Gray Square Scramble Baby Quilt

My daughter co-hosted a baby shower over the weekend for her best friend Karlie. I decided to make and send a baby quilt, so the last couple weeks I spent planning and sewing. Karlie's colors are rainbow, and she prefers simple to fussy; I found this Gray Square Scramble digital pattern by Corey Yoder that fit the bill. I scaled it down from twin size to about 48" x 54".

Here is what my daughter texted during the shower. Check out the darling cowboy hat and boots Karlie's mother crocheted! (Can you tell we both like exclamation points? )

Moda Marbles and a soft gray dot for the small squares; light gray for the large squares

Patio Lights from Flight Patterns collection by Tamara Kate, one of my favorites, edged with leftover blocks from the front

My husband chose Kona Coal for the binding, and I think he made a great choice!

Quilting was diagonal wavy lines to contrast the straight lines on the large squares

My next project is this cute pumpkin pillow from Stitched With Love in McKinney, TX. My daughter saw it on their website and fell in love with it, so I talked to the store owner and ordered it. My daughter is visiting later this week, so I hope to finish it. This will be my first time paper piecing, so wish me luck!

Adoption/Giveaway Winner!

Thank to all of you who participated in the Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption.

The winner of my adoption/giveaway is

Kaitlyn (Kat) Drinkwater

Kat blogs at Kat and Cat Quilts. She is an RN at a medical center in Texas and started a quilt charity for families of dying patients called Covered in Love. You can read about it here, and it will touch your heart.

Here is what she wrote on her blog about Covered in Love:

I want to build a stash of quilts for our hospital so that when a person is dying as an inpatient their nurse (perhaps accompanied by a family member) could come choose a quilt. Placing a quilt on the hospital bed would warm up the room and it would later be taken home by the family as a memento and transitional object.

Kat has a monthly block drive for these quilts, and the some of the blocks and stash I offered in my adoption actually match the palette of this month's block! Kat also likes cats, so that makes me like her even more.

Thanks to Cynthia Brunz at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework who sponsored the linky party for this event, and if you haven't yet had a chance, go to her blog and see what the other participants have to offer.

Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption

In 2010 when I started quilting, my daughter and I made a trek to Hobby Lobby where she chose fabrics for a quilt. She gave me free reign with a pattern, but I couldn't find one that looked simple enough for me, and I was clueless as to how to design one. When I finally made some blocks and arranged them on a design board, I was not satisfied with what I had done and could not find a good block arrangement. The blocks are not square, and I don't remember how or why I cut them that way (what was I thinking?) In the meantime my daughter's life changed and along with it her color choices, so I finally tucked it away for a future project. A chance at resurrection came in the form of Cynthia Brunz's Fall 2015 Quilty Orphan Adoption Event Link Up - yay! I think this is such a great idea and am very happy to adopt out some of my neglected fabrics in the hopes they will find their forever homes.

I realize that Hobby Lobby doesn't sell the finest quilting fabric, but perhaps someone has a use for my fledgling-quilter odd-sized blocks. If you can't use the blocks perhaps you have a charity group that could use them. I also have some Moda fat quarters to add to my giveaway. Leave me a comment letting me know how you might use the fabrics/blocks, and I will pick a "parent" (winner) next week. I would prefer to ship only to the US but will consider an international home.

Here is what I am listing in my adoption (giveaway) - all are 100% quilting cotton. Click on the photo for a larger image:

65 four-patch blocks ranging from 7-1/4 to 7-5/8, and not all are square

15 fussy cut blocks approximately 7-3/8 x 7-1/2

78 - rectangle pieced blocks about 3-5/8" x 7-3/8" - sew end to end and use for a border?

42 inches striped eggplant, cream, mauve, blue, green (has been laundered)

1 yard plus 6 inches olive green with 1/2 inch brown dots (has been laundered)

1 fat quarter in rainbow stripes, pattern unknown - came as a gift with a fabric order

6 fat quarters - Contempo by Moda

2 fat quarters, pattern unknown

1/2 yard Simply Color eggplant and white

* * * GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED * * *

Be sure and check out the beautiful projects and fabrics offered by other "adoption agencies" on Cynthia's linky party!

My DIY Guy

Before he retired last year, my husband used to talk about how he was going to "make things with wood". Now that he has organized his garage and acquired new table saws, he is ready for projects, and I came up with a few ideas to help him fulfill his carpentry dream. Here are some of the things he has made in recent weeks.

He made a holder for my acrylic rulers

He fashioned a large rustic bird-feeder to make feeding easier for the growing population of cardinals, blue jays, robins, and smaller birds that frequent the other two feeders. When we first moved to this house, we rarely saw any birds, in spite of the fact our yard backs up to thick trees and a small creek.

He placed a bird bath close to the feeders and planted a crape myrtle, one of our favorite trees. Next spring I hope to fill this little garden with wildflowers and herbs. I can see all this from my sewing room.

He built this gorgeous shelf above the tub in my bathroom. He based the design on a picture I liked from this blog

BEFORE: I wanted a small island in the kitchen, so he refinished and re-purposed this buffet. The wood on it was nice, but we wanted more of a contrast with the wood of the kitchen cabinets, so he painted it dark espresso and made a new top for it (pictured below).

AFTER: Although the drawers are missing in the "before" shot, he replaced the pulls on the drawers with ceramic knobs.

He got to practice his "round-over" and sanding skills to make this nicely finished top for the island

With the island in place, we reorganized and simplified the kitchen, so it all looks less cluttered, and we are loving it. It's always fun to have a new look in your home. Now he wants more projects!