Pinwheels galore!

Though I haven't been sharing them, I have been keeping up with my twiddletails Pinwheel Party quilt along blocks.

Block 3:


Block 4:


Block 5:



Have I mentioned how much fun these are? So happy and bright!

Dragon's Moon

I mentioned before that I am entering two quilts in my guild's first-ever show this month. The first is "Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright" (my Star Quilt Along quilt). The second is called "Dragon's Moon."


This quilt was started in a class I took back in 2002. The design is from the Marge Edie book, Bargello Quilts, and is called "Fractured Rhapsody." I finished the quilt top pretty quickly, but then was feeling really uninspired by it. Later that year, I took a beading class from Nancy Eha at the Houston International Quilt Festival. That's when I decided the quilt needed BEADS!


The Asian fabrics prompted me to check out a Dover clip art book titled, Chinese Designs, from which I adapted the dragon design.


Then, thinking the quilt seemed a little unbalanced, I decided that the dragon needed something on which to focus his rapt attention...


And so the moon appeared. It's an appliqued organza circle surrounded with beads.

I completed all of the beadwork and quilting in 2005. (I have no idea how many beads are in that dragon... but there are a LOT and it took a LONG time to do.) I even got most of the binding sewn down. But then I stalled, and the quilt sat in my UFO pile until I decided to enter it into the show. Last month, I finally finished the binding, got the sleeve sewn, and made the label.


It only took me 7 years!


It's funny... looking at this quilt now, there are a lot of things I would have done differently. The moon would be bigger and have a lot more beading (it's just way to subtle compared to the dragon). I would have added a weight to the bottom right corner to balance the weight of all the beading. I would have done a lot more quilting (the quilting is pretty minimal on this... just following the wave pattern of the bargello design, and pretty sparsely at that. The weight of the beading really called for more quilting, I think). But one thing I wouldn't change is the dragon. I just think he's pretty darn cool. And that's why I want to show off this quilt at the quilt show.

The big sleeve

My quilt guild (Stray Threads) is hosting it's first-ever quilt show this month. Woo hoo! It is not only exciting for my guild, but for me too-- I've never entered anything into a show before, and this seemed like an awesome opportunity. As it turns out, the show is taking place the same weekend the baby is due (April 24-25), so I have a feeling that I may not even get to go. But I decided to go ahead and enter a couple of quilts anyway, one of which is my Star Quilt Along quilt from 2008, Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright:


It's not a judged show-- more of a showcase of members' works. Since I love this quilt and am still so proud of it, it seemed like a natural one to enter. Of course, had I known at the time that entering it would require adding a sleeve to the already completed quilt, I may not have done it. But, because the forms were already in when the committee decided they wanted sleeves on all of the quilts, I bit the bullet and did it...


...all 85" of it. At least it didn't take too long. Less than hour to make it, and then a couple of hours to stitch it on. But, that's what I spent my sewing time on yesterday. Not particularly glamorous, but I'm happy it's done!

Another requirement for the show is to submit entries in a "securely closed and labeled fabric or clear plastic bag." Though I know a fabric bag would be best, I didn't want to have to take the time to make one. So, I headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and picked up a couple of those giant comforter storage bags. (I really wish they came in smaller sizes too.) Then I used some vinyl and single-fold bias tape to add a pocket for my contact info:


Simple but effective, I think.

The other quilt I decided to enter was a long lost UFO I was motivated to finish for the show. I think it deserves a post of its own, so I'll share it with you tomorrow.

Snip. Sew. Send. March

Phew! I just made it! March was Tina's month for the Snip.Sew.Send. virtual quilt bee. I loved all of the pretty pink and aqua fabrics she sent. She requested square-in-square style blocks, with the kerchief girl in the center. Her plan is to make a bed quilt for her daughter. I have a feeling this is going to be one super cute quilt!


It was a lot of fun getting my girly on for this one! I hope you like it, Tina. :)

Playtime: the train

Choo, choo!!! Over the last week or so, I've been focusing my stitching time on the train block for my American Jane "Playtime" quilt. I finally completed it last night!


