1 Chance at a first impression . . .

FYI: Tallgrass Prairie Studio has extended the Spring to Finish! Hurray! Maybe I can redeem myself from last month.  I'm not going to make a list this month, but I'm pretty sure I'll do better than my dismal 1 finish and no submissions.  

And now, to personal business; I still feel sick, but I'm getting better. I need to be in tip-top shape, though; this is a big weekend coming up! Not only is it Mother's Day, but S's birthday is Monday and we are going to College station for a wedding on Saturday.  At this wedding, we will be seeing all the buddies (well, at least some of them), including Kyle, Katie, and baby Miles!  We will be meeting him for the first time . . . and I am EXTREMELY excited! I am making him a quilt! (I'm not above bribing babies for love.) It is pieced and half-way quilted, but this is it!

It is a Monkey Wrench design, and if you know Kyle and Katie, you'd understand.  Kyle and his father are REALLY into cars . . . they fix them up and go to shows, and it's basically a family affair.  I'm pretty sure that Miles will be working on cars pretty quick.

I'm still pretty sloppy in piecing, and even though I did my best, my blocks were not square.  They needed to be 12 1/2" square, and they were insanely bad.  I used Fransson's freezer paper method, but I didn't really like it. I couldn't make it stick really well without using steam, and the steam made it wrinkle.  The blocks were also so large that it was difficult to handle. When I ripped it off, it pulled and broke the thread.  Maybe I should try the freezer paper with pieces instead of whole blocks or maybe I should iron it immediately before I sew it.  Or maybe I just need to learn to piece correctly. That might help.  The end product was great; one of the best set quilts I've done, but it was a hassle.  If I have to, I'll use it again, but only when EXTREMELY necessary (like I'm giving it away to non-family and it actually needs to look good). This is the first quilt I have made for someone outside of my family. I'm not exactly happy with it, but S loves it. So I guess it's OK.

This block is my favorite.

It has a T-Rex in the middle! Steven picked out all the fabrics and the design.  It's about half bright colors and half kid prints, but there is the required Aggie fabric.  The "wrench" is a really cute fabric that looks like pick-up tool box metal. I should have it quilted and bound by Wednesday or Thursday, and I'll put up a pic of it later. Maybe I'll get a pic of him this weekend! Woo Hoo!

I leave you with a preview of one Mother's Day gift.  It is finished and shipped, but I won't tell you about it until next week after she gets it.

I am now off to finish quilting the Monkey quilt!

See Ya!