Second quarter finish II and a wrong finish!

Almost two months later I have finally made the boy his tie!  I bought a Simplicity pattern (A1745) to make the girl a vest and later noticed there was a pattern for a tie in the same envelope!

 So freaking easy!

 Hopefully it will work correctly. I'll let you know but the boy likes it so that's all that matters!  

So that is finish number two for this quarter of the Finish Along 2014!

Ok...to the wrong finish.

Along with the tie I was supposed to make a bag out of this fabric...

...but I grabbed this pile of fabric instead! Oops!

Oh well, I now have a finished bag for the Fall!

 It's a fairly simple pattern from Indigo Junction called Grids and Grommets.  I made one two years ago for our first trip to the UK and it was wonderful!

 This one is the smaller version.  I pulled the fabric from the freebie table at the Sew South last March.  

I think it's from IKEA.  

 It was leftover from the dufflebag  I made at the SS.  I love the colors and the fact that you can wear it 

cross-body for hands free!

Added three side pockets and a zipper pocket for my wallet.

(Don't mind my dark thread...I was too lazy to change it!)

There is also a secret pocket behind the zippy one that you don't notice from the top!:) 

Guess I need to get on that other bag....but right now I'm enjoying the greens from our garden...this is our fourth picking!:)

~d

Oh...and they love Foxes! Blogger's Quilt Fest Spring 2014

She has a friend she's know since elementary school....and they are still great buds nine years after graduating from high school.  So lucky is she!

Bud got married....can you make  them something?

 Can't say no can I?:)  We picked out some fabrics, I found this tutorial for a Geographic Patchwork from Shiner's view, cutting and stitching commenced.  Then she said it....

 ....they love foxes!  Why didn't you say something when we were picking fabrics?  Dunno.

Ok, we figured it out...a little google image searching....and now it looks like a quilt hanging on a wall guarded by a sweet fox.

Several extra blocks...

 ....make a fine table runner.

I think they will like it.

Oh how the Solomon's Seal has grown...and the moss...and the sedum...3.5" of rain in one night will do that!

Now go see all the other lovelies at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!:)

~d

Patio redo fun!

While cleaning out my bag of leftover binding I decided on a new project!

(leftover bindings sitting on the new coverlet my folks gave me for an early bday present!)

The bindings across the top are big enough for future projects....the bindings underneath are made from smaller scraps soon to be joined to the ball in the middle and one day...one day...to be made into a rug!:)

  A little mini made from leftovers of PB&J now lives with Pam for correctly guessing about my new driveway project.  I still need to dig the other side!

One of the many quilt tops made from the Angled Frames tutorial is now a baby quilt heading to the UK

 This mini now lives in Oregon with Jodi.  Made for this month's Mini QT Swap...theme was "traditional"     pinwheel, log cabin or stacked coin.  I sort of went out of the traditional box with my stacked coin!

(Lousy photo taken at night!)

 There were a few extras in the package.  Those buttons have nine holes so you can make any letter of the alphabet on them!

Birch Trees....8"x 8.5".  I miss it!

Now for the patio redo...this is how it looked before.  Needed to be a little bigger since we put the chiminea there on the right.

Couple hours later then bench has been moved to the opposite side and hubby  has added a little low wall to hold back the dirt and those lighter colored flat stones to extend the patio.  Most of the flat stone was leftover granite countertop from remodel jobs laid shiny side down. Score!!

It might not look much bigger but we can put a couple more chairs there when we have a fire.  Old kids desk needs to be cleaned up and moved elsewhere...but that's the girl's next project...not mine!

Love, love, love Solomon's Seal in all stages of growth.   

It is a foot higher and blooming now!

On the way home Mother's Day weekend, after a lovely day with my parents and siblings, we stopped in Old Town Fredericksburg to stroll and check out all the little shops.

Of course the rare and used book store Riverby Books was the girl's favorite stop. 

 "Dad...this is how I want my bedroom to look...one day!"

In an antique store I found another future project!!

~d

Aggravated but Love it! 1st finish for the Second Quarter!

Presenting my first finish for the Second quarter of  Finish Along 2014.

 Remember these blocks? Finally put them all together and gave the finished top to my coworker who worked her magic on it....she's amazing and it's all her long-arming...not a computer!:)

Here is the aggravation.

 Had about one more foot of binding to stitch down and I spilled coffee on it!  Then to add insult to injury....

 ....even with stain stick on the coffee (which it did get out) and TWO color catchers some splotches appeared all over the quilt!

 Little bits like this here and there.  After Oxiclean and a bleach pen it's all still there but fainter.

 But you know....this is a gorgeous quilt if I say so myself....yes....I'm patting myself on the back but really...

 ...it's all due to the magic that is Kathleen!  She did an amazing job putting that little flower in all the centers and cornerstones for uniformity.

 Look at the awesome vine in the borders!!

These blocks are from the Moda Designer's Friendship Block quilt along from last year and if you would like to make this quilt or any of the blocks, here is the link to the first block.  All you have to do to get the rest of them is change the block number in the URL.  There are 31 blocks but I only made 30. 

Finishing instructions are here.  Go to the flickr pool to see some of the other quilts and how it really was supposed to be finished!;)

Now I need to go see what's next on the 2nd quarter list!!

~d