Lazy Sunday Quilt - On Friday {is that a problem?}

A little over a year ago, my friend Leona and I came up with a bargain - she would "sell" me her Accu-Quilt Go! cutter and I would make her four quilts.  What a deal, huh?

First I made this scrappy Flea Market Fancy Hugs and Kisses quilt.

Then I made this Neptune Snow Globes quilt.

Then I made this dotty Scrappy Trip Along quilt.

And the whole time I was kind of plodding along with this Fat Quarter Shop Vintage Modern Block of the Month Mystery quilt.  About the time I was finishing up the blocks and starting on the finishing kit, she decided that this quilt had some difficult memories for her and she really didn't want the quilt after all.  And this after I had made doubles of all the blocks!  Note that FQS BOM kits are so generous, I got two blocks out of almost all of them - I was thinking "a quilt for Leona, and a quilt for me."  But since she decided she didn't want this quilt, I've been feeling a little guilty....  I didn't feel like I had lived up to my part of the deal we made.

So when Leona decided she wanted this Lazy Sunday quilt (pattern by Lee of May Chappel Designs) made from Anna Maria Horner's Dowry and True Colors lines, I agreed to make it immediately.  Even though there were 112 blocks required to make the double size quilt, they were fast and easy and fun.  In a day I had the blocks made and I put the quilt together over the next couple of days.  Then it took me another two days to get around to taking the pictures.  Less than a week from start to finish, and on top of a bunch of other stuff I was doing.

Since I was trying to take photos between rain squalls, I asked my friends Bob and Billie to hold the quilt up off the ground for me, rather than my usual pin-it-to-the-fence method.  And it's sideways for the same reason.

Here's the quilt right side up, but everything else is kind of topsy-turvy.  Anyway, I love how these fabrics in this pattern make just a riot of color!  I think it will be truly spectacular when it is quilted.  I just can't wait.

Meanwhile, I finished up another baby quilt, this one for Billie's new grandchild, Locke.  Mom and Dad decided not to find out the baby's gender beforehand, so neutral colors were the thing.  Their nursery is green with a monkey theme, so I used a really cute monkey fabric for the backing.  I really had fun making these two hexie flower baby quilts (click here to see the pink one).  They're super fast and a blast to make.  I think there will be more of these in my future.

I'm linking up with crazymomquilts for Finish-it Friday.

So what have you been up to this week?

Been Quiet Around Here

It's been a little quiet around the blog lately, but I've been busy.  BD#2 came home again this weekend and we had a lot to pack into a day and a half!  She finally got all the paperwork done to change all her ID documents to her married name.  We were fortunate that we were able to get it done when she first arrived so we had all day Friday to play.  We went blueberry picking, I came home and made a pie while she went to the beach, we celebrated first Father's Day, and generally had a great time.  Scroll below for my favorite Blueberry Pie recipe.

She asked for something cute to keep her sewing feet and supplies in.  The plastic bag that Janome provided with her machine was pretty lame.  Marcy had this already-quilted fabric up for grabs in her scrap bag at the ECMQG meeting last week, so all I had to do was cut it into a rectangle, add a zipper, sew up the sides and box the corners.  It made a pretty cute bag I think.

Then I had the blocks done for two quilts, and got them put together yesterday when I was feeling a bit down that my girlie had gone home.  This one is a reprise of a quilt I made several years ago that I called "Woodland by the Lake", so I guess this one is "Woodland by the Lake II".  It is a simple Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day Log Cabin.  I have made tons of these quilts over the years.  They are straightforward and fun.  I doubt many modern quilters really realize just how indebted we are to Eleanor Burns.  Her methods were truly revolutionary in their day.  None of the methods that we take for granted today (strip piecing, for example) really existed before she came on the scene.  Thanks, Eleanor, for simplifying quilting so much.

This quilt was "commissioned" by my friend Billie, who is a Master Photographer, and is teaching me photography in exchange for some quilting.  (I love that the quilt looks a bit like stained glass in this photo.)  I am having a blast and learning a lot about photography.  (And the chatting is fun too.)

I also had the blocks {mostly} done for this Neptune quilt for Leona.  Sorry it's hanging sideways, but I didn't want it dragging in the dirt.  This was a really unique pattern, and I had fun putting it together.  The pattern is Snow Globes, by Tula Pink, and the fabric is mostly Neptune, with a bit of Prince Charming added.  The biggest challenge to this quilt was that most of the prints are directional, and it was kind of tricky to get them all going the right direction. 

And, since it's Father's Day, I thought I would share this early-90s photo of the fam.

Happy Father's Day 

to my sweet husband and all the dads out there.  Thanks for all you do!

Betty's Blueberry Pie

For a 9-inch pie
4 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon-sugar

Prepare pastry (I use Pillsbury All-Ready Crust).  Heat oven to 425.  Rinse berries and stir in flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.  Pour into crust.  Dot butter on top of berries.  Put on top crust, flute edges, and pierce with knife.  Sprinkle with mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling bubbles through pierced crust.  Cool and serve.  (Betty says you may want to cover fluted edges with tin foil to prevent over-browning, but I don't do this.)  {Also, I always place my pies on a foil covered pizza pan so they don't boil over into the oven - I hate cleaning up that mess.}

Enjoy!

Quick Gift Idea

 The 400th Post/Tula Pink giveaway is here, and ends today at 5:00 pm Central Time.

The other day I met my friend for a little fabric shopping/dinner adventure, and I wanted to make her a little gift.  She loves Tula Pink - and in fact I'm making a Neptune/Prince Charming quilt top for her - so I decided to make a little fabric basket from the selvages and some leftover linen from my Scavenger Bag.

This little basket is super easy to make.  I used the Pink Penguin tutorial.  Instead of using the 2" squares she used in her tutorial, I took 6" strips of selvage and sewed them together, then cut them in half and mix/matched them, and sewed them on in the same manner Ayumi did, then quilted and constructed the basket.  It is a fairly easy project, and takes about an hour.

I {over}stuffed it with a few little things from my stash.  I was glad I did, because she brought me a whole bag full of fabric, including some Lila Tueller Bohemian Festival jelly roll strips and pieces of layer cake I've been coveting.  I know exactly what I'm going to do with it, which is really quite rare for me.

I've made a couple of similar baskets.  This one from LouLouThi by Anna Maria Horner.

And this little one with handles is from LouLouThi as well.

So, if you need a quick gift for someone, this could work for you.  Have fun!