United States Map Quilt

I was able to get this done just before my Kona Quilt as a surprise birthday gift for my 2 year old cousin. For the quilting I decided on a 2" wide crosshatch and tried to not have the quilting overlap with my label on the back (and was successful!).

I just love this United States map panel - I hope someday it can help him learn all of the states and capitals!

The color order of the outside Kona border was also put to a vote just like my Kona Rainbow Flower Quilt.  (As you can tell I Photoshop EVERYTHING first - right down to the measurements)  Photo 3 was the winner.

From the inside out its: Kona Ocean, Corn Yellow, Papaya, Orange, and a border of Ocean.

A Home For My Tent Stakes

While I was pondering over what to do for my No Prints Allow Kona quilt I became camping season obsessed. I think I bought a whole store.  One of my purchases was a new tent (more like a condo) and heavy duty stakes to go with it.  I don't trust the stakes anywhere near the new tent so I made it into a quick day-project to make a tent stake bag and get my mind off the Kona quilt.

I used Amy Butler home dec fabric lined with fusible fleece.  The interior is left over scraps of a sheet that I also interfaced.  It's super thick and I'm hoping it's enough to not let them poke through and get anywhere near my precious tent.

August Fields Fresh Start in Forest

I plan on this getting dirty so I covered it in Scotchguard.  I'm sure that light interior won't be clean for long, but as long as it holds up then I don't care!

On a side note... we celebrated my husband's birthday!  Check out this Double Chocolate Carmel Cake made by our friend:

One bite of that and you're pretty much done.

And as a quick snack.. he made a vegetable plate.  I think it's adorable just to look at.  He says this is easy, but I couldn't make it look this nice if I tried.

And check out the tulip carrots!

I have been working on quilting projects...  I finished most of my Kona quilt top and I'm in the middle of my Map Quilt.  I love this fabric panel:

I'm still deciding how to quilt it.  I'm not sure if I should meander all over or do some straight line quilting following the border.   I thought about following the state lines in the center but I don't know how that will look on the back.  (The back is the world map panel)  Thoughts?