Lummi Island Get Away

The spring sun shined on a little get-away for me this week to Lummi Island.  To say thank you, I made these placemats for the Retreat that is owned by my sisters and brothers in law.

The pond invites birds in the daytime and frogs at night: red winged blackbirds, heron, ducks.

A flowering plum tree:

Mount Baker (looking west) from the beach a short walk from the house:

The little ferry:

The sounds at twilight enchanted me.  The frogs and late birds contrapuntal chorus. . .

 One more quilting related photo . . .

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts

I have made several quilts before I started this blog, so I'll post photos of the oldies.  

I have this little one hanging on the end of my kitchen cabinet.  My counters are turquoise, and this one fits right in.  Stats: 19.5 X 21.5 inches.  Circle quilted.  

After this quilt, I decided to try the spiral quilting. . . so much easier, as there is no starting and stopping.

Big Zig Baby Quilt.  This one was for a baby born to my daughter's good friend.  Miss L is now 6 months old, and  this was a shower gift.  My daughter chose the fabrics and the design.  I love a good chevron.

This quilt made me laugh every time I worked on it.  My great-niece graduated from high school, and loves ELVIS, so here he is:

I was happy to find two Elvis fabrics . . . one featuring this face: A Young Elvis face.  The colors turned out just right.  It's my only churn dash quilt, but I liked how the frame look really works here.
I couldn't find a photo of the finished quilt.  I put a black/white dotted fabric for sashing and black print binding.  Quilted in the walking foot zig-zag.  My great niece was thrilled.

Little Foxes Baby Boy Quilt -- Finished!

Hooray for babies!  Baby quilts are quick and easy.  This one is for a baby boy to be born in August.  (I'm a little ahead of myself.)

Here's the fox in the woods fabric that created the color scheme:

My granddaughter did the quilt holding.  Of course, she tried another pose. . .

Over the deck railing . . .

The back is flannel.  I pre-washed it, but haven't washed the finished quilt.  Hope it will still be cozy
after washing.

Linking up toCrazy Mom Quilts.  We missed you, Amanda Jean.  Hope you had a nice March break.

"One Hundred Blocks" Sampler -- One A Day

The Tula Pink book, One Hundred Blocks has been on my book shelf for a couple of years.  I knew that I would one day start in on the blocks.  After reading lots of blogs, (I'm sorry, but I don't remember which one) I was inspired to do this big project "one a day."

I have now done the first 15 "cross" blocks, and here are a few:

I decided to use solids, as that would help me with another challenge, using these piles of solids that I have been collecting.

The colors in the book are inspiration for the color scheme of the blocks.

This is really an exercise in precision.  Each block is 6.5".  Well, each block is supposed to be 6.5 inches!

I find that some are more precise than others.  Some of these little blocks have 20 + pieces!

Each block will have sashing, so I will hopefully have the precise look that I'm going for.

My process is to cut carefully and stitch one block per day.  I'm doing them in order.  I decided that I can look ahead to the next day's block to choose fabrics, but that is all.  Like other quilting, (and potato chips,) once you get started, it's difficult to stop with just one.  I had a guest last week, and my guest room doubles as my sewing space, so I did work ahead to account for the missed days.

I got to hear Tula Pink speak at the Sewing Expo last year.  Go hear her if you ever get a chance.  She's funny and inspiring.  Her fabrics and quilts are beautiful.