Red and Aqua Improv Quilt

My Project Imrov quilt is finished. I finally got the top quilted and bound last week. Its already spent a few nights on my little guys bed.
I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was a fun quilt to make and I think its a fun one to look at. I love the cheerful colors and the scrappiness of it.
And I'm really slow this year. This is my first official finished quilt of 2009.

thank you to everyone who commented! i really appreciated all the input! its so fun to hear all the different opinions on fabric and color.

in the end i went with the darker blue. i decided i wanted it to have a little more color so that's what i went with.

its a very simple blanket. i don't feel right calling it a quilt because there is no piecing. although, technically, it is quilted so i guess it is a quilt. a whole cloth quilt.

here it is, all gussied up and ready to go to its new home. i hope they like it!

help please

i'm making a baby blanket for a newborn boy and need some fabric advice.

i love vintage/retro baby prints. this is what i picked out at the quilt store.

the alphabet print on one side and the light blue polka dots on the other with red bias binding.

but i came home and was feeling like it was a little bit lackluster.

i turned to my stash for help and found that i had this darker blue polka dot that also works. i immediatelyl felt like this was a better choice.

however, in these pictures, i'm not sure again. which do you prefer?

and as a side note, I LOVE SANDY KLOP (American Jane for Moda) . i would love to have a little bit of everything she's ever done in my stash. and her patterns are all so great and inspiring. that's where these polkadots came from.

now, back to my blanket, i need some opinions, please!

my quilting sisters

my quilt group has exchanged quilt blocks again.

friday night was the exchange party, full of delicious food and conversations between old friends.

there were pieces of advice and opinions thrown around to be taken or not and encouragement and love for 'kindred spirits' (yes, I'm still reading the Anne series).

there were giggles and pregnant belly comparisions.

atleast that's what i hear and what i imagined.

i was 2000 miles away sitting on my couch playing dr. mario with my hubbie.

i love my hubbie. and i love dr. mario.

but i was sad about not being able to spend the evening with my quilting sisters.

here are the blocks i recieved.

great work girls!

and now i'm mulling over the endless possibilites of sashing, settings, alternate blocks, and borders. how fun!

been reading

I've been reliving my young girlhood lately through young adult fiction.

I find it much better than the depressing, political, voilent or immoral stuff written for adults. If I'm going to read I want to be uplifted or transported somewhere beautiful and full of hope and promise. Not instructed on the ugliness and immorality of the world.

Ok, enough soapbox. On to what I've been reading...

First I read Ella Enchanted. I have not seen the movie. Is it good? The book was very fun. I like Cinderella stories. I like any book that takes a traditional story and fills me in on the details that might have been left out of the original telling.

[Speaking of Cinderella stories, I liked this one better than Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, although that good too. This one still has magic.]



And now I'm reading Anne of Green Gables. I am a HUGE Anne of Green Gables fan. I have been ever since it was first aired on PBS when I was Anne's age. I defy any woman to tell me they don't love Anne of Green Gables. How can you not love all the innocent, beautiful, romanticism in this book? And how can you not love, Gilbert?! Tell me that!

The only thing I've found that Anne and I disagree on is the fact that she doesn't think there is any "scope for imagination in patchwork." I'm afraid that might be a sign of immaturity. :)

But um, here's my confesssion. Although I've been a long time fan of Anne of Green Gables, can quote her, compared my beaus to Gilbert, and just generally wished I was more Anne-like, this is my first time reading the books!

So there hasn't been much sewing going on around here lately. I'm too busy remembering all my young girl dreams and fantasies as I dive into young adult fiction.

Scrappy Mosaic

My Scrappy Mosaic Squares quilt is almost done! I just have to put on the borders and quilt it! I really don't think this picture does it justice. I'm just bursting at the seams with happiness for how this turned out.

Why do I love this quilt?

Well,
1. It's scrappy- beautiful and fun to look at. I could stare at it for hours.
2. Red, Blue, Yellow, White and Green- my favorites.
3. My sister and I have both been making the same quilt pattern. Her mosaic top is almost done too.
4. It's Scrappy- Cheap!
5. Lots of pieces. Yes, I love lots of piecing. I drive myself absolutely crazy most of the time. But in the end its what I love.
6. This was so fun to make because there were endless possibilites for patterns within the 7 x7 squares block.


I got the idea from Nanette (isn't hers just gorgeous?!) and found the pattern at the McCalls quilting website.

Today, as I was finishing, and then watching my sister lay her blocks out on the floor, we pointed out which block we'd exchanged. (I made one for her quilt and she made one for mine.)

As a regular quilt exchange participant, I thought how this block would be a very fun one for a block exchange. There is so much room for creativity with this pattern.

Dia de 30

Thanks for indulging my little blog pity party and leaving sweet comments for my birthday.

This birthday was a little hard psychologically but I really had a great day.

I cleaned house because I wanted to (which makes a huge difference!), sewed, chatted all afternoon with my sister (who has already passed 30), ate the most beautiful and delicious chocolate cake made by said sister, played Ticket to Ride with hubbie, my sister and her hubbie, and then topped the day off with a very fun episode of Psych, my current favorite tv show.

And now that the Dia de 30 is over, I'm not stressing about that number anymore and life is grand.

(I don't really speak Espanol. Had you going there, didn't I?)