Mother's Birthday Present-Completed Project No. 1

If you follow my blog, you know that I'm always in a quandary as what to give mother for a birthday present. My "go to" item in the past has been pillows with a photo on them. This year is going to be a little different.
My inspiration is a granddaughter in the band at the University of Alabama and I was thinking that something pertaining to "Roll Tide" would be appropriate. (Not to be confused with the grandson who is at Auburn University, "War Eagle." Yes, we are a family divided.)
So, here is mom's birthday present and for once, I finished ahead of schedule. (Sis, be looking for it in the mail.)

New Years Resolution: 17 completed projects in 2017. This is no. 1, 16 left to go.)

Birthday Present In The Mail

As the norm, I am making mother's birthday present . . . a pillow with a photo. Trying to select which picture was a tough choice. There was a picture of the group who went to see "Star Wars," pictures of the grandchildren, and a couple of miscellaneous group shots from different events. None of those struck me with any bright ideas. Then my sister sent me a picture and I decided that was the one.

This year the picture I am using is that of mother's darling baby boy as a four year old. (My little brother is now over 6 ft. tall and 50-something.) The black and white photo would work well with black and white fabrics, so the decision was made and I went to work.

Happy Birthday mom.

My Inner Geek

One of my favorite TV shows is about a couple of geeks and their lack of social skills. I have noticed that one of the things in their apartment is a Rubik's cube tissue holder. Since I need another tissue holder, I decided this would be the model for my next little project.

In order to make sure my color placement was correct, I went diving into the storage boxes in the basement to find a cube as my model. I would hate for some cube  aficionado to say my color placement wasn't possible.

Yes, the geek in me has come out again. Gotta put the kibosh on that get back to quilting.

What is on the design wall?

"Bubble Gum Explosion," or as my sister calls it, "Bubble Gum Fiesta." (Haven't decided on a title yet, still thinking about it.) This is the latest project on my design wall, and now it's finished. Whew! So, off the design wall and into a box, traveling cross country to the LAer.

Once again, I used a bali pop. A watermelon bali pop to be exact. (I have a box full of those things and I think they are multiplying.) The blocks are 16" and the quilt turned out quite large. It looks complicated but was very easy and I like the variety of the fabrics.

Speaking of bali pops and variety, have you seen the latest series? No fun prints, just monochromatic colors. What's the fun in that? Good thing I've got a few more stashed.

A few left to go........

One of the BOMs I am currently working on, Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen, is almost done. Two more done and two left to go.

This has been a fun little quilt to make. I plan on keeping this one.

Peachtree Road Race T-shirt

Over the years I have run walked the Peachtree. Held in Atlanta, Georgia on the 4th of July. It is the world's largest 10k road race with over 60,000 participants. Everyone who finishes receives a t-shirt where the competition for the winning design has become very competitive in the design realm.

Let me begin by telling you, I do not do t-shirt quilts. There are so many issues when working with t-shirts and I elect not to mess with them. That aside, I decided to clinch my teeth and make one. Not only that, I needed to clean out closet space and Peachtree t-shirts were taking up a lot of valuable hanger area.

I surfed the internet and looked at hundreds of t-shirt quilts. I didn't like the ones where each t-shit was cut to the same size. Also, I didn't like the ones where each had a border because they were way too large and jamming all the t-shirts together wasn't appealing. I tried a couple of different layouts and finally decided on a mix of something that appealed to me.

Next item of business, get it quilted and add the binding. I think I found the perfect binding fabric. I'm partial to stripes, especially with slime green. What do you think about this fabric?

For those of you who are wondering, once again I have entered the lottery for a number in this years Peachtree. Haven't decided if I am going to use it or not, but I could always use the 2013 t-shirt as a quilt label. The hubby was also entered for a number and we both expect to receive one. (His start wave will be much earlier than mine.) If anyone is looking for a number, please let me know.

OMG! I almost forgot!

My mother's birthday falls in February, the short month. As usual it snuck up on me again and this morning I woke up thinking I've got to get her present in the mail. With President's Day, the mail will be a day or two late so I've got to get going. Now, what do I send her? In the past, if I was going to be there, I'd pick up a light fixture or kitchen faucet and install it. She's got everything she could ever need and if there was anything she wanted, she would just go buy it. You know, one of those hard to buy for people.

Well, there is this photo that family and friends will recognize. I decided to use that and create something. After a trip to the store for buttons and stuffing, but I am quite please with my little creation. Photo coloring is a little strange as it is a picture from 1976 and using Printed Treasures is always an adventure.

OK sis, what are you going to do?

Mistletoe

When I first saw Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen, my favorite block was the Mistletoe Block. This week, BOM #6 came in the mail, and guess which one it was.

 

After completing the block, it is still my favorite. 6 blocks down and 4 to go.

Kris Came To Visit

Last weekend I received the fourth BOM block from one of my current projects, Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen. I ripped that package open and got right on it. These blocks are quite large and finish up quite quickly. So, please meet Kris Kringle.

...and a note to the LAer, don't worry, all the buttons and 3 dimensional pieces (mustache) will be removed before I send it to you.

Christmas Favorites

I've started yet another BOM. This time it is Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen from an on-line fabric shop. The project consists of 10 blocks which are quite large, but I must admit, the fabrics are what grabbed me. The first month was a delight to make and after I finished it, I decided to call him George.

One of the stitches used in this project is a blanket stitch. Do you know how long it took me to find it on my sewing machine? Let's put it this way, the stitch number is 329 on a Bernina 185.

Countdown is on. . .

While constructing a quilt, do you ever get to the point where you are counting down the number of seams left to finish a project? Well, I am at that point with my current project. This is the second time I have made Judy Niemeyer's Glacier Star, and I should have learned from the first time I made this pattern that getting to the end is a very painful and tiring process. However, it will be glorious and well worth the effort. Why else would I have made it twice?

Never the less, I am pushing on ward. Last night I counted the number of seams left to go and I have 85 left. 85 left!?! I have created entire quilt tops with less seams than that. One day I will sit down and count the number of pieces and the total number of seams for that pattern. (It doesn't take much to entertain me.)

Didn't I tell you it would be worth it?

What am I working on?

One of my co-workers stopped me the other day and asked why I wasn't posting pictures of things I was working on. She sees me occasionally during lunch working on a block and she asked me to post them so, here goes.

I have always loved Baltimore Album Quilts and one day I will have one. This block is called "Tree of Life." The entire quilt will be hand stitched, including the quilting. It is taking a long time, but when it is finished, I hope it will be one of those "wow!" quilts.

On to my next current project. . .

This block is called "Hunka, Hunka Burning Love" and is a tribute to Elvis.

I can tell when my husband is not interested in one of my projects. He says, "That isn't staying here is it?" However, when I started this block, he was so concerned with my tribute to Elvis and was checking it occassionally to make sure the sideburns were added. When I finished it, I made sure it met his approval.

This block is part of a little project I have going on. When I started this endeavor, I was concerned that no one would help out, however, I would like to thank Linda in Iowa for being the first to add her block to the festivities.

I'll be posting updates as they come in. It is going to be a nice suprise.