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