Fun Weekend!

I started out the weekend thinking I would pull out some UFOs and finish them. I did not pull out a single UFO! I had a lot of fun sewing, however. I did all new stuff. Silly me, but it was fun. I used my ducky fabric to make this quick and easy little baby quilt. (I only had a half yard of the ducks, so this plus a few random blocks is about all I will get out of that fabric)



This quilt, made of crumb (scrap) blocks, was another quick and easy one, using Tonya's letters for the Xs and Os. I thought about writing "sweet dreams" or "sleep tight" in the border, but realized that I don't enjoy doing the letters enough to write anything of any length. I'm just not good at them! I can handle the Xs and Os, though. They're quick and easy... that's my M.O., I guess. Quick and easy? I'll do it!


I got bindings put on these two: Swirly and Gs. The one I call Gs is made of wonky blocks and strips that someone donated to someone who donated them to me. They were kind of challenging to work with, but I decided just to slap them together and pretend it was a Gees Bend style of quilt. I don't dare categorize mine with the Gees Bend quilts, so I just call mine Gs.

This is Swirly--


This is Gs --

I belong to an online Block Lotto group and made the May and June blocks. Here they are:

(May - Grandmother's Choice from quilterscache.com)

(June - Really Split Nine Patch from quilterscache.com)

I had planned to make a bunch of the June blocks, but was unhappy with how my points ended up not meeting very well, so I stopped at two. I like how the blocks go together, though, so I may make more of them over time. Maybe I'll have the right karma with my points on another attempt.

Today, Memorial Day, we had a fun lunch at the Blue Park with our grown-up kids. (Back when she was about 3 years old, Daughter named it the Blue Park because of a blue swing.) They are such nice grown ups! I love spending time with them. And the Blue Park is a very pleasant, beautiful place. We had a nice little visit, enjoyed good food, and still got home in time to do more fun stuff (laundry, prepare for going back to work, and maybe a little more sewing). Have a super duper week, everyone!

Long Weekend!

Yesterday after work I dropped off my Project Linus quilts at Treadle Yard Goods, and came home with these fun fabrics. They were calling to me, and I gave in to the pressure!

Aren't these duckies just the cutest?? Not sure what I'll do with these. They'll have to sit and wait their turn, until something comes along that wants their cute, bright selves to join the fun.

Meanwhile I am sewing a bit and interrupting myself with blog viewing and generally being very disorganized, but having fun. I think I will pull out some old UFOs and see if I can get them out of my to-do pile.

Here's something beautiful for you to enjoy. My co-worker has a green thumb the size of Texas and brought in these absolutely gorgeous irises (and peonies) for the rest of us to gaze upon. I took about 4 zillion pictures of them. My irises are still little green pointy things about 3 inches out of the dirt. This iris, from the point of this white petal to the point of that back petal, is about 8 inches! Awesome!

Did Some Quilting

Last weekend I finally got some quilting done. I think I posted these tops before, but now they are fully finished quilts. When I send tops away for someone else to quilt them, it's easy to part with them. But when I finish them myself, I fall in love with them, and I have a hard time giving them away. I do it, but it's hard. It's funny how much cuddlier it becomes when it's quilted, and it even makes a huge improvement from being quilted to putting on the binding. It becomes a "sealed"unit and so great!

OH, I love this quilting hobby of mine!! It would be fun to see all the quilts I have ever made in a big pile somewhere and paw through them all and have happy reunions with them all. I hope a lot of them are being cuddled and loved by kids all over the world.

These two quilts are headed to Project Linus, St. Paul MN chapter.

Difficult Times

I have not had time or energy to do much sewing this week. I hope to get some done this weekend. Right now I am working on sandwiching a few charity quilts so I can get them off my mental "to-do" list and get them sent off to the kids.

I work in a public school district special ed program with Deaf/Hard of Hearing students. Our program has had a tough spring. Two deaf children have died this spring. While I did not know them personally, I know how it is to suddenly lose a student with whom you have built a strong bond. The DHH program is closely knit and we feel so tied to our students and hopeful for their futures. When someone is lost, it is a big blow.

One child was only about 6 yrs old. He and his family were fishing in the Mississippi when their boat capsized, and four people drowned, including the young deaf student who was in our program. Then this week there was a terrible and bizarre car crash in which a 14-year-old girl died. I hear she was a very loveable, personable, kind and friendly person. It is so hard on the staff who have worked with her over the years.

If you want to say a prayer for their families, please do so. Joshua and Amber are the children who are now mourned and missed so terribly.

Life is so precious and wonderful that the losses are deeply painful. And it's the sorrowful times that remind us of how precious life is. May we all celebrate our every moment with our children and friends and not take a moment for granted.

In honor of friends, I am posting this photo of my son and his college buddies, celebrating life and friendship:

Hat

I once had this posted as my profile photo. I have no idea why it disappeared after only a day or two in operation. I'm trying again... they say to post it to my blog first. Please bear with me as I try in my bumbling way to figure out computer-management (not my forte)!

Another Basket

I haven't worked further on the quilt pictured in my previous post. Thanks for your ideas. I don't have much of that yellow left, but I can see if they still have it at the store... it's one that I actually remember where I purchased it. I have a border idea in mind, but not sure if I know how to do it. So it's on my thinking back burner.

Today I made this smaller basket quilt. It's a block I made for the lotto, then won it back. I made this to give away but think I'll keep it. I like it except I wish the foliage in the basket showed up more.. it would be cuter with some dark purple flowers. I still have some other basket blocks. Not sure what they will all turn into.

I put together another red/yellow quilt top. These are for kids but some of them are turning out kind of adult-looking. I hope the kids like them... if nothing else, they'll like the bright colors.

A Star Among Baskets

I won some basket blocks in a lotto! This is just some of them. I spent almost a whole day making 4 blocks to set inside where I now have the blue/yellow QSTs. (See the star they create?) The first blocks had lots of small pieces and took forever to make. Then when I tried them in this quilt, they looked awful. So now I have 4 new orphan blocks to use in some other fashion. I made these QSTs in a snap, and they look MUCH better in this setting than the intricate ones did.




Now I'm thinking about what kind of border to put on here. I'm going to put a thin separation border of a dark blue.. then something pieced. What would YOU do?

Prayers

Patty has asked for prayers for her grand-daughter, Mei-Ling. Visit Patty's blog here.

So Many Blocks, So Little Time

Thanks to everyone who visited my 100th posting and left a comment! I appreciated each and every visit. I drew a name and Norma of Silver Thimble Quilting is the winner! I'll send off a nice little prize to Norma (who has a gorgeous quilt posted at her blog today. Check it out!)

A few people, at my invitation, have sent me their orphan blocks. I will put these together and make charity quilts for kids. I have an enormous pile of them on my cutting table! Don't know when I'll get time to work with them all, but I'll try a little this next weekend. I usually have more time in the summer, too, so that will soon be upon us, and I'll get busy sewing.

The other day I popped in to one of my favorite quilt shops ( Colorful Quilts in St. Paul, MN) and bought these beautiful oriental fabrics. She always has a great selection in her sale area; I got these at half price! She loves bringing in new and gorgeous fabrics, so she keeps the "old" ones moving fast through the sales area. It's a very beautiful shop and aptly named. Her quilts are bright and beautiful.


It has been a long, busy week at work, and I'm looking forward to the weekend. My son's college choir is having their big spring concert on Sunday. I always love their concerts.