Happy Mail

What's the happiest of happy mail?  400 I Spy Squares!!

You read that right!  400!  I participated in the I Spy swap hosted by Val at Val's Quilting Studio.  Each "spot" sent in 20 squares each of 10 different fabrics, and you could do up to two spots as long as your fabrics were all different. I chose to do two spots, since I could do one out of my stash without even breaking a sweat!

Here are some of my favorites out of the many fantastic fabrics sent in:

I love I Spy!  Can't wait to turn these into something!

Meadow Mystery

Last year, I did the Midnight Mystery created by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs.  I completed my top, but it is still not a finished quilt. 

Cheryl's new mystery, the Meadow Mystery, started this past Thursday with fabric requirements.  I was not planning on doing this one, since I need another project like I need a hole in the head, and I haven't really finished the previous one, since it's not a finished quilt.

But.  I saw everyone's fabric pulls. And I thought I might have what I needed in my stash.  And I was right!  I did have to buy "fabric E" because I don't keep 2+ yard cuts around unless I have specific plans for them.  But everything else is coming from what I already had. 

I love that Cheryl starts her mystery quilts slowly.  She gives you the first month just to get together your fabric, then the second month is just for cutting.  The pace is slow enough that it is easy to either keep up or catch up. Thinking of joining!  There is a huge facebook group, lots of potential prizes, and a lot of people making unique versions of the same quilt.  If a true mystery makes you queasy, Cheryl will even send you a sneak peak!  There is still lots of time to join if you are so inclined.  I love mystery quilts, so I'm going in blind.  Can't wait to see what I make!

Finished! Itty Bitty Handmade

In March, Amy of Diary of a Quilter had a giveaway of the new quilt kits by Itty Bitty Handmade and I was the lucky winner!  I got my choice of their quilt kits and I picked the Rolling Hills kit.

The happy news that I won came about a week or two after I learned that a coworker and his wife were expecting their second child, a girl.  Rolling Hills was not only my favorite of their kits, it looked perfect for a baby girl.

 The kit is meant to be able to be made by a complete beginner.  They pre-cut the fabric for you and include everything you need.  The maker just needs to have access to a sewing machine, an iron, and scissors.

It took me about 30 minutes to assemble the top, 30 to 45 to layer it with their adhesive, and probably between an hour and an hour and a half to mark and quilt.  I didn't remember to keep track of how long the binding took, but it was a completely different method than what I'm used to and there were several steps.  I really liked the adhesive for layering and might do that again.  I don't know what it was, but I suspect it was school glue.  I was not crazy about the binding method, which involved fusible tape, but I am happy with how it looks, and it was good to try a new method.

They include 2 labels--one with care instructions and one that is personalized to you.  I really like the care instructions label and am now thinking about ordering some similar for myself.

I actually finished this in early June, but baby was a little late!  Baby Pristine joined older sister Poesy on June 21st.  The happy dad comes back to work next week and I am excited to give it to him to take home to his beautiful baby.

Many thanks to Amy for the giveaway and to Itty Bitty Handmade for the generous prize!

This was on my list of Q2 goals for the globally hosted Finish-Along.

July Monthly Goal

Like many quilters, I am uplifted by the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's Quilts for Pulse project, and the amazing outpouring of blocks, tops, and finished quilts that I have seen cropping up on quilt blogs everywhere.  I want to contribute, and I just finished a top that be sent to Orlando once it is completed. Finishing this will be my July goal for Heidi from Red Letter Quilt's One Monthly Goal.

The pattern is from a tutorial by Quilting in the Rain that I found through one of those "favorite free jelly roll patterns" posts that I filed away for reference later.  The heart design was one I really liked, and when I read that heart quilts were being requested, it seemed like the perfect time to use it.

Thinking ahead to the binding, I'm debating between the same yellow as the background (Kona Citrus) or extra strips from the rainbow jelly roll.  Thoughts?

Finished! Halloween Quilt

My Halloween quilt is done!  I was able to get it quilted and the binding attached before our trip to Atlanta last weekend so that I could finish the binding in the car.  I love sewing binding on car trips.

The spider print in the middle came from a "fill a scrap bag" table at a local guild's quilt show I attended in March.  I was mostly looking for scraps to add to my Scrap Dance Tango quilt, but of course I could not pass up any I Spy/novelty fabrics that I came across.  The bats were a sale fabric I found shortly after that, and I thought the two would pair well together.

I quilted in diagonal grip using my "guide thingy" as wide as it would go.  I like this method, as it means I only have to mark a center line going each direction.  (See this post for details on the first time I used this contraption.) I used orange thread, and though I wasn't sure that was a good choice, I'm really happy with it now.  Ironically, I chose it partly to use up a spool of orange thread because I rarely use orange, but I ran out and had to buy more orange thread :)  Best laid plans, right?!

This was my June goal for OMG hosted by Heidi at Red Letter Quilts.  (I was goal-setter #59.)

June: Bear's Paws for Marie

My Stashbee Queen Marie asked for Bear's Paws in plaids.  I have always loved Bear's Paws but had never made one, so I was excited.

I struggled with this block!  I'm not sure why.  I got the "paw" part sewed backwards many, many times and did a whole lot of ripping and re-sewing.  At one point, I was frustrated and muttering to myself and Husband heard, so he came in to where I was sewing.  He looked at the tutorial up on my screen and said, "That doesn't look too complicated."  Thanks, babe.  He gets a lot of amusement out of my lack of spacial skills!

But I did end up with a finished block, plus one extra paw.

I had a second extra paw, but it was so off that I destroyed it!  I cut off the claws and saved the center square to use in the Scrap Dance Tango.

Marie asked each of use to tell her about our first job and I'll share that info here as well: I did a lot of babysitting as a teenager and through college.  I started at 13 and got to be pretty well-known as a sitter in my greater neighborhood.  If that doesn't qualify as my first job, I started working at the local public library when I was a junior in high school.  I was a page in the reference/nonfiction area and mostly shelved books and fetched back issues of magazines.  I am now a librarian, so the job clearly served me well :)

Finished! Snow's blocks into a quilt

When my friend Snow first started quilting, she did several block-of-the-months and other programs. There was one BOM that she got bored with, so she gave me the blocks.  There were 8 blocks total, 2 each of 4 different blocks

In addition to the blocks, she had some of the blue vehicle print and some of the stripes.  I was able to get just enough out of the vehicle print to alternate blocks.  Two of the vehicle blocks are pieced, but I don't think that it's super obvious.

I used the stripes for the binding and still have a little left.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  I did some straight straight line quilting on the diagonal, and I eyeballed it.  When I had it laid out on the dining room table, Husband looked at the quilting and remarked that I'm getting better.  I appreciated the praise, but explained that it might be because Snow pieced the blocks, so they were more likely to be accurate to begin with :)

Close-up of some of the blocks

 I was almost done with the binding when I last saw Snow, so she's seen the (almost) finished product and is pleased.  This will be going to Project Linus at the July meeting.

Close-up, with my photo assistant

 This was on my list of Quarter 2 goals for the globally hosted Finish Along.