I can honestly say that this block has been the least fun for me. I know I make everything more difficult than it needs to be by insisting to do this quilt with hand applique (rather than fusible as called for in the instructions). But this particular block was a real challenge because the instructions combined pieced parts with applique parts, and were not exactly clear on placement or finished sizes of the pieces. So, it was a lot of guessing on my part: to add seam allowance, or not to add seam allowance? And then there was no guide as to how far apart to space the cars or where to position them on the background. Looking back, I realize I could have been a lot smarter about the way I went about it which was to kind of eyeball it all as I went along (just in case you are wondering, trying to eyeball across a 43" strip of background while sitting on the couch is not particularly effective). I should have pressed in some guidelines for myself at the beginning. That would have made it a lot easier, I think.

Though it doesn't look like the picture on the pattern cover, I think my train turned out alright. Thank goodness it is done!

And here is my progress so far:


I've actually started work on putting the middle section together. Once that is done, I'll move onto the next block: the car.

Tri County Shop Hop 2010

This weekend was the third annual Tri County Quilt Shop Festival. Quilt shops in three counties join forces to host a fun shop hop. Each shop creates a block for the event and then makes a special quilt using blocks from all of the other shops. This year's theme was "Smooth Sailing" and it was a ton of fun going from shop to shop and seeing all of the fabulous quilt designs.

Here's a little peek at all of the various shop quilts:


I think my favorites are the quilts from Fabrics, Etc. (how cool is that porthole???), Folktales (using the Sandy Gervais line "Frolic"), and Tangled Threads (so bright and happy!). But I love how unique each of the quilts is and how differently they used the same blocks.

Since I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to manage any of the hop this year, it was super exciting for me to make it to all of the participating shops! It took three days to complete. On Thursday, the boy and I visited 3 shops together. Then on Friday, I managed to visit 2 shops while the boy was in preschool, and then together we trekked to another 3. Finally on Saturday, I got up early and drove myself to Lynden and Bellingham (the shops farthest from home) to visit the last 7 shops on the tour (some happy alone time for mama!).

I didn't take many pictures other than of the various quilts, but I did get a cute one of the boy. Granny's House in Stanwood, WA, offers classes on creating custom umbrellas, and my boy was having a lot of fun checking out the sample:


And how cute is that umbrella? If the shop weren't so far away, I'd probably sign up for the class!

And, of course, the loot...


I tried hard to not go too crazy. I ended up with a few patterns, including Amy Butler's Birdie Sling (which I have been eyeing for some time), some stitcheries (so cute!), and a festive little bunny quilt kit. I picked up the Antique Quilts magazine (because I've been reading so many great things about it). And then I picked up just a few fabrics, including some to use for the Amy Butler pattern, backing fabric for my Paintbox Quilt Along quilt, a couple of prints I just had to have, a charm pack, and some green fat quarters (sigh... I just couldn't resist! What am I going to do once my Stickle quilt is complete and I don't have an excuse to buy green fabric anymore???). The only things not pictured are some stickers I picked up for the boy, as well as a big blue button he picked out for himself.

Another fabulous shop hop adventure!

A different kind of "nesting"

I've been nesting! But not for the upcoming baby. April is the start of a new theme at preschool: oviparous (a.k.a., egg-laying) animals!

So I decided that the first craft of the month will be making bird nests. I took some time on this one to look about on the Internet for ideas and saw some really awesome ones-- but almost all of them involved serious dry-time, something that is just not practical in our school setting. So, I went pretty low-tech:


It's simple, but I think it is a cute and fun little spring craft. The prep for this one wasn't too bad either. I already had a pile of paper plate centers left from a craft earlier this month (I'm so glad I found a use for them!). But I (and my husband) ended up spending a good amount of time cutting out the bird and egg shapes (though we left some uncut so that the older kids can use them to practice their scissor skills). I also shredded a lot of paper, but that went pretty quickly.

And, of course, I found a few bird nest facts to go along with the craft:

• Birds build nests for breeding in trees, on cliffs, and even on the ground.
• There are many different types of nests, from simple holes in the ground to complex multi-chambered nests.
• Nests are often made from a large variety of natural materials including sticks, twigs, mud, grass, and saliva. But some birds will use almost anything that works and that they can carry, like candy wrappers, home insulation, shredded money, and even barbed wire!
• Some birds lay their eggs in other bird’s nests.
• The nest of a bald eagle can be 12 feet deep, 10 feet wide and weigh over a ton.

References:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/trivia.html
http://www.earthlife.net/birds/nests.html
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdnests.html


Phew! With all that done, now maybe I can do some of my own crafting again. :)