I have NO BUSINESS joining a Quilt-Along!!

I need to turn in my entry for the quilt show in TEN DAYS, and I'm only 1/4 done hand quilting it.  But did that stop me from starting a new project?  Of course not!  Here's how it happened:

After Guild meeting on Saturday, a friend brought by a bag of donated fabric.  I didn't get a chance to go through it until this morning, at which point I separated it all by color or genre and put it away with the other donated fabric that I use for classes.  Some of it was Christmas fabric, so I stuffed it into the overflowing Christmas fabric bag that I have at the shop.

Then, at lunch time, I decided to visit some quilt blogs while I ate because I haven't been keeping up with blogs the way I'd like.  Somehow, I came across a Christmas In July QAL at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  It got me to thinking about that overflowing bag of Christmas fabric, and when I read that an hour a day for 12 days would yield a 76" quilt, I thought, "why not?"  The blocks are big, (which is not how I usually operate; most of my quilts are built from blocks anywhere from 1.5" to 3", and the smallest piece I cut for this QAL is 4.5") and I'm only using 3 fabrics (which is REALLY out of character for me, the consummate scrap quilter!).  However, the fabric is cut, and I am all caught up with the first step - these fussy cut snowmen will be the centers of the four big blocks that make up the quilt.

Back to the quilt I am finishing up for the fair...I had seen a basting technique using boards that eliminated the need to crawl around on the floor while basting so I gave it a try on this quilt. OMG!!! I'll be doing this on EVERY QUILT from now on!  I sat in a chair at my dining room table to baste and it was a breeze!  And the backing is the smoothest I've ever achieved while basting any quilt.  And the whole process was quick, to boot!  I encourage you to give it a try!  The link I used was for Color Me Quilty.

Well, gotta get some Zzzzs tonight.  This week has been exhausting, teaching at Summer FAIR at 8 AM each day, and staying up past midnight quilting each night.  This week I taught the kids how to weave circular rugs on hula hoops using old t-shirts.  They did a fabulous job!

And I was thrilled that I had 6 boys and 3 girls in my class - how's that for thumbing our noses at traditional gender roles?

Kid quilts

While the only quilt I've personally finished lately was my Scrappy Spirals, I've been working with kids quite a bit this summer with their own quilts.  This week, I taught a group of 5 kids at Summer FAIR (a young artist's camp) how to make a quilt from t-shirts.  We only had 4.5 hours total, and none of them had ever used a sewing machine, so I'm quite impressed with what they were able to accomplish.  This quilt top is made entirely from extra Summer FAIR camp t-shirts from previous years.  It measures about 47" square.  I'm going to sandwich it and quilt it up for them and it will become part of the camp's display and promotional materials.

collaborative kid quilt from t-shirts

In June, I had 6 kids here for 4 hours a day for a week to work on their own faux cathedral window quilts from denim and fabric scraps.  I love what they did with them - makes me want to make another one for myself! Somehow I didn't manage to get photos of them all before they left, though.

My sample quilt

kid quilt - 16 fabrics used 4 times each

kid quilt - All black and white prints

kid quilt - She had to leave a day early so her quilt is a bit smaller, but still plenty big enough.

But first, I've got two more baby quilts to finish for this fall.  Back to the sewing machine!