A Quiet Saturday

 There's not much going on around here today, but I felt like posting, so here goes nothing.

I started hearing the Baltimore Oriole in the yard this week. Minutes after putting the orange out for him, he flew over for a nibble. He looks a little slimmer than the males we've seen in the past. I wonder if he's a young one.

I finally put labels on the Ninigret Quilters' donations to Project Linus. It was time to move that pile out of my house!

 I was planning to just go into the LQS to drop off the quilts. Then I turned around and saw these! How could I resist? I love how these fabrics look like Malka Dubrawsky's hand-printed work. My LQS owners are at Quilt Market. I can't wait to see what new goodies they bring home!

(In the background, you can see the lilac is in full bloom. That's about as close as I can get to it. Allergies.)

 In family news, Pete submitted his Eagle Scout application to BSA today. Phew! If all goes well, he'll have his board of review in a few weeks, and then we can plan a ceremony.

Enjoy the day!

Quick Pic

Is it just me or is sewing more fun with cute nail polish? My new summer color is Sally Hansen #400, Get Juiced.

My part of the super secret project is complete. Hmm. What's next?

WIP Wednesday

Hello, blogland! I didn't mean to disappear for almost two weeks. I've been under the weather for the past week (allergies/virus/ear infection), but I'm finally starting to feel better. In the middle of all that, I picked up Julia from college for the summer. Yay!  We will be quilting a lot together in the next 10 weeks, so stay tuned!

No finishes to report. Instead, I'll show you my lovely Mother's Day gifts. Gorgeous roses from hubby, a peach bellini scented candle from Julia (we have a thing for bellinis!) and a bracelet from Pete.

I didn't even know this Alex & Ani Marine Corps bracelet existed. I love it!!

In Progress:
Our guild nine patch swap started last night with round 1. Twenty six quilters each swapped sixteen blocks. It will be fun to see what everyone does with them! This is my pile...

and this is Julia's. The blocks we made are at the bottom left.

Here's a peak at a secret project that I need to get moving on, like now! The colors are so yummy.

I pieced this Dory for Julia before she came home. I plan to embroider "Just keep swimming" on the border and make a little wall hanging for her dorm room. The pattern is from Fandom in Stitches, which is a really fun site.

Buyer beware: sometimes, you get what you pay for with free patterns. The eyes were just wrong. I caught one mistake before I started (a line missing at the top of the right eye), but that eye on the left was way wrong. I had to redraw and piece a whole new section to replace it.

I bought some fabric on sale at Fabric.com so I can add a few more things to the to-be-quilted pile. I knew this Martha Negley print would be perfect for the back of the magenta top, but I had no idea how big the grapes would be. Fun, right?

I also purchased a big back (108" wide) for the back of the three by three top. After a good press, this pile will be off to the quilter, Pat at Ocean Waves. I picked up the batting from Ryco with a 40% off coupon. Gotta love those!

I guess my sick leave is over. We'll be back to the machines tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be browsing the WIP Wednesday entries.

Birds for the Bee

 Sue asked for these cute birds for her month of May in the Modern Stash Bee. I guess I didn't follow the instructions very well on the first blue bird, and his legs were a little off.

Riiiiip, and resew. Better?

 

Sue asked for low volume or text print for the backgrounds, so I used one of each. This text print is so busy, I needed the bold red to stand out against it. I wish I had made his beak yellow.

 

The birds and bees are certainly busy now that Spring has finally sprung. I'm looking forward to the return of the Baltimore Orioles. I might need to make one of those for Sue, too!

Love and Hope for Boston

 I've been sewing for Boston today. First up, a flag for "To Boston With Love." This initiative is being lead by the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.  The goal is to bring messages of peace and love to Boston. Rhode Island has an anchor and the word hope in the middle of the state flag, so I chose both for my flag.

I paper pieced the wonky letters. I didn't trust myself to free piece them and have them come out the right size, so I drew out the paper piece blocks.

For the back, I used freezer paper stenciling to paint the anchor. I'm not happy that the front shows through, but they asked that no batting be used so the flags can fly free.

 

Click on the button for details, and be aware that the deadline has changed to May 21. The flags will be displayed during Memorial Day weekend.

 

Next up is a block for "Quilts For Boston" by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild. I had just signed up for Jacquie Gering's new Craftsy class, so I watched a few lessons and made a mini swirling stars block. The yellow star looks more like a diamond, but I'm OK with it.

Click the button for details:

This is what happens when I can't find the right vase! Beer bottles are the perfect size for a single rose (from Pete's senior night track meet).  And an aperitif glass is perfect for a bunch of stray grape hyacinths, picked out of the lawn before mowing.

Up next, a couple of bird blocks for the Modern Stash Bee.

WIP Wednesday

Finish: This star quilt was the perfect project for a beautiful Spring day. Read more about it here.

In Progress: I've been working on other outreach projects because they are mindless sewing. Yesterday, I finished the blocks for this bricks quilt that a little boy will love.

I finally started my flag for Boston last night. I chose the anchor from the Rhode Island state flag that stands for Hope. I used a freezer paper stencil technique with fabric paint. I'll heat set the paint when it dries and hope it doesn't run if it is out in the rain.

 

For the other side of the flag, I will piece the word HOPE. I am not good at have never tried improv piecing, so I drew out some wonky letters to paper piece. (I was excited to get an email from Craftsy, announcing Jacquie Gering's new class!)

I also pulled fabric for my block for Quilts for Boston. This project is using a tighter color palette. If the HOPE letters come out OK, I might enlarge them for this block.

Simmering: Two secret projects for two special people are due soon, but not started. I need to get going!

Mod Bento has been pin basted for weeks. Maybe I'll finally quilt it before next Wednesday.

On the back burner:
I ordered backing fabric for the Magenta quilt and my Three by Three top that has been waiting far to long to be quilted.  (Yikes! That 9-patch swap was 6 years ago!)

It's time to link up, then get stitching!

Star Fling

 Isn't this cute? I finished this baby quilt late last night. Eight blocks and a bag full of leftover parts were donated to Ninigret's outreach committee. I've moved that bag around for a couple of years, and yesterday was the day to finally get the quilt done!

The fabric is from the Spring Fling collection by Terry Atkinson and Liz Lois for P&B from 2002. The original pattern is called Star Fling. I was able to pull together enough of the bits to make four more blocks. The sashing strips were already cut to 2" and there was enough of the blue to go around the outside edge.

There was only one piece of yardage in the bag: 3/4 yd of the green vine that I used on the back. Those chunky rectangles that I pieced the stacked coins from were already cut that size! And there were just enough of the 2.5" strips left for the binding. (I trimmed them down to 2.25".)

 I finished the top at about 9pm and couldn't stop there. I stole borrowed a piece of batting from another outreach project, spray basted, and did some quick swirly loopy quilting. I finished the machine stitched binding at about 11:20pm. The quilt is about 33" X 42". It will be donated to either Habitat for Humanity or Project Linus.

It is such a gorgeous Spring day, I couldn't resist trying some new locations around the yard for photos. The shadows are too harsh in this one, but I love this magnolia tree.

 

I hope you are all enjoying some sunshine today, too!