Fire Flower almost done

It's mostly done, and I am okay with how it has turned out. I am going to add more blue on top for a sky and to lengthen it out since its almost a square. I went for the basic pixellated color scheme and im not totally in love with the way the dark orange turned out....but oh well!!

Mario Fire Flower

Next up on the project list? Mario Fire Flower for my son Gavin. I drew this pixelated pattern last Sunday....

Then i went to stock up on Kona solids for the quilt. I decided to make the squares bigger this time, since I find working with small cuts frustrating and difficult! I ended up with 4.5in squares instead of 2.5in, and it has worked out much better!

I chose whatever Kona that Joanns had in stock, since i was motivated to start the project and didnt want to wait for fabric to be shipped to me. I really hope i dont regret it! I used Kona Grass, Chartreuse, Tangerine (the darker orange), Candy Blue and Coal. I was really disappointed to find that they did not have any lighter orange on hand, and felt forced to buy an orange of some kind. Its not Kona, and I really hope i dont regret using it because i know its not the same quality. :( Hopefully it will turn out okay. More pictures to come of the WIP!

Finished Mario Mushroom Quilt and Summertime Scrap

I finished the Mario Mushroom quilt yesterday while sitting at the pool in the 97 degree weather. Ugh. It was too hot to have a quilt on the lap but i only had a little binding to finish. Here's my second born (only by a minute)boy with his quilt.

For the back, i used some scrap and yardage i had left from the front.

In the spirit of being annoying, here's a deliberate feet in the quilt picture for you.

Ok, enough of that. I started playing with more scraps, determined to dig in and make something out of my stash and a little out of my comfort zone. I made these blocks courthouse step-style and plan on ordering some kona yardage to make the quilt front and back predominatly solid. See how i contradicted myself? I said i would just use scrap, and then found a way to buy more fabric....

Meanwhile, I have a girl who is about to turn 9, and a boy with a complete 'fro.

Oh yeah, am i totally picked the Olympic Gymnastics team! :)

With the Olympic Trials coming up with weekend i thought i'd share my thoughts on who i think will make the Olympic Team for London. If i had to pick today, it'd be: Jordan Weiber (vault, beam, floor) Gabby Douglas (bars, beam, floor) Aly Raisman (vault, floor) Kyla Ross (bars, beam) and i cant decide between McKayla Maroney b/c of her recent injury, and Nastia Liukin because she did poorly on bars at the Visa's. Obviously, McKayla would be going for vault. Nastia would go for beam and bars. I guess we'll see come Sunday night!

A new cover!

Ive been meaning to make a new machine cover for about a year. I finally made one last night for my Singer Confidence Quilter. I used a simple tutorial on the web, and whipped it up in about 2 hours. it was super simple, and i just used scrap fabric from my stash. I really needed to do something easy and quick, seeing as I have one quilt to baste and another monster table cloth to sew. I made the cover double-sided, to suit my ever changing tastes in color. I found this fabric at a local quilt shop, its so cool! I bought only a yard, but its been sitting around asking me to cut into it, so i used it on a project i would see alot, every single day!

Catching up...

So I finished the block quilt for my friend who is getting married in July....going to give it to her at her Bridal Shower, which is this saturday. Here's a picture of it finished. Here's a pic of the back. I also am in the process of making a tablecloth for my dining room table, and i have the top finished. I have the fabric for the back, but havent started in on it yet. aaaannd...the mario block i was going to make turned into a mushroom block, that didnt turn out as i planned. I drew the pattern from a pixelated picture i found on the internet. Then i cut all the squares 2.5, and of course since i cut them by hand, they didnt sew right, and sewing long strips of tiny blocks and having them match up is not my strong suit. So....its not great, but my 10year old loves it, so i guess thats all that matters. I'm probably going to use a bunch of fabric i have left from the front to whip up a back, and them i'm doing simple quilting lines. I have been requested to make a "Boo" and a "Mario" quilt for my other two boys, but those little blocks just frustrate me so i might try to find a different method.

tangent

i realize i am a bit of a loser. i have accepted that, and i think my husband has too :). The 2012 Summer Olympics are coming up in a few months and i am supe excited for it! I grew up a competitive gymnast until an injury put me on the sidelines. I've followed the sport for probably 20+ years, and this year will be no different. I remember feeding my babies in the middle of the night, 3am watching gymnastics recaps and swimming meets that they won't broadcast on primetime. I thought I'd just chime in on who i think will make the team this year, and see if i am right come the end of July. There are so many fantastically talented gymnasts out there who are all hoping to claim one of the FIVE spots on the team. With the drop in one member, this has forced the sport to become more about all around gymnasts rather than event specialists, which saddens me, b/c this only means that many girls who could win event titles will be left at home in favor of more all around gymnasts. Anyway, the Covergirl Classic wrapped last weekend, and the Visa Championships are June 7-10. If i had to pick right now to choose who i think Marta Karolyi and the rest of the committee would choose, it'd be: Jordyn Weiber (all around) Gabby Douglas (they need her for bars especially) Nastia Luikin (also another essential bar worker) Alexandra Raisman (all around) Kyla Ross (first year as a senior and they need her bars!) I am sad because this cuts out amazing girls like McKayla Maroney, Rebecca Bross and Olympic great Shawn Johnson. I guess we will see what happens. Having that extra 6th spot in the lineup like in previous Olympics would give the chance for USA to take an exceptional event specialist, one that could boost scores by .5, which is alot, when one considers the new code of points and the scoring system. Other amazing girls to watch out for are: Victoria Komova from Russia (her bars and beam are ridiculously beautiful), Larisa Iordache from Romania (powerhouse tumbler)and Aliya Mustafine from Russia, who reminds me of Svetlana Boginskaya with her additude and entitlement. Anyway, back to sewing. I've forgone the Mario block for a quick, much needed table cloth fo my dining room table....pictures to come soon!