I have been kept busy and I am so grateful for any chance to sneak in some sewing. There are a few projects waiting, taunting me to work on them. I have put a tiny dent in my UFO list and have a long way to go.
Here's a quick look at a few things I've been up to since my last post.
Guild Holiday Quilt
We are making a quilt for the Festival of Trees fundraiser here in Orlando. We set out to design a quilt that all members of the guild can help complete and I thought of making a tree shape out of random blocks. This way, each member can make their own favorite block for the final quilt that will be donated. I made a crude and quick design on EQ7 and put it with the other chosen designs from the committee. The group selected my design and I am excited to see it come to life. (I might have to bid on it at the auction.) |
| B is the winner! |
SEA Quilt Complete
I was so excited to see the final quilt made by the 5th graders this year. I can't believe how fast the year flew by with them and the wonderful result of our hard work. In my previous post, I shared the final background after it was sewn.
They used a giant t-square to mark the space needed for the binding and set to adding all of the leaves they've embroidered.
I left after I taught a parent how to attach the binding but didn't see the completed quilt until their graduation at the end of May. I was really moved when I saw the finished piece.
Here is their Ancestry Tree which includes their names and the country where their families are from. Many of them included the year which their family came to America under the country's name and outline.
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| (Wishing I had a real camera so you could see all of the great colors and details on this quilt.) |
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| It took 20 minutes for the crowd to clear so I could take the picture above. They were all so sweet! |
This is one of my favorite quilts now and I am so glad they asked our guild to be a part of their project next year. We are starting earlier in the year so it can be quilted on their field trip.
(I arranged a field trip with Wandering Stitches, a fantastic quilt shop in Orlando, where the students learned about sewing machines and long-arm quilting with Lisa. They were even allowed to practice on a machine that was set up for them to play. I am so grateful she let them come to her shop and have lunch in her lesson space.)
So worth the wait
Remember the Halloween blocks I won last October? I finally finished my godson's Christmas present in May. I was getting ready to ship it to North Carolina when I his mom called to say they would be in town in June. I did my happy dance, put it aside and counted the days until they would be here.
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| He started squealing in delight as he noticed something new in a block. |
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| After he was buckled in, he really examined each square. Marge's Day of the Dead fabric was his FAVORITE! |
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| He giggled and played in the back seat with his "favorite quilt" for the rest of the day. (It was over 90 degrees in FL and he didn't care.) |
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| Front of Quilt |
He really loved that the spider web quilting design was completed with glow-in-the-dark thread. My thanks to Marge again for trading BOM wins with me to make this fun quilt. I even have a few blocks left over for some October birthday pillowcases.
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| Back of Quilt |
I'm so glad I waited to ship this quilt because I would not have had the pleasure of seeing his priceless reaction in person. This is my first official completed UFO on my long list, too!
BOM/Works in Progress
I am making my way through the rest of my Bee blocks. I'm with the paper piecing group and have had some fun making them. Here's a look:
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| I really liked this one for Alejandrina. I see a lot of possibilities with this simple design. |
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| Love asked us to make our favorite block in blacks, whites, and a solid color so I chose to make this design again. |
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| Marge's Tulips |
I made one for Leslie but really disliked the scrappy fabrics used. So, I have two more to go and then I'll be ready to swap. The OMQG blocks are due in July and I need to get busy.
My second favorite part of making these block is the tearing of the paper from the back. It's a great stress reliever.
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| To the compost bin! |
I'm almost done with this baby quilt for our OMQG charity project. I made it with lots of colors so it can be gender neutral. (I'm almost done with my vintage gingham, too. I think I'll donate the rest of the unused fabric because this is my 3rd and most likely final gingham quilt.)
Thanks for reading my post. Let me know your summer quilting plans in the comments below.
Happy Quilting.
