Hazel's Quilt {the quilting}

With all of my machines in the shop it is good to know my Long-arm is still running. (fingers crossed)  I was able to finish up this quilt and get it off in the mail.

I used an all over free motion flower and leaf design for this beautiful floral quilt.  I used the leftover pieces of my layer cake and some additional yardage of coordinating print.

For the 'H' I quilted a small leaf design to tack the design down. 

Now she if off to her new home.

Put a fork in us --We are Done!

http://americanmadebrand.com/blogtour/

The American Made Brand tour is now complete.  I don't know about you but I loved visiting everyone's blog!  The State Blocks turned out Fantastic.  I cannot wait to see them all incorporated into a quilt. That is going to be One AWESOME Quilt! If you miss a day or two (or six)  you can catch up by checking out the links below.

DAY	DATE	STATE	STATEHOOD	BLOG
Day 1	19-May	Delaware	Dec. 7, 1787	Blue Striped Room
	19-May	Pennsylvania	Dec. 12, 1787	Cherry Lynch Quilts
Day 2	20-May	Georgia	Jan. 2, 1788	Butterfly Threads Quilting
	20-May	Idaho	July 3, 1890	Taffy Talk
Day 3	21-May	Alabama	Dec. 14, 1819	Green Quilts
	21-May	Massachusetts	Feb. 6, 1788	A Quilting Jewel
Day 4	22-May	Maryland	Apr. 28, 1788	Spring Water Designs
	22-May	South Carolina	May 23, 1788	The Crafty Quilter’s Closet
Day 5	23-May	New Hampshire	June 21, 1788	Park Hill Farm
	23-May	Virginia	June 25, 1788	Pat Sloan’s Blog
Day 6	26-May	New York	July 26, 1788	Quilts from my Crayon Box
	26-May	North Carolina	Nov. 21, 1789	A Stitch in Time
Day 7	27-May	Rhode Island	May 29, 1790	Seaside Stitches
	27-May	Vermont	Mar. 4, 1791	Quilter in Motion
Day 8	28-May	Kentucky	June 1, 1792	Simply Sandy
	28-May	Tennessee	June 1, 1796	Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Day 9	29-May	Ohio	Mar. 1, 1803	Olive and Ollie
	29-May	Louisiana	Apr. 30, 1812	Fleur de Lis Quilts
Day 10	30-May	Indiana	Dec. 11, 1816	No Hats in the House
	30-May	Mississippi	Dec. 10, 1817	Life as a Quilter
Day 11	2-Jun	Illinois	Dec. 3, 1818	A Sentimental Quilter
	2-Jun	Connecticut	Jan. 9, 1788	Jump Cut Arts
Day 12	3-Jun	Maine	Mar. 15, 1820	Quilts of Love
	3-Jun	Missouri	Aug. 10, 1821	42 Quilts
Day 13	4-Jun	Arkansas	June 15, 1836	Sew at Home on Pine Ridge
	4-Jun	Michigan	Jan. 26, 1837	Crafty Blossom
Day 14	5-Jun	Florida	Mar. 3, 1845	Flourishing Palms
	5-Jun	Texas	Dec. 29, 1845	The Caffeinated Quilter
Day 15	6-Jun	Iowa	Dec. 28, 1846	Kindred Quilts
	6-Jun	Wisconsin	May 29, 1848	Freshly Pieced
Day 16	9-Jun	California	Sept. 9, 1850	Cali Quilter
	9-Jun	Minnesota	May 11, 1858	The Curious Quilter
Day 17	10-Jun	Oregon	Feb. 14, 1859	Sew Mama Sew
	10-Jun	Kansas	Jan. 29, 1861	Lilac Lane
Day 18	11-Jun	West Virginia	June 20, 1863	Coop Crafts
	11-Jun	Nevada	Oct. 31, 1864	Inventive Denim
Day 19	12-Jun	Nebraska	Mar. 1, 1867	Renaissance Sandi
	12-Jun	Colorado	Aug. 1, 1876	Sew Incredibly Crazy
Day 20	13-Jun	North Dakota	Nov. 2, 1889	Terri Stegmiller Art Quilts
	13-Jun	South Dakota	Nov. 2, 1889	Moneik Quilts
Day 21	16-Jun	Montana	Nov. 8, 1889	Why Knot Kwilt
	16-Jun	Washington	Nov. 11, 1889	Bloomin’ Workshop
Day 22	17-Jun	New Jersey	Dec. 18, 1787	Studio 78 Notes
	17-Jun	Wyoming	July 10, 1890	Excessive Compulsive Sewing
Day 23	18-Jun	Utah	Jan. 4, 1896	Fireball Quilts
	18-Jun	Oklahoma	Nov. 16, 1907	Hollyhock Quilts
Day 24	19-Jun	New Mexico	Jan. 6, 1912	Dora Quilts
	19-Jun	Arizona	Feb. 14, 1912	So Many Quilts, So Little Time
Day 25	20-Jun	Alaska	Jan. 3, 1959	Quilt As You Go
	20-Jun	Hawaii	Aug. 21, 1959	Barbara Bieraugel Designs

