WiP/FMC - Transitions

What a week - there was packing {cramming everything I could in the car}, driving {reassuring the cats over and over that this would not be the worst thing EVER}, unpacking {reassuring the cats that acclimating to my parents' three cats would, in fact, be the worst thing EVER}, and now, repacking to visit my husband in training.

Fifteen Minute Challenge

Speaking of repacking...

This is the result of my 15-minutes-a-day hotel kit cutting. Eight kits, ready to go! Awesome use of 15 minutes. Today I'm hunting for a bag big enough to carry my sewing machine on the plane.

Oh, and random aside - my friend had her baby last weekend and I'll be shipping the UBG quilt to her! And another friend found out she's having a boy, so I'm ahead on the baby quilts now.

Quilt-Alongs
Fat Quarter Stars - 6/12 blocks - none
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 12/36 - I picked up June & July before I left, so I won't get too far behind this summer

 LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - on summer hiatus

My Precious Quilt Along {Shoe Boxes} - the only thing I've been working on this week. My sister {the gimp} matched the remaining blocks and did the layout.

Oh, and speaking of extra cats...

 Someone else wants to be featured as "the cat on the quilt."

Untouched This Week: 
Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross 

Awaiting Binding:

Big Blue - hand-stitching the binding to the back! 

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - in progress - all the background checks are in!

USCIS paperwork - completed & waiting on home study to mail

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 8

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

Felt Food Friday - Ice Cream

Guess what the Dude's favorite ice cream is?

Tutorial from Whim Wham Craft.

This will be the last Felt Food Friday of the summer - not enough room in the car for the box of felt!

Granny Squares - Finished!

This one is for my cousin's baby. She requested bright, primary colors, so I waited around for the perfect quilt-along. Granny squares was it!

Like most of my first-half-of-the-year finishes, this is almost completely from scraps/stash - so the fabrics range from Walmart to vintage sheets. The solid is a blue from Joann's.

A little special touch - the bears in the centers of these two blocks came from the twin quilts I made for Baby's cousins 18 months ago. There's also a block using the jungle fabric from Baby's brother's quilt.

And Baby's big brother now has a superhero room, so I fussy-cut some Spiderman for a block.

The backing is minky, and the quilting looks better on this side! I echoed the granny blocks and added not straight organic lines in the sashing.

It measures 46" square.

Linked:

Fabric Tuesday

Whoop Whoop Friday

Sew and Tell

WiP/FMC - More Other Stuff

Another week of "other" sewing, and the stress of it all sent my poor machine to the repair shop. Luckily I finished almost everything first, and spending a couple days with my secondary machine has confirmed my decision not to bring my secondary machine this summer!

Dresses {McCall's 5613}, top {McCall's 6022}, shirts {applique} and shorts {McCall's 6022}

A ribbon blankie divided

Fifteen Minute Challenge 

I cut hotel kits every day this week - thank goodness! I'm down to one kit {the mason jars} to be finalized before we leave. And it feels so, so good to have these all settled and waiting for me.

Non-Quilt-Along

 Finished my husband's offensive t-shirt quilt. And...if you want to vote for it, the nomination form is here, and mine is #338. ;)

Quilt-Alongs
Fat Quarter Stars - 6/12 blocks - none - in the packing box
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 12/36

 LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - on summer hiatus

My Precious Quilt Along {Shoe Boxes} - no new boxes since Monday 

 

Untouched This Week:  

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross 

Awaiting Binding:

Big Blue - binding attached to the front. I should, uh, probably fold it up for the hand-stitching on the car ride. Before it gets cat hair on it. 

 

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - in progress - almost all the background checks are in!

USCIS paperwork - completed & waiting on home study to mail

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 8

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

Make it, Wear It 

DWM - Shoe Boxes

I love these little boxes!

{Go figure - I like my precious fabric better as a quilt.}

I haven't had too much piecing time, in between dresses and quilting and binding, but I run a couple of these every night, just to see them multiple on the wall.

Linked:

Patchwork Times

Also, y'all should check out Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day. I'm not giving anything away this time - too much to do before heading out this weekend - but there's always tons of goodies!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 21

I missed last week, as we were traveling home from a wedding. So there's been some finishes since the last one.

 Finished the Swoon top! And at 85" square, there's a lot of fabric in this one!

Finished my husband's t-shirt quilt! Okay, so the top didn't use any fabric, but the backing and binding came from my stash.

Even better, I didn't buy anything! In two weeks!

