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