In the mail

Finished up this quilt and got it in the mail today.  This is for my first student teacher who had a baby a couple weeks ago.  She wanted to be surprised and found out he was a boy the day he was born.  Very few people wait anymore to know the gender of their baby.  She said there were so few surprises left these days, she was looking forward to being surprised.  I've had that baseball fabric since my oldest was little, probably 20 years or so!  I think it aged just long enough.

Another challenge quilt top done

Here's the second quilt from my quilt book challenge.  Took about 2 hours of sewing this morning.  It was nice to have that much time to sit and sew.

Quilt book challenge quilt

 Here's the book I'm starting with on my quilt book challenge, and here is the first quilt top finished in about 1 1/2 hours start to finish.  It's the first quilt in the book and I plan to work my way through the book, finishing a quilt each week.  Then, I will move on to the next book on the shelf.  Hopefully I can make lots of quilts, use up lots of fabric and learn new things.  Once finished, this quilt will be going to a former student teacher of mine who recently had a baby boy.  I picked out a soft flannel backing and hope to get it quilted tonight or tomorrow.

Lead me not into temptation

This morning I had to go on Amazon to get some books for my daughter's birthday.  She is so funny and is still asking for more and more books for her birthdays.  She is in grad school for creative writing and has known that she wanted to be a writer since she wrote her first book at age 4.

Well, when you check out of Amazon, it takes you to a Suggestions for You page and guess what books they suggeted I buy?  More quilt books!  Good thing I had to go to work or I might have been tempted to get another quilt book.

Then, at the grocery store, I went down the magazine isle.  Our WinCo has the biggest selection of magazines of any grocery store I've seen.  Even more than WalMart.  I looked at a couple of quilt magazines and one had quite a few quilts I thought I would make.  But then I thought about my challenge and how I haven't even started the first quilt yet.  Surely I could make it through a day without buying a new quilt book. 

Someone needs to stop me.  There is just too much temptation out there!

Off to cut up some fabric.  I have a baby quilt to make.

Quilt Book Challenge

Take a quick look on your shelf where you keep your quilting books and guess how many you have.  I would say I have about 50.  Not a lot compared to some, and quite a few compared to others.  But, take a closer look and from those quilt books you just HAD to have when you saw them in the quilt shop, or online, how many quilts have you actually made using those patterns?

I tend to make the same quilts over and over again.  While this isn't such a terrible crime, I decided it was time to challenge myself to branch out and actually use the quilt books I purchased.  I'm always so tempted to buy the next quilt magazine, when I'm not actually making any of the quilts in them.  Two years ago, I bought a HUGE stack of magazines from the local quilt show.  I would go through each bundle and pick out the magazines with quilts I liked.  And that was it.  The magazines went back into a bag and are now stored under my bed.

So, I picked out a quilt book that I've been staring at each time I quilt.  It is on the top of the stack of quilt books on my shelf and I bought it for the title, plus the quilts inside are cute and quick to make (or so the book claims).  I sat down the other night and made a post it note for each quilt.  There are 10 different ones in this book, and I listed how many fabrics were needed and how big to cut the strips.

Now to take things one step further and actually start cutting and sewing.  I'm going to put the book on my cutting table and challenge myself to make a different quilt every week.  In 2 1/2 months, I will have made each quilt in the book (there are 10 patterns) and then will move on to the next quilt book.  Hopefully I can keep this up as I work through my stacks of quilt books and actually use them to learn new skills and make new quilts.

Will you join me in this challenge?  Even if it isn't to make every quilt you have a pattern for (sometimes I do buy a book for just that one quilt pattern) I hope you will take a second look at all of the ideas and inspiration found in the pages of the books you own.

Doctor Visit today

I made the appointment on Saturday (I do love Kaiser for their online services) because my ankles have been swelling up since I started my new migraine medicine.  I went in today, fully expecting my ankles to NOT be swollen because every time I go to the doctor, my symptoms go away.  Well, luckly, or not, they were still swollen.  My doctor has no idea why.  He is running some blood work and wants me to get an EKG just to check and make sure my heart is ok. The new migraine medicine is a beta blocker and is supposed to lower blood pressure and make your heart beat regularly.  Mine skips a beat more often than before I was on the meds.   I was able to get the blood work done, but have to go back tomorrow for the EKG.  I'm hoping that nothing is really wrong because the migraine meds seem to be helping quite a bit.  Last week I only had a migraine 3 times instead of 6 :)

busy, busy

 This quilt top was pieced by a member of the local quilt guild and donated to Binky Patrol.  The lady who donated it said she just couldn't see herself finishing it up so do with it whatever we wanted.  I just love the color choices and how perfectly her corners match.  One day I will get this precise too!

 This one is a mish mash of leftover pieces, cut 3 1/2 inches x 6 1/2 inches or 3 1/2 inches square.

And this one was made by my friend Rebecca who sewed together many 1/2 square triangles we cut with the Accuquilt Studio at one of our quilt days at Carla's house.  The top left block had a hole in the middle, so I just sewed a heart over it and I think it adds to the quilt.  I know these quilts will be loved soon.  They will go to my binding buddy, Rhoda tomorrow and she can get them all bound in an afternoon.  That lady is quick!

UCLA wins

My daughter sent in her letter of intent last night and will be a UCLA Bruin in the fall.  I'm so excited for her.  She got a UCLA Alumni scholarship and will be part of a great mentoring program.

We also filled out the housing request last night and she is excited for the next chapter of her life to begin.  Of all of the UC schools we visited, this was by far the most beautiful.  I grew up in So. Cal (Long Beach) and visited UCLA when I was in high school.  I do not remember it being so pretty, but that was a long time ago.

She has been interviewing like crazy for scholarships and so far has $5K.  There will be some major loans taken out I'm sure and I hope the investment pays off.  I remember back when I was in school and it was only $1500 a year tuition.  Surely I can't be that old!

I LOVE this pattern

Quilted this up this morning, inbetween laundry and shampooing the carpets.  Oh, joy!

I just love this quilt pattern and promise one day to make this for myself.  I believe this one will go to West, Texas after binding.  I am sending a dozen quilts this afternoon.  I know they are needed.

Ordered more batting

I've got about half a roll left of batting so that means time to get some more.  I always order this Kodel batting from JoAnns.com and am very happy with it.  50 yards for $58 including shipping with the 50% off coupon on the website.  I can't get batting cheaper locally.  It is 48 inches wide which is perfect for most of my quilts.  Bigger quilts just get a strip added to the side.  I don't sew the batting together and because it is poly, it sticks together and doesn't clump up or stretch to make holes.  The quilts wash up nicely too and are just the right amount of fluffy.