Orange Peel Quilt Progress

A few weeks ago I won a contest on Instagram :)  I won a fat eight bundle of Terra Australis by Emma Jean Jansen.  It is BEAUTIFUL!!!

I instantly knew what I wanted to make with it!  An orange peel quilt!!!

I didn't like any of the templates I found on line, so I made my own :)  ...it's a bit tricky, I have to say ;D

After a little back and forth with April, I decided to to applique with light weight fusible interfacing.

It's a very slick way to make perfect applique pieces with out burning your fingers ;D

I set out on our Epic Sew Day to tackle the project!

Once you have traced your pattern to the "non-sticky" side of the interfacing, you sew it to the right side of the fabric.  (Sticky side of the interfacing to the right side of the fabric.

Once you have sewn the interfacing on, you trim a generous 1/8" seam allowance all of the way around.  Then carefully cut a slit in the interfacing.  Turn your fabric right side out and press into place.

To finish the edges, I chose to do a tiny blanket stitch.

I can't wait to get to work on this baby again really soon!!!

On the First Day of School the Mommy Got to SEW!

My boys [and 15 year old daughter] all went to their first day of school Tuesday :)

....my first day alone (for more than an hour or two) in more than 20 years!

I tried to break one of my rules and not get dressed.

I cleaned up the house.

...I lasted in my jammies until about 10 when I couldn't stand it anymore.

I showered, got dressed and got to sewing :)

First off, I needed to make the back for the Top Secret Quilt.  Hmmmmmm... I knew that I needed a MineCraft Creeper on the back.  

This is a MineCraft Creeper

I knew that I had NO $$$ to go buy more minky.  What ever shall I do?  So, I just did what every self respecting fabric stashing cheap-skate would do, hit the scrap pile!  I found 3 pieces of minky that fit perfectly on the back and the colors were perfect too :)  Yippee for me!!!

So the next problem to be surmounted was how to affix the Creeper face to the back.  I decided to just applique it with a wide zig zag stitch.  It's not great, but it's on :)

The center minky is spring green with white polka dots and a creeper face :)  The left panel is cream minky and the right panel is pale yellow.

Now the big dilemma was how to baste the Top Secret Quilt.  Should I get brave and try using the 405 spray?  And, how would the spray basting work with minky on the back?  How do I do it with minky backing vs. regular quilting fabric?  I looked all over blogland and didn't see any thing :(  So, I just put on my big girl panties and went with my gut.

I decided to pin the minky to the carpet just like I do when I pin baste.

Once the back was pinned to the carpet, taut but not stretched, I got the beach towels out and bordered the quilt with them to protect the carpet from over spray.  I also opened all of the doors and windows because everyone on line said the fumes are horrible (I didn't think they stunk at all).

Next I laid the batting on the back, smoothed it down and then spray basted the batting down, one side at time and a little section at a time, starting in the center.  Then I did the same thing with the top of the quilt; smoothed it, sprayed it a section at a time.  It worked BEAUTIFULLY!  I think I may have used WAY too much spray, but the quilt sandwich is secure :)

Now for the quilting.  What fmq pattern to use?

I settled on what I call "pixelated" fmq.

It looks like an old 8 bit video game :)

The spray basting held everything together PERFECTLY!!

No puckers anywhere!!!

Of course, my name, the year and my daughters name is hidden in the quilting :)

Here is the quilt all ready for binding tomorrow!

I am off to bed with DH :)

Anne's Quilt is FINIsHED :)

I am so happy to have made this quilt for my sister Aly's friend Anne who has end stage cancer :(

There is not much that can be done for her except to administer chemo every 3 weeks to give her a bit more time with her family.

Anne is 41.

Anne has 3 children.

Her oldest is 18 and her baby is 11.

This quilt is for Anne to take with her to chemo and to cuddle up with on the sofa after.

The following are the "post wash" pictures.

I LOVE how quilts look after they have been washed :)

The raw edge applique looks so cool :)

The quilt is heading off to Anne's Thursday afternoon with all of the love and comfort I can squeeze into it.

Easter Morning Success :)

The Easter Bunny came by and dropped off a good ol' stash of loot ;)

About 6:30 the kiddos started to to wake up and brought their gifts in to show the sleeping parents....

She has to close her eyes as to not have them burned out by DH's morning breath ;D

The Easter Bunny even left my husband a haul from World Market...

The Easter Bunny also left some eggs....

...and a few more...

Here are the mug shots of the kids with their bags...

Here are the two that are FAR away... (courtesy of their aunts cell phones)

Texas Teen

Seattle Sister

Next came breakfast....

Oh wait, here is the REAL breakfast ;)  ...although I did have a few Peeps for breakfast...

I was SUPER lazy and used the paper plates left over from last night BBQ.  Not doing dishes was my gift to myself for Easter :D
Happy Easter!!! xo

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add the pics of the quilt I took this morning as the sun was rising :)