Yes, I cleaned the bathroom!

Cause that's what you do when someone gives you one of these for your birthday!



She said it's because she really likes the stuff, but it made me rush right home to clean the bathroom.

Anyway, I used the can I had under the bathroom sink and will save this one till the one I have is gone.

A Busy Birthday Weekend

I spent a good part of the weekend quilting with Mabel.



First up was a Quilt of Valor made by Janet. I used a new Star & Crescent panto by Keryn Emmerson, that I purchased in Paducah, especially for Quilts of Valor.


I love the look even on the back.



Next i loaded and quilted a little civil war quilt for Lois. I planned to do custom, but Janet was here and suggested Baptist Fan, so, less than an hour later, This one was finished.





Next, my own Quilt of Valor, using the same Star & Crescent panto.



All these quilts have Hobbs 80/20 batting and used Permacore Dyed natural thread.

I had a wonderful dinner with Julie and her family. We visited the Columbian Park Zoo and were there when the sand storm blew in. That wasn't fun at all and I think I still have sand in my eyes. But, it was very nice to spend time with them.

Design Wall Monday

My photo for today looks like it could be a black and white photo, but it's not. It's my birthday stars from my friends in an online group. There are still a couple more to arrive, but aren't they great. I haven't decided on a setting just yet, but will work on it later this week.

Spinout! by Quiltmaker Magazine

Quiltmaker Magazine Scrap Squad Quilt #3 is called Spinout by Barbara Cline, and I chose to make mine REALLY scrappy using 1930's fabrics!



I started by making a grid in Adobe Illustrator. I tried many different options from very controled, to random, and back several times. I finally settled on this version which uses 6 different fabrics in 6 different colors.



I rough cut all the pieces first. Of course it wasn't long before I realized that I needed to turn my cutting guide over!



I used 6 different fabrics in each color and labeled them as such.





I then printed out all 264 paper piecing segments and using my printout, I labeled each one with colored pencils and the number of the appropriate fabrics. It may seem like a lot of trouble, but it really didn't take much time at all.



I then picked up the appropriate 2 fabrics and stacked them on top of each paper, keeping the columns labeled and separated.


I stitched a row, then pressed, trimmed, removed the papers



and back on the design wall they went, assembling the rows as they were finished.





The inner border is made with 4 different reds and the outer border has 4 different blues, along with the leftover segments that I pieced.



I quilted it with the classic Baptist Fan pattern and I must say that I love this quilt.

I've had so much fun with these Quiltmaker Scrap Squad quilts and am once again amazed by how creatively different and wonderful they are.

Be sure to check out the other wonderful Scrap Squad Spinout quilts at the Quilty Pleasures blog.

Stashbusting 2011 - #23

Fabric Added this week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 61.25 yards

Fabric Used this week - 3.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 106.125 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 44.875 yards

The only fabric I used this week was for the borders, backing and binding of my Hands 2 Help quilt, but it's done and ready to be shipped.

My Big May Finish

This baby quilt consumed much of the month, but it was certainly worth it. I gave it to Dané at her baby shower on Saturday and I think Jeff and Dané both liked it.



Some closeups of the blocks:








And the corner:


Cupcakes and the diaper cake for the shower:

Carole's Sunbonnet Sue

I finished this beautiful quilt made by Carole. She had some of the crosshatching marked as she was planning to hand quilt it.



She requested echo quilting around the trapunto'd Sunbonnet Sue and the bunnies. I quilted Continuous curves in the colored squares and added a little spineless feather in the outer borders.



And the back: