Garden Party

I have a new finish - Garden Party.

Garden Party

But first the back story.
In 2015, I made this quilt - Terrace Garden and set it aside.

Terrace Garden

Some time later, Paul asked me for a quilt.
Me: For?
Paul: Chad's wife has a new baby.
Me: Boy or Girl?
Paul: Girl.
I showed him Terrace Garden and he approved.
Chad was appreciative and sent this picture.

Such cuteness!!!

And that is the best thank you for a quilter - send them a picture of the quilt with the recipient!!!



Six years passed. I met Chad and his wife at Paul's Holiday Party last December.
Chad's wife Sara thanked me for the quilt.  I smiled (trying to remember what quilt).
Me: How old is the baby? (in hopes of remembering)
Sara: She is six.
Me: Wow, that is a long time ago.
Sara: We have a younger one now.
Me: How old is the baby? (I am sounding silly now)
Sara: She is three.
Me: And she does not have a quilt?
Sara: They share.

I was horrified!!!  I immediately thought of this scene from the Devil Wears Prada movie.

Me: Share??? American girls don't share. I need to fix that.
We both laughed.

Stir Crazy

That was the beginning of Garden Party.  I chose a jelly roll (bought a while ago) from Bluprint - a jelly roll named Stir Crazy.

Pairing Light & Dark Strips

Stir Crazy???
Is it a coincidence that I am sharing at this time a quilt made with a fabric line called Stir Crazy?
May be, but then again the universe works in mysterious ways.

Blocks trying to escape the design wall

Speaking of Bluprint, did you know that you can watch all classes for free till April 9th?

Other projects and quilts took precedence and life happened. But come March, I had to drop everything and make this quilt. Paul's (and Chad's) job was coming to an end. He and Chad won't be seeing each other. And although we could coordinate a meeting to hand off the quilt, it was just easier to do it before their last day at work.

Oh Pretty

I chose to make a bigger quilt so if they wish to share - like have a picnic in the garden, it would work.

Kristi the model

I used this lovely fabric for the backing and I could picture the girls playing with the houses - limited only by their imaginations.
This is mine and this is grandma's and we can ride the horse and look at that fluffy sheep...

Backing from Hancock's Fabrics

Since the flimsy finished about 57" by 58", I had to piece the backing.  I chose the red print (wide backing) left over from Trees of Life.

Kristi with a touch goofiness :-)

Quilting is a simple zig zag stitch (following the seams), using my walking foot. I was aiming for a rapid finish.  Added a few curvy lines in the middle of blocks.

Quilting Detail

Of course I added the label.

Label added

I chose a bright blue dotted fabric for binding to contrast with all the pinks and yellows.

Brightly Blue

Sunshine :-)

Here are a few more pictures of Garden Party.

My favorite picture

Rock Star :-D

Labelled

Happy Finish

So inviting...

Chad sent another picture.  Love the Girl Power t-shirt.
It warms my heart!!!  Do you see the teddy bear trying to sneak under the covers?

Cuteness Doubled!!!

Two quilts for two sisters - Terrace Garden and Garden Party.  I will be linking with Sandra's Dreami and all my other favorite linky parties (see full list on the sidebar). But my party is incomplete without your input :-)

Stay busy, stay put and stay safe, my friends!!!

Linoleum Plus

Here is my first finish of 2020.  I am calling it Linoleum.

First Finish!!!

Try saying "a roll of linoleum" fast if you can :-D
How did it go?

Once upon time, a long time ago I wrote this tutorial.  Some of the resulting blocks became a part of Have a Minty Day quilt.  And yet others waited patiently to become something.

When I saw the Cross Plus Block, I had an idea. What if the colors are reversed?
Then my leftover tutorial blocks can be made into this!!!

All I had to do was find coordinating print fabrics.  Mystic Dawn from Lily and Loom was just perfect.

Block 1

Block 2

Finished Flimsy

Seams Pressed Open

Quilting in Process

Once again I added a skinny white border to protect my points from being eaten up by the invading binding.  A bright orange flannel backing with little rockets makes the perfect contrasting backing.
A striped black and white binding looks sharp with both the front and the back.

Can you see the skinny border?

Cool and Warm

Labelled

Linoleum finished at 41" square and I am very happy with it.  I hope it will make some baby squeal with joy.

Linoleum Front

Linoleum Back

I will squeal with joy when I read your sweet comments :-)

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I was about seven or eight years old when mom took me to an eye-doctor.  I don't remember why we were there. My eyes were fine and she didn't seem to need glasses either.  May be because she wanted to consult with the doctor about her father's appointment or surgery.
As we waited patiently in the waiting room, I saw a person emerge from the doctor's office with a green colored eye-patch over one of his eyes.

Why is his patch green, I had asked.
Because green is the most soothing color, mom answered.
Why is that, the non-stop questioning machine rattled.
Mom replied, because earth is covered with green. It is the most prevalent color in nature and is therefore most soothing to the eyes.

Although I do not know why this seemingly insignificant memory has stayed with me, it is abundantly clear why this memory comes flooding back today when earth is on fire.
Whether the world burns figuratively with war and strife or literally with bushfires, we cannot have enough green to counter that.

It may be just a coincidence that Angela chose Bright Green as the color for January in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2020, but the universe works in miraculous ways.

I started with this block.

