Jacobean Garden Trellis

This quilt was finished on Dec. 23, which is a good thing since it is a Christmas present for my daughter-in-law.  She doesn't know that she's getting a quilt for Christmas.  In fact, she asked for an electric heated blanket.  She's getting that too.  I guess it will be the Christmas for getting warm.

The quilting is an all-over panograph of paisley done by the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in "reeds" thread from King Tut.  I pre-washed the quilt and the black wash out into the light fabric in the lattice so that it looks like a light gray now.  I used a color grabber sheet in the wash but apparently it wasn't enough to catch it all.  I think it still looks fine, but it is a little disappointing that the color bled so much.

You may also notice that my cat, Tiger, decided to make an appearance in the picture.  I think he matches the quilt nicely.

Thank you!

Thank you, Barbara Oakley, whoever and wherever you are. 

Today I received an unexpected package from Amazon.  Inside was a gift - a Doctor Who fleece throw - and the enclosed note said "A gift from Barbara Oakley."  The item wasn't on my wishlist and I don't know anyone named Barbara Oakley. 

So I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you, and this is the only way that I know how to do so.

At the Shore

This is my most recent finished project.  I decided to call it "At the Shore" because it reminded me more of the Atlantic coast (i.e., the shore) than it did of the Gulf coast (i.e., the beach).  It is made with half-square triangles set in an Oceans Waves setting, and machine quilted with an all-over panograph of seashells.  The quilting was done by the girls at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  The binding was hand turned.  It is now labeled and ready to go.

Again, it is not really a bed quilt, even though it is photographed, at the top, on a bed.  It just covers the top of the bed with very little overhang.  The bottom photograph is on a small loveseat.

Feelin' Groovy

I decided to name this one "Feelin' Groovy" after the Simon Garfunkel hit of the same name.  I've found that I like to name quilts after songs.  But I suppose that fits with my personality and love of music.  I thought the fabric had a groovy, funky feel about it.  Although it is displayed on a bed, it is not really intended to be a bed quilt.  It is 64 inches square and fits nicely on the top of a full size bed, but it has almost no overhang.  It is intended to be used to cuddle under on the sofa while watching tv.

The quilt was machine pieced, using my own original design.  It was machine quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe using the "retro flowers" pantograph.  The binding was hand turned.  It still needs it label, but other than that, it is completed.  It was actually finished on Nov. 29, but I was waiting to post about it until I came up with a name.

Boy baby quilt

As I've mentioned before, my guild makes baby quilts for the church where we used to meet.  They requested a baby quilt for a boy and I volunteered to make one.  This is the resulting quilt top.  It is made with half of a layer cake (21 - 10 inch squares).  The layer cake is called Ten Little Things. 

The pattern is one I made up for a previous quilt (that one used almost the whole layer cake).  After making that one, which was a trial and error experience, I decided to adjust the pattern to use all of the layer cake pieces, by adding a pieced border.  Then I decided it would make a quick and easy baby quilt if I used only half of the layer cake squares.  And thus, this quilt top was born.  Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it.  There isn't time to have it quilted, so I've got to come up with something I can do myself.

November Guild block - Mittens

This month our Christmas block for our guild project was an applique block with 4 mittens on it.  It was based on the S'mittens quilt block pattern from McCall's Quilting.  Since it was mittens, I decided to go with snowflake fabrics in both the mitten fabrics and the background.  I decided on a green border because I noticed that my other blocks with borders were red, so I thought I'd change it up.

Thanksgiving quilt top

Today I finished the quilt top for my Thanksgiving quilt.  The turkey is machine appliqued using Allure fabric and Hello Fall fabric.  The charms are all Allure fabric, two charm packs less one square.  So are the two borders.  The backing will also be in Allure fabric, but the binding will be in Hello Fall.  It is some of the same chevron fabric used in the turkey feathers.  However, since I plan to have it long-armed, it won't be ready for use this Thanksgiving.

Dancing Ribbons

 I finished this quilt on Nov. 1, but I just got around to taking a picture of it today.  This is another one of my UFOs that I finished this year.  I think my goal was to finish 3 UFOs this year.  If so, then this one completes the goal.  The other two were Hearts on a Chain and Christmas Kittens.

The quilt is machine pieced, machine quilted, and hand bound.  The quilting is an all-over meander pantograph done in variegated thread.  It was done by the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  The quilt finished 46" x 66", which seems like a nice size for a quilt to snuggle under on the couch.

Here is a picture of the label.

I'm contemplating putting this one up for sale, but I haven't decided yet.

Turkey Applique

The project that I'm currently working on is a charm quilt with a turkey applique as its focal point.  I got the idea from the Big Charm Star Quilt tutorial over at Missouri Star Quilt Company.  In the tutorial she mentions that it would be great quilt to showcase any large block.  My son suggested that we needed a Thanksgiving quilt, so I thought that a charm quilt with a giant appliqued turkey would be just the thing to do.

I drafted the turkey applique myself, and I think it turned out pretty nice.  The appliqued block will finish 22-1/2 inches.  It is then surrounded by charm squares.  It takes two charm packs.  I'm using Allure by Sanae from Moda.  I thought the colors were nice and fall-like.  Plus some of the fabric made me think of turkey tails.

Size Matters Quilt Top

Here is my finished quilt top for the Size Matters quilt.  It has fifteen 12-inch blocks and twelve 6-inch blocks, put together in columns instead of rows.  The 12-inch blocks have 1-inch sashing between them.  The 6-inch blocks have 1-inch sashing on the top and bottom with two inches of the focus fabric in between them and a 3-inch piece of focus fabric at the top and bottom of each column.  The columns are divided by 1-inch sashing strips.  The inner border is one inch like the sashing and the border is three inches of the focus fabric.  The top measures 60-1/2 inches by 72-1/2 inches.

I'm happy with the design that I came up with for the odd number of blocks and the two different sizes of blocks.  I think it makes a nice sampler quilt and will be a good size for using on the sofa.

Oops, I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of the September blocks individually.  Well, I guess it's too late now.  They are all 6-inch blocks.  They are the second and third blocks from the top in the left-hand column and the second one from the bottom in the right-hand column.

October Moda blocks

These are the last of my blocks for the Size Matters quilt that our Moda Friendship group was doing this year.  The two 12-inch blocks are for my quilt and the six inch block on the left is actually for the shop quilt.  I finished them yesterday and started putting the top together.

Sept guild block - Hexi Wreath

I finished the applique on my hexi wreath block today.  I decided to machine applique it using a blanket stitch.  It was pretty quick and easy since it was all straight lines.  The hardest part was the little red hexi berries.  They are just so small.  I really don't mind applique so much when it is straight lines done on the sewing machine.

Wish Upon A Star

I finally finished my Storybook Star quilt.  I finished the binding on our trip to Memphis (Oct. 13), but I just got the label sewed on yesterday.  I had trouble coming up with a name for it.  I finally settled on "Wish Upon A Star", because I figured that work whether it was used as wall hanging, lap quilt, or baby blanket.

It was machine quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe with a pantograph called Pretty Daisies.  I really like the quilting pattern, however, if I used it again, I might get them to enlarge it a bit.  It makes for really close quilting.  I was thinking I might post this one for sale on my Etsy shop.  I haven't decided for sure yet.

Today's efforts

Today I worked on getting caught up on my monthly blocks.  Since I knew that I was going to be out of town on the day of my October quilt guild meeting, I put off working on the block that was due in October.  I had several quilt tops that I needed to get finished and delivered to the machine quilter before the Nov. 1 deadline so I worked on them instead. 

Today I worked on, but still didn't finish the block that was due in October.  It is the one on the left with the hexagon wreath.  I still need to do the applique.  It is just basted and pinned in place at the moment.  If I machine applique it, I will need to find some matching thread, and if I hand applique it, it will take more time.  Either way, I knew I wasn't going to finish it today.  So I got it to the point of doing the applique and then moved on the block that is due in November.  I got that one finished.  It is, obviously, the star in a star block on the right.

In case you are wondering what would make me be out of town and miss my guild meeting (and my Moda meeting!), it was something that was definitely worth missing them for: a Pearl Jam concert in Memphis, TN!  It was awesome!!

A Bed of Roses

I finally finished the twin bed quilt with the Ellie Ann layer cake.  It's been a pretty long road on this quilt from design to finished product.  Not that it was a hard quilt to make, there were just several design changes, and therefore lots of decisions to make, along the way.  From buying the fabric, to changing away from my original design idea, to arranging the blocks, to finishing the quilt top, to deciding on the backing fabric, it just seemed like the quilt that would never be.

I think it makes a nice quilt for a twin sized bed.  It is 67 x 92 inches.  It was machine quilted in a pantograph of butterflies and flowers by the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark.  The binding is the same dark blue fabric as the narrow borders and was hand turned.  I made the label from pieces of the two left-over blocks that didn't get used with this layout.

Hopefully someday I'll have a granddaughter who will want to sleep under it.  If not, I guess it would look nice on the bed it is photographed on, once my son, who currently sleeps there, moves out.  I'm sure he doesn't want to sleep under a floral quilt.  He's happy with the quilt he has already.

Snowman Gathering quilt top

I finished this quilt top this morning.  I worked on it yesterday, my regular sewing day, and was one seam short of finishing it, so I had to go downstairs and finish it this morning.  I still need to get the backing ready before I can take it down to the quilt shoppe to be quilted.

The pattern was adapted from the "Easy as 10" pattern in the book, Simple Quilts from Me and My Sister Designs: Easy as 1, 2, 3.  The original quilt didn't use the whole charm pack and didn't have the side borders.  I wanted something a bit bigger, so I improvised.  The top is 54 inches by 72-1/2 inches.

I'm planning to have it quilted with an all-over pantograph of snowmen.  I'm not sure yet what color thread.  I'm thinking either cream or variegated blues.  I'll decide when I get down there.

Palm Court quilt

I finished this quilt top today.  It is made with a Palm Court layer cake.  It is made using a modified version of MSQC's lattice pattern.  It is available through their online tutorials and in an issue of their Block magazine.  The original pattern calls for a layer cake, but had you cut it into 5-inch squares before cutting the blocks in half and adding the lattice strips.  I modified it by simply halving the 10-inch block and adding the lattice strip.  It is the same effect but with bigger pieces.  The finished size of the quilt top is 65 inches x 74-1/2 inches.

I had really wanted to use a solid aqua or turquoise for the lattice strips.  I looked at my local quilt shop, but couldn't find a solid to match the fabric.  I knew it would be really difficult to match fabric ordering on line, so I just went with the cream.  I think the finished product looks really nice, but I think the colored strips might would have been a bit more striking.  But, then again, who knows.  It might not have worked at all.

Ocean Waves quilt top

I finished another quilt top today.  This one is made with a "Hearty Good Wishes" layer cake.  It actually doesn't use all of the layer cake squares, even though it uses well more than 42 10-inch squares.  For one, the layer cake was not equally divided between blue fabrics and off-white fabrics, so I added 3 extra 10-inch squares in off-whites.  Next, the main body of the quilt only needed 40 10-inch squares, so I took out some of the extra blue 10-inch squares.  The setting triangles are also 10-inch squares, cut in half diagonally, but I wanted them to all be the same fabric.  So in the end, I left out some of the duplicate blue fabrics, but all the fabrics in the line are represented.

The quilt top ended up being 68-1/2 inches square.  The hardest part (aside from deciding what pattern to use in the first place) was knowing what size to cut the borders.  I think it ended up okay, but having the setting triangles with the bias to the outside is not the best idea.  I measures several places across the quilt and came up with an average, but there was a good bit of easing to do to rein in those bias edges.  They looked pretty wavy before I added the border.  Hopefully it will quilt out pretty flat.  Tomorrow it is headed to the quilt shoppe to get quilted.

My Newest Quilt Top

This is my newest quilt top.  I finished it on Tuesday, but I'm just now getting around to posting a picture of it.  It is made with a Color Me Happy layer cake.  It only uses 36 of the 10-inch squares though.  It should finish 64 inches square.  On Wednesday, I took it down to the quilt shop to be quilted.

