Too Many Quilts to Quilt

Last night I took the unquilted tops off of the quilt rack in my living room.  Every once in a while I like to move a different one to the front.  And this was the time to change from Christmassy to something else.  The problem is they are still on my couch.  They need to be moved back to the rack but I'm trying to get inspired.  And this is not the first time I have laid them out looking for some inspiration.  However, there are now more than there were before.

There are six tops laying there that need quilted.  (In my defense, I can count. The one with white squares laying over the end under the yellow and black is an actual finished quilt.) And there are more in the sewing room.  One of these days I'm actually going to have to figure out how many there really are.  I'm afraid it will shock me.  And I don't know how many tops are just on the fringe of being done.  I used to be so proud of not having unfinished quilt projects. Phooey.  That's obviously not the case anymore.  And at least two of them have been given as gifts with the promise that they will someday be an actual quilt.

Maybe someday they will all be real quilts.  Someday.  Oh, by the way, there are still three more tops on the quilt rack.

Julie

Another busy weekend.  Grace had her birthday party on Saturday the 22nd.  It was a fun filled, long day.  Okay maybe just long for the adults.  It was spa day for the girls.  They started with decorating a handbag with bright jewels and baubles. Then on to a foot bath and facial (made of yogurt, blueberries and honey).  Then came the nail painting - fingernails and toenails.  After all of that was the pink, green and purple hair extensions.  And along with all of that was sugar.  Lots of sugar which included a chocolate fountain.  And the birthday cake.  I know I would want my spa day to be filled with quiet and relaxation.  That was not to be found with 13 little girls running amok.  But they had a ton of fun.

Grace's friend Leah.

After all of the primping the girls got their pictures taken.  After Victoria gets them developed all of the girls will have one more memory of their spa day.  I missed getting a picture of Grace, of course.

After a long day at the spa (church basement).  The family loaded up and headed to Topeka for a little relaxation for the adults.  It was Mexican food at On The Border.  Yum.

Grace with the birthday sombrero on. And a little leftover brownie on her lip.

Saturday was a busy, busy day.  Whew.

This is the fabric postcard I made for Grace's sixth birthday.  I was trying to make something that would go with her spa day party.  And the last I had heard the girls were going to decorate flip flops not bags.  Oh, well.  It turned out alright.  Just as long as you don't look too close.

One more postcard done.  Another 12 months until I have to think about the next one for her seventh birthday.

My Saturday in a nut shell.  I worked all day on Sunday but did get up early enough to do a little sewing.  I've made some progress on the borders for the mini-heart quilt.  I'll complain that they are a tad too long another time.

Enough of my weekend. Time to get back to work.

Happy sewing,

Julie

This is going to be a valentine for me.  I like making things from little blocks so this is right up my alley. This is a free pattern from the Temecula Quilt Company  and can be found on their blog by using the link.

At this point it measures approximately 19" wide.  The heart blocks measure 5" square.  And start from 1 1/4" squares.  I'll need 44 heart blocks for the border.

This has been very easy to put together.  I've just been using my 2" and 3 1/2" pre-cut strips to cut the little squares and rectangles from.  So there hasn't been any real cutting until I got to the setting squares and triangles.  The side triangles called for a 7 1/2" square cut on the diagonal and that was the most cutting I've done.

Have a great day.

Julie

I have the center done on my Celtic Solstice.  But no picture today to prove it.  In the middle of putting that together I decided that my granddaughter Allison needed her first doll quilt from Grandma for her first birthday.

So this is what I put together for her. I don't know the name of this block.  I call it a pinwheel variation.  These blocks are 4" each.  And no, I don't believe I'll be making enough of them for a big quilt.  Sixteen was probably enough for me.

Here is a closer picture.  The yellow is a little darker than the top picture and a little lighter than the bottom.  Somewhere in between.  And no, don't look at my binding corners.  I don't think I will ever get good at making a corner.  And yes I have tried.  And yes, they probably are better than my first efforts.  But they are no where as good as my sister Cathy can do.  Anyway, I just did some simple quilt in the ditch on this.  The blocks are so small and after all it's just a doll quilt.  So hopefully it will get thrown around and used a lot.

I have spent quite a bit of time trying to decide what to do for Allison on her birthday that is something special.  For Grace I do a quilted postcard each year.  You can see one of the postcards here.  I didn't want the same for Allison.  So this is what I came up with.  If you can't read the card - it says:  "I want to give you a bouquet of flowers for your birthday.  Here is your first one.  Save this one and some day you will have a whole bunch."  Silly, I know.  But the plan is that when she turns 16 or 18 she and I can make a quilt out of the blocks I have given her for her birthdays.  And as shown, each of hers will have some kind of 12" flower block.

Allison and her birthday muffin.

Well off to start on something else.

Happy sewing,

Julie