We're still kicking...

And summer vacation is almost over!

Tomorrow is Matt's 1st day of 1st grade, and we're both pretty excited! In preparation, we bought new socks today, and Matt got a hair cut. With gel, we can form a mohawk, which he says totally rocks, and ... if the school doesn't like mohawks, we can comb it down into a normal haircut- dual duty!

Quilting has been taking a back seat, but I've got big plans for this afternoon to load a group QOV that a friend mailed onto the frame and get that ready to go!

I think I'm going to make plans to gift quilts for Christmas this year, at least to the people who will appreciate them (the ones who won't, can get generic, unthoughtful store bought gifts b/c I'm not wasting all that time and creativity!) Our plans for Christmas are to stay home this year, and celebrate here in our first house! As far as I know, no family will be here then, though some might be here end of Nov-early Dec for an early celebration... yes- I like to plan ahead LOL! Crap... which reminds me- my mom wants a tree skirt made before Christmas... guess I should work on that sometime!

And it's DONE!

While still being quilted:

I swear, the cat isn't getting donated with the quilt, but try telling him that!

Also: an easy peasy baby blankie- just a square of flannel with a coordinating cotton binding on the edges!

Jacob's Ladder QOV

The pile of block from the previous post turned into THIS! I ditched the red/white batik in favor of a red/white/blue bandana type print, deciding that it was more patriotic (and I had 6 yards of it in my stash, so I could make a wider border than with the one yard of batik!) I think I had mentioned that these blocks were from a past online block swap, so , really, sort of a group effort for a good cause!

I'm backing this with the same fabric as the border (and I still have some of it left!). It's currently loaded on the frame, and I did half of a pass of quilting on it. I'm quilting it in a varigated red/white/blue thread, and doing an all over free form with loopies... I think (hope!) it will turn out well!

Coming Soon....

And my next project will be...

This stack of blocks is from a swap about 2 years ago. Yup, for approximately 2 years, these puppies have been hiding out in my closet. I've had the red/white batik border fabric about that long too! Sad, isn't it?

First thing to do: I need 4 more of those red TOT and WOW Jacob's Ladder blocks... then assembly! I'm thinking I'll make this a QOV and donate it ( http://www.qovf.org/ ). 16 blocks will make the center, then possibly a thin inner border of a blue to pop out, then the outer red/white batik... maybe? I'll figure it out as I go!

Finally another finish!

I've been working on this quilt since last fall. Between bouts of unmotivation and moving, it's taken awhile to get done. The pattern is one that an online friend wrote up for a group of us a year or so ago, and it's my first use of a jelly roll in a quilt. (I know- I take awhile to catch on sometimes!)

It's pretty busy.... and the quilting didn't turn out as nicely as I'd have liked, BUT... it's done, and at this point, that was my main concern. This one started out with bad quilting - bad thread choice that took me hours to pick out... after that, I didn't care how perfect it turned out, just that it got DONE!

Turns out that the 2nd quilting attempt went tons better, and even though it's not the best I've done on the midarm, it'll still provide a nice pop of color on our dull, dark greyish bedroom wall. Yeah, we could change the color, but the hubby is a big fan of a dark bedroom when he's on night shift and sleeping all day, so I'm working around it!

Festivities from the 4th

Perk to being married to a military police officer: golf cart seating for the annual 4th of July festivities on post! (Def NOT me in that uniform, but hubby's co workers LOL) You can see Matt enjoying the comfortable, dry seating. It had rained earlier in the afternoon, so dry was a high point for us!

Another high point: FUNNEL CAKES! Especially when eaten off of the back of previously mentioned golf cart.

And, of course, you have to have fireworks on the 4th!

Latest Quilty work

This is my latest top... it's super busy, and I love it! It's made from a Moda Fresh Air jelly roll, with coordinating borders. The backing will be a 2$/yard clearance cotton- even better! It's currently loaded on the frame, and I started to quilt it the other evening, but I've decided I don't like my chosen thread color so..... need to pick out the little bit of quilting that I have done now.

This one doesn't have a definate destination yet, but it might be heading to my sister in MO upon completion... we shall see!