The Birthday quilt, that almost was'nt... (part II)

A quiet weekend around here.  Which is a good thing as I am fighting with a cold, it's trying to take over and I am fighting back but, starting to feel like I am loosing ground. 

However, lots of quiet time allowed me to finish the binding on the Birthday quilt...

If you  look straight across the middle, this is where the extra cut was made (by me!). Originally, I thought I had blown it all together and it was going to be too obvious.  BUT, I sewed it back together and pondered.  Here is my thought... this is a quilt for my 2 year old grandson, it is not a "show quilt" nor is it a quilt made for a bed spread,  it is meant to be drug around and cuddled with.  It is meant to be loved.  I don't think he or his dad will notice the flaw.

Here is the big picture...  I love the colors and masculine designs.  I have had a hard time finding fabric for boys that I like. I also came to the conclusion, so what if it is a little messy, it's no different than grama's kisses...XOX

The Birthday quilt, that almost was'nt... (part I)

This is "The Birthday Quilt, that almost wasnt."

                                                                     The binding.

                                                                      The backing.

 This will be for my youngest grandson Lane, who will be 2 in April. I fell in love with this line of fabric and knew that I would have to make it for one of the grandsons. I have done this pattern before and goes together quick and looks more complicated than it actually is. Well, this time it did get complicated! I mis-cut, giving me an extra seam on the bias, as if two weren't bad enough. It was REALLY wonky. My heart sunk, the flaw runs right through the middle of the quilt and jumps out at me!

I left it for a couple weeks, not wanting to quilt it.  I had planned to do it myself and when I went to lay it out, the wonky was even more obvious.  I have a friend who has a long arm and she thought it could be saved, so off it went.  It's now back and I am working on the binding. Stay tunned...

Pin cushion...

In the previous post I showed you the pin cushion I sent my partner.  Well this is what I recieved back!

Isn't it awesome?  Classic...you, just can't go wrong with Red, White, & Blue!!!  She also included a needle case.  Thanks so much,  I know they will get great use!

Don't, seal that envelope...

Without taking a picture, or two.  I am participating in a couple pincushion swaps this spring. The first one wraps at the end of the month and this should have been in the mail a week ago as it has to travel to Canada.  When SO got home from work Friday evening he said "pack a bag" were making a road trip to Minnesota!  Army man is flying out, Saturday night back to Alaska for 20 days and then off to Afghanistan and I want to have dinner with him before he leaves.  We were in the car ready to go and I ran back into the house to get the pin cushion, telling SO, this has to ship this weekend! 

So away we went... We got to SO's folks home (the in laws) @ 2am.   Saturday morning I got up and made my way to Target to get a shipping envelope.  I was in the parking lot, addressing the envelope when it occurred to me that I had taken a picture,!   So ... here are a couple quick shots, courtesy of a shopping cart.  But hey, at least I remembered!

My partner for the swap does not have a blog, so we swapped a couple emails.  I was a able to figure out she doesn't much care for pink and loves paisley!  Hope this will do! 

Saturday night we enjoyed a casual dinner with Army man and SO's parents before he left for the airport.  It was well worth the drive for a couple more hours to visit with Army man.

This is my favorite picture of SO with his boys...

SO, Boat man, and Army man.  Know that you are loved, always in our thoughts and prayers and proud to call you son, stay safe!

Busy...

Life has been busy around our place lately and not much sewing has been going on.
 
Things are getting back to normal after a week of company.  We were blessed with a visit from SO's sons.  Son #1 (Boat man) who came from Arizona with his girl friend and husky, Jaxon. Son #2 (Army man) came from Alaska.  Army man is on a short leave from the Army before he has to return to Alaska and then on to Afghanistan (proud to have him serve his country but, creates a heavy heart for his family).

There is not a whole lot of activity in Eastern Iowa this time of year.  We are waiting for spring (however  it  did get to mid 60's today, woo hoo!  We did do some eagle watching along the Mississippi (I found an eagle feather that I passed on to our guest), did some sight seeing in Galena, Illinois, spent an evening bowling, and one day the others went pheasant hunting @ a game farm(which the dog is paying for! she has not been out hunting in 2 years and over did it, she required a visit to the vet and is now under house arrest, no activity for 3 weeks!).

There were dozens of eagles in the area, which is an impressive sight!  However, my batteries were dying, so my photos were few!

I liked this shot of Army man standing on this dead tree which is frozen in the water.

This is a sign of a good fishing hole... If you click on the picture you will see at least 5 or 6 lures/bobbins which were hanging in the tree!  I will be going back here in a few months, to see for myself!

Every now and then I  was able to sneak into my sewing room to play.  I am working on "color/quiet books" for my little men.  I saw these on someone else's blog and knew I had to make my own.   I ordered the letters from the book designer here... and she cut a couple "custom colors, gray & aqua"  per my request.
Here's what I have done so far...

These are just too fun!!!

That's a wrap...

These house blocks are my final blocks for the Circuit Block Party, online Quilting Bee...

For the past year I have been a member of the Circuit Block Party, an on line quilting group.  We were 12 ladies from all corners of the world, US, Canada, UK, and Australia we had enough members that we could each have a month,  through out the year 3 dropped out leaving 9 of us.  The group is disolving,  but were offered the option to join into another group as the Bee Mom had 3 Bee groups and was combining them to make one group.  I have opted out.  It was a great adventure and definitely a growing experience but, I found myself got "hung up" on the fact that if I had bee blocks to do, I felt guilty working on my own stuff.  I know, there is that guilt word again!

 I loved seeing and touching the fabrics that the other group members would send each month with their block request.  I liked the fact that this group at times would take me out of my comfort zone and presented some new challenges, such as paper pieching that I still , don't get it and found it to be VERY frustrating.  I also discovered that I liked working on  "improve" blocks.  I had never done them before and was very intimidated by the thought but, once I got going, I had fun!  I did receive some GREAT blocks back from the group during my month and will be sharing those with you in another post, as I am ready to start creating a layout with them.

Another door closes, but the window in my mind has broaden and things I have learned belonging to this group will stay with me, as I look forward to the next phase of my quilting journey!

My Funny Valentine...

my sweet. funny valentine...

is on it's way to DD.  Madeline is no longer a UFO, but a pretty darn cute finish, if I so say so myself.
ENJOY, Jenna!  XOXO ~ mom