Ugly Baby Quilt aka Bears in Shorts

Ever have a project you start and then just end up hating.  The fabric for this quilt was super cute.  Bears wearing shorts, cats, flowers, and other cute symbols.  The stripes were adorable.  I wanted to try the exploding square pattern from Missouri Quilting Company.  And then it was put together and I hated it.  I hid the quilt top in the bottom of a bin.  I took it out once in a while and continued to be unhappy with it.  Then I decided I had to finish all my UFOs by December 31, 2018.  And this was a UFO. I took some of the fabric to Joann's and bought backing.  I love polka dots (see the name of this blog) so I bought cute grey polka dot fabric.  As I started to quilt it I started to like it more and more.

I added some leftover squares to the back and some border fabric.  I quilted stitch in the ditch to keep it simple.  I had enough polka dot fabric to make the binding.  And now I like it. I wouldn't say I love it but I don't hate it any longer.  And I finished it. I now have a nice baby quilt or child's quilt to gift off when ready.  UFO completed.

X-mass Quilt

Every year I make my friend Remi a Christmas ornament or quilt.   It satisfies my love for creating and enables me to make some of the fun holiday patterns.  This was her gift for this year. I had to take the photo in my trunk right before I gave it to her because I had forgotten to take a photo before.  This is a simple pattern of 2 inch squares and some half square triangles.  Cute, fun and easy to make.

Winter Pillows

I had this idea I would make pillows for every season.  I saved these flannel blankets with the idea of making cute pillows with reindeer and mittens on them.  But it became December and I needed to replace the Thanksgiving pillows.  So I made pillow covers out of the blankets.  No zippers required.  These are very soft and comfy.  The whole family is very happy with them.  They may stay out through January.

In the Summertime

This is In the Summertime.  A block of the week by Pat Sloan. This was my first ever block of the week and I loved it. I loved checking each Wednesday to see what the new block would be.  Because each week was different. And I hate repetitive patterns so this fulfilled my desire to try something new.

I used only scraps which made this a bit challenging.  Sometimes I had to cobble pieces together to complete the block.  Other times I had to alter the pattern slightly because I ran out of one piece of fabric.  And I learned about half square triangle (HSTs) which I really don't like but now have totally mastered.

This was a very large quilt and the back is pieced with two large pieces of green fabric.  The quilting is stich in the ditch because I just couldn't stomach possibly running this quilt with my stippling.  The whole time I was making this I thought about who I would give it to.  But now I can't part with it.  It will be added to our collection of couch quilts that we use when we watch t.v.  I would take it to a picnic but I am afraid it would get dirty.  

Sewing with my son.

Right before school started my 13 year old son asked if he could sew with me.  I quickly set up my old machine opposite my own and gave him a charm pack to work with.  He chain pieced 99% of the quilt before it was time to go back to school.  He really got the hang of chain stitching and matching up seams.  Once school began he lost interest which was fine with me.  He had almost completed the entire top except for one border.  When November rolled around and my guild was asking for charity quits. I pulled out the top and asked him if he wanted to finish it.  He didn't so I completed the top and quilted it. 

I invited him to attend the guild meeting to present his quilt at show and tell but he was too embarrassed.  I let him know there were male quilters in the world and in fact my guild has two.  But even the enticement of a desert table could not get him to go.  Instead we faced timed when I presented the quilt to the guild and let them know who had pieced it and that we were donating it to charity.  He was very happy with that and the guild was very responsive to his efforts.