Thursday, December 25, 2014

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.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

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.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

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.

Saturday, December 06, 2014

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.

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

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.