I"m Loving It!!

Oh, the excitement is building, well at least for me it is! I am really loving the way this quilt is evolving...in fact I can't stop gazing at it...not sure if that is a good thing or not, but I can't stop just the same!   The inspiration originally came from this quilt, I adore  the rick rack that separates the quadrants...the concept is brilliant...and I was going to do the same...but now I'm thinking not. I like the effect of the sunbursts dividing up the space instead, which works out well in that it won't totally match the inspiration quilt and will make this one unique to me. The next challenge lies in the borders and the quilting, not to mention the deadline that looms ahead.  My goal is to finish this up with time to spare, BEFORE the evening of June 14th preferably! 

Now Available for Napping...Camper Quilt is Finished!

Yikes! Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival crept up on me once again...this time with too many projects half finished to have an entry done in time...or so I thought.  After getting my stitch on for the last two days in an extreme effort to get the Camper quilt done (partially so I would have an entry, but mostly because my DH had to work the weekend) here she is all bound and ready to be washed and napped under! I wouldn't say that the quilt as you go method is one of my favorite ways to construct a quilt, but in terms of making a large, bed-sized quilt on my machine, it's the only way to go. I love the camper fabric that comprises the middle of each block, it was pretty much the inspiration for this project in the first place. I found the fabric on Equilter.com, I'm not sure if it's available there still, but I have seen it on Ebay recently.  The multitude of fabrics that gave it it's scrappy appeal came from various swaps that were participated in and fat quarters that I had collected for a year or two...and that's what I'd have to say that I love best about the quilt, all the fun fabrics!

Here's What I've Come Up With

http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.com/2011/05/bloggers-quilt-festival.html is where I gained the inspiration for the quilt in progress that ultimately will benefit a young lady who has relapsed in her fight with leukemia and now needs a marrow transplant. Seattle Children's Hospital put together this video: http://youtu.be/ihGCj5mfCk8 in which Abi is one of the patients featured, she will be the young lady at the very beginning and then later on is the one dancing in the panda sweatshirt. Her School Resource Officer (Deputy Joe) with whom I work has organized for the second year a golf tournament whose proceeds go to her family to help with the expense of her treatment. Last year I had the honor of snapping photos of each team and the tournament as a whole.  This year I have committed not only to photos, but a quilt and a basket full of Mary Kay products for auction at the dinner following the 18 holes of golf.  Last year, the family received $7,000...this year we Joe hopes to rock the total by so much more! I am humbly honored even to be involved...honestly, having lost my MIL to leukemia this last October, I just wish I could do so much more for a young woman who I have never met...all I know is that it is a devastating disease and this vibrant young lady deserves a chance at life and all the promise that it holds. If you'd like to make a difference, perhaps give some thought to registering to be a bone marrow donor at: http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx I have!

Decisions, Decisions

It's up for a vote, my dear readers and being the curious sort, I wonder, which dresden do you like the best? The top or the bottom? Having ripped this one dresden apart no less than four times, I'm pretty sure I like the assortment of the spokes on #2 the best, but I'm not 100% sold on the center for either of them...though leaning more towards the center on #1.  I'd love to hear what any of you might think!

And since I have you captivated, let me share with you a little side trip that I took while away at training last week in Everett, WA. My BFF Kathy and I hopped in the car Wednesday evening and motored our way through 405 traffic, up to Mt Vernon to see if the tulips were blooming...much to our delight, they were! Though we only had time to take in one vendor, the views were spectacular in the fading light, in between rainbursts and cloud-cover and it was just the thing to shake off the drudgery of sitting in a classroom all day (no matter how interesting the subject matter)...hope you enjoy!

What's "almost" on my bed

Bonnie over at Quiltville's Quips & Snips is having a linky party to celebrate Spring (cleaning)...and though, camper quilt isn't quite worthy of the bed just yet, I'm putting it in the party anyway! Camper quilt, so called,  because each log cabin has a camper fussy cut for the center of each square,  was originally made to bless the double bed in the bungalow (our trailer), but while I was midway through its construction, I realized that I had enough camper motifs to make it a smallish queen size to fit the bed in the house.  Alas, it's still in two pieces, each half quilted and ready to be joined to the other and the backing slipstitched together and bound...much to my chagrin.  I just can't seem to find it within myself to complete the process.

