CARRY ON BAG

Tadah! Maya's Quilt Complete

Maya arrived this week. I can't wait to meet her. She's adjusting to her new family which may take a little while but once she's settled in I'm certain she will be a happy little girl. I am so thrilled for Helen and Gregg. There is nothing so fulfilling as raising a child.

Last weekend I intended to finish Maya's quilt but I had problems with the sewing machine, it just wouldn't behave. I looked at the manual (something I never do) and fixed the problem but I had stitched a lot and had to take out rows of stitches setting me back a few hours.
Finally I had to give up that I was going to complete it by Monday morning in time for Gregg's shower at Peet's. Work was slow this week though so I plowed ahead and finished in time to give it to him this morning.

I really enjoyed making this quilt. Many blessings to the new family.

Final Block #4

Here's the 4th and final block. My next step is to sew the four blocks together and then add the borders.

Block #3

Moving along.

Talked with Gregg today. Helen and Maya are getting acquainted as they travel around China together. They will visit Helen's mom's family this week before coming home. Photos aren't easily sent via email from China but Gregg has talked with Maya on the phone several times. I think he's already smitten.

Block #2

It's coming along nicely. Here's Block #2 already. I have it all laid out on my living room floor so when I have a few spare moments I sew a square or two.

Yesterday I bought cotton batting and top stitching thread at Joann's bringing with me my 40% off coupon of course.

I'm hoping to see Gregg this week to catch up on Helen's trip in China. She has met Maya and they are getting acquainted. Helen's mother is with her so she'll have help getting used to taking care of a 2-1/2 year old. I can't wait to meet her.

Sewing BLOCK #1

So the first pieces come together. I am so impressed with this fabric, it's so pretty it doesn't really matter how the pieces are arranged, it would still be a lovely combination.

The quilt is divided into four large blocks. I've finished BLOCK #1 shown here.

Cutting it Out

Today I cut out all the square and rectangles from the seven different fabrics. For the large squares with the fairy fabric (LF) I made a template with a 7.5"x7.5" square cut out so I could see the area I wanted to include in the square before I cut it out. If I didn't do this I could end up with half a fairy in the square or one without a head, etc. In the photo I have cut out all the pieces and arranged them according to my design. This way I can see what it will look like and make any changes before I begin to sew. I'm pretty happy with it so I only changed one small square.

Next step is to begin sewing the pieces into four blocks.