What I'm working on

It's been awhile. Over a week, in fact. My excuse? No batteries in the camera. I know that shouldn't really count, but I haven't made a ton of progress. I am wanting to start new stuff, but I know I need to finish the other projects first. I'm feeling a little scatterbrained in the quilt department lately.

I got this pattern for Christmas. It uses a layer cake and I am using Fig and Plum from Fig Tree Quilts. I really wanted to try just one block. I only cut enough fabric for one and put it together. Now I can work on other things and not feel quite as antsy to get started on this one done. As I've mentioned before, I'm quite baby hungry. Still no word on a baby, but I really want one. A few years ago before my 2 year old was born, I saw this pattern in a magazine. I bought all the stuff and then my next baby was a boy. I decided to get this out and work on it a little this summer, then we moved and it got put away. I'm trying to finish it now. The lady bugs are taking quite awhile to applique. I'm just doing it on my machine, but I am not very good at it, especially the little ones. I also finished the top of Jake's football quilt. I've been working on my grandmother's flower garden. I've decided it's gong to be a baby quilt, or possibly a table runner, depending on when I get tired of it. Last night I did the white hexagons. It took over two hours and most of them don't have the sides sewn yet. My quilt group exchanged blocks again. It's always interesting to see what fabric people used. I was so sure I was using the right color blue. Um..... mine is the only one that color. Sorry guys! Here is every one's blocks. Now.... what to do with them?

The last block

I just finished my Aunt Dinah blocks for the exchange. This will be my last exchange for at least a year. I just need time to get more of my unfinished projects done before I commit to anything else. Can't wait to see what everyone else is doing!

I also finished my last appliqued block for Grandma's Flowers. When I started I didn't know if I'd actually make the quilt the size of the pattern. I didn't' know if I could finish all 20 blocks. Well, I'm happy to say I did it!

What to work on now? I really want to start something new, but as you can see on my sidebar I should really finish something I'm working on. The lady bug quilt would be quick to finish, but it's a baby quilt and I'm a little discouraged in the baby department these days. I should finish Jake's football quilt, I have all the 4 patches done and just need to put the rows together, but it doesn't sound fun at the moment. I could start on the borders and sashing on the flowers..... I could, but I really want to start something new. I have two layer cakes and three jelly rolls that I am trying to resist. I'm in the mood to stipple 1974, but I don't have the right color of thread. I just really want to start something new. I'm going to be strong though!

Ahhhhh Broadbent's

Until 6 months ago we lived in Utah County. When we moved her to Davis County I realized how good Utah County quilters have it as far as quilt shops go. We lived about 5 minutes away from Broadbent's. Broadbent's has got to be my favorite quilt shop. The ladies in charge of choosing which fabric they sell do such a great job of getting a variety of fabrics that appeal to each person. I just love their selection.

This weekend we were down in Utah County as my husband's step-sister and her husband were sealed. On the way home we stopped by Broadbent's. I bought the rest of my blue fabric for the block exchange. Moda Essential Dots in blue. Hopefully I also got enough for binding. For our anniversary in December my husband gave me a layer cake book. I have been waiting and waiting for Sweet to come out so that I can make one of the patterns in there. I was so excited to see it. I had called around in Bountiful and none of the stores there had it.

They also had Flag Day Farm. They didn't have a layer cake or honey bun of it which is what I was looking for so I didn't buy any, but I have also been waiting to see that fabric so I could make Sugar Sweet Swirls. It was fun to see all of the fabric on the bolt though.... and it made me want it even more.

I also bought a new iron this weekend. My old one died on Friday.... or rather I thought I might die if I used it again. I was ironing some blocks for the swap when I saw a spark. It had come from the cord. Apparently the cord was so worn that the wires were coming through. I unplugged it and that is why this new iron is now joining us. It's quite a bit heavier than my old iron, but who doesn't need to workout while they quilt?

Aunt Dinah

Here's my first Aunt Dinah square for the block exchange I'm involved in. I think I've said before that my friends from my old neighborhood would get together and swap blocks at least once a year. This is our second in 6 months ( I have not put the blocks together from my first). We've planned on this since October and I am just now getting around to my blocks. We picked a block and then decided to do blue with a cream background. I have different blues and was going to use all the same background, but today when I pulled this fabric out I decided I may use it in a different quilt. I bought it years ago and decided on white instead of cream for the quilt I was planning at the time. I really like it and I think I'm going to use it to go with a layer cake of Fig and Plum.

