WIP- quilting the beast

Okay I am not going to name this quilt "the beast", but it's big enough to earn the nickname for sure.
I was so ambitious tonight. Got my machine out and everything. Then I realized that spray baste doesn't hold awesomely when the quilt is kept folded and shoved in a box for a few months. So tonight I pinned and taped. Maybe I quilt tomorrow night?
(my friend Melissa calls herself the sewing vampire - only sewing after her kids are asleep. I'm the same way. Only I don't know about the blood-sucking part. Maybe a vegetarian vampire quilter?)
Okay quilt. See you tomorrow night. You. Me. Here.

Mimi presents her quilts at the LAMQG

In February, I took Mimi to Sew Modern and as we bought fabrics for my birthday, she picked out a bunch that she wanted to make a bag with. I told her that if she made the bag that she'd get to present it at a guild meeting and that I would let her stay up really late to attend.
Well, you saw the bag. Now you get to see the awesome pics that my guild pal, Nichole, took of the Design Director showing off her work. (THANKS,  NICHOLE!)


Here she is saying, "This one I designed but I didn't sew it, because I was only 4"


"This quilt I did everything except for the owl and the binding. My mom helped me with those"


"Here is my bag. I did everything on it except I didn't do the snap or the button on the pocket and my mom attached the ribbon to the straps for me before I sewed them on"

Everyone was freaking out. She was pretty cute, even if she was my own kid. That little 6 year old got up in front of everyone and said exactly what she wanted to say in front of 60 adult strangers. Talk about proud moments. I was so high on that kid that night. She rocked it.
Then after the meeting she showed me the fabrics she wanted to make a dress out of and asked for a lollipop.

Dog beds

What's that you say? You don't like these fabrics? Me either anymore. But if it makes a soft dog bed, I know someone (or some canine) will appreciate it.
I've been taking unloved yards of fabric, folding them in half and sewing up two sides to make a pillowcase. Then I leave it open and use it as a receptacle for all thread and unusable fabric scraps. I've also been known to throw in used dryer sheets, torn undershirts from my husband and socks who've lost their mates. When they are full, I sew them up an donate them to dog shelters. These are dog beds #2 and #3.
Yay for recycling!
Yay for doggies!
Yay for the people who take care of and rescue dogs!
(both of our dogs that we've had in the past 10 years, Scout and Zuma, were rescued...)
If you're local and want to contribute to my doggie beds, just let me know...

Bee Blocks- catching up

I haven't been posting here because we've been on vacation, but now I am back and the kids are back in camp, which means hopefully that while baby naps, I'll be able to share some of my fun projects recently.
I've got about 2-3 secret projects that I can't post yet, but I am indeed keeping my fingers busy.
And LOTS LOTS LOTS of hand sewing and even hand quilting, if you believe it!
(works great when in the camper or at a campsite!)

In the meantime, here are some pics of bee blocks I have made recently for my two bees.

(before their borders were put on... cool, huh?)

Cruz wanted these fabulous hexagon squares. They were made from a pattern by Freshly Pieced. They're not easy to get perfect, and picking the fabrics was WAY trickier than it looks. But I love the finished look so much that I am going to have to do something special with these....

Katie asked for trees... Once Christmas tree in her turquoise fabrics and one other tree in the reds. Oh did I have fun with these... so fast, so easy! Must do more!

I always like to send a little bag or pouch with my bee squares, one that reminds the gal of her squares from me, so here is Cruz's squares and bag and Katie's wanted to have a tree on it (other side, not shown), so I had to make hers a bit bigger than normal. That's okay, I like Katie a lot... and I loved making her bag.