for the love of quilting...

getting ready to post again! after a 6 month hiatus (longer, really...) i have some pictures and RSC quilts to share. i'll be back soon to fill in all the behind-the-scenes details!

this summer i was able to zip down to Baltimore to visit family, and i was thrilled to take down T's {finally completed!} I Spy quilt. 

he really liked it, and we go right to work playing I Spy with sister E, Aunt A & Mommy. 

a quick photo shoot up in his room. (and you can see a quilt hanging on the wall- i made it for T's daddy, Nathaniel WAY WAY back- circ. 1990s, i'm sure... ) 

one of my RSC23 projects was the scrappy hearts. on a Saturday link up i saw that Diann was making them too.  when i saw how she was putting her top together, i was inspired to make alternating blocks in Irish Chain fashion. (click on the picture to enlarge) i used black as my chain, completing the pattern into the edges. i'm very pleased with how this quilt turned out. although it's not quilted and will be in the flimsy stage for a bit, it's been claimed by my youngest daughter, B. 

the pixelated heart quilt has been a *slight obsession* with me, you might be able to say... this one was a kit i purchased on a whim. i supplemented the LV background squares with my extensive I Spy stash. 

above are the final 2 I Spy quilts for the last 2 granddaughters: A and S. they're 4 & 2 and were not yet born when i made the first 4 grandchildren their I Spy quilts. although they're pictured here in the flimsy stage, i just got them back from the quilter this week. i'll get the binding on them, and gift them very soon. 

again- pixelated heart in a rainbow inspired layout. all the blocks are 5", and i've used my EXTENSIVE I Spy fabric collection. with the completion of these 7 quilts for my grandchildren, plus one for a young niece last year, that brings my I Spy plans to a rest for a bit. my youngest 2 daughters are 17 &18 so it will be awhile before there are more grandchildren. i've sorted and saved some of the favorite blocks for A & B's children, and stored the remainder of the blocks away for awhile. 

e

finally, my last I Spy quilt for awhile- and a super favorite of mine! i LOVE doing quilts with LV, and when i saw Cynthia's pattern in a recent American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (can't remember which one) i knew instantly i had to make it! again, i used my 5" squares. i think the pattern called for 3" finished squares, but the bigger squares made a nice sized quilt, which we'll use as our sofa/TV quilt. VERY VERY happy with how this one turned out! 

 

and finally- not hearts, but another finish... the Baltimore gang has a cute little Craftsman house with a beloved pear tree in the backyard. Granddaughter E had asked for "pear placemats" for her 5th birthday.  (what Grammy wouldn't move heaven and earth to make that happen?!) i finally got around to making a table topper and buffet runner for her mommy, DIL P. for her 30th birthday. 

so: that's a highlight of the quilty happenings around here. life is busy, full and happy. thanks for stopping by and reading all these ramblings! click back on over to SOSCRAPPY and see what everyone else is up to... 

what's GREEN on the inside, but BROWN on the outside?

MARCH, of course! (if you're sewing along with the RSC21 color of the month...)

i've had lots of sewing time this week- i'll have to remember to be especially thankful for that come June, July and august... 

i'm very pleased with how my Full Stop quilt is coming along! i decided to make it 65" wide, and arrange the punctuation in rainbow order. i added a lime green spacer row between the yellow quotations and green brackets. i'll sew the rows together as we complete each color. i'd like this quilt to be about 85" long when done. 

and just because it's the green month: here's another I Spy quilt i'm making for my DIL's sister. E was recently widowed, and she has 3 young children. (her husband was a police officer, killed in the line of duty) I've been feeling that i need to spread my quilts out a bit more, so this was a perfect opportunity to use some more of my I Spy 5" squares. 

it's hard to tell from the {poor} lighting in the picture, but the solid blocks are a hunter green. 

                                                    

 i plan on quilting it this morning while listening to our Saturday Morning Radio Shows (anyone ever listened to Ranger Bill? {warrior of the woodlands...})

make sure to click over and see what everyone else is doing! 

I Spy some happy children!

i mentioned before that i was busy making I Spy quilts for all my grandchildren. my grand Let's Get The Whole Family Together For Easter And Have A Fabulous Easter Egg Hunt And Other Fun Activities Plan was changed for obvious reasons. 

But- most of the quilts i was able to  gift in person, so i'm calling that a win! C (3yo) with his quilt.

