Two more blocks.......

I only got 2 more Bear Paw blocks made last night.  I sewed all morning to finish the 28 preemie gowns and then left for the meeting right after lunch.  The other ladies had enough knitted and crocheted afghans done so we could package 15 layettes with 2 gowns in each (if you are counting, I had 2 gowns already sewn so they totalled 30).  I have strips cut off of 8 more Philip Jacobs prints to cut into pieces today.  The Bear Paw die is very useful.  I used the cuts for this quilt in July 2011.

New blocks.......

I managed to get 3 of the Bear Paw blocks pieced yesterday.  They are a whopping big 14" finished.  I'm thinking about making some 7" blocks too.

I thought I would show the tiniest of the preemie gowns that we make.  They are just 7" from top to bottom.  It is hard to imagine a baby that small but this is the size they use the most and the layette that they want 2 gowns in.  They will still get ribbon run through the neckband so the neckline can be gathered up tighter.

That is frozen drops on this branch and if you look closely you can see that the branch is totally covered with ice.  Luckily our temperature is headed up already so it will be melted sometime soon.  We have 60 predicted for a high Tuesday and then 0 early Friday morning.  How's that for a strange winter?

The advertising is out for the show at the Ciel gallery in Charlotte NC.  I hope my quilts get there tomorrow as predicted by the USPS.

Cutting triangles..........

I had a lot of things to do yesterday that were time stealers so I only ended up cutting some fabrics, no sewing.  I cut a strip of fabric 8.25" wide and cut the triangles first, then the Bear Paw pieces at the top of the photo, and then more triangles out of the remainder of the fabric.  I need to cut light fabric next for the Bear Paw block.  I think I will use the same light fabric all through a block but each block might be a different light fabric.  I'll have to see how many light fabrics I can come up with in the Kaffe/Philip/Brandon/Martha fabrics. Today I need to sew a bunch of the preemie items for sewing circle tomorrow.  We will do the packaging of complete layettes at the meeting.

January snapshots............

This is my collage of January 2013 finishes.  Right now I am so burnt out on finishing and deadlines that I can't imagine that I'll finish any more this month.  However, that could possibly change which would mean making a new collage to post on Feb. 1.  As for today....I'm going to play....

Bright Colorwash 2.....portrait....

I finished the binding and label on Bright Colorwash 2 yesterday morning.  I ditch quilted this one in both directions.  I had meandered the last one and wanted to see how it looked with ditch quilting.  Both ways worked well.

I had 2 other labels to sew on and 1 hanging sleeve to sew down on the bottom edge.  Then I worked on rolling the quilts and putting them in boxes to ship.  When I got to the last box of the small stuff and hanging rods, I remembered I still had 3 mug rugs to quilt and bind.  I needed to wait until today to mail the packages so they will arrive on the right day when someone is home to take them in.

This morning I am doing a private computer class and then I will go to the post office and run my errands.  Then I can go down to the basement and cut the triangles from the Philip Jacobs fabrics that I pressed on Tuesday.  I might even sit down and read for awhile. 

 

African colorwash.....portrait...

I'm down to the final 2 quilts.  This one, African Colorwash is 20" x 23.75".  I will also be sending a couple of the small Crooked Cobblestone pieces so there will be a variety of size and price.

I sewed a dark purple binding on the larger colorwash piece which I finished quilting yesterday morning.  I have about 1/4 of the hand sewing done.  I need to ship the quilts today.  I usually do a dry run on the packing so I know how many I can get into a box but this time I'm just down to the wire on all of it.  I'll find out how many fit when I get this binding and the final 2 labels sewn on.

 

Another social sewing day.....

As long as the basement was clean I invited 2 friends over to sew all day yesterday.  The first thing I did was sew the binding onto the little African colorwash piece.  I have part of the hand sewing done.

The second project was sewing the pieces for this zig zag quilt that has been on one of the design walls for months.  I realized I could sew two squares together to prepare the mirror image units and it will be easier to lay out on the design wall now.

I was bored with that project because I was repeating the same Kaffe fabrics over and over with the gray dots, so I pulled a bunch of Philip Jacobs prints and pressed them to prepare for cutting triangles from them.

Last night I got all of the ditch quilting in one direction done on the large colorwash quilt.  Then I did a little more hand stitching on the African colorwash.  I need to sew the hanging sleeve on before I finish the hand sewing though.