Studio 125 Filmstrip Quilt

This quilt is a year-end gift for my 2nd grade daughter's teacher.  Their classroom theme is a movie studio (Studio 125, their classroom number) so that's how I named the quilt.

I was inspired by this quilt which I found online, but I could not find a pattern so I pretty much made it all up as I went along.  It was nerve wracking to say the least but I really truly love how it turned out.

Back in February, I made up little "kits" and secretly stuck them in each girls' backpack while I was in the classroom helping with a project.  The kits included the fabric, paint, brush and instructions for making a handprint block.  I asked the girls (all girls class, there are 19 of them) to also sign their name in pencil.  Once they were returned to me, I stitched over each signature with 2 strands of DMC floss.

The white blocks were cut down to 7.5" x 9.25".  All the black and white strips were cut at 1.5" each, so they finish at 1" --- lots of little pieces in this quilt!  (Thank goodness for strip piecing!)

The finished quilt measures approx. 60" x 44" after washing. There were 20 frames but only 19 girls, so I used my embroidery machine to write a special message to their teacher.  This is her first year teaching and she is SUCH a doll, I just know she will treasure this gift from all her little girls forever.

"We love you, Ms. DeRosa"

"Studio 125 ~~ 2013-2014"

I wanted a "busy" fabric on the back because I knew I would be quilting in 2 colors (black and pink) and didn't really want the lines to show.  My daughter picked out this print but sadly, there was not enough for the full back.  In hindsight, I wish I had pieced it differently, but I also don't think Ms. DeRosa will spend too much time looking at the back.

There is no quilting on the white handprint blocks, but I did quilt 2 lines inside each black strip (shown below) as well as through the pink sections.

We will present this to my daughter's teacher during their year-end party on June 12.  I'm betting on some tears :-).

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Potpourri

Potpourri.... that's what they call the category on Jeopardy! where they throw in all the random, unrelated questions they didn't get to in previous shows, right?  Well, that's what this post will be.... all the random, unrelated things that I've been doing since I last had time to write a post.

Since a picture's worth a thousand words.... 

In early April, I traveled to Atlanta to run another one of those crazy races.  This was my first trail race/run and I LOVED it!  We had a team of 8 and we ran about 150 miles of trails over a 28 hour period (straight.)  The first photo here is me crossing the finish line of my last leg.  We are only supposed to run 3 legs each but I took on a 4th due to an injured runner.  I think I totaled about 18 miles of trails during those 30 hours.  The second photo is my team after our last runner crossed the finish line.  I'm 2nd from the left.

While I was in Atlanta, I received word that my Aunt Cheryl had lost her long battle with cancer.  After flying home, I drove up to Sarasota where we held a memorial service for her on Lido Beach.  This is the memorial we made for her in the sand before watching the sunset over the ocean.

I've been doing some sewing as well.  I may have become slightly obsessed enamored with making zippy pouches the last month or two.  All of these have been given as gifts (many for Mother's Day).  I pretty much make these up as I go along, so the sizes vary.

The two below were for a swap.  I know, bad lighting.  The one on top is the Pleated Wristlet from Michelle Patterns.  The one on the bottom the Triple Zip Pouch (free tutorial) from A Quilter's Table.

I also made my first Sew Together Bag from Sew Demented.  I followed the blog posts for this sew along from The Quilt Barn for extra tips and pictures.  (I highly recommend this if you do make the bag... some of the instructions in the pattern are a little confusing without the extra photos in the sew along posts.)

New shipment of zippers from Zipit on etsy.  LOVE that store!  Great quality, quick shipping and you absolutely can't beat the price.  I got this group of 100 9" zippers (in colors I chose myself) for $42, which included priority mail!

Mother's Day weekend my daughter and I ran a 5k together at Lake Worth Beach.  It was her first 5k and I am SOOOO proud of her!  We do a jog/walk routine and she SMASHED her 45 minute time goal with an official finish of 38:55:0.  I finished at 38:55:5 -- she beat me :-).

I am working on some quilts, all in various stages.  My main priority now is turning these little handprints and the black/white checkers into a year-end gift for my (other) daughter's 2nd grade teacher.  The top is done, just needs to be sandwiched and quilted... but I'll save those picture for another day.

As I was going through my phone looking for pictures for this post, I came across this one.  The big guy is my brother Billy who passed away in January.  The one on the left is my brother Christopher.  This was at Chris' wedding back in 2005.  I miss Billy so much.... every single day.  I will soon be working on some crafty/quilty items for a fundraiser being held in his memory in August (on his birthday).  More on that soon too.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~