Need. To. Sew.

It's been quite a while!! Since I started my new job August 1st, I have sewn exactly once, and that was to sew some patches on a Brownie vest before our first meeting in October. But today is a new beginning. Two of my close friends are both expecting little girls in February, and they have both chosen a pink and gray color scheme. 

Today, my little helper Goose and I visited one of our local quilt shops to pull some fabric, since there is not a pink-and-gray line out currently. It was a lot of fun. I'm not going to make two identical quilts, but each one will have some combination of the fabrics we picked out. I'm sure I have some fabrics that I can add in as well. I think one of the quilts will have all paler pinks and very little of the brighter or stronger pinks, and the other one will include more of the brights. 

I'm so excited to get back into the swing of things with these. I also want to finish up my mom's star quilt; I only have one paper pieced star left to make! This spring, I will be making the First Communion quilt for our church again. My nephew, who is also my Godson, will be receiving his First Communion this year. With these projects coming up, I'm looking forward to a new start!

Lucky Stars Down the Shore

 My family is at the shore this week, and I brought my sewing machine with me again this year. I love sewing with a beautiful ocean view! I made two more lucky stars blocks this week- numbers 14 & 15. 

Here is Lucky Star 14:

Lucky Star 15... The center of this one gave me a little trouble but otherwise I love it!

I took a picture of the back, before I removed the paper. I thought that was a neat detail and insight. 

15 down...ONE TO GO!!!!!

Lucky #13

This week, my last summer break ever began, and I kicked it off by making another star block. This one is my 13th star so far, and I'm planning on making 3 more before assembling them into a quilt top. 

For today's color picks, I selected a mix of cool and warm shades of purple. 

Eighths:

Quarters:

Halves:

And done!

I really feel like my accuracy and precision is improving! 13 down and 3 to go! Here's my pic collage that I posted on Instagram :)

Luke's Baby Quilt

It's been done for a few weeks, but I'm just now getting to take pictures and deliver it to its tiny new owner!

I love the colors in the backing stripe!

This kind of shows the quilting- I did a diagonal grid all over, and I made it line up so it makes a x in each of the squares around the border. 

 Love the stripes on the binding. 

All packaged up and ready to go!

Communion Quilt Finish!

I am so proud to have made the quilt for Leah's First Holy Communion class at our parish. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to use my talents in service to the church I have attended since I was four years old. I am thrilled with how it came out. 

Before it gets hung on the wall in the hallway where the CCD classrooms are, it is spending some time hanging on a stand in the main lobby. I was standing there today after Mass, and I realized that of all the quilts I've made, this one has probably been seen by more people than any other. That was kind of an odd feeling!

Anyway, here are some photos of the finished quilt. 

I quilted swirls in the brown, and loop-de-loops in the yellow sashing around each child's square. 

The label on the back.

A picture of us on her big day!

Easter Baskets

I saw a tutorial for fabric Easter baskets online last night and I thought that would be a fun and easy project to make for my daughters and nephews. I modified the pattern a bit...I made it several inches bigger and change the shape of the top of the basket and the way the handle was attached. I also added a monogram for my girls and initials for my nephews. It makes it a bit more personal! I was able to make these completely from fabric remnants I had laying around from various other projects. Overall, I like the changes I made to the pattern- I think the extra size will make it much more practical as Easter basket. 

The appliqué letters were so thin (even though I printed them bold) that I decided to sew a single line down the centr of each, rather than trying to zig-zag aground the entire edge. I like the way they turned out & can't wait to see them filled up on Sunday!

Îi

Starting Luke's Baby Quilt

My friend Maureen just had a sweet, squeezable little baby boy, and my goal is to finish his baby quilt before he is one month old!

Here is the fabric--she wanted blues and dark reds:

In-progress shots:

(I had a good little helper!!!)

I just need to sew on that label, quilt, and bind it. I have 2 weeks. I can do it!!

Communion Quilt Progress

Some progress has been made on the Communion Quilt! I added a brown border, made the backing, basted it, and started quilting.

 

So far, I quilted the yellow sections. I did loop-de-loops in the yellow sashing around each of the squares, and then a free motion meandering in the yellow around 2015. 

Next task: I need to decide how to quilt the brown cross and border. 

Lucky Stars 11 & 12

I finished these two beauties, but never posted about them.

Here are Lucky Stars 11 and 12:

I have plans to make 4 more!

Communion Quilt

A longstanding tradition at our church is for the second graders to make quilt squares to commemorate their First Holy Communion. The finished quilts hang in our church hallway near the CCD classrooms. This year, I volunteered to make the quilt, and I'm so happy I get to help continue a tradition from my own childhood. 

Here is Leah's quilt square:

It is 6" finished, so the letters are really tiny and started to fray as I stitched around them. Luckily it is only really obvious up close, and it is secure enough that I'm not worried about it. 

Here is the progress on the whole quilt so far:

I still need to add a thin brown border all the way around. Then I can make the backing, baste, quilt, and bind. 

Lucky Star #10!!

Today I made my tenth (!) Lucky Star. It was the November 2014 one, by far the most complex one I've made so far, and I am so happy with how it turned out. I definitely think it's my best one yet!

My fabric selections:

16 sections... All of the other stars I've made so far have had 4 or 8 sections coming together in the center of the block. 

Eight...

Four...

Two...

And done! I love this one!!

Definitely my favorite star so far! 😍