Design Wall Monday - and a sleepy Army Guy

I finally got my April blocks done for the Be Merry Block of the Month I've been working on with the sewing group at Jennings Community Church. It may not look like I'm done, but the snowman gets button eyes, etc after quilting.

 I have also gotten my May blocks all cut out, so I'll be ready to sew next week when we meet up again. 

I couldn't resist sharing this picture of how hard the Army Guy can sleep. He was wiped out Saturday afternoon and feel asleep on the couch. Not sure HOW the pillow ended up balanced on his head, but it sure gave Princess Sunshine and me a chuckle!

Be sure to check out Patchwork Times for more Design Wall inspiration!

What I've been doing - not much quilting!

I have been soaping ... I've got 7 batches done (one batch is spoken for and is just like one pictured below):

In this soap portrait you see:

Oats N Honey

Lavender Lane

Three Kings

Orchard Breeze

Cleopatra of Castile

White Ginger and Amber

Cedarwood

Now to think up theme names ... I'll be marketing these at a Renaissance Faire this summer and want to make the names more appropriate for the festival :) Not to mention retooling the labeling to match the theme as well!

What have you been up to?

on my design wall April 15th

Do you have your taxes done? Our Federal Taxes were done a long time back ... but we need to pay the state, so I'll get that one out today :)

On my design wall is a baby quilt top. I sewed it up a couple of weeks ago (to use as a sample when trying to peddle my pattern) and it has been sitting there waiting for me (I'm glad that tops are so patient!).

 Instead of using it for a sample, it will be going to a baby shower on Saturday :) 

That means it must be quilted and bound before then!

I've hardly touched my machines for a while. We have had company for the last 2 1/2 weeks - all happy times with our daughter coming for a few days, my sister (and her children) for a few days, my sister in law coming for a few days (dh and I took off and went to a conference) and then my in laws came ... in that time, I played taxi driver to my two teenagers while they were gearing up for a theater production (opened last weekend and we still have this coming weekend ... ).

I'm exhausted :) in a good way.

For some delightful Design Wall Inspiration check out Patchwork Times.

On my Design Wall

On my design wall are the four trees I made for the Block-of-the-Month with Jennings Community Church. The other finished blocks can be seen HERE.

This week I plan to work on costumes for Robin Hood The Courtship of Alan A'Dale. The Boybarian is in the cast and Princess Sunshine is working with the Crew backstage. I'm thinking not much quilting is going to happen for the next two weeks!

Check out Patchwork Times for more Design Wall inspiration!

Project Quilting - Last Challenge

Project Quilting's last challenge for Season 4 was Hurray for Spring! I spent a lot of time thinking on Spring this week while being the homeschool mom who taxis her children from place to place.

The Boybarian has been under the weather, so he went to the Dr. and found out that he had a double ear infection (just didn't have any ear pain for the first SEVEN days of feeling ill). The homeschool theater group is very busy with practices and Princess Sunshine has been helping out at the scene shop for an upcoming production of Music Man ...all in addition to our regular lives *sigh*

I wanted to do tulips. I also wanted to use this fabric that my mom and dad  brought home from Hawaii (they went to celebrate their 50th anniversary):

And the fabric refused to be used for tulips *sigh*

Does your fabric tell you what you can and cannot do to it? Mine obviously does. It almost was screaming at me when I got the different design ideas together and started pulling coordinating fabrics!

SO, the fabric told me I needed a new purse :) My current purse is made from denim and a lovely paisley that is fairly dark. So, I should have a bright and happy purse for spring.

I'm a fan of small purses, so I pulled the Mini Messenger Bag pattern and started to work on the flap :) I pulled a lovely green that reminded me of grass, found a great gold and a pink for the flower and drew out my shapes on the paper-backed fusible web. I fused the shapes and then scribble stitched the flower down, quilting it in the process.

 The flower was going to point down (as shown in above photo), but I changed my mind later :)

I added a divided interior pocket.

I also added a back pocket and a loop to hang my keys.

This purse is going to make my day brighter as I use it - I'll smile at the happy flower and the lovely batik!

Now to make some accessories to match :)

Finished!

 Here is the finished quilt, hanging up at the quilt guild meeting :) I had a lot of compliments on the quilt, and I'm so glad I got it done (though if our challenge quilts make it into the show, I'll be putting on the hanging sleeve as well as blocking it properly). Yes, I hope to get better photos later ... I was working on this right up to the minute I left for quilt guild and didn't get a chance to snap a good shot.

I'm very excited about how the boots turned out. And the laces came from the Army Guy's boots, so they are authentic Army laces (he gave them to me, I didn't just take them!) - they just make the boots come alive! And together with the borders made from old uniforms - it just makes me happy.

I found some jewel star buttons to add in the corners (the challenge said we had to use a minimum of 5 jewels in our shoe quilts). I also see a spot where I need to clip some threads *sigh*

Along with putting the poem's name in the border, I also made sure that I didn't leave the poet out.

The poem, Daddy's Boots is by C.J. Heck and can be found HERE. The author has graciously given  permission to use the poem for this quilt.

The Guild Challenge - more process shots

In making my quilt, I put borders on (surprise, eh?) ...  

 

I always measure my borders to the size of the middle of the quilt. I do not just sew and trim as I have had enough experience with wavy borders on quilts where they stretched when sewn on!

 

 After measuring, I find the half and quarter along each edge and pin the border on.

Before I sew, I also pin the edge of the border to help keep it square. When I skip this step, it seems that the corners on my borders become more acute an angle and I don't want that!

After sewing on, the border is nice and square :)

and I can start quilting. I seldom do a plain old meander, but the camouflage look of basic stippling 

really fits this quilt.

 Tomorrow I plan to post the finished pictures ... I did get the quilt finished (still need to attach the hanging sleeve, but will only do it if our guild's challenge makes it into the quilt show).