May

May involved completing my quilt for Hands 2 Help and making a baby quilt for a new niece due to arrive in the next couple of weeks. While looking through my fabric stash I found enough fabric of the same that I used for the very first baby to make my brother a grandpa. Kian was a boy and got blue detail to complement the zoo animals.  This new little girl is getting pink and yellow added.

I fussy cut the animals and framed them. The backing shows the novelty fabric uncut.

I used a pattern for a giraffe by Bunny Hill for a little extra fun.

I hope she likes it :-)

Yesterday I had the fun of meeting Susan Branch at a book signing for her latest books, The Fairy Tale Girl and Isles of Dreams. It was a fun gathering in Morro Bay.  Susan lived in San Luis Obispo area for several years and much of the writing is about her time and connections there. It was fun to even read of Cambria's charm. I recommend both as well as checking out her blog. She's a creative and uplifting soul. It was fun to have my picture taken with her.

I'm accepting another challenge ...or just a good idea :-)  to work on some fabric I purchased "I don't know how many years ago" made by 3 Sisters called Aviary. It's lovely soft colors of florals and came in a kit with a free pattern that doesn't really call to me like the fabric did.  So I'm thinking of going with something that I think will showcase the fabric better and hopefully fit the bill for the 10"squares, jelly roll and yardage that I have. For some reason I bought about twice the amount I would need for backing so I may have a little room to play. I'm also wondering about size and what I would do specifically with this quilt so we shall see where it leads me.  This next picture shows one idea from a book by Marsha McCloskey and Sharon Evans Yenter called Blended Quilts. I'm thinking it's the one I'll use. 

Linking here To Confessions of a Fabric Addict for her Friday Can I Get a Whoop!

Hands 2 Help finish

Here's my collection of 2" squares that I have sewn together into sets over the past year as leader/ender sewing.

From this I sewed 16 patch blocks again.

And with these I used a pattern I saw sewn last year into a quilt.  And then I had fun with the quilting and stitched leaves and sunflowers allover it. The blue thread was probably an odd choice but then I am odd :-)

This will be sent off to Em for Chemo Cozies. It measures about 55" X 62" and will hopefully cheer someone faced with health challenges.
For fun...this quilt is lifetime quilt #iwishikeptcount :-)  and has 1280 pieces in it. I used Superior Threads Sew Fine and Bottom Line for the stitching. And Hobb's 80/20 for the batting.
I'm linking to Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict for the Hands 2 Help charity quilt challenge.  Thank you, Sarah and Em for organizing us and getting these quilts to people who can enjoy them.

Late Friday Linking

Late because I couldn't get my pics to load yesterday. Better late than never :-)
I've been sewing up 2" squares for the Hands 2 Help quilt. I finished the top and have it loaded to quilt. I started with one idea but took the stitches out. Will start again tomorrow.

 Other news I'm happy to share is that I won a book called Quilt Batik! from Cheryl Brown. She has written 2 books. This one looks full of inspiration for batiks and even some of the lovely scrappy remnants I have saved up over the past year of batik quilt making. Head over to her site and check out her designs and inspirations!

Thank you, Cheryl! I will enjoy this :-)
I'm linking here to Confessions of a Fabric Addict for her Friday Can I get a Whoop!
Check all the blogs linked there with great quilting progress happening!