A Quilting We Will Go!

This picture is my friends and I hurrying off to the quilting bee. We just can't wait to get there so we are on skates. I'll give you three guesses who is the one wearing pink, falling on her patootey again. Of course it's me!  Thank goodness for petticoats!!!  
I was visiting a blog called As Sweet as Cinnamon, which is a really cute blog by the way, and saw she was having a quilt-a-long.  Her name is Dawn, and she is from Australia.  Those girls from Australia are some amazing quilters and crafters, I can tell you that.  I always see articles in magazines featuring someone or other from down under.  
I digress.  She was mentioning using a lot of scraps for this quilt, and was wondering if any of us out there had scraps.  I left her a comment telling her I did indeed have scraps and might just dump them out and see what I could come up with.  I was just toying with the idea of doing something with them and maybe joining the quilt-a-long.  Well, she wrote back and said she was so glad I was joining.  My first reaction was - gee, I haven't really committed to joining just yet.   I decided to take another look at her post and the previous posts showing the quilt, and I was so in! 

It is a sweet quilt for a little girl, featuring some applique with purses, cupcakes, butterflies, and as she says all things girly.

She has two  daughters, and she made two quilts, each just slightly different.  Do you see the differences?




She also has a version for little boys with a sailing ship in the middle which she says is very cute, but since I am thinking of a Christmas present for Haileybelle, I am making the girly version.

I have decided this will be a good test for me in discipline, since I am going to force myself to blog about each step, and each step is once a week; therefore I must blog weekly.  Whew.  I always get scolded for not posting often enough from my beloved blogging friends.  That's a lot for me - especially since my sister will be leaving soon to go back home and I will once again be the main caretaker for my mom.  It is a lot of work helping mom, but I'm just going to try to take one day at a time. I am even thinking of bringing my old retired sewing machine over there and trying to get in a little sewing while she is watching tv.  Usually there is so much to do once I'm there I'm not sure it is worth the effort of lugging over the machine and all my stuff, but I'll think about it. 

If you would like to visit Dawn and her blog, here is a link to As Sweet as Cinnamon.  It is not too late for anyone to join in, week one was a snap to do, just easy mindless kind of sewing.  Week 2 was just posted and doesn't look too hard or time consuming.  If you want to see her original post about the quilts, go to the  August 9 post and you can read all about it.   

I hope you all enjoy following along with me as I make the quilt.  I am thinking I will make a 2nd quilt as I go for my beautiful new little granddaughter, Ellie.  Gosh, I am going to pat myself on the back, I can knock out two Christmas presents at once.  You go Julie!!! You rock!!  Yes I am a dork. I do amuse myself though.    

I also am challenging myself to host my own quilt-a-long once I finish this one, so this will be good practice for me!

Here is week one - easy peasy.  Cut out eight squares and eight strips.  Add strips to top and bottom . . .

then to sides, of course pressing as you go.

When you're done you end up with eight squares, or in my case sixteen since I'm doing two quilts. If you look at the pictures of the finished quilts you will see the squares on the top and bottom.

Always the overachiever, I have decided to make a third quilt as I go for my sweet friend Keren, from Free Pretty Things.  Actually not for Keren, but for her daughter!  Keren hasn't ventured into the world of quilting yet, but I'll work on her.  Wait until I tell my also very sweet friend Donna, from Donna's Lavender Nest.  I am always telling her she is crazy for trying to do so many swaps.  Boy is she going to laugh at me!  She is an awesome quilter and actually does machine quilting for people, so if you need something quilted drop her an email. 

I'm really looking forward to making these quilts, and so far have enjoyed the sewing time.  Maybe this is the way I should do everything, just a little each week - I won't feel so overwhelmed!  Until next time . . .

A big thank you to Meri for the wonderful vintage images. Do visit her blog, you'll love it!