Star #9

I can't believe I made three stars in one weekend! This one was definitely the most complicated because it was the first one I made with 16 pieces meeting in the middle instead of 4 or 8. It was a bulky spot in the middle but I ironed and starched the crap out of it until it cooperated. 

Sixteen sections:

Eight:

Four:

And done!

All nine so far...

Star #8

I am on a roll this weekend...I woke up before the kids this morning and finished another star!

Fabric selections:

Ready to start cutting:

Sewing it together:

Yay!!

All 8 stars so far...

Star #7!

The Lucky Stars Block of the Month subscription has been such a great experience. Today I finished my 7th star, which is actually from June of last year. I'm just picking the ones that I feel like making rather than doing them in order. I plan to make as many as I can before my purple and gray fabric runs out. 

Here's the fabric for this star: 

Four quadrants:

And the finished star:

Here's my collage...

...and finally, a very poorly lit photo of all 7 stars so far, along with some Christmas scraps placed by my tiny little helper!

I have the templates printed for star #8, so maybe I will get another one finished tomorrow! Here's hoping!

Finished Placemats & Stocking

I finished sewing the bindings on the placemats for my sister-in-law's birthday/Mother's Day gift. 

 They were finished just in time for her to decorate for Christmas! Combined with the table runner that was her Christmas present last year, they make her table look great!

Also finished just in time for decorating is a new stocking for my adorable new nephew!

In progress:

...and done!

Housewarming

My friend Nikki bought a new house this summer, and even though it's only 15 minutes away, our schedules have been so crazy that I didn't visit her until last weekend!

It was great to see her and my sweet little Goddaughter. Our girls had so much fun playing together!

  

I brought her a little housewarming gift...a table runner made to match the stockings and Christmas tree skirt I made her for her wedding. 

Nikki and her husband loved it!

Ali and Bill's Christmas Stockings

My friend Ali needed stockings for her house... And I was so excited to make them! She picked out some holiday flannel to go with her color scheme, and we ordered! :)

It went quickly because they are far from my first stockings! It was gratifying to finish so quickly though. 

Here's an extreme close up of the stitching on their names (which I appliquéd) with Ali's fancy new camera!

I'm so happy that I can be a part of my friends' holiday traditions!

Camo Quilt...basted & started quilting

I finished piecing the camo quilt, and shared it with my class. They had a great suggestion to add my nephew's name, so I did. 

The Goose helped me out here- she was too small to hold the quilt up, so I held it while she took the pictures. She did a great job! 

I had a little help with the basting from my Bug...

 The only idea I had so far about the quilting is that I knew I wanted to try quilting some "ghost" blocks in the negative space. I did one so far:

I really like it, so I want to do a few more, and then I have no idea what other design I will quilt in the rest of the negative space. 

My 6th Star!

It has been a while since I've been able to find the time to sew another star from the Lucky Stars block of the month, but I made one today! 

I love it!!

Here are all 6 so far, even though the lighting is pretty horrible...

It's so exciting to see them coming together!

A Pile of Brownies

...uniforms, that is!! I am excited to be taking over as leader of my older daughter's Girl Scout troop. The girls are becoming Brownies this fall, so I have a big old pile of Brownie uniforms to get ready for the first meeting! So excited to sew all of their patches and insignia on!

Camo Quilt Progress

I have been working on the camo quilt for my nephew here and there since school started again. Thank goodness for chain piecing-- it's making these blocks go quickly. 

I finished the rows for each of the blocks, so the next step will be to finish the blocks by sewing the rows together. Here they are now...

Ashley's Wedding Quilt-- Done!

While I was on vacation with my family down the shore, I was able to finish the quilting and attach the binding to Ashley's wedding quilt. After a few evenings of hand sewing the binding once I got home, it is all finished and ready to be shipped to Maine! I am so pleased with how it turned out, and I hope Ashley and her new husband Chris like it as much as I do!

...and my cute little bug who was "helping" with the photo shoot...

Amazing photography by my friend Ali Brant http://jonesa19.wix.com/alibrantphotography

A Quilty Vacation

My family spent a week in Sea Isle. The weather was gorgeous and my girls enjoyed the beach with their Nonna and Pop, aunts, uncles and cousin. For the first time, I brought my sewing machine with me. I debated whether or not to bring it and whether it would be worth the effort to haul it (and all of the accessories, notions, and projects) all the way to the beach. 

I'm so glad I did! I guess because it was so much effort to pack everything up and bring it, I wasn't going to let it be for nothing. I managed to squeeze in lots of sewing time, and I loved my vacation, partly because of that! It's a little hard to see in the photo, but I had a beautiful ocean view from the spot where I set up my machine. 

I brought three projects with me--Ashley's wedding quilt, Judy's Christmas place mats and the beginnings of my nephew John's big brother camo quilt. 

While I was at the beach, I completely quilted Ashley's wedding quilt. I pushed out of my stipple and loop comfort zone and tried three new-to-me free motion designs. I did swirls in the whole center section, wishbones in the small green border, and a sort of rainbow motif in the large outer border. I love how they all turned out! I also made and attached the binding to the front. I just have to hand sew it down and this one will be done!

I also brought Judy's Christmas placemats to work on. I finished up the tops and name appliqué at home, so while I was at the shore, I basted and quilted them, and attached the binding. I also have to hand sew the binding on these and they will be done too. 

Finally, I started working on my nephew John's big brother camo quilt. Since he was born just after I learned how to quilt, I've never made him a quilt of his own. Since his baby brother (who is due to arrive any minute) already has a quilt, I figured it is high time for me to make John one too! 

I picked the Geometric Slide design from the Vintage Quilt Revival book, and I'm making it in camouflage colors. 

Here is a link to the post about this pattern on the author's blog. http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=3263

Here are my Kona solids for it...that light tan will be the background. At the shore I (almost) finished chain piecing the 160 half-square triangles. There will be lots of trimming in my future, but I got a new ruler (the Triangle Square Up ruler) that I am excited to try. Hopefully it will save lots of time in trimming those HSTs. 

Overall it was a great week at the beach and I got to spend lots of time doing what I love to do, along with spending plenty of time with my family! I will definitely be brining my machine again next year!