{Well, it helps that I'm making clothes for a friend's daughter. So I'm getting my fix of new fabric without stashing any.}

Used this Week: 12.17

Used Year to Date: 61.32

Added this Week: 0

Added Year to Date: 101.83

Net Used for 2012: (40.51) yards

Linked:
Patchwork Times

Husband's Offensive T-Shirt Quilt - Finished!

It's not the prettiest quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Fest, or really intricate piecing, or amazing modern fabric, or a wonderful inventive design.

But I bet it's the only quilt that has Willie Nelson flipping the bird.

{Uh, warning: Willie Nelson flips the bird. There will be a picture of it. Stop now if you're offended.}

So, the story. My husband is a pilot in the Air Force. At our last base, they were on a two-months-deployed-two-months-home schedule. It's brutal. You get used to them being gone, they come back. The entire time they're back, you're waiting for them to leave again.

My husband and I have terrible senses of humor, and he started dealing with it by wearing offensive t-shirts under his flight suit. Willie was the first; the pirate was the second. I added to the offensive t-shirts at Christmas every year.

Some came from friends, too.

Last fall, the Air Force decided that pilots could no longer wear black shirts under their flight suits, and morale {squadron colors} t-shirts on Friday were verboten. Everyone has to wear bland beige.

A few months later, my husband found out he was deploying.

Well, screw that. I'm not letting my husband deploy without his deployment shirts.

{Quilted in a diamond cross hatch with invisible thread. Which, t-shirts + minky backing + fishing line = pain in the butt}

 {And speaking of pain in the butt - it's cat approved.}

It's a mix of the offensive t-shirts and his squadron/college/Air Force t-shirts. Backed in a black minky {he and the Dude share a love of fuzzy backs} and bound in black Kona. 

It measures 50x68" - a good size to cover his bed at an undisclosed location for an undisclosed length of time.

Felt Food Friday - Apple & Orange Slices

Love these fruit slices.

Perfect for stitching away while waiting for an oil change.

Also from the Helping Little Hands tutorial.

The Dude loves the fruit slices - he hasn't been able to bite into solid fruit for nine months now! How long does it take to get your two front teeth back?

Wip/FMC - The Other Stuff

This week has been consumed by Other Stuff.

We went to a wedding in New York this weekend. The only thing the Dude remembers is "seeing" the Statue of Liberty. From Battery Park. We actually went to Times Square and the 9/11 Memorial, and he doesn't recall either of those.

At home, I've been working on a pile of Other Stuff - clothing for a friend, pillowcase dresses, squadron baby blankets, pillow shams. Nothing difficult, but lots of little stuff I need to check off my list before leaving.
Note: when working with a directional print cut on the fold, one of the patterns needs to be flipped and cut on the other side of the fold. Good thing I thought to check before cutting!

Fifteen Minute Challenge 

I didn't do very well at the FMC this week - Thursday-Sunday was the wedding, with no sewing, and I didn't get a chance to do anything yesterday. There were a few sewing related things going on, but no kits cut. My list of kit requirements is winding down - which is good, because I leave in less than two weeks! 

Non-Quilt-Along

Started quilting my husband's offensive t-shirt quilt. Not all of it is offensive! {Just most of it.}

Quilt-Alongs
Fat Quarter Stars - 6/12 blocks - none - tossed into the packing box
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 12/36

 LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - have a plan for the center, but on summer hiatus

Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot - top done!! Finally!! Too big for my fence picture, but you get the general gist of it. And the general gist is AWESOME.

My Precious Quilt Along {Shoe Boxes} - no new boxes since Monday

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross 

Awaiting Binding:

Big Blue - binding made. Now starting the long process of attaching binding.

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - in progress - checking on background checks today

USCIS paperwork - completed & waiting on home study to mail

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 9

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge
One Thing, One Week

Unnamed Baby Girl Quilt - Finished!

Seriously, need a name for this one!

I started calling it the Triangle Circle Quilt...but while descriptive, that's boring. UBG reminds me of the BFG, at least. Which reminds me that I need to start reading Roald Dahl books to the Dude. He was vastly impressed with my Bunnicula books, so I think he'd like Dahl.

UBG is made from Tri-Rec blocks, with HSTs in the corners instead of plain blocks. While I'm sure there's a similar pattern out there, I didn't use one. I quilted the inner and outer outline of the Tri-Rec blocks with variegated pastel thread.

When I started laying it out, the green blocks "popped" a bit too much in random placement, so I circled them up in the middle.

The backing is minky, and I love the way the quilting looks on it.

It measures 54" square, and I'm not even going to try to name all the fabrics in it. There's everything from vintage sheets to Walmart scraps.

