Cute Aprons

Trying to use Photobucket to upload and store pictures for my blog. First attempt: successful at linking. Unsuccessful: picture took up whole space, I didn't have any words for the picture, had to play with the edit function. What I really wanted to write was here is the picture of the aprons I previously blogged about.

Catus Opus

I finished the Sawtooth Cats quilt after 2 years of hard work. I got the pattern from the City Stitcher. It is my first foundation piecing quilt and after a few rippings and cursings, I got the hang of the piecing. The cat backs, tails and border were all foundation pieced. I added a few touches of my own like embroidering the cat face and heart with coordinating floss, instead of thread. I followed the pattern's quilting suggestions and used my standard sewing machine. I added more quilting to the spaces above the cat's backs - the voids were actually a bit large and with washing, I was concerned the batting would bunch up. I started with a blue and beige theme but decided that more color was needed so branched out. The scraps basket at my favorite quilt shop was a wonderful source of color and cheap scraps. The cats in the middle row are real cats in my life - the gray and caramel ones on the ends are my mom's cats Oliver and Noelle. The white with black is my mom's dear cat Peaches - she was so soft. And the black cat is my cat Bruce. I hung the quilt in the girls' room and they like to count the cats and talk about the upside down cats.

Quilty Update

I finished the quilt kit for my niece in time for my mom to take it to her. I haven't heard if she liked it but it was fun to make. It was challenging to think about all the steps and photograph them along the way. I ended up with 8 pages of instructions that I printed in color and bound with a simple binding. I included the strips for the rail posts and the batting, backing, and pillow backing. I am pretty pleased with it. I hope she likes it.

Our office had our baby shower for my colleague. I made her daughter a quilt (previous post) so she would feel special as the big sister. I know my colleague liked it. She told me today that her daughter loved and it hasn't left her side. She made a fort out of it, took it to dinner and to bed. It made me so happy that she liked it. I put a label on it that said "Romie, Big Sister."

I made two aprons recently for a friend from my Twins Club. The apron was for her and her daughter. I used a vintag-ey apple print with red bias tape. The mother-daughter aprons were a big hit with my friend.

I read on another blog about how pictures use up "allowable" free space on these blogs, then you have to pay for more space. She had all sorts of great instructions for minimizing the size but now I'm all freaked out about space and size! So, no pictures today. I need to learn more about this.

Kid Quilt Kit - Pillow Top

My niece expressed great interest in quilting so for her birthday I am making her a quilt kit. She's 9, has a kid sewing machine, and has made a purse or something like that. I originally thought of making up a star pattern from AmandaJean's tutorial but triangles can be difficult. I don't want to frustrate my niece, she'll turn 9. So I decided on a rail post pattern. So far, this project is all in my head but I've been thinking about how to provide instructions and if I should create the project and photograph the steps (ala AmandaJean). I think I should. The next steps are to find fabric from my stash that I can use for both the gift kit and the how to portion. I am hoping that fat quarters will work nicely. Has anyone ever made up a kit for a young person? Any tips to pass along?

Bandana Quilt

1. Bandanas shrink a lot.

2. Bandanas shrink differently in different directions.

Those are my two items of wisdom. If I do this type of quilt again, I will prewash the bandanas before I sew them together. I didn't do that this time because I was excited to see how it came together and couldn't wait for the wash. As you can see in the picture, the edges are not real even.

I have started quilting using a simple checkerboard style. I am starting from the middle and will work my way out. I am using dark purple thread. I looks nice so far.

For the binding, I bought solid purple bandanas that I will cut into strips and fashion into a binding. I did prewash them.

Time Flies

I have been busy with aprons, house guests, soccer games, little big girls, and some quilts. I went from a one-project-at-a-time-gal to multiple projects at a time. I am liking having something going on both floors of my house. I continue to hand piece the red stars I blogged about earlier. This is on the main floor where I can also be with my family. Down stairs in my sewing room, I have started to quilt the brown and teal I blogged about earlier with a simple fan pattern. Cloth management is going ok. Cat management is more challenging.

My colleague is expecting a little boy in December! She looks so cute but is likely getting to the uncomfortable stage. I decided to make a quilt for her 4 year old daughter whose favorite color is purple. I read about quick bandana quilts in a magazine and decided to try one. It was fun and easy! The back was also fun and I found some cute purples in my stash and went for it.

My husband's college friend was in town for an overnight visit. We had a great time and the girls really took to him. I think it was his beard and gentle nature. He had been on a 6 week trip and took some beautiful pictures. Here is one. I hope he doesn't mind. If he does I will remove it. I think it was taken in New Mexico.

New Kitty & Apron

On Friday 8-8-08 I went to the Denver Dumb Friends League to adopt a new kitty. I miss my cat Bruce so much and I miss the energy of a cat even more. I took my girls, my mom and my friend Kate. The girls were thrilled by all the kitties and doggies. The facility is really nice, clean and well staffed. They were having an adopt-a-thon weekend so there were lots of staff and volunteers, games for the girls, and lots of pets being interviewed. My DH later pointed out that Grayson was really Dick Grason, Bruce Wayne’s ward. My cat Bruce was originally called Batman at the foster family’s home where he was adopted. I renamed him Bruce, so Grayson is fitting in very well at our house. He is kind and gentle. He likes to eat and sleep. He purrs like a large motor. He's helping draw fan lines on a new top, ready to be quilted.

My sister asked me to make an apron for her friend's birthday. I was very flattered! I found some really cute Amy Butler fabric and a flirty pattern from the Great American Quilt Factory. It came together very easily. I used bias tape around the edges and even that was ok.