August Guild Block

The sampler block we got this month for our guild project Christmas quilt was a four-patch Christmas star.  The pattern came from freepatterns.com.  It wasn't necessarily an easy block, but I think it is a really pretty block.  It has several irregularly shaped pieces and therefore uses templates.  So if you decide to download the pattern, make sure that when you print it you choose "print actual size" in the print options.  Otherwise, the templates might print out a little small.

The original pattern was for a candle mat.

August Moda Blocks

These are my blocks for Moda this month. All of them are 12-inch blocks.  There are only 5 more to go, so we are getting close.  It's a good thing, too, because I'm getting low on Sweet Pea fabric.  Hopefully I have enough to get me through.  I'm pretty sure that most of the ones that I still need to make will be 6-inch blocks.

A New Beachy Bag

This is another bag made from a Moda candy.  This one is made from a "Hearty Good Wishes" candy.  Like the last bag, it is not really designed to be a purse.  It has an inner pocket, but no key holder or closure and it has shorter handles.  It has a nice, cool, beachy feel.

Update: It is actually a birthday present for my oldest step-daughter, but I didn't want to say so until after I gave it to her.

From Martha to Michelle

I finally finished my jelly roll race quilt.  I've been working on turning the binding for several weeks now during my group sewing time at the library.  I wouldn't be finished with it yet if it weren't for the fact that I took it on my trip to Monticello, FL when we went to visit my grandmother in the nursing home over the weekend.  I didn't finish it on the trip, but I got within 30 minutes of finishing it, so I finished it today.

Because it was made from a "First Ladies" jelly roll, I decided to name it "From Martha to Michelle."  I figured that "first ladies" cover all the first ladies from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama.  I thought of it, it seemed fitting, so I went with it.

It is machine quilted in the ditch along all of the long seams.  I didn't bother with the short seams within the rows.

Extra Guild block - Take Two

A few weeks ago, I made a block from this pattern for my guild Christmas sampler.  After I made the block, I decided that this block would be a good block to use as the setting squares in the sampler.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of the fabric that I had used in making the original block to make 14 more blocks just like it.  I know that I wouldn't be able to get more of the fabric I had used in the center of the original block because it was fabric I had bought at least 7 years ago.  So I bought new fabric and remade the block.  I think it looks really nice with the poinsettia fabric in the center and the red fabric and the green fabric are very similar in hue to the original block.

Woodstock quilt

I finally finished my July mini project.  I machine quilted it in the ditch along each of the vertical and horizontal rows.  I machine turned the binding as well.  I used a simple straight stitch, nothing decorative this time.  It finished approximately 36 x 38-1/2 inches.

Naming it was somewhat difficult.  When my middle son (now married and moved out) saw it, his reaction was the it looked like "square fish . . . swimming in pee."  He has a very creative mind.  Needless to say, I didn't go with that for a title.  The pattern is called "charm pack stones" and the fabric is called "folklore" so I was looking for something that would fit with one or both of those while still fitting with the feel of the quilt itself.  I finally settled on "Woodstock" because the flowers and vivid colors made me think of the 60s hippie movement.  It also made me think of the song "Woodstock" by Crosby, Stills and Nash, so I decided it was the best choice.

A New Book Bag

This is my latest project.  It is made with a "Color Me Happy" candy and yardage.  It is much like the purses I've made recently, but this one is designed to be a book bag.  It doesn't have the closure at the top and it doesn't have the d-ring to hook keys to.

It also has shorter handles and a slightly narrower bottom.  The narrower bottom was unintentional.  After I had cut out the pieces, I realized that I would need to cut the piece of fabric for the bottom of the bag in half.  Since the fabric is directional, if I hadn't cut it in half, it would have been upside down on one side or the other. 

Update: It is actually a birthday present for my youngest step-daughter, but I didn't want to say so until after I gave it to her.

July Mini Project

Our mini quilt project this month at Moda Friendship was Charm Pack Stones by It's Sew Emma from Cut Loose Press.  I decided to do mine in Folklore fabric by Lily Ashbury for Moda.  I used Bella Solid yellow for my background fabric.  I still need to quilt and bind it.

July Moda blocks

These are my blocks from the instructions we got at Moda Friendship this month.  There were only two this time.  I did one as a 6-inch block and one as a 12-inch block.  Below is all of the blocks so far for this sampler.  There will be 27 blocks in total.