And now I have to wait another couple of weeks to find out if I'm shipping UBG or Airplane Dreams!

Linked:

Fabric Tuesday

Whoop Whoop Friday

Sew and Tell

DWM - Shoe Boxes

I took down my Saturday Sampler...I have a plan for it, but it's going to be on hiatus for the summer. Plenty of time for fine tuning on paper.

Meanwhile, in between catching up on laundry, emails, and vacuuming four days worth of cat hair, I did some quick piecing.

LOVE these little boxes.

The rest of the week, I'm going to be quilting, binding, and sewing clothes (not to mention packing!) so it was good to start the week with a bit of piecing.

Linked:

Patchwork Times

My Precious Quilt Along

Felt Food Friday - Peas

Just a quickie, late-Friday-night posting! We're at a wedding and I'm on my husband's laptop, and the keys are not in the right places.

Peas! Both sugar snap and shell-able.

Based on this tutorial, but with cheater peas. I cut apart a extra-fuzzy pipe cleaner and rolled it into balls.

WiP/FMC - Forward Progress

When you stay home all week, you actually get stuff done! Surprising, I know. My house is pretty clean, too. And I'm caught up on paperwork.

Fifteen Minute Challenge 

I opened the charm packs I won for being awesome at the FMC, and divvied them up between boy/girl/maybe either.

 Vetted my decisions with the Dude. "What's wrong with the flowers? Flowers aren't 'girl.' I like flowers. And the vines are alien arms." Boys...

Anyway, once I figure out the proper number needed, these will be hotel-kitted-up with the white for reverse bowties.

I also finished the toy-border-four-patch-pinwheel kit, and started pulling tops and backing in preparation for packing.

Finishes!

That's right - plural!

Unnamed Baby Girl Quilt

Granny Squares

I pulled them both out of the dryer last night, so they need better pictures {and not in the dim morning light} before getting blogged.

Non-Quilt-Along

Made the top of my husband's offensive t-shirt quilt.

Quilt-Alongs
Fat Quarter Stars - 6/12 blocks - none - I should really toss this into the packing box.
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 12/36

 LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - still working away at the center

Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot - sneak peek! All three rows are assembled, the vertical sashing is pieced and pinned to the other two rows, and the border fabric is ironed and awaiting final measurements.

My Precious Quilt Along - I unrolled my honey bun! And nothing horrible happened!

My original plan was to do a log cabin - after all, they're 1.5" strips. But after examining the fabrics, there wasn't enough neutral and contrast - I could only get 16 blocks, and that was with using stripes that were barely neutral. That left ten lonely strips!

So I decided on this elongated box thing. Two strips yield two blocks, alternating where the contrast goes. They're all cut and sorted for easy leaders/enders. 

Untouched This Week:

Chunky Log Cabin

St. Paul's Cross 

Awaiting Binding:

Big Blue - the status of this is apparently making my sister nervous. So I cut the 450" of binding. It will probably take me a week to press it, anyway.

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - in progress

USCIS paperwork - in progress

New Projects: 2

Completed Projects: 2

In Progress: 9

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

DWM - Saturday Sampler

Not much of a change from last week...

I did piece the little side pieces with the cream...but... Mother is bigger than Sister, which means the whole thing is going to be slightly off-center, and the little side piece between Sister and Daughter just doesn't fit. Ugh.

In order to make the center bigger {and centered!}, I'll have to sash the blocks. Which means ordering the cream. Which, since this is last year's BOM...not so easy to find.

Luckily I have a nice long plane ride to a wedding this weekend, so I plan on using that time to come up with a comprehensive plan so that I can order the proper amount of fabric.

Linked:

Patchwork Times

BOMs Away!

Sunday Stash Report - Week 19

Finishes!

{Almost.}

Binding is attached to the Granny Squares. Binding is prepped for the Unnamed Baby Girl Quilt. Both will be done by this afternoon, so I'm counting them as out. 

I purchased the backing for Granny, but the binding for both came from my stash. So, woo! Numbers are going in the right direction!

Used this Week: 3.51

Used Year to Date: 49.15

Added this Week: 1.25

Added Year to Date: 101.83

Net Used for 2012: (52.68) yards

Linked:
Patchwork Times

Felt Food Friday - Lemon & Lime Slices

Second attempt at these, and they're pretty cute.

A little more hand stitching than I usually do, but I needed something like that this week.

Tutorial from Helping Little Hands. I see a few more of these in my future.

In the interest of full disclosure, here's my attempt from the Simplicity 2445 pattern.

Yeah, I don't know how that one was going to work out.

And are we celebrating May the Fourth {be with you}?

Of course!