I don't know what my problem is, DS #2's hockey season has been over for weeks now, no more Tuesday night practices or two and three games each weekend to attend...it is however, a rather large quilt to wrestle at any one time and my sewing machine has a rather tiny throat to try and shove it through, but even that part is done...my poor husband has commented several times about how nice it would look on the bed...hint, hint, nudge, nudge. I love it's scrappiness and all the fabrics in it, it really makes me happy... I don't know! I keep telling myself that some Saturday I will just sit down and get it done, I will get myself in the groove and push through to its completion...but it hasn't happened yet...I cringe to tell you that I have even used one half it to cover myself while watching tv, each side is a generous lap quilt in itself, (heavy sigh) So, here it is waiting, patiently, as is my DH...wait a sec, let's re-think this rationale...in retrospect, I haven't posted a blog entry in months either, and now I have...hmmmm...perhaps there's hope yet! (you'll be the first to know if inspiration strikes...stay tuned!)

A Work in Progress and Wordless Wednesday

Jumping on the Bandwagon

To bring you my entry for the Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side. First of all, thank you Amy for organizing this twice a year event and thank you to all the sponsors that donated prizes! It's always fun and inspiring to gaze at all the quilts that are entered and read their corresponding stories...when I checked my blog today after work, there were already over 200 entries!

Not one to be left out, I sat down at the machine this evening after dinner and finished quilting my entry around 8pm..Fast forward a few hours and it's now almost 1:30 in the am on the West Coast and this bit of quilty loveliness is all bound and hanging on the design wall. So, here I am, almost 2am on an early Saturday morning, full of creative energy and well, doesn't it just make sense to take the time to blog about it now, rather than wait until (later this) morning? My DH would totally disagree with this rationale, telling me that we creative peeps are lunatics to stay up so late to finish a project...all while toddling his way off to the bedroom to go to bed! What can I say? I'm a nightowl and one must take advantage of creative energy while it's flowing, right?!

Okay! Now, onto the story behind the quilt...Once upon a time (hey! I'm getting punchy here...give me a break!) I started and finished the top to this quilt for a coworker's (Jackie) baby shower back in early August (another late-night adventure) using the tutorial by Oh Fransson! A week or so later, a beautiful baby girl was born on August 8th, while my family and I were celebrating in Montana my Mother-in-Law's 60th birthday AND mine and my DH's 20th wedding anniversary. Sometime in September I got around to piecing the back, sandwiching and pin-basting it, started the quilting and... lost my momentum. It had a little (well a lot really) to do with an emergency trip to Montana for less celebratory reasons and more recently yet another trip to Montana for my Mother-in-Law's funeral.  So here we are almost a month later...let me add here that I didn't finish the quilt just so that I would have an entry, but more so, because Jackie is coming back to work on Tuesday and well, between the two, it was just the push I needed to get it done! She brought her beautiful girls into the office on Wednesday and I got some snuggle-time with her newest addition, who was smiling and cooing and smelling all baby-like....ahhhhh, life renewed!

 What have I learned in making this quilt? That puckers in the backing continue to be a nemesis for me! I'm hoping that they will blend in after it's washed an machine dried, but if not... Jackie's Mom is a fellow quilter, Jackie understands the quirks come with all things handmade...I know that this quilt will be well-loved and well-used. Furthermore, I love the bright colors, it was fun, quick and easy to make and I would definitely make another one (in fact, I have the fat quarters set aside on the ironing board!)

So here it is...take into consideration, the hour at which the photo was taken...I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to get this posted...well, ahem, so I guess it is tomorow, being 2-something now in the am...uh, that would be my cue to put my weary self to bed...good night all!  Good morning...again! I couldn't leave y'all with that awful photo from last night on the design wall...here are a couple more artistically pleasing shots taken outside...thought you might like to see the back as well!!  Enjoy your perusing of all the lovely quilts...I am off now to do that myself