Baby Quilt Top and Some EPP

I cut out some 6 1/2" squares last week for a baby quilt.  I tried to lay them out in a checkerboard pattern--white background and coloured squares but it looked a bit blah.   I dug through my stash to see if I had some brightly coloured fabric that I could use as sashing...

This looks a lot better!  There are a lot of squares with this colour of green in them so it works perfectly!  The sashing finishes at 1".  I decided not to do an outer border and just bind the quilt in the same green after I get it quilted.  The fiddle fabric above is leftover from a pillowcase I made for my dad several years ago.  He is 88 and has played the fiddle since he was 5 or 6.  My daughter used to love watching Thomas the Tank Engine when she was little.  When I was younger, my dad taught me how to paddle a canoe.  Our canoe was red.  I love gardening, so the potted flowers had to be included too.

Here is the finished quilt top.

The puffin fabric was purchased in Iceland when my husband and I went there to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary a few years ago. One of the fabrics has cameras on it--I like to take pictures.  The glasses and pencils are for my daughter--she is an accountant.   I hope the baby who receives this quilt enjoys looking at all of the fabrics.  I will have to write her a little note explaining the significance of the fabrics.

I have not had much chance to do any hand sewing this week but did get one more EPP plus sign done with cutlery fabric!

Maybe, I will get a few more plus signs done this week.  Take a look and see what the other slow stitchers are doing over at Kathy's blog

Back to EPP

Since I finished my counted cross stitch picture last week, I needed to find another hand stitching project to work on.  I found my EPP plus signs and decided to make some more.  I recently bought some more fabrics that would be good for this project, so I cut some of them up so I would be ready to do some hand stitching tomorrow.

When my daughter was younger, I taught her how to do counted cross stitch.  She did a couple of small projects and then seemed to lose interest.   A few weeks ago, much to my surprise, she purchased three patterns on Etsy to make pictures to hang on the wall in her apartment.  The first one is a city scape of Detroit, Michigan. The first picture she sent to me did not look like much...

As she added more colours, the buildings started to take shape. 

Do any of you recognize any of the buildings/structures?

This is the latest picture that I have, taken while we were FaceTiming one evening.  She has done more stitching since I took this picture, but I have not seen it again since then.  The other two patterns are for London, England and New York City, all places that she has been before.  I love the patterns she has chosen. 

I am going to a quilt retreat in early April and the organizers set up a lanyard swap amongst the participants.  Here is the lanyard I made for my swap partner:

We will use them for our name tags at the retreat.  Here is the lanyard that I received in the mail this week:

I'm already making a list in my head of the projects that I would like to work on at the retreat...

I will be linking up with Kathy in the morning.  Go and take a look at what everyone is working on.  The link is in my sidebar.

Christmas Quilt Block and some Slow Stitching

Today, another block pattern was released by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for the Holly Jolly Christmas sew along.  This one is called "All Wrapped Up."  There were not as many pieces in this ones as some of the previous blocks.

Here are the eyes and noses...

Pretty soon, I had the block finished.  I had only used the blue dot fabric once so far in my blocks so I was happy to use it again.

Here are my 9 finished blocks on my design wall.

It was a beautiful sunny day today so my Dad and I ate lunch outside.  There are quite a few blooms in my garden this week.  This is the inside of one of my Canada 150 tulips.

This one is called a Mickey Mouse tulip.

This one is on our fothergilla bush.

The seed heads of the Pasqueflower are interesting and I love the green glow from the middle.

For my Slow Stitching this week, I am making more plus signs.

I finished two and have fabric cut out for two more.

I'm still making bean bags for the weighted blanket too.  I have over 2/3's of the 140 bean bags I need done.  I hope to finish those off this week. Each one is filled with plastic pellets and hand sewn shut.  The blanket itself has 140 pockets which hold the bean bags. There is velcro at the top of each pocket to hold the bean bags in.  Weighted blankets are used by people with anxiety, autism and sleeping issues to help them to relax and get a good night's sleep. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!  My daughter was home last weekend so I celebrated early. 

Slow Stitching

On Saturday, Karen and I went to the Embroiderer's Guild show in London (Canada).  We all sorts of wonderful hand stitching projects including cards, book covers, fidget blankets, ornaments, knitting, tatting, and wall art.  I was ready to grab my phone and take some pictures when I saw the sign...No Photograhs.  You will just have to take my word for it...the show was inspiring!

I did some more sewing in the car this week.  

I finished two more plus signs.  

I'm also making 140 4" square bean bags for a weighted blanket.  Each one is hand sewn shut after I add the plastic beads.  I have 40 completely done...only 100 more to go.  

More flowers blooming this week...

I will be linking up with Kathy and the other slow Stitchers in the morning.  

Cardinal Surgery

I finally got around to making my Cardinal block for the Holly Jolly Christmas sew along at Sew Fresh Quilts.  I cut it out one night...

There are lots of pieces!  I sewed it together yesterday.

It wasn't until I took this picture that I noticed a mistake...I had wondered why there was a leftover piece when I was done...

I used my best friend to help me perform the surgery... And then stitched the extra piece in where it was supposed to be. 

A little pressing, and the Cardinal was looking much better!

He has joined the other blocks on my design wall.  

I did sine EPP this week as well, finishing three more plus signs. 

The pile is getting higher.

I hope to make a few more this week. 

I took a few pictures in my backyard tonight.  I have interesting plants growing between my patio stones.

My pasqueflower is almost blooming too. 

Happy Easter!  

Quilt in a Day

My MIL asked me to make a quilt for a friend's new baby girl.  I was in the mood for sewing on Friday afternoon so I got to work.  The pattern for this quilt is from Diary of a Quilter.  I have had this fabric in my stash for a few years and decided it was time to use it in a quilt.  

After sewing the star together, I added a border...

I used only fabrics from my stash for this quilt.  I had enough white for the background and enough of this print for the backing. 

I pin basted the quilt before supper on my kitchen floor.  After supper, I did the quilting with my walking foot using a zig zag stitch and yellow Aurifil thread. 

I quilted diagonally through the star and then in "V"s in the triangles on the sides.  The middle of the star has a funky cross hatch design. 

I looked in my solids to find some fabric for the binding.  Again, I did not want to do any shopping for this quilt so the binding is turquoise...I did not have enough of the right colour of green or red.  

I hand stitched the binding today, so technically, the quilt was completed in a little over 24 hours.  My favourite quilt holder did the honours for a picture on the front porch. 

I just need to add a label and it will be ready for gifting!  

I hand sewed the binding on another quilt this week as well...this is a comfort quilt for the London Friendship Quilter's Guild.  Other members of the committee put the top together and did the quilting.  I had a long ride in the car earlier this week so the hand stitching got done as we rode along. 

I worked on a couple of plus signs as well.  One is not quite finished.  I hope to make a few more tomorrow for slow Sunday stitching. I will be linking up to Kathy's blog in the morning.