Initial Block

Me: What do you think?
Paul: That is a big block.
Me: Yes, it will finish at 17"
Paul (attempted singing): I like Big Blocks and I cannot lie.
Me: Really? Do you like it?
Paul: It looks like a blob.  So solid in the center!
Me: I had the same feeling. I could snowball the inside corners.
Paul: Huh???

I showed him with folded squares. He approved.

Me: Snowballing is a pain.
But wait. I have a special tape, which can make the whole thing a breeze.
(By now I am talking to myself and Paul is no loner part of the conversation)

Diagonal Seam Tape - Gift from Mari

Thank you Mari.
Because of you my RSC blocks will be light and airy as a souffle and not dense like a fruit cake :-)


Here is my Refined Block, with internal snowball corners.

Refined

I made two more.

RSC Green Block 2

RSC Green Block 3

Although I only need 12 blocks to make a lap size quilt, 30 will make it queen size. 

Where do you think I am headed?

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I was engrossed in making and refining RSC blocks.  Meanwhile, my flannel scraps were up to a whole lot of mischief behind my back. 
I do not remember how many baby blankets I have made. You know the self-binding, flannel ones that Jenny (Missouri Star Quilt Company) taught.
Those blankets need two flannel squares - one 40" and one 30", resulting in some scrappy strips that are too small to use and too large to discard.

I had collected those flannel leftover strips in a fabric bag and while I was distracted they conspired to become a flimsy. It was a Christmas miracle.

Meanwhile

Flannel Strips

Soft and Cute

I used the same backing as Linoleum (Blast Off from Connecting Threads) fabric, combined with leftover strips from Paulitiks' flannel backing (that were suffocating in another bag somewhere).
An orange binding made perfect sense.

Orange Binding

Labelled

Happiness

Joyful

I am calling this one Meanwhile.  Meanwhile finished at 43" by 45" and it is so snuggly.
If you have been saving your flannel strips, take a look. They may have miraculously turned into a soft and soothing bundle of love.

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties as well as with Angela's So Scrappy Linky Party.
As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Feeling Blue

I am not just making quilt blocks I am making friends.

Hmm... try again

That's it!

One fine day I received an email from Gail in which she explained that she was the original designer of the block (Abigail Angel) that eventually became the International Sister Quilt Block. She appreciated the fact that I did not claim the block as my own but had shared the tutorial freely. Gail further wrote that she was pleasantly surprised with the long life and the evolution of the block.
I was thrilled to hear from Gail - the original designer!!!
I asked if we could meet.
She said yes.
We chose Baltimore not only because it is in the middle but also because it is a beautiful city.

Gail & Steve modeling the Abigail Angel blocks

We met at Isabella's which is a tiny shop in Little Italy serving the best sandwiches, salads and pizza.
We chatted about quilts, quilt shows, our individual paths to quilting and agreed to stay in touch.
My suggestion for gelato was met with smiles and approval so we went to Vaccaro's.

Gail with her signature block

For those who may not know, a trip to Baltimore is incomplete without a visit to Little Italy and a visit to Little Italy requires paying a visit to Vaccaro's. It is not just a gelato shop. It is an Italian dessert shop with Italian cookies, cannolis, gelato and more.

It is not sunshine, it is a halo :-)

A pensive expression

Little Italy in Baltimore also holds very special memories for me. The year was 2007.
I was across the street from Vaccaro's when Paul asked me to marry him. I said yes and then we promptly crossed the street to get gelato, because a sweet celebration was in order :-)

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Filler Blocks

The panel

For days following the El Paso shootings, I had no desire to sew.
Scraps got sorted and fabric room got organized.
Last Friday, I saw Sarah's post about Socorro Foundation and immediately I had something to do.

Panel Blocks + 9-Patch Block = Layout

Paul: You made a lot of extra blocks.
Me: They will make the second quilt.
Paul: Same as this one?
Me: Hmmm.
Paul: Don't you need more of the animal baby blocks?
Me: I have another panel - just need to cut it up.

A different 9-patch

Disappeared

This "cat on the yarn ball" fabric came from Lara.  I am thinking of you, Lara!!!

Piecing a Disappearing 9-patch

Paul: Oh this looks nice and bright
Me: I wanted happiness
Paul:What are those blocks for?
Another quilt
Paul:So three?
Me: For now. I am sure they need three hundred.
Paul: Who are they?
Me: The Socorro Foundation, a nonprofit organization is opening a Family Shelter and Education Center that receives families released from federal agencies. 
They provide families with a safe place to rest, shower, eat and prepare for the next leg of their journey to their sponsor family. 

Paul: I am sure they need lot more.
Me: They are listed on Amazon and I have added them to my charity of choice.
Paul: Love you babe
Me: Love you too

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Completed the blocks for the August RSC 2019.  The International Sisters wore blue. Check other blocks at Angela's linky party here.

Rocket Blue

Fishy Blue

Transitioning to Purple Blue

Sombre Blue

Floral Blue

Orange Flower Blue

A Hint of Blue

Pink and Blue

All of Us

and me...feeling blue

Blue is also how I have felt lately but this cheerful bundle arrived yesterday. With "$20 off of $40" coupon it is a steal.

The Boundless fabrics remind me of Tula Pink and Kaffe Fassett.  What is your opinion?

Boundless Looking Glass - FQ Bundle

May be I will go and make something colorful. As usual, I'd love to hear from you - your comments always lift me up.