Really, I've been busy

Or should that be: I've been really busy?  Busy not only with work, but in a quilty sort of way. 

Since Thanksgiving, I've designed three baby quilts.  Two are finished and one just needs binding.  Designed and made a quilted table runner for a Christmas gift.  Made other little Christmas gifts.  Made an assortment of bibs and burp cloths.   

And, finally finished a quilted throw for me! 

I used Pat Sloan's pattern and Amy Butler fabric.  I really like how it turned out & it's a perfect size (about 52" x 68") for snuggling with on the couch in this cold winter weather.

I started piecing the top about a year ago, then pieced the back last summer. 

And so it sat unfinished...

I think Jacie's face is saying, "I dare you."  So, a couple of weeks ago I took her up on her dare.

I'd show a picture of it draped on the couch, but the silk plants near by are very dusty.

Calendar Quilt: July

July's block started out with red/white/blue. After that, I just played with the fabrics.

Calendar Quilt: January

Here's my start. January 1 fabric is for OSU winning the Rose Bowl! Go Bucks! January 4 with the paw prints is for Macy. Such a sad way to start the new year. There are some snowflakes and blue mid-month when there were storms all over the state.



Off to go finish a fun sewing project for my studio.

Calendar Quilt: March

The only fabrics that have any significance for this month are:
1. March 2 Dick & Jane fabric for Dr. Seuss' birthday
2. March 13 Tape measure fabric representing play time during spring break
3. March 17 A strip of pretty green for St. Patrick's Day



What I notice as I look at this block again is that there are fabrics that I bought for purses. That are not made yet. Four different coordinating fabrics to be exact. Well, one is started, but my design idea had a flaw so I put that project aside. About two years ago. Maybe it's time to revisit what I've done on that because it is a good idea (in theory), plus the design actually fits in with the ruffling craze I've been seeing lately. Do you think I can make it work?!

As I look closer, there are actually four purses/bags started in various degrees of completion. That sounded a bit better than figuring out the number of UFOs I have. Oh, and now I recognize another fabric for a potential bag. I'm going to stop looking. Now that my studio is almost in order, I actually have room to play around with more that bits of fabrics and have room around my machine to do some serious sewing...heavy interfacings, bulky bags, etc.

In my defense, I did complete two more grocery bags this week. I saved a whooping 15 cents yesterday at the store by using my own three bags! And two more are cut out and waiting patiently to be sewn.

Calendar Quilt: April

When we first got Jacie, we didn't have an exact birthday for her but knew it was sometime in April. So, we declared her an April Fool. About a month later, I received an email stating that her microchip had been transfered to me and that paperwork had her birthday on it...April 13. Didn't know until then that she had a microchip. She's still an April Fool, sometimes more often than not! April's block has big paw prints for her birthday.



I goofed on the placement of Easter. I meant to put the pastel colored polka dots for that date. I didn't notice my mistake until the block was completed. Easter now has skull and cross bones. Oops.

The rest of the fabrics are just randomly placed. I just realized that I have most of a fat quarter left of a print with coins on it that I could have used for April 15. Oh well. The IRS takes enough of my money...guess I don't need to commemorate them for that!

Calendar Quilt: May

Since yesterday I showed the completed June block, I figure I'll just work backwards. Maybe by the time I backtrack to January, my July block will be done.



On May 1 we brought home Jacie, so I started the month with a dog novelty fabric with "WOOF" all over it. We didn't hear her bark for about 3 days and commented on what a quiet girl she was. Notice the past tense: was! Honeymoon's over...now she's fairly vocal, among having other annoying habits that need to be broken! There's chili peppers for Cinco de Mayo, Crayola fabric for my students' last day of school, and then tape measure fabric representing my playtime during summer break. That's followed by some fun cocktail and watermelon fabrics. Happy summer! I ended the block with black & white for the Indy 500 race and one with red, white, & blue for Memorial Day.

Calendar Quilt: June

In January I came across Pat Sloan's Calendar Quilt Along. I jumped in with both feet, coming up with a plan to make 12 blocks. Not only am I up-to-date, as of this morning I'm officially ahead by finishing June's block.



A big thanks to Kay for sending me some fabric scraps for this! They really helped to blend in with the fabrics that I was using to make it look summery. Plus, one of the yellows that she sent had circles on it that looked like the sun, so I used that for the first day of summer. I happened to have some soccer fabric, so I added that in for June 11, when the World Cup started. No other days have any real significance with fabric choices, other than just trying to make it look somewhat summery. But I guess that the beginning of the block sort of matches the mild spring we've had, while the end brings in the yellows and the desert heat.

This quilt top really is a lot of fun to do!