Pillow + Texas = love

I am so in love with this pillow.

I've been wanting to make something like this ever since I spotted this super cute pillow from The Plaid Scottie on Etsy years ago. It languished on my to do list and taunted me every time I scrolled through my Pinterest sewing board. But, like so many things, it just kept getting backburnered for other projects.

In the project lull after we returned from our trip, I decided I was finally going to tackle it, and it turned out exactly as I'd envisioned (actually better). I created the state patchwork using foundation piecing, then attached it to the gray background with Wonder Under. Next, I quilted it with randomly spaced diagonal lines and zig-zag stitched the applique to further secure it.

 The backside of the pillow front

Finally,  I added the sweet little heart over Dallas, which will always have my heart. (Matt's comment: "You should have put it over College Station, since that's where we met." You just can't win. Houston could also have made a claim, as the city in which we married and started our lives together. But sorry, guys, it's Dallas.)

The back is an envelope closure in a fabric I've been holding on to for years (Dahlia Lama in Seafoam from Patty Young's Sanctuary collection). I love the way it turned out. The applique is a mixture of teal fabrics from my stash, and the front background is Essex linen in black.

This pillow was originally destined for our basement, but it turned out too cute to be relegated down there, so it got the upgrade to the living room. Up next, a California pillow for Matt, and I just might give Missouri a little love, too.

NASA star block

Last summer, I came across this call from NASA for star quilt blocks. It turns out that Karen Nyberg, one of the NASA astronauts on the space station, is also a quilter, and she did this whole video about quilting in space. As part of the tie-in, NASA is creating a star quilt that will be shown with the video at a special NASA exhibit at this year's International Quilt Festival in Houston.

All they requested was a 9.5" star block. While any color scheme was allowed, I couldn't resist the opportunity to do something a little patriotic. Red, white, and blue is not a combo I use very often, so I figured this was my chance.

I made the 8.5" version of the Star-and-Pinwheel block used in the Sugar Snow Quilt from Vintage Quilt Revival. (By the way, that book is wonderful. Because I can't afford to buy every new quilt book that looks interesting, I've started checking them out from the library for a test run; then, if I really like it and think it's one I'll use frequently, I'll buy it. This one is definitely going on the buy list.) To bring the small block up to size, I added a border with more of the gray crosshatch fabric. The block actually came together quite easily, though my machine was giving me fits with the 1/4" seam allowance and eating up my fabric. Yeesh.

Anyway, this one's going in the mail ASAP. If you're interested in making a block, you still have a little time. Blocks are due by August 1. You can find more details right here.

Fabrics:
Metro Living Circles in Red
Domino Dot in Navy
Crosshatch in Grey from Architextures
Kona Snow
Mystery light blue dot (maybe an old Michael Miller Ta Dot?)

The great Schunke road trip: Part 2

(This post is part 2 of our road trip recap. If you missed part 1, the beach, check out this post.)

After four lovely days at the beach, we hopped back in the car and headed north to Atlanta. Because we were so close to the Florida state line (Orange Beach, Alabama, is about a mile away.), we took the route that passed through Florida so Matt could mark it off his states list. (As someone who grew up going to Florida regularly, it always seemed strange that he'd never been, but I guess when you grow up in California, what's the point, right?)

The second stop was to see my mom's side of the family, who've almost all relocated from Texas to the north Atlanta suburbs. My mom, step-dad, and sisters also traveled from Texas to join the crew for what has become our annual Fourth of July family reunion.

It was wonderful to get to meet the newest addition to our family, my cousin Catty's little Elin. (The Catty Kitty baby quilt was for her.) She is a super sweet baby, and I definitely got my baby fix with some good cuddles with her.

We were in Atlanta for about two and a half days, but the bulk of the excitement was on the 4th itself. Everyone joined forces at my uncle's house for feasting, soaking in the pool and hot tub, and playing corn hole.

B loved spending time in the pool and seeing everyone, but I think his favorite might be my Uncle Ben (his great uncle). They had a great time chatting it up and even enjoyed their own little dance party.

That night, we left B with Grandmozzie and went out to enjoy some of the local fireworks. (B was too tired to stay up for them.) The local show left a little to be desired, but it had been a while since I'd gone to a show, so it was still fun. Plus, my sister's friend from Italy was with us for the festivities, and we couldn't let her miss an opportunity to see her first 4th of July fireworks display.

Over the next few days, we spent more time in the pool, played volleyball, hung out, laughed, and even watched breakfast at Wimbledon on my uncle's big screen. Now that's a good way to watch some tennis.

And oh did we eat. Because my relatives live in the suburbs, we don't often make it into metro Atlanta during our visits, but this time we were determined to make it to a few restaurants that we've been wanting to visit. It turned out that they were both Top Chef-related venues, though we didn't really plan it that way. On our way into town from the beach, we stopped at Flip Burger in Midtown, Richard Blais's burger joint. It was super good. We got the slider trio, sweet potato tots, and french fries, and I treated myself to a burnt marshmallow and Nutella shake. That's right.

On Saturday night, we joined my sisters, brother-in-law, and their Italian friend Elena at Empire State South, Hugh Acheson's Atlanta restaurant. We'd been there for breakfast during a previous visit, but we hadn't been able to make a dinner before. Sadly, it was too dark inside for most of my food pictures, but suffice it to say it was delicious. I mean, really, really good. If you live in the area, get there soon.

We had a wonderful time, but before we knew it, it was time to head off again, this time for our final stop, to see Matt's family in Tennessee. More on that soon.