July Guild Block

This is my rendition of the block we got in July for the guild Christmas sampler quilt.  The original block was green where mine is red and only one white fabric where mine is two cream prints.  The original had appliqued holly leaves and a candy cane on the white side.  I decided that I didn't want to do any applique on the block, so I used print fabrics instead.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Here is a picture of all the blocks so far.

There will be 16 blocks in total.

Extra Guild Block

Today I worked on the "extra block" for the guild sampler quilt.  Last month, the instructions that we got for the snowman block also had the instructions for this block.  At our meeting last week, several people had done the other block (this block), too.  So we decided that everyone should do the extra block.

I haven't started yet on my July block.  It is a log cabin block with applique on the light side of the log cabin.  I don't enjoy applique, so I'm considering doing print fabric on the light side and skipping the applique.  I'm still waffling on it. . .

Story Book Star quilt

At our June meeting of Moda Friendship, the mini project that we were given was Story Book Star Quilt from Moda Bake Shop.  The "original recipe" has some mistakes in its cutting directions.  If you cut everything exactly like it says in the directions, it won't fit together right.  But Carol, the leader of our Moda group, gave us the corrections at the meeting so it wasn't too bad.  This is my finished quilt top. It measures 41 inches square. 

The charm pack that I used was not a Moda fabric.  It is a "Fresh" charm pack by Another Point of View for Windham fabrics.  The star points are Moda fabric.  It is from the Fleurologie collection by Stephanie Ryan.  The solid green border is also from Moda, a Bella solid.  I was amazed at how well the colors matches since they weren't from the same designer or even from the same fabric manufacturer.

I chose this charm pack because when I ordered it (from Missouri Star) it said that it had only 36 charm squares and the pattern only called for 36 charms.  However, once I opened it and started using it, I realized that it did actually have 42 charms, like a normal charm pack.  I think it looks really nice, and I guess it's no big deal to have some charms left over, but I picked it for this project because I thought I wouldn't have charms left over.  I guess now I need to come up with another little something to use the left over charms.

Even thought it is only a baby quilt, and I usually quilt those myself, I think I'm going to have this one long arm quilted.  It just seems to me that the large, white, open spaces (8-1/2 inch squares) need more fancy quilting than I feel comfortable doing on my home machine.

Christmas Kittens

 This is my newest completed project.  It is throw/sofa size quilt for Christmas time.  It has Christmas present blocks set alternately with squares of fabric that has kittens in Santa hats and Christmas stockings.  The backing fabric is beige with white snowflakes.  The machine quilting is also a snowflake design.

I sent this one off to be machine quilted at the Missouri Star Quilt Company.   I wish that the top and the backing had been stretched equally when they were quilting it.  The back of the quilt is nice and smooth, but the top is not smooth at all, really.  Basically the top side looks like I've washed it even though I haven't.  Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be that a big of a deal. In this case, it is disappointing because I had wanted to be able to let my kids write their names on the present "tags" after it was quilted, but I'm afraid it will be too poofy for people to be able to write on it.  I know, I should have done that first, but if the top were as smooth as the backing it wouldn't have been a problem.  We've done it with quilts quilted at my local quilt shop before with no problem.  I guess you live and learn.

This is a close up of the label on the back.

My June blocks - guild and Moda

Today I worked on my blocks for both of my quilt groups, quilt guild and Moda Friendship. I actually got started relatively early in the day, which was good thing, because if I hadn't I probably wouldn't have finished them today. A strong thunderstorm came up this afternoon so I had to stop sewing a little earlier than usual. When it is stormy I usually don't sew because the dog comes into the sewing room (from outside) and I like to unplug my sewing machine for fear of lightning damage. So here they are, my blocks for this month.

Here is my snowman for quilt guild.  The original pattern was featured in blue and white, I went with red and green to match the blocks I've already made.  The embellishments are just basted in place.  I didn't want to permanently attach them, because I'm probably going to have the quilt long-armed, but I wanted to see how they would look.  The original also had embroidered stick arms, but because my background fabric is pretty busy, I'm thinking I will leave those off.

