{Post 1,474} Sew Long!!

Just glancing at my last post...it was nearly a month ago.  Where does the time go?  I won't bore you with my un-episodic (that may be a new word) life.  Suffice it to say that most of my time has been spent cooking large (very large) quantities of food (3 groups had 50, 150, and 35) and babysitting my cute (very cute) grandson.  Hardly any sewing at all, which is really a shame.  Maybe soon!

Here are two projects that I've made some headway on.

First is my oldest grandson's I Spy quilt.  Just put the borders on this AM although I started it right after he was born.  He's 2, so it hasn't been that long.  

It measures 60" x 72" right now.  Still needs to be quilted.  So many of these cute fabrics are personal favorites.  Hope he enjoys it for a long time.

Next is just one more blossom or so on my hand-sewn Grandmother's Flower Garden.  The exciting part is that I have border fabric picked out.  I decided to just make the top of the bed in the GFG and put an interesting border print at the bottom and sides.  I think this fills the bill.  It was the first fabric that grabbed my eye when I went into a quilt shop in Asheville last week.  I kept trying to look away, but while perusing the rest of the store, my eye kept coming back to this.

A closer look.  All the border is missing is a little purple.  But that won't stop me from continuing to use it in the center!!

At long last, my sewing room is about 90% organized.  I have a very difficult time working in a cluttered environment.  Hence the lack of progress and general depression.  But it's coming along.

{Post 1,473} Where Is Joan?

This has been a very busy month.  I have hardly sewn at all.  So many things fill in those few minutes a day of free time.

I machine quilted my Glory Bound top today.  I planned to just do a couple passes to try out a new-to-me free motion design, but I ended up finishing it.  It is 64" x 80", so it wasn't like it was a small quilt.  This design just went really fast for me.  I used a gold thread.

If you want to see the whole quilt, click on "Glory Bound" at the end of the post to see a shot of the whole thing.

I have also been knitting a shawl.  Will show that next time.

I love Easter.  I believe Jesus died for me, and that is the day he triumphed over sin AND the grave.  Happy Easter to you all.  Glory!

{Post 1,472} Then There Were a Few More

{Post 1,471} All Scrap-A-Plenty's Fault

Maybe this is just a reality check, but I don't think I bought THAT many shirts.  If you click on "shirt quilt" under labels, you will see that I have already made quite a few quilts from shirts already.  

I have so many crumbs of my shirts.  I keep them all corralled, so they are easy to access and keep track of anyway.

Top picture is a string of 2-piecers waiting to be ironed.

My friend, N, of Scraps-A-Plenty made a crumb quilt lately.  Hers isn't made of shirts, but mine will be. Look here to see hers.  I like the zigzag setting, so that's what I am going to try.  I don't have many light shirts, so I just cut up some whole pieces of light shirts.  I will eventually have scraps of those as well.  I need some bright colors.  These are really dark and boring.  

{Post 1,470} Baby Quilt Reveal

Finished this on Saturday.  I didn't realize the Minkee would come in so far, so some of my appliqued circles got cut off.  I debated about ripping them out, but they are still there!  They were fused down, and I figured pulling them off would ruin the background fabric.  These Minkee fabrics are soooo cuddly.  

This measures about 45" square.  Larger than I usually make for a newborn, but a nice size.  Looks much better in person than in the picture.

Nothing is quilted, just layered.  I machine zigzagged around the edge where the Minkee meets the background fabric as well as about 1/2" inside the outer border to secure the folded edge of the Minkee inside the border.

{Post 1,469} New Baby Quilt Started

I don't know if my readers are ready for this from me, but here is my latest baby quilt.

It measures about 48" square.  Here is a close-up with more true lighting:

I have a couple more purple circles to machine blanket stitch around, and then I will back it with a printed Minkee-type fabric that is white with pastel numbers floating around on it.  It will not be quilted per se.  It is more like a large receiving blanket with the Minkee mitred around to the front.  The tutorial is on my Pinterest page (Joan Parker) under baby gifts.  It is the self binding receiving blanket near the end.

I used scraps from my granddaughter's quilt to piece the top.  I thought I was being original, but I found a similar quilt on someone else's web site.  

{Post 1,468} Squares Surrounded in Use!!!

Here is my latest quilt for our bedroom, Squares Surrounded.  It is, of course, my favorite so far.  It combines my favorite things...scraps, a unifying striking color, scraps, small pieces, scraps, upcycled shirts, and scraps!!

Here are two views and then a peek at the back.

I am glad I took the extra time to make a beautiful machine quilting pattern instead of just meandering or something simple.  My only regret?  I would have made it longer.  Ah, well...it is fine!!

If you are new to my blog, here is a tip for you.  If you click on the label at the bottom, it will take you to all the posts for that subject.