Two more finishes!

This one has been a long time in the making… actually, both of them have…

This mini is a block I made back in about 2009 when we tried to start a quilt guild here in my hometown. It kind of fizzled before it got too far off the ground, but we (at least, I think a couple of us followed through) did make a block using the same pattern. I don't know if it was because I was still a beginner or if the pattern was just difficult, but I know I thought it was hard!

I was cleaning out my sewing closet and seeing what WIPs I had in there when I found this in a box with other projects. Projects that I didn't really have a plan for… like the embroidery I showed you in my previous post. Anyway, I decided to just turn this into a mini and get it out of a box. I love how it turned out!

I feel like the reds in this are a deeper color than they translate to on film. More of a burgundy
 instead of that red-orange.

More fmq'ing practice.

I started adding my last name to my labels, but I still like a little privacy. :)

This next quilt was made from fabric I've had stuffed away for a long time. I think I bought most of it when I was still trying to self-teach and was using a book to make a sampler wallhanging. As usual, I overbought, although to get variety, you kind of have to buy a lot of different FQ's! I had pre-washed this fabric, so I washed the binding and backing, too. I would pre-wash everything, except you can't really do that with pre-cuts and kits… I haven't quite figured out where I stand on the washing issue.

Anyway, I love this quilt! And it wasn't planned that it would match my mini, but they look great together, don't they?

I just did a single-fabric backing to keep things simple.

I love the colors!

Since it's staying with our family (and not a gift), I just did a simple handwritten label. It was machine quilted by my ever faithful quilter friend, Stacey G.

Right now I have a very simple baby quilt up on my wall for my newest granddaughter (who will be here in a few weeks!) and I'm also super excited about this upcoming project:

I have this quilt top and backing all ready to go. My friend is going to help me pin-baste it on Friday, so I can try to machine quilt the whole thing on my Juki. I am really hoping the larger throat space will make it manageable. It's a quilt for our family, so I'm not too worried about experimenting on it. I just hope I don't get too frustrated with the bulk. Wish me luck!