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. 

April Piecing

I've been doing a bunch of random piecing as leader/enders while I was making other tops this month. I finished all the Rhododendron Trail B blocks and started getting the side blocks done. 

I finished a few more Rhod Trail side blocks. These go together pretty quickly. 

I am getting caught up on Christmas In Europe blocks. This is block 5.

I also finished block 6. 

I made new curtains for my MIL for her birthday. She loves red and butterflies. 

Another block for the CIE BOM is done. 

More side blocks of Rhod Trail Mystery

I also pieced two quilt tops, but they are already quilted, so I will share those soon. 
 

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!

Rhododendron Trail Mystery

This year I decided to work on the Quiltville Mystery Rhododendron Trail. I did really well the first few weeks. I got a bit overwhelmed with the blocks and quit after I made a few of the first ones. I need to get back on them, but have quite a few bags cut out that I want to get made, so I've been working on them. 

I love my new cutter for cutting my chain piecing. 

Wonderclips work awesome for keeping my stacks of blocks together. 

These are my first 8 blocks. All my pieces are cut out. I just need to put some sewing time into finishing them. 

 

Quilting and Quilt Retreat

 My sewing friends and I decided to get away for a few days to sew at the Passionate Quilters retreat. We ran into a snag when they wanted everyone to make all day, every day at the retreat, so we went to our friend Tammy's home. She kicked her hubby out and we enjoyed 4 days of sewing. I worked on several quilts. 

This is a picture of all of us together. It's been 8 years since we all got to sew together for a weekend. 

I finished the Swoon 16 top. 

I also finished the Harmony top in Nova. My SIL thinks it looks like barb wire, so I'm going to make a quilt for them in these colors. 

I made the Threadology top and planned to give it to my hubby's aunt, but my MIL loved it, so I made it a little wider and she received it for Christmas. 

I finished Mathew's quilt top Marina and quilted it with a blue minkee backing and wide back flannel. 

I made this RWB Jelly Belly quilt for my co-worker Myron who is a veteran. He does so much for me, that I thought he would like it. 

I finished the inside of Frolic and am working on the border. I'm doing it as a leader ender, so it's taking a while. 

I finished the Hey June top. This one doesn't have a home yet, so I'm not sure what color I'm going to use on it. 

I finished the Phoenix top in Little Snippets. I quilted this one with a red minkee backing and I gave it to my MIL for Christmas. 

I finished my Meadowland quilt top and I got it quilted before Christmas. I just need to get it bound. It's for me. 

My dad's wife wanted a baby quilt, so I quilted up this panel and she was able to gift it the next day. 

I quilted a couple of Quilts 4 Kyds quilts.

I quilted a couple of Quilts 4 Kyds quilts.

It was a very successful retreat and quilting day at my dad's house.