Grandma Ginny

Yikes, two posts in two days-- and of two completed quilts!
This is the completed wonky/maverick star quilt that I made for my Grandmother-in-law, Ginny. I got a little worried about my youthful colour choices, but as my husband said, "She doesn't need to be reminded that she's old." She's very sweet and very tiny-- so this is a sweet and tiny quilt.
(Cassidy likes it, obviously)
I decided to only use the yellow roses for the centers, and if I would've planned it a little better I probably would've fussy cut something more graphic. The borders are 2.5" squares out of a few different fat quarters I had around here. The border is my favorite part-- Michael Miller Dumb Dot. Sometimes I think there's merit in the old school quilt philosophy of a dark binding (at least, that's always the advice I get-- and usually ignore-- at my local quilt shop)The back has 3 of my leftover stars, some Heather Ross stripes, and some aqua fabric from JoAnn Fabrics that I can't seem to get rid of. I stippled it in pale pink thread, partly for interest but really so I could see where I was going.
Also, word on the street is that I'm getting a NEW CAMERA for CHANUKKAH. Expect better pictures coming to the Sweat Shop soon!

Aden

I give just about all of my quilts away, and looking back at the 2009 list of recipients so far, I see a number of happy occasions: new babies, weddings, birthdays, just because, housewarming. Then, there are those that I make and give to hopefully comfort and help heal. I both love and hate making the second kind. I feel like those quilts could become a little more special to the person it's going to, but I hate making them because I know those people are in pain, and making them a quilt is about all I can do.

This little quilt is for a two-year-old named Aden. He was in a horrible car accident last week, and managed to break a leg and his skull (among other injuries). His aunt works with my husband, and as soon as I heard about the accident and his long hospital stay, I knew I wanted to make him a quilt. Here it is:And here's the back:I don't know why, but Swiss dot never photographs well.
This is the smallest quilt I've made this year, which I felt was important since it'll be in the hospital with the little boy. I quilted it in straight lines with my favorite yellow thread. This was put together very quickly from my stash-- there are fabrics from a lot of the quilts I've made this year, with the addition of some very cute cowboy fabric that I've held on to forever. I'm going to handstitch the binding tonight and wash it. Hopefully Aden will get it tomorrow.

Rebecca

Yay, internet has been restored on Park Ave. just in time for me to show you my newest finish, for my good friend Rebecca. She's moving from Dallas to northern California next month, and I decided she needed a quilt to commemorate the occasion. She's definitely a perfectionist, and I wanted to make sure I did my absolute best work on this one (I know I should be that way about every quilt... but...)This could be called JoAnn, because all of the materials came from there (but the good stuff, of course). I used the same circle template that calls for 7" squares of fabric, but then I put the blocks aside for a while, because they just looked a little too skinny. My original arrangement called for all of the yellow circles to be in a row, and all of the patterned ones in a row. I wasn't feeling good about it, though. After thinking and working on other projects, I added a 3" border around each block, changed the order, and I'm in love. I had two spare blocks-- I was too tired to try and make a fifth row of three-- so I played with them in the back:
It didn't photograph well, but the back is orange with white dots because orange is Rebecca's favorite color. I stippled it in pale yellow thread:
I'm also particularly proud of the binding and my mitred corners! I think this came out so well because I used a lot of pins while basting, and I also consciously chose to quilt one big square before moving on to the next. Those tips are probably obvious to most of you, but they were lessons that took me a silly long time to figure out.
As I type, the Sarah quilt is in the washing machine. I can't wait to get that one sent off!

Sarah

I took advantage of a rainy 4th of July and finished quilting this monster:(rare shot of both lhasa apsos)
This was the largest quilt that I've stippled to date, about 65" x 94", and it went fairly well. I decided to add some curlicues in the quilting, just to make it a little more interesting. My cousin's favorite colour happens to be my least favorite: purple. I realized that I really didn't have much-- if any-- purple in my stash and subsequently the quilt, so I bought lavender polka dots for the back:
Here's a close up of the center stripe, which is my favorite part of the quilt:The binding is the same that I used for Maggie. I still need to attach it to the back, for both this quilt and Maggie's. The purple backing and the batting were the only purchases made especially for this, and there are over 150 different fabrics in the top.
This will be living with my cousin Sarah in Michigan. She's the oldest cousin on one side of my family, and after seeing our Grandpa Fred quilt, she wanted one. I was happy to oblige.

I'm happily surprised that this is my 10th finish of 2009. Also, looking back at the other nine, I realized that more often than not, I choose polka dots for the backs. I think I'll consider it a Park Ave. Sweat Shop signature.

Maggie

This is my finished product for the Old Red Barn Co. Quiltalong:The binding still needs to be attached to the back. It's a white Swiss dot on a celery background. Since it's going to a little girl, I decided to have some fun with the back:
There are a few puckers and that stripe of leftovers isn't quite straight-- but I'm going to let those things go. The back got a little skewed because I tried something new for the quilting: straight lines, about a quarter of an inch from each seam. I continued it across the vertical sections of the quilt, too, so the lines are only going horizontally. I used pale pink thread, which was a nice change as well. Here's a closeup of the quilting (click to enlarge):
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. This was a really fast quilt and I appreciated not having to think too much. If I was going to do it again, I probably would've made it scrappier than just twelve different fabrics. This quilt, along with the Baby M, will be shipped to Nebraska. Luckily, Baby M isn't due until August, so I'm nicely ahead here.
Now, back to those blasted nine patches...

secret quilt update

OK, I read over my post from yesterday, and really, I'm not as angry about the book as I might have sounded. I just thought I'd throw that out there, in case I scared anyone away.

And, to make up for it, I want to show you what I'm calling the secret quilt-- I just couldn't resist sharing this as I'm in love with these blocks:
So cute, I can't even stand it. Also, since it's been a while, here's my progress on my hug pillow:
Coming right along! I'm visiting my mom over Memorial Day, and I figure this will be a nice project to work on during that trip. Do you think I'll be OK with a tapestry needle on the plane?

PTQB-- April

Stephanie sent some great fabric that looks a lot like stuff I'd pick out. Tula Pink, polka dots, aqua, brown and green... clearly, a girl with good taste! She wanted a log cabin, but one that wasn't wonky. This is what I came up with:
The only fabric I added was the very outer border-- look familiar? This is a twist on a traditional courthouse steps pattern, but the widths of the fabric are different. I was very careful to keep the directional prints going the same direction, most notably the butterflies. This was much less time consuming than Chen's but I love it just the same.
Next up: Erin's block.

Patricia

Here's the coin quilt I'm making for Patricia, my aerobics friend:All I need to do is hand-stitch the binding to the back, wash it, and clip the loose threads. I stippled it this afternoon, which didn't take too long. Here's the back:It's half brown and half pink, with a pieced center strip.
I already had most of the 2.5 x 6" rectangles cut for a different (annoying and not going well) project. I decided to abandon that one, and put them to good use here. I think one of my favorite parts is using the sashing fabric for some of the coins-- it breaks it up nicely. I wouldn't call this a scrap quilt or a stash quilt-- I'd be more inclined to call it a fat quarter quilt, as that's where most of these fabrics came from. I'll take more pictures once it's bound and washed. I really hope Patricia likes it!

Isabelle

I've decided to name my quilts after their inspiration-- the future owner. This first one is for a baby born to a college friend of mine. I haven't seen this friend in a long time, but figured that any baby born in January in the upper midwest could use a quilt. The binding is Alexander Henry's "Apples + Pears", a favorite of mine. The yellow is striped, the pink is polka dotted, and it's a pretty, preppy quilt. Here's the back:
I love a pieced back. The blue is oxford shirting, and the yellow and pink are extras from the front. The wee bit of stripe in the corner has the label.