Quilt Room Valances

I have to be the worst blogger on the www! May has always been a busy month in our family-as I imagine it is for a lot of others. It is the end of the school year with all the activities that go along with it. Now that our kids are grown, it is the grandkids' activities that are keeping me busy. And I don't want to miss any of them! 

I have managed to squeeze out some time for quilting. I haven't touched my applique in weeks, but Ollie's quilt top is finished! I am going to sandwich it tomorrow and start the quilting. I am so excited to get it finished--and Ollie's mom (my daughter, Melissa) is excited too. 

Today I whipped up some valances for the windows in my quilt room. Just a simple casing at the top and a hem-nothing fancy. I wanted them for a splash of color in the room. I love paisley and when I saw this fabric I knew I just had to have it! 

I bought the Q U I L T letters at Hobby Lobby. They were white and my husband spray painted them red for me. I have a little confession to make about them. See the U? Well, it's not really a U at all. In my haste to select the letters I bought an N. When we went to hang the U I discovered that the holes were drilled at the bottom! How could they make such a horrible mistake? Maybe it's because when you turn it right side up, it's an N!! I felt so stupid, but my sweet hubby just turned it around and drilled new holes in the other end for me so that I could hang it as a U! There must be some natural blond to me after all :)

So, this is how my little vignette has turned out. I love my treadle machine, the quilt frame behind it with the old quilt hanging on it and all of my neat old accessories adorning the top of the machine cabinet. And now I have a splash of red to accent it all.

Happy Quilting

Ollie's Quilt

I have started a new quilt.  This is not to say that I have finished any of the other projects that I have in various stages of completion (or should I say non-completion?). This is exactly what happens to me. I am going like gangbusters on a project and then life gets in the way and I have to set it aside for a bit while I do other things, like family weddings and new grandchildren. (I know~it's a tough life, huh?) Then a new project comes along and I don't seem to get back to the "old" project for weeks. OK, let's face the truth here~lots of times I don't go back to that project for months or even YEARS!!! I just lose my momentum and I find it hard to get excited about it again. 

But this new project is different. I will finish it and it will be done soon. I am making my newest grandbaby a quilt. My daughter picked out the fabric and I picked out the pattern. I think it's going to be really cute. And since Ollie is almost three months old, it's time this Grammy got cracking. 

I found a pattern called Taking Turns by the Happy Zombie. The pattern was featured in Quilts and More magazine last Spring. This was my inspiration. I decided that I wanted to make 11" blocks, so the quilt would come out the size I wanted it to be, so I tweaked the design. But I have to give credit to the the Happy Zombie! Her quilt is perfect when you have fabric that you want to showcase.

The fabric I am using is called Robotex by mint blossom for Northcott. Since several of the fabrics have a white background, I am going to do all of the sashing in a dark grey. I think it's going to be really cute. 

Here are the blocks cut out and placed on the design wall. I am pleased with the color arrangement. I think I have struck a good balance. 

I took close up photos of some of the fabrics. They just say "boy" to me. I love the green fabric-it gives a great pop of color to the quilt.

I just had to fussy cut some of the robot heads for the small squares. They look so cute! 

I am going to cut all my sashing strips now and get started. I hope to have this quilt finished to give to my daughter on mother's day. 

Happy Quilting!