Tales of the Baby Quilt

I took the baby quilt to work to give to Cecilia... and she was thrilled!  I think she almost cried...  she was so sweet about it and so very excited to take it home to give to her son and his fiance.  

She came by to see me mid-morning to tell me that she was looking at the quilt again and a teacher saw it and asked who made it.   Cecilia said she was still so flabbergasted that she couldn't even remember my name to tell the teacher....  *lol*     Now that is something!

At the end of the day, I saw Cecilia leaving with the quilt bag in her hand... and she was grinning ear to ear!

Monday, Cecilia came to find me to tell me her son loved the baby quilt... and her soon-to-be daughter-in-law cried when she saw it.   She even called her mother on the other side of the country to tell her about the baby quilt.

Evidently, the son loved it so much he wanted Cecilia to ask if I could make a quilt just like it for their bed!

Cecilia told him it was unlikely but she did ask.   However, even if I had time... I used fabric remnants, most of which are all used up now.

It is nice to know the quilt went to folks who like it and will appreciate it.

Too Many Changes of Plans

What a bunch o' fun the past two days!  First, the early arrival of the winter weather event had school called off early on Friday...   which was smart of the head honchos at the Central Office since it was very cold and the sleet was coming down pretty fast.  When I switched from defrost-only to defrost-and-feet... the moisture on the windshield started freezing, even with the blower on high.   I gave up on having warm feet and went back to defrost-only and made it safely home.

The walk was icy...

...and although the roads had been salted...

...the sleet was winning out.

No snow... that's all sleet!

In spite of it being FNSI Friday night, I was in bed early... most likely with an incipient cold.

Another nap yesterday morning probably helped ward the cold off...  I hope.     No sewing...  but hopefully, I'll get to do a little today...

Hard to believe it will be in the 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday....   that's NC weather for you!
 

    

Completed D9P Baby Quilt

I sewed on the binding on the back of the quilt again because I like the finished look of stitching it down on the front...

....and no quilt is truly finish unless it's washed and crinkly soft!

I love checking things off my "to do" list....

Quilting the Baby D9P

I got the layers sandwiched and pinned...

...then it was off to start the quilting!   I decided on my loopy quilting but this time... 

...instead of quilting the loops in straight lines across the quilt, I tried meandering with the loops.  That was quite a challenge but I made it up as I went along...  

I have lots of room for improvement but I'm getting there...

...photo looks dark because I was trying to get shadows to show up the quilting.

Marathon Sewing

With a 3-day weekend, the drive to finish up the baby quilt is strong within me.   I had the top assembled yesterday morning...

...and pieced the backing in the afternoon.

I only had so much of the green solid and needed to save some for binding, so I used the leftover blocks and two strips of the leaf fabrics.    This is the Year of the Stash!

Working on the baby D9P

I wonder why it is so easy to put aside "my quilt" to work on the baby quilt?  Am I that easily distracted?   Or want to get it finished because the baby will be here in 3 months (unless it comes early)?

16 nine-patch blocks made

Or is it because the baby quilt is way smaller and will be a quicker finish?    It's a puzzlement....

Quilter's ADHD Strikes Again!

Seeing all the cool D9P blocks coming together, I had an idea!  So...  I went scrap bin diving last night and came up with these fabrics!

A friend/coworker, who is expecting her first grandchild in three months, asked me to make a gender-neutral baby quilt for her.   

 

She's offered to pay me but.... everything is going to come from stash or scrap bins so I can cut her a deal!

It's a stash-busting kinda year, yes indeed it is!

D9P QAL Flickr Group

I've set up a Flickr group for the D9P QAL and have invited folks whom I believe are going to participate... at least, those for whom I have an email address.   If I missed someone, I apologize... 

If you are not participating but would like to join the group, you are more than welcome!   I believe you can join directly from the Flickr group page (D9P QAL) or contact me and I'll send you an invite!

 

No sewing here since Monday afternoon...  just too tired out by the time I get home!   But... there is an upcoming three-day weekend!

Four D9P Blocks

I made two more D9P blocks yesterday after work... which is about all I'm up for after a long day.

I've not sewn the four blocks together because I may want to do some rearranging down the road.   

Since this is such a short post, I'll share one of my favorite videos...  a tribute to John Williams, conductor and composer of many movie sound tracks, including Star Wars.

Beginning the D9P Project

I was good... I finished my nephew's quilt yesterday.   After such self-discipline, I rewarded myself by making a couple of nine-patches.

After sewing 5" fabric squares together, next comes the test of your 1/4" seams!   Measure between both of the two parallel seams, horizontal and vertical.  You should have a width of 4.5".   I am pleased to say that I did get that exact measurement...   I don't want to tell you how bad I was at 1/4" seams with my first disappearing nine-patch quilt.   I was able to fudge it when I pieced the blocks together but it was not fun.

Next, we are going to cut our nine-patches into four blocks, cutting along the dotted lines shown in this photo.

To do this, place your ruler with the 2 1/4" line on the left vertical seam.  Cut.  

Next, without moving the two cut pieces, place your ruler with the 2 1/4" line on the bottom horizontal seam.  Cut.

Now, you have four blocks!   Ta da!

 Next, we will make that nine-patch disappear by turning three of the blocks to this orientation.

Orienting your blocks this way will result in a quilt top that looks like this:

Photo from Jo's Country Junction

...or this:

If you prefer a different look, turn your blocks to this orientation.  I believe this is referred to as the "no seams match" arrangement...  none of the seams in the smaller blocks line up with any of the seams in the adjacent blocks.

And your quilt will look like this one:

Photo from Helen on Quilters Club of America 

And... just to prove I really did finish my nephew's quilt:

 

My Baby's Home!

...back where she belongs!

Fortunately, the cost of the repair + service was less than one-third of what I had estimated!

So, I didn't feel badly about buying an extra yard of the Kona Bone solid for the D9P project "just in case"...

I even picked up a couple of quarter yard cuts in a sale bin...

And, when I arrived home, guess what I found in the mail?

Melody, of Etsy shop MelodyoftheHeart, even included an intriguing lagniappe!

So, I am ready to start the D9P project; however, I am going to exert considerable self-discipline and finish up my nephew's quilt first.  D9P = temptation...     *lol*

Baby Back

Today, I'm getting my baby back so... here's a little ditty suggested by Meg yesterday...

So Excited...

...to be getting my baby back tomorrow! 

For those who are concerned about the start date for D9P, remember....   I still have to finish up...

 

...and I still haven't gotten to the LQS for my solid/neutral!

Big News