Buckeye Beauty Quilt - Flismy

Ever looked at something and thought I know just what I'll do with that, and then when the time comes you go in a completely different direction? That was me yesterday. Shelly sent me a squishy bonus with the Apple Quilt she long armed for me.  I wanted to use it to try out raw edge appliqué, but for some reason the background I had planned wasn't working for me so I went off to my Eleanor Burn's Quilts Through the Seasons for inspiration.

Since I knew I would have a bit of extra fabric I made an extra block and split it over the length of the quilt to make it bigger.  It took about a day and a half to complete the flimsy so I'm not certain how Quilt in a Day it is.

After I created this little quilt I looked up other Buckeye Beauty Quilts and found something barely close to what I had made, I suppose that must make this an interpretation of the original pattern? Ah well to each his own I suppose. I bordered mine out to be 40"x48" and I have enough of the black print to use it for the binding sometime in the future.

I made this quilt because I love the feel of quality fabric slipping through my fingers and into the sewing machine.  When dealing with cheap fabric even pressing seams can seem like a chore, but a nice slightly heavy uniform weave can make all the difference. 

Happy Sewing!

Happy Turtles

Just this very morning I finished up the Hawaiian Appliqué Turtle quilt I was working on. This quilt went fairly quickly taking about 24 hours from start to finish. This quilt is a Linus Blanket and will be headed off to the Linus Project just as soon as I wash it. No shopping time required for this quilt as I worked to only used items from my stash. Threads on hand, fabrics on hand, and yes even batting.

I considered adding detail to the turtles but I wanted to give it some thought first to ensure anything I added would child friendly. Now that everything else is done I think the turtles are great just the way they are and need no embellishment.

I even stitched in a bit off luck. If you look at the quilting lines on the side with the gray stripes some of those gray stripes have little four leaf clovers quilted down them.

Now I'd like to take a moment to point out that this is a Give a Day Get a Day Get a Disney Day Project that Disney is sponsoring. As a handicapped individual it would be impossible for me to help out on site at a habitat for humanity home for example. But this I can do and so can you. There are many projects on the list that do not require standing for long periods of time. I was doubtful myself, but I found that by entering my zip code in the link provided above a variety of home based volunteer was available. Granted not the places I have done charity quilts for in the past, but it's good to share the love around. If don't think you'll use the park ticket you can even donate it to children in the community.

I love the concept of this, as I think it can unite families in teaching children about helping others. The only thing I don't like about this project is it is ONLY for children 6 years and older. As my four year old helps me quilt on a regular basis I find this limiting, both while working on the projects and also when I take her to the theme park as children over 3 require theme park tickets to enter the park. I'm certain there is a good reason for this apparent oversight. 

Don't forget if you're going to participate:

1. Select what you'd like to do and make the commitment. You Must Sign up BEFORE completing your time.

2. Complete your time within two months. That is the time limit set by the two projects my husband and I are participating in, but the time limit for your selected project may be different. If your project like mine requires you to ship something be sure to complete your project and mail it in plenty of time to allow for delivery within your time.

3. For those doing at home volunteer follow the information in your provided packet. Most of the at home jobs I looked at required a photo of you doing the work.

Turtles for Charity

When my friend Vicki told me I should cut out a practice turtle before I started my Hawaiian Appliqué Bed Quilt, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make something for Project Linus.  Did you know Project Linus is participating in Disney's Give a Day Get a Day Program?  Well they are, and while Jessica is considered to young to participate, I thought I'd make a quilt to send anyway.

These turtles are machine appliqué, my first attempts at using Wonder Under. I love how beautifully these blocks are coming together. I have enough of these fabrics to make a total of three, so I'll be adding something different to make the quilt about 45"x60".

After doing plenty of research I found that I could try this as a quilt as you go. I did that once with the Bargello, and really didn't like the process. The batting kept scratching at my arms, but this is a fully layered block before you start, so I figured I'd give it a go. The left is the back and the right is the top.

The Deal

There is a little antique thrift shop down the road from me.  I thought I'd head in there just to see.  On a scale of the best shops that Aunt Spicy finds.  I would say this one ranks in the middle.

I was happy to find a bag of notions.  Rather than dig through it, I knew when I saw a pink zipper inside it was a deal.  The tag said 50 cents, and everything was half off so a quarter.  For all these goodies! Yards and yards of lace, including a bit that was wrapped in plastic, it's quite pretty so I'm certain to use it for something.  Then I found the yards and yards of elastic, can never had to much of that.

I even found this hand made bit of lace in the bag as well, it's about the size of my hand. No idea what I will do it with, but it certainly made the deal all the sweeter.