ABC Primer for James

Starting at the beginning .... 

an ABC Primer

 has been completed all the way to Z

and this lovely finished quilt now belongs to sweet baby James,
the darling grandson of dear friends!

Here is the full view.

The fabrics were purchased in my local quilt shop, Quilt 'n Sew in Katy, Texas.  

Check out their website: http://www.quiltnsew.com/

But first say hello to the new owner of this baby quilt....

May I introduce ... baby James!  Isn't he the cutest?

Can you believe that his favorite pasttime is reading? 
He will be as literate as his English college professor parents and his grandpa, unless he follows his grandma and becomes a doctor!

More about the quilt ...
The  ABC Primer fabric collection, produced by Wilmington Prints, was available only through independent quilt shops, which I love to support.  When I spied this lovely collection, I knew I had to buy the cloth baby book, the growth chart and a few of the coordinating prints, since I had several pregnant friends and two nieces also expecting babies.  I cut apart the baby book panel into 12 separate blocks which I then sashed with some of the coordinating prints, adding a full border of the overall print.  I love the look of this fabric collection.

The illustrations remind me of the classic British Victorian  illustrators
Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane and especially my favorite,
Kate Greenaway. 

Once I finished piecing the quilt top, I talked over quilting designs and options with my awesome friend Pam Biswas.  She has a new long-arm business and creates stunning work!  I love her tight quilting, especially the curlicues scattered across the quilt.  Please check out her website at http://www.pamquiltaholic.com/. 

This is my finish for this month's "A Lovely Year of Finishes" challenge.  I am #52 of the 96 pledges found in the goal setting linky party found here and #65 in the finishes linky party found here.
I can't believe I am getting this posted just as the deadline arrives!
(Will I ever finish things in a more timely fashion?)

Peek-a-boo?

What can it be?

Tucked inside this small and colorful quilt?

Let's take a peek inside and see...

undo the button... 

open up the sides...

I spy a small craft iron and an ironing mat!  

It is the perfect size for traveling, especially when traveling to a new quilting class or workshop!

Here it is again, all packed and buttoned up and ready for the trip home!

Hmmm, I might just have to make one of these Portable Iron Caddys for myself!

I found the pattern -- it is by "Sister's Common Threads" and is called "Caddy Pad Pattern"
available from Nancy's Notions - click here.
 also through Kaye Wood's website - click here.

There's also a Caddy Pad Jr. size --  click here.

I even found a video on youtube on how to make this pattern!
click here.

sandy beaches

L'Shana Tovah to family and friends!

May the new year of 5775 be a year of health,

 happiness, world travels and world peace.

The photo above is my family standing on the sandy Pacific coast beaches of San Francisco.  We took the bus line all the way out to the last stop - a fun adventure!

My dove

Mazel Tov to Sarah and Michael!

This sweet dove block is one I've made especially for Sarah and Michael,  two dear friends.  It will be one of many blocks made especially for them in honor of their fast approaching wedding.  All the blocks will be stitched together to make their wedding chuppah.  It promises to be one of their first 'family heirlooms' to be treasured for years and years and years.

One final touch is for me to sign it.....

Summer baskets from my friends

I love this quilt!

It reigns as my most favorite quilt that I have ever made, seriously.

This sweet red basket quilt is a "Buck-a-Block" pattern from Thangles. Last summer, when I was visiting my friend, Mary (MB) Hayes, the creator of Thangles, she gave me the pattern and the fabrics to make it. Her sample was made with red baskets and had a very Christmasy feel. Sara Hochhauser, who was also visiting (she was my ride from Chicago), decided to make green baskets for her version. 

 

I confess, I originally planned to do blue baskets, but quickly switched to red (due to lack of diversity and number of blue fabrics - Mary, buy more blue!). Now I had a goal to not duplicate Mary's quilt, nor Sara's, as we were all using many of the same fabrics. My additional challenge was to create a quilt that did not feel too Christmas-y nor Valentine-y either. 

When my vacation ended and I flew home, Sara returned to Mary's without me.  It was hard not to be able to extend my stay, so I drowned my sorrows by stitching up my twelve baskets.  They went together super fast, which is the joy of using Thangles.

Next, I pieced the six setting squares and the entire top was soon finished, one of the fastest tops I have pieced. Then there was a lull of several months as I was puzzled and stymied over how to quilt this sweet quilt which I already loved.

Eventually Sara finished her green baskets (long after I did) and had her top quilted. Fortunately for me, Sara shared images of the quilting design used on her quilt and I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Do you see the feathered square wreath quilted in the center of this setting square?

