FMQ - Sew Cal Gal Challenge for May

FMQ May, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Wow, this month just FLEW by, and I almost forgot to do this! Here's my May submission/piece for Sew Cal Gal's FMQ Challenge.

I didn't have anything laying around that I thought this pattern would be appropriate for (and I have yet to put together the sampler piece I'd meant to at the beginning of the challenge) so I resorted to quilting scraps of fleece again.

The bottom center part looks odd because the fleece layer below was catching on the needle plate. But all in all it is a cute pattern and really does remind me of railroad tracks!

I've Been Nominated!

Thank you to my generous friends who nominated me in Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival for Mum's quilt. They've finished the nomination portion and now it's time to VOTE for your favorites! Here's the link, if you'd like to participate bloggers-quilt-festival-vote-now


There isn't much time, as the winners will be announced at the end of the week, so please vote ASAP. There are so many lovely quilts to choose from!

Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay after washing DSCN7274, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Wow, this is the 6th of six baby quilts I was making this spring. I had made another top with these fabrics (except the Kona solid) and while I liked it, the borders had "issues" and while trying to figure out how to fix them I saw a cute idea on Pinterest.

This, however, is NOT that idea, LOL! The idea was to make an interlocking chain-like design with the prints making one set of chains and the solids making the other. It was actually a tessellation, and while it looked really cool in general I decided that I liked this layout better for these fabrics. (Both designs are a simple 2 bar rail fence block.)

If you click on the photo you can see more close ups of the quilting, before and after I washed it.

It's-a Me, Mario!

It's-a Me, Mario! 7260, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Well, Mario is finished AND delivered! Little Conrad was born very early today and it was my day off so I drove out to the hospital to deliver it to him personally. His mom, Christina, gave it a glowing review...but she had been up for over 36 hours straight so she may have just been delirious ;)

Click on the picture to go to my Flickr page to see some close ups of the quilting, etc. Thanks for looking!

Always helping...

Always helping..., a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
When I turned away for a minute Smokey firmly planted herself onto a corner of the quilt, and cranked up her motor. She loves quilts!!

I'll be finishing the binding and label soon so I can deliver this next week!

Mum's Special Quilt

AmysCreativeSide.com is running a really neat Quilt Festival right now, complete with a contest! Here is my entry, #563:

One of the reasons I became interested in quilting was to make special gifts for friends and family.

My mother tried to teach me to sew clothes when I was younger, but I wasn't all that interested. I didn't know about quilting, or the creative process it could encompass.

A few years ago I began quilting, and knew that I'd make something special for her one day. She and I both love Laurel Burch and when I saw this panel I just knew it would be the right starting point for her quilt.

I designed my own Dahlia applique pattern, and spent months carefully stitching down each little petal. In the end, one of the more challenging aspects of this project was turning those tubes inside out to make the stems!

FMQ on my Singer 404

With its beautiful gold accents, the Laurel Burch panel was just begging me to quilt it in gold...but I was new to FMQ and not familiar at all with using metallic threads. Through trial and error (and a lot of help from my friends on about.com!) I finally got the right combination of needle and thread and did some really fun, swirly quilting in the flowers. I also did outline quilting on the animals in the pattern.

Here we are, holding up the final quilt! She was afraid to use it at first, but I insisted that it was made to be snuggled under, not just displayed!

Mia and Landon's I Spy Quilts

Twins 7228, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Well, I finished the quilts, and as of last weekend they were delivered to the twins' grandfather so I assume they've been received my now. (Update: I heard from the grandma and they're already being used, yay!)

This was my first time doing a novelty/I Spy quilt and also the first time doing quilts for twins so this was a lot of fun! The babies belong to my husband's cousin, Jeff and his beautiful wife Katie.

Be sure to click on the first photo to go to the Flickr album as there are several more pics there to see, including close up shots of the quilting, Smokey inspecting the quilts, and to see the awful poetry on the labels! ;)

I'm also entering this into The Bloggers Quilt Festival. If you'd like to see the contest and other participants you can click here. Changed my mind, see the newer post!!

Devyn's Paisley Owl

Finished this owl quilt the other day for my co-worker/friend Holly. Saw the baby yesterday and she's so precious! I had given the finished quilt to a mutual friend on Tuesday to deliver it, but would've held onto it had I known the were coming by work Thursday. So I will have to get a pic of Devyn WITH the quilt later.

Thanks to Melisa for holding it up for the photo. More pics including a close up later. I'll also post the sketch for the design once I'm home.

(note: the owl looks a little discolored in the middle because the fleece backing is showing through. There is no batting in between)

Hospice Quilt

Awhile back I posted pics of two blocks I made for a quilt to be donated to the hospice in memory of our quilty friend Chris who passed away last year. The quilt has been quilted beautifully by our friend Hilda using a panto called Rita's Feather http://www.patternman.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=604

The block pattern is "10th Star" by Marcia Hohn and is available here http://quilterscache.com/V/VOS_TenthStarBlock.html

The block on the right in the photo is mine :)

We're hoping they raffle the quilt because we all want to buy tickets!!

Under the Stairs

This snowshoe hare is hanging out under our stairs today. S/he was there for a bit yesterday too, but s/he does go out when it's dark. I think they may be close to getting ready to molt, as their coat is looking rather shaggy. I'm sure they're happy where they are, because it's warm and dry and a bit shaded :)

I'm shooting straight down through the metal grates, so that's what the pinkish thing is on the left. Enjoy!!

City Bunnies!

Saw a couple of these cuties in the yard while looking out the kitchen window. This one didn't mind too much when I snuck outside to snap some pictures :)