Monday, May 29, 2017

No More Llama Drama


OMG - there's no more Llama Drama around my house. My llama quilt is completely finished and those cute little faces peek out at us from their perch on our couch.



Hand stitching the binding down on this darling quilt was my May goal for the One Monthly Goal (OMG).  And also on my Second Quarter Goals for 2017 Finish-A-Long!


As I was stitching along, I found that I really, really liked having the scrappy bits of color scattered around the outside of the quilt! If you remember, I found I was just a few inches short of having enough charcoal solid binding. So I improvised and pieced strips of the accent colors I used within the quilt for the pompoms and blankets, cut them to 2.25" strips, and incorporated them in the binding. It was a win-win!


This was my fun quilt, and it's still one of my favorites!


For the quilting, I free-motion quilted it in a free-form of rectangular swirls. I mixed the sizing up, primarily so I wouldn't have to be exact in the placement, but also to give it some interest and allow the eye to move across the quilt.


I guess I should name my llamas. The Elizabeth Hartman's pattern says they are Lloyd and Lola but to me they look more like Max and Maxine! Yep. Max and Maxine are in the house!

Quilting with a smile,

Barb

Linking up with:
OMG
Oh Scrap!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Hands2Help Quilt On Its Way!

Today is a special day!  I get to box up this quilt and send it off to a good home!  I'm participating in the Hands2Help Challenge, organized by the terrific Sarah Craig, Confessions of a Fabric Addict. She has enlisted the help of a record-setting number of quilters to whip up some gorgeous quilts to brighten the lives of others. What an angel!


This is a quilt that I made from my stash. I almost like the back better than the front, lol!



 I'm sending it off to the International Institute St. Louis to aid their work with refugees. With all the negative press this year about accepting refugees to our country, I'm hopeful this small gesture will instill hope to a family that we care.



At any rate, this is a great project, and has compelled me to start thinking about how I can help more locally. Guess it's time to put my thinking cap on. Thanks, Sarah!

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

OMG, It's Llamas to the Finish Line!

May is going to be a fast month, I can feel it!  Winter seems to go on and on and on, and add to the fact that spring in the mountains arrives about 4-6 weeks later than lower parts of our state, and BAM! It's summer! So, yah,  May is already speeding by.

With that in mind, I'm setting my OMG (One Monthly Goal) goal to finish my Llama Quilt. 


I just got her quilted, and the binding put on. That was kinda crazy! I was just short of the binding fabric by about 6 inches. Rather than rush out to my LQS, I have given myself the challenge of using what fabric I have in my stash. (I could live a long, pleasant life based on my stash, lol...). So I got creative and  pieced together the fabrics that were in the blankets and pompoms of the quilt to make a patchwork-sorta-binding strip, and scattered them throughout the binding. I think I'm going to like the look. A lot!



So now the hand stitching. For me, that might take the whole month, lol.  But that's my goal - to get this quilt completed so the rightful owner (me) can start using it!

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with:
OMG
Oh Scrap!
Main Crush Monday
Midweek Makers
Needle and Thread Thursday

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