The WIPS are Growing!

Yesterday was a great day meeting the F.LA.W.s (former ladies at work) for a long lunch and catch up. We met at the SouthPark Cheesecake Factory. No, I didn't have any cheesecake but did have a wonderful lunch combo of soup, sandwich and salad.  We shared a couple appetizers of Samosa, a first for me. Yum!

One of the gals that joined us for lunch is home on leave from the mission field, Lesotho, a landlocked country in South Africa. It is always such a joy catching up with her and the happenings in Africa.  She claims "I love Africa and feel so blessed to have been led there."  Discussion even led up to maybe, possibly a trip to Africa for me someday! We will see! At least I know I would have a place to stay. I think it would be amazing to pet a baby lion, see the giraffes, cheetahs and elephants in their natural habitat.

Needless to say there wasn't any sewing or quilting yesterday. But on Monday with a little help from my friend, Cassie and NetFlix watching a couple shows of Doc Martin, we got the St. Louis 16 Patch quilt sandwiched and pinned shown above. It has a 1" sash with setting triangles and corners. Bonnie Hunter has the calculations for the setting triangles and corners on her website HERE. 

Fabric used for the setting corners and triangles is a pretty soft yellow! I just love how it turned out! It just calls me to want to cuddle under this prettiness while reading a good book. I kept with a theme of blooming and leafy, an inspiration from a Kaffe Fasset quilt I found in one of his books. Yes! I know it is a far cry from one of his quilts, but I was so happy to use the floral and leafy stash that has been lingering for a long time. In fact the yellow calico like was intended to make a blue and yellow quilt for my daughter-in-law. I didn't get it made up fast enough as she changed her colors. Here is another snapshot in hopes that it reveals the colors better. Photo was taken in the evening and you know how evening snapshots in the home after dark are usually not the best ones to capture true colors.

The back is pieced again with more leafy and blooming fabrics. Oh I am so happy to use up some of this stash as this back definitely was a stash buster for some of the larger yardages.

And would you believe Monday evening I also made the binding as well? Now to get this baby quilted. I haven't decided on the quilting design. I am leaning toward meandering. Will revisit this idea later though by checking out some of the other designs I have in a neat little packet.

While going through more stash I came across some orphan blocks. There is enough to make a baby quilt. So when I have a few minutes here and there I have been stitching them together. This morning FireFox was doing its updates so I just started pinning and matching seams. They are all ready for some chain stitching and just in time to get back online.

There are a couple other orphan blocks too as you can see. The top one is a practice piece tubing. I need to redo it to get a better design. This maybe another future stash buster for me.

The other one was an extra block that was intended for the Fall Blue Ridge table runner. I realized that my table runner was going to be larger than my table which is now minus one less center block. It really is a pretty block. This picture doesn't even begin to justify it. Now to find a home for this pretty fall block.

And the Raggedy Anns and Andys are still in progress. The couple shown here I took with me to share with the F.L.A.W.S. Their response touched me because they too love their sweet faces as much as I do!

My sewing room looks like a Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and outft factory!  Now to get some of these completed and in My Etsy Shop!

I have to share a funny on My Etsy Shop. I received several inquiries from moms with babies wondering if the little outfits will fit their baby. In all honesty I don't know if they will. I love making quilts and don't mind making up a few of these dolls, especially since I had many pre- made legs from years ago when selling these sweet babies at craft fairs. I really don't want to venture in to making baby clothes again, and at this time even though there are so many darling ideas.

Oh I just have to share a picture my oldest son sent me. I love this picture of him! He looks quite happy with his catch! He wrote, "Went to Bellhaven last weekend for a work trip. We had a sales contest and I got to ride along. Had an executive chef to cook our meals and went fishing in the inter coastal water way. Stayed in a mansion that has been converted to a huge bed and breakfast." Sounds like a nice trip doesn't it? Sounds like a great place to have a quilting retreat until we think how much that would cost. Happy Quilting! I am linking up with: