Sew........This Is My Blog

I Spy a Cute Quilt for Someone!

2012-01-28T17:55:00.001-06:00

My great-nephews Phenyx and Kingston recently got new beds. Big boy beds! I noticed that one of them has been sleeping with his Gramma's Hubba Hubba Quilt, so I decided they need their own quilts and set out to make them this week. I have lots of novelty prints left over from other kid quilts. This is what's on the design wall so far...

This Over and Under Pattern by Paula Hughes looks complicated but it's really simple. The prints are cut in 4.5" x 6.5" blocks. Then a green 1.5" x 6.5" strip is sewn onto each side.

Alternating the blocks results in a woven pattern. Black sashing gives a really distinct look as seen in this Halloween quilt.

I'm making one quilt in green and one in blue.

I can't wait to get these done so the boys can have their own quilts. AND so their Gramma can have her Hubba Hubba quilt back!

Scrappy Pineapple Blossom

2012-01-20T07:45:00.000-06:00

Are you ready to hear more about the Pineapple Blossom quilt I've been working on after seeing the sneak peeks I have been posting? This started as a block swap last year with a group of friends. I ended up with 24 blocks but wanted to make a bigger quilt instead. It turned out to be much bigger! You've already seen the stack of blocks and some of them on the design wall. I wanted the quilt to look really scrappy and really random so I just threw the blocks in a big pile on the floor, pulled them one by one from the pile.....

.....and started sewing them into rows. I used 121 blocks (that means there are 1,573 pieces in this quilt!) in order to make it big enough for a king size bed.

I had to lay it out on my patio to get a picture of it because there was no place else it fit.

My friend Angela at Quilted Joy is going to quilt it for me. She does amazing work so I know it will be beautiful.

The corner triangles that were cut off to remove bulk will go to another friend, Wendy, so she can make a "something from nothing" quilt. There are a LOT of them!

I know whatever she makes it will be very scrappy!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-19T16:44:00.003-06:00

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T18:08:00.002-06:00

Coming Soon -- Pineapple Blossom

2012-01-08T10:21:00.001-06:00

Stay tuned..............

A Look Back at 2011

2012-01-06T20:14:00.000-06:00

Until I looked at my spreadsheet today I honestly thought that I had not accomplished very much in 2011. Seems I did! I was really surprised to see that, especially with our move from Missouri to Alabama and not having access to my sewing room for several months. Here's a list of the projects I completed, most of which are linked to blog entries about them. Some of them were new projects, some (three) were UFOs, some (eight) were Charity quilts.

1. Sunrise Sunset (Charity Quilt)
2. Quilt for Huckabee Baby
3. Passion (UFO)
4. For Young Jedi Aidan
5. Quilt for Pobst Baby
6. Pink Patches (Charity Quilt)
7. Lots of Pink (Charity Quilt)
8. Something from Nothing Challenge
9. Quilt for Becker Baby
10. Funky Monkeys
11. Green NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
12. Green NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
13. Purple NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
14. Purple NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
15. Yellow NNICU Quilt (Charity Quilt)
16. Kandinsky Inspiration Challenge
17. Secret Sisters Quilt (UFO)
18. Happy Housewarming (UFO)
19. Pay Day (Challenge Quilt)
20. Memories of Naomi

I see that I never shared with you the quilt I made for my little great-nephew Christopher. I just took some blue strips and some white squares and when I got it all together and hand-quilted it, I realized it was exactly like the Allegro pattern. Great minds must really think alike!

Another quilt I haven't told you about is my "Something from Nothing" Challenge. This is just a little 12" quilt that was made from scraps in my basket and embellished with a few beads I picked up in Paducah. I really like how it turned out and so, apparently, did my swap partner!

Then, there is #20 on the list, "Memories of Naomi." I'll have to wait a few months to share this one with you since it's for a baby due in March and I want it to be a surprise.

The only other thing I made last year was this little Arkansas Razorback mug rug for my secret quilter at retreat.

So, I guess if I could accomplish as much as I did last year with everything we had going on, I will have no excuses for not getting a lot finished this year. Guess I'd better get busy!

A Pay Day Finish!

2011-12-31T21:08:00.001-06:00

When the Cottage Quilters announced that our 2011 Challenge was to be based on a candy bar wrapper I knew there would be a lot of bright quilts inspired by M&Ms and Skittles. I like to do things a little differently (if you haven't already noticed) so I went candy bar shopping just to see what I could find that was a little out of the ordinary. I liked the wrappers for the Zero Bar and Hershey's Cookies 'N Cream, but I decided on the Pay Day wrapper because of the colors.

I cut a bunch of squares from blue, orange, tan and white scraps.

Then I made a WHOLE LOT of half-square-triangles........

.........and I started playing on my design wall.

My good friend, Angela, quilted it for me and did an absolutely stunning job on it. She's pretty amazing. Check out her blog. http://quiltedjoy.blogspot.com/

I cannot thank Angela enough for the gorgeous job she did. We have entered this quilt in the AQS show in Paducah and got the entry form mailed just before the deadline. Now we wait until the first week of March for news. Here's hoping!

What's on My Design Wall?

2011-12-09T08:04:00.001-06:00

I decided that I would do my very first "Design Wall Monday" post this week, so I got the photos ready and before I knew it, it was Friday! You faithful bloggers amaze me. My "Design Wall Monday" posts would get pretty boring - my wall stays the same for long stretches most of the time. So, here is what's on my design wall right now:

These are my blocks from the "Made Fabric" Block Swap. When it was my turn I requested blocks made like the two purple blocks at the top. I asked that swappers make a large square of fabric from neutral scraps and a second from monochromatic scraps.

Then the blocks were stacked, slashed, and sewn back together after reversing the center strips.

Now that I have all these gorgeous blocks I need to decide what to do with them. Should I slash them again and insert another color before sewing them together? Or not? Add sashing? Slash them into smaller pieces and mix them all up? Hmmm, this could be on my Design Wall until next summer. I need ideas. I need inspiration. Or maybe a nap.......

More "Made Fabric"

2011-11-20T19:03:00.000-06:00

Back in May I told you in this post about making fabric out of scraps and using it in blocks for a block swap with the the 15 Minutes Play group to which I belong. I showed you the January through May blocks, and thought you would like to see the the rest of the blocks I made for the year-long swap. In June I made these leaf blocks for Glenda.

In August Barbara sent each of us some pink fabric and asked for hearts.

San-Dee asked us to make fabric and then cut it into simple shapes so she could appliqué them onto wheelchair lap quilts for dementia patients in September.

Cindy posted directions for these cute blocks that she wanted us to make for her in October.

Then in November Melinda asked us to make any kind of star blocks using "made" fabric for the stars and black and white background fabrics.

I think the December star blocks Alexis asked for were my favorite of the entire swap. Bright "made" fabrics for the center of the star with yellow points and a red background. She said to "wonk it up" and I tried.

You will notice that I skipped July. That was my month to receive blocks. I'll tell you about that later.

One thing I learned is that even though I enjoyed the swap, I do not like making fabric. For one thing it makes me feel like I have to save smaller and smaller scraps of fabric. For another thing, whenever I make fabric my sewing room looks like this.........

I think this coming year, I will stick to making quilts from "bought" fabric!

Happy Housewarming!

2011-11-16T16:17:00.001-06:00

I love it when I get to finish a UFO and end up with a lovely gift for someone special at the same time. This quilt was started several years ago when my friend Barb was in charge of the Lotto Blocks for our quilt guild. She came up with this simple batik 6" block, so of course I was going to make a whole quilt from it. I made 25 blocks, stitched them together and then it sat in a drawer until two months ago when I decided it had been a UFO long enough. (You have heard this song before, haven't you!? LOL)

I did not want to make gazillions of the same block so I thought it would be fun to make this a sort of "One Woman Round Robin" instead. One border at a time and it would be a real quilt!

I found a great eggplant batik at my favorite online source, Batiks Plus. I used six different gold and purple batiks cut into 2 1/2" squares and had my first border done.

It was looking a little bland to me, so the next round was a colorful piano keys border. No, I did not repeat a fabric. Yes, I do have a great stash!

I wanted to add a plane border next with appliquéd flowers and vines. Everybody knows you need some curves to balance all those straight lines. Well, almost everyone. Sweet Adorable Hubby said it needed squares instead and sketched it out for me. Huh. Looks great! Whatta ya know about that!?

I appliquéd the squares on and then embroidered around them and finished it off with another eggplant border. I mailed the quilt to my nephew Tim and his wife Catherine in celebration of them buying their first home. I think it will make a great snuggle quilt for them to use for many years to come.

So, Congratulations to Tim and Cat. And Happy Housewarming!!!

This Quilt Needs a Baby!

2011-10-18T12:12:00.000-05:00

Usually I make baby quilts on an "as needed" basis. It's not the kind of thing I normally keep on hand. Actually, what really happens is this: Even though I know for almost nine months that I need to make a baby quilt, I wait until the baby is here and then frantically work on nothing else until Baby has a quilt. When Matt and Tiffany were expecting earlier this year I knew that method wouldn't work since the baby's gender would not be known ahead of time. I made a baby boy quilt and a baby girl quilt, and little Eva got her quilt on time. That means I have a baby boy quilt ready just in case I need one.

Isn't this the cutest? I liked this monkey fabric so much when I bought it for Grant's quilt a few years ago that I bought all that was left on the bolt. I like to give credit to publishers and designers, but I can't find the magazine from which I took this pattern. I have looked and looked, but it must be hiding somewhere in the deepest darkest recesses of my messy sewing room. Just know that it is not my design and that I'm reasonably sure it's from a QNM publication.

Now. This quilt needs a baby. So. I'm waiting.........

Round Robin Found Its Way Home

2011-10-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

A while back I blogged about a Round Robin group I had joined. I had great visions of something really abstract when I sketched the semi-paisley shapes, but they ended up looking like drumsticks. Was I ever worried about what the gals in the Round Robin would do with that!!

Well, they behaved, although they said they were really tempted to add chickens, etc. to their borders. Am I ever glad they restrained themselves. This is what it looked like when I got it in the mail a few days ago.

The only thing I really hated about it was that goofy looking center block! I had to fix it! I borrowed some of the shapes from the last border and used them to add some appliqué to the center.

All I can say is, "Wow!"

Thank you SO much, Shirley, Jac and Marcia for making my Round Robin so beautiful. I love it! This is one project that will definitely not turn into a UFO.

Needle Troubles

2011-09-07T17:37:00.000-05:00

I have been hand-quilting a long time, not to mention all the hand-applique and hand-embroidery I have done throughout my life, and I have never had the problems with needles I have been dealing with lately. Look at this......

.....my needles have been bending right at the bottom of the eye.

It's hard to get much completed when this keeps happening! One needle after the other in the most recent package has bent this way, and there's no way to continue using them in that condition. (By the way, these two photos were taken with my cell phone.....impressive, right??)

Just in case you are interested in the quilt I am working on here is a sneak peak.

It's the Dutch Treat quilt I started in 2005, and it's more than half quilted. I'm anxious to finish it so needle problems are not fitting into the schedule right now!

My Oldest UFO is Finished!

2011-08-28T16:16:00.002-05:00

In 2003, my "Secret Sister" at church gave me homemade quilt blocks, spaced throughout the year, each one having a special significance to our family. She made one block each for my husband and me as well as each of our sons, with our birth dates embroidered on them.

She made a block that reminds us of our 15 years of home-schooling....

.....a block for Sweet Adorable Hubby's career (I added the retirement date!).......

.......and one commemorating our first grandchild.

Log-cabin blocks display each of our wedding anniversary dates.

You can see other blocks in the quilt --

-- blocks for our daughters-in-law with their birth dates --

-- and blocks I added for our grandsons who joined our family while all the rest of the blocks were sitting in a sewing room cabinet, being a UFO, and waiting to be completed.

I didn't know until the end of the year that Anna was my "Secret Sister." The coffee cup block and cross-stitched stove block are very special because they symbolize the many, many hours our families spent visiting over the years.

This is such a special quilt. I am so glad it's not a UFO anymore. And not just because I wanted to check it off the list!

Why I Haven't Been Blogging.........and Two Finishes!

2011-07-31T14:45:00.001-05:00

The last time I posted a blog entry was the day before our movers arrived to haul all our earthly goods from St. Louis, Missouri to Huntsville, Alabama. We have moved so we can be closer to our grandchildren, and am I ever having fun!! But until last week this is what my new sewing room looked like...

I wanted to get the rest of the house unpacked and somewhat organized before I tackled the sewing room. I mean, there were more than 70 boxes in there! Believe me it wasn't easy going four weeks without playing with fabric. And I'm sure my sewing machines were feeling neglected!

But, things are shaping up now, and even though it's not completely ready (and definitely NOT ready to show pictures of), I did get some sewing done last week.

The first thing I finished was this Pink and Turquoise baby quilt for Eva Katherine.

I had made quilts for each of her older sisters when they were born. Pink and Blue for Audrey Ann...

...and Pink and Yellow for Claire Elizabeth.

And last night I finished this 15" art quilt challenge made with all solids and inspired by a Kandinsky painting.

I like it so much that I hate to mail it off to my swap partner tomorrow. I'm sure that I will like equally well the quilt she will be sending to me, though!

A New Round Robin

2011-06-27T08:09:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to be brave. I really am. I have had some very interesting experiences with Round Robins and had to do some major re-working on some of them. It goes with the territory. When you sign up to be involved in any kind of block swap or round robin you are taking a risk because some of the people involved are inexperienced quilters, but it really is a lot of fun.

I wanted to do something really different for this one and maybe a little abstract for my center block. My first choice of fabrics did not work well at all.

I didn't realize the print was so directional until I had it put together and took a photo of it. Yuck!

My second attempt was much better.

I used a plastic template to draw a pattern........

.......and cut some shapes to applique onto my center block.

Looking good, right?? Love the fabrics, love the shapes, love the colors! However, once I got the pieces stitched down and took a picture of it I realized that they look kind of like chicken drumsticks. Eeeek!

I will probably add some more applique and embroidery to it once the completed top comes back to me. The big risk with this one is this -- some of the gals in this group have a real interesting sense of humor so no telling what it will look like after several rounds are added. It may end up with chickens and barns and all kinds of strange things. It doesn't matter, though. I know that whatever they do to it, I will love, love, love it!!!

Ready for Retreat

2011-06-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

It's that time again -- time for Retreat! I am really excited about seeing some of my internet quilting friends this week at a retreat here in St. Louis. Thirty of my closest friends are meeting at The Mercy Center in Frontenac for five days of sewing, quilting, laughing and catching up with each other. I have known many of these ladies for more than 10 years. We met online and communicate mostly online, but get together every June for our retreat. A small group of us manages to get together more than once a year by having "meet-ups" in Paducah, KY for shopping and lunch, and for the AQS Quilt Show in April.

I have my projects prepped and ready to pack: five 22" quilts basted and ready to quilt for the Neo-Natal ICU at St. Johns Mercy Medical Center....

....two baby quilts cut out and ready to put together....

....and pieces cut out for a scrappy Pineapple Blossom quilt.

If I get all that completed and run out of things to do, the retreat center is less than a mile from one of my favorite quilt shops - The Quilted Fox.

Faye is usually my roommate, but her daughter forgot to check on the dates of our retreat before setting the date for her wedding (can you imagine!?!?) It won't be the same without her, but I'll do my best to have a good time.

Look at me! I'm "making" fabric!

2011-05-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

I have been participating in a Block Swap this year with an online group hosted by Victoria at 15 Minutes Play. The goal of this group is to "make" your own fabric from scraps and then use that "made fabric" in new projects. Well, I certainly have plenty of scraps.........

in baskets....

in containers....

and......well, you get the idea!

Each participant is assigned a month for which they decide what kind of block they want and they post directions on the 15 Minutes Play blog.

Here are some of the blocks I have made for the swap so far this year: "Red Crosses" for Victoria in January,

"Five Piece" blocks for LeeAnn in February,

"White" blocks for Jess in March,

and "Slashed Red" blocks for Mary-Frances in April.

For her May blocks, Sara sent each of us some "Lake" fabric and we were to make green fabric for "Islands."

So, these are my "Lake and Island" blocks for Sara.

I'm having fun with this group of quilters, and I'm learning a lot, too. I have some ideas about what kind of blocks I want made for me when it's my turn in July, so I'm looking forward to that.

In the mean time, I need to start "making" more fabric because, as you can see, I have an awful lot of scraps!

A Huge Finish!

2011-04-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

The quilt I told you about in this post, I am happy to report, has finally been completed. This has been an interesting journey. And a long one! I started this Blooming Nine Patch in 2002, then set it aside for about 8 years. Last year I got it out of the cabinet, determined to finish it. Once it was put together and basted, it was set aside again for a while. I was beginning to think this would be my "take-it-to-the-home-with-me" quilt! After 7 months of working on it nearly every day it's finally ready for the big reveal........

I appliqued one of each of the blocks onto the back to create a design.

You can see the blocks a little better in this close-up.

I am holding onto this one for a while before I hand it off to Aaron and Leah. I'm thinking I may enter it in a few quilt shows first.

This one has to be my all time favorite quilt. (Until I finish the next one, of course.)

Quilts for Japan

2011-04-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

Leave it to quilters to come through in a disaster. The recent earthquake and tsunamis in Japan have touched quilters' hearts and several groups are organizing efforts to get donated quilts to those who have lost everything. I missed the deadline for mailing them to Quilters Newsletter Magazine so I will be mailing my quilts to eQuilter.com. They are working with Mission of Love to get the quilts there and have also made available an address for sending quilts directly to Japan.

Since I am so math challenged I had 46 pink 4-patches leftover from the Pink Quilt I told you about in this blog I just used them and some fabrics in my stash to put two quilts together in the last few weeks. For the first one I alternated 4-patches with a cute polka dot fabric and added a border.

For the second quilt I added sashing with cornerstones and two borders to the 4-patches.

Now..........

.........what to do with all these leftover triangles!

So Who Could Make "Just One Star" ??

2011-04-02T14:09:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you have seen a lot of blog posts about the "Just One Star" project sponsored by Moda Fabrics.

They have asked quilters to send in "just one block" to help comfort a soldier. The goal is to make, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days using the Flag of Valor pattern developed by Minick and Simpson for Quilts of Valor. The deadline for the blocks is May 1st, so I got busy this morning.......

.....and got my blocks made! I'll have to get to the Post Office with them on Monday.

Of course, I couldn't just make one block. I don't want to tarnish my reputation as an over-achiever!

http://qovf.org/

Aidan's Star Wars Quilt

2011-03-29T14:21:00.000-05:00

I hope you have been watching the progress on Aidan's Star Wars quilt because this one has been a lot of fun. (Yes, I really mean it!) It had its challenges, but it came together well and took less than a month to complete.
To give the quilting a little more interest, I decided to use Rainbow Threads in "Zebra" by Superior Threads which alternates black and gray and white thread.

There's a little more white in it than I had hoped, but I like the way it turned out.

I ended up using orange for both the inner border and the binding and then piecing the back to use up all the fabrics.

Here's the back.

I can hardly wait to give it to him. He was SO excited when I told him I was working on a Star Wars Quilt for him.

This is Aidan when he's just being Aidan.....

.....and this is what he looked like the last time I saw him. I think he may have been a Storm Trooper. I know that's a light saber. Just about everything IS!

How I Spent National Quilting Day

2011-03-20T10:14:00.001-05:00

I actually spent National Quilting Day working on a quilt! In my last post I showed you the progress I had made on Aidan's Star Wars quilt. I am happy to report that because of National Quilting Day the top is complete. On my way home from visiting my grandchildren in Huntsville the other day, I stopped at Hancock's of Paducah and bought these two fabrics for an inner border and binding.

Yesterday I finished filling in the black background and added a half inch inner border of orange before putting the Darth Vader borders on. I am loving this quilt!

Now, to piece the backing. I have these two pillow panels that I want to use on the back along with the Darth Vader fabric and some black and orange scraps.

I am really excited about getting this finished. I know Aidan is going to love it!

On a serious note -- I think we should have a MONTHLY National Quilting Day. Don't you!?!?

Did I Really Say That?

2011-03-14T14:24:00.000-05:00

Seriously. Did I really say, "All I have to do is finish filling it in with black and it will be ready to quilt" in this post?? I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Thinking it would be done in about a week, I started cutting pieces and sewing them into place. Well, it isn't as easy as it looks! It certainly isn't like making blocks and sewing them into rows and then sewing rows together. The more I sewed, the more I ended up with places like this to fill in.

I ended up sewing that piece into place like you would sew a "Y" seam, only it really was more like sewing an "L" seam. It worked, though.

It's coming along nicely now, and I have hopes of finishing it in March, which was my original goal.

It's shaping up!

In case you wondered what that blue spot is in the middle of my design wall, here's a close-up of it.

My grandson Gavin decided several years ago, when he was about 6, that if Gramma can put her art work up on the design wall, then so could he! Take my word for it -- water colors are not easy to get off your flannel design wall. Awww, I love it, though!

It's Not Like I Haven't Been Busy

2011-02-28T19:46:00.000-06:00

I guess I was so busy I managed to let an entire month go by without blogging. Or maybe it's that whole February hibernating thing I have going on. Oh, let's just go with the "Busy" thing. Here's what I've been up to.

My February finish!! A baby quilt for a little girl being born any day now.

I worked from my stash for this one after I found this cute pink print in my novelty fabrics.

Then I made 26 of these scrappy pineapple blocks for a block swap with some online friends......

......and 5 of these blocks for another swap.

I found some scrappy blue strips in my sewing room so I started putting them together for a quilt for our great-nephew due in May.

After that, I started on a Star Wars quilt at the request of our grandson, Aidan. There isn't any Star Wars fabric currently available, but I found some Darth Vader fabric on eBay for the backing and borders and also this panel by Lucas Films Ltd.

I cut up the panel......

......then made some filler blocks (still trying to use up that stash!)

All I have to do is finish filling it in with black and it will be ready to quilt.

And, needless to say, I will have one happy Jedi grandson!

I also made some pillowcases for the Million Pillowcase Challenge and I got a LOT of work done on the UFO I told you about in this post.

So I guess I haven't been hibernating at all. Just not talking about what I've been up to as much as I should be!

First 2011 Finish

2011-02-01T12:30:00.000-06:00

So far for the year 2011, I am right on track with making my goals. I know, we're only 32 days in, but facts are facts!

I started this quilt around the 11th at a retreat and I wrote about it in this post. Since it was my January goal, I spent most of yesterday morning quilting it.

I used a large stipple over the entire quilt because, first of all I wanted to finish in January, and secondly I wanted the quilting design to be simple so it wouldn't take away from the beautiful pattern.

Then I spent most of the afternoon binding it.

It finished at about 64 x 74. I hope it raises a decent amount of money for the St. Baldrick's Event on March 5th. Come on by Helen Fitzgerald's Irish Grill and Pub anytime after noon and bid on it. It could be yours!!!

Snow Day = Sewing Day!

2011-01-21T08:54:00.002-06:00

There's nothing better on a snowy day than staying in your jammies all day and sewing up a storm! Since we woke up to about 9 or 10 inches of snow yesterday morning, I spent some time working on my January project. The pattern, Sunrise Sunset, was designed by Joy Hoffman and appeared in the December 2002 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

So yesterday I sewed for a while.....

.....then cut and pressed and trimmed my half-square-triangles for a while.

This is one of my favorite quilting notions. It's a lot easier and much faster to separate chain-piecing using this tool instead of scissors. I want to get another one for my "packed and ready to go to retreat" sewing basket, but I can't remember who makes it or what it's called. If you know where I can find one, leave a comment......Please!

Then I made blocks for a while. I'm using all batiks in this quilt so I'm enjoying watching it come together. I have almost half the blocks made and most of the sashing cut.

It took a good snow storm to get me to sit down long enough to make this much progress, but hopefully, now that I've made a good start on it, I can finish it without the threat of being housebound! I think I'll stay motivated since I have a deadline, and because it's for a good cause. I'm donating it as a silent auction item to the St. Baldrick's Event which benefits childhood cancer research.

I've Been Tagged!

2011-01-08T19:55:00.001-06:00

What an honor! Thank you to Heather at Heather's Quilts and Such for tagging me! Right now she has an awesome giveaway going on! Make sure you check it out!! You better go fast because it ends tonight!

The idea behind being tagged is to award great blogs with less than 300 followers and to get the word out about these wonderful blogs. The rules are simple!

1.Tell your readers who tagged you.

2. Add a link to their blog.

3. Award 3-5 bloggers who you think deserve this award.

Inform them & post directions to your blogspot.

Please don't tag people who already have 300 followers.

I am tagging Faye, Angela, and Janice! Three great ladies!! Enjoy looking at their blogs! I do!!

I don't have any photos available to post and blog about just now, as I am out of town celebrating a late Christmas with my son and his family. I happen to have this on my desktop so I thought I would just give you a sneak peak at the Block of the Month I am developing.

Stay posted. More to follow!

One More UFO Checked Off!

2010-12-31T14:53:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I finished my oldest UFO and checked it off the list, and I'm pretty happy about that. Braggy, even. (Yup, it's a word. I just looked it up!) In 2001 I participated in a Block Swap with a group of online friends. I sent a fat-eighth of background fabric to each person on the list and asked them to make any size block they wanted. I told them I looked forward to the challenge of putting together a top with different sized blocks using interesting sashings and settings. Innovative group that they were, I received nineteen 12" blocks and three 6" blocks. Hmmm. Not much opportunity for creativity in laying out those blocks. It all got stuffed into the back of a cabinet.

I got it out last month and took another look at it. I bordered each block with a small strip of black and made the border from the leftover background fabric.

And, talk about a pieced backing! I used up a whole lot of leftover muslin scraps (almost 50, actually) to make this backing, and I incorporated the blocks I couldn't fit onto the front.

I decided to have some fun quilting this one, so I experimented a little and did something different in each block.

I like this quilt a lot. I have another Christmas quilt to display during the holidays, AND I got another UFO marked off my list. Can't complain about that!

"Halloween Basket" for Christmas

2010-12-28T17:07:00.000-06:00

Sometimes when a niece or nephew gets married I make a simple scrap comforter tied with yarn and give it to them as part of their shower gift. Everyone loves comforters. They come in handy for all kinds of things and last just about forever.

Laura got one in 2002.

Catherine got one in 2005.

As soon as Travis laid eyes on Vanessa in 2007 while they were both in the Army he decided she was "the one" and there was no need to wait, so they were married within months. I barely had time to say, "Congratulations" much less make any gifts. Other projects became priorities, including quilts as their babies came along, and the comforter just never got made.

I bought Paula Hughes' pattern Over and Under because I thought I would make it "someday" out of oriental prints, but when I found out what Travis and Vanessa's favorite holiday is, I wanted to use the pattern for their quilt and all those HALLOWEEN prints I'd been saving would be perfect for it.

And a matching pillowcase for every one in the family!

I had just the right amount of spiderweb fabric in my stash to add to the backing and make it even more fun!

So Travis and Vanessa, and Phenyx and Kingston have a quilt I call "Halloween Basket" being delivered this evening by my sister and the rest of the family.

Merry Christmas to you, Travis and Vanessa!

(And Happy Halloween, too!)

By the way, just so you know, sometimes they really look like this!

Bloomin' Nine Patch Progress Report

2010-12-05T09:53:00.002-06:00

Way back in July I told you about Aaron and Leah's Bloomin' Nine Patch in this post. Since I started hand-quilting it on July 16th I have been making some serious headway and thought I would give you an update.

I am a notorious list-maker, chart-keeper, note-taker type person. So obviously on a project this large (the quilt is 110" x 120") I want to keep track of my progress. It kind of becomes a game to me that way, and it keeps me motivated. (And, yes, I am extremely competitive!)

There are 1,010 blocks in this quilt. I knew I would NOT want to regularly count them, so the first "list" keeps track of weekly progress. I jot down a little hash mark for each block completed and then tally them up at the end of the week. The second "list" shows how many blocks are in each row so I can just add instead of count as I complete a row. (And, even though adding involves the dreaded math I would rather add than count!) The third "list" shows how many blocks need to be quilted to get to certain progress points - 1/4th, 1/3rd, etc.

I want you to know that list-makers sometimes wear themselves out before they even start their projects!

Are you ready to see how much I have done so far? (The "so far" at the end of the sentence indicates that there is hope -- I am NOT giving up!)

I have quilted from the center working out, and I have quilted to within 15" of the edge. Looks like a lot, doesn't it? Well, it's NOT. I have quilted exactly half the blocks! Looks are deceiving for sure. That's the problem with list-making. I would have thought I was almost done!!

It really is pretty, though. I am quilting around each little square in the nine-patch blocks and using a great stencil in the solid blocks. It's called "Quilted Ball" from The Stencil Company. A great and inexpensive place to buy stencils, by the way. Sometimes I just buy them so my grands can trace them and then color the designs. They love stencils!

Another fun thing about the quilting is I am using different colored threads as I move towards the outside edge, starting with pale yellow in the middle, then light orange, dark orange, red, and finally black. I don't think it will be real obvious once it's completed, but I am NOT ripping anything out!

You may be able to see the thread changes in this photo. Maybe not. Either way, no critiques of my work, please. My fingers are awful sore and I have to be able to think the pain is worth it!

Pink Quilt

2010-11-28T18:10:00.012-06:00

In this post I showed you a few of the of quilt backings which I have pieced from scraps. I've already shown most of the coordinating fronts, but I have this pink quilt left to tell you about. I started making it for my friend Tina who I see every other Thursday. In order to be able to finish this quilt quickly after working on the top at Retreat, I made up the backing ahead of time. In this post I had all the pieces cut out and a few blocks made. I got the entire top assembled at Retreat and set about getting the quilting done on it last week when I was home. A secondary pinwheel pattern showed up after putting four blocks together and sashing them, so I did a little fun quilting within the pinwheels.

Then I did an all-over meander in the blocks, put some loops in the sashing, and stippled in the border.

The main block in this quilt is called "Shooting Squares" and is from Marcia Hohn's site, Quilter's Cache. If you have never checked out her site, I highly recommend it. I can always find something I like there.

I can hardly wait to present this one, which I have very cleverly entitled, "Thursdays." What can I say? I am better at creating quilts than I am at naming them. It is better than "Pink Quilt" though, isn't it?

Another Quilt Front.......and One More in the Works

2010-11-15T15:27:00.003-06:00

I need to finish showing you (ahem....that especially includes you, Mimi) the quilt fronts that go with the backings I posted about here. After all, I need to move on to something more current. Oh, wait! These two quilt fronts are current.

About a year ago I was in a scrap cutting mood, cutting out all kinds of pieces for possible future quilts. I bagged up a project called Bricks and Stepping Stones, a free project featured on www.quiltville.com. My friend Jan was headed to Florida for two months last winter, afraid she would not have enough to keep her busy, so I sent this project with her. I tried to get her to take more of my unfinished projects, but she wasn't really that worried about having things to do! She put the top together for me, and last week I used the blue scrappy backing and got the job done -- quilted and bound!

That leaves the pink scrappy backing. The front of that quilt is all cut out and ready to be put together (yes, by me!) at Retreat this week.

And if Jan says anything about not having enough to do this week, she may find all this piled up next to her machine. I have three or four other projects I'm taking with me to work on!

Just for Mimi -- Quilt Fronts

2010-11-06T15:37:00.000-05:00

Since Mimi accused me of teasing by only showing the backs of quilts last time, this is just for her. Quilt Fronts!!! Actually, I was going to show them to you eventually, I just didn't want to share everything in one long blog. You might have become distracted and not seen it through to the end, and that would have been awful.

First though, I have to tell you that I'm saving the quilt with the gold colored stripe across the back for another time. No, I am not teasing. I just want to tell you sometime about the ribbons I have won. (Believe me, it will be a short story!)

The blue backing I showed you was for the back of my niece Natalie's quilt. Her quilt is a scrappy version of "Four Patch Plaid" from the book "Nickel Quilts" by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode.

Here's Natalie with her quilt:

The first purple backing shown in the post is the backing for my niece Carrie's quilt. Her quilt is just something I made up on my own by alternating scrappy 16-patch blocks and white blocks with appliqued hearts. A perfect little girl quilt.

Here's Carrie with her quilt:

The next purple backing was for my niece Emily's quilt. It's a scrappy version of "Apron Strings" from the April 2000 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine. By the way, this quilt has 1,820 pieces in it. (Can you tell I was wanting to use up scraps in these three quilts?)

Here's Emily with her quilt:

I had made each of the girls a baby quilt when they were born and a doll quilt when they were little. When I found out that they loved their quilts so much that they were still sleeping with them, I knew that new quilts must be made, and quickly! I made all three of these quilts in about two months. But love them, they did!

Since I made these quilts for the girls in 2005 here is a more recent photo of them with me, getting ready to leave for one of our fun "Niece Outings."

One more from the last blog. The backing I made from grays and blacks was for a charity quilt I made for teenagers in foster care. The pattern is from the book "Easy Pieces" by Margaret J. Miller. I could just see some teenage boy, between foster families, loving this quilt of his own.

So that's it for today's installment of "Fun with Quilts." Both backings and fronts. But, guess what? I have a lot more nieces.........

Fun with Quilt Backings

2010-10-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

It all started when I didn't have quite enough fabric left to make a backing for my quilt. It was an ivory tone-on-tone and I didn't want to buy more, so I put a wide strip of gold right across the middle of the backing and called it "done!" Not real clever, but I kind of liked it.

The next few times I just wanted to use up scraps and not spend a lot of money on fabric for backings. Hmmm, a little more interesting this time.

Okay, now it's getting intriguing! It's starting to look like a reversible quilt. This time I played a little more with arranging the scraps.

I just finished piecing two backings for quilts I want to complete at Retreat in a few weeks. I had fun with these.

The blue backing was another one where I just wanted to get rid of scraps. You know...fat quarters I don't really like, fabrics people gave to me after they found a sack of material in their attic or basement and thought I could use it, pieces I picked up off the swap table at quilty get togethers even though I didn't need them....that kind of thing.

I'm really liking the pink backing. I decided to use up some pretty small scraps on this one, and I've been wanting to try my hand at some Crumb Quilts. It was fun.

Here's a close-up of the crumb part:

One negative to piecing a backing is that it takes a long time, usually an entire day. So I don't do it a lot, but it is a fun way to use up scraps, make your quilt a little more original, and feel like you're being creative.

And speaking of being creative, one day soon I'll show you the fronts of these quilts!

Vicki's "Quilty R & R"

2010-10-14T10:50:00.002-05:00

Good secretaries are to be greatly appreciated. My Sweet Adorable Hubby has had some excellent secretaries throughout his career, the most recent being Vicki. Seems their work relationship is ending because of some restructuring within the company so he asked me to make her a quilt to express our gratefulness. He really likes his quilt that I made from the "Habitat" pattern and he wanted me to make a similar quilt for Vicki. Of course, I had to use batiks, and this time I managed to use over 100 different fabrics. (Not a great idea. When Sweet Adorable Hubby said, "That's a LOT of batiks!" I realized I was -- BUSTED!) Anyway.....Here is Vicki's quilt which we call "Quilty R & R."

We gave it to her at lunch last week, and I'm pretty sure she loves it!!

Now if she will just "light somewhere" as Sweet Adorable Hubby says and enjoy it. She's a busy gal!

I Spy Quilt -- Another UFO Bites the Dust!

2010-09-21T10:06:00.041-05:00

I am determined to have less UFO's at the end of this year than I had at the beginning. I started out with ten on January 1st and so far have finished four of them. I realize I have way less unfinished projects than some quilters (just ask my friend Darlene!) but I have a few more than other quilters (just ask my friend Jan!) but I want to make some progress.

Last week I was challenged (by my friend Shirley) to "work on something that was nagging me to be finished," so I pulled out an I-Spy quilt I started in 2008. The top was completed and it had even been basted for a while. It was just waiting to be quilted. I have been collecting I-Spy fabrics for a long time. It's not hard to collect a lot because there are so many fun novelty prints out there.

Aren't these cute?

Love the platform shoes!

The pattern I used is called "Do You See What I See?" and is from the 2003 issue of Quilt it For Kids by QNM.

I didn't want anything too busy for the back so I used a heavyweight muslin and machine quilted around blocks using lime green thread and a serpentine stitch. If Diane Gaudynski thinks lime green is a neutral then so do I!

Now, here's the fun idea! The quilting delineates spaces on the back for the grandkids and great-nieces and nephews to create beautiful works of art with fabric markers. Won't that be fun!?!?!?

Since I'm talking about I-Spy quilts I thought I should show you the I-Spy I made for Aidan last year. I did a sashing with cornerstones for this one.....

...and I incorporated some family photos on it. Then I found a really fun backing fabric.

Here is Aidan all wrapped up in his quilt when he was going through his "DON'T take my picture!!" phase.

And here he is being his usual sweet self.

Now, I need to figure out how many quilts I have to make in order to use up all those novelty prints. Does anyone need some I-Spy squares??

The Modern Quilt Guild Challenge

2010-08-22T18:02:00.002-05:00

I just added a Button on the sidebar over there >>>>> for The Modern Quilt Guild Challenge. For a long time I have had an Art Quilter inside of me trying to get out. My Son the Artist (that would be Aaron) has been telling me for ages, "You can do this, Mom." Basically, though, I am not a very brave person (THAT is an understatement!) so I have all of these art quilts bouncing around in my head making me crazy, and I need to get them out of there and into fabric.

I was browsing other quilt blogs this morning and came across this post at SewJournal. PROJECT MODERN may be exactly what I need to encourage me to play a little with my quilty ideas and get something fun made. It's a series of four quilt challenges running from September 2010 to September 2011. The first challenge will be announced on September 1st. I am committing to at least trying to make something for the first challenge. (((gulp!!)))

I've only done a few art quilts in the past, and they weren't usually from my own ideas. The first one, Eye-Boy, is copied from Aaron's artwork. I enlarged one of his drawings then hand-appliqued and hand-quilted it. I entered it into a local quilt show, and one of the judges said it was "too cryptic" and would look better on its side. I guess she didn't see the face. Oh well, judges.......

Here's a close-up of the hand work.

The second one, Black and White Abstract, is from one of Aaron's doodles that I enlarged then hand-appliqued and hand-quilted. In this case, I actually put it on its side by mistake. I think I disappointed Aaron when I didn't see that it was a dragon's mouth, but it's already hanging in my house so I guess I didn't see the face this time! I must not have the artist's eye that I thought I had.

Nightmare on Quilty Lane was for a Keepsake Quilting Halloween Challenge. I was required to use the fabrics they selected and added the gray and the black. I didn't even receive judges' comments on this one. It looks nice in my sewing room, though. And I really like my tree!

I have lots of photos and ideas and sketches in my "inspiration" file. I've bought fabric paints, embellishments, beads and all kinds of specialty threads. So, I am throwing down the gauntlet for myself. No more excuses. The Challenge is on!

Gavin's Knights and Castles Quilt

2010-08-07T18:26:00.001-05:00

Little boys. Ya gotta love 'em! Gavin got his last quilt from Gramma in 2006. After that, every time I made a new quilt for someone else he claimed that it was "his turn" again. When I asked him what color he wanted for his next quilt he said, "I don't care, Gramma. I love ALL your quilts!" Awwwww. Do you think he knows how to play me, or what?

Last summer it really was his turn again so I asked what kind of quilt he would like. He was huge into a Medieval phase so he decided he wanted something with knights. I found some great prints by Timeless Treasures and with no plan in mind I bought some ---- a lot.

I normally don't like working with panels, but these knights were so cool, and since I didn't know what I was doing with them anyway, I bought some.

I cut the panel into squares and started planning.

Now, I have to tell you that the Electric Quilt program for planning and designing quilts is very, very cool. My sweet adorable hubby bought it for me years and years ago. Even though I have upgraded twice to newer versions, and talked him into getting me a laptop so I could take an EQ class, and then have taken a couple of classes I still plan my quilts this way.............

Yah. I know.

But, even though I designed it my own way, it turned out great, and I just love the backing fabric.

My friend Angela at QuiltedJoy.com did a beautiful job quilting it for me. (I decided Gavin had been waiting long enough, so I didn't want to take the time to quilt it myself.) She used a pattern called "Funky Fleur de Lis" and blogged about it here.

I mailed the quilt to Gavin last week, so I don't have a photo of him with it..........yet. Here's a picture of him without the quilt. (Gotta show off the grands whenever you can, right?)

Oh, and one more thing. Gavin has since moved out of his Medieval phase and into his Greek Mythology phase. But, I'm not worried about that. He loves ALL my quilts!

Aaron and Leah's Blooming Nine Patch

2010-07-25T16:11:00.053-05:00

I used to be the kind of quilter who signed up for every workshop my quilt guild offered, started the project being taught at each retreat I went to, got involved in every block swap my online quilt group dreamed up, and joined in every round robin that came along. Uh huh......some of you know exactly what I am talking about. And that's how you end up with all those UFO's!

So, naturally in 2002 when the Blooming Nine Patch was going to be taught at my guild retreat, I just had to make one. I asked Aaron and Leah, who were "just friends" and both art majors, to help me select the fabrics. We had a blast at the quilt shop and these are the fabrics we came home with ......

One of the tools we used to organize our fabrics at retreat was this sheet .....

Even though this quilt is partially strip-pieced it's difficult to keep all the pieces lined up and in the right order. Then, as you can see, I added several rows because I wanted it to end up a King size.

Once it was coming together into a completed top, it was obvious that it wasn't going to look really finished unless it had a darker final border so I added even more rows, this fabric.....

.....and a black Moda Marble.

NOW it looks finished. And it's a mere 110" by 120"

It IS pretty, though, isn't it?

Aaron and Leah are still friends, AND they just celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary. They had actually forgotten all about this quilt. Not me! It's the oldest thing on my UFO list!

Since it's another humongous quilt (I've made a few of those!) I thought I would have it machine quilted by a professional. Well, my son and daughter-in-law are kind of sentimental and romantic. They want ME to quilt it. Awwww! Aren't they cute?

Because it's way too big for me to machine quilt, that means hand-quilting.

Of the 1,010 blocks I have 37 quilted so far. I just might be able to get it done in time for their 10th anniversary!

Ashley's Quilt

2010-07-01T21:50:00.001-05:00

I really believe that each quilt I make is special, but every once in a while I am involved in the creation of a quilt that is incredibly so. Such is the case with Ashley's Quilt.
When my brother lost his wife in 1999 he gave me all of her sewing things. Among them was an embroidered quilt top. You know the kind -- big flowers splashed across a very thin white top with little blue dots for quilting lines.

I didn't know it at the time, but not only had my sister-in-law Debbie worked on this embroidered top, my brother Ronnie had, too, along with their children, Jason and Cathy. Cathy was no longer living at the time Ashley was born in 1983, so two of the four people who worked on this project were already gone.

I decided to somehow figure out a way to cut up this top and make two quilts from it -- one for Ashley since she was getting married soon, and one for her older brother, Jason. (You know I love a challenge.)

Even though I only had a very rough plan in mind, I went to work cutting up the original top into pieces I thought I could work with. Then I got input from a lot of quilty friends. (Always a good idea!)

This project had its obstacles. The fabric in the original top was so thin I could actually read through it, so it had to be lined. Then I faced design issues because I wanted to have enough of the original left for a second quilt. And last, you cannot just cut through embroidery. The thread has to be picked out, threaded through a needle and knotted. Ahhh, but it was worth it.

Ashley was married a few months ago, so I went by her house last week to present her with her gift.

I think

she likes it.

So now all I have left of the original quilt top is a stack of 9" squares from which I hope to create a second quilt that is every bit as special.

Nothing like committing myself to another big project, is there?

Retreat Report -- Part 3 -- Works in Progress

2010-06-28T12:55:00.001-05:00

There was a whole lot of creating goin' on! I am friends with some very talented gals. The projects they brought to Retreat to work on or share with us were gorgeous. And several really beautiful quilt tops were actually started and completed during our short time together.

Faye showed us
her Cafe Au Lait blocks.

Jan worked on her

Jan Krentz Lone Star.

Rita put together this cute baby quilt.

Bert finished on her Chocolate Stars.

Mary got a cute Halloween
quilt top assembled.

Julie completed
this quilt top....

...and Rosemary got this entire Town Square

quilt top put together.

I don't know about you but I am worn out just looking at all the work that was accomplished! Ummm, I mean I am really inspired by these ladies. Yup, not intimidated at all.

Retreat Report -- Part 2

2010-06-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun playing "Secret Quilter" for Cat at retreat. The most difficult part was sneaking gifts to her sewing area without getting caught. Once, when everyone from her table was off shopping at a local Quilt Shop, I slipped a gift under a newspaper next to her sewing machine. When she got back, I watched. And I watched. And then when she picked up the newspaper and stood there reading it, I watched some more. She finally found the gift, an apron I had made for her, and for the rest of the 5 day retreat I don't think she took it off!

The pocket on the apron came in handy. After one of our meals in the dining area at the retreat center, we left a tip for her on our table so she picked it up and stuffed it in there!

I bought her some really pretty batiks in her favorite fall colors and folded them into what I hoped would pass for a bouquet. Then I received my own surprise birthday bouquet from my son and his family. Cat didn't know I was her "Secret Quilter" yet, but I asked her to pose with me for a picture since our bouquets were almost identical. (I'm right...... Right??)

The person who had my name did a fantastic job of surprising me. It seemed like every time I left my sewing machine, I came back to find a gift there. And there was no lack of chocolate! I never did figure out who it was. Rilla is the BEST "Secret Quilter" EVER!!!!

Although, now that I think about it, I should have known it was Rilla when I received the very first gift........