Just keep sewing....Just keep sewing......

At this time of year, we're all reminded of the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves. We are often asked to volunteer, donate, or give of our time and talents.

Every year, a friend of mine asks her friends and family to gather small size toiletries to be distributed to local homeless folks. She lives in an area with a very temperate climate which causes an influx of homeless people during the winter.

I try to send a few toiletries and zippered pouches each year, but it just wasn't in the budget this year. Shipping has gotten so expensive and with family oversees, I need to focus my postal service budget on them.

So, I looked at what I have......a LOT of fabric, and thanks to my mom for a fabulous gift last Christmas, I had more zippers than I'd ever use for my own projects in this lifetime. Add my talent (Ha! Ha!) for sewing and you get this.....

I offered to make "some" zippered pouches for my friend to fill with toiletries. She has many friends who travel and collect those lovely hotel shampoos and soaps, but they don't all sew. I thinks this makes a good balance.

Plus, I dug my serger out of the cupboard and put it to work for the first time in a long time! I followed the Charity Gift Bag tutorial from Heirloom Creations to create 40 zippered pouches. I used the serger tutorial for the nylon zippers and merged both the serger and sewing machine tutorials for the metal zippers.

My friend was thrilled to receive these. They'll be put to good use in Flagstaff. And I put a dent (although minor) in my fabric and zipper stash. A win all around!

Oh, my poor neglected blog!

Seriously, where have I been the last several months????

I have no excuses. I've been busy, but no more than usual.

Honestly, I just haven't felt like blogging.

So, to get back in the swing of things, and because my friend Jamie asked me to, here are photos of the Solar System quilt I made for my son. He picked out the Solar System panel in the middle. I added the sashing and star/planet fabrics. He also chose the wild sheet on the back from my stash. Nice to see he's not afraid of a little color!

Front

 Back

The quilt in action

(and the rough life of a 12 year old boy!)

What time is it?

Zucchini time!!  

Well, it doesn't look like that much in the photo, but in real life, the amount of zucchini I have is ridiculous! I gave away about 10 "grocery store" size zucchini and processed the rest. I thought I had a photo of the GIANT zucchini that we've been picking, but I can't find it now. We had about 15 zucchini that were the size of a body builders bicep! No kidding, these really were GIANT zucchini. 

The photo shows 2 afternoons worth of work. My poor food processor needs a break! I've diced about 30 cups and shredded another 30 cups. That doesn't include the 4 Zucchini Pies and 2 loaves of Zucchini Apple Bread I've made and frozen. 

A Friday Finish: Punctuation Pillow

Back in February, I was following along on the Moda Spell It With Fabric blog hop and loved Gina's post/pattern for punctuation. I really wanted to make a Punctuation Pillow and I knew exactly who to gift it to. A teacher friend of mine, with a fantastic sense of humor would be the perfect recipient.

That was back in February. I knew what I wanted to make, who it would be made for, and when I needed to finish the project.

Fast forward to May 27th. Three days before the end of the school year. Yep, that's when I actually started working on this pillow!

Luckily, by burning some midnight oil, I was able to finish it and gifted it to her today.

Front

Back

Back detail

"!@#%" and "Blah, Blah, Blah". Those things you think, but can't really say!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

WiP Wednesday

Several months ago, I started collecting fabrics to make a quilt for my son. I had the idea of making a Stacked Squares Quilt using a bunch of fun, funky fabrics. Then, I asked for my son's input. He did not care for most of the fabrics I'd chosen. (Oh the joy of having a Tween!)

So, I dragged him along to a fabric shop!

And he chose a 36"x45" panel of the Solar System.

Oh boy.

I had no idea what to do with this panel. I tried drawing out several designs with borders around the panel, but nothing worked.

So again, I asked for his input.

This is what he's come up with so far:

The star fabric and the planet fabric will be repeated below the Solar System panel to look like quadrants. I'm still not sold on this design, but it is his quilt after all.

And here's a nice little stack of fabrics from my stash waiting to become something for a swap I'm participating in. Hopefully there will be more photos as this project progresses.

2014 Pantone Color of the Year Quilt Challenge - Just in time!

Like most quilters I know, I have a fairly long list of things I'd like to do.....Things I should do....Things I need to do. Sewing projects and otherwise.

The 2014 Pantone Color of the Year Quilt Challenge was not on any of my lists.

If you aren't familiar with Pantone, it's a company that has a standardized color matching system that is used in many industries. Each year they select a "Color of the Year".  For 2014, the Color of the Year is Radiant Orchid.

It's a nice color, but I don't sew much with purple. And I have very little of it in my stash. So, again, no plan to participate in this challenge.

Until I started chatting with my friend Jamie about what she was making for the Pantone Quilt Challenge. Her favorite color is purple, so I had no doubt she'd be participating. With a little nudge from Jamie, I decided to jump in.

Luckily, the challenge includes the category "Just the Top". Very fortunate for me since the deadline is tomorrow and I finished my quilt top about an hour ago! (Basting, quilting, and binding will happen sometime in the near future.)

Here is my entry.....

It measures approximately 37" x 37". I've tried to come up with a name for it, but haven't found quite the right one yet. It'll come to me, sooner or later.

I took my inspiration from the "Swirling Medallion Quilt" in Jacquie Gering's book Quilting Modern. After following her pattern, I thought that the light stripey fabric in the outside diamond just got lost, so I added another row of the wonky triangles. I'll be using that stripey fabric for bias binding and needed to give it a little punch, hence the Orchid border.


Linking up for the Challenge at On the Windy Side.

Sewing Difficulties

I don't think she understands that I have a deadline!