Good Morning...........
I thought I'd get to post yesterday but my laptop had other ideas.  I feel like this is almost the end of the road for this laptop friendship....and that makes me sad.  Oh well....

I spent some time over the weekend deciding on my "BEE" block for the next round of my Instagram Bee with my friends.  We start the next round September 1st and I'm December so I knew I needed to get my butt in gear and get moving.

So, the September girl is Amanda in California.  She chose a Thimbleblossoms pattern called "Fireworks".  She wants a navy background (which she provided all of us) and then wants red, aqua, white...any combination.   I like to make my blocks up at least a week or two in advance so the girls get their block in the beginning of their month.   Here's Amanda's.......

It was a hard block to photograph but here it is.....  We also send a little something for the Queen Bee so this year I decided that I'd make everyone a little project pouch and mail their block inside.

I haven't made one of these in ages so I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out nice.

I did decide on my pattern and fabric too and even decided to use my own fabric to actually use up some of my stash!

I'm also using a Thimbleblossoms pattern called "Puddle Jumping" and a stack of my Little Miss Sunshine fabric.  I picked a really cute "bee" background fabric that I've had in my stash for quite a while.   We have 13 girls in our bee so I will need to make a few extra to bring it up to size so I made a sample for everyone to see......

 

Here it is....and I'm thrilled.  Can't wait for December. (yes, I said it.....UGH LOL)

Be back soon with a new project starting today...........

Clementine Quilt Along

So, another Sunday, another finished project.

I signed up for this sewalong/BOM back late last summer so it's only fitting I finish it almost a year later.  Truthfully though, the project thru Fat Quarter Shop didn't start until January and it was only a 6 month block project and then the 7th month was assembly.

 

 

The blocks were not hard....we made 1 12.5 and 1 20.5 inch block over the 6 months.  Then the finishing instructions had us add borders to the 12.5 inch blocks which brought them up to 20.5 and set them on pointe.  

I did all of this yesterday afternoon and then this morning I connected the 4 rows and added the border.  Really quite quick and easy!

The bottom picture is the backing....It's perfect for the front!

Quilt Details:  

Designer of fabric:  April Rosenthal

               "Mama's Cottage"

Finished size:  70-1/2 X 90-1/2

NOW....get it quilted.

This is quilt # 19 for 2018 so far........

"Patchwork Swoon"

Trying to decide on Sunday afternoon what I felt like working on...........I finally decided that I was tired of looking at this sit under my ironing table and it was TIME to sew it up.  The first thing was to cut the jelly roll of Vintage Picnic into strip sets and assemble the scrappy star points.

 

Then I had to make 9 of the scrappy units.

Then came the time to assemble all the other units,

and assemble the top......

LOOK at that top......I am in awe at how beautiful it is......

It helps to have a 9 foot island in your kitchen....You can lay out the backing (red gingham), throw your top over it and cut to size!

It's all ready and packed up to head out to the quilter.....

QUILT SPECS:

"Patchwork Swoon" by Camille Roskelley (Thimbleblossoms)

72 inch Swoon

Fabric is Vintage Picnic by Camille Roskelley 

This quilt when made not scrappy could literally be cut and assembled in 1 day...maybe 1-1/2 days.  I'm thinking I need a halloween swoon or even a patriotic one!!

BEE Blocks

I belong to 2 quilting bee of sorts on Instagram.  One group is strictly Fig Tree fabrics and the other one started out using Bonnie & Camille fabrics but this year if you want to use a different fabric, you can.

Mindy is the September girl in the B&C Bee but requested Fig Tree fabric and a free block on the Moda Bakeshop!

This was a really fun and easy block to sew up.  

Vanessa in the Fig Tree BEE kept with the Fig Tree fabric line but used a B&C pattern called "FRESH".  The pattern calls for a white background so the main prints are showcased but Vanessa wanted us to use Fig Tree low volume fabrics......  It's a pretty block but when I make my own, I'll use white.....

Now onto some selfish sewing..........

"Beach Day"

"Beach Day" is Block Three of the FQ Shop's 2018 Designer Mystery Block of the Month and it was designed by Pat Sloan.

This is going to be a great quilt!  Fabrics are by Fig Tree.

These are Blocks 1, 2, and 3.

The kit only came yesterday and it was done within a few hours......So, now I have to wait till next month for block 4.

A Few Baby Quilts

Some years I don't make any baby quilts but 2018 has not been one of those years.

2 of the most recent quilts were made for family members and 2 were for friends upcoming grandchildren.

I became a great aunt to 2 boys this summer.  I showed Joe's quilt 2 posts back.  The other little guy was born just about a month ago and has had some medical issues but prayers are being said and it looks like he may just be on the upward swing.

I picked a lot of animal prints, some fish, pirates etc.....I had an awesome fishy fabric for the border and after it was quilted it looked so nice!  

Well.....last week I found out that I'd be needing a boy quilt for my neighbor/good friend's upcoming grandson for January so I pulled out all the leftover fabric from my great nephew's quilt and whipped up another HST quilt with that great fish/whale/turtle border fabric.  

I'll be sending this one out for quilting as soon as the backing fabric comes in the mail.

 
This quilt was for another neighbor/good friend who was going to be a second time grandmother but to a girl.  Avalon was born 2 weeks ago and her quilt was made from some Bonnie & Camille swap blocks from a few years ago.  I was happy to be able to use them and some pretty pink and red floral yardage for the backing.

I may be on call for another few baby quilts later this year so I'll report on that when it happens......

A Little Update on Projects

Here's a little Saturday update on a few recent projects.

 

 

My nephew and his wife had a new baby 4 months ago so I made "Joe" a quilt.
I wanted something bright that would be eye catching for him.  I gave it to them last weekend at a birthday party for another great niece....  Here's me holding Joe.  He's a good size little boy!

 

Here's a little "selvage" mug rug I made for a little gift for one of my BEE girls.......  Gotta do something with all those selvages besides have them sit in a ziploc bag!

And here's a collage of my granddaughter Gemma's monthly shots on a quilt I made her before she was born.  Every month my daughter took her picture and sent it to me in a text but I never thought to save them all.  I finally asked her if she could gather them together into 1 picture.  I'm thinking I may have to print this off for my sewing room wall....

By Month 12 she wouldn't lay on it but she was sitting on it........little stinker!

And last but not least.....I'm starting a few baby quilts for friends and neighbors who are going to be grandmothers soon.....

I love just using a white with a little light grey design with some kiddie fun prints to make HST and then once I have a bunch I either make pinwheels or just lay them out like the bottom right print.....
It's all how I feel in the end.

Have a great Saturday....and thanks for dropping by.

Patchwork Sky

 

Well.......I preordered 2 of these kits for my 2 granddaughters...............
I thought to myself at the time, how cute!  Fabrics would work from November thru February or March.  And they are cute!   I ordered flannel backs for them too so they'll keep Gemma and Olivia warm in the winter.

I assembled Olivia's quilt right away and yes....it's awesome yet also very time consuming.....

I knew I couldn't work on Gemma's right away because all that work was overwhelming and NOTHING else got done in the 2-1/2 weeks it took to assemble in the time I had to sew.

WELL..........about 2-1/2 weeks ago I pulled Gemma's kit out and started to cut.....and cut, and cut.

 

AND......after about 17-18 days, I finally finished Gemma's quilt yesterday and this morning, off to my quilter Sarah for her magic on both!

A few of my quilting bee girls have picked this quilt to do for 2019 and I've told them how much work was involved but fortunately for them each girl is making a star and 1 alternate block so they'll have an easier time than I did.  

I LOVE how both turned out and it will be nice to get them back quilted so I can bind them in time for Christmas....