Quilt police

Three things to be happy about:
(1) decorating for Christmas
(2) putting crunchy peanut butter on vanilla ice cream
(3) unexpected rewards

The quilt police are after me, help!!!

And it's all because I decided to put the label on the FRONT of these kiddie quilts instead of the back, where they belong!

I tried to convince them - I didn't break any long standing rule, I just broke out of the box and possibly started a new trend  because I didn't want to hand-sew those labels!

Somebody please vouch for me, lest they take me away!!


I wanted to create nice labels in Word but the printer was in a grouchy mood, so I figured I'd just write them out.

I simply typed the pertinent info in Word - name of quilt, for whom, by whom, date - printed it out on paper, and inked it onto the fabric.

My first impulse was to color-match the label to the border fabric, but red happened to be the first one I did and I just didn't like the way it looked.

So I used plain ole muslin and machine stitched them down - somebody tell that to the cops, please!

Somehow I can't see Jaelyn, on Christmas morning, putting her hands on her 5-year-old hips - such as they are - popping her neck and going "OH NO SHE DI-ENT!!"

Jaelyn??  Well, maybe...

In any case, these puppies are ready to mail, they should have been sent out last week!

The placement of a label isn't worth fitzing over, right?

Tell it to the cops!

Sew forth and sew on til later!

Two quilts done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) ATM machines
(2) a new wallet
(3) that first cuppa of the day

I haven't had mine yet, that first cuppa, but I'll get it soon as I finish this post!

Such a relief to get the binding sewn down on the two quilts!

Sunbonnet Sue Sees Stars got a red binding, a bit deeper red than the border... love those "pokey-dots"!

I love stars and I think Jaelyn will love them too, especially with all the scrappiness going on!

She should have fun picking out all the colors, no two Sues were dressed alike.

The cornerstones are also scrappy...

I think the backing goes really well, it's a piece of "batik-y" fabric from my stash...


different colors in a swirly pattern...

A lot for a curious five year old to look at again...

and again...

and again!

"Jay-Jay" will like his quilt, I think...

Blue baby chickens, with glasses yet!

The birds are all blue, but no two are the same...


Some have glasses, front view, side view...

sitting, standing around, and sprawled!

Kudos to Rhonda at ravelly1-quiltzblog for freely sharing this pattern on her blog!

I was able to use up the last significant piece of that backing for this one.

You might remember I bought it on a bolt for $3 at Hancock's Fabrics, when they were closing their Takoma Park, Maryland store (read about it here).

Kinda glad to demote it down to strings and scraps!

Both just need labels and they're ready to go!


Ahh, the satisfaction of finishing these two quilts!

Can you see the quilting on them?  These were long-armed quilted by friend and guild member Bernerdette King.


Now to finish that other one... sew forth and sew on til later!

Reality check!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) business cards
(2) driftwood
(3) home fries

Vacation is over, so now it's time for a reality check!  Especially since I have two - yes two! - quilts that I should have finished by now because they only needed binding!

They're both for my sister's grandkids, a bird quilt for the little boy that you can read about here, and the other one a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I blogged about here.

From my stash I pulled a piece of red for the Sue and Stars quilt, and a 1/2 yard remnant from G Street fabrics (in the good ole days) for the Yard Birds quilt.

The blue I used wasn't this one though, I liked another one better!

red and blue strips cut - easy easy!

attached the bindings...

what could have been easier?

Now all I have to do is hand sew them down on the back - why did I wait so long??

The other one I have to finish the quilting on, hopefully before Thanksgiving, is one that's been hanging around FOREVER!  Can't give Jaelyn and Jamiyl a quilt without one for their big sister!  Elyse was an only child when I finished the flimsy - now her twin siblings are 5 years old - sheesh!

Start something new today, catch up on something else, sew forth and sew on til later!

Testing and resting

Three things to be happy about:
(1) optimistic weather forecasts
(2) a visit from Prince Harry
(3) celebrating your happiness

Hi everybody, hello followers! 

Today Prince Harry (singing "I'm just wild about Harry...") will visit our city to receive a humanitarian award.  I think if Princess Diana were alive, she'd be pleased about the award and very proud of both her sons!  As we all know, Diana was a great humanitarian.

I managed to pull a muscle in my chest over the weekend and I KNOW it was from lifting several bins of fabrics down from my shelves.  I think I need to do as so many of you do, and set times every day to cut my scraps, ugly fabrics and concrete (unmovable) yardage into usable strips, squares and rectangles, whether I sew something that day or not!  I was doing it regularly at one time, but I sorta drifted away from it after I got my strips cut for the cruise last November.  So much for that!


After doing more testing for my yard bird blocks, I decided to go with a range of blues, rather than trying for all bright colors (or colors all over the place)...

Some will have glasses, and some won't.  I think the one on the left looks way kewl... sorta like the official Joe Cool of the barnyard!  Those colorful stars are as wild as it will get for this quilt, I want to have the colors close to each other.

These are cute blocks to make with the added attraction of using scraps, but I'd have to say my least favorite part was sewing those skinny legs!

I'm using a raw-edge applique method and trying to keep it neat around the toes is a bit challenging.  I want to catch all of the foot with the thread so it won't unravel from washing.

These are the bodies I'll use, just keeping it blue!

If you were a Mayberry (Andy Griffith show) fan, I just heard that Goober Pyle passed away at age 83 - he was Gomer Pyle's cousin on the show.  I still watch that show on TVLand; I know exactly what's going to happen on every episode, but I still like watching it anyway!  So that's Aunt Bee, Otis, Barney, and now Goober ... so long Goober, Judy-Judy-Judy!

Have a great Monday everyone, I'm going to take it easy on my strained muscle!

Sew forth and sew on