Swap Quilt Finished

I finished and shipped this little monochromatic quilt this afternoon for the FSQS-5. I was glad that my partner liked purple, because I had plenty in my stash to choose from. I decided to hand quilt it with black pearl cotton ... I like the texture it adds, and since I am not a hand-quilting, tiny stitch expert, I think my bigger stitches look pretty good. I would have liked to have this 18" square quilt stay in my home, but it's fun to swap and I look forward to what arrives in my mailbox in the next few weeks.


I also sent off 2 bushfire blocks to Tia for the quilts she is working on. I forgot to snap a picture before the envelope was sealed, but they were bright and cheerful.

My next project is a Neil Armstrong astronaut jumpsuit for my son. His 2nd grade class does a "biography breakfast" in which they research a person and present a report dressed as that person. We decided on the "in capsule" jumpsuit rather than the walk-on-the-moon suit since it's much less puffy and easier to wear in class. It's a great project and the audience has lots of fun trying to guess who each student is portraying.

Crumbs and Strings

My overflowing string bin was calling out my name to use some strings! Sewing some of my strings and crumbs together has been very relaxing as I use a spare moment here and there, so I am building up a pile of blocks and trying to empty my bin (that may be impossible, however!) I've seen some great pictures of crumb quilts on blogs, (like this beauty), and I'm inspired to complete one of my own. I've finished about 40 8" blocks ... I'll decide the size of the quilt when I can glimpse the bottom of my bin.


Our guild had a comfort quilt workshop this week and it was terrific to have a room full of 50+ women making quilts for others. I brought this small scots plaid quilt (an abandoned ufo) all quilted and ready for binding, so I finished the first quilt of the day. I had cut lots of squares and rectangles to make a large quilt in this pattern several years ago, but it just never caught my interest again, so I used some of the rectangles to add a piano key border and called it done. Nice to have off to be used and loved.

I have a few small projects to finish with a strict deadline ... FSQS-5 and SFRR3, they are all completed in my mind, but not in reality yet. I've a few weeks left, so I must set aside the strings sometime soon and finish them. I'm also inspired by the Bushfire Quilt Project to make a few maverick stars for those who have lost so much in Austraila. It sounds like a wonderful crew of quilters are working together to help others.

Quilts Ready to Use

There was some sun outside in our snowy back yard, so I used the dog run wire to photograph some finishes. The TATW quilt which had languished in my "finished tops" box for several years (I used Bonnie's instructions) has finally been finished for my son's bed. It's got lots of brights and some novelty prints, perfect for a 7-yr-old. On the back is a 8x8 checkerboard, just the same width as his twin bed, so he can flip the quilt over and play checkers or chess on his bed whenever he chooses. This is his invention, and I think it's a pretty neat idea!


The next finished quilt is a charm quilt for our guild challenge in February. I used Bonnie's crayon box pattern, and every fabric is different, including the blues on the border and the pinks I used for the binding. It may end up as a comfort quilt someday, but for now my daughter wants it to throw over her reading chair. I love when my kids like what I make!!

I finished quilting my "Flowers Gone" quilt, just need to sew down the hanging sleeve. I should have plenty of time before our meeting next week.