Star Cabin and Teachers Gift

Well, school is over, and the insanity has taken on a new high. It's amazing how the kids being home has left me with very little time to quilt, think, sleep....so sadly, I haven't been very productive. But I have managed to finish a quilt, make my end of year teacher's gift, and decide that before creating any more quilts, I AM going to back and quilt a few tops.

So here is the Star Cabin. Made with all batiks, I decided to start with the center fabric and base my others around it. It is a dark navy back with these lovely gold/orange/yellow sunflowers. From there I decided to do blues and oranges, with matching bars, so it is a total of 7 prints per block.
In keeping with the scrappy feel and the desire to clean out some stash fabric, I used the remainders of the orange prints from the front and a blue batik for the backing. I tried to take several pictures of the machine quilting, but nothing showed well. I used an Orange cotton thread on the front, and a varigated blue thread in the bobbin. What a nightmare that was. I realize now that mixing colors is not for the anal retentive OCD quilter....it shows every imperfection, every tension issue; trust me when you do a double batik quilt, tension is you #1 companion.



 Whining aside, I bound this lap quilt with the left over fabric I used for the stars. So in all, it was a fun quilt to make, a bear to quilt, and a colorful new addition.



On another note, this is the bag I made Becca's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Waldo. It was a pattern I found online for an Art Tote, and I modified it just a bit to be a toddler friendly go-tote. Pockets for drinks, tissues, sunscreen, toys. We filled it with a few fun summer toys and a book. Lots of fun!







Finally, I won't be blogging much this summer. Between all the kid activities, mini trips, and other obligations, I will consider it a good summer if I get even two more quilts done before the school year starts again and I start attacking my client christmas list.







But check in, you never know what lack of sleep might cause me to post.....