Some treats!

Mother's Day was a few weeks ago now, but I still wanted to share the fabulous treats I received. One was a gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop, and my order arrived just a few days ago.


The only plan I have thus far is for the beautiful April Cornell charm pack ("Nostalgia"). I'm going to use that for (yet another!) baby quilt. I'm not sure what will become of the rest, but it's exciting to have some new fabrics to play with!

Then, taking me completely by surprise, my mother-in-law gave me a beautiful necklace.


She designs and creates jewelery, and this necklace is a gorgeous example of her work. And it is so me! She sells some of her work to friends and has participated in a few craft shows, but I keep telling her she needs to open an etsy store. She is so talented, it blows me away.

I am so grateful to have such a loving and supportive family. Thank you for a wonderful mother's day and for all of the love and appreciation you give me all year long!

Pretty Petals

Yay!!! I finished the coin quilt! Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts-- they really helped motivate me to get off my duff and just do it!


I'm calling it Pretty Petals.


Amandajean's Stacked Coins Baby Quilt pattern (available through the Moda Bake Shop-- a great resource!) was just awesome, and really does make a perfect baby quilt.


I decided that with all of the various fabrics and the narrow strips between them, I'd just go with an all-over stipple. Simple and effective, I think. For some reason, I got it into my brain that it would be better not to use my stitch regulator. But it turned out alright (so what if the stitches are a little big, right?).


Another awesome thing about this quilt: it was nearly all made from stash! The only fabric I purchased was 1/3 yard of the Alexander Henry multi-color floral print (because it had all of the colors I wanted to use in one fabric). And I used every bit of that.


I really hope baby Claire likes her new quilt!

Putting off...

I've been putting off working on my stacked coins baby quilt. There's probably about 30 inches of binding left to stitch before it's done...


...and there's been about that much for about 4 weeks now. Since baby Claire was born 5 weeks ago, I seem to have lost all sense of urgency regarding finishing this quilt.

Do you ever have this problem? The project that is just-so-close to done, but you can't seem to get to it? How do you get yourself re-motivated? I'm stuck (so much so that I'd rather write a blog post than finish it!).

Sigh...

Jane Stickle Quilt: TR-12

Block number/name: TR-12 “Jane’s Oak”

Date completed: May 21, 2009

Number of pieces: 4

Notes on block: A block (a triangle, no less!) with only four pieces hardly seems possible. It is probably one of my favorite blocks in the quilt—I just love that wonderful leaf shape. It seemed appropriate to try and find a fabric with a kind of leafy quality to it. I really like how this reproduction vine print calls to mind the veins of a leaf.

I completed the leaf with needleturn appliqué using freezer-paper-on-top. Then I reverse appliquéd the white onto the bottom section. Finally, I pieced the triangle to the top.

Autumn House - Block 4

By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin! Block 4 of my Autumn House project is complete and I can still say that I'm on top of this BOM. Technically the next block was most probably already in my mailbox, but since I hadn't picked up the mail, I figure this still counts as on time.


The block is titled, "For the Birds."

The picture included with the pattern shows the stem on the acorn house actually touching the checkerboard section. But, the pieces as I traced from the pattern didn't actually fit on the background that way. It's all good though-- my acorn house may be a little shorter, but it is still super cute.

I'm really loving this project.

Purple Patchwork Panda

The fact that I've been slacking off and playing video games instead of using my time productively and finishing projects has not stopped me from starting a new project. When I saw this fabulous panda at AJ Quilts and found out that there was going to be a quilt-along too, I just could NOT resist.


How cute is that??? There are more friends with babies on the way, and this fellow will be perfect for one of them.

AJ posted multiple color options for inspiration, but I just loved the one above. I think it is a fun gender-neutral option, which is perfect for the little mystery-baby due in June. As a bonus, I actually have those colors in my stash:


Week 4 of the quilt-along has been posted. Of course, I'm a little behind. I just finished week 1:



Hopefully, I'll be able to do some more catch-up over the weekend.

Jane Stickle Quilt: C-13

Block number/name: C-13 “Lakota Sioux”

Date completed: May 16, 2009

Number of pieces: 25

Notes on block: Rows A, B, and C are complete! Woo hoo! Now I just need to get all the blocks stitched together. It’s weird that sometimes I don’t really realize how tiny the parts are until after the block is complete. Those triangles are itty-bitty!

And since I'm at the half-way point, here's a picture of my progress thus far: