On a Roll Again

It seems that I haven't been finishing off a lot of projects lately, but I did have one project on the go that I just couldn't add to the blog because it was a baby gift for my sister, and I know she checks this blog.  :)

So without further rambling, here is the crib-sized quilt that I made for my newest nephew, Troy!  

Welcome, baby Troy!

Quilting was done in a meander stitch, and I used a varigated brown/cream thread.

 The backing was a polka-dot flannel.

Baby Troy on his quilt.
Born February 9 weighing in at 9 lb, Troy is now 6 weeks old and 13 lb!
He's a cutie!

I made this bag about a week ago for my church's quilt group.  We make quilts for patients with cancer, and we add a quilt in a bag so it's easier for them to bring their quilt (and perhaps a book) into hospital for treatments. 

We moved our son into a "big boy bed" and I added a quilt I had made last year.
Lots of bright colours & fun polka dots.

This photo looks really blah but the colours truly are better up close.
It was overcast & very windy today, so I took this pic indoors.
Anyways, this is my finished Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along quilt top.
Measurements: 59" x 75.5"

I whipped up this table runner last week, but I still have to add batting, backing & binding.
Measurements: 12" x 20"

 And finally... a quilt I am very excited about... the Synchronized Squares Quilt.
I had started this quilt along last year, but I then realized that it was meant to be a rag quilt, so all the coloured squares were to be ragged edges... and I do NOT like rag quilts.
I then pieced this quilt together without ragged edges (ie, the "nice sewn seams") and I just LOVE this finished look.
The squares are layer cake squares that I won last year from another quilt along!

Measurements: 48" x 56"

A peek at the backing: orange with polka dots.

Things on my sewing list now:

• finish up civil-war-coloured layer cake quilt top
• finish green/yellow/brown/white table runner (quilt top done this week)
• start ABC crib quilt
• catch up on the next 2 quilt blocks for Freebie 15 & Companion

... and then perhaps I can start catching up on my very, very overdue photo albums. 

It's Been a Crafty Week

Oh, it has been such a fun crafty week. I had put all quilting aside for a few weeks to catch up on other things that needed tending to, but I had a few days off this week, so it was time to get back into quilting. Such relaxation!!

November 2 was Week 1 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along. I had purchased Sandy Gervais's "Lollipop" layer cake, and I just love it! My plan was to make a quilt for my son, but some of the fabrics have flowers on them, so I might have to use some other matching fabrics or just use up the flowery fabrics to make a neutral quilt. We'll see.

I finally sewed the quilt block for August 2010 that I had purchased at "Two Toonies Thursday" at Freckles (local quilt shop). Freckles puts out a quilt block on the 2nd Thursday of each month for $4 and all the proceeds go to a children's lunch program. At the end of the year (September to August) they sell a quilt kit to place all the quilt blocks together. Novel idea! However, since I started these purchases in June, I only had 3 blocks. I have sewn these 3 blocks together into a table runner, so I'll post pix when I'm done. (I just have the binding to hand-sew.)

Recently, I came across a quilting blog in which the author wrote about this product. She raved about it, so I bought it & tried it out. Let me tell you, it is THE CAT's MEOW!!!! I LOVE this stuff!! No more basting quilting pieces together before sewing all the layers together!!! Spray-stick-spray-stick-done-then-sew!!!

I tried the 505 Fabric Adhesive on a large quilt (my Summer Star Sampler Quilt Along). I needed some help tacking the fabric smoothly onto the batting, but once done, it was a piece of cake to sew it all together. I'll be posting the finished quilt on here soon, too.) Using this product on the table runner this week was even easier!

This was yesterday/today's project: a tote bag with 6 outside pockets. This was my October splurge at Jo-Ann's in Washington state. The colours are a bit bright for me, but I love the bag. Now to fill it up, use it & show it off!

Dreams & Projects...

I have lots of fabric to dream about... I travelled to the Vancouver area to see my family for Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct 11 this year), and my mother, sister, nieces and I drove across the border into Washington state... to buy fabric! Oooooh... there are so many more fabrics than the major fabric store in western Canada, and the prices are amazing!! Why does fabric cost so much in Canada?????

I bought the pattern for this cute tote bag:

These 3 fabrics will be used to make that tote bag.

Here's a stash of fabrics that I purchased that one day at Jo-Ann's. Some of the fabrics will be used for tote bags, others for quilting, others are undecided. I was "into" paisleys that day, can you tell??!!

I also bought some Fat Eights. I pay more than double that listed price of $5.99 at my local quilt shop!! Perhaps I'll make a small table runner?!

This was an interesting find at Jo-Ann's... a fabric panel with Baby Einstein book pages. Now I just need to cut out the pages, quilt them, & bind them all together. Brilliant! I should have stocked up on these panels.

I had ordered these 3 kinds of Charm Packs (2 sets of each) from Green Fairy Quilts. I'm not sure entirely what I'll do with them, but I'm thinking of doing at least 1 stacked coins quilt.

Pictured below: Origins, Bliss & Fandango Charm Packs.

The main reason for me going to Jo-Ann's was that I wanted to buy some fabric to sew my 13-month-old son a new sleepsack. At 75 cm (almost 30") he was outgrowing the one I had purchased at Sears for him.

I love this fabric... it's cotton on both sides with a sew flannel in between. Wonderful... that meant I didn't have to cut fabrics for the outside & the inside! I bought a 24" zipper... my mother helped me with designing the shape & cutting out the fabric, but I had to sew it all together once I got home.

Front of Sleepsack. The fabric on the inside has the same vehicles printed on the fabric but smaller versions & printed on a light blue checked fabric.

Back of sleepsack:

Close-up of the fabric on the outside.

In May 2010, I had been to Jo-Ann's for the first time. Then I had purchased these adorable, soft puppy panels. I finally quilted them together this past week. (It was something to do when my son was tired of playing with the toys upstairs while I edited photos for my photo clients.) The quilt measures 33" x 42". (This quilt cost me about USD$54.)

The quilt back:

Now... what craft project to do next?????