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Baby Quilt.

I received this modern log cabin baby quilt in the mail on Monday.

 It was a slight rush to get it loaded and returned to her before the birth of her grandchild, so I was only able to snap a few pictures before getting it back in the mail.  Her choice of fabric and the setting made choosing a quilting design simple.

To soften the square setting and sharp corners I used a free-motion ribbon. I changes the ribbon's orientation to make it look like it was circling around the center.

As for the center square.  I used the adorable whale fabric as inspiration for this little guy. 

Happy Quilting!

Timing is everything.

With summer rapidly approaching I decided to make a few more Cargo Duffels for the kids.  With all of the travel for sports, band and camps we end up spending a great deal of time in the car.  I thought these bags would be perfect for hauling all of their car activities.

You may remember this Cargo Duffle I made for Easter using Noodlehead's Cargo Duffle pattern.  If you would like the pattern you can find it here

For the kids I decided to personalize them with a little embroidery and colors of their choosing.

With the first one under my belt I knew the 2nd, 3rd and 4th bags would go much smoother.  Ha!  Silly me.

Close to the end of the second bag my sewing machine started leaving huge tangles of bobbin thread for me.  Obviously the timing was off.  I played with what I could but couldn't get the tension adjusted.  A frustrating hour later, I switched to my old standby. My second machine is a good 30 years old but sews like a champ!  I finished the second bag assembly with the second machine.   As I was finishing off the inside of the second child's bag, my needle broke.  Then another and another.  YOU have got to be kidding me!  My old stand by, also had a timing issue.

My machines are off to the repair shop.  Perhaps it is time for a little English paper piecing. The bags will make Great Christmas presents too!

Quilt for Hazel

 I finished this quilt top up just before the end of the school year.  My cousin and his wife had their second baby just days before I finished this quilt. Just in time for me to put a little "H" applique for Hazel.

 I used a layer cake from Moda Fabrics Scrumptious line by Bonnie and Camille.  My inspiration for this project was a quilt I sew by Natalia Bonner of Pieceandquilt.com called Jumbo Coins Baby Quilt.  Instead of cutting all of the layer cake blocks in half I chose to highlight several of the girly floral prints.  I organized them by color into rows.  Then using the remainder of the blocks I cut them into 2.5 inch strips, pieced them into groups of 5.   Then once they were pressed I cut them in half and added them into the quilt.  I was a little concerned that the variation would be too busy.  I added a small 3/4 inch white border to separated the rows.  I think it works.

Now to load this baby quilt onto my machine and get her bound.!  Happy quilting!

The Key to Success.

Well, it's that time again.  The end of the school year is upon us.  The kids are giddy with anticipation of Summer Vacation.  One more day and it will be here.  Imagine my surprise when my 6th grader asked, "What are we giving the teachers this year?"  Hmm.  I had totally forgotten.  Off to pintrest to see what I could whip up in under an hour.  Nothing like last minute planning.

I stumbled upon these cute little key fobs at The Ribbon Retreat and knew that they would be perfect.  A few ribbons, 1 inch webbing and key fob hardware was all it took to make these cute key rings.

Unfortunately I Jo-Ann only had 5 packages of key fob hardware.  I went back to pintrest and remember this tutorial from The Idea Room that I had used once before.  It is slightly more time consuming but still a really quick and simple key fob just perfect for teacher gifts.

A little note tucked inside each teachers Thank You card and Ta-Da! Last minute teacher gifts finished.  Gotta' love the internet.