Aidan

Meet Aidan!

Green Stars

I made a baby quilt (don't know the baby's name) 

Starting here

I have not met the mother (unless you count meeting on Teams)

Design Wall

So when Lina (not her real name) mentioned that she was going on maternity leave, I asked her if there was color/theme to the nursery.

Striped Binding

Green and Dinosaurs, Lina replied. And THAT was enough :-D 

Dinosaur Centers

I found loads of cute green fabrics in my stash. I love that gnome fabric, which I got from the last Quiltcon.

Many cute fabrics

While I had enough print fabric to make the star centers, I did not have enough for a dinosaur backing.

This dinosaur backing came from my MIL's stash (some of which I inherited when she passed away). Isn't it amazing that the universe provides whatever we need, when we need it.

Here are some more pictures.

You are adorable!

Playtime

Aidan is just the right quilt for St.Patrick's Day and Easter, which will be here before we know it.

Aidan finished at 41" square

Labelled

Aidan warms my heart. Hope Aidan brings joy to the little one!

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Joy is in short supply these days but I found some lately, when Bloomtown Quilt made its way to a baby the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The mom (a friend of my sister) was kind enough to send me a picture.

Aww...

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According to Angela, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for March is Red. I have gathered my red scraps. I am sure I will need more. Thankfully, Island Batik scraps abound.

Reds for March

I will be linking with Angela's Linky Party on Saturday and all my other favorites. See full list on the sidebar. 

What brought you joy, lately? Please let me know. Joy shared is joy multiplied.

Soha and Frogkisser

Me: I avoid cleaning and organizing.  
Paul: Of course, I clean only when it is absolutely essential. 
Me: I am glad you agree. 
Paul: Let sleeping critters lie
Me: Exactly. When I do clean/organize, I get attacked by squirrels.  

At this moment, Paul lost the thread of conversation.

In anticipation of the second shipment of Island Batik Ambassador boxes, I had to clean house, get rid of some scraps and make room for the new supplies. 

In doing so, I came across some star blocks, that date back to 2015, I think. Who knows? It was so long ago. Seven blocks were made. I dropped everything and whipped up two more and completed the flimsy.

Lost and Found

Meet Soha.  Soha is an Arabic name meaning Star of a hidden constellation. These stars were in hiding for long but now they have found their purpose. 

Soha

I received this backing fabric from Julie, when she was destashing.  Love the tightly packed houses. 

Backing

I have been tempted to color some of these houses using fabric pens, but that is a separate post/project!

Color me, please!

Soha finished at about 40" square, and will join other quilts (from my quilt guild) going to the Inova Fair Oaks Hospital's Premie Graduation. These quilts accompany the premie babies when they "graduate" from NICU to go home.  

Stars on a Cloudy Day - Oh Yes :-)

Light-hearted star centers radiate color outwards.  All colors except yellow. Yellow does not show up well against a white background and I wanted each of these stars to pop!

Green & Glowing

Radiant Rainbow Colors

Labelled

I will be sharing with Angela's Linky party.

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I made the next quilt for my former boss' handyman's apprentice's two-year old son, named Leo. I was visiting my former boss, when she mentioned the hardworking men in the front yard.  She also mentioned how Claudio, her trusted handyman of many years had taken the young apprentice under his wing. "He has a two-year old son," she added.

Well, then he needs a quilt. Doesn't he?

Do you remember Meanwhile? Scroll down to the second quilt in that post. Since Meanwhile was such a fun modern take on a scrappy concept, I had saved some flannel strips for making a quickie quilt.

Flannel Strips

Right after I completed Soha, I dived into my bag of flannel strips and started sttiching.

Flannel is stretchy, so precision was too lofty an idea to pursue. I just stitched strips and soon enough there was a flimsy.

Frogs Live Long & Prosper!

For the backing I pieced a transportation themed fabric with yellow borders. No-fuss quilting with squiggles and binding with some newsprint fabric left over from Aurora. 

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Bound

It finished at about 44" by 52" and I have named it Frogkisser. Because I may have kissed (or lovingly caressed) the cute frogs.  No, I don't mind being a Frogkisser because it is a magical ability to turn random scraps into cozy and snuggle-worthy quilts :-D

I kiss Frogs :-)

Frogkisser

Love it!!!

Have Quilt, Will Travel

When Frogkisser was gifted to Leo's dad, he beamed with delight and I was just glad that some scraps found their purpose.  I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.

For Leo

Here are my two Dreami (Drop everything and make it) projects.  Will be sharing on Sandra's blog when she posts the next Dreami Linky Party.

I have two more fun quilts ready for prime time and I am dying to show them to you but must wait till July 28 for my turn on the "Covering the World - One Quilt at a Time" event co-sponsored by Accuquilt and Island Batik.

Amani

Lately several of my sentences begin with "After we get vaccinated..."

Of course this time in our lives has been unlike any other with few guidelines and little direction.  We have had to improvise as we went along. 

A New Finish

But life does not stop for a vaccine. It happens while we wait for other things.

Such is this quilt.

"After I complete the RSC2020 quilts, I will start the Carnavale quilt", I thought. But then life happened. Literally. Nancy's baby boy is due any minute. Therefore the RSC projects were set aside and a rapid baby boy quilt was made.

Starter Dough?

The leftovers from Kinda Brave became the starters for this quilt.  Reminds me of this comment from Astrid on the Rainy Day Tulips Quilt.

"Quilting is like starter dough; ya gotta keep some inspiration and leavening from the last batch in order to start the next one.

Blocks in the works

All block centers done

The blocks finish at about 10" making this a rapid quilt. Although 16 blocks would have been plenty, after all was said and done there were 20 blocks.  So I made a slightly larger quilt.

On the Design Wall

Sparkle Background

Binding

A Robot!!!

Walking Foot Quilting

Butterflies & Owl

The backing is pieced and all fabric was very "locally sourced" from my stash :-D

Pieced Backing

Labelled

Soothing Blues

Tall Giraffe, Stout Elephant

Completed & Gifted

A few more pictures.

Animal theme

Happy Sharks

Go on now - keep the baby warm

Make the Baby Smile

Amani finished at about 40" by 49" and was gifted to a very pregnant mom-to-be. Amani means peace in Swahili (Nancy's mother tongue). 

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Eventually, I did count the number of Framed Jewel Blocks.  I thought I had made (somewhat) equal number of light and dark blocks (for a checkered layout). But I was mistaken. I had way more light blocks than dark blocks.

Framed Jewel Blocks

A checkered layout idea was abandoned. I was trying to wrap up this party not invite three rowdy friends. I decided to go with the dark border layout more conducive to the blocks on hand. 

Preferred Layout and Piecing Approach

Since my desires exceed the dimensions of the design wall, the flimsy will be pieced in four sections.

Quadrant A

A closer look

These blocks were quick and easy to make but the flimsy will take that much longer to piece.  Slowly but surely this will come together.  Of course I will keep you posted and will share with Angela's RSC Linky Party.

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In non-quilty adventures, I tried making focaccia bread and succeeded. I made bread and breadcrumbs AT THE SAME TIME!!!

Attempt

Yes, this is exactly what happens when you do not oil the pan before placing the dough.  The second batch of focaccia bread (topped with balsamic onions and mushrooms) was glorious in both appearance and taste :-)

Success

What yumminess have you experienced lately?  Was it in the kitchen, the studio or outdoors?  I'd love to hear from you. I will be sharing with Angela's RSC Linky and all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.