NewFO August--Getting back in the swing of things...

Wow! I can't believe the last time I posted a NewFO was at the end of February!!! As I recall, there was some of that white stuff on the ground... Oh yeah, SNOW! There certainly isn't any of that stuff around today. August is going out with a ROAR with temps in the 100s! I opted to stay inside quilting where the air conditioning is working just fine. Thinking back, in early March I had Jacob for 12 days straight 24/7 while his folks got to go to the Bahamas. And then I started the moving process by April 1, which disrupted just about everything. As soon as I was fully moved (end of May--one of those drawn out moves), I left for a month-long trip to California and back that wiped out most of June and the beginning of July. Lots of shop-hopping on that trip, but no quilting. And once I was home from my trip, I had to get the rest of the way settled into my new home. I guess I'll play catch-up a little here, but will start with the most recent new projects to stay with the August 2013 NewFO Challenge hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches.

My new project for August is one of Eleanor Burns' 2013 Signature Pattern Party patterns--Double Four-Patch. I made a quilt last month (you'll see it shortly) out some fun coffee prints. When I was done, I had a whole box of scraps left over, so figured Eleanor's new pattern would be a great way to use them up! Well, the quilt top is coming along nicely, but there's still a whole box of coffee fabric scraps! Did I miss something or do they multiply when I'm not looking? Guess I'll make another coffee quilt next month. Ha!

This one is called "More Coffee" since it's quilt #2 from my coffee prints. It's not done yet--it's still hanging just like this on the design board in the hallway. It needs borders and I have some fun touches that will be added with the borders, but the main body part is finished.

Going backwards, I had two July NewFOs. The first was a Marti Michell pattern--Lazy Afternoon--that I made for the Marti & Me Club that I joined. It's named "Coffee Anyone?" and is coffee quilt #1. I played some with the pattern to make it mine and used more prints than the pattern called for, and overall I think it turned out quite well!

The other NewFO from July was a very special quilt I made for my cousin's granddaughter Shelby. Her little girl, Brooklynn, died two years ago before turning two. Shelby's sister asked me to make a memory quilt for Shelby and provided some blocks made by their gramma (my cousin) and a variety of fabrics that had been collected for the project. I was honored to be trusted with such a precious task. "Brooklynn Shay, An Angel in Heaven" was completed at the early August guild retreat (where I had my picture taken with it) and shipped to Oregon in time for Shelby to receive it on Brooklynn's birthday.

The only other NewFO dates back to March, about the time I fell off the face of the blog-world. It's another Eleanor Burns--Zig-a-Zag, the first pattern from the 2013 Signature Pattern Party. I had purchased this fabulous jelly roll several years ago and hauled it around in my move back from California to Kansas last year. Finally, I had a pattern that seemed to have been made for this particular jelly roll! So, I had a great time creating my "Prismatic Progression" which I finished about 2 weeks ago. Yep, it stayed in the NewFO/UFO pile for several months, but no more!

I think that's about it. I'm caught up and feel great about it! And I already know there will be more NewFOs to post next month and in months to come. My plan when I set up my new home was to have two areas to sew--the "formal" sewing room upstairs with the stash, all the sewing stuff, the big Horn cabinet and the Brother machines, next to the computer so I can play with EQ7, listen to my iTunes and check Facebook often while stitching. The second sewing space got set up downstairs in the country kitchen where I put my HandiQuilter Sweet 16 and my new-old best friend, Gerty--the Singer 301A that I learned on when I was about 9! My hope was to be able to sew or quilt in the kitchen while Jacob played downstairs when he's here. I only have him Monday, Wednesday and Friday this semester--he's already started daycare two days a week to start the socialization process. With him getting bigger (almost 14 months already!), I really need to find a way to keep working on my projects without having him loose upstairs among all the open shelves that he loves to clear and reorganize for me. LOL! As much as I miss our hours of snuggle time in the rocker last year when he was much littler, I must say it's fun to see him explore and play, giggling and running back and forth from room to room.

