More on the Cousin Quilts

Just mailed 4 quilts to Jamie so that she can do the hand stitching on the binding. Two of the quilts will stay at her house and the other three she has will be mailed to other little ones as they are finished. That means that I have done my part for 8 of the 15 quilts. Each one is so bright and cheerful. Although the blocks are random, the tops seem to be very similar in their happy attitudes. I am using a variety of quilt designs and bright backs. The bindings are made from the leftover backing fabric of other cousin quilts. Any leftover fabric is being turned into blocks to await the next sewing weekend. For now there are no new babies scheduled after these quilts are complete, but there are still a lot of cousins left to change that. I have the storage, so I will just keep stashing the blocks until they are needed.

More Christmas BOMs

I realized last night that I am going to be very busy with quilt camp preparation and the camp itself, so I decided to pick out the July blocks and make some of them today. I made two of the types so that all I have is the rocking horse applique to finish for July. There are two horse blocks, but they should go together with ease. There are only three parts to each one. I may work on some other pieced blocks during July, but this way I know I will continue to meet my personal goal of three types each month.

The red/green/white blocks really do measure 3 1/2" but they need more pressing to make everything lie flat. I used Thangles to make the triangle blocks and then fussy cut the little angels. The green block is 6 1/2 ". I used a speed piecing technique shown in the directions. It was a combination of several different ways I have used in the past to make triangles, but I used rectangles, sewed them like Thangles and then made two additional cuts. Quick block!!!! When I finish the rocking horse blocks I will take another photo with everything pressed out and hung on the design wall.

Ta Da!

I have finished this month's Christmas BOM. Yes, I know that ostriches are not green or batik and elephants are not plaid, but the pattern called for green and plaid, so I ran with it. The cookie jar and ark are 12" blocks. The pinwheel (13) is 3". I am keeping up with my personal goal of creating 3 types of blocks each month. Based on the plan, I will have all the blocks finished by the end of December. I have Santa, a rocking horse, a large wreath, and and a 3-car train left to applique. There are also several paper-pieced blocks, some nine-patch, a butter churn with a bear in the center, and some star blocks. I am certain that I can finish by December. Then comes the making of the top and figuring out how to quilt it. "Quilt as desired." Will be my challenge for next year.

DUH!

Just a quick thought--- I have only 4 days to finish my three types of Christmas blocks of the month for June. I will make it, but I could have been done tonight if I had focused on what the block actually looked like. About 9:00 PM I decided to take care of the last kind of blocks for the month. I made 10 like the first photo before I realized I was supposed to be making pinwheels. Fortunately I have enough fabric to make the 13 pinwheels needed, and I like the others well enough that I will incorporate them into another quilt in the future. Guess that is what happens when you sew most

of the day on a variety of projects. At least I was having a great time being in the studio for a WHOLE day. =0)

Good Morning

Got up feeling like this was going to be a wonderful day! Fortunately, even though we are actually having a hot day, I have great air conditioning and a backup fan. I have so much I would like to do and even have the ability to accomplish all these things, maybe not in one day, but all can be done. I have another quilt top set up for quilting and several more ready to be pinned, so I know what I can do whenever there is a little time in the schedule. I have finished the 6th "Cousins' Weekend" quilt and have plans to finish a couple others in the next few days, and then they will be sent off to Jamie to do the hand sewing of the binding. I have another project that I am also going to have finished before quilt camp, but it is still a secret, so I won't say anything more except it should be finished by July10th.

Thought I would attach the first video I have taken with my camera. It starts by showing the Noah's ark block I worked on yesterday while Kevin was fishing. Sorry the block is not well displayed. I still have more animals to attach, but I like the block even as it is.

Number 4

As I told you before, my nieces and I made 15 quilt tops the last weekend in May. They even used my HQ16 and quilted 3. Those have left for Texas. This one, with the monkey background has also left on a journey to Iowa, but I do not really know where it will end up. Jamie's quilt guild does show and tell, and she wanted one to share. I sent this completed one to her so she would not have to use any of her studying time to finish hand sewing the binding. Zoe thought that grandma had sent her more monkeys so it may become hers, but I have another one in mind for her. It has jungle fabric that matches her bedroom walls on the back. I have actually finished quilting the 5th one and have the 6th in the machine. At this rate, these quilts will all be leaving home before summer ends.
This is a great project for beginning quilters and their mentors. I used up a lot of my odd scraps, and they learned seaming and, of course, seam ripping. We all learned that some people need to feel very organized when they piece, and others are more flexible. Even so, all the quilts look random, thus proving that there are many ways to approach the whole piecing process! I will brag on them a little by saying that my nieces did a great job of maintaining the 1/4" seams! The finished quilt tops are simply fun, and those that are quilted are snuggly and worthy of lots of conversation.

Another Christmas BOM

This was a challenging block. I "cheated" and let my father-in-law use his embroidery machine to write "cookies" on the jar. I am not up to that kind of delicate twisting and turning. As it is, the holly looks more crooked in the photo, but maybe it will just look like it is a little 3-D when the quilt is finished. I am loving this project.
I have lots of big plans to work on these blocks out on the pontoon, but the weather is not cooperating. It has been either rainy (not enough for my grass) or too windy when we are available to go out. I am going to maintain my goal of three different block types each month, but I have not decided what will be next. Why get crazy----I have 17 days left.