Close Only Counts in Horseshoes

But it was exciting, nonetheless.

I have entered quilts in Quilting Gallery's weekly Show and Tell contest from time to time.  I usually go in when it's time to vote and vote for my own quilt, just to it's not down there at the bottom with 0% of the votes.

This week, the theme was Quilts for Guys, and I decided to enter my son's quilt, Blue Bayou.

Voting closed today, and I went in to see how I'd done.  Wow!

There it was, in second place, with 77 votes!  What a rush!  Thanks so much to any of my blog buddies who voted for my quilt.   You made my day!

Two...Count Em Two!

Well, it's time for the second quarter Finish-A-Long, sponsored by Rhonda at Quilter in the Gap.

I was a dismal failure at the end of the first quarter - I didn't finish the one quilt that I had submitted as a goal.  That was this quilt.  I included it as a goal for the second quarter.

Actually, this is half the quilt - I plan on doing a quilt as you go technique, then sew the two halves together.  I still have not started quilting it!  Can you tell I'm terrified?

But, I am happy to say that the other two goals that I had for this quarter were completed.  These were two almost identical baby quilts.

This is the first one.  The checkerboard blocks are done in Kona charcoal and white.  It's quilted in a free motion stars and circles design.

And here is the second one.

This one has the checkerboard done in black and white.  I quilted this with a pantograph - Sassy by Golden Threads.

And, just in case you think I'm trying to pass off the same quilt twice, here they are both together.

The pattern is called Celebration, by Judy Martin.  She had another partial border of the brights, but once I got the checkerboard all around, I decided I was done.

One of the quilts is going to my niece, who made me a Great Aunt on June 28th.  The other is going to a young woman who has been friends with my daughter since the first grade.  She is due any day, so I've completed them both in the nick of time!

Here is a close up of the bindings.  I loved the stripe!

Now, I'm off to think up goals for the third quarter. Yup, that blue quilt is going to be on the list!

Finish-A-Long Time Again

OK, so I didn't do all that well in the first quarter of the Finish-A-Long.  But, I'm persistent, so I'm going to set some new goals, and renew my old one in this next quarter.

First, I still want to finish up my son's quilt:

It's at this stage right now - this is half of it.  I'm going to quilt it in halves, then put them together.  I was procrastinating on this for the longest time, but a couple weeks ago, I came across this book:

Marti Michell has several methods for doing your quilting with less bulk - all of which seem like great ideas.  I had seen her demonstrating one on The Quilt Show, but having the instructions written out, with illustrations, really helped me to understand.  I don't think it will be all that difficult.  (Famous last words!)

Quilts number 2 and 3 are the same pattern, from Judy Martin's Scraps.  They are currently at this stage:

plus a bunch of these:

These two HAVE to be done by June, as the babies are due then.

Visit the Finish-A-Long at Quilter in the Gap.  Thanks Rhonda!

Boxing Day Sew In (BDSI) Project

Sandy at Quilting for the Rest of Us is hosting the Boxing Day Sew In (#BDSI on Twitter - although I'm not sure how to navigate Twitter).

The project I am working on is my son's graduation quilt.  Now, I have to admit that my son is 19 years old and graduated high school 18 months ago.  But, it's getting there, I promise!

These are the blocks that I have done.  There are 32 of the ones on the left - they are all completed.  There are 14 done of the ones on the right - 18 more to go.  I'm hoping to finish them all off, and maybe get some put together.

This will be much better than braving the Boxing Day sales.  There is nothing that I want to buy that badly!  (Now, if my LQS were open on Boxing Day, I may be singing a different tune!)