Hand Piecing the Charm Quilt-Week 1

The charm quilt has been slow going but I have made a little progress this past week. I still have a bit more embroidery to do on some of the blocks but I think I'll tackle those as I come across them so that I can take a mini break from hand piecing all of those little squares. The blocks in each row are sewn together in this picture but the rows are not, so they won't necessarily be in this order when it's all said and done.

Part of the reason for not making much progress is this little thingamabob.   This is the nameplate for the Minky Monster.  It's made out of minky, too.  Now that we aren't hitting 99 degrees with 85% humidity anymore I'll have to drag this behemoth out of its cave and finish it up. 

Now for the surprise stuff.  A few posts ago I made mention of the homespun fabric I used to make the needle case.  Well, what I didn't say was what I was doing with the rest of the homespun.  :)  This is my first experience with this type of material but I am truly in love with everything about it.  I bought these from Jubilee Homespun about 3 months ago and I'm so happy I did.  Their fabrics are fabulous! 

Rag quilts aren't my favorite type of quilt by far, but when I saw what they did with these fabrics it inspired me, you know, the little butterflies of happiness that float around when you find something you love love love! 

I added several blocks of denim from my boys' old jeans to the mix and even appliqued butterflies, flowers and hearts to some of them.  There is a hand embroidered name block for each person in our family, as well. 

The blocks are 7" square, so finished they will measure out to 6" as each seam allowance is 1/2" for the ragging.  The rows count out to 17 w X 15 l which will be the perfect size for our king size bed.  So far, I've sewn four rows together and it looks fantastic!  The best part about all of this is my husband has no idea I'm making it so it will be a complete surprise to him when he comes home for mid-tour leave in the fall!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have enough left over to make a couple of throw pillows with the leftovers but if not, I will just buy a little more.  Yes, it is really that good! 

This one is so big that I couldn't find floor space in the house to lay out the blocks so I had to wrestle with the wind and design it in the backyard.  Thankfully, I just mowed not too long ago! 

Overall, it's been a busy week or two, especially since my oldest was away at summer camp.   We're back to normal now, or as normal as we can be with Daddy being away. 

Happy stitching to all!