Mini Quilts

I joined a mini quilt swap recently -- my first swap ever.  (For those who don't know, a swap is where you sign up to create a specific quilt project and then mail it to an assigned partner.)  We are keeping our partners secret, and have never met them.  So we guess what they might like by looking at their blog, instagram, and any other online clues you can find.  I thought this would be a fun challenge, and since I love good mail, I thought it would be fun.

Turns out it has been fun, but it's also made me a little nervous.  I made one mini quilt and then decided maybe it wasn't right for my partner.  So I made a second.  I'm happy with the way both turned out and am happy to keep one for myself.  :)

Both are blocks from the Vintage Quilt Revival book.  I've posted a few projects from this book -- love it!  The top quilt block has wonky stars.....I made the first two (gray ones) a little too wonky and ended up cutting off the star points.  I figured it out by the time I made the blue blocks.  :)  I also tried Spiral quilting for the first time.  I love how it looks, and I wouldn't say it was difficult.  However, it was not fun for me.  All that twisting, turning, same ol' stitching...it got a little old.  I don't think I would attempt it on a large quilt, even though I love the look!

Although both of these blocks look finished, the one below is still a WIP.  The center block of the quilt is also from the same book.  I added the borders and like how it turned out.  However, I don't love the binding.  Too much green or something.  I will most likely replace the binding --- any suggestion on what color I should choose?  I would love any suggestions!

I am linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday, 

the author of that blog is also the author of the book I've been raving about!  

Trick or Treat Quilt

5 days before Halloween I finished this Trick or Treat quilt.  Now I'm too lazy to hang it up for just 5 days, but I'm sure we'll enjoy it draped over a chair for a few days anyway.

This is a pattern from Moda Bakeshop called the Neighborhood Charm Quilt.  The fabric is Boo Crew by Sweetwater.  Rather than the light colored background in the original, I decided on a Black/Gray Ombre so it looked like nighttime.

The original was quilted with straight lines -- making paths to the door, which was cute.  But I wasn't sure I'd be able to continuously quilt all the lines without stopping/starting a lot.  Since I don't know how to bury my knots (something I just need to take the time to learn) -- I decided to do my own quilt design.  I thought of all the little children meandering the streets on halloween night, and did some curved lines on the "streets."  On each house I did some echo stitching and a little door.

For the back I used up some old fall fabrics.  Don't love it but it'll be hanging on a wall so I was just happy to use up some fabrics from my stash.  Yay!

Points I pondered:

1.  Once again, I was a little unsure of what color thread to use.  I wish I would have used black on the top portion and gray on the bottom portion so it blended better.  But I went the lazy route and used all gray. I need to always use threads that match the quilt top because I'm still not a great machine quilter!

2.  Working with Ombre -- I need to think ahead a little more.  For the first two rows I didn't cut the roads (sashing) out first -- by the time I was going to cut it I was down farther in the fabric so it was lighter.  It's okay, but would do it differently next time.

3.  I didn't use my walking foot and the back looks just fine (minus the fact that the thread is gray. :))  I think my walking foot sits too low on my sewing machine and I probably need to get the Janome foot (rather than the generic) to see the real benefits of using a walking foot.

4.  I got the binding right on this one!  Yay!  I just finished a mini quilt and am still wondering if I should swap out the binding.  But for this quilt I went with this cool black/cream binding and I love it!

Below is a picture of a mini quilt I finished....I don't love the green binding.  What color would use?

I am linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.

Zoo Fun

It's been a year and a half since we went to the zoo, so we decided it was time to go back again.  We knew Tanner would be particularly excited to see the animals.  A couple of times he surprised us with animal facts -- when I asked him where how he knew that, he's say "Wild Kwatts!"  (Wild Kratts is actually what Tanner is watching right now.)

We especially loved the Apes.  Unfortunately the Ape house is indoors and the pictures were too dark.  Overall the animals were kind of sleepy.  We got there about 3:00 PM.  When we were leaving around 6:00 it seems the animals were waking up for dinner.  Next time I think we'll go closer to 4:30 and hopefully see some more activity.

We always enjoy seeing the Elephants.  I just think it's amazing that there is a creature that large.  The highlight for the boys was that one of the elephants went to the bathroom while we were watching.  They laughed so hard!

Brian always loves the Rhino.  Another amazing creature.  

Here are the boys in the eagle next.  It's hard to get a picture of Tanner just smiling anymore.  Can you tell?

Last year I took pictures of the boys by the bear painting.  You can see how much they've grown when you see this years picture.  (Top pic is this year -- bottom pics are last year.  I couldn't get the boys to hold still enough for individual pictures this year.)