Progress on the Man Quilt

Today, I spend my day (off and on), chopping up rotary cutting nearly 10 yards of fabric.  That amount seems really high, but that's the correct amount. 

These are the results:

Sorry the photos are so dark...but it's late and I just took my photos.  I left my "good" camera at my brother's house several weeks ago and I haven't gotten it back yet.

At least I'm all ready to start sewing this on Thursday.  

Re-visiting the List

Current projects that must be finished:

• Three Two Ice Cream Dresses (one for my great niece and two for step-nieces) - I just finished one up today and started on another....    DONE

Quilts and Other Projects for the Summer:

• A quilt for my husband -- I've already decided on a pattern and was lucky enough to find out that I had enough fabric in my stash to put it together, with the exception of backing  I must do the cutting this week....either tonight or tomorrow, so that I can do some stitching on Thursday.
• A quilt for my nephew -- His golden birthday is in September and I want to make him a quilt I have an idea for the quilt for my nephew, but I have seen the fabric that has struck me as the "it" fabric for this quilt...
• My best friend is having a baby in September -- and I want to make her a quilt, amongst other items, too. I think I want to make the Retro Flowers pattern and possibly use some of this fabric Pattern is purchased and I have also been relegated the duty of making the centerpieces for the shower tables, too (at a country club).  So the fabric I ended up with is Lilly Belle Cool Sunrise Palette.  I'm going to use the fabric for the quilt and then for the centerpieces (paired with some linen).  I am going to be making fabric baskets, that I will have to add some pouches to (to contain baby sized beanie babies {my friend's step-mom wanted to give these to have as gifts to the shower-goers}).  I'm planning to have flower arrangements made to fit in the middle of the centerpieces and then the baskets will go to my friend as part of her gift.  
• Finish my Birdie Stitches quilt... I have the blocks pieced, but they have to be embroidered. Is is reasonable to imagine that I can embroider one per week over the summer? Haven't done a darn thing with these... must pull them out soon... 
• Buy and make the Poppy Tunic Pattern has been purchased and an accent piece of fabric has been purchased, I just need to settle on a color for the main piece...suggestions are welcome 
• sew up these pajama pants - I bought a piece of flannel quite some time ago and I just bought the rest of the materials/notions over the weekend. Of course, it will soon be warm out and I won't really need them until next winter rolls around. nothing here, either... 
• Travel bag for myself with a couple small coordinated pouches to go with it... but I need a 24" gray zipper and I haven't found one yet... I did see a 26" gray zipper at zipit, so I may have to go with that and just cut it down (I just need to go back over the pattern to make sure it won't mess me up too much) Sent a message regarding the availability of a 24" gray zipper, so I'm just waiting to hear back

Projects that are languishing and I just want to have done, even though I don't know what I will do with them:

• A flannel quilt that I bought a quilt kit for... the top is pieced, I just have to piece the back (only because I want to put chenille on the back and the piece of chenille I have is not big enough, so I'm going to add some flannel to it). Then, I will quilt and bind it, too.  So I really wanted to keep this one for myself, but I've decided to finish it up and give it away to a girl that I used to babysit for.  She graduated college and pink is her favorite color and this has a lot of pink.  So I just need to piece the back and do some quilting and binding.  I could probably finish it in a day if I apply myself. 
• A baby quilt I started a long time ago that was supposed to be for my friend's grandson...and he's 2 now. It won't be big enough for him, but it would make a great quilt for Project Linus or something of that sort  nothing here

New projects that have been or will be added to the list:

Chicago Modern Quilt Guild: Modern Art Challenge - I'm really excited about the piece of art that I ended up with for inspiration for my partner.  It's a perfect inspiration for me and I can't wait to get started! (I was nervous about joining in on this challenge)

• Zakka Style Organizer - I have some fabric, but I just need to dig through and choose some coordinates
• I think I'm going to join the RATZ (Rapid and Tiny Zakka Swap) Swap for the month of July, too.
• I'm thinking of knitting a pair of socks (shhh...don't tell all of my knitting UFO's)

Admittedly, I've not made as much progress as I would have liked on this list.  Here's hoping that I somehow get lots of motivation and energy, real soon!

If you've read through this entire post, I'm amazed....thanks for sticking with me!

Making Lemonade

Yesterday, I was trying to sew a mitered corner baby blanket. It was supposed to be made from this fabric:



Notice the lack of mitered corners?  Yeah, I messed that part up and had to rip out three sides of stitching so that I could turn the fabric into a plain square two-sided flannel blanket.  I added some decorative stitching just to make myself feel better. Never mind that I'm not all that versed on making the decorative stitching stop properly at the end of the design, so I ran off the side of the blanket.

Then, in the evening I pulled out some more flannel and tried again.  This time I was successful.

I like how this blanket turned out, once I followed the directions properly.  Usually I make flannel blankets and use the satin blanket binding (which often times costs just as much as the flannel costs).  I'm happy to find another alternative that is just as cute and a little less costly.

Now, I have two baby blankets to add to my gift drawer.  They'll probably go to my friend who is expecting her first baby at the end of September.  I also plan on making her a quilt, but blankets are a cute and quick gift, too.