Final Reveal: The Fish & HSTs Baby Quilt

Last week, finally, ten weeks after his birthday my nephew finally got his baby quilt.

My sister had decided on a monster theme for his room. Hence the card and the little something I wanted to add to the backing. Unfortunately it came off in the first wash? Gah, ah well, you win some you lose some.

So here's the finished backing complete with the dotty binding, just block out the little monster in the top left corner.

The quilt has been a huge hit.

Bonus: Anniversary impressions.

We had a wonderful afternoon and evening. I decided to open "Chez Mareen" instead of going out for dinner after all and cooked up a lovely three-course dinner to accompany the champagne we received as a wedding gift by a very good friend and kept safe for a year. A year - still blows my mind. We ended up with lots of yummy leftovers to be had over the weekend which is always a plus.

Also, beautiful flowers!

Happy sewing!

Go and have a look at everybody else's finishes over at Em's Sewing by Moonlight. Find me at my regular Tuesday hangouts, too.

W.i.P. - Busy Hands

My nephew is now 6 weeks and a half - I couldn't be more in love! - and his due date which served as extenuating circumstances, remember he was an early bird, has come and gone as well. High time to spend more time on finishing his quilt. So this week I'm determined to finish some outlining hand quilting before attaching the backing - I don't want these stitches to show on the back - and then, maybe, I can finish and gift this treasured project next week or the one after.

Without further ado, here are my weekly stats.

Finishes - 0
 
Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing and sharing over at Lee's!

W.i.P. - And the Fish Go On

The little fellas are coming along nicely. I should be able to finish these four tonight. A few seams per evening after work when I feel like it. Nothing massive. Slow and steady wins the race.

Working rows in batches instead of proceeding block by block has proved very efficient, too. You don't get the joy of seeing each goldfish framed in one sitting, but you save time along the way and four finishes must mean four times the fun once they're ready. Am I right? Eight times when I put them next to the those waiting in the wings. So much closer to assembling the top! I'll make one more centre block, though it might not feature a goldfish. Let's see.

Other than that, I'm still basking in the glory of my new bag and can't pat myself on the back often enough for inserting a key fob. It's pure magic, friends! Lol.

Stats

Finishes - 1
Nanette tote

Ongoing Projects - 5
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - should really work on these again sometime but my ride to work is a bus ride and I get car sick easily when focusing too much on anything

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt - oh my, really must start on that! How did time sneak up on me thus badly again?
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

Fish & HSTs - Sharing the Fun

Right after finishing Phillip - or block#3 - I knew I had to share the fun. In a girls' edition. With some of my favourite fabrics. And since Cassie not only loves my boy blocks but is expecting a little sister to her slightly less little girl I knew just who I'd like to share it with. I had a tiny layout insecurity for a moment which I took to my facebook friends - I couldn't possibly ask you all on here without ruining the surprise.

Try a different placement of the corner HSTs and overall darker impression or stick with the old?

Well, it proved a close call but the winning faction told me to stick with the blue. So, without further ado, here are the sister blocks I made. Same yet not the same. Unnamed fish, so Cassie can individualise them.

I'm glad to say the surprise went down more than well! Full-blown excitement well. Now close-ups. Because everybody likes close-ups. Matter of fact.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Cassie will turn them into. If she can ever stop stop staring at them on her wall, that is. ;-)

Happy sewing!

Really Quick Fish & HSTs Update

Meet Mike!

I'm looking for the right colour for sashing and really like how they look on the backing of my first quilt. Advantage, I've still got a good amount of Kona Everglade leftover which would save money and time. What's your take?

Happy sewing!

Owls Are in the Eye of the Beholder

The hat has eyes! I followed Lyn's suggestion and featured one owl. So this one is wide awake whilst I imagine the other ones asleep. Considering how much time babies spend snoozing that's kind of apt, don't you think?

Would you believe what my husband said when I happily thrust this in his face?

H: Don't you think the eyes are a bit close together?
Me: What? Too close together? I can't put them much further apart. They need to be inside of the head!
H. Sure, you could put one here and one there. points in the middle of two different owls' heads
Me: That's two different owls! Are you kidding me? Why should I make monocular owls?
H: OWLS?
Me: Duh, don't you see this is an owl? This is the head, the body, the feathery stuff on top.. points.. There's six owls all in all! points some more
H: Sure. laughs Great owl! laughs as if I'm the insane one here..

Yeah, sometimes he doesn't get it. Still love him, though.

As you can see I finished my cowl. I still have to weave in the ends and make the eyes/no eyes decision. A trip to the shop to stock up on thread is in order, anyway, so I can take a look at their button selection. Do you reckon mother of pearl would be an interesting option? I'm compose a post with all the details and proper pictures soon.

Today I'll be working on block number three of my Fish & HSTs. I'm becoming way too attached to these! Don't I always?

Happy sewing!