Vincent's Quilt!

Remember these?  Well, I've had them sewn up into a quilt for a little while now but since I finally got to give it to my godbaby tonight I can post pictures of the finished product!

Ta-Da! I'm really glad with the design overall. I started before I knew Vincent was going to be a boy, but I think this looks like a boy quilt. I think it's the olive green and grey. For the top I used most of the two charm packs of Little Apples that Ryan gave me for Christmas from the fabulous Sewn Studio.   I did go out and buy backing fabric, because the design was so cute and cutting it up into pinwheels didn't really let you see how cute it was. I've never done a quilt that was mostly all one line of fabric like this, especially the designer stuff; generally I will use up lots of odds and ends and maybe buy one or two new things to tie the color scheme together. But this is for a very special boy, so I suppose it's ok. :-)

Another first: This is the first project I've ever done with straight line vs. free-motion quilting. I think I prefer free-motion, even though it does take much longer than this simple in the ditch (more or less) grid. For one thing, I do not have a machine that's really meant to do quilting. I think it is due for a cleaning, too. I sort of had to rig up an even-feed foot that wasn't really feeding evenly, so the stitches got larger and smaller and pulled to the side no matter how carefully I worked. With free-motion, obviously you don't have to stay within the lines. Unless you're doing a complicated traditional design, which I have not yet attempted. I really enjoy meditatively moving the quilt back and forth, working into a rhythm making swirls or loops or just squigglies, either listening to music or just thinking. Next time it's back to squigglies, but I think the straight lines work with the design and make it more masculine.

See?  The fabric is really adorable.  Now to go work on my own baby's quilt!

168

168 half square triangles, all pressed and ready to trim and sew together!

But not tonight.  Tonight we're having ice cream.

Mango Blues

It's finished! Just in time for the silent auction on Saturday. I've never named my quilts, but "Mango Blues" just seems to fit. It's 4 feet square, machine pieced and quilted. The texture came out really well; I love crinkly quilts!

I debated back and forth about whether to do a pieced binding or not. I'm glad I decided on the aqua. Using the leftover scraps would have been thrifty but it would have been too busy.


I did do a pieced backing. I think I like the back as much as the front! The brightness is a nice contrast to all the white on the other side.



So there you are, St. Edmund Campion Academy!

Weekend Photos

Happy Monday. We had a gorgeous weekend; lovely sunshine and warmth all day on Saturday and a bit on Sunday afternoon. Spring is definitely on its way! (Click the pictures to see them larger.)



We have deer in our yard all the time! The same three are often seen around suppertime and in the early morning hours; two does and a baby. This is the baby, not really a baby now. Saturday morning Ryan took apart the raised bed he built last year, and we moved the dirt to cover the area for our new expanded vegetable bed (about 16x18 feet). It was a workout, since our soil is very clayey (a word?) and it was very wet from all the rain we had.

Which brings us to Sawyer Point on Sunday. There were so many people out taking pictures of the high water!



Anthony wasn't impressed by the river, but he had a great time with all the dogs that were there! He absolutely loves dogs; he's going to be asking Daddy for one for sure! He's not afraid of them AT ALL, even this Great Dane that lives in our neighborhood. They'll sniff and lick his face and he just laughs and gets so excited!


Finally, here's a sneak peek at a quilt I started! This one's going to a silent auction to support an alternative Catholic school that a lot of our friends' children attend.