Red, White, and Blue

Slacking on the blogging again, but not on the sewing.

Whipped up these two tops (one more to go) for the littles.  

I got the shorts done after it was too late to take an outdoor pic. 

Then I tried it on the littlest little.

Middle little will get hers this weekend.  And I still have to make one for big little (AKA Gabbie-Lou-Who). 

My friend moved into a new home this past weekend so I whipped her up a quick gift.  She said she was going to decorate in colonial blues.  I'm not sure if these are colonial, but they are blue! 

I forgot to take a picture before I mailed them; she sent me this picture of them on her new dining table as soon as she opened them. 

 

 

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I'm linking up with some great blogs this week.  Please look for the links in my right-hand sidebar and visit their blogs.  You'll be glad you did!!  

Lot Of Firsts ...

I followed this tutorial for the Cookie Plate Crumb Catcher from The Crafty Quilter.  

I still have to give it a final trim and bind it - probably in solid red, which I don't have any of.  I think the red/white print would make a good binding but I don't think I have enough of it left.  Not without a whole lot of piecing.  

Lots of firsts in this for me.  First time for HST's, square in square, and pinwheels.  Also, I didn't do just straight line quilting.  Well yes, all the quilting lines are straight (or relatively so), but it's not just lines all the way across the whole thing.  

I had trouble visualizing the layout and getting my colors where I wanted them - in retrospect I wish I'd reversed the fabric layout between the black triangles and the green squares.  But still, not bad for a first go.  And it's made with some random fat quarters I picked up at Hancock Fabrics last week for $1 each, so it was a thrifty little project.  

I also used different color threads top and bobbin.  It turned out ok, but I'm not sure it's something I'd do for a bigger project.  At least not without a lot more practice and some major finagling with the tension settings to make sure the threads don't pull through.  The quilting doesn't really show up with the red bobbin, but I am glad I didn't go with the white in the bobbin.  Maybe some gold would've been nice?  

I recommend this for a quick easy project. 

Getting my Whoop on today with Sarah.

EDITED TO UPDATE:

I just couldn't leave it alone.  But wow, binding this little bugger was a chore!

And .... since I actually finished it, I'm also linking up with Richard (&Tanya Quilts), and Amanda Jean (Crazy Mom Quilts)