Birthday gifts bound for Rhode Island

I know I've been MIA here for an inexcusably long time.  The first reason is that I haven't been doing many crafty projects, so I haven't had much to report on.  The second, and main, reason is that I've been having a hot and crazy summer (the summer has been hot, and I have been crazy).  I might get into that more in a later post.  But anyway, I'm back on the wagon, crafts-wise, and here's what I've been up to in the past week or so.

            Yesterday was my sister's birthday.  She is the quintessential "I can't think of anything to get her" girl, but she does like bags, so I made it a little more personal this year.  At the new Michael's that opened [a dangerously short] walking distance away from my house, I picked up a set of canvas bags, and some new paint and spouncers.  My sister loves all things pirate, so I stenciled this skull and crossbones onto some freezer paper and more or less screenprinted it onto the bag (with some helpful pointers from my friend Brittany, who I met in screenprinting class last spring).  I think the skull and crossbones turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.  The initials, not as well, but you get the idea.

            The day before my sister's birthday, one of my best friends from high school, Dan, and his wife had their first baby - a boy who they named Henry.  I had had a fleeting idea of making them a baby quilt, but no definite plans or anything.  So I surprised even myself when I woke up yesterday morning, about 12 hours after hearing the baby had been born, and said to myself "I'm going to make a quilt for Henry today."

            This was a marathon of quilt-making.  I picked out fabrics that I had on hand, and went off to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up some backing (cute blue flannel checks) and batting (fusible - I had never used it before and I doubt that I will again. . .).  After making a quick stop at Target as well (JoAnn and Target are across the street from each other, so I can never go to one and not the other), I was back home, ironing, cutting, sewing, basting, quilting, and binding.  I finished binding the quilt at about 9:30 last night, making the whole quilt process about 12 hours from start to finish.  Only in the summer can I really devote a whole day to a project like that.  Well, that's not totally true, but it's mostly true.
The quilt is in the washing machine now, hopefully getting de-bunchied and less stiff (that fusible batting!) and I hope to mail it off this afternoon.

            I hope that Dan, Emily and baby Henry enjoy the quilt.  But with this heat, they probably won't enjoy it for a while.