Christmas Quilting

I finished the last quilt in the nick of time for Christmas, sewing the last bit of binding to the quilt around 9:30 on Christmas Eve...talk about cutting it close!  Below is a photo of my Dad with the quilt.  To say he loved it was an understatement.

 

 

There is a grey ribbon appliqued to the corner of each of the quilts that I made for my family.  We are all in this battle called brain cancer together.  For those that don't know, my Dad was diagnosed with Glioblastoma in March 2013...to say this year has been rough is an understatement.  Our world as we know it was forever changed with the diagnosis.  My life is lived in 8 week increments, from one brain scan to the next.  I love my Dad so much and it makes my heart hurt so much that he (and the rest of us) have to go through this, but we are in this together; hence the matching quilts with the ribbons.  

Below is a photo of my Mom and Dad, my brother, my sister and I.  I have started my version of the quilt but didn't get it finished in time for Christmas.  I am hoping to finish it on New Years Day while my hubby watches football and my girls are with my parents.  My sister was very excited to "make the blog."

This is my Dad and my youngest N.  They are buddies...always have been and always will be. 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? and Finish it Friday.

Twins are Complete

I finished sewing the binding on to this quilt today and just threw it into the washer to get it all crinkly and cozy before I wrap it up.  The quilt was made with scraps from this quilt with the pinwheels being leftover/orphan blocks from the quilt.  I am excited to get this washed and wrapped up for Christmas!  Hopefully the recipients will love their twins.

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? and Finish it Friday.

Tuesday Finishes

I was a machine Friday night and finished up three quilt tops that have been sitting in various stages of finished for the last 2 years.  The pink, red and aqua one should have been a 5 year old's birthday present...she's going to be 7 in the fall.  Thank goodness she is patient!

 

I struggled with this pattern.  She loved the dogs, girls on swings and the scooters and requested this quilt.  I ordered the fabric and to say it drove me insane that there were girls on swings upside down was an understatement.  You make a bunch of blocks and then rotate them.  I remembered that she loves the fabric and it wouldn't matter to her if the dogs were upside down or not.  So I sewed the last 4 rows onto the quilt top and it's finished.  I am waiting to finish up 2 more quilts before I drive them to my quilter 1.5 hours away.   The fabric is Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey. 

I had this quilt kit sitting around for the last 2-ish years as well.   The fabric had been cut and sitting in the pretty bag that it came in.  My youngest has already staked her claim to this quilt.  The fabric is Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister Designs. 

My little sister from my sorority in college is having a baby boy in August and I made this quilt for Baby R.  I made the same quilt for my husband's cousin's baby earlier this year.  I love Bungle Jungle and the fun elephants.  This one will be backed in grey and bound in blue. 

 

I have some Posy by Aneela Hoey to make a doll quilt for Baby R's big sister.  Every big sister deserves a baby doll quilt too!

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday and Finish It Up Friday.

WIP Wednesday

Look at this stack of lovelies....I bought this quilt kit about 2 years ago and cut the fabric out, made the blue and green stacks and there it sat in my fabric closet.  With all the gloominess that has been in my life recently, I needed to sew something bright and fun.  I finished sewing all the strips together and cutting them out.  The first two rows are all sewn together and my youngest daughter has already staked her claim to this quilt once it is all finished up.

 

 

 

The fabric is Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister Designs and the pattern is Easy as 9, also by Me and My Sister Designs.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Happy Halloween! 

I am entering my Red Dress quilt into the 2012 Blogger's Quilt Festival.  As most of you remember I am a Chapter Advisor for a fantastic Greek organization, Al.pha Ph.i.  Every year the chapter holds a Red Dress Gala to raise money for the Alpha Phi Foundation.  Our Foundation donates money in the form of the Heart to Heart Grant and this past year we donated $50,000 to the Univers.ity of Washington to help fund research looking at the gender differences in heart disease.   I am very proud of the women that I advise and the tremendous support that they are able to provide to our foundation which does so much to not only support sisters in need, but to raise awareness about heart disease.

If this year's quilt looks oddly familiar, you're right!  The women loved the quilt last year and asked me to make another one this year. I used scraps from my 2011 quilt to make another one this year.   I did have to purchase some fabric to finish the quilt including some white for the background, the fabulous cherry border and just a little bit of backing material.  The fabric is Sew Cherry by A Bee in My Bonnet...you may be able to find some on Et.sy. 

 

That is my little legacy (one of them) at the Chapter House holding up the quilt for me. 

 

 

Just like last year, I forgot how long this quilt actually takes to make :).  There are 30 appliqued red dresses that each have their own embelishing on them, plus the 30 snow ball blocks and the "snowball rectangles" to finish off the outer diamonds.  I was sewing my heart out in a hotel room 1.5 weeks before the auction!

 

 

I finally finished the quilt and was all ready to baste it and quilt it (in the hotel room) and realized that my batting was 1.5 inches too short.  We were heading out of town for the weekend as soon as I got home form my business trip so I quickly called my husband and asked him to get some batting out of the closet so I didn't forget it...well I forgot it and we were visiting his family who lives in a small town....thank goodness there is a craft store (and by craft store, I mean a big box store that starts wiht a W)  about 30 minutes away and I hopped in the car and found some great batting.  

 



 

 

I got the quilt all quilted up and hand sewed the binding on our return trip.  The quilt went to acution and raised more money than I could have expected.  I was approached about making a red dress quilt for a different auction next fall.  I will definitely be starting that one a little earlier.  All in all, my chapter raised $21,000 for our Foundation, an increase of $10,000 from the year before!

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 54″x 61″

Special techniques used : applique

Quilted by : Me!

Best Category : Throw size quilt, Applique Quilt