Playful Baby Quilt, Hands2Help, & a Sweet Gift from a Friend

Some of you have been asking about how the baby quilt that I made for our new granddaughter Eden finished up.  Well... it was a big hit!  Here's a photo of Eden on her "Playful Kittens" quilt:

I think she's saying "Wow Wee! Make me another one Lolli!"

This was a really fun pattern, called "Playful" by Allison Harris, of Cluck Cluck Sew.  I pieced it using a combination of Heather Ross "Tiger Lily" and scrap fabrics. 

"Playful Kittens" baby quilt

It's finished with simple, wavy line quilting and brown candy sprinkles binding.

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Last week was the start of the annual Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge at Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  This is the most amazing event each year and Sarah works very hard to make it a fun time for everyone, with tutorials, guest posters, giveaways and a big linky party at the end.  There is still time to join in the fun, because it's really just getting started.  Next Sunday is the kick off linky party where we get to share our favorite tips, tricks, and tasty treats.  I hope to see you there! 

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My friend Susie, who you can visit at Susie's Sunroom, sent a special surprise for baby Eden.  She made Eden a pillow with a nice big patchwork pocket across the front that can hold a favorite toy or book... and just to be sure, she also sent an adorable stuffed bunny and the book "Guess How Much I Love You". Eden's mom & dad Kait and Zak were so touched!

Susie's baby gifts

Is this the sweetest collection or what?  You might have noticed that there is something extra in this photo too.  A matching pincushion which Susie made just for me to have and remember.  I have a feeling that it might also serve as a teddy bear pillow when Eden gets a little older.  Thank you Susie!    

More pictures of Eden? (I cannot resist)

Baby Edie at two months

Young Jedi trainees have ears on their hoods.

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Midnight Mystery, Editing, & Wandering Camera

Cheryl's Midnight Mystery Quilt Along was a rip-roaring success!  She had more than 100 people complete their quilts in time for the grand finale.  We've been getting peeks at a few of the finished quilts on Facebook and there were some incredible quilts and quilting to feast your eyes on.  I can't wait to see them all in the big parade today at Meadow Mist Designs!  

This was so much more than a quilt along and quite the social event in Quilty Blogland, so make sure you don't miss the 2016 Meadow Mystery quilt along, which will begin in July. Thank you Cheryl for putting this one all together for all of us and for your ever ready support and enthusiasm!

My quilt top was finished just barely in time, but I strayed from the plan.  I was one of the people who preferred to have a sneak peek. (I love that we can choose to do that!) I wanted to try fussy cutting Cheryl's fabulous blocks and using Parson Gray fabrics, for kind of a modern and more masculine quilt.  The Midnight Mystery block looks so cool done up like this and I loved how it turned out!  It reminds me of looking inside an old fashioned flash bulb:

Midnight Mystery Quilt 24" Block - Meadow Mist Designs

There is a lot going on in the block because of the fabrics I chose.  My family thought my quilt would look too busy with a whole quilt full of blocks like this one.  After making up a strip of three blocks, I could see they were right.  So I did something different with the three blocks; setting them in a column, bordered by wide swathes of Parson Gray "Seven Wonders Settler".  Cheryl was totally cool with that!  

Midnight Mystery Quilt - modified - 72" square

The above shot was taken in the basement with the light filtering through the glass block window.  I thought it looked pretty and mirrored the effect of the quilt blocks.  It still has to be sandwiched and quilted.  I was thinking of doing something plain and simple, like matchstick quilting. 

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Editing at Last!

This past month I didn't get much time for visiting friends or for sewing.  That's because my book Crafted Applique - New Possibilities went into the editing stage.  You might wonder why it took so much work.  The manuscript I turned in was a good one, except it was for a 168 page book with patterns designed for CD.  They decided it would be more marketable to make it over into a 96 page book, patterns included.  It was no picnic to convert.  I feel more than a little burned out.  We have all our kids coming home this weekend, but after that I'll be doing my best to catch up with everyone and make up for lost time. 

Just before the editing started, I did finish Eden's first baby quilt.  I'll share that in another post.   What you get to see this time are the photos of the trimmings.  Yup, that's right.  I think the trimmings from a quilt are pretty and sometimes I have trouble throwing them away, LOL.  Do you ever hate to toss out tiny scraps?  They look even prettier when they are piled into a sweet little thread catcher, which coincidentally is something I purchased from Cheryl's Meadow Mist Designs Etsy shop.  (I bought a really cool pincushion too.) 

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Wandering Camera

Last month in Soma's Wandering Camera group, she taught us about light and encouraged everyone to play with different lighting effects and experiment.  So, when I saw how beautifully the sunshine was filtering through the lace curtains onto my ironing board and nifty thread catcher, I couldn't resist taking photos.  It was a good thing I did, because that was the only chance I got to play with the camera. 

First, I took the photo backlit by the sun, which is usually a no-no, but the effect was really neat.  It proves that sometimes rules are meant to be thought of as merely guidelines:

Backlit thread catcher with quilt trimmings

Next, I turned on the flash and let that light up the foreground.  I usually try to avoid using the flash because it changes the colors.  Do you find that to be the case in your own photos?

Evenly lit thread catcher with quilt trimmings

It has quite a different effect, doesn't it?  Last of all I tried a shot in close up view.  Which of the three photos do you like best?

Close up of thread catcher with quilt trimmings

It was a lot of fun to do that little bit of experimenting and I'm looking forward to what Soma has us doing in March!  Everyone is welcome to join the Wandering Camera Group so stop over at Whims and Fancies and see what it's all about!


