Purple and gold pillows ~~ 4 finishes!

I mentioned earlier that I'll have a booth in the craft show held during our quilt fair. Since I'd be sewing something anyway, I figured I'd quilt up a few pillow covers for the booth. In fact, all of the sewing I'll do between now and then will be items for the booth. 

The pillows match but are definitely not the same. I can't make two exact of anything. (That's rather boring.) So on  one the quilt there are a few small black spacers that separate parts of the pillow. The quilting on that one changes with each section. Notice the very thin line in the tiger stripe. It's a one inch strip folded in half and stitched into the seam.

The second pillow uses the same fabrics--except the black--but the sections are sewn in the same way that I make fabric with scraps. In fact, I used most of the smaller scraps left from the other three pillows. The graffiti quilting has many changing motifs repeated across the top. It's a fun design until I can't think of the next motif. I keep lots of inspiration quilts close at hand. And use them often!

These two pillows add to the ones I made a couple of weeks ago but didn't get to write about. 

The first one is just a color-block purple and gold using the same four fabrics that I used for all of the quilts. The matchstick quilting seemed to take forever. But I had fun playing with the yellow, purple and white thread. Notice how I made the one yellow chevron stand out by using yellow thread on it but purple thread on the purple chevron. Cool, right?

And the last one was actually the second one I made. Same idea of using bits and strips to create a unique pillow cover. The quilting: easy peasy crosshatch using my walking foot. It was so easy that I kind of felt like it was cheating. Honestly, I planned to use straight lines but decided it needed more. I think more was the answer, don't you?

To give you an idea of how they are alike and different at the same time, we had a little photo session this evening. I waited all day for a break in the nasty hurricane rain, but that didn't happen. I finally gave up, turned lots of lights, and snapped away. 

Can't you see these piled up on the sofa during a few purple and gold games? Or they might fit in a mancave. Marley came into the studio while I was taking pictures and practically begged for one. 

I guess I can make a few more if these sell at the craft fair. Christmas is around the corner!

A Little Linkup Love

Koka Quilts (sew stitch snap SHARE)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Old Man River Quilt Show ~~ Natchez, MS

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Natchez Quilt Show with a van of very funny ladies. Most of the "Busy Bees" are from the Fifth Ward area of our parish, but because they could not fill all of the seats on the van, they invited members of my quilt guild. Rather than drive as we did last year, Pam and I decided to take the van. 

We arrived early which gave us several hours to spend at the show; then we went to a sweet little quilt shop. More on that and more pictures from the show later in the week (I took well over 100) So I'm going to share a few of my favorites with you tonight and come back to them when I can finish the editing.

I brought a book along to read during the drive thinking that because I knew so few people, I wouldn't chat very much. Well, I didn't get much reading done. I was having too much fun talking and laughing. I took the opportunity to make some like-minded friends. I'm fairly sure I'll see them again, perhaps on a bus or van heading to a quilt show.

Here's hoping that you enjoyed my little quilt show. There were at least 100 or so quilts and I wanted to really look at a few. I took detailed pictures of some, but mostly I walked slowly and appreciated the beautiful work. Talk about inspired! I just wish I could do some of this work. 

Two things left: don't forget the poor people who are dealing with the flooding along the Gulf Coast. The rains continue and more people are being displaced. It's a horrible situation for tens of thousands of people.

Lastly, come back in a few days for more of these gorgeous quilts. Before going, do me the favor of telling me which was the last quilt show you attended and where it was. If you wrote about it on a post, feel free to include the link--I'd love to run over and have a look. Thanks y'all!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: COLLEGIATE

College classes in our area either just started or are starting this week--that is, provided that they are not in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. While we're hearing a great deal about the flooding in Houston (and well we should) there's not much being said about the surrounding areas, some quite a distance away. 

Most of the Louisiana gulf region is evacuating ahead of the storms that began moving in last night. It's going to be a miserable week for many people as they evacuate, worry about their belongings, and return to the damage. 


All that said, I thought that maybe we'd take a look at some of the quilts that are made specifically with a particular school in mind. In Louisiana, the big one is LSU, of course, and I've made a few tee-shirt memory quilts for former students who attended the purple and gold college. 

My thinking is to show quilts in different styles and colors so that they can inspire you to make a quilt with your own alma mater in mind. These won't be just LSU or Louisiana colleges (though I could do that!) just a big selection concerned more with different styles and ideas. I really like how some people got creative with their blocks and others with block fillers.

I hope you enjoy these and that they inspire you in your own quilt-making endeavors.

A degree in engineering, perhaps?

Please remember the people who are affected by Hurrican Harvey as you go about your daily living this week. And a prayer would be nice, too.

Baby Amelia Bibs ~~ finishes

taking selfies in a new bib 

Our granddaughter Dusti often works on weekend nights, and needs a babysitter. In come the grandparents, ready to cuddle, change, feed and bottle the little stinker. She seems to grow and change quite a bit from one week to the next. Last week she pushed herself backward in her stroller. This week she can push forward and pretty much go where she wants. 

Milli is a cutie! But she drools, spits, and blows bubbles non-stop. Which means she needs a clean bib quite often. So that's what DeeDee made early this week. In fact, I made four. I really like these little bibs. A friend bought one at a craft sale and asked another friend to make a few. That second friend asked me to work on a pattern. 

I made quite a few changes, but the basic idea is that there are straps so the baby's arms have something of an armhole. The straps prevent the baby from pulling the bib off, and the width and length of the bib really help catch the dribble.

It's wide enough to go under the arms a little and cover the shoulders. I bought a cotton terry from Lola Pink while there last week and also these cute baby prints. Can you believe I had no baby prints in the stash? 

Before making the first bib, I figured out how to avoid using bias to close every seam. It was bulky and looked messy unless the stitches were exact. I wasn't happy about either one, so I changed the design to add some length and to almost eliminate the bias, though it does still form the straps and a tie for the back. If I make more, I'll change the ties to velcro or snaps. Otherwise, I'm loving the four I've made. 

Linking up with

Sew Can Do (Craftastic Monday)
My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Pin It Weekly #212

I've been pinning a little lately. Most of that would be ideas for craft booths, signage, and items. My guild is having its biennial show in five weeks, and I've decided to have a booth. Hopefully I'll be able to sell some of my smaller quilts, pillow covers, and other small items. 

All of the items I have for the booth are quilted, from small purses to medium quilts, so there are those ideas. 

But~ because I've borrowed Stacey's Silhouette machine to make those signs, I've started pinning ideas and tutorials. 

My only problem or question now is whether I can learn how to use the machine in time to rework and make some of the ideas that I really like. I have decided that this is going to be a fun thing for me.

I'll enjoy the process and the time. If things go well and I have some sales, wonderful. If not, I'll be okay, plus I'll have some Christmas gifts ready for wrapping.

Win-win, don't you think?