My Girly 4th of July

I'm having a bit of a girly weekend to myself, since my husband is off on a stag weekend.
It had a great start, where I was woken up by the postman delivering the package my mom sent. She'd been to a quilt show, and was awesome enough to send me some stuff. I am in love with the tea towels she sent!!!

I have already finished the first one. I know, it makes you sick, mom :)
I think the cute crochet border is what really makes them pop. It makes me wonder what other things I could add some borders to.

If you want to get some of your own, it's the Victory Garden Project Pack and she got them from Erica's. It looks like you can also purchase just the borders if you want to fancy some things up. I think they'd look great on some kitchen curtains, or maybe a cute summer skirt.

I also dyed some fabric in my machine. It's some of the leftover sheer fabric from the bottom of my ikea curtains. I plan to use it to make a little summer dress from my Twinkle book. I used Dylon's powder pink machine dye.


Since I'm on my own for the weekend, it means I've been eating lots of junk food, drinking cola, and watching whatever junk TV I feel like. Which meant Pride & Prejudice followed by Braveheart last night. And I had a delicious tea, courtesy of our friend who breezed through as she returned home from Copenhagen. She couldn't remember what these delicious treats were called, but they were on a list of 5 things a local told her she must eat on her trip. Thankfully, she didn't have time to eat them while in Copenhagen, so we got to share in their delight. A little bit like a marshmallow bunny, but 1000 times better and more luxurious.


I've also had plenty of time for the World Cup and Wimbledon. My favorite team for the World Cup has been Uruguay, and I promise it's not just because I've been captivated by the beautiful Diego Forlan. Though he certainly doesn't hurt...

quilting for friends

One of my friends was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. I wanted to do something special for him, so I decided on a lap quilt. I have heard these can be good for patients undergoing chemo. Besides the benefits of giving warmth in a cold hospital room, quilts are great ways of reminding people that you care of them. Also, colorful or intricate quilts can provide a distraction; something to look at or think about in quiet moments.

I wanted to maximize the colors and patterns, so I got two sets of coordinating charm squares. I only had to repeat 6 fabrics in the whole quilt. I also decided on a disappearing 9 patch so the colors would be broken up, but I could also complete the project quickly. Here's a look at the finished 9 patches, before I made them "disappear".


Once I finished the top, I machine quilted in a large, overlapping square pattern. Then I added a few details by hand. I quilted around each central square, and quilted an "L" for the patient's surname.



I had chosen greens and browns to give a forest feel, and embroidered a quilt label to match this theme.


I had some fabric bits left over at the end, so I decided to make a pin cushion for his fiance. This was my first time doing English Paper Piecing. This was a cute pattern I got at Fabric Shack last year. I sewed the entire thing by hand. It was actually very easy, and a great thing to do while watching some World Cup action.



This whole project was really fun for me, because it reminded me how much I love doing needlework by hand. I was quite pleased with my results, and how easily it all came back to my fingers.