Dad's Quilt

Today I have a new quilt finish to share.  Some of you may remember this top it has been done and ready since before Julia was born 2 months ago (And to think I use to not understand how people collected UFO's and now I have a pile of them I am trying to finish)  To read more about it go here.  My wife told me at the time it was UGLY but now I think she likes it more. (mostly because it left the house) but hey I loved it.

You might find it funny I asked my dad how he liked it and he told me "No - Its not long enough" he is a tall guy and the quilt is short.  I tried to explain it was a lap quilt but I think he was too distracted looking at Julia.  My Dad turns 71 on 5/22/2012 and he has now been in a rest home for about 9 months I talked about him once before here.  Where I talked about the fact that he had yet another stroke.  He is not doing so well he talks very little and does not smile much any more.  I think the visit made his week.

It was funny though during the visit we took him to the dining room so he can eat.  It takes him more then an hour to hour and half to eat (we did not stay the full time).  While in the dining room one of the old ladies at the table next too us kept saying things to us (which I could not understand and we tried, we got something about boxing, strawberries) any way she got mad at us and she threw a spoon at us.  My kids not quite understanding what was going on kept talking and looking at her which seemed to only egg her on.  A few minutes later along came a fork.  I joked about that maybe we would have a food fight on our hands.  About 10 minutes later she threw a glass at us which shattered on the floor.  I guess my family brings out the rage in others.  As we got on the elevator to leave (she had been taken out of the room for bad behavior and was sitting at nurses station) she was saying something about us being bad people and to not let us come back.  Any way it was hard not to just want to sit there and laugh.  Its sad some times to visit my dad, but I enjoy going as he will not be with us for all that long.  He is slowly going down hill and he is not expected to make it all that many more years.

Here is a closeup of the quilt.  I quilted it by I believe its called echo quilting, next to the seams where it was sewed together.  Looking at the picture below you can see how neat the back looked and the front above.  I will do another quilt like this one as its one of the nicer quilting jobs I have done..

linking to 2nd Quarter Finish Party As listed on  My 2nd Quarter todo list

And the winner is

The winner of my Birthday Giveaway is Michell from New Zealand.  Clicking her name will link you too her blog.

Congrats Michell

I was finally able to take Julia to visit my Grandmother and also give her the quilt that I made for her.  Grandma Johnson was so happy to hold Julia.

I also got some fabrics from Fugly Fabric Giveaway #2.

And the center part of the quilt for my Civil War Quilt Along is now finished.  Now to add borders and finish it up.

Link A Finish Friday #15

The Goal for me this year is 52 Finishes in 52 weeks help keep me honest and show off your own finishes at the same time its a Link A Finish Friday!!

The most popular link last LAFF was Pernilla's Parrots from Rainbow Hare Quiltswhich is a Queen/King size quilt.

I have completed 3 quilts this week (or should I say 2 weeks since I got busy at HMQS and did not post my LAFF) now link up what you have done since I blew it last week link up any thing in the last 2 weeks so we can see what we have done. This one will also go live a little earlier then most to make up for it.

Also for any one that has not put in on my Batiks that I am giving away run over to this post and do so.

So for the rules.

1) Who likes rules. Toss them out.
2) Add a link to your finish blog or where ever you show off your finishes (Not limited to quilts but I like them the most).
3) Visit a few of the finishes and comment or encourage them on.

Not Required but fun to do

1) Follow my blog.
2) Follow the blog of all those that link.
3) Link back to my blog.
4) No finish, go quilt and stop reading the web.

WIP Wednesday #13

Today is going to be a Work In Progress Wednesday.   I will be linking up with Freshly Pieced.  

Completed Projects:

2 finished quilts this week both of which were auctioned off at a auction to help fund the young women's camp at church.

Visit to HMQS and a few quilts to show off:
Please note on the 8 pictures below these were picked from random from the 40 or so quilts I took pictures at HMQS.  Over the next few weeks or months I might sprinkle some more as I enjoyed them and they inspire me to work harder on better quilt designs of my own.

Ready To Quilt:
4 Quilt tops ready to quilt here are 2 of them.  My wife is pressing for me to do the pinwheel quilt soon.

Ongoing Projects:
I am opening a Etsy store and my wife has tasked me to finish a bunch of my homeless projects and a couple new ones designed for the store.  This week and next I will focus on those projects and getting my plaid zig zag quilt quilted for my Dad's birthday.  Other then that though we have enough material for 8-9 new projects starting soon. http://www.etsy.com/shop/RichardQuilts

Planned Quilts:

Wow so many of these I have given up counting.

Totals:
Finished: 7 May, 8 April, 10 March, 10 February, 7 January
38 Total for Year
Ready to Quilt: 5
On Going Projects: Too many to count
Planned: Way more then I should be working on.

Tanya's Hearts

Any one that has followed my blog knows that my wife does not sew much.  So when I came home from work today to find a pile of hearts I was excited.  The other day I cut up 2 strips of 2 1/2 inch off all my batik FQ that I bought.  When I cut them up into blocks I ended up with a bunch of odd ends which I commented to my wife we could make a scrappy block or something out of.

My wife first apologized for using my scraps (which makes me laugh when she does as whats mine is her's) and then let me know that she is making a quilt with appliqued hearts on it and these are the first few, the bigger ones are 5 or so inches and the smallest ones are like 2 inches.  Any way I think she did a great job.   I am excited that she started a project all on her own.  And no she has not even sewn her finger yet like last time.

The template at the bottom and 2 others she bought at HMQS.  She loves applique and this gives her a easy way to trace out hearts (she also bought a star and I cant remember the other).

Me on the other hand, made some progress on my Civil War Quilt, but not yet ready to show that off yet.