Bevo

So......I have this friend......Charlie.  And he says to me, "Do you know anyone who could make a quilt for me?"  And that's how it began...........

I usually don't do custom commissioned work, but I decided to take this one on.  I'm glad I did.  I am very happy with the results, and I think Charlie will be too.

He wanted something with the Texas Longhorns mascot on it.  (I had to do some research here.  I am NOT a college sports fan in any way, shape or form!)  So I found the logo online, printed it, enlarged it, and had my pattern.

I appliqued the logo, which by this time, I knew to be "Bevo" and it sat on my design wall for a while. Actually, a lot of things sat on my design wall for a while last year!  

I borrowed an idea for the border design from my friend Gail who does amazing work and a real interesting variety of projects.  Thanks for that, Gail.  :)

This is the finished wallhanging!         

 

You can see some of the quilting detail in the close-up.........

.........and on the back.

So all I need to do now is get the hanging sleeve on it and put it into the mail to Melanie in Enid, Oklahoma.  This is a gift to her from Charlie and his wife, Rose. Melanie is the only Texan working in an office full of Oklahoma gals, so I think this wall-hanging will be a conversation piece in her office for a long, long time.  At least.........I hope so.

Complete Broken Dishes

Well..........I decided not to hand-quilt this one.   After all, "done" is better than "perfect."  Right??   I did some basic stippling on the main part of the quilt, some loops in the inner border and flowers in the outer border.  I think it turned out real cute and I know that Baby will love it.  

I used up just about all the leftover fabric to piece the backing.  It didn't turn out as cute as I had hoped, but I still like it better than a plain muslin back.  Did you know that when you piece the backing, quilt appraisers call it "Back Art"?  That must mean it's better than plain muslin.   Even if it isn't better, at least it is a good way to use up some of that stash!

I used Quilter's Dream polyester batting for this quilt since it will probably be washed a lot.  For some reason, you can see the front of the quilt through the back.  Ummm, wait a minute.  I planned it that way.  Yah, that's right.  Really........

Broken Dishes for Baby

I really have no idea why I decided on the "Broken Dishes" block for my great-nephew Blake's quilt in 2001.  I do know I wanted a traditional look and I wanted to use my stash.  I remember that his mommy cried when she opened the gift.  That's the kind of response we quilters like.  We really want our hard work to be appreciated!  

Now Blake is about to become a big brother.  His mommy is having the first girl great-grand-baby in our family after a string of eight (yes 8) boy cousins!   I thought about all kinds of cute and definitely PINK ideas for this quilt, but in the end I went with "Broken Dishes" again, and I used a soft floral print from my stash with "just enough" pink in it. 

Even though it's more work and can be time consuming, I like to iron my seams open.  I think the blocks are more finished looking and the piecing is more precise.  Choosing the right color for a small border was challenging since I was working from my stash.  I really wanted to go with a yellow or pink, and I even thought about red since there is a tiny red dot in the background of the print.

I ended up liking  the light purple the best, though, and after adding just a 1" inner border of that, I finished it off with a small outer border of the print.  This one needs to be hand quilted for sure, so it looks like I will have something to work on in the hotel at the AQS Show in Paducah later this month.  

Now to get the backing pieced so I can baste it and get started quilting.  Doesn't this look like just the perfect quilt for a very special little long-awaited girl baby??

My Creative Kingdom

When we finished our basement several years ago, Hubby very readily agreed that I needed my own special place in which to create to my heart's content.  It is the most amazing sewing room/quilting studio, and I couldn't love it more.

So come on in!!

This is the door, and I have to say it really is a good place for some serious quilty therapy!  This wall-hanging was made from a kit, but I had to re-design it to fit on the door because the original pattern was too wide.  

Looking in from the doorway, my design wall is on the left and my ironing area is straight ahead.  I made a "Big Board" for myself and set it on top of two cabinets where I store batting, embellishments and ironing supplies.  Hanging above my ironing area is Hubby's grandmother's walnut ironing board sans legs.  In the window I have displayed her antique irons and darning eggs.  

