Quilt Top Finishes in October

 I brought along a variety of cut quilt tops to work on while we are in NC

I managed to finish 3 during the month of October.

My November is not looking as promising, LOL.

First up was a navy and white buffalo plaid quilt top.

I have a very special couple in mind for this one.

Some gorgeous navy minky is planned for the back.

I will have to seam it though.

Chris strung up a line between 2 trees so I could get a pic as this one is BIG!

It is so much prettier in person.

I have no idea where this one was even from.

It is an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called Chuckles.

I had a kit, but have no memory of purchasing it, LOL.

It went together so fast and turned out terribly cute!

I have plans to make another one in shimmery colors in the future.

I knew when I first saw this Art East Quilting pattern I needed to make one.

I looked for a long time to find the perfect background.

I found the cutest flower print!

Since the skunk in Bambi was called flower, I thought PERFECT!

I also found the most adorable lavender Minky for the back.

I ordered it to home and will get this one to the quilter ASAP once we are back home.

I have a very special little person for this one.

This pattern was a dream to make!

I just love Art East patterns.

There is a lot to cut but they go together so quickly.

Even the "stink" is adorable!

Which one is your favorite?

~XOP~

Pie Making Day

Not *actual* pie silly!  

Brenda Ratliff, owner of Pink Castle Fabrics is coming out with her first fabric line and it is called Pie Making Day!  

The fabric is from RJR and will be available to everyone in July. 

 Ask your favorite quilt shops to carry it!! 

 It is gorgeous! 

 The rich jewel tones of this line do NOT disappoint.

I got my hands on a F8th bundle to make something for Brenda's booth for spring quilt market. 

  I guess if I can't go at least something I make will be there right?  

Here is a peek at this amazing line.

I'm pretty sure the raspberry and the teal are my favorites but 

I actually really love this entire color palate!!

I have a small quilt in progress and here you can see as I was building the blocks for part of the quilt.  Since I am using white as the background for these blocks 

I decided to use gray as the other "neutral". 

 I also have to say that the Optical White RJR solid (also designed by Brenda) is my all time, hands down, favorite white!

This is the layout of the yellow basket.

And the green basket

I only had enough time to get them all cut out and 2 of them sewn.  Here is the orange one.

And the teal one.  I can't wait to add the handles!  

You will be surprised about what I do for that! 

 I have a few more things to do that I have not cut out yet that will complete the top. 

 I will share those when I actually have time to cut and sew them, hopefully this week sometime!

I am embroidering the center of the quilt using a free pattern I found online. 

 I am using the Aurifloss that matches the teal for the embroidery. 

 I had not worked with this previously and I have to say it stitches like a dream!

  I also totally LOVE the color of this floss. 

 It is so vibrant!  

Here is a progress shot.  

I am almost finished with this part of the project, just a few flowers and it will be done.

I hope you have enjoyed this sneak peek into my little project.  

I will have to see if I can post the finished project before market or not. 

 Would anyone be interested in a tutorial or QAL of this project?  

You can substitute any center embroidery that you like and 

we can talk about that if there is interest in this project.

I hope all my Christian friends had a nice Easter.  

We had my eldest daughter and her SO over as well as my youngest son. 

 Just missed the middle daughter.  

It was a nice, low key, no stress kind of a day. I leave you with a pic of my family. 

 Daughter, son and SO in that order. 

Happy sewing!

~XOP~

I Can Finally Share This Finish

I have a quilt finish to share with you today that has been done for over a month.  

I could not share it because it was a gift for a dear friend and she reads my Facebook 

which this blog is linked to and the quilt was a surprise.  

A little background.  

I work with 2 other women (Robin and Judith) that I have taught to quilt.  

It has been amazingly fun to have someone to talk to about quilting and fabric etc at my workplace.  You may remember that paper doll quilt pattern I bought quite some time ago? 

 I thought it might make a good heads and tails project and I was right.  

I got it out and made a few of the "girls" and was hooked.  

If you want to make them please go here for the pattern.

I brought the "girls" into the lab to show my friends, 

knowing that once they saw them they would want to make some too.  

We have another co-worker that is a good friend to all of us and she was expecting a little girl.  

The three of us got together and decided that we needed to each 

make a certain number of the girls for the quilt.  

Because they were so much fun to make we all made WAY more than we needed to.  

This meant we all got to choose our favorites of our own and each other's for the quilt.  

Each of us had a signature block as well to represent ourselves in the quilt.  

This is Judith's, who loves dragonflies.

This is Robin's-well duh these are adorable Robins.

And Me? 

 Kind of creepy bunnies. 

 I LOVE creepy and I work with bunnies, big white ones

I wanted to do an outer border of all squares and make it like an I Spy. 

So each of us made a set number of squares from our stash to use in the border.

Of course I had to include a State block = )

You can see the quilting quite well but our quilter, Liz did another fabulous job!  

We had her quilt daisies in the blank blocks and it turned out so cute!!

This was a really fun quilt to make and I would like to make another one for a different friend's daughter when I have time to sew again for myself and not obligations!

I put the quilt together and did the binding and the label.

This is my new go to way to gift a quilt, just tied up with ribbon.

 Just look at little Yasmine.  

So sweet!

I think she likes it!

It is kind of a bittersweet gift as they are moving to California very soon.  

We hope they think of us fondly and that Yasmine's mama will tell her all about the three crazy old ladies that made this quilt for her!  

A lot of love went into this quilt!

You will be missed my dear Flor but Cali is not that far away, so don't be surprised if we come visit!

I am linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It up Friday too.

~XOP~

Opinions Please

It is my turn to be the queen in October in my Ima Bee. 

 I get to choose a block for a quilt. I have been fretting and fretting about what to do. 

 There are a lot of really cool blocks out there. 

 I always feel guilty asking people to make some of the more difficult ones though.

  I know I don't have a lot of time. 

 I think this quilt will be for our newly made quest room. 

 My hubby will also have a desk in the room and probably some hobby storage in the closet.

  Because he will be spending time in there I asked his opinion.

  I showed him some of my choices and he had to choose from there.

  I really loved the small improv houses with lots of open space.  

He did not. 

 He is MUCH more traditional than I am. 

 I showed him a few others and finally I thought of one that he might really love.

(Block from the Quilter's Cache)

He is a pilot and I have always wanted to make him an airplane quilt 

so I am thinking that airplanes would be cool. 

 I also love this cross quilt and the cool, calming colors.

(Ben_D's quilt)

So I think I am going to ask for airplanes made in this color palette.  

What do you think??

Now for a CrAzY idea, I think I am going to put the aviation alphabet, 

 improv style around the outside as the border!!! 

 I could ask folks for the words or the airplanes or one of each. 

 If you were in my bee which would you rather make?

  Each person makes 2 blocks so I could have almost the entire alphabet or all the planes. 

 I am kind of leaning toward all the planes but thought I would ask what you guys think. 

 I would give a max for letter size and it could be fun to get all the alphabet too. 

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta...Zulu!

~XOP~

A Very Special Gift

I was so happy to share the butterfly quilt with all of you. 

 It is all quilted up now and actually gifted. 

 I can now share some more information with you about this fabulous quilt. 

 One of my oldest and bestest friends has cancer. 

 She has had 2 surgeries and will be starting radiation therapy very soon.  

This quilt was made for her. 

 I wanted her to have something to take with her during the treatments to keep her warm, wrapped in love and hopefully a little cheered up.  

Two of my co-workers and I made all the butterflies for the quilt and I put it all together. 

 I had to wait for the fabric, as you know, to actually finish it up.  

What you don't know is that I hand embroidered a label and I love how it came out.

The saying was soooo appropriate for her!

My friend, and an amazing quilter, Liz, did the flower/butterfly quilting and it was perfect!

I got a sun dappled photo but that's all I had time for.

 I love love love the back.  

This rainbow fabric is to die for!!

I had one extra butterfly so I put it on the back and it made the perfect setting for the label.

I had to decide how to wrap it up for the gifting and this is what I did. 

 I think it was perfect!

I gave it to my friend on Monday night and I think she was thrilled.  

We have been friends so long that when I asked her if she could pick out the butterflies that I had made she got every one of them right!

Not a single wrong guess!  

She said it was my fabric choices.  

The one made out of blue dragonflies was the first one she guessed.  

I really hope she knows how much she is loved and how much her friendship means to me. 

I am a better person for having he in my life!

This quilt was a true joy to make and to gift.

~XOP~

Froggy Pond Gift for My BFF's Mom

I could't share this until now. 

 I have been working on a quilt for my friend's mom for some time now. 

When  I first saw the Frog pattern I knew I had to make it for my friend's mom. 

 She is an avid frog collector. 

 She is also a BIG fan of Zumba, she has been ill recently and is taking care of a spouse that is ill also,

 oh and she shares my mom's name too! 

 Interestingly enough my friend share's my sister's name.  

Coincidence? 

 I think not. 

 I'm pretty sure God brought us together. 

 She is and always has been the yin to my yang. 

OK enough sappyness.

I was talking to my quilter about the pattern and her mom is always looking for embroidery to do 

so I handed off the pattern and cut the fabric, and she did all the embroidery for me! 

 I made the blocks and assembled the quilt and my friend, Liz did the quilting! 

 I finished the binding last weekend and my friend mailed it off to her mom, who received it today.

Made a frog pond for the back too.

Here are some close ups too

Enjoy your new quilt!

I had fun making it for you.

I hope it brightened your day.

~XOP~