Star and Bow Ties

Last night, I finished up the last of the Solstice Star Series that Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts has been hosting.  Her challenge now is to come up with a quilt that only uses these 5 blocks!  These kind of creative challenges are irresistible to me, so I'm already trying to figure something out...  Stay tuned...

Also over the week-end, I had the wonderful opportunity to sew with fellow blogger, "H2O Girl", of Fiber of All Sorts".  We "met" through Gen X's Kona Color Swap, and realized that we both lived in the same area of the state.  As we emailed back and forth, we realized that we actually lived in the same city, and in the same neighborhood!  So when she invited me to spend a few hours sewing with another friend, I gladly accepted!  I had such a good time!!

Since Saturday was Project Linus' annual "Make a Blanket Day", I brought my bow ties to sew up for the current Project Linus Quilt that I'm working on.  It's serendipitous that part of the fabric I was using was fabric that H2O Girl sent me in the Kona Swap!  The "I spy" fabric is all scraps from quilts that I've made for my boys.  I'm hoping this quilt will someday give another boy just a bit of comfort in a time of need.

Finish it up Friday: Another Project Linus Quilt

I have 2 quilt finishes to share today!!  I finished both the 2nd Project Linus Quilt, and my Halloween Quilt (which I'll share in a post for the Blogger Festival)!  I'm also linking up with Amandajean at Crazy Mom Quilts, "Finish it up Friday" .  I had more free motion quilting issues that made my finish up a lot of the Halloween Quilt with straight stitching, but after a nice long spell of smooth FMQ-ing, I realized that I had forgotten to drop my feed dogs, and remembered that Leah Day recommends in her blog that it's fine to leave them up with some machines.  I put the feed dogs down, and had more thread breaks, so with my feed dogs up, I was able to finish it all up, which makes me very happy!!

Here's the back of the Project Linus Quilt (thanks to my tween photographer son for taking pictures for me!).

As I was binding the quilt, I remembered something that I had read on another person's blog who had written prayers for the quilt recipient in the seam allowance for the binding before flipping it over to be tucked inside.  I loved this idea, so decided to write a "hidden" message for this quilt.  As I've mentioned before, my dad was a minister, who loved children, and that I wanted to make these children's quilts, in part, to honor him.  So this is what's on the inside...

I wish every kid had a dad like mine.  It really makes me sad that some of the kids that these Project Linus Quilts go to aren't as lucky.  I'm doubly lucky that my own 2 boys got to know their grandpa, as we talk about him very often, which helps all of us with our loss, and help us remember his kindness and generosity.

WIP Wed: Another Project Linus Quilt, Summer Sampler and Art Project

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP wed, and letting you know what I'm working on!

In the box with the striped squares that I used for my first Project Linus Quilt was a bunch of "puss in the corner" blocks that were made up.  I decided to pair them with another yard of fabric I had in my stash to make another Project Linus Quilt.  When I dropped the first one off yesterday, one of the coordinators was in the quilt shop, and it was fun talking with her about the project.  She told me that one of the agencies who gives away quilts also receives many nice stuffed animals to give away, and when the kids are given a choice between a toy and a quilt, they ALWAYS pick the quilt!  Is that neat, or what?  I had already started the quilt, and as I was sewing the rows together, it occurred me that the puss in the corner and striped blocks were originally meant to go together as one quilt... they were the same proportions, same box and all.  Oh well...  That's what happens when you have a WIP for 3-4 years shelved away in a closet.  I'm really happier with the 2 separate projects than the initial one.  So sometimes I guess all it takes to resurrect a WIP or UFO is to split it into a few different quilts...

I also decided to get out my Summer Sampler Series Quilt to finish, now that the weather has turned.  Originally I was planning to add additional blocks to make it bigger, but I found a cream fabric on clearance that was a good match, and now I'm going to make it bigger by giving it nice wide sashings and borders.

Finally, I'm taking part in a local art challenge that's perfect for me!  The challenge is to go to a community thrift store here in town (which raises money for local charities), spend no more than 5 dollars on items there, and create a piece of art to be displayed in their street window.  We can also use items from our own stash.  Here's what I bought yesterday, a $3 polyester/rayon women's suit, and an orphan flannel brown flat sheet for 25 cents.  As a bonus, I found a vintage sheet that was ripped that they gave me for free, and 3 men's silk shirts, all under $3 per shirt!  If my husband won't wear them, I may have to make a quilt from them!  Has anyone ever made a quilt with silk?  Any tips?  These shirts are so luxurious!!

We are finally getting our fall rains here, after many, many weeks without measurable rain, which is typical here.  It's so nice to see clouds and rain again!  Best of all, rain, clouds, and cold means perfect sewing weather!!