The machine I use the most for regular sewing is my Bernina 1230 which is set into a Horn of America cabinet. And you can see I have lots of storage there, too, especially with added drawers and bins.  

I decorate my bulletin board with postcards, little gifts from friends and special pics.  

The walls are mostly decorated with gifts, fabric that's too pretty to cut, artwork, a framed poster, and my own wall-hangings.

On the next wall is my Bernina 440 QE which I use mostly for machine quilting.....
(Don't you love my neon green trashcan?)


And then there are bunches of storage cabinets.  (I have to confess that this room includes my scrapbooking stuff, too!)

 

Above my computer desk, is my "Niece Wall" where photos of all my darling nieces are displayed.  I recently had some of them reframed and ended up with a gap, but I have a little quilty idea in mind to fill that!

I have a very cool cutting area complete with a Bose sound system for my iPod (compliments of that dear Hubby of mine!) and a TV.  




Above that shelves house more gifts from friends.   The wall-hanging ("Nightmare on Quilty Lane") is my own design.  I made it for a Keepsake Quilting contest but it was totally rejected.  I like it though!

Coming all the way around the room you can see my bookcase.  It's just the right size to keep me from collecting too many books and magazines!So now that you know where I love to spend my time, I need to get in there and get creating done.  Do ya think??

Kaitlyn's Quilt

Gavin was pleased with the quilting I did on his project.  In the tradition of naming quilts I asked what we should name it.  I thought we would toss around some ideas, think about it a little, and then decide on something, but he quickly named it "The Kaitlyn Quilt."  Alright then.  Simple is good. 

I was privileged to be a part of the presentation last weekend when Gavin gave Kaitlyn her belated birthday present.   She was a little shy, but I could tell she liked it.

Cute, huh?

Teaching an 8 Year Old to Sew -- Part 2

It has come to my attention (Thanks, Faye!) that I haven't been blogging about quilting lately.  After looking back over the last, well - ummmm, quite a few posts, I can see that life has definitely gotten in the way of my quilting.  Yes, it has a way of doing that.   And so I have decided that I MUST create or I shall die!  Well, that may be a little dramatic, but I definitely do need some quilty therapy!   It will be a few days before I can create something worthy of public display, so I decided to show you the very last thing I did before the holidays struck. 

You may remember that I started teaching my grandson to sew back in October.  If not, here is a link to that post:   http://sewthisismyblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/teaching-8-year-old-to-sew.html 

Gavin has had a birthday since then so now the post should be Teaching a 9 Year Old to Sew,  but that is beside the point.  When Gavin found out that his best friend, Kaitlyn, had had a birthday he was disappointed that he hadn't received advance notice of such a momentous occasion.  He wanted to give her something special.  And, I ask you, what is more special than a quilt?  Since I was coming for a weekend visit (that day!) he asked me to bring my sewing machine and some fabric so he could make her a quilt.  Of course, I jumped right to it!  Because I only had a few hours to prepare something, I cut thirty 9 1/2" squares of brights and novelty prints so he could just sew blocks together.

He had fun laying out the squares. He played with them until he was pleased with the arrangement, and then we hit the sewing room.  AKA the dining room table.













He did a really good job keeping the stitching straight.  I had him do 3/8" seams this time instead of 1/4" and that made it a lot easier for him.  He got a lot of blocks put together and had several rows ready before he lost interest.  He agreed that I could take it home with me and finish it up. 

And so I did!  I emailed photos of several pink fabrics so he could choose a border.  Then I added a dark green inner border before I quilted it.  I did a simple stipple in the center and some meandering with flowers in the border.  It finished at 54 x 63.  (I talked him out of making one big enough for her bed!  LOL)






Then I found the cutest pink floral print for the backing.  It's from the Nicey Jane line by Heather Bailey.

I liked this fabric so much that I emptied the bolt just in case I want some for the next pink quilt I make!