabric and added a border.

For the second quilt I added sashing with cornerstones and two borders to the 4-patches.

Now..........

.........what to do with all these leftover triangles!

So Who Could Make "Just One Star" ??

I'm sure you have seen a lot of blog posts about the "Just One Star" project sponsored by Moda Fabrics.  

They have asked quilters to send in "just one block" to help comfort a soldier.  The goal is to make, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days using the Flag of Valor pattern developed by Minick and Simpson for Quilts of Valor.  The deadline for the blocks is May 1st, so I got busy this morning.......

.....and got my blocks made!  I'll have to get to the Post Office with them on Monday.

Of course, I couldn't just make one block.  I don't want to tarnish my reputation as an over-achiever!

http://qovf.org/

Aidan's Star Wars Quilt

I hope you have been watching the progress on Aidan's Star Wars quilt because this one has been a lot of fun.  (Yes, I really mean it!)  It had its challenges, but it came together well and took less than a month to complete.
To give the quilting a little more interest, I decided to use Rainbow Threads in "Zebra" by Superior Threads which alternates black and gray and white thread.  

There's a little more white in it than I had hoped, but I like the way it turned out.

I ended up using orange for both the inner border and the binding and then piecing the back to use up all the fabrics.  

Here's the back.

I can hardly wait to give it to him.  He was SO excited when I told him I was working on a Star Wars Quilt for him.

This is Aidan when he's just being Aidan.....

.....and this is what he looked like the last time I saw him.  I think he may have been a Storm Trooper.  

I know that's a light saber.  Just about everything IS!

How I Spent National Quilting Day

I actually spent National Quilting Day working on a quilt!  In my last post I showed you the progress I had made on Aidan's Star Wars quilt.  I am happy to report that because of National Quilting Day the top is complete.  On my way home from visiting my grandchildren in Huntsville the other day, I stopped at Hancock's of Paducah and bought these two fabrics for an inner border and binding. 

Yesterday I finished filling in the black background and added a half inch inner border of orange before putting the Darth Vader borders on.  I am loving this quilt!

Now, to piece the backing.  I have these two pillow panels that I want to use on the back along with the Darth Vader fabric and some black and orange scraps. 

I am really excited about getting this finished.  I know Aidan is going to love it!


On a serious note -- I think we should have a MONTHLY National Quilting Day.  Don't you!?!?

Did I Really Say That?

Seriously.  Did I really say, "All I have to do is finish filling it in with black and it will be ready to quilt" in this post??  I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  Thinking it would be done in about a week, I started cutting pieces and sewing them into place.  Well, it isn't as easy as it looks!  It certainly isn't like making blocks and sewing them into rows and then sewing rows together.  The more I sewed, the more I ended up with places like this to fill in.

I ended up sewing that piece into place like you would sew a "Y" seam, only it really was more like sewing an "L" seam.  It worked, though.


It's coming along nicely now, and I have hopes of finishing it in March, which was my original goal.  


It's shaping up!

In case you wondered what that blue spot is in the middle of my design wall, here's a close-up of it.  

My grandson Gavin decided several years ago, when he was about 6, that if Gramma can put her art work up on the design wall, then so could he!  Take my word for it -- water colors are not easy to get off your flannel design wall.  Awww, I love it, though!