First Quilt of 2017

On Thursday I finished my first quilt of the year. It's for a friend from Guam that will have a baby next month. 

 

And I'm already thinking of my next quilt...

The Good and the Ugly

Another quilt done!

The Good:  I love the elephant! This was my first time using a technique called 'paper piecing'. It took a little while before I got comfortable with it, but when I did I enjoyed it.  I would use it again! I don't think that elephant could get any cuter!! 

The Ugly: puckers. (Deep sigh...) the gray was left over from my owl quilt and I forgot that I had cut this fabric in the bias- which means it stretches. A lot! But I totally remembered when I put the borders on...and saw all the puckers.  Frustrating. Oh, well. It's done. 

With this elephant pattern as well as my owl quilt, I feel in love with the pattern first. But sometimes it's the fabric that inspires me. I have some beautiful gray fabric with pink flowers that reminds me of Japan. I'm not sure what exactly I want to do with it....I bought two yards - which is enough to be a focal point of a quilt. While I think about it, I'll do another scrappy quilt....as I'm always trying to keep a handle on how much fabric I have...really don't want to be a hoarder of fabric! 

Tulips - My Latest Quilt Project

While it maybe the end of summer with fall coming soon, I've been into tulips. They are one of my favorite flowers and couldn't resist when I found a tulip quilt pattern. I ended up making two table runners (which are gifts) and two mini quilts (which one is a gift).

Growing Up

This week the kids are with the youth group for Mission Week.  They stay the night at church and during the day they volunteer at different places around town. Last night as they were getting all their stuff together, we had to gather blow-up mattresses, sleeping bags, blankets, towel....all that fun stuff they need to camp at the gym at church.    At one point I asked Benjamin if he had everything he needed. He said yes...that he just needed a quilt.  I asked if he was sure and he said was.

As usual when the kids are gone, I get in a cleaning mood to clean their rooms. As I was straightening up Ben's room I saw his sleeping bag.  And that's when it hit me why he said he just needed a quilt.

His sleeping bag?  It's a Hot Wheels one...not exactly what a 13 year old wants to take for all the youth group to see.

Tonight after I helped cook and serve dinner for the youth group, I went to Target and bought Benjamin a nice plain blue adult size sleeping bag...with not a Hot Wheel in sight.  I'm sure he'll sleep much better tonight than he did with just a small quilt. He may be my baby, but he's not longer a baby.

The Scrappy Quilt

About five or six years ago I realized that I had about three boxes of fabric....way too much for a military wife to be carting around. Some had been left-over from my projects....some left-over from a large project I over-saw for the ladies chapel group in Guam....some were given to me....some I liked, some not so much.  So, I set a goal to get the fabric down to one box...to make quilts with what I had.  Now, I did still buy fabric when I wanted to make a special quilt for someone, but I, also, really tried to use what I had.

I can now say I'm down to one box of fabric.  Below is my latest scrappy project....not sure who it will be for....so, it'll be sitting in my craft closet until the Lord tells me who needs a little love.

Fustrated

You know....technology is great....WHEN IT WORKS THE WAY YOU WANT IT T0!!!

I had this great idea to listen to an audiobook while I do some hand sewing.  But first, I wanted to see how I would like it, so I tried to find an audiobook for free. Which I did.

But getting it to play on my kindle...or iphone....or laptop???  Seems to be out of my technology ability.  Need to get my personal Geek On Call...yes. That would be my husband.

Today's Project

I had planned to work on the third quilt that was pieced together, but I really need a few extra hands to layer it right. With the kids in school I pushed that project aside and instead made this tote bag. The front is pink quilted fabric and the back has a small quilted pocket. I probably should have added an inside pocket, but I didn't think about it in time. 

Overall, I'm happy with it. This is actually the second quilted tote bag I've made lately. The first one is done in fall fabrics. I'm not sure what I'll do with either one....