Prepping

Not a lot of quilting going on lately, but that's about to change.  I will be spending the next few weeks collecting fabric and cutting for some new projects because October 19th is the start of Craftapalooza!  Twice a year my crafty friends and I get together for a week and craft our guts out.  There are two rules of Craftapalooza: 1) no boys and 2) no kids!  We spend the week quilting, sewing, fusing glass, knitting and crocheting.  The week is also filled with 80's music and movies, chick flicks, yummy food and awesome together time.  These are friends from college 20 years ago and it gives us a great opportunity to catch up with each other, relax and leave our stress behind and have giggly girl time.  Craftapalooza is my favorite time of year!

We always pick a quilt pattern that we will all make and this year we have chosen Scrap Jar Stars from the A Little Bit Biased blog.  I am also planning to make the Starry-Eyed Quilt from Moda Bake Shop (I seem to have a star theme going!)

So, I have a lot of cutting in my future.  I will keep you posted on my progress!

Baby Quilt Done!

I successfully quilted the polka-dot baby quilt on the long arm.  Originally, I thought I would have to anchor the circles using my sewing machine first, but I 'floated' the top over the front bar instead of rolling it on and the glue was enough to keep the circles where then were supposed to be.  I did a loopy meander in the background and circles on the polka dots.  This is what it looked like before I washed it.

After sewing on the binding and a trip through the washer and dryer, the polka dots are definitely getting raggedy.  I think a few more washes will help make the circles lay flatter.

And here is the whole quilt.

It turned out better than I expected.  After I had the background pieced I thought the plaids and stripes would be too much but now that it's done I love it!

This is a sample to show my friend what I was thinking when she asked if I could do a polka dot quilt for her daughter.  If she likes it, I will make another one (she needs twin size and this one is only about 48"x48") in her choice of colors.  Then, I think this one will go to my niece.