Another 2 Finish Week

It's been a productive week. I finished 2 more commissioned quilts and even taught myself how to make pillow shams in the process.

Finish #1 was for a little boy named Harrison:

Guess what I don't have a crib to model this on. Too bad. 

The artsy long shot.

That right there is a quilted pillow sham. High end stuff right there kids.

For the quilting I did strings of stars down the sashing.

More stars

The backing was flannel and super soft. Love love love. The stars didn't stand out as much as I thought they would, which I think is ok.

So that shipped yesterday.
Today, this beauty is going in the mail:

The top was pieced by a friend of mine, and I did the quilting. She's going to do the binding, which is why it's unfinished on the edges.

A little better lighting

From the back

Up close and personal.

I loved this quilt. It's heavy and cotton, and just feels cozy.

Design Wall Monday

Just a quickie, as usual. I reworked this customer quilt to use a different border around the outside. I like it MUCH better this way. 

 I'm shocked that this fabric may work as a backing for his name too...I thought it'd be too busy, but it seems ok to me. Thoughts?

And finally, the secret quilt is nearly finished and will be revealed on Wednesday. For now though, the quality inspector says it meets code. 

Usually when he jumps up on my table, it's to get out the window. This time, it was solely to cuddle up on this quilt. That has to be a good sign, right? :-) 

Got a couple projects in the works right now. First up, a comfort quilt for a coworker and friend who's facing some serious difficulties, and doing it alone. Breaks my heart, but she's refusing rides and such so I'm forcing a quilt on her whether she likes it or not. I'm hoping to have it to her by the end of the week, but I'm lost in terms of how to quilt it. Thoughts? Anyone?

Also in the works is the two quilts for the sons of the husband who's getting the military quilt for his promotion soon. That quilt got to the recipient (his wife) today, but hasn't found its forever home yet - he'll be promoted in the next couple months I'm told.

Anyway, that's what's going on tonight. I started another Christmas quilt and doodled up another Etsy commission, but those aren't anywhere near photographable, so no pics.

Finish and kitties

Here's what I've been doing this week.

This is for a friend's mom, who needs a little comfort in the coming weeks.

It's kitty themed. :-)

And on a related note, this happened this week. It was weird. They hate each other.

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry it's been so long. Life's gotten crazy busy lately.

Last weekend was our anniversary, so we went up to VT to celebrate. It was wonderful to be able to relax and relive the memories a bit.

 At the winery

 Out to dinner

 At the church

Back at home, I've got a few projects in the works (of course), the most pressing of which is this one:

Just kidding. That yellow makes my eyes hurt a little. Blech. I swapped it out for a blue and now it's much more soothing:

Right now the rows are all sewn and about half are sewn together. I'm hoping to get the top done tonight so I can baste it and do some simple quilting (diagonal lines) and get it done for a friend who needs it this weekend. Might be a long night.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the gymnastics quilt:

I'm debating doing something more complicated on the colored blocks, but it depends on how much time I have in the next few weeks. I've been a little swamped lately.

On a positive note, two quilts met their recipients this weekend, and I'm told both were very well received. :-) I love hearing when my babies go to a loving home.

And finally, sad news...I'm shipping out the military quilt today. Mom's coming to visit tomorrow, but the girl wants me to ship it ASAP, so out it goes. Sigh. Another quilt goes out into the world...I got a little attached to this one, as you can imagine. Farewell little quilt, godspeed:

FNSI - Social Edition

Just a quickie picture post before I head to bed...it's nearly 12:30 AM and I have a TON to get done tomorrow. Daunting.

Anyway, here are the pictures I'm at liberty to show tonight:

 Our mascot, camped out in the tshirt scrap box. Anyone have ideas about what to do with tshirt scraps? I'm not really excited about sewing with them.

 We crammed 3 sewing stations, a cutting station, and an ironing station into my sewing room. Love it. Oh, and the design wall was still accessible too. Luxe.

 Carolyn's project...how cute is this???

My top finish for the night. I added a couple of borders and decided to dub this one "Funfetti".

Oof

This...has been a turbulent week. None of the bad stuff directly affects me, but there has been a lot of seriously heart-breaking news this week that's made my weeping heart, well, weep.

But that's for another post. For this post, we have a finish! Huzzah!

 Front!

Back!

I stippled it (not very well, mind you) around the focus pieces, so they're kind of raised and highlighted. I'm happy with it. I'm still not very good at stippling though. My lines cross a lot. A LOT. Oh well. The dark blue fabric on the back is some of the same stuff that I used in Just His Size, which was made for the recipient's grandson, so there's some connection there. Precious, I know...aren't I special? :-P

Friday Nigh Sew In is nearly upon us, and for once I'm hosting a party! A couple of friends are coming over, cramming themselves into my sewing room, and partying it up with me. I can't wait. :-) The major project of the night is top secret (to be revealed later, I promise), and if there's time then I'll put in some more time on the memory quilt. That one should go together quickly once I sit down and do it.