Today was the first day I truly got to work on a quilt while he was here. The plan seems to be working! Not only did Jacob play happily while I stitched at the HQ Sweet 16, he actually climbed into my rocker and took a nap on his own for about 30 minutes. Score! 

After too many hours quilting (my shoulders are telling me so!), now it's time to sleep! Happy to be back and reconnecting with my fellow quilters in blog-world!

More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz

WIP Wednesday... Angel in Heaven memory quilt

It's WIP Wednesday and I'm posting for the first time in what feels like ages... again... Since last time I wrote, I finished my move and then left for nearly a month vacation to California and back again. It shouldn't take that long, but that's another story and another post.

I'm hooking up with Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday for those who want to browse around and see what I and other bloggers are up to this week.

[Note] Update August 8, 2013. Project complete, shipped, and received as planned. I've updated some of the photos below to the completed project and added some detail.

This week I am up against yet another deadline. My cousin's granddaughter Betsy contacted me on Facebook to ask me to make a memory quilt for her sister Shelby whose 2-year-old daughter died two years ago. Betsy sent me a whole box of fabrics, a few squares already made, and asked that I incorporate what I could of that collection into the quilt.

Betsy indicated in the note she sent with the fabrics that some had gotten wet and had molded. Despite this hurdle, finding there was mold on most of the pieces, I washed them all and did whatever magic I could think of to remove the stains, and then started cutting around the worst of the remaining spots.

Of the eight pieced blocks included made by the girls' Gramma Connie (my first cousin), only four were useable. This one was so cute, but those stains were just too over-powering.

So, I raided my stash for fabrics to use for background for the 12" finished blocks I planned to make and then started playing. This quilt includes piecing, applique, photo transfer, and machine embroidery. I started with McCall's #M6412 as my inspiration and pattern for the applique blocks, added the other blocks I wanted, incorporated the pattern's triple sashing with contrasting 9-patch cornerstones, and this is what I came up with. Shelby's "Brooklynn Shay: Angel in Heaven" memory quilt.

Below are updated closeups of the completed quilt (top & bottom halves) and a couple of blocks.  I found the poem stitched around the angel on a picture in Shelby's Facebook album and thought it fit with the embroidered angel. The stencil I used is a modified Dresden Plate with radiating lines that fit three blocks perfectly. On the applique blocks, I echoed the outfits and did a loopy doodle around the paperdoll and her dresses. The frames around the photos were quilted with a heart design in a pale pink variegated thread.

I printed several pictures Betsy had emailed me onto EQ Printables Premium Cotton Lawn inkjet fabric sheets. They worked beautifully and feel so natural! Not stiff like some of the printable fabrics I've tried in the past. I was able to quilt around the figures on the photos with a monofilament thread on top to give shape to them and to quilt the 8" photos.

 I was able to incorporate bits and pieces of seven of the original fabrics shipped to me, plus four of the pieced blocks that I sewed together 4-patch style and trimmed down to my 12" finished size.

The box of fabrics also included quite a few pieces of flannel, which I am using to make a pieced back. Once again, the mold stains were throughout and hard to miss, but with a very pale pink flannel with rosebuds as the background fabric, I'm using the others to make and add pinwheels for a fun pieced back.

The pieced back came out cute and I was even able to incorporate some of the Noah's Ark fabric that was only a 9" strip into the smaller blocks.

So, did I meet my deadline? YES! I was able to finish it completely and had it in the mail by August 5, just a couple of days later than I had planned. The target presentation date is August 10, which would have been little Brooklynn's 4th birthday. Here's a picture of me peeking over the top while holding the completed quilt up at the retreat where I finished the binding up on the weekend.

I can't imagine the hurt Shelby and other young mothers who have lost little ones must feel. I keep her in my prayers always and hope this quilt will bring her comfort.

More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz