Ben's Quilt is Done!

When I saw my nephew for his Bar Mitzvah back in June 2015, he asked if I would make him a new bed quilt because his current one wasn't long enough to cover his feet. I'm not even sure what quilt he's using, I haven't made Ben a quilt in a long time.

Initially Ben wanted me to make him a Rubik's Cube quilt. I bought fabric and sketched something out. Then I found some very cool retro-inspired stereo head phone fabric and changed my mind. Ben is always wearing head phones, so I thought it was perfect for him.

At last, Ben's quilt is done. I had to finish it before he got any taller. He is at least 5'11" and he won't even be 15 until June. He is now officially the tallest person in my family.

This is an extra, extra-long twin, finishing at 97" long.

The beautiful quilting is done by my friend Val.

Quilt holding was done by my lovely co-workers Julie, at left, and Dianne. I usually bring in quilting Show and Tell on Monday mornings.

I had plenty of the head phone fabric left over, so I used it for the back of the quilt.

I had bought this boom box fabric at the same time, but decided not to use it in the quilt, so I made Ben a pillowcase. I also bought this fabric with a white background and made Ben a pillowcase this summer.

The pattern for Ben's quilt came from McCall's Quick Quilts Magazine (August/September 2015 issue). It is called Lots of Boxes. I added another row to the pattern to make Ben's quilt extra long.

My quilt looks completely different than the one in the magazine, just by changing the colors.

Ben's quilt is wrapped and in a box, ready to mail to him in California. I hope that he sends me a picture of the quilt on his bed.

Linking up on Tuesday to Freemotion by the River and on Wednesday to Let's Bee Social. Linking up on Friday to Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

A Round 2-It

Not everything I make is square. I found this adorable pug fabric at Joann Fabrics and decided to make myself some place mats. I bought some pre-cut circular fusible fleece at a local quilt shop. I used a pretty floral fabric on the back, so they are genuinely reversible. I used packaged bias tape for the trim.

This beautiful blog model is my co-worker Lauren.

My friend Audrey at work saw my pug place mats and asked if I could make her a giant round runner for her dining room table.

There are giant sunflowers on one side.

And a smaller scale sunflower print on the reverse.

Audrey liked it so much that she asked when she could go to the fabric store with me (again) to pick out fabric for her next one! She said that she'd like one for each of the four seasons. That's the kind of compliment I like to get!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Happy Campers

Cameron has received his baby quilt! I call it Happy Campers.

Good thing the quilt is big enough for Cameron and big brother Logan to share!

This is another Warm Wishes baby quilt. Check out the Winnie the Pooh version I made last year for baby Nate. (You can download the pattern for free here.) Happy Campers uses the same colors, just the values are different. Cameron's fabrics are bright and cheery while Nate's are more of a pastel tone. I added outer borders to Cameron's quilt because I had extra focus fabric. I am excited to report that except for the main fabric, all of the other fabric came from my stash!

The focus fabric is a camping theme. My dear friend Anna (Cameron and Logan's Mom) and I chose it when I visited her in Florida last winter and she told me that she was pregnant. It has been beautifully machine quilted by my blogging friend Val, who found the most perfect camping pantograph complete with a camp fire, an owl, a dragonfly and more!

Here's a picture of the quilt minus the boys.

I also made Cameron a flannel blankie because I found this adorable flannel on sale and I couldn't leave it behind.

I embroidered his name on the other side and finished it with a wide satin blanket binding.

I also made two pillowcases for Logan. One is made from the same flannel as brother Cameron's blankie and the other has Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles on it (and of course I sent a TMN t-shirt too).

Anna said that both pillowcases had to go on the bed as soon as they came out of the box.

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Fabric Frenzy Friday, TGIFF, Let's Make Baby Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts. Linking up on Tuesday to Freemotion by the River and on Wednesday to Let's Bee Social.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Virtual Sewing Day

I have not sewn for an entire week and I have driven myself up the wall. Yesterday, despite imminent snow warnings, I picked up Marion and we set off for our monthly Brown Baggers quilt meeting. We sat alone in the conference room, receiving emails and phone calls from the other girls saying they weren't coming, until I finally threw my hands up and cancelled the event. Marion and I consoled ourselves by heading over to Joann Fabrics and buying some fabric before I dropped her off at home.

Lori dutifully reported in yesterday with a finished project. She wrote:
First up, just finished baby quilt for a friend of mine. Her daughter was a bridesmaid a few years ago and now that bride is pregnant with a baby girl. My friend’s daughter wanted to take her bridesmaid dress and have it made into a quilt. This is the hottest pink you’ve every seen. It’s PugMom Pink, as I like to say. And the pink was polyester. I cut apart the dress (size 0 so not much fabric), backed it with interfacing and made a simple Irish Chain. The flowers at the bottom were from the top of the dress. I quilted the open white squares with heart wreaths and quilted chained hearts in the border. Then I washed it to crinkle things up.

Isn't this a lovely baby quilt? And it's definitely PugMom Pink!

Here's a close-up of Lori's quilting.

I finally made it to my Studio yesterday afternoon and spent several hours cutting fabric for our annual birthday blocks. This year's block is from Colorful Quilts, the pattern is called Club Noir. The blocks finish to 6.5"x10.5" and we are making three blocks for each recipient.

Here are some of the blocks that Marion received for her birthday last month. She chose Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

I cut and I cut, and I cut. I used my Accuquilt GO cutter to cut all the 1.5" strips for the sashing. Then I cut out the other pieces with my rotary cutter. Since 11 out of the 15 participants wanted Kaffe fabrics, I cut enough to make all the girls' blocks through the end of the year, with the idea that I'd also make an extra set for myself.

Here's my pile of finished cut and sorted fabric. Sadly, it doesn't look like much.

Although my little piles look sad, these blocks go together really quickly once you finish agonizing over your fabric choices. And they're big blocks!

We've had a mild winter, but this week we've had two snow storms in the past three days. Here are some snow pictures for you.

Elvis!

Elvis and LarryPug. Their coats are from Lands End and we've had them for years. They keep the pugs nice and warm in the snow. Larry even has his name monogrammed on his!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

A Kaffe-tastic Weekend!

Hello Dear Blogging Friends!

Today's post will be short on words and long on photos! We spent our annual winter quilting weekend (we've lost track but think it was our 18th year) at the Cape. This post contains all the quilt tops and works in progress we made with our favorite Kaffe Fassett collection fabrics.

My Swoon blocks in progress. They are very large blocks.

I finished two and a half blocks. I have five made, four more to go. They are not hard, they just have a LOT of pieces. I purchased this as a block of the month kit several years ago from Waterwheel House Quilt Shop in Vermont.

Kim G.'s beautiful finished quilt top from the Quilts in Italy book.

Perhaps the lighting is better in this shot?

A close-up

Pat's amazing Kaffe quilt top. Pat purchased this kit several years ago as a block of the month from an online shop. I call it "border of the month" since it is lots and lots of borders around a beautiful appliqued center medallion.

Marion's gorgeous Kaffe scrap quilt top. These were our birthday blocks from a couple of years ago.

Cordula's Bowls and Vases quilt top. This was a Kaffe 20th anniversary kit. Cordula and Kim G. have both made this quilt. They bought the kit online. One purchased it from the Missouri Star Quilt Company and one purchased it from Hancock Fabrics. One of the shops was $100 less. It pays to comparison-shop! Apologies again for the bad mood lighting.

A close-up.

Both quilts in progress below use the same blocks. This is the Dresden Squared pattern from the Missouri Star Quilt Company that we selected as our group birthday block last year.

Joan S. squared off her blocks and is auditioning fabric for her centers.

Joanne S. left her blocks as circles and appliqued them with a satin stitch. Check out the cool design that the chevron printed fabric makes in the fan blades. Her polka dot fabric is really jazzy!

This is Karen's own pattern, Forever Yours. You can find it here. I love the bright reds and oranges that she used. It looks completely different than the current version on her pattern cover. I can't wait to see it when it's finished.

This is Karen's newest pattern to be published soon. We're looking for a good name. Any suggestions?

Thanks for visiting! Come back soon to see our other weekend projects made with non-Kaffe fabric.

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, WIP's Be Gone and CrazyMom Quilts.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

So Happy It's Thursday #3!

My blogging friend Lee Anna recently explained that my So Happy It’s Thursday post does NOT have to be about things that only take place on Thursday, but rather things that have made me happy during the week. Eureka! Moment of clarity for me…

Here is my gorgeous LarryPug showing off my Valentine's Day quilt. All it needs is a binding. See #3 for details!

1. I got a package from England! Lucy Dillon sent me a copy of her newest book, All I Ever Wanted, along with a hand-written note after I had sent her a message on FaceBook asking when it would be available in the U.S. She doesn't have a U.S. publisher yet. If you like chick literature (aka chick lit) and dogs, you must read Lucy Dillon’s novels. In Ms. Dillon’s latest novel, there are two pugs and one of the characters is named Nancy. Obviously a must read for me!
2. Today at work I was notified that two of my client communication campaigns will receive national industry awards in March. This is always exciting because it makes my clients very happy and it make me look good! They get a trophy, I get a pat on the back.
3. I have two quilts ready for binding, both beautifully machine quilted by my blogging friend Val, plus I have three more quilts getting close to that stage! Looks like 2017 will be a good year for finished quilts.

   

   I've stolen this photo of my own quilt right from Val's blog. This quilt is for Cameron, my friend Anna's second baby. It is the largest baby quilt ever. He'll be able to use it until he goes to high school.

4. Mike's cousin sent me a gift certificate for my favorite restaurant, Delfino, as a thank you gift for a quilt that I sent to her.

   

   Here is Ruby with her new quilt. I made this quilt eons ago but have never used it much. It is made from Brown Bagger birthday blocks from many, many years ago. I re-homed it with Mike's cousin who had admired it when she saw it on my blog (also shown here).

5. We had a kick-ass birthday party for Marion last Sunday at our Brown Baggers quilt group. Marion will celebrate a milestone birthday on January 30th. We treated her in royal style with an enormous chocolate cake, Chinese food for lunch, lots of presents, PLUS a gift certificate to the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

   

   Let them eat cake and buy fabric!

6. My Dad turned 87 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday Dad! I sent him a gift cart to Wal-Mart, which is his Happy Place.
7. I finished the top of my nephew Ben’s quilt on Monday night. Can’t wait to make the back and send it off to be quilted.

   

   I like big quilts and I can not lie... this is a super-size twin quilt, measuring 70"x96" because my sister-in-law told me to make it long so Benny can pull it over his head while he sleeps. This is the quilt top before I added solid black borders all the way around.

   I’m really glad that this week is almost over. I confess that I’ve felt glum most of the week, despite all the wonderful things that happened. I’m looking forward to next weekend when the Brown Baggers will head to Cape Cod for our annual winter quilt retreat. I’m hoping to sew a lot of quilt bindings!

Thanks for visiting! Linking up with Lee Anna.

Pugs and kisses,

Nancy

So Happy It's Thursday #2!

I'm not sure how I haven't written a blog post in 20 days, because in my head, I've published several... Odd, isn't it.

Anyways, after an hour long phone call with my good friend Lee Anna, blogging goddess and the creator of the I Like Thursday series, I had enough inspiration to write a new So Happy It's Thursday post. I've been slaving away in the office all month, and I've had a hard week, but amazingly, I found some sunshine and rainbows among the black clouds.

So without further ado...

1. Project Runway Junior returns! Hooray! I've watched Project Runway since it began and I think Project Runway Junior is just as good, if not better. It is so fun to see the younger designers create and work together. Plus they are kind to each other and don't talk smack like the older bunch. Do you watch Project Runway?
   
2.  It's Eggnog season! I love eggnog! I try to buy the light version. It is so yummy!
   
3.  Romeo turns 15 on Friday! He will definitely get a special birthday post.



Here is my darling boy Romeo and my handsome husband Mike.

4. Thursday will be my Friday at the office! And I won't be going back to work until January 3rd! Although I will bring my laptop home because I do have a few things to keep an eye on.
   
5. I love animal prints! I love to wear leopard print and zebra print. I think I have enough animal print clothing to wear a different outfit for at least a month. And that includes animal print jewelry, shoes, sneakers, etc...
   
6. I love my cleaning people! Ramos and Claire are so nice and it is always thrilling to come home to a squeaky clean house every other Wednesday!
   
7. I won two quilty give-aways this month. Both prizes arrived this week. The first package came all the way from Australia from Toni at The Red Boot Quilt Company who mailed me a wonderful package with Heat and Bond Inkjet Transfer Sheets and two of her patterns. I also received a beautiful bundle of five fat quarters from Stephanie through the SewMamaSew give-away day. Hooray for quilting goodies!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy