Just Three for April and May

I'm a few days late, but here's my Just Three for April accomplishments!

First, I wanted to finish this quilt for my niece. Clearly that didn't happen.  I've been waiting to hear back from my sister about a special request for the back of the quilt (it's going to be a quilt/duvet cover), so there is a good reason I didn't finish.  It just needs the duvet cover addition and the binding to be done.  And that will be finished this month.  Hooray!!!

The second quilt for my other niece actually did get started.  The paper blocks are all cut out, and all but fifteen (of eighty) have the appropriate lines drawn.  The gray strips are all cut out, and I've started cutting the white strips.  I'm going to count that as a success.  Double hooray!!!

The quilt for my son isn't quite finished, but I'm okay with that.  I really like to handstitch the binding on while watching TV with my husband (then it's a totally productive use of my time ;), but it's been busy around here.  Just a few nights to go, though, and then my little one will finally get his blankie.  He's excited.

So while none of my projects from April were finished, significant progress was made.  And I'm thrilled with that.

So what about May?  The list is going to look familiar.
#1 - Finish the first Central Park Urban Lattice quilt!  Really!
#2 - Continue to work on the second quilt - maybe finish all the blocks this month?  Or a quilt top if I'm feeling ridiculously productive (or my house stays ridiculously dirty)?
#3 - Finish Joshua's quilt.  He turns two in June, so I *have* to get it done before then.
#4 - Since #3 is sooo close, I'm going to throw in an extra one.  Our youth group at church is going on a pioneer trek this summer, and my husband and I are going as a ma and a pa.  We get to dress in somewhat-period-appropriate clothing while pushing handcarts and camping in the woods.  Yee haw.  Since ankle-length dresses are hard to find these days, I'm sewing my own skirts.  And since we're going at the end of June, it's time to get my sew on.  I'm a little scared - it's been since middle school that I've made clothes for anyone other than my daughter's doll.  I scored some of Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden Paisley in the turquoise and yellow half off at Fat Quarter Shop.  *Swoon*  It's going to be awesome.  And the best part is that when I get home from trek, I lop off the bottom portion of the skirt and end up with a cute summer skirt.  And my daughter gets a matching skirt with the lopped-off portion.  Hooray!

There's my list for May - it looks like it's time for me to go bond with my sewing machine!  Go visit Tracey to see the other Just Three folks and their accomplishments :)

Just Three update

So how is your Just Three for April goal going? I'm making headway on two out of three. Joshua's quilt is now quilted and just needs to be bound. He was sleeping with it in his crib until I stole it yesterday so that I could finish the binding. It's nice to know that project is already will loved, if still unfinished.

My other major project is the big Central Park Urban Lattice quilt. I'd made it through almost two-thirds of the quilting when I finally made it down to my LQS and purchased a walking foot for my machine. Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I've been doing all my quilting with just a regular sewing foot. Anyway, I made the switch mid-quilt, and now I almost wish I hadn't. A walking foot is amazing! This is seriously a game-changer in the quilting department. My stitches are much more even, and the top isn't shifting or puckering. I love my walking foot. And the $25 price tag doesn't hurt either. The only downside is that now it makes me want to go back and revisit some of my earlier quilting. We'll see how motivated I feel.

I hope you're making progress on your goals too! Happy sewing!

A collaborative finish

So, if you've been over to Sew and Tell Friday at Amy's blog, you've already read about this quilt. We've been working together on a few projects of late, and the collaboration has been great. Read - we get to give people cute (in our opinion) quilts without having to do all the work. Hooray!
This was for a good mutual friend who's expecting Boy #3. I picked up the Riley Blake All Star fabric a long while ago, and it's been patiently waiting for the right projects. This was one of them. I had liked this quilt made by Cluck Cluck Sew awhile back, and Mama had pinned it as a favorite too. Great fabric + great pattern = a super cute quilt. I paired the All Star with Kona Snow.The back makes me happy too. I like a pieced backing, but it has to make sense in relation for the front. And this one does. At least to me.
So while I didn't completely finish this quilt, I did finish my part, so I'm counting it as a finish. I think I've seen some more growing bellies around town lately, so this may not be the end of Amy's and my baby-quilt-making days!
Go check out the other lovelies at Sew and Tell Friday and Finish it up Friday!

Just three

When I saw Tracey's Just Three for April challenge, I knew it was high time for me to get going. See, I've been working on commissioned quilts for my nieces. My sister first contacted me last May. But then we moved, three kids are time-consuming, and my old machine was begging to be thrown out the window. Seriously. That thing had a death wish.
Fast forward to October, and I get my mom's much-nicer machine while they're out of the country. One problem solved. After some initial I'm-so-nervous-about-paper-piecing jitters and dry runs that took about three months (along with painting our entire downstairs), I finally got moving in January. Oh, and did I mention these are twin-sized quilts and that there are two of them???
So, here's my Just Three -
#1 - Finish the first #!@& quilt. Like, quilted, bound, finished. Don't get me wrong - I think this quilt is sooo pretty. See? The problem is that it's just taking me forever. And it's taking me so long that I don't want to sew very much because I *have* to finish these before I can do anything else. So I need to finish.
#2 - Start the next #!@& quilt. I'll take any definition of start, including thinking about cutting fabric.
#3 - Finish this little guy's quilt. It was supposed to be a baby quilt, but he turns two in June. Oops. Do you see how excited he is about it? It's time.
So there are my goals for April. How about you? What are you working on these days?

Linked up at

Blushing

So, imagine my surprise this morning as I was going through my Google Reader. I came across Sew & Tell Friday, expecting to see what Amy's been up to this week, and, um, it's my quilt! Major blushing! So here it is!
I made this for a sweet friend who is expecting her third baby next month. I'll be honest - when I started this project last winter, Adriane wasn't even pregnant yet. But, the joys of three small children, moving, and some major church commitments has meant that my sewing machine and I haven't exactly been close of late. So, this one came out of the WIP pile and turned into a finish just in time for her shower. Hurray!
I love this quilt. The first plus quilt I saw, ages ago, was this one by Arajane. I loved it, but the busyness of all the prints on top of each other was a little much for me. For mine, I used the white to break it all up. Happiness.

The quilting was very simple - echo quilting in the white pluses only. The pearl bracelet binding was a no-brainer.As was the lollilop tree backing.All in all, it's one of my favorite quilts yet.And now to stop blushing and get back to my next project - those urban lattices and Central Park!

Go check out the other lovelies at Sew & Tell!
And I'm also linking up to Finish it up Friday!

Haylee's Quilt

Another month, another friend moving away. This is one of the major downsides to being the civilian in a military town - your friends all move away every three years. The upside is that new, fabulous friends also move in every year.

Anyway, Haylee has been a great friend these past three years. She was always there when I needed someone and was always understanding and sympathetic of the joys of lots of little kids (she has five!). She also helped throw the baby shower for my last not-so-little one. She and her family left last week for a new duty station, and I couldn't see her off empty-handed. So I made this.I had this idea to use a layer cake of Freebird by Momo and Kona Bone for the HSTs, so I started cruising Flickr for inspirations. I found this, which was exactly what I was thinking about and fabulous, and so I went with it.The quilting was simple - just echo quilting 1/4" away from the seams, only on the Bone side.My favorite part of the quilting is the tiny triangles it made in the corners of each large triangle.For my pieced backing, I used a few extra HSTs to make hourglass blocks. I love how the hourglass blocks reference the front without copying it directly. I love the back :)The binding is one of the simple egg-polka dots from that line.Happily, Haylee liked the quilt as much I did. Though if I hear she has it in a closet somewhere, afraid to use it for fear of getting it dirty, I may just take it back. It's a good one.Go check out all the other lovelies at Sew n Tell Friday!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

We moved here nearly four years ago. That first year was brutal - we were a one-car family, I didn't know a lot of people, halfway through that year I got pregnant with our second and it was not a fun pregnancy, you get the idea. Right before our daughter was (finally) born, a new family moved in. That first Sunday I saw her at church, I thought, oh I hope we can be friends! It's fun when things work out sometimes :)

She has ended up being one of my favorite people here over the past three years, and her husband is my husband's best friend. She helped throw baby showers for my last two babies, has been there through some really good times and some not-so-good times. And they are moving at the end of the school year. I can't tell you how sad that makes me.

Her daughter was born a year before I started quilting with any regularity, so I never made her a quilt. So I thought that would be a perfect going away gift. It turns out she thought so too. And here it is -
I thought Fandango would be a great fit for her, and I love anything Kate Spain. I used the Abracadabra pattern from Bloom and Blossom. Match made in heaven.
The quilting was simple - echo quilting 1/4" around each box with some straight lines around the outside perimeter.I love a striped binding!
The pieced back makes me happy too - two lovely fabrics with an extra column I pieced to tie it all together. I love a good finished quilt!Now, go check out all the other lovely quilts at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!