Needles and Pens

I can't believe February is already here! Amazing how the weeks fly by when you give yourself loads of things "to-do!" Again, I almost finished everything on my list for the week . Almost. Plus a thing or two I hadn't planned on, so I guess that's fair. Straighten the basement, get the TV hooked up and get on the treadmill. (My excuse is that I'm waiting for my hubby to hook up the TV. Realistically, I could probably do it myself if I tried. Mostly, I just don't really want to get on the treadmill. LoL) Clean out the front hall closet. (What an amazing improvement. We can all hang our coats up now! Just wish I had taken a "before" picture... it was BAD.) Personalization on pink ragtime quilt. Make another pink ragtime quilt for shop. Shabby Chic Baby Pink Flannel Ragtime Quilt And this was not on my list, but since I was kind of on a roll with the flannel quilts, I also finished one that's a little more boyish. Shabby...

A group of my online quilting friends held a virtual sew-in last weekend. Amazing how motivating that can be! With the regular check-ins, chatting, and sharing of progress pictures all weekend long, it almost felt like we were all together on a quilting retreat. We often talk about organizing a real retreat someday. Now that would be a blast! This was my sew-in project, a birthday gift for a six-year-old little girl. A very spontaneous project, yet every bit of it was hiding in my stash, just waiting to be pulled together into this little quilt. Love when that happens! I used the Warm Wishes pattern, a free download from Quiltmaker.com, and I was super impressed with how fast the top came together. Every smidgen of the Little Mermaid print was used. The aqua/white polka dot filled in for the last round of blocks, "growing" the quilt from baby-size to kid-size. The borders finished off the teal print, and it took the very last bits of both purples to make the bind...

This week I sewed the binding on the scrappy baby quilt so beautifully quilted by Marcia of Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting Blog . (Lucky me, to be the winner of her Scrappy Quilt Challenge -- her quilting was the prize!) All freshly washed and crinkly... I love it! Inspiring swirls! All done, and ready to snuggle... You can see all the details on this quilt in my earlier post here , and/or at Marcia's blog here , where she shared lots of great pictures of her quilting process. What a wonderful experience this has been! :o) Linking up this week at: Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts TGIFF, being held this week at Quokka Quilts , and Minutes for Me at Marcia's -- because I truly enjoyed every minute working on this quilt!

Well, almost finished. We still need to find out the baby's name for the label, but for the most part, the Sweet Hearts baby quilt for my niece's friend (and my first attempt at quilting with this minky-type fabric) is done! The quilting was as challenging as I expected, but not for the reasons I had imagined. I planned to do simple cross-hatching through the minky squares, to keep it as trouble-free as possible. Once I had that part finished (or so I thought), I realized that there was all kinds of stitch skipping going on on the back of the quilt and had to completely UN-sew everything I had done so far. (All of the diagonal lines you see here.) Isn't this a gorgeous print? ("Fabulous Finds," a Stonehill Collection by Donna Wilder for Fabric Traditions © 2011) My niece chose all of the fabrics for this quilt. Such a unique and pretty combination! (If you like her style, I'm sure she'd love to have you check out her interior design website here ...

I really can't believe there's only one more week until Christmas. This month is flying by! I've been sewing my fingers to the bone trying to finish my non-Christmas things, so I'll really need to step it up this next week. BUT my mom's birthday quilt is done! (Her birthday is the day after Christmas.) Center tied, the border quilted, and the binding on. My sister came up on Monday and helped me tie it, after realizing there were blocks that would not survive the "crush factor" of machine quilting. (Note to self on similar projects in the future: Make sure everyone knows their siggie block needs to not only be washable, but also crushable! lol) Another big finish this week -- in more ways than one. My niece's baby girls, Brenna Faith and Summer Grace, were born on Monday and they are SO adorable! I finished their quilts and they're in the mail. It looks like they'll be delivered today. Yay! I'm taking a chance and posting this now, ...

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm nearing my 300th post here at Needles and Pens, so I'm thinking it's a great time for a fall giveaway! I've put together a little prize package that's all about getting cozy on a chilly afternoon and crafting the day away... The prize package includes: * One back-issue (July/August 2007) of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine * One fabric panel project to make a decorative stuffed "horn of plenty" * Two fall fat quarters * One package of Cameron's Hand Crafted Coffee (makes 10-12 cups) * One package of Favorite Findings "Falling Leaves" buttons It's also "Sew & Tell Friday" at Amylouwho's and "Finish it Up Friday" at Crazy Mom Quilts, and I have had a rather productive week! So.... To enter the drawing for the giveaway , just visit any or all of the following three posts about this week's finishes and leave a comment. Each comment on these three pos...

... and I only have one actual finish this week, the Quilters Sew Love wall hanging for my sewing room, which I posted about earlier this week. I also dug out my next "Get 'er Done" challenge panel, and have it bordered and ready to pin and quilt. I'm so glad these have been sewing up so fast. Maybe there's still a chance I'll make it through the list this year! (More on this wall hanging in my last post , if you'd like to see the details...) With all the sewing I've been doing this week, it's hard to believe I only have one actual finish to show for it. But I am on the verge of a few more... I'm working on two sets of Bug Jar blocks for a swap. So far, the 20 ladybug blocks are done: And I'm almost finished with the butterfly blocks (ten down, ten to go). These will probably be finished today, so I guess this swap could be considered finished -- for now. lol And what I've spent the most time on this week is the Fresh Frui...