A little stitching and some fun finds!

I made a little label for the baby quilt.  I wasn't going to put one on a baby quilt, but, my Aunt insisted she wanted at least my name on it. 

label for baby quilt

I should have made this before I put the binding on, but, I just forgot about it.  I was too busy rushing to get it finished to show off to my little quilt guild.  I had to hand stitch it to the back of the quilt.  My Janome does letters, so, I used that.  This quilt should be in Texas any day now.  The baby is due next week. 

Susan, over at Starwood Quilter, made some burp cloths a while back.  I used her idea and made a few for the new baby.  I shipped them with the baby quilt. 

burp cloths

Not too bad for a first time.  I need to make more of these. 

My Harry Potter Yahoo group is making some things for a little girl with cancer.  Make a Wish contacted one of the members of the group.  The little girl wants to go to the Harry Potter theme park as her wish, but, she can't while she is still on chemo.  The member was asked if something with a Harry Potter theme could be made for her, while she waits till fall for her wish.  OF COURSE some Harry Potter themed items can be made for her (and her little sister, too).  Several members have signed up, and started crafting.  I pulled out a mini quilt top I made for the Wicked blog hop back in 2012, and basted it.  I've started hand quilting it.  I will hand quilt some Harry Potter themed items  in the blank places, too.

basted mini quilt, waiting to be hand quilted

The backing is black with white polka dots.  I made binding to match the backing. 

Hubby had me hit the thrift stores last Friday and Saturday (the sacrifices I make for hubby ;).  Besides the new Sewmore #404 sewing machine that I got on Friday, I came home with a few other goodies I thought you might like to see.

I found a lovely, hand appliqued pillow.  This is hand made and hand quilted, this is NOT Chinese made.  I can't believe someone dropped this off at the thrift store.  It is in pristine shape, and lovely!

hand done pillow

Every applique stitch is hand done.  All the quilting is hand quilted, too.  How could I resist?

At another thrift store I found a whole baby quilt kit, unopened.  Couldn't resist it, either.  

unopened baby quilt kit

I came across a cutie that just called out to me.  He's now living in my sewing room. 

cute baboon

Yesterday was another Quilts of Valor sew-in.  This one was at the shop in Yorkville, IL, Sewing, Etc.  They have a brand new website.  They've been on Facebook for a while, but, I don't Facebook.  The owner, Kelly, is a sweetie. 

My youngest son, Connor, is getting married next year.  He has requested a quilt as a wedding present.  I decided I want to make Jean's Twist and Shout.

Twist and Shout by Jean Kritenbrink

As usual, I'm going to change it up a bit.  My son requested a larger quilt than this, that he and Krystal can snuggle under while watching TV.  I plan on adding more 'twists' and making each 'twist' longer.  I'm also making it in more colors, as requested by my son.  His favorite colors are blue, green and purple.  Krystal's favorite colors are pink, orange, lime green and purple.  While at Sewing, Etc. yesterday, I found a few fabrics to use in the quilt.

some fabrics for Connor's and Krystal's wedding quilt

The black, on the bottom will be substituted for the dark purple in Jean's quilt.  I picked two shades of each color (sorry, they look better than in the picture) for the twists in the quilt.  The ladies at the Quilts of Valor sew-in, and Kelly, the owner, all helped with the fabric choices.  I still need to find a bright white for the background, and, at least 2 more colors for more twists.  I'm thinking yellows and ????. 

Another one of our local quilt shops is closing.  Their rent went up too much for them to stay in business.  It's a great shop, and, we always went there on the shop hops, after we stopped at Ballydoyles Restaurant for Irish food.  The Quilt Basket will be missed.  A friend and I will make one last stop there on Friday.  We'll also eat at Ballydoyles for lunch.  Hopefully I'll find more fabrics for Connor's quilt at The Quilt Basket.  If not, then a trip to another quilt store (and IKEA) for lunch is planned for Tuesday. 

I can't go anywhere today.  My car is in the shop (again).  The engine light has gone off 3 times now, in the past few weeks.  Unfortunately , I need a new catalytic converter.  A very expensive fix.  Oh well.