Anyway, I thought I'd post this to make sure I'm on the same page as everyone else. If you are involved in this swap (Kristin, Erica, Anna and anyone else who may be reading) and I am completely off on color or something let me know! Don't fret, they will all be trimmed and straightened by the day of the swap.

Relief Society Block of the Month

For those of you who will be joining me in our Relief Society quilt class here is a little preview of what we are going to be working on this year. We had planned on doing a life quilt, but because many people were interested in the class who had never sewn we decided to do a basic quilting class. We will be starting with a simple nine patch. Each block will be 12 inches finished. 12 1/2 before it's set in the quilt. The quilt will be a large throw size. If you would like to make more blocks to make the quilt bigger that will work too!This is the block for March. Many patterns call for flying geese, which is what these arrows are called, as a sub block. The finished quilt will look similar to this quilt. This quilt is one that my friends each did a block to give to every other person doing the quilt. Although the quilt we make will not use these exact blocks the finished quilt will be a sampler like this. There are many different ways to finish your quilt and we will talk about that as we go along.

What I have and have not been working on.

I had big quilting plans for last week. I started this whirlygiggle quilt from the pattern that I won from Camille's blog. I had also planned on starting my blocks for my next quilt exchange. I may have mentioned before that a group of us from my old neighborhood used to quilt together. Of the 15 or so of us only two still live in that neighborhood, but we've been able to continue to do block exchanges. This time we are planning on doing a blue and cream quilt. I still need more blues, but this is the fabric I'm using. Those two plans got put away when we bought bunk beds for my boys. We had been looking and looking for a few months now and finally found some we liked and that were sturdy. I already made Caleb's quilt but hadn't even started Jake's because he was still in a crib. My other projects of the week were put away to get moving on his quilt. I figured it wouldn't take too long to do since it's so easy...... Several weeks ago I was asked to teach a block of the month quilt for my church. We had planned on one quilt where everyone chose their own patterns, but people wanted to do it who had never quilted before so we decided to do a quilting basics class. Tuesday was when we scrapped the other quilt ( no pun intended) and I started planning the new one. I want to start very basic and each month get a little bit harder.

Another surprise came yesterday morning as we were getting ready for church. My husband was getting breakfast for my boys while I showered. When I was done the hot water would not turn off. I gave it a strong turn and it went off. I didn't think much about it at first until Jeff came down about 20 minutes later and the water was still running. He couldn't get it off at all! So, while I took my kids to church Jeff stayed home turning off the water to the house and trying to figure out the problem. He was able to get there only a little late, but we now only have cold water. My kitchen is stacked with dirty dishes, nobody has showered or bathed. And laundry is (ok, already was) stacked to the ceiling. So once the problem is fixed I have a lot of cleaning to do before I can get too far on quilting. Wish us luck... and hot water!

Also, I did get this blog award from Anna. Thanks so much!

Loch Lomond Quilt Show

Today was our First Annual Loch Lomond Quilt Show. All of us at one time or another lived in the Loch Lomond Subdivision in Saratoga Springs. All of us but two have now moved. Here is a picture of us taken just before the show. Every year since 2005 we have done a group exchange quilt. As you look at the pictures the shoo-fly blocks are from our first exchange. The house blocks are from the second, the nine patches are from last year. I loved the way Kristin's yard looked with all the quilts. If it wasn't for sun, rain or other weather damage I'd display all my quilts in my yard all the time!

This is one of my quilts from a few years ago.
Here are some 9 patches.

The pink and green quilt is also mine.
Strawberry Lilies is mine too.
Erica's beautiful snowflakes.

The baskets are mine and the flowers are Kristin's.
Elisa's cute robot quilt.
Erica's quilt. This is one of my favorites of hers.
Here's another 9 patch.

My butterfly and Halloween quilts.

A house and 9 patch both from exchanges.

A few shoo fly quilts.


Here are the star blocks we exchanged today. We each made a star block out of the Prairie Paisley fabric and kept one and made 11 to share.

This is the back of Anna's group quilt from a year ago.
House quilts from the second exchange.




The next several are from the exchange at the beginning of last year. I love to see how everyone put theirs together. I didn't take any of mine from any of the exchanges. I love to see how the exact same blocks in the same fabric can all look so different when different people put them together.

Amy's Martha Stewart quilt made of Martha's dish towels. I LOVE this one.

I love this vintage space baby quilt Amy made. I am really liking vintage kid fabric lately. I had to take an up close picture. The colors in this are so bright and happy.

Our first quilt show was a success. It was so fun to have so many people come out to see our quilts!