So in a previous post I was talking about a one block baby quilt, and I mentioned another quilt that I needed to work on.

*Note to reader* I’ve started this post as I’ve just picked out this pattern, and I’ll be updating it as I get farther along in the process.  This post was started in February 2016, and I’ll post when the quilt is finished.

The second one will be traveling all the way down to Bolivia!  And because this shipping is kind of crazy I’m throwing in a few extra things besides a little quilt.  So my dear friend Diana was the peanut butter to my jelly from 8th grade until she moved back to South America the Summer between 11th and 12th grade.  At that point in my life I was going downhill fast emotionally.  None of my friends were going to be in school with me at my school anymore my senior year, I quit band because of a stupid guy (omg….if my child lets a boyfriend/girlfriend talk them out of a passion I’ll beat them.  Which one?  I don’t know.), I’d had a really (REALLY) terrible break up with said boyfriend, to say I was an angsty emotional teen was putting it lightly.  To put it mildly,  I was really upset when she left.  So when Facebook came around, it was pretty much amazing.  I’ve been able to peep in on her, keep up with what she’s been doing, express how much I miss her every day!!!  So now that she’s got a bun in the oven, I HAVE to send something!  And her husband seems like such a cool guy (he’s a total Nintendo Nerd! Good job, D. 🙂 ), so I’m sending him a gift too.  Because why not?  (Because international shipping is insane that’s why!)

I’ve settled on Elizabeth Hartman’s Fancy Forest Quilt.  I think D and I  have pretty similar tastes in cute things, so I am pretty sure she’s going to just lose it when she gets this.  So I’ve been sorting through my fat quarter stash, picking out colors and deciding who is going where (they have feelings, too!) So that is going to be great!

I got started on this during my guild’s sewing retreat to Paris Landing State Park (2/19-2/21).  If I didn’t get this really terrible headache/migraine/thing, I think I would have at LEAST started on my third animal while on the retreat!!!  However, just over that weekend I got all of my large cutting done and I finished two animals.  I’ve never done one of Elizabeth’s patterns before, and they are VERY organizational oriented.  I both hate and love this; I hate it because I know how time-consuming organizing is.  I love it because all that organizing pays off in the end.

(2/29)  As of now I’ve just finished my first Allie Owl block, and MAN!  That is a LOT of little pieces!  AND IT LOOKS SO GOOD!  Also a little scary.  Sort of like it wants to eat all the other quilt animals.  This is what I’ve got finished so far, I’ve got one more owl, two hedgehogs, two fireflies and two thistles left before this will be finished up.  I’m really excited!  I’ve never done a “sampler” style quilt before, so this is a fun experience!

(3/7) I’ve finished both owls, and the second one looks even better than the first!  I’ve also finished one of two Hazel Hedgehogs.  Each block just gets more fun as they go!  That little hedgie…she’s after my SOUL!  I can’t wait to make the “warm” version of this!  The more I go along the more please I am with how these colors are turning out.

The next block after Hazel is the Thistle.

(3/12) The Thistles came along really nicely and quickly.  I actually finished them both in one go!  Nothing I like more than a simple block!

(3/16) After these simple Thistles came the Frances Firefly blocks!  These once again had several tiny parts and all of these mirroring complex designs really play a trick on you!  But MAN they look SO GREAT!

(3/17) I finished up the fireflies, and I put it all together last night.  It is painfully cute.  PAINFULLY CUTE!!  The colors pop so well from the back!!!

I already can’t wait to make another one of these.  I’m thinking about quilting, and I think I’ve picked a way; sort of “organic bark” type…which translates to wiggly vertical lines.  I’m not sure how I want to back it yet.  I want something bright, and now that I know that Diana is having a boy I’ll probably do blue or green.

(3/27)  I’ve ordered my back fabric!  I was looking and I stumbled upon Lizzy House’s chasing butterflies collection in midnight.  I don’t know how I’ve missed this before, it’s so sweet!

(4/12) I’ve been a little busy but I haven’t forgotten you, sweet baby quilt! I started basting this to the batting and I ran out of basting spray!!  I got some more, so I should be able to get this basted completely tonight and start quilting.  I’m going to use this gradient blue thread that I have for the quilting, I  hope it looks as good as I think it will!  Diana has since had her sweet little boy!  So, I’m late.  (oops!)

(4/15) I finished up the bulk of the quilting, and I have just a few details to add to the quilting.  I’m really tickled how this has turned out!  (Here I am showing it off for show and tell at my guild!)

(4/23) I brought this along with me to a craft fair so I would have something to work on during down time!  Once I finished the hand binding, I first put it on my “quilt ladder”, then hung it on the side of my tent so people would see it passing by.  I had a LOT of people ask me how much!!!  So, I’ve gone ahead and gotten fabric to make another one to sell ASAP.  The binding is made from the same blue butterflies from the back.

(4/30)  Now that I have shown this quilt off to lots of family members (because I’m so braggadocious, haha!) I’m taking a few final pictures and getting this package ready to go.  I’ve never shipped anything internationally, so I  have no idea what to expect!

(5/9) Alright, I have my customs form filled out (hopefully correct?!) and I’ve got everything boxed up to go in the mail.  I am so disappointed, anything I wanted to send Nintendo-y would only work in the USA. (rude!)  So, I’m sending a fortune-telling fish.  They’re neat, and I don’t know why I have so many haha!  I’m also pretty  happy that my international shipping wasn’t nearly as expensive as I was told it was going to be!

This has been really fun documenting this quilt along the way.  I think I want to do another blog post like this when I  have another project I want to keep under wraps.  I cannot wait to hear when this package gets to its home!!!  I hope baby Daniel really likes it 😛