Llama Love

Drop And Give Me Twenty...

My goals were set for the month of February and you can read about it here.

Granted, it's only the 4th day of February, but I've sewn every day and have far surpassed my goal of 20 minutes daily.  I mean really, who only sews for 20 minutes anyway?    Actually, setting a short 20-minute goal is great for anything having to do with quilting...cutting, trimming, pulling fabrics, cleaning the machine and winding bobbins.  These little things add up to completed projects when you tackle them 20 minutes at a time.

Llama Love

My youngest daughter, Ally, has been somewhat short changed on the quilt front.  Granted, I made her a fishie quilt as a baby that she slept with for years, but as she got older she wanted a bigger quilt. Life has a way of interfering in best laid plans, so after about 8 years, Ally finally asked me, "Do I have to be on my death bed before I'm ever going to get my quilt?"  Uh...point made.

The search for the perfect fabric begins...



Ally fell in love with the adorable llamas in Monaluna's Modern Home fabric.  She really wanted large pieces so that the llamas really stood out.  The pattern "Framed" from Camille Roskelli's book, Simply Retro, proved to be the perfect fit.

Using the Martelli Enterprises rectangle template system, I was able to easily and quickly fussy cut the large rectangles and get to piecing these wonderful fabrics together.  

Cut around cutting template

Using outside frame to center llama

Place cutting template inside frame

Llama block perfection

I tried glue basting (a technique I learned while doing some paper piecing on another project) and I have to say I'm hooked.  I'll explain more about that in a future blog but suffice it to say that I'm a new glue basting convert.  If you want to learn about it sooner rather than later, please visit Cristy at Sew Much Like Mom and get your glue basting supplies at Purple Daisies LLC.

Glue basting means using glue, a bit of extra ironing, but NO pins.  Seriously, no pins!  And, my seams are virtually perfect.  Yay for that!!  Suffice it to say that I'm a glue basting convert.  I loved sewing long seams with no stopping to remove pins or fuss with shifting fabric.

 If you forget about a few mistakes requiring the aid of the handy dandy seam ripper

or the fact that the spool of thread ran out just before the finish of the quilt

 Or that the bobbin ran out at the very end, of course (why does that always happen?)...

  This quilt came together easily and quickly.  

I'm so happy to report that the top of "Llama Love" is completed for my Ally girl.  

Oops...it's upside down!

And just wait until you see what I'm doing for the back.  Once I get the fabric in, I'll get to quilting this and will report back when it's completed and on Ally's bed.

 Until Next Time...