Craftsy Block of the Month

I signed up for the Craftsy Block of the Month class and have been rather bogged down, as I didn't know what colors and I didn't really have enough solid fabric (except for tan, which I used for the Quilt of Valor mystery and I wanted something with a bit more pizazz).  It's not a solid, but the lavender is going to be my background color and orange and green my other colors.  I tried to look online and pick something by a color wheel, and I wasn't too successful.  As far as I could figure, I think these 3 colors are supposed to go together.   I don't have a good eye for color, but I know I like green and purple together, and adding the orange is ok with my gypsy soul.  
Can someone tell me why I'm doing this (lol).   I still have several other projects to finish, and instead, here I am starting 2 new quilts, this and the Granny Square.  I don't know why but it reminds me of a joke that I heard a long time ago.  "A Chinese gentleman was expressing his puzzlement about tea preparation.  First they boil it to make it hot, then they add ice to make it cold.  Next they add sugar to make it sweet and lemon to make it tart.  Americans are crazy people."   I think quilters must be crazy people too, I told you I didn't know why it reminded me of the joke. 
I went to Michael's today.   My x-sister-in-law used to say you could find everything at Michaels.  Not so much.  No zippers, no zipper pulls, no color wheels.  I did get some ribbon, but that was all.  My daughter and I are making cases for her new Kindle Fire, which will come the end of November, and my new Ipad.   This is the one, Craftsy again.   We will be sizing it down a bit, and hoping for the best.  
I finished meandering my Holland quilt this morning.  My binding is all prepared and I do the binding by machine, so I'm hoping to finish it today, wash it and hopefully deliver it in the next day or two. 

Step 5 finished, Alycia Quilts, Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-a-Long .    Also, my Holland quilt is basted, so won't be too many days before I have a finish for September.

One Down

One down and only 71 more to go.  Maybe more, since my block only turned out 9 inches.

Holland Quilt Flimsy

My Holland quilt is a flimsy.  Hope they like colorful and scrappy.  I think it might be kind of fun for a little one to crawl on, lots to see.

Quilt of Valor Mystery Step 4

Note to self  **Read Directions**.   I didn't and so had about 2 hours of ripping to do.  It said to trim the block and I had a gap but thought I'd fudge.  Wrong idea, too big to fudge.  Anyway, glad that I'm still able to learn lessons, lol.   Step 4 of Alycia Quilts, Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-a-Long done.

OOOPS!

It was taking forever to cut out the 2 1/2 inch squares for my 72 blocks that I plan to use to make a queen sized granny square quilt.  OOps, I think I need 936 colored ones and I miscalculated and did 2499 colored ones.  I also cut 864 white squares.  I didn't have enough of the fabric I started with so I had to improvise.  I still need fabric for the sashing and cornerstones, but think that I may use a small print with a white background since they aren't going to match anyway.   I figure it's ok, if I run short of squares I'll cut more from something, and if I have too many I'll use them on something else. 

Hancock's of Paducah has been doing better about complete orders on their clearance, but this time I only got 2 out of 4.  I had ordered two possibles for the borders on my Holland quilt, but only got the two on the right.  The Holland looking fabric will be for the large border and the pretty gold and blue fabric will be for the small border.  I may add another even smaller plain border to kind of quiet things down a bit.   Next project though will be to do step 4 of the Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-A-Long.  It shouldn't take too long and then it's on to doing the borders on the Holland quilt.  I'm hoping to finish it in the next few days, I'm anxious to give it to them and to see the baby.

Strange

I bought a package of embroidery patterns for the Howes quilt (the family that I'm making a quilt for) and I liked the first few so well that I decided to use the rest kind of willy nilly.   I decided to make a taggie for the baby, looked on Amazon and it seemed that the parents liked good sized ones and the most expensive ones were lined with batting.   It's about 19 x 19 inches.   I did the remaining embroideries from the pack and then started getting 'strange'.  It is made from fleece, and the odd little tail is made from velvety cottony fleece.  I wanted a handle but was afraid of danger to the baby, so I did a straight handle that is soft and feels nice.  The odd looking thing at the other end is the same fabric rolled up so that the baby can feel the outside and the inside of the fabric.  I told you it was strange.

