baby "A" and "B" twin quilts

It seems like just a few weeks ago (though it was longer), a coworker announced she was pregnant.  With twins.  Identical twins.

A short while later (that seemed like an eternity because I was waiting to buy fabric!) she announced they were girls.

Names?  Baby A and Baby B.  Until they're born, they will remain unnamed, though names have been picked out in secret.  All we can pry out of her is that they don't rhyme or start with the same letters. 

She's due in October, but with twins, things aren't so predictable, so the quilts needed to be made early.  Another coworker and I went fabric shopping.

This is not what we planned to buy.  The nursery will be brown and pink with elephants, so I'd found a Shoo-Fly pattern done in pink and brown and tan Civil War-ish prints and that was our inspiration.  After about 1.5 hours in Hobby Lobby, we finally had these fabrics.  At least we got the elephants right...

A search through books and books and books (okay, I don't have THAT many, but I looked through most of them), I was inspired by the pattern "Gumdrop Mountain" from Judy Laquidara's book "Weekend Quilts."  I didn't use the pattern, but thought it would work for the two-tone color scheme we'd plotted.

I cut and cut and then stalled out a bit.  Too many other things needed to be done first and this should be an easy project, right?  She announced she'd be leaving to be a stay-at-home mom in August, but that's plenty of time when it's just June, right?

Then another coworker (there are 6 of us total, but this story sure makes it sound like more!) decided to schedule a work-shower for the gal on July 24th.  So the project got packed up and went on vacation with us.  (Not a problem - it would likely have gone anyways, just not been as high priority as it turned out to be.)

Sew, sew, sew on vacation and poof!  Two baby quilt tops!

I hung them over our deck and everyone was oohing and aaahing over them.  It's fun to hear comments from people who don't sew and think these are the hardest things ever to put together.  They should try pants!  :)

I made the binding on vacation, too.  Then stopped at JoAnn's on the way home (because it WAS on the way) to pick up batting.  And quilted them the same afternoon we arrived home.  (Because laundry doesn't need much attention.)

Arrival home was the 21st.  Just two more days until they need to be finished!

The following day (Sunday), I got the binding completely on.  Yay Netflix!

And Monday evening, labels were made and attached.  And then I went through about 15 sheets on my lint roller to get all the cat hair off.  The cats didn't go on vacation with us, so all of this was picked up while putting on binding!  But I guess temps in the 100s (or near it) cause mucho shedding.

Just in time - a lunch party on Tuesday and a lot of impressed coworkers.

And while on vacation, the gender of two more babies-to-be were announced - another two girls, though not twins this time.  So Friday it was off to JoAnn's for more fabric!  (Oh how I love a good fabric shopping trip!)

What will they be?  I'll be sharing more as I get things going.  But right now my sewing room still isn't completely put back together.  I'm getting there, but having everything packed up and taken on vacation takes a bit to get organized again.

I'd like to be working tonight, but my 3-year-old nephew is on his way to hang out for a short while.  His mom is taking dinner to a new mom and wants to converse without him underfoot.  I can understand.  He's a busy, articulate kid and demands a lot of attention.  Last time he was here, he dug through our toys and told me we needed more cars for next time he comes.  So with the pop bottle return/refund $$ today, I got these:

I put that track together myself today - easier said than done with those little stickers!  And finding cars that are actual cars isn't so easy.  He likes to know what they are and if you tell him it's a made up car, he's frustrated.  So we have a GTO, Shelby Mustang, VW Beetle, Baracuda, and a Cougar.  I hope he likes them.  (I could also have had some more boring cars (like an "01 Nissan") and wondered if a 3-year-old could spit out Lambroghini Testerosa...)

Happy quilting,

Katie