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A Sweet Heart, a Sweetheart, Playful Kittens, and a Blog Hop

This sweet little heart shaped mug rug with dark brown ric-rac edging is from a pattern called
"Be My Valentine Heart Mug Rug" by Amy DeCesare of Amy Made That.  I made it with lots of different chocolatey scraps of fabric and had a lot of fun putting it together.  If you click here, here, here, and here you'll get to see some of Amy's adorable renditions of her "Be My Valentine" mug rug. 

Amy also guest posted at Sew Mama Sew this week!  She created a list of her Top 5 Timesavers for Busy Sewists + Quilters and is having a giveaway to celebrate!  So hop on over and share your favorite timesaver!

I've always noticed how beautifully Amy and her sister Susie, of Susie's Sunroom stage their photos.  So when I finished my little "Be My Valentine" heart, I wanted to stage a nice photo too.

Be My Valentine Heart Mug Rug

  
At first I thought it would look nice to do a scene with some chocolate candies on the mug rug.  But... There isn't any candy in the house!  Then I thought I would just have to be happy taking a photo with a nice mug full of tea and a cookie.  Except... There aren't any cookies in the house!  Dieting does not lend itself to yummy photoshoots.  LOL  

There's nothing like a nice cup of tea

Hungry Quilter and the Goblet of Fire

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We got a surprise for Kaitie & Eden from a real life Sweetheart this week.  It came all the way from Ireland!  Sandra, of Studio Sew of Course, and I became friends during the course of doing a pincushion swap together.  She sewed up this adorable little elephant zippy pouch for Eden & Kaitie.  Check out the baby bracelet beaded zipper pull and the lucky Irish baby socks too!  
Thank you Sandra - Kaitie loved your surprise and so did I!

Sandra's Zippy Bag for Eden

Complete with "Eden" zipper pull

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Playful Kittens Baby Quilt

Eden's first baby quilt is coming along nicely. (I have three quilts for her in the works, LOL)  I decided to use an Allison Harris pattern, from Cluck Cluck Sew, called "Playful". 

What do you enjoy doing most?  Do you like to sew from patterns or create your own designs?  I love to use other people's patterns, just as much as I like to make patterns up on my own.  I think is is nice to vary between the two for a relaxing change of pace. Plus, you expand your skills and construction techniques by seeing how other people put their quilts together.  Allison did an excellent job with Playful"!  I ended up with all the seams pressed in the perfect directions for nesting the seam intersections between rows and blocks, which made assembly super easy.

First I sewed thirty scrappy Cookies and Cream Pinwheels.  One of them is twirling in another direction, but I left it like that because I didn't want to redo it as a reminder to do your own thing.  Yeah... I'm sticking to that.  Can you spot it in the photo of the completed flimsy a little further down the post?  I lost track of which one it was, but when I noticed it again I wondered if maybe I should have sewn a new one.  

Scrappy Cookies & Cream Pinwheels  

I cut the squares from peachy pink scraps to go along with rectangles in Heather Ross Tiger Lily fabrics.  Now I only need to quilt and bind it and it will be ready for Eden to use.  It's going to have a cream colored Minky backing.  Here's a picture of the flimsy below.  I'll get some better shots after it's all quilted. 

"Playful Kittens" quilt

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Blog Hop Time!

In another bit of exciting news: From February 9th - 22nd, a few of my very favorite bloggers are hosting stops in the "Craftsy Sweetens My Quilting Life Blog Hop"!  Below is Sandra's schedule of stops and they each are absolutely worth a look!  The posts, the fabulous giveaways, and the discounts are all Fantastic!  

Sandra, from Musings of a Menopausal Melon, aka mmm! quilts and Julie, of Pink Doxies organized this blog hop to celebrate the crush they have on Craftsy.

 

Blog Hop Schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 10
Judy at Quilt Paradigm: Review of classes "Design It Quilt It" and "Machine Quilting Wholecloth Quilts" both with Cindy Needham 
Helen at Midget Gem Quilts: Review of class "Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot" with Jacquie Gering
Thursday, Feb. 11
Cindy at Stitchin At Home: Review of class "Quilting With Rulers on a Home Machine" with 
Amy Johnson
Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting: Review of fabric purchases:  Stonehenge Strips and Christmas Fat Quarter Bundle
Friday, Feb. 12
Zenia at A Quilted Passion: Review of classes "Start FMQ" with Elizabeth Dackson; "Secrets of FMQ" with Christina Cameli; "Help! How Do I Quilt It?" with Angela Walters
Jayne at Twiggy and Opal:  Review of quilting supplies: Pressing/cutting mat and mini iron 
Saturday, Feb. 13
Tish at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland: Review of classes "Dot to Dot Quilting" with Angela Walters; "Product Photography at Home" with Jessica Marquez; "Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer" with Caro Sheridan,
Anja at Anja Quilts: Review of patterns  Postcard from Sweden; 1 Hour Basket; Star Bright; Reusable Handwarmers
Sunday, Feb. 14
Beth at Cooking Up Quilts: Review of Amanda Murphy's class "20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques"
Preeti at Sew Preeti Quilts: Review of fabric purchases:  Kaffe Fassett Classics Design Strip  
Monday Feb. 15
Julie at Pink Doxies: Review of class: "Color Play for Quilters" with Joen Wolfrom
Sandra at Musings of a Menopausal Melon - mmm! quilts: Review of Classes "Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety" and "Free Motion Quilting With Feathers" with Angela Walters; review of fabric purchases: 10-yard bundle and fat quarter bundles; review of patterns:  Paper-pieced Snowflakes Snow-along

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This post was packed full of so many good things. 
Thank you if you read it through to this point; whew!  
Happy Valentine's Day!

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