These are my Moda blocks, two 12-inch blocks and one 6-inch blocks.  I'm really happy with how they turned out.  I was thinking that I would take a picture of all the blocks I've made so far, but when the storm came up I had to hurry and so I didn't take a picture of all of them.  Maybe next time.

Rail Fence quilt in Ellie Ann fabric

After many, many months of deliberation, the quilt top is finally finished.  It is made from the first layer cake that I ever bought, back in August of last year.  As I mentioned previously, I had a pattern in mind when I bought the layer cake, but once I had it in hand I decided against that pattern.  I went around and around trying to figure out what to do with it.  Back in March I thought I had it figured out, but I decided against that layout, too.  After looking at the picture for a while I decided that I didn't like the dark green in the center of the quilt like that.  So I opted for the diagonal color pattern over the diamond color pattern layout, even though my kids had picked it as their favorite.  Oh well, it's my quilt, I'm the one who has to like it, right?

So, anyway, the finished quilt top measures about 67 inches by 92 inches.  It is shown here on a queen size bed, but it is intended to be used on a twin size bed.  The border is supposed to mimic the rail fence design in the blocks.  It is a little hard to see in the picture because the outer border hangs off of the bed, but you can see it at the bottom if you look for it.  Now to get the backing fabric figured out and off to the quilt shoppe it will go to get long-armed.

Echoes of Laughter

This quilt is also from the second edition of the Squares for Cyndi pattern.  It is the original pattern with a 3 inch border added to make it finish approximately 40 inches square. 

It is machine pieced, machine quilted, and hand bound.  The hand binding on this one was also done our recent car trip.  I started it on the way to New Jersey, and I finished it on the trip back home to Alabama.  I made and attached the label today.

Candy Coins

 I finally finished the pink coin quilt that I started many months ago.  It is machine pieced, machine quilted, and hand bound.  After quilting the other coin quilt that I made from the same jelly roll, I was hesitant to quilt this one in the way.  I had quilted in the ditch around all the coins, but did not sew through the sashing strips, and that made for a lot of starting and stopping.  Which in turn, made for a lot of thread ends to bury.  But I just couldn't decide on another way to quilt it that I thought I would be pleased with.  So finally I just gave in and quilted it just like the last one.  I figured that since we were going on a long car trip, it would give me something to do in the car, and it did.

On the way to Illinois, I finished burying the threads and started hand turning the binding.  On the trip from Illinois to New Jersey, I finished turning the binding.  I actually finished it while traveling on I-695 East around Baltimore, MD.  Watching traffic makes me nervous, so I like to have something else to focus on, but burying all those thread ends was still quite annoying.  If I ever do another one with this pattern, I might opt for a nice, all-over pantograph design instead.

I made and attached the label today.

Update: This quilt was given as a baptismal gift to a baby in my church.

Another Shop Sample

Here is a picture of the larger version of the Squares for Cyndi pattern, made with a layer cake instead of a charm pack.  I'm hoping to have the second edition of the pattern, which will include this size along with the other sizes, ready next week.  When it is all finished it will be available at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe and at my Etsy shop. 

May block from Moda

These are my blocks from the directions we got at our last meeting of Moda Friendship.  Very simple and straight forward blocks.  Really the only choices were about which fabrics to use, except for the variable star block.  With the variable star, we were given the option of doing a star in a star.  I considered it, but decided against it.  I think it is a really neat idea, and I really like the effect when you use the background of the inner star as the star points for the outer star.  Like this.

But ultimately, I decided to go with the most basic star.  I thought that it would blend better with the other blocks and look better in the quilt as a whole, since they are all basic blocks. Plus, I'm really going for an old-fashioned country look in this quilt.

I would like to try the technique at some point, though.  I think it could make a really cute big block baby quilt.  I may try it if I have time before the next meeting.

Shop sample all finished

When I went down to the quilt shop for the Moda Friendship meeting yesterday, the two shop samples (featured in these posts - Squares for Cyndi and More Squares for Cyndi) for my original Squares for Cyndi pattern were all finished.  Don't they look so cute.  I think that they make adorable little baby quilts.  The pattern is available for sale at The Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark, and at my shop, Covered with Love on Etsy.