New ongoing project

I have found that my days feel much more complete and my worry levels drop when I create something every day.

Creating a new block fills the need so I've begun the Craftsy 2012 BOM quilt by Amy Gibson, author of Stitchery, Dickory, Dock on my sidebar.  I haven't ever tried modern quilting so I was pleasantly surprised to find I have enjoyed making the first two blocks that she teaches.  (She is doing another BOM this year, but I fell in love with this first block in her 2012 BOM.)

The asterisk block:

I LOVE these two fabrics together with the green dots on blue with the green asterisk.  This is my favorite shade of green.  Originally I planned to make this green the background color tying the whole quilt together.  I changed my mind when I realized I'm going to make a Crosswalk quilt with green as the predominant color so while all of these blocks will work together and I will use green in many of the blocks, I'll probably sash it with a different background color.  

The following block is a leading reason I decided not to stay with green in every block.  I really, really love the boldness of these fabrics together!

So somehow or other, these two blocks will look good together!  Orange and green will both play prominently in the other blocks.  I think.

Ta Da! Minecraft top completed!!!

After I got those other projects finished, I turned my attention to sashing the Minecraft quilt.  The squares ready for sashing:

I think the sword and TNT blocks are my and my husband's all-time faves!  And yes, my sewing room is a mess--that's why I'm trying to get close ups!  We chose to drop the pick axe out because getting it right inside of that size of a block is nearly impossible without working with tiny squares.

Originally we planned to put the dragon Kelli created on the reverse side, but I'd already bought 120" backing fabric at $19.99 a yard) and didn't want to waste it.  I might put the dragon on a banner for Halloween though.  (I've already bought the purple fabric too.)

Here's the beginning of the sashing process:

And wah lah!

Jim picked out the sashing fabric.  It needs to be pressed, but I think it looks cool!

The backing is brown in the same texture as the grey sashing fabric.

Now I'm trying to figure out what kind of pattern to follow in quilting this together.  Ideas?

Another UFO completed: First comfort quilt

Last spring I began a Comfort Quilt for the Ronald McDonald House.  The top has been sandwiched with the batting and backing for awhile and I finally started machine quilting it after I came home from vacation.  I really like it!

This quilt top is made of 6" flannel squares and ultimately was 39 inches square.  I already had the flannel stars for the quilt back and also had batting.  I learned from others to use flannel for the batting inside though.  It was on sale that day so I bought 5 yards of white to have on hand.  I bought the fat quarters for the squares at JoAnn Fabrics for less than $8 so this was fairly low cost.  I did have to cut some blocks from some flannel I already had though.  It needed six fat quarters instead of five!

More on sidetracked

When we got home from vacation, I spotted a fun Pumpkin Party Flannel layer cake (10" precut squares) that my daughter also loved at Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Since she absolutely loves decorating for Halloween, I bought the precuts and challenged her to make a quilt.

She had the squares sewn together in two days (she had less than a week before school started again) and then I quilted it.  I stitched every block in the ditch and then put a decorative S in the center of each block to hold it all together.  It's the first quilt I have ever machine stitched.  Nothing fancy but it should hold!  Here she is all bundled up in 95 degree heat with 98% humidity.  She loves it!

And a full view:

I guess it isn't big enough to see all the cute little ghosties, candy corn, and pumpkins!  No skulls, skeletons, or bats!  If you click on the MSQC above in this post, it should take you to see it.  I think the fabric is sold out though.  

Best laid plans

Sidetracked should be my middle name!  I seem to be very good at it.

I got back from vacation and tackled my diamond sword pattern.  And deleted it.  My measurements were off.  Kelli Fannin from Seriously. . . I think it needs stitches had already posted her pattern here so I used hers instead of figuring out how to fix mine.

I am glad I tried to create a pattern though--I learned a ton and mostly I learned to appreciate what others have done before me!!!

Here's the finished block:

AmyScrapSpot: One Last Thing About the AQS Quilt Show!

Now I see what those little cut-through lines are for!

AmyScrapSpot: One Last Thing About the AQS Quilt Show!

Remember the Hunter's Star quilt?

My parents loved it!  I was so grateful that my very first completed quilt was for them.

While we were visiting, we did lots of other stuff too.

I helped can apricot puree.

Croquet.

I began reading this book.  I highly recommend it and have started supplementing my diet with some amino acids.

Fireworks and parade for the Mormon Pioneer parade.

A photography lesson with a local photographer, Michael Scott Phillips:

A trip to Tony Grove Lake (up Logan Canyon) with a detour to Bear Lake for gas!

And then a 14+ hour trip home via Phoenix and Dallas.  Have you ever seen the Dallas airport at 2:30 in the morning?  It's empty.

Now we're home again. 

It was wonderful to visit family, but it is also good to be home.