Got 'Er Done!

The John Deere commissioned quilt is all done!  

It is pouring rain and is supposed to pour rain for three days, so this is as good as it gets for pictures. 

Crappy phone pictures in crappy artificial lighting.  

The label says 'From Santa & Mrs Claus - 2013'. 

 It's all soft and crinkly and when I took it out of the dryer I almost snuggled up in it instead of putting it away for it's new owner.  

Finished size:  approx 60 x 80
John Deere Fabrics from Hancock Fabrics
Quilted with Coats and Clark 30 wt cotton thread
Warm and White batting

Check my right-hand sidebar for links to all the great blogs I am linking up with this week!!

John Deere Top Done ..

Finished up the top last night.  Now for the not so fun part of basting. 

This is my largest quilt so far.  And my first commissioned quilt.  Looking forward to the finished product.  

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced today.

Tuesday's Tales .... Circus and a WIP

Didn't get much sewing done this weekend.  Was just too busy having fun with Sweet Thang.

 

She went to her first circus.  She is not fond of 'characters' (in this case clowns, but she doesn't like Santa either).  Elephant rides were available, but she preferred to watch rather than ride.

 

 

Same with pony rides.

 

She did get her very own red nose.  But that's about as much clown as she wanted!

 

 

And this is my current WIP (and will be for a while).  This is my very first commissioned quilt.  My instructions were "John Deere / twin size".  I have free reign on the rest of it.  This (indoor, late night) picture doesn't really portray the true colors.  I'm having to keep it hidden from BabyGurl lest she steal a 3-year olds Christmas present!! :-)

 

I'm mostly only getting to work on it for a couple of hours in the evenings because I get to spend a lot of time with Sweet Thang, and this coming weekend I'll be spending lots of quality time with Sweet Sadie Mae.

 

*Real name, Sadie Lynn, but Gamma likes Sadie Mae better.  :-)

 

Linking up with lots of great blogs this week.  Please check my right-hand sidebar for links, and show them all some bloggy love!!

New Projects ...

Got a couple of new things going on.  Well, almost going on; I bought the fabric today.

First up is my second quilt-along with Polly ... This one is Nativity In The Trees.  She has posted the first lesson and it is fabric selection and yardage requirements.  So it's definitely not too late to sign up to quilt along with us.  I'm looking forward to it.  Polly's instructions are very easy to follow and if you have any questions she responds promptly with her answers.  

This is my fabric selection in the basket in the cutting line this morning at Hancock's (they had 50% off almost everything in the store!)  

(This is my first trip to the cutting table.  I made three trips.  The ladies at the cutting table and I are great friends now!)

And here it is all laid out (as the day's light was fading, but the colors are pretty true)

 Closeup of what I'm planning to use as backing.

And for another project, my first quilt "for hire".  

A friend's little boy wants a John Deere quilt so I picked the fabrics today - I got some of every JD fabric they had.  Would've loved to have another couple of selections but I can work with this.  

I'm planning to make it similar to how I have it laid out here.  Large squares of the four prints, sashed with (narrow) strips of the yellow, and bound in the blue check with the tires for the back.  

This will be my first quilt that was specially ordered but she gave me free reign with it as long as it is John Deere.  So at least I've got that covered!  

(And while I was posting this she text'd me to ask if I had any luck finding fabrics and I showed her this layout and she replied with "Oh my gosh! I cant wait!"; so I guess I did ok.)

I also picked up some random Christmas fat quarters for $1 each.  I'll  make coasters or mug rugs or something out of these.  Or I may be so busy with the two quilts that these just sit til next year!

And, this cute owl fabric.  Who could resist this at 50% off? :-)

I also got other miscellaneous items such as zippers, thread, interfacing etc while there was such a great sale going on.

Linking up with Marelize at Anything Goes Mondays,
and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday,
and Connie's Free Motion By The River,
and Randi at Show and Tell Tuesday
and Lee at Freshly Pieced.