I Spy quilt top

I've done lots of sewing and joined all the blocks.  And I had one yard of cute fabric with little fish swimming on it for the border.  It's so fortuitous to have something in your stash that suddenly proves to be exactly what is needed.  Now I plan to piece together some large leftover pieces of batting for the quilt.  For the backing, I still have some of that baby fabric given to me by friends some years ago.  I think that it must have been a whole bolt, because I have sewn it to the back of numerous quilts, and I still have some left.  Usually I put flannel on baby quilts, but this quilt is destined for the library Mommy and Me Story Time, so I thought that flannel would get dirty faster than plain fabric.

Little I-Spy quilt underway

As you can see in the photo, I'm starting to sew the I-Spy quilt together.  It's a little tricky arranging the blocks.  I decided to join it in strips, and to pin a paper with the row number on each row.  First of all, I want to make the assorted colors so that they don't butt up against the same color.  And I'm trying to keep the prints with a definite up or down side pointing right way up.  And I want to have the seams turned each way, short pieces to long pieces.  A little patience is required.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide on my next project.

And it got really hot here, and I have the repair man coming to do something to my air conditioner today.  And I'm still afraid to purchase eggs. 

Egg-less cake--for these egg-less days!

2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cold water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Boil together the sugar, 2 cups hot water, margarine and raisins.  Allow to cool.  Add baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons cold water.  Sift together the flour and dry ingredients and mix all ingredients together well.  Pour into a greased and floured 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf pan.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until cake tests done.  Set pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn cake out to cool.  Does not require frosting.

The Get Well Soon (Emergency) quilt is completed.

So happy to say that I finished this Get-Well-Soon quilt yesterday (quilting, binding and all).  Meanwhile, I'm doing research to try to do Tonya's Amish goes to Gee's Bend quilt challenge. http://lazygallibamish2010.blogspot.com/  I went to the library and looked up Amish quilts in a big book Amish the Art of the Quilt by Robert Hughes.  I'm vacillating between making a bars pattern or a crazy quilt, but I think that a crazy quilt might be a cop-out.  And I've begun that I Spy quilt for the Mommy and Me at the Library. I plan to make a straightforward quilt with assorted solids outlining the squares.

another summer day

Big excitement because out on my patio--my baby toes plant has blossomed!  The rest of the year it's a quite uninteresting succulent plant, but when it blooms with those little daisy-like flowers, that really makes my day.  And I took a photo of small children playing in the fountain in our shopping center. Cute. The last photo shows the progress I'm making on free-motion quilting my latest effort.  Oh, I have so much quilting to do, what with 3 quilts that I'm working on--or planning, plus Tonya has issued a new challenge.  Her's are the only challenges I'm ever interested in.  And this one is a doosey!
http://lazygallibamish2010.blogspot.com/

working on the Get-Well quilt

I've been doing a lot of sewing today.  I did manage to vacuum and go swimming, too.  I guess that I'm "well rounded" and that's in more ways than one!  Anyway, I sewed this lap-sized quilt top together and I cut out the borders.  I'm putting on white borders and plan to use a bright color for the binding.  I might add on more than that white border--I'll decide later.  My granddaughters received their quilts that I made with their names sewn in.  So that's a good thing.  They love them.  Have to wait for colder weather to use those quilts, though. 

Sabrina's Quilt

I managed to take this photo of Sabrina's quilt by spreading the quilt on my bed and standing on a chair.  I'm so excited to have completed all three of these granddaughter quilts.  And it just so happens that relatives are traveling to Las Vegas this weekend, and they can bring the quilts to the girls.  As usual, I have made something nice and warm for them during the time when the weather is at it's hottest!  I'm in the middle of knitting them warm sweaters, too.  I hope that the sweaters will be completed by the Fall, when the weather in Las Vegas is much cooler. 

On another note, I'm posting a photo of some string blocks.  These blocks are for the Emergency Get Well Soon Quilt that I'm working on.  The quilt will have six free-pieced star blocks and six string blocks.  If you look at the photo you will notice that I'm making these blocks using a method similar to making a Courthouse Steps square.  I sew a strip onto each side of the block. Then I press the block and trim the edges before adding more strips.  I find that by adding on to each side before pressing, the sewing of the blocks is much faster.  When they are all big enough, I will square up all the blocks.

I've been busy

The good news is that I've completed the last of the three quilts for my three granddaughters.  But it will take a couple of days for me to find someone to hold the third quilt up for a photo.  Meanwhile, I've begun making two other quilts.  I'm making an Emergency-Get-Well-Soon Quilt.  That is a nice little lap-sized comfort quilt that I make and keep on hand in case someone we know, or a friend of a friend, relative, or person needs a quilt while going through illness and the tough medical stuff that goes along with that.  I believe that an avid quilter like me needs to have one of these gift quilts on hand.  And I have cut out thirty-five 4 1/2 inch blocks of conversation prints to make an I Spy quilt.  The I Spy quilt is intended as a donation to the Mommy and Me at the library where my daughter works.  The photo above shows some of the conversation blocks, plus a star block for the Get Well quilt.  I plan to make 6 stars and 6 free-pieced log cabin blocks for that quilt.

Sabrina's quilt binding, plus a crochet baby sweater

I can hardly believe it, this is such a "cold" summer. Today it's 78 degrees ( 25 Celsius) and that's only when it warmed up in the afternoon, this morning I needed a sweater.  Here's a photo of sewing down the binding on Sabrina's quilt.  I'm using a dark green binding to match the sashes on the quilt.  And the backing is a flannel with dolphins on it.  I looked up the name "Sabrina" and it has something to do with dolphins--I don't know what exactly. Remember Sophia Loren's first movie, "The Boy on a Dolphin?" (1957).  Well, I'm digressing all over the place.  Meanwhile,  as I was enthusiastically  sewing these three quilts, I have let my sewing-computer room go to rack and ruin--there's bits of fabric and batting all over the place.  No matter, I will be trying to use up all these scraps right away on the next quilt.  It seems that I have now given away my baby quilts to a new baby cousin (probably my second cousin or first cousin twice removed or some other technicality of relationship) and also my daughter's neighbor was having a breast operation and there went my emergency Get Well Soon quilt.  Furthermore, the "Mommy and Me" at the library where my youngest works needs an I Spy quilt.  So I have lots of quilts to sew.  One thing I want to ask anyone reading this post--have I Spy quilts gone out of style?  I had a lot of trouble finding a web site that was selling those bits of kids fabric. 

And I'm also posting a photo of my latest creation, a crochet baby sweater that I made for my great niece.  The pattern is on the Internet at http://www.coatsandclark.com/ pattern number WT2154.  Except that I added the crochet flowers myself.

Jera's and Jenna's Quilts

They're finished--two of the three quilts are completed.  And I'm planning to start on pin basting the third quilt!  So much fun. Some folks have commented asking about the free-pieced letters.  I learned about them on Tonya's blog  http://lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/  Brenda also has some info on her interesting blog http://scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com/2009/01/strip-pieced-letters.html  And so I sew.