May OMG: Eye-Spy Name Quilt Finished.

Linking up w ith everyone else at May's One Monthly Goal. (OMG)

As previously posted, I wanted to turn my last stack of Eye-Spy fabrics into a baby name quilt.

A young couple we know are having their first baby in August: Kash Joel. 

Since this is my seventh stash busting project for the year, I got to play with a lot of fabric combos for the name plate. I finally settled on a solid black for the name and a fun pirate print for the background. I think it works, especially for an Eye-Spy Quilt.

This finish  measures 50"x54" and though it's not our traditional baby quilt, we all know how babies grow way too fast and before we know it, he'll be cuddling under this quilty hug as a little toddler getting ready for an afternoon nap. Our grand guy continues to not only love his Eye Spy quilt but at four and a half, we had fun  playing the game and trying to trick each other this past weekend! 

I used a soft, velvety minky fabric for the backing and a solid black for the binding. I thought the trains, trucks, helicopters and planes in my Go-Go-Go pantograph added to the whimsy of an Eye-Spy quilt for a little boy.

I like the idea that this can be a quilt that a little baby can grow into and 

hopefully become a favorite along the way.

(Our SWAP IS CLOSED)

If you like Eye-Spy Quilts as much as me....mark you calendars as sign-ups for our Second Eye-Spy Swap here at Val's Quilting Studio open this Friday, June 1st!! In the meantime, here's a few things to keep in mind as you begin to search for your eye-spy fabrics:

  You will need 1/3 yard or a fat quarter, depending on the print, of ten different fabrics with recognizable prints within a 3 1/2" square for one spot in the swap. 

Click HERE to see examples of good and bad fabric choices.

I'm off to link and share my May finish with everyone else at:

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - May Finish Link-up

PS: Help Spread The Word! Add this button below to your posts and  blogs. This will be a double swap...meaning with a maximum of  36 "swap spots" available, you'll be able to sign-up Friday for a maximum of two regular swap spots if you want...but the fabrics for each swap will need to be different. Okay...Happy collecting!! I hope you'll think about joining  us.

"Eye-Spy" Swap is Coming!

Spending most of my day off right here:

 Yes! Buried in eye-spy squares as I sew to finish my May OMG and get it on the quilting frame.

Speaking of Eye-Spy Blocks!

Sign-ups for our Second Eye-Spy Swap here at Val's Quilting Studio open this Friday, June 1st!! In the meantime, here's a few things to keep in mind while you search for your eye-spy fabrics:
  You will need ten different fabrics with recognizable prints within a 3 1/2" square.  
Below are examples of blocks I threw away.  Once these are sewn together the objects are almost unrecognizable for a small person to tell you what they are looking at.

Here's a couple of good examples of the "object" centered and recognizable:

Here's a good example of all-over prints that work too:

Annnd, here's a close-up of my WIP:

I hope today's post helps as you begin to select fun eye-spy fabrics for the swap. 

Mark you calendar to stop by this Friday, June 1st, for swap details and sign-up information.

It's going to be a fun swap with great Happy Mail for us all to look forward to!

PS:  Help me spread the word! Add this button below to your blogs and posts. This will be a double swap...meaning with a maximum of  36 "swap spots" available, you'll be able to sign-up for a maximum of two regular swap spots if you want...but the fabrics for each swap will need to be different. Okay...Happy collecting!! I hope you'll think about joining us.

Tuesday Archives #196: Guess it's time for a break...

Wow! Okay I missed my own linky party. 

Seriously....if that's not a sign I don't what is.

It's May...and May is always full of surprises for a teacher.

Personally, I've been thrown off course this past week.

Too many changes at work and at home...all at the same time.

Nothing bad. But never-the-less change and adjusting to the fact things will be different.

June first I'll also be on summer break...which means yet, another change. 

 I find myself tranquil on my days off as I enjoy mornings of movie watching, afternoon walks, and evenings sitting on the patio with a glass of wine having BBQ dinners with my hubby. No sewing. 

See...all good, but sometimes it just takes time to find your balance of things once again.  Butttt....

while establishing new routines, I did randomly finish my sixth stash busting project for the year.

Another square in a square quilt as I de-stashed a cute little bundle of fat quarters:

This finished as a 36"x 48" quilt top that I'll complete into a cute little baby stash quilt. 

And right when I thought my Mother's Day Weekend would be spent alone (due to the change in my husband's work schedule) I was completely surprised by a visit from our two very favorite little people in the world! I truly had what I would describe as a "perfect day".

Our new grand guy is a very happy six month old.

And I spent the entire morning "playing" with this special guy.

I biked as he enjoyed his new "Spiderman" scooter...endlessly. 

We talked. We shared. We laughed. We played.

Our daughter knew exactly how to spoil me this Mother's Day.

With all that said,  I'm going to take a little blog break as I allow myself time to wrap up my 29th year of teaching, adjust to my husband's new work hours, and look forward to my upcoming summer break. I can't wait! I am going to put together an eye-spy swap in June and we'll also be celebrating our 200th Tuesday Archives Linky Party with a $25.00 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop! How fun! I'm still set on meeting my May OMG and will busy myself making this fun baby eye quilt as I set out to establish new routines.  Sometime this kind of easy, fun sewing is exactly what we need. Anyhoooo....
Thanks for visiting and for your continuous support as bloggers and quilters.
I'm looking forward to catching up with all your blogs and going on's as June arrives, and hope you'll think about joining in on our Second Eye-Spy Swap this June here at Val's Quilting Studio.

Click over to here to read the details about this unique, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Tuesday Archives #195: Quilt Ladders

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: QUILT LADDERS

I remember seeing this neat side by side quilt ladder a few years ago at Jasmine's Quilt Kisses blog and I'm excited to rejuvinate it at Tuesday Archives this week.

Her husband made it for her and she included a step by step tutorial on her blog.

Just click HERE to check out her tutorial. 

Who knows, maybe you have someone haddy in your life who can create one just for you.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

May OMG: Eye Spy Baby Name Quilt

This Fall we have a few friends expecting babies thus, I'm going to dig into my stash of Eye Spy squares and turn them into a Eye Spy Baby Name Quilt as my May OMG.

I'm setting out to have it sewn, quilted and binding complete by this month's end.

Uh Oh!...but with that said, that's also going to deplete my stash of Eye Spy squares:

Anyone interested in an Eye Spy Swap this June (Next month!)???? Peek HERE to see one I've made in the past and another I made for our grand guy: click HERE. Then, click HERE to read about our past swap here at Val's Quilting Studio. It was fun to collect blocks from all over the country:

Comment to let me know if you are interested and if I get enough interest, I'll get the swap organized.

Linking and joining everyone at: 

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Tuesday Archives #194: Mark Your Calendars!

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: FREE CHOICE!

Happy May and happy Tuesday everyone!!!

Today's linky is a free choice week. 

Yep, this week, take advantage to perhaps link your favorite post from the past or even your oldest from the past. I've been busy putting a list of topics together for this month's linky parties anddddd am excited to announce that on June 19th we'll be celebrating our 200th Tuesday Archives linky party! Fat Quarter Shop will be offering a $25.00 gift certificate to one lucky patiticipant that week to help us celebrate.  More details to come....but be sure to mark you calendar!

  I posted May's themes on my sidebar and you'll probably notice I'm in a quilt care/storage mode when you read them. Anyhooo....today also starts my 31 day count down to the last day of school/work. So for a little lunch time "stitching therapy" I'm joining Deb who blogs at Happy to be Scrappy for her A Heart A Day in the Month of May.

I'm using my eye-spy blocks to represent 31 of my favorites things and little wool

 hearts to practice my creative stitching. I'm looking forward to sharing my progress during Sunday's Slow Stitching linky over at Kathy's. Be interesting to see how this little project progresses, but I can already tell ya I LOVE have a little stitching to do during my lunch break.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

WIN quilt batting this summer. Click HERE to read how.