April Quilts

  

It's been a busy month for me. I've accomplished a lot on my goals list and still have things "to do". The list never ends. I spent several days at my dad's house quilting this month. I had 4 teacher quilts to do before this week. I have a graduation quilt coming up and I have 3 quilts that I've done for others. 

This quilt is for Karen and her family. It's an antique quilt and I quilted and am working on the binding. I should be able to finish it this month. 

Last night as I was in between projects, I sewed up 4 more of the side blocks for Rhododendron Trail mystery. I'm getting closer to being ready to put this top together. 

I finished sewing this mini Trip Around the World top together. This one is about 13" square, so it's pretty tiny, but I love how it turned out. 

I pieced Dapper as a leader/ender this month and quilted it on Saturday at Dad's house. The fabric is Nova and it's a challenge pattern for our online sewing group with The Sewing Center. 

My co-worker had a baby last week, so I quickly pieced this baby quilt from Amelia fabric I've had in my stash. I put a purple minkee on the back. It turned out to be super cute and I think I can have it done before I meet up with another co-worker to exchange and have her take back. 

Teacher appreciation is this week, so last weekend (when we had a blizzard cancel our plans) I was able to make labels. This is for Mikaela's writing teacher. 

I made her Bookends, another quick pattern from our monthly pattern challenge at The Sewing Center. I used Glamping Gypsies fabric. I am getting close to the end of my fabric from this line. This is quilt number 15 or 16 from that line!

Another teacher is an SDSU graduate, so I'm gifting her the Yellow/Blue Trip Around the World. I used a navy minkee on the back. 

My Glamping Gypsies Hey June was finished in March. This is for Mikaela's main homeroom teacher.  

I added a label to the back of it. It was too big to get a piece of minkee without piecing it, so I used a wide back in red. 

Mathew's teacher loves owls, so hers has pieced minkee on the back with 2 colors of teal (her favorite color) and a piece of owl minkee (that is also on the quilt she received when she was Mikaela's teacher). 

Mathew picked this owl pattern for her quilt. It's a pixiated quilt. I bought a pattern, but ened up changing it a lot because it was really poorly written (as in here's a picture and the shapes, figure out how to make it). It was really long and narrow, so I took out a bit to make it more proportional. 

Religion teachers each got a wall hanging or mug rug. I quilted these on Soft and Stable, so they are a bit puffy. 

My 3rd cousin's wife is gifting me a sewing machine, so I am giving her a quilt. I finishe piecing the top last week and then quilted it this weekend. This is before it was quilted. I didn't know what size it was, but bought 2.25 yards of minkee, only Michelle was talking and cut 2.5". It ended up being 80"x90" and wouldn't fit across it, but because of the mistake, I was able to make it work, just barely! I laid it out to make sure it would fit before I put it on the frame. I used a black flannel so it wouldn't be so heavy. 

A friend referred me to her cousin to quilt a couple quilts, so I have 2 of these to quilt. I ended up quilting the first one. It's really big and it took a lot of effort, but it's done. The 2nd one is loaded, but I ran out of time Saturday to quilt it.  

My friend Jennifer had a benefit and she asked me to quilt and bind these for her. I was able to get both of them done before the benefit. 

It was a busy month, but I feel like it was really productive. 

Swoon Sweet 16

I'm feeling the March Madness, so I've named this the Swoon Sweet 16 quilt. I made it using Glamping Gypsies fabric and it's the Swoon 16 pattern from Thimble Blossoms. I love how it turned out. I used red minkee on the backing and it's so pretty in person. It doesn't have a home yet, but I'm sure I'll find the right recipient. I have 16 quilts made from this fabric line. It's my absolute favorite fabric line ever. The quilt measures & 75" square, so an oversized throw or a bed topper. 

I used a "Bone" colored Glide thread on it. While it looked light gray, it really reads white on this white background. I'm pleased with how it blends in the red minkee background too. 

I've been working on this one since October 2018, which makes it one of my older UFO's. The blocks are a bit tedious in that I worked hard to get the patterns to "go" the same direction, which took some figuring. 
 

Squirrel... or Fox ohh my

 I feel like this week is squirrel week. I literally have been going crazy, doing about 10 different projects and starting, stopping, and doing a bit here and there. I jump from one project to another, to another, then back to the first. I have so many "things" going on that I really don't have anything specific I am working on at the moment. The main reason is I don't have any "right now" deadlines. Most I need by May, so I am slowly working on those quilts, but not showing them or if I do, I pretend they are for someone else. 

I've been working on these Twister table toppers for a lady to match her dining room table runners I made last year for her. These are 25" and 17" square. The fabric is a western theme and has branding and barbwire-themed fabrics. I have both tops done and just looking for the backing fabric I bought to put with them. 

I've been pretty regularly working on Rhododendron Trail Mystery quilt blocks. I've made 10 full blocks and the centers for 5 more, so I'm almost there making these blocks. Next, I need to cut out the sashing and cornerstones. I'm farther ahead on this one than many times, so I want to keep the momentum going and get the top finished. I use it as my "end of the night" project after I sew what I plan to work on, I sew on this until 10:30 or when I hit a good stopping point. Kind of a leader/ender at the end. 

I'm also making a quilt called Bookends and it uses Glamping Gypsies fabric. It's a leader/ender project or end of the night project as well. It's so easy and will go together quickly. 

I pulled out this purple sampler top and will make a table topper out of it to gift. It's already assembled and a bit of a hot mess, so it's time for it to find a new home. 

My friend Pat has a new grandbaby on the way and so I made this gauze baby blanket with Foxes on it for the new baby. 

I made a couple tag blankets to gift to the new baby as well. The one ribbon has the cutest Fox, Owl, and Hedgehog on it. I figured one for home, one for grandma's house. 

All of these were "one-nighters". I was able to sew them all in 1-2 hours in the evening, so small steps toward bigger projects. I'm also busy working on quilts for teachers, graduates, and a few other gifts, so I have to be more careful about showing them on Instagram or Facebook. Since so few read my blog, I feel pretty safe showing them here. Thanks for still reading Jennifer and Sara!

Quilting Day at Dad's House

I like to have marathon quilting days at my dad's house, which allows me the opportunity to get a bunch of quilts done at once. I plan a day about once a month. Saturday was my January quilting day. I quilted this red/white/blue quilt called Jelly Belly Bars with a navy minkee and a flannel for the batting. 

I played thread chicken the entire day. 

I added some stars to the quilting in RWB thread. 

I lost at thread chicken and ran out of thread with 2 rows left. I had a new spool as I thought I would run out the last time I quilted. 

I did freehand loops with stars. 

I quilted 3 baby quilts with one massive backing fabric. I ran out of bobbin with less than 1/2 row left. Luckily I had enough thread to re-wind the bobbin and finish. 

All three baby quilts were the same ABC panel with a border. I like to have them on hand for when I need to gift baby quilts. 

I made a table runner for a student to donate to a fundraiser. The fundraiser is at the local pub, so I think the CR will be appropriate. 

My final quilt of the day was Swoon 16 and I used a red minkee on the back. I quilted it with a light gray Glide thread with white Warm & White. 

 It was a good quilting day and I feel like I accomplished so much. I have three more to quilt, but ran out of time and energy.