Friday, June 22, 2012

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Well I needed a break from house projects, and boy, did I get one. We've had a lot of rain lately, and this week experienced the worst flood in Duluth's history. Not to mention the flooding in Superior, Wisconsin and so many small towns and rural areas surrounding the twin ports. I'm so very thankful that our home was not affected and that there was no loss of human life, but so very saddened by the deaths of several zoo animals and the devastation of the homes and property of so many all around us.

Duluth, on a better day...

Staining the deck has not been an option -- and getting it stained? Suddenly, not such a big deal. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are suffering as a result of the floods...

Minnesota Public Radio has some good coverage of the flood in photos here.

KARE-11 News Coverage

What I have been doing during these rainy June days is catching up on my baby quilts. I have two finished (one awaiting baby's name for the label) and a third in progress...

First finished was the airplane quilt for my newest great-nephew, who was due in early June, but came a little bit early at the end of May. Mommy and Daddy are both Air Force pilots, so I knew from the start I wanted to make an airplane quilt. Had it been a girl, they might have been pink and frilly airplanes, but airplanes for sure. LoL As it turned out, it was a boy, so I went bright and scrappy with the eight basic "crayon colors." Here's how it turned out:

I did an overall meander for the quilting. Here's a closeup, washed and crinkled:

And the fluffy cloud backing and label. I tried the printable fabric for the first time -- what a time saver! I can't believe it washes so well!

The second quilt is for our church youth director, who is expecting her second baby any day now... (He's almost a week late, but we're so glad now that he waited for the flood to pass.) For his big sister, I made a Noah's Ark quilt (ironic), and my daughter thought I should continue with the Bible story theme. But finding fabric with Bible stories other than Noah's Ark is a bit of a challenge. Google to the rescue! We found this cute print at Loom Exquisite Textiles -- and at half price!

It includes just about every Old Testament Bible story figure except Noah. (More irony. I think I got these babies' quilts backwards!) Here's the full quilt. It hasn't been washed yet, since it's still awaiting a label.

And the back. I think the blue strip looks like a river running through it... or maybe the Red Sea waiting to be parted?

For a really simple quilt, I think this one is just too cute. I can't wait to see it all washed and crinkly. :o)

Now I'm working on another baby quilt for a friend of my sweet niece, who is trying so hard to help me get my quilt business underway! Hard to believe that was one of my New Year goals for this year. I've gotten so involved in my home projects, I've hardly quilted at all, so I'm very thankful for her placing an order and helping me not get too distracted from that goal. Here are the fabrics she chose for a "cowboy quilt."

I notice now that I had the denim inside out in this picture, but you'll see the true color in the next one, a little sneak peek at the scrappy top that's taking shape:

She liked the looks of the quilt I made for Marcia's Scrappy Challenge earlier this year, so that's what we're going for. Just need to get the borders on now...

Linking up to TGIFF, being hosted at Pretty Bobbins today!

4 comments:

M-R Charbonneau said...

Those quilts are adorable, Heather. Love the airplanes with the sky/clouds background. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF!

Gemma said...

Such pretty quilts! I love the airplanes! I have some of that printable paper but have never got around to using it... I accidentally bought the one that prints on dark fabric LOL Thanks for stopping by and linking up!

Anonymous said...

Love the finishes! Especially the airplane quilt! My husband is a pilot so I tend to be drawn to plane quilts. Great cloud fabric!

Chris H said...

I always thing a 'complicated block' quilt looks amazing... but you just showed me that a 'simple' quilt is just a gorgeous!
Well done on your ever so pretty quilts.