Finishes #16 and 17

 I finished the July deadline quilts! I doubt my grandsons read my blog, so here they are!

This is Mr. Z's quilt, he's turning 15! It's hard for me to believe I have grandkids that old! 

This is Mr. J's quilt and he's turning 12. Right now the boys are in twin bunk beds, but I know DD#1 has been debating getting them a larger set of bunk beds, full over full or twin extra long. If you are thinking these quilts are kind of big for a twin you aren't wrong, but since I didn't know what was going to happen with the bed situation, I aimed for full extra long so they'd fit no matter what they've got. Both boys are really into Star Wars so that's what they got. Since they share a room, I used the same gray fabric in both quilts, but I felt like using different patterns for each quilt was a good way to personalize them. One of the boys likes cool colors, and the other warm colors, so I figured a neutral was my best bet for the background. A lot of the fabrics had black or white backgrounds, but only a couple had gray, so I just chose a different shade of gray.

I finished sewing the last of the red/cream log cabin blocks, though they still need a final press. I'm planning to do that tonight. 

I started quilting the last quilt I have basted, and I laid out another quilt for basting. I wish I had a huge stack of basted quilts, but time keeps getting away from me. 

My goal of finishing 40 quilts this year is not likely to happen. I'll have some sewing time in July, but not very much. I had hoped to start making Christmas presents in July, and I am starting to work on some units that will eventually be Christmas presents, but overall, Christmas sewing is going to have to wait until August. Having my Janome in the shop for six weeks really blew my finish numbers, and losing July due to lots of stuff going on this month will really hurt my finish total for the year. 

One week of July there will be sewing going on, but not by me! I'll be teaching two of my granddaughters some sewing. We're starting with elastic waist skirts for them and their dolls, plus some headscarves. If we still have time and they want to do more sewing, I've got a couple options for them. If you have any suggestions for me, feel free to comment. I've already made pillowcases with the older one. The younger one will be getting her first lessons. 

Once the Christmas sewing projects start (hopefully in August now), my cutting table will be used for cutting out those, so any "extra" time I get in July, I'll be trying to baste quilts. I still haven't gotten June's murder mystery block done, and I'm not sure if I'll get it done before next Wednesday when July's block comes out. Life just seems to be busy lately.