Steeler Girls

Aren't they cute?

The Kindergarten Quilt

Yep...I managed to volunteer somehow to quilt the Kindergarten Quilt.

It really wasn't too bad, and kind of enjoyed getting to see blocks that all the kids colored in (There are special fabric crayons you can get from the Dick Blick website if you want to do this at home.)

However, I break out in a sweat thinking of doing some sort of stacking of quilt layers and turning right side out, so I just decided to go into Joann's and get a half yard of the star fabric that the teacher gave me to make a binding. So. Much. Better. = ) I didn't hand quilt it since I didn't have much time, but the machine quilting went fast and I was pleased with the overall look.

Here is an annoyed Katie humoring Mommy by pointing to her block.

Katie's Dance Recital

Katie practicing her arabesque before the show...

Maggie trying to get into the action...

Katie's dance class

Super cute Katie

Sun Bonnet Suzy

When I was little, my Great-Grandma Ritchey made me a quilt. It had 12 blocks of hand-appliqued Sun Bonnet Sue, sashed and bound with pink/mauve and backed with a flowered sheet. I loved that quilt and used it until I was teenager...now that I look at some of the blocks, there are repairs that will need to be made. But I didn't want to ruin my precious quilt until I knew that I could hand applique replacement parts. So I decided to make a mini practice "Suzy" block.

I found a block that was intact on my quilt and put a sheet of computer paper over it and did a crayon rubbing to get an outline of the applique pieces. I then used plastic template material to make traceable patterns. For my mini version, I used my printer/copier to shrink the pattern to 60% and made new templates.

I wasn't incredibly happy with my first, but I made 2 more, getting more confidence each time. I have to admit that it is relaxing to have such a portable project.

I now see that I need to trim the thread from the back, but I was pretty happy with this Suzy...I think I'll do one more and make it into a dolly quilt!