Quilting has taken a bit of a back seat...

I'm still sewing, but just a bit every day (for the most part). I have some other interests I've been working on (learning Spanish and taking piano lessons again), and there are only so many minutes in the day!

But I thought I'd catch up on the things I've finished lately...

I should have posted these first two back in March, but for some reason I had decided not to. I've changed my mind, though. ;)

In February, my daughter came home from serving an 18-month mission to Central America. I had converted her bedroom into my sewing room back when she first left for college, so I needed to make the guest room into a cozy room for her. I wanted it to be nice enough that she would stay home a while before moving back closer to college! I made her some new pillowcases to go with the quilt I made for her a couple of years ago, plus a new valance, and an "hour basket" stuffed with welcome home goodies.

A little collage of all that stuff.

The "hour basket" before stuffing. I love making these. They are so satisfying.

 I also made these Easter pillowcases for the two little ones...

I should have cropped this next picture, but I didn't. Oops. I had this quilt to the quilter back in February, but it took a while to get it back, so I actually didn't finish getting the binding on until early April. (Thank goodness for General Conference, when I can sit and bind for hours on end.)

I call this quilt, "Radioactive Love," because the fabric is "First Crush" by Sweetwater for Moda, and the pattern (Playgound by Camille Roskelly) kind of looked like radioactive warning signs to me with those black and red colors. Haha...

I took this at dusk, so the colors aren't showing up so great.

I mixed a few of my scrap fabrics in to give it more variety.

I LOVE the red and white striped binding.

Just a handwritten label. I wish I could find the perfect marker that wouldn't fade in the wash. :(

I just finished this quilt a week or so ago...

I just used some very old homespun fabrics I had received in a fabric exchange the once or twice I attended a quilt guild back in the day. I never quite felt "in," so I didn't keep going, but I did end up with this pile of fabrics, which I mixed with just a few more homespun choices from my local quilt shop. I decided to do a simple patchwork for my son. (He grew too tall for the last quilt I made for him.)

FYI, the homespuns from a quilt shop are way better quality than the ones from Joanns, which is where I think most of the old, fabric-exchange fabrics came from.

When the squares were on my design board, I wasn't really loving how it looked. I had planned to give it to my son for his birthday, but because I wasn't loving it, I decided to ask him if he liked it. He gave sort of a non-commital answer, and we agreed that it was kind of boring.

I determined that it would make a great picnic quilt instead, so I just quickly finished it up (didn't even care too much about fabric placement) and used it as a "practice quilt" for my fmq'ing.

Once it was finished, my son decided he thought it was cool, after all. He said it made him want to go build something with wood. (It's got that manly feel to it, I guess.) So I ended up giving it to him, although it was too late to be a birthday gift. I'm glad he likes it!

The back is just half dark tan and half light tan

Just a simple handwritten label. If I had actually given it to my son for his birthday, I would have been more personal with the label... but since it didn't work out that way, this label will do!) I was pretty happy with how the fmq'ing turned out, although I did have to go back and fix quite a few toenail catchers. They weren't huge, but I tacked them down anyway. I also had one tight spot where I had to do a major cross-over on my previous stitching to get back out in the clear. But, practice is what I need, so I gotta just go for it even if I make mistakes!

 I was pretty proud of myself for being brave and basting this quilt by myself. My friend taught me the Harriet Hargrove method when she helped me baste my Christmas quilt, and that's what I used for this.

The backing was clamped down on this table and the batting and top were spread across, ready to be pin-basted.

It works really well, although my back was sore by the time I was done basting the whole thing! I have since bought a chair with a cushion, so maybe that will help next time.

Last... one night I was reading a Little House book with my 7-year-old daughter. We came to this page in the book, and she got all excited and exclaimed, "It's a fabric store!" Haha! She then proceeded to pick out her favorite fabric... the teal one on the top shelf. I got a real chuckle out of that. I'm excited to get her sewing this summer. She is taking a "Mommy and Me" quilt class at a local arts festival. It uses the grid method, which I've never done before, so it will be a learning experience for me, as well.

"It's a fabric store!" :)