The other side.  The odd looking half circles are satiny feeling shoulder pads that I found when looking in my dresser drawers for something to feel interesting to the baby.  Again, I didn't want to cause injury so they are secured, but the baby can put her little hands in each side.  I scrounged for what ribbons I could find and the pickings were slim.  I even resorted to 2 pieces of elastic, they filled in a spot and have a different feel.  The center has the feel of the embroideries, plus it is quilted and the borders are unquilted.  Strange, strange, I don't know if I'll get the courage to give it to them.
Maybe my time would have been better spent getting started on my Granny Square quilt, lol.

The backing fabric (a Lands End Sheet) and the label.  The blues are actually a bit darker.  
Notice I put the finish for September 2012, it shouldn't be a problem as long as the border fabrics hurry and get here from Hancock's of Paducah.

One of the four embroideries that I did for each corner of the borders. 

Holland Quilt and Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-A-Long

Step 3 of Alycia Quilts, Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-a-Long , I can see that there will probably be some chopped off points.  Oh well, hopefully not too bad.  I'm anxious for step 4 next week.  These blocks are only 5 inches, a new low for me, lol (except when I'm working on Bonnie quilts).

I used 42-2 1/2" strips and 42-2 1/2 by 2 1/2" squares.  It turned out about 60 x 60 inches and I didn't want to make it that size so I cut off 5 inches from each side and added it to the ends.   Now to wait for the border fabric that I ordered.  Meanwhile, I'll work on the embroideries.  Hope they like eclectic scrappy.  

Cecilia's Big Girl Quilt

It's almost reversible, the back is flannel and pieced, a moneysaver, but it takes longer.   The batting is pieced too, same thing, saves money and freed up some space in my closet, but still takes a bit longer. 

This was a fun easy quilt to make, I used the tutorial that Jean MaDan so nicely provided here.   It doesn't have quite the same impact with the hot pink as with her black, but I think it turned out cute.

The label.  The seahorses aren't quite as dark in person.  The seahorses are free embroidery designs from BFC Creations here.

I'm not too good at the floor shots.  I stood on a chair and put the camera up in the air above my head, but just couldn't seem to get everything centered.  

I thought that I was finished with the jelly roll style strippie quilts, but Sunday at church a lady gave a talk about her 2 month old baby who has been diagnosed with downs syndrome.  She quoted a story about preparing for a trip to France and then landing in Holland and not being able to go to France after all.   She said that's what the birth of her beautiful little baby girl is like,  Holland is different, but France is not better, just different.   They plan to go forward with love for their little one and enjoy the triumphs and deal with the challenges.   They don't want pity, just understanding and love and happiness from their friends and family.   Being a quilter, my mind started thinking of the Holland story.  The only fabric that I found was a little steep for my budget right now, so I thought, yet another strippy as I already have the strips, and I have ordered some border material that will have a Dutch type theme.  I also thought that I'd get some embroidery patterns, I found some nice ones already, and use them for embroidery in each outer corner of the quilt and on the label.  I think I'll make it bigger than a baby quilt so the whole family can use it.  Hopefully, they will like it.

Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-A-Long on Craftsy

I have my back and binding ready for Cecilia's quilt and I still need to piece batting, but I saw Alycia Quilts, Quilt of Valor Mystery Quilt-a-Long on Craftsy and decided that I would do it if I could find fabric in my stash.  I had to use blue for her red and red for her blue, and tan instead of white (it looks kind of apricot in the picture, but it is tan), and my blue is more red than blue, so my mystery will be a double mystery of will it be a complete blah or a soothing wonder.   I was happy with my Borgasmord in the end, so I was ready to take the gamble.   
I got a little cocky with my cutting since I saw the tip about the shelf lining and cut my strips with the fabric folded twice instead of once.  Not a good idea to be too careless, as I got some wavies in my strips for the first time in a long long time.   I still love the shelf paper though, it was my error.
For a while it seemed like I needed a break from purple, and now I'm starting to feel that way about red, yes after this one I'll need a definite break from red.