Last note of the year

Just a few hours left of 2011 with its up and downs. Hopes and prayers that the coming year will have more ups than downs and that all your loved ones will be safe and healthy.

I have done 2 blocks of the quilt for my bed. They are going together fairly easily. Just a few mistakes requiring some reverse sewing . Will get as much of it done as I can before I have to put it aside to move.

It is from a block of the month. You may have seen it in a quilt shop or magazine. It is beautiful when completed.

Happy New Year everyone.

Ainsley & her quilt

This is Ainsley with her birthday quilt. She really made a fuss over it when it was opened. she kept moving it around and straightening it.

Its almost Christmas

This is the 'Spicy Spiral Table Runner' that will go to my DMIL for Christmas. It is such a novel design.
I have accomplished everything on my to do list I have on this page and then some. It has been a busy year of sewing to be topped off hopefully with moving to a new home next month. Packing up a 2000+ square foot home and moving it to a 1000 square foot home will be a challenge. We will have to be ruthless in what we keep and don't keep.
Assuming the inspections of our soon to be new home goes well and we don't run into any real problems that would keep us from buying the house, I will be packing up my sewing room after Christmas, and we will start the process of deciding what goes with us, what we will try to sell and what will be pitched. A lot of work, but well worth it.

December update

This is the piece I did for my hairdresser's Christmas gift. I did a small piece for her a couple years ago that could be used as a hot pad on the table. She said she would love another one. I asked her what size and color she would like, and this is the result. I will give it to her next Tuesday.

Anxiously awaiting word on the house that we found. It would be a great way to start out the new year.

Baby Quilt

The quilt for our great-niece Ainsley is done and ready for the party next weekend. It is from a kit that I picked up a year ago, and the backing is all scraps. The quilt is called Spots favorite colors, and I really love it.

The different blocks have the names of the colors on them as well as showing the colors.

Hopefully will get 4 more projects done before Christmas. Will be harder now that we are juggling that with house hunting.

LACASA block

Here is the block for the LACASA quilt. Our guild does a quilt for them each year, and different members do 1 or more blocks. Since it was the last meeting of the year for me, I only took one to do. Our LACASA group is very active in providing shelter for women and their children and pets that are coming from abusive homes.

I am now working on 3 gift quilted items that I will post as they are finished. This is a very busy time for all of us, and with 2 unexpected gifts it is very busy in our household.

Quilts of Comfort

I put together another project for Quilts of Comfort, this time with my own fabrics. It is a good way to use up fabric and do some good with it. I did the blocks for the front from a pack of fabrics (layer cake) that I picked up earlier in the year. I had a few left over blocks from the front that I incorporated into the back together with disappearing 9-patch blocks. Can you spot them?

Hopefully I will get them layered, quilted and bound next week.

Quick Table Runner

This pattern is by LaRae Bunnell Clark

LaRae has given permission on this pattern to share with a friend.

Materials are:

12" of theme print, width of fabric

18" of a corrdinating print, width of fabric

1.   Cut fabric to size

2.   Place right sides together. Stitch long edges 1/2" seam (I did 1/4")

3.  Press seam away from center fabric

4.   Turn. You now have a long tube.

5.   Lay flat on ironing board and press so that the theme print is bordered evenly on long sides with coordinating print.

6.   Trim short ends even. (You will be getting rid of the salvage.)

7.   Fold fabric in half lengthwise with theme print out. Stitch seam on both short ends.

8.   Press seams open and turn seams inside to form a point; press.

9.   Stitch a decorative button or yo yo at the edge of short seam to secure in place.

I preferred to use a decorative stitch to secure the opening so there wouldn't be any gap. I also stitched in the ditch down the sides so that when it is washed there won't be a problem keeping the border even when ironed. This is so quick and easy, and great for special holiday fabrics.

Another One Block Wonder

I have finally decided on how I am going to finish my next One Block Wonder Quilt. I didn't have enough fabric for the size quilt I wanted to do, so I played with ideas on how to frame the blocks. I thought of squaring them up, but decided to stay with the hex shape. I will be using purple, green, yellow and rusty orange fabrics. Alternating the fabrics with each block. Here is the first one.

Fall already?

Can't believe it is already the start of Fall. Not that I am complaining - I love this time of year.

Niece's wedding is tonight and quilt is ready to go. Got the label on and (all) the loose threads off. There probably are still some, but got all the ones I saw. As it turned out, the log cabin part of the quilt is the only round that is the same as the one I saw in the magazine. The picture on the right is part of the backing.

September already?

Can't believe it is already September and Labor Day is past. Despite forcasts of rain, we had a clear day here that was on the cool side.

Starting to put the One Block Wonder quilt together. When it is done, I will donate it to Quilts for Kids. After the hexes are put together in 2 parts. The center seam isn't sewn yet so you have to be very careful when you lay it out and start sewing it together. The 1/2 hexes are sewn together in rows or columns and then the rows/columns are joined together. The picture above is the columns/rows before they are sewn together and the one to the right is when they are attached.

Back Again

I've been really busy with family and making a quilt for a niece getting married later this month. I'll post a picture of the quilt later in the month. We lost one of our beloved dogs and added one. I had a health scare that so far is in the past. Now we will soon be moving into fall, I'll be moving back to the house next month and I have time to make other quilts.

I have really enjoyed cooler weather we have had the past week, but we are moving into hotter more humid again. Summer hasn't given up yet.

I have started a One Block Wonder quilt with butterfly fabric. I also want to do one with Oriental fabric and some kids fabric that I have. The kids fabric is bright and has a lot of movement, so it should work out well. Here are a couple blocks of the butterfly quilt.

Whirkigigs

The quilt for the June wedding is done. The front was done English Paper Piecing method and the back is disappearing 9-patch. Hopefully the bride and groom will enjoy it for many years to come.

 

Still here

It has been quite a while since I have posted. We have had so much more rain than we are used to. It is good to see the sun on the rare occasions when it shows up. At least we haven't had the really violent stuff that so many people are suffering through.
Finished another Quilts for Kids project. Really cute fabric on this one. Just need to get it washed and send it in.

Whirlwind - EPP Project

Finally finished hand piecing my Whirlwind quilt. The border fabric is blue with touches of purple. The colors in each block were done randomly. It will fit a twin size bed with a hang or a double with no hang. Now to machine piece the backing. Thinking of doing the backing in disappearing 9-patch.

Help me decide

I have 2 versions of my niece's quilt. All I changed was the center, just re-arranged the pinwheel block. Which do you like best? I did decide to go with shades of blue. I started sewing and cutting the center blocks, just need to decide which arrangement. Can you guess which one I like best?

A cute block

Posted on a group was a star block made from strings. As you can see, strings are small slivers of fabric sewn together to make a bigger piece. I really like the way this star looks.

I did a little piecing for the Winding Roads quilt last night. There are a lot of blocks in this one, but since most of the alternating blocks are single pieces of fabric, it goes fairly quickly. I just have to finish the other one before I can really get into this one.

Paper Piece Project

This is my next paper pieced project. I am currently cutting all the pieces. It will probably take most of this week to cut them all. Then I will see about starting the sewing. The one I am currently sewing on will probably end up being a wedding gift. Too many weddings, too little time. LOL It is called Winding Roads (or Paths). I am really anxious to get started on making this one.                                                    

Pinwheels - Quilts for Kids

These pinwheels were made from a layer cake pack that I got on a shop hop. The 10" squares of fabric ended up as 13" pinwheel blocks. I should get 2 quilts out of this one pack for Quilts of Confort. I have 1/2 the blocks to finish making and then I can figure out how I am going to lay them out for the quilts.

Which one?

This is what I want to do for a wedding gift. Can't decide between the all blue and the shades of blue and purple. Would love feed back on it. The quilt consists of 5 easy blocks. Pinwheel, log cabin, star, square in a square and irish chain.

Quilts for Kids

This is my first Quilts for Kids project. I am sure I will do many more. Definitely not my colors, but I know someone will absolutely love it and will get great comfort from it. When I get a few of the pinwheels I am working on, I will post a picture to show the fabrics in the layer cake bundle I picked up. I was able to get a couple of them at half price during the shop hop. I will use both for quilts for kids.

QOV Quilt

My Quilt of Valor quilt is done. It will be donated through our shop hop this weekend. The top (on the left) is all shades of red/white(tan)/blue. The back (on the right) is more scrappy. The 1/2 square triangles are all red/white/blue, but the strips are everything but the kitchen sink. I am pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think?

These are a couple of samples of my reversible quilts. The one of the left is one done for my MIL. The other 2 are front and back of one done for oldest son and his wife. A lot can be done with this style of quilting and is a lot of fun. I did 5 of them in one year.

Reversible Quilts

To start with, you need to use a walking foot throughout the process. I have made them with this design and have also made other types of blocks for one side and done the sew and flip for the other side of the quilt sandwich. For joining them, you need to cut strips 1 1/8 wide and 1 3/4 wide.

In this picture, there is the front and back of blocks. You iron the wider strip like you do for the binding with wrong sides together. The strips are then sewn to the right side of the block. I put the folded strip on the front edge and the 1 1/8" strip on the back of the block. Make sure the wrong side of the fabric is facing out on the back. You attach in this manner to each block except the last one in the row.

The next step is to join the blocks together by attaching the next block to the other side of the 1 1/8" strip. This gives you the sashing on the back of the quilt. Do that to each block in the row.

The final step is to work on the front of the quilt and fold the 'folded 1 3/4 strip' over to cover the joining of the 2 blocks so it just covers the stitching line of the second block. Use a narrow applique stitch to sew the strip down. You can also hand stitch the folded edge down, but for QOV or Quilts for Kids I machine stitch it because of the amount of washing and wear. This process is repeated for each block joining and to join the rows. I usually work on one row at a time so that I always have the bulk of the project to the left of my machine.

These are a portion of the first 3 rows completed front and back. When the last row is done all it will need is the binding.

January Update

The EPP project is moving right along. I have finished 1/2 the blocks. When they are done I will add a 3 or 4 inch border. I've never done that with this method. Seems like that part might be a little boring, but we will see. I'm already getting anxious to start the next project. That is our dog Brandy admiring the quilt.

I will be starting on assembling the blocks to the QOV quilt tomorrow, and will post more pictures of that process soon.

QOV Quilt

Here is a picture of 2 blocks. One showing the front of the quilt which will be all red/tan/blue and the back which will have red/tan/blue for the 1/2 squares but will be totally scrappy on the strips. This is a easy way to make a quilt that is quilted as you sew. Each block is sew and flip and then repeat for each color.

EQ Pattern

Here is another pattern. I saw a pattern I liked in a magazine and drew it up in EQ. This is one of the 4 variations I made from the original pattern. I'm calling this one Diamond Surround.

EPP Update

I have 1/4 of the blocks done. Amazing how fast it goes when your pieces are bigger. Scared myself adding the 4th row. Had the original section turned around and the pieces on the last row weren't matching. Thought I'd put them together in the wrong row. Imagine how happy I was that all I had to do was turn the joined section around found that everything matched perfectly. This is smallest project I have worked on with EPP. I'm using the same lt tan and dk blue throughout, with the pinwheels scrappy and randomly done.

A New Year has begun

A friend had drawn up a block in EQ and designed a quilt based on a picture of tiles in the Sistine Chapel. I liked the quilt she designed and got her permission to play with the block she drew up. This is the layout I came up with that I liked and may do for a Quilt of Valor. Time will tell. I have so many designs on my computer I will never do them all. With this one I like the way each border around the central block is a different size. It is a very simple design, just using 2 different blocks.