Baby Making....

Okay...did I get your attention?  Trust me, that ship has sailed!

I have two very special people expecting their own bundle of joy in the next couple of months.

For the last several months I have been planning, cutting and stitching a baby quilt for the sweetest girl I have ever known.  She is a co-worker, but so much more than that.  A true friend.  I have often thought to myself that I would love to be more like her.  She is so serene...an inner beauty...calm...peaceful.  

Stitching a special quilt for her little guy was a pleasure...

   

I saw the nursery before it was an official nursery...so I had an idea of the color scheme.  I thought something simple but graphic would fit right in...

Clean lines....using moda crossweaves...

 

    of course, hand quilted with perle cotton....Valdani, of course!

     

and on the back, organic fabric in the most adorable dog print..

and a special label for the little guy...washed and dried for  soft, crinkle, wrinkle goodness!

 

 happy baby, Janelle!

The next little guy...is my own kin...another great nephew...a brother to Enzo!

His mommy is dressing the nursery in a lovely grey and off white.  Fluffy clouds add a calming touch...

     

so cloud-making has commenced...for a mobile

I simply cut out cloud shapes from wool/rayon felt in both off white and slightly grey....and stitched with grey perle cotton...again Valdani!!! 

they are lightly stuffed to give them just the right amount of fluffiness...stayed tuned for the finished project.

Baby, baby!

happy wednesday!

mary

WAITING.....Waiting....waiting

Still no computer...I have almost given up hope.

But just so you know I am still here....a few peeks at what I have been up to!

 pincushion from Patchwork Please!

   Still plugging away at my Liberty Hexies!  I need to order some more Liberty....oh whaaaaaa! LOL!

And I have been embroidering a label for a baby boy....who will make his appearance the end of next month or beginning of September....

 More on this special gift later this week...

 And, finally, I have decided to unpick what I have completed on my spools quilt and re-do the free motion...

 

I am liking the pebble quilting much better...

happy monday!

mary

Made To Measure Progress....

Still waiting on the computer...grrrrr....

but I had to share with you a quick look at my progress on Made to Measure...

Of course this is a pattern from the most talented Sarah Fielke....

just one more border to go! Yee-haw!

happy tuesday!

mary 

RED...

happy wednesday!

mary 

A Modified Y-Seam???

I am still waiting for my computer...ugh! And working on an old, slow computer is such a chore.  But I wanted to share my progress on the Coat of Many Colors quilt...

If you recall...I have long admired this Gee's Bend quilt pictured on my kitchen calendar.  I needed to figure it out!

It is much like a chevron and sort of like a french braid...but a bit different than both.  The rectangles interlock and are very tight.

  

I wanted to share with you how I went about piecing this.  Of course there may be other techniques, but this is how I worked it out.  

I cut all of my rectangles 2" X 4.5"...and using two rectangles pieced an L shape...

  

I chose to piece 4 of these L pieces to make a 'block'.  That was completely a personal choice...I just thought 4 would be a good size to work with.  

Now...I approached putting the L's together in the same manner as piecing a Y-seam.  But I suspect it is not a true Y-seam, and at the same time I don't think it is a partial seam either.  So I guess it could be called a modified Y-seam!  LOL!  If any of you have an opinion on the type of seam it is...please let me know.  

Because I treated this as a Y-seam I began stitching the 2 L's together leaving a 1/4 inch open at the beginning and end of the seam.  

         

     Once I stitched a 1/4 inch away from the V point of the seam....I did a little backstitch to secure that point and matched the next leg of the L.  At this point I was really just continuing the seam.  So much like a partial seam.  Try it out....I think you will find it much easier to complete than my explanation!

   

I pieced 4 of these L's to make one 'block'.  Then I simply stitched the blocks together.  This was really very easy....

  

Stitch each small straight edge...as you come to the end of the straight edge {again stop 1/4 inch from the end of the seam} - you will just pick up the next seam.  So it is almost like making a straight seam...no pivoting.  

  

I love the wild nature of this pattern...and using lots of Denyse Schmidt fabric keeps it in the Gee's Bend tradition.

     

Not sure how large I will make this...as usual I have so many projects going at once.

         

happy monday!

mary 

Wednesday Work Out.....

I have a calendar photo of a vintage Gee's Bend quilt....

Coat of Many Colors

 

 

I love this quilt! And, I love that the rectangles are not split into two pieces to make it easier to piece.  Love the lines and the colors!

 

   

So I am {trying} to work it out....

I will let you know how it goes!

happy wednesday!

mary 

Technology.....

Booo...my lap top is back in for repair again...

This old computer is just too slow so this will be short and sweet...

I just wanted to share some great little fabrics I purchased from Superbuzzy.

If you haven't been to Superbuzzy yet...you need to check it out...super cute fabrics.

  

And I have been stitching the spools...looks a bit like a mess now...but I think it will make sense when it is finished....I hope ;)

you may notice a new 'toy' in the upper right hand...fun!

happy monday!

mary

Happy Independence Day!

 

 

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea! 

Happy Independence Day, America!

 

Wordless Wednesday....

  mary :)

S is for....Summer....Strawberries....Spools

Summer is here!  

to celebrate, I had to purchase a bit of fabric!

The strawberry fabric is Riley Blake...Sweetcakes

The precious gingham is Dear Stella! I was thrilled when I found this one!  I LOVE gingham and this is a great color!

S is also for Spools....

And I have a quilt top finished....a Spool Quilt top...

I may add just a top and bottom border....

and this one will be machine quilted...

happy monday!

mary