Random Project Round-up

Hello Dear Blogging Friends,

Here are some photos of my Brown Bagger quilting friends and their recent projects.

Here is Emma, our youngest Brown Bagger.

Emma put together this adorable wall-hanging last Sunday with a little help from her Aunt Jo. This pattern, Cupcakes, is a kit from our good friend Kate Mitchell. You can purchase it here.

Kim G. finished off another gi-normous quilt top last Sunday. This pattern is available for free at the Missouri Star Quilt Company website.

Kim G. loves Kaffe!

Nancy D. had a cold and didn't come last Sunday but I stole a photo of her recently finished bags from her FaceBook page. I need to get on Nancy's Christmas gift list!

Each one is prettier than the next!

Here's the tutorial from Shabby Fabrics that Nancy used to make the bags.

Pat's daughter wanted a new dress to wear to a wedding. Pat made her this gorgeous outfit in less than a week.

Isn't Allison lovely in her new outfit? Oh, to be young, thin, and blonde again!

 In other random news, it rained here yesterday morning.

Is there anything cuter than a pug wearing a raincoat?

Maybe another pug wearing a raincoat?

This weekend the Brown Baggers will gather for our annual October weekend. I'll be having a manly quilt weekend. Monday night, I cut out a new quilt for my nephew Sam. And I'm also bringing a quilt in progress for my veterinarian, Dr. D'Esopo.

Thanks for visiting.

Read my other blog here. 

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Blake's Easy Baby Quilt

My co-worker Kathi had a little baby boy last month. I wasn't necessarily going to make her a baby quilt, since I had given her several hand-made baby gifts when we had an office baby shower, but this fabric jumped right out at me from the remnant bin at Joann Fabrics a few weeks ago.

"Don't leave us here. Make me into a quilt!" this fabric cried out to me from the remnant bin.

Kathi had decorated Blake's room with a whale theme, so this was absolutely perfect. Remnants were an additional 50% off and there were two identical pieces, each about 24", so they both came home with me. At the time, I knew I loved the fabric but I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it.

Last Monday night, Sue hung out in the Studio with me, and I designed Blake's Easy 10-Hour Baby Quilt. I'm a slow sewer, so you might even make this faster than I did. All the other fabrics in the quilt came right out of my Stash. Originally I had thought I would use a royal blue accent stripe with red letters, but the turquoise and gold fabrics coordinated perfectly with the whale print. I also backed it in the turquoise. Sue approved of all my fabric choices and I was off and running. Sunday night, I put in the final stitches.

I brought the quilt into the office today because we were supposed to have lunch with Kathi and baby Blake. Sadly, it has been rescheduled to next week, but at least his quilt is finished!

My co-workers were really impressed with Blake's Easy Baby Quilt. They said that "it looked expensive" and "it didn't look hand-made" -- which to them was a good thing...

What do you think? Anyone interested in a tutorial?

Linking up on Tuesday to Connie's Freemotion by the River. Linking up on Friday to LAFF and
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Thanks for visiting!

Read my other blog here. 

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Time for another Row by Row

The Brown Baggers have kicked off another Row by Row quilt exchange.

Here's my starting row for In an Octopus' Garden.

I was 100% certain that I was going to do a shoe-themed quilt or a Valentine's Day quilt so I'm not certain when my thoughts ventured 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...

The capable Kim P. organized this exchange. We had enough participants for two groups of four quilters.

Here is Group 1 (from left to right): Kim P. with her Funky Roosters, JoAnn E. with her What Season Is It? and Sally with her Halloween row. Kim is holding up her phone with Nancy D.'s row on it (Nancy was at home with a bad cold). Kim will be adding rows vertically to her quilt so it will be really fun to see how it turns out.

Nancy D. is doing an autumnal-themed quilt. Feel better Nancy!

Here is Group 2. We also had a couple of absentee contributors so we used some stunt doubles. From left to right: Emma (playing the role of Joannie C.) holding Christmas Treats, Debbie with A Tisket, A Tasket, Marion (making a face, but the other photo was worse), playing the role of Kate, showing off Welcome Spring, and me, modelling my new autumnal hair color with In an Octopus' Garden (Debbie is  threatening to make a yellow submarine for my quilt...).

The first rows were exchanged today and we will get our quilt tops back in January! I'm working on Joannie's Christmas Treats quilt next and I've already started her row. I can't show it to you because Joannie reads my blog.

Emma, capably supervised by her Auntie Jo, took a group photo for me of all the rows together.

Emma's photo of our starting rows!

Here is my handsome LarryPug popping in to say Hi!

Linking up on Tuesday to Connie's Freemotion by the River. Linking up on Friday to LAFF and
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Thanks for visiting!

Read my other blog here.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

To Boldly Go is Finished!

To Boldly Go, a 50th birthday gift for my Star Trek-lovin' brother Jeff, is finished and now living in California. Jeff's birthday is tomorrow (Thursday, October 1st), so I am pleased that I finished his quilt on time and managed to deliver it early (thank you U.S. Postal Service!). Although, the quilt's label is still in progress...I told Jeff I would mail it to him and he could sew it on the back...

This quilt was quite capably held by my friend Eleanor who is quite tall!

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Lemonade, a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop
Size: 58x71
Quilted by Terri Bearer
Pantograph: Triangle Tangle

I admit that I've made this pattern at least twice so far (check 2014 Quilts to see it in blue and in purple), but I'm impressed at how great it looks great in conversation prints! Which is good, because I have at least two more Lemonade quilts planned--in horse fabrics and cat prints (although the possibilities now appear endless: animal prints, pug fabric...).

Jeff opened the quilt tonight while Face-Timing with me on the iPhone so I was able to see how much he liked it!

Here are some close-ups of some of the great fabrics in this quilt. I collected Star Trek fabrics for a couple of years in preparation. There are at least 19 different Star Trek fabrics in this quilt. Each of the large squares are repeated in the quilt (a total of twice) plus I repeated the three sashing fabrics in each row. I thought the colors in these prints were rich and vibrant, so I eliminated a couple of black and white Star Trek prints that I will make into pillowcases along with one flannel print.

Need to make one of your own? There are still some great Star Trek fabrics available at eQuilter (no affiliation, just a happy shopper). You can also check on Etsy and Ebay or just do a Google search for Star Trek fabric. I was able to buy some of these prints at Joann Fabrics a few years ago, but they don't seem to carry Star Trek fabric anymore. They've moved on to Star Wars. If your Trekkie is a purist, make sure you know the difference between original Star Trek and Star Trek, the Next Generation. My brother only likes the original Star Trek.

This is the back of the quilt. I actually found the large piece of Star Trek fabric on the clearance rack at Joann Fabrics last May and I snatched it right up. The black and white fabric (a seizure-inducing print in person) was bought for $3.99 a yard at Sewphisticated in Dorchester.

Of course I have a little (ahem, a lot) of Star Trek fabric left over, so my Star Trek lovin' niece Rachel will no doubt get a Star Trek quilt of her own, just so she doesn't steal her Dad's quilt!

Happy Birthday Jeff--May you live long and prosper! And Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Paul (neither of whom reads my blog).

Thanks for visiting. Sorry for my absence in blog land. Linking up on Friday to Crazy Mom Quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

On the Design Wall

Joannie loaned me her giant design wall and we set it up in my garage last weekend.

Here is Purple Neigh last seen on my blog in June.

More later!

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Quilts from the Pre Blogging Days

Stack-n-Whack quilt made in 1994-1995.

I've been sewing since I was a little girl and I started quilting around 1989. In my early days of quilting I took a photo (with a real camera and film!) of every project I made and put it in a photo album. One day, I will ask Mike to scan the photos so you can see my real golden oldies.

Here are a few at random. I washed my Stack-n-Whack quilt the other day and decided it was time to put it in the blog. Remember when Bethany Reynolds was all the rage? I love her techniques and I have all her books. I took a couple of classes with her and she is a wonderful teacher.

The Pug Boys and I use this quilt every day. It lives on our couch and covers the chaise where the four of us sit when we watch TV.

My friend Sandie Husby, who blogs at the Lone Quilter, quilted this for me.

I saw my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Stanley in July when we went to California for my nephew Ben's Bar Mitzvah. I gave them this quilt in honor of their 55th wedding anniversary. My Aunt and Uncle live in Hawaii on the Big Island and their house is decorated with an Asian theme. This quilt is made from a kit purchased at the Cambridge Quilt Shop during a Boston Shop Hop in 2006. I had originally laid out the top as a long skinny wall hanging for my stairwell, but decided to break it into two wall hangings. My friend Susie from my office has the other one, seen here.

Sometimes it takes a few years for a quilt to marinate before you know who the intended recipient is. I finished this quilt in October 2012. I bought the kit on a Shop Hop in 2006. Sometimes time gets away from you...

My friend Jeff asked me to make a quilt for his wife Dorothy in purple and blue. Of course, I used my Tried 'n True pattern, Yellow Brick Road because it's fast and easy. I didn't have a photo of this quilt, so I asked Jeff to provide one.

I made this quilt for Dorothy in 2007 before Lily (standing on the ladder at right) was even born. It appears to be holding up well.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Wild Thing is Finished!

Here's my pretty quilt, Wild Thing, to show you today! Wild Thing is made from 2013 Brown Bagger birthday blocks. I provided all the fabric to the group. The quilt has hot pink batik for the background with animal prints for the blocks. I made the top last October, then decided to add an additional pink outer border in March and finally finished it on August 17th. It was machine quilted by Kate Mitchell. I think it is going to live on our living room sofa.

Those cute legs belong to my handsome husband Mike.

Splendor in the grass!

Here is my favorite quilt model, LarryPug.

Here are the handsome pug boys with Wild Thing. From left to right: Elvis, LarryPug and Romeo.

There is yummy leopard print flannel on the back. Check out Kate's lovely machine quilting.

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts, TGIFF, Fabric Frenzy Friday and Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy