Hi!

I'm BACK!!! my trip was amazing but it's taking longer than I expected to upload all my pictures, unpack, recover from jet lag and just readjust to life. So, I wanted to drop in and say hi and show you the two blocks I whipped up for my do. Good Stitches group this week. Surprisingly, I've managed to make time to catch up on all my blog reading LOL! I missed seeing what everyone was up to. :)

We were asked to make any type of non-wonky star in solids and Kona white.

This one is called Rising Star.


This one is Two Colors Star from the Solstice Stars series.
Honestly, these were just what I needed to help me get back into the swing of things!
I will be back very soon with a post all about my trip!

earthy

So I was commissioned to make a quilt for an "earthy, outdoorsy" couple. I love earthy colors but I don't seem to every make anything earthy, nor do I have many earthy fabrics in my stash. I was a little stumped until I remembered a quilt I saw from Spool called Cottage Quilt. I set out to replicate it and am pleased with the results!

I tried to cluster the darker prints a little bit to make them forest-like. I hope they like it!

I used simple 4"x7" rectangles.

I used a huge chunk of fabric from the Sugar Pop collection by Liz Scott. I think it's just perfect!
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!
It's crunch time for me. Be back in several weeks!

miscellaneous

Two days to go! Thankfully the packing is going quite well and my to-do list has many checked off items! I know I said I was going to post a finished quilt but I wanted to post about other stuff instead.

Yesterday and today I actually had a bit of time for sewing which was nice because it is a great mental break from trip preparation.
I finished the quilt top and backing and basted my do Good. Stitches quilt for April. I may not get it finished before I leave but at least it's almost there. I LOVE how it's looking so far, really nice work by the Heal Circle ladies!


I also got inspired and picked out fabrics for my next quilt! Like tons of other people, I have fallen in love with Lucy's Crab Shack fabric collection. I picked up two of the fabrics from my local quilt shop the other day but there is NO way I need any more fabric. So, I decided to pull similar colored fabrics from what I already have to get the same look and color palette. I can't wait to cut into this pile!


Lastly, I whipped up this little case for my Kindle. It's already packed away in my backpack ready to go!

I should be able to pop in here one more time tomorrow. I have to show you how huge my bags are!

countdown

I am pinching myself right now because my calendar says there is only 7 more days until we leave for Zambia, Africa! SEVEN!!!!! Yikes! I still have so much packing to do.

At the end of the week of camp with the kids, we give our two Zambian partners a small gift in appreciation for all their hard work in translating and helping us with the kids (we each have our own group of 12 kids all week). This year I decided I wanted my gifts to be a little more "from the heart" so I made these little zippy pouches.

I used this tutorial from Kelby Sews. Very straightforward and I love how they came out!


Also, we are allowed to have 3 fifty-pound bags for our checked luggage (that's a lot!!!) and they encourage us to fill all the extra space/weight with things that they desperately need over there.
A friend gave us a $100 Visa gift card so we went to Costco and bought as much as we could. My picture doesn't show it very good but this is a lot of stuff!

Our dentist gave us 570 toothbrushes!!! So cool!


I'm so excited that our trip is finally here!!! I feel like I have so much to do still but I know it will all come together. I still have another finished quilt to show you so hopefully I'll find a few minutes to share that with you this week.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!