This image shows the triangulated feathered quilting.  Both of these images are from Sara's finished quilt.  I have permission to 'copy-cat' the quilting designs used on her quilt and to share them with a local friend who is beginning a new long-arm business.

Pam Biswas of Katy (her business is Pam Quiltaholic, found at http://www.pamquiltaholic.com/) did an exquisite job working her free-motion talents on my basket quilt.  Feathers abound swirling along the borders, and squared inside the setting squares and triangled in the setting triangles.  Take particular note of the individual tight quilting in the background of each basket.

Each is as unique, just like the twelve baskets are each different from one another.  The baskets are left un-quilted, just an outline stitch-in-the-ditch.  The wool batting makes the baskets really poof up, too.  Oh, how I love this quilt!

Thank you to my friends! To Mary for the original gift, to Sara for the quilting design ideas, and to Pam for the free motion quilting! I think I will name this "Summer Baskets From My Friends".

My discovery at Quilts, Inc.

I have a new part-time job .... working at Quilts, Inc. headquarters as we prepare for the many shows they pull together.  I began this summer working with quilts and knit garments for the new Quilt-Knit-Stitch show in Portland, Oregon - receiving, inspecting, packing for the exhibit and later, packing to return after the show.  The offices are lovely, with an ever changing exhibit of quilts hanging up in the halls of the office.

Imagine my surprise to discover among the quilts (new and antique) that are on display, there is also a collection of fiber art postcards.  I was drawn in particular to this frame featuring nine postcards.

Can you see why?

Look carefully, 

especially focus on the far left card in the middle row....

"Untitled" by C. Winter

It's my card!

How cool is it to discover that something I made is in a collection owned by Karey Bresenhan?!!!  I am so tickled and thrilled and love checking to see if it is still on display every time I come to work.  I work barely once a week and I am loving it!  This week, I worked on editing various components of the International Quilt Festival coming up at the end of October.  It is a fascinating place to work!

If you are coming to this year's Festival, ponder volunteering as a Quilt Angel -- it is how I got my start with the show that eventually led to this part-time job!  Click here for more info.

My goal for September

In "A Lovely Year of Finishes", everyone is invited to set a goal for the month and declare it, with a link to the linky party on either of these blogs: Fiber of All Sorts by Shanna or Sew BitterSweet Designs by Melissa.  I have always wanted to "gift" the new babies I know (whether or not they are family or friends) with a new baby quilt.

So this month I plan to complete a quilt using these lovely ABC fabrics which I found at Quilt 'n Sew, a favorite quilt shop stop in Katy, Texas.   I have started it already ....

The fabric is actually designed to be a cute cloth book for young ones and features the letters of the alphabet and some wonderful illustrations much in the line of Kate Greenway and other classic Caldecott illustrators.  I have cut apart each of the book's pages and am sashing them with coordinating fabrics.  This may be the first quilt I have made using fabrics all from one line!  (wow, I can't believe it, but I do think it might be true).  This is my goal for September ... (see my linky #52 here).

Also this month I must make a block - or rather embellish a plain square of fabric - that will be used as a small part of a wedding chuppah for dear friends.

I am still toying with possible ideas and trying to determine color schemes, etc.  Doesn't this plain  white block appear ready for embellishment and design (but first a fresh press by an iron!).  

This project has a definitive deadline (possibly yesterday?).  Yikes, I'd better get busy fast! 

My August NewFO

Starting something new is always such a joy as it comes with dreams of new lovelies, stitched beautifully too.  I am enjoying the 'permission' that Barbara from Cat Patches gives us with her NewFO challenge (read about the specifics here). To top it off, she gives prizes too!  I am drooling over the sweet Sunbonnet Sue pin that is featured as this month's prize pin (and sending very subtle hint-hints to Barbara's random number generator ... pick my number #14)

This month I began stitching on this cute ABC sampler by Lizzie and Kate. 

Here is my progress as off today...

For the curious ones, I started with the basket in the center then moved to the left, slowly working my way up to the top row. Beginning in the center of the pattern and the center of the fabric ensures that the embroidery will be centered when I finish - right?  Since I am a lefty, I wanted to get the left side completed first too. I am pondering changing some colors for the cute extras sprinkled around the lettering .... which is why I am only stitching the lettering at this point.   

I've begun a NewFO and now it will be counted in my UFO/w.i.p. tallies (except that I never really track how many Works I have in Progress nor my UnFinished Objects - too many to tally.)

PS  It will actually say "mold character" but I'm tickled by "old character" and will leave it for awhile.  Now to decide whether to stitch a bit more or to ponder something new to begin for the month of September?