Half Way Thru the BOM

I can't believe it's already been 6 months since we began this block of the month, and that we've already finished 6 blocks! I still haven't gotten last years put together yet (cheeks blush with embarrassment). I'm really trying to stick to a fabric budget this year, but I'm finding that instead of picking something from my stash I'm just putting everything on hold. I'm starting to think that's not the best plan. I fear fabric binge shopping might be in my future.

Back to the block of the month, though. When we went to class to get the fabric and pattern for this one, my daughter seemed to have sensed it was her favorite color... or she spotted someone else with it... because she started saying, "purple, purple!" and pulling my envelop open. For the rest of class she clutched the swatch while playing games on my phone, so I couldn't get a snapshot of it. It was pretty cute.

This pattern was very similar to one of the previous months, literally a switch of directions for the flying geese and that's it. I want these block to look different, so I was reluctant to put colors in the same places as I did in the last block. Unfortunately that meant using less of this awesome color.  That's okay. It's finished and I love it!

My points came out better on this one than the last, which was also awesome. This block has moved to the front of the list of my favorites. I am really enjoying working with the ombre fabrics. I wonder what color will be next? We haven't really had any oranges yet, so I'm wondering if they might pop up here in the fall. Help us get into the spirit of the season.

I had to see them all together. So pretty! I really want to experiment with some modern layouts with these. Ideas, ideas.

Birthday Thank You's

I admit it. I have been totally checked out of paper crafting. There's been too many distractions and we are at that awkward stage where my kiddos want to "help" but I'm not ready to share my tools yet. They're getting there, though, and we've been doing a lot of crafting with their tools instead.

Now that everyone is back in school (including me, yeah!) I have a little more alone time to get things done, sort of. My Son's birthday was this month and he received some wonderful things from our friends and family. This gave me a great opportunity to get back to work and make some cards. Wow, did it feel good!

It's always a little tricky to make thank you cards from a boy. I wanted them to be from his favorite colors, and NOT have any flowers...it's really hard to find paper that doesn't have any flowers on it.

I also wanted to give the card a little depth and texture without doing too much extra so I puffed up the "thanks" square while the others are not.

Simple, fun, little-boy style. and hopefully well-received when he gets them out by Monday. He has a little homework to do this weekend. Time to get to work.

Trying to Find the Right One

I currently have four quilts (count 'em, 4!!! Yikes!!!) that need backings so I can finish them up.  I struggle with backings when I don't have leftover fabric from what I was using on the front or if there's a specific style to the fabric on the front.

My first is a quilt I finished a long time ago and didn't like it all that much so I packed it away. I decided it's good practice for quilting and I can give it away, so I pulled it out again.

I finished this top from fabrics a friend gave to me. I love the cats and the flowers, and tried hard to make a scrappy look. I have been wanting to play with the hidden 9-patch look for a while. The fabrics feel very 70's retro and I really want to keep that. I might end up having to go solid black and call it good.

Finally, I have 2 different baby quilts made from the same set of fabrics. They're so adorable and I can't wait to finish them up. I don't have any recipients in mind, but they're just too cute for words.

We went on our trip to San Diego last weekend and had an absolutely fabulous time! There's is something so magical about the beach to me.

While there, I stopped at my fave San Diego quilt shop to see if I could find some backings for these quilts. No luck. I only found one for the diamonds quilt. The others are still waiting, and hopefully will find they're match soon.