solids. done.

Phew! I'm done with the solids quilt. After marathon binding that puppy, I finished it up this afternoon. (As I was finishing, I had to put up with the commentary of an eleven-year-old who found it crazy talk that I could possibly enjoy quilting. I wanted to tell him that throwing a frisbee around didn't give me chills of pleasure, personally, but I wasn't dissing his hobby, now was I? I remembered just in time that I am much older than he is and should act my age. Phew! Age prevailed!)

But you didn't come here to talk about that eleven-year-old. You came here to talk quilts! Or see photos, anyhow.

Ta da!

I used a gray and white herringbone fabric for the back after deciding that the batik I'd originally picked out wasn't going to do the trick.

You can see the quilting a little clearer in this picture. I quilted chevrons across the squares because I think chevrons are fierce.

This was my first quilt using continuous binding, and I used leftover fabric from the quilt top for the binding. I really like the look of it!

Now to wash and sew on the "from" tag and deliver it! Pending, of course, that the stain on the front comes out.

pillow love.

I haven't been getting in as much quilting as before Lito's arrival, but I've gotten in a bit. I finished my glider pillow and its inverse twin.

I'm planning to send the inverse (pictured on the left) to my BFF back home. We've been friends since our freshmen year of high school, and she is also a HUGE hot pink fan. I can't think of a better person for my twinny pillow. I considered keeping it, but both would look funny on my glider, and I can't think of anywhere else in my home where I need a hot pink and white pillow. (Odd, right?) They both have envelope closure backs, and I used a large scale chocolate brown and white polka dot print for the back.

I also picked up a pillow form for this bad boy. It'll go on Banzo's bed, though right now, it's serving as glider pillow because the glider is--you guessed it!--still in Banzo's room. No plans to move it any time in the near future, but Lito is such a mellow calm baby (so far) that we haven't needed to use it. I'm surprised it isn't entirely worn out from using it with Banzo, but I guess its good quality is why it survived a glider-lovin' kiddo.

I've started quilting the solids quilt, and to be honest, when I sewed the first line of stitches, I was sure I hated it and would want to rip it all out. I persevered, and I'm glad I did because I LOVE how it looks. I was originally planning to place the quilting lines fairly far apart, but after making one run through the quilt, I decided I liked the look of lines closer together, so I'm going back between the existing lines and adding another. I'm always surprised at how much texture and interest the quilting adds to a piece. In the case of the solids quilt, I'm using a variegated purple thread and sewing in lines that are diagonal to the piecing, so the quilting on this quilt definitely stands out. I had hoped to finish the quilting last night, but first one boy, then the other decided that their needs stood above my quilting ambitions, and I find myself 80% (ish?) done. Hopefully tonight, but I'm tired, and sleep has to take a higher priority.

new fabric.

Armed with coupon in hand, this morning I slipped into my local Joann's Fabrics to hunt down some pillow forms. It's time to get some pillowcases stuffed, y'all!

Unfortunately, I left the store without pillowforms. I believe they had all of two in the building, and they were huge. Much too huge, let's say, for my 12" x 12" glider pillowcases.

But I wasn't terribly disappointed. I also left the store with a stack of fabric since the entire store's fabric collection was 50% off, as the store is closing.

Oh, still my beating heart! 50% off? Trust me when I say, I exercised great restraint and didn't buy several of the fabrics at which my heart (and my hands) leaped. I only bought fabric that I could see immediate plans for, and while I feel good about that, my feet are already wondering if I should head back to the store. Thankfully, my lovely assistant is taking his nap, preventing Mama from doing just that.

 

These are the beauties I picked up. It's impossible to pick a favorite. I keep clamoring between the different fabrics. I mean, who doesn't love a good herringbone? But the peacock feathers! But the purple! Did you see the pink? I even bought a half-yard of solid magenta fabric, which I feel is a good investment, just knowing my personality. 

If that wasn't enough, a friend of mine recently returned from a several month stay in Africa, and she brought me fabric. (Well, technically she brought Nathan and I fabric, but too bad so sad for him, I claimed it.) It is amazing and wonderful and fantastic, though very large scale (hooray!) and so awesome, I'm not entirely sure that I want to cut into it. It feels like I'll need a very special project for it. I've been wanting to learn how to sew a simple A-line skirt--and actually, I had a dream last night that my mama taught me how, which wouldn't surprise me because when I was a kid, she used to make us these elaborate Easter dresses, and so a basic A-line skirt would probably take her about fifteen seconds to whip up--and I think this fabric might be awesome used in apparel. Of course, I'll have to practice with other fabrics first because there is no way I'm learning with this gorgeous piece, but goodness! I'm excited! There is some debate--are the big red things mushrooms? Spinning tops? Parasols? I say tops, but maybe only the fabric designer really knows.

So! This weekend, my plans include locating pillow forms, purchasing batting, and hopefully getting some quilting done on the solids quilt. (You know, in between last minute baby stuff and other errands.) The above blue batik is my planned backing fabric, though that picture doesn't really show it off to the fullest. It's a gorgeous blue, but it features circles that contain white, orange, and purple that match the quilt top. Also, I need to pick a thread color for the quilting. Ideas? Thoughts?

quilt #5. solids.

Yesterday, I marathon quilted with my quilting sensei, K.

I had my fabric washed and cut, and I had one set of strips pieced, but yesterday I managed to piece the other three sets of strips and cut all four into blocks. Of course, K managed to pretty much piece her entire quilt top, but she's awesome, so that's not really a crazy thing. (See why I want to be her when I grow up?)

I was a little frustrated when my 8.5" blocks turned out to be more like 8.25", but as usual, K was the voice of reason and calmly suggested I merely cut them to 8.25". Which was a good idea. Because otherwise I wouldn't have had enough to make five cuts, and I would've been even more cranky because I did my quilty math correctly! My fabric rebelled!

Pieced, they'll look like this, and I'm hoping to get the rows sewn today. Maybe the entire quilt top pieced tomorrow? It'll only be a little under 32" by a little under 40", so it's not a huge quilt. Then to decide on backing and binding fabrics. A part of me wants to go print, especially for the backing, but maybe the binding too. I saw a photo of some hot pink binding this morning that moved me, but obviously that won't work for this quilt. But maybe something patterned? Once I finish piecing the top, I'll take the entire thing to the store to look for the remaining fabrics. I didn't bother with the backing and binding when I bought the solids because there simply wasn't time. I do, however, have an idea for the quilting....

I'd like to get this piece done soon, but it may not happen before the baby comes. And with the severe discomfort this child is bringing, I kind of want him to come soon. Last night, my body was racked with flu symptoms without actually having the flu. I woke up this morning with a still sensitive tummy, but at least the chills and hot flashes had stopped. And the contractions, oy! the contractions! have disappeared. We'll see. As of today, I'm technically full term, so if I disappear for awhile, well, you'll have a good idea where I am.