Picots, Prairies, And Pffffs!

Confession: I never knew what a picot was, until just a few minutes ago. Our son has a quilt his grandma made him when he was a baby, quilted by hand and bound with prairie points. He's always referred to the points as "picots". I just thought they were a funny name he'd given them, but he says that is what his grandma always called them. So, I looked it up, and a picot is a decorative loop edge in embroidery or lace. Well, what do you know!

Pinned and ready to go.

I've totally snuck this little quilt in, and whoo hoo! it's actually finished! My mom asked me to make a little baby quilt for a friend of hers who is a first time grandma.

I showed the flimsy to my husband who said it was nice, 'and you know the baby would like those little pointy things to stick his fingers in'. The little pointy things being picots, or prairie points, depending on your perspective. I did have a pile of leftover scraps from the front of the quilt, and suddenly they had a purpose! I could use them all up as the "little pointy things".

Sewing these on was much easier than I anticipated.

Everything was going great, and then, I got to the end of the scraps. I needed 58 points, I had 55 and I was 12 square inches short. Now, I knew I could go back to the LQS, and find one more FQ. But... This particular LQS, which I love because they've expanded and they carry tons of great stuff - has now put in a little heater gizmo in the back that pfffffs out a scent every 45 seconds. After five minutes in there I had a miserable headache that stuck with me all day. Later, when I ironed the pfffff smell was still embedded into the fabrics! Needless to say, I chose not to go back and deal with more pfffffs. 

When there is no clothesline, use a fence. The quilt is ~ 35" x 40" before the addition of the prairie points.

Instead, I raided the stash for 12" of something similar. The little quilt was cute to begin with, but the prairie points really added some fun factor to it. A great suggestion by the husband. So I've been pondering, do husbands actually know best? Hmm mm...

Photo shoot outtake with Curly!

 Best,

Heather

Linking up to Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and
Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict!

A windy, windy day

By some miracle, we haven't lost power at the house today. This morning's weather report called for "a weak system to move through the area this afternoon, and clear out by this evening." Umm, no that is not what happened - at all. It is SO WINDY! two power poles fell down, one just north of the house, and one to the south, and somehow we still have power. Thankfully! because I have a pot roast in the crock pot. 

Awwww skunky HST's

Anyway, I've been making some progress on the next baby quilt. I even ran out today and picked up fabric for the backing. The unusual (for me) aspect of this one is that I'm doing a little applique. And boy did this quilt need it!

It's cute, sure, but it was really lacking in the pizzazz department.

It's a pumpkin!

I really like the way the applique extras are coming along. It's adding so much to the quilt! Every time (it's rare) that I do applique, I think how awesome it is, how I can make any shape I want, and why don't I do this more often?

Then I get to the blanket stitching. Ah, yes, the blanket stitching...

Looks pretty good... but...

How tedious is the blanket stitching? Will it ever end? Why did I do this? I mean it just goes on forever. And I'm not even doing a lot of it.

Ben totally agrees, blanket stitching is soooo dull. 

Curly's OK with it.

Best,
Heather

HST Baby Quilt

We have another baby coming in the family, and I puzzled for quite a while as to what to make. I wandered into a LQS and saw the cutest little fabrics in the fat quarter sale bin. They have skunks! Any fabric that is cute and that has skunks on it is aces in my book!

I matched the print with some solids, some of which are also new additions to the stash. 

Center = Woodland Tails Owls in Cream by Sheri Berry for Riley Blake

Everything else is a Moda Bella solid, with one *exception*. They are from clockwise, Amelia Apricot, Parchment, Celery, Soft Yellow (? I think), Betty's Teal, *American Made Brand* Periwinkle, Little Boy Blue, and Breeze.

I decided, as usual, to make this up as I go. So I made up a bunch of HST's. There are as many ways to make HST's as there are ways to arrange them! I decided to use my trusty ruler from Fons & Porter.

That's right, I used a pencil. This is straight up old school here.

And I pinned. I figure that the amount of time it takes me to pin is less than I would spend constantly checking the alignments as I chain pieced. Off I went...

..and had a few trimmings to show for it. (Always with HST's, right!)

The big reveal will have to wait. The HST's are not the end of things though. I plan on getting my "Podunk" on, and doing some... applique. Dum dum dummmmm. Lee Anne makes it look so darn easy, and I need it for this quilt. So. Stay tuned. It could get real crazy up in here.

In honor of my cute new woodland additions to the stash, I'll be linking this post up with the Glittering and travelin' Molli Sparkles and his guest host for Sunday Stash!

Oh - and this quilt? It's patiently laying out on the guest bed waiting for it's last border to go on.

Best,
Heather

Retro Finish - "Parker's Ducks"

OK, I fully admit to dawdling when it comes to finishing my November goal for the Lovely Year of Finishes over at Sew Bittersweet Designs.
Or as my dear husband says, I dawdle dawdle dawdle. But I have my reasons! 1) I threw my back out and have been hobbling around for almost a week, and 2) I hate quilt basting. I use the pin & floor method, which is a topic for another day. Don't even start me on my hatred of spray basting.

Since I have no current progress elsewhere, I thought I'd search through my photos and share with you some projects I completed pre-blog, aka a Retro Finish.

Little boy baby blanket

 This was a little baby blanket I completed for a cousin's firstborn, and the first great-grandchild for my aunt and uncle. Although the top is pieced, I used the concept illustrated in this tutorial for completing it - except my top and bottom were the same size. What makes this one special is the fabrics used. The solid blue sheeting and patterned brown/blue cotton were used as tablecloths at mom's baby shower. The duck fabric remnants came from a quilt I made for baby's great-grandpa, who passed from cancer. Little Parker won't remember his great-grandpa, but he'll know his blankie was cut from the same cloth as his great-grandpa's.

Dramatic artsy shot draped over the rock wall. (I have no quilt holder-upper helpers!)

 I decided to fussy cut the ducks, and what ever height / width I needed to form rows, I'd just make up a block or two as needed. There was no agonizing or fussing over which blocks to create, I decided to keep it simple, and I think it turned out great. Best I can recall, this ended up being about 35x45-ish. There is no batting or quilting, and the back is made up of the solid blue sheeting. It turned out as a very nice, lightweight summertime baby blanket, great for car or stroller outings.

Linking up to Krista for Throwback Thursday!

Best,
Heather