Brother L (2yo)

Granddaughter E (3yo, also) in Baltimore. better picture coming soon!

granddaughter L (18mo).

all the grandchildren seemed to really like their quilt! i was pleased, and am so glad that they each have a snuggly quilt to nap/play/picnic with. 

i still have enough blocks for a few more I Spy quilts when the time comes. (and as we're expecting grandchild #5 any day now, that might be sooner rather than later!) 

and in a related note- daughter A (13yo) absconded the quilt kit that i (on a total whim and impulse) ordered from Kitchen Table Quilting. it's the Frances pattern, perfect for beginners.  A chose Kona black for the sashing on the smaller blocks- she wanted it to be different than all the other quilts on instagram. (search #francesquilt) 

as i said, it was a quick, unplanned purchase, but i'm calling it a win all around. A generally does not like to sew or quilt, but when she saw the pattern and the colors, she wanted it for her own. how could i say no? we both love the colors, and the fabrics are so different than what i have in my stash. i was so happy to share with her, and now that the blocks are pieced (the alternate blocks are 5" squares, so there were only half the blocks to piece)

i had previously made another impulse purchase at a LQS when we were down in Florida in February, which will turn out to be the perfect backing. stay tuned... 

and in other news....

in this week of "sewcial distancing" there has been plenty of time for sewing, that's for sure!

a few reasonable sewing sessions (not really marathons, even) i have the 4 I Spy quilts done for the grandchildren. (a surprise Easter gift from Grammy) . the only thing left to do is to sew on the label on the bottom right side- and they're on the way from Oregon, so it won't be too long and they're officially done! 

the Kona navy quilt is for grandson C, and the Kona lupine is for granddaughter E. they're both 3, born 6 days apart. 

the grey one above (due to the quarantine, i used a different grey LV print, instead of Kona medium grey, which would have been my first choice) is for granddaughter L, 1½, and the Kona azure is for grandson L, who just turned 2 last week. 

each of the 5" squares were chosen specifically for each child, and each family.

granddaughter L and her family spend lots of time outside hiking, so the camping print was especially appropriate. clockwise above, is L's quilt (camping backing) the azure quilt for L, nuts and bolts backing, his brother C, (kona navy) screws, bolts, nuts and washers, {their daddy is a carpenter} and granddaughter E- just a wild and crazy pink. 

my oldest daughter, M, (mama to the 2 grandsons) is expecting baby #3 in 6 weeks. guess it's time to get started on the quilt, huh?! haha. now that the I Spys are done, i can focus my attention on this baby quilt. M & hubby K prefer a darker palette for the color scheme, so this honey bun it is! i've added some konas from my stash, so hopefully i have enough variety! instead of grey, i plan on using kona indigo for the background, and i'll probably bind this baby quilt in orange. (more preferred colors of the parents.) 

i'm pretty much totally. over. this quarantine and social distancing thing, but i guess we have a bit more time to go.... click on over to Angie's and see what everyone else has been sewing to  pass the time! 

aqua: it's so soothing...

seems like the whole world is going crazy- it's so unbelievable! hubby works at Lowes, and we home school, so not really too much seems different around here... 

it's just as well I have lots of tasks/sewing/cleaning to keep me busy! 

this week I made 2 aqua stars for my scrappy star quilt. I ran out of background (already!) and ended up picking something very similar; hopefully i chose wiser this time, and will be able to piece all the blocks for the remainder of RSC20. 

i had to dig very, very deep to find the darker shades of aqua to finish this second star. but: super happy with it!

i mentioned last week that i'm working on I Spy quilts for my grandchildren. I hope to have them done by Easter. (hahahaha!) My second grandson, L, will be 2 this week, and this is his quilt. (obviously just laid out on the design wall) the solid color is Kona Azure. the other quilts are grey, navy and lupine. I think only the boys will be here for Easter festivities, so technically I only need to complete 2 of the quilts... 

i'm super happy with how they're turning out- and i have LOTS of the 5" I Spy blocks left over (except for pink, purple, red and aqua) so i'm all set for more I Spy quilts for future grandchildren! 

click on over to Angie's linkup to see what everyone else is working on as we're all holed up at home! and, if you're looking for something fresh to sew, you could adopt one of my orphans! (i'm getting a bit of an early start...)