Preppy Pod by Elizabeth Hartman

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, but winter happened and I think I must get a touch of depression during those months. I think no one is interested in what I'm doing, the leaves are off the trees and the grass turns brown and so does my brain. Plus, this winter was boring, with little snow, or even rain,  and not even some really cold weather to talk about.

But winter is over.

And it was spring for about three days before the weather jumped into summer mode, just like that! Summer here has an average temp of around 82 degrees, and that's where it is right now. I'm stoked.

These two quilts were finished this past winter, but languished for months waiting for their binding. Some of my quilty friends love binding and will sit in front of the television to get it done, but I just want to watch the danged show, which is also why I only have 3/4 of a sock knitted.

So I started these a couple of years ago, having two little grand nephews in mind, with a Preppy the Whale pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. After piecing about six Preppy blocks and realizing I'd need 54 whales for two quilts, I said, "Forget this!" and put them away. There had to be a faster way to get these quilts done. A few months later I found Preppy Pod, also by Elizabeth Hartman, and leaped for joy. Loved making those gigantic whales at the bottom of each quilt! (Believe me, these quilts are square. The wacky wind would not cooperate!)

The fabric for the whales came from scraps, well, all but the large green whale, whose fabric came from ThreadBear, my LQS.

ThreadBear also supplied the sea creatures and sharks backing fabric. It just went perfectly.

Michael Siewart did the quilting honors, choosing a circles pattern since well, bubbles.

Binding fabric is this Kaffe Fassett Collective swirly something or other I found in my stash. It works well for multi colored quilts, doesn't it? (Apologies for not taking a close up of the binding!)

I've had some fun making Elizabeth Hartman's animal design quilts and there's one more to bind, but not whales. Maybe I will practice multitasking and watch Barry whilst doing the hand sewing.

Quilty Pleasures: Scrappy Trip Around the World

Many of us love to start quilts. The thrill of making something new, with different fabric,  and learning new techniques certainly gets me going. I'm gung ho all the way, up to a point.

Finishing in a timely manner is another matter, altogether. I am a paralyzed perfectionist, so finishing means I must accept any mistakes, real or imagined, if  the task is complete. So there it sits.

That's why there are about 15 neatly stowed away project boxes illustrating this petrified perfectionism. But I'm working on it.

This photo was taken a little over a year ago, when I had almost all the blocks complete.

Other, more juicy projects intervened, so it isn't until this month that I finally finished my Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt. It's from a Bonnie Hunter tutorial.

I have to say it was quite the stash buster, but of course there's always more where that came from.

It's queen sized, with enough to cover the pillows and to have a ten inch drop off the sides.

The batting is bamboo, something I haven't chosen before. The quilting was done by Michael Siewert at ThreadBear, my local quilt shop in Las Vegas, New Mexico. If you don't live nearby, you can mail your quilt to them and they do an excellent job. I chose a widely spaced, loopy design because I didn't want the quilt to be too heavy.

The backing is 108 inches wide, by Kaufman.

The binding is scrappy and machine stitched because it's going to be used a lot. I used this tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew. In a perfect world, the stitching is unobtrusive on the front, and I am still working on that.

So even if it's not perfect, it's done and I love it and it's on the bed.