Quilt of Honor #1

 

This quilt top is made from a version of a block that I got from a  Missouri Star tutorial.  The tutorial is for the 3 Dudes jelly roll block.   The block in the tutorial uses a different number of 2-1/2 inch strips per block than mine, but it uses the same technique. 

I made the first block for this quilt back in 2014 from scraps that I had in my stash.  I bought some more fabric at the quilt shop (the receipt was still in the box with the fabric, that's why I know when it was.) to make a quilt out of it, but I never got around to making it.  I guess that I wasn't planning to put a border on it originally, because I didn't buy fabric for that at the time, so I had to buy some at the quilt shop this week.  The blue of the border fabric is a little darker than most of the blues, in the quilt, but since it is a scrappy quilt, I think it works fine.

I hadn't originally planned to put the white sashing strips between the blocks, either.  But when I laid the blocks together side-by-side, I thought that it looked too dark.  I like how the extra white brightens it up. 

I won't be quilting this one myself.  My quilt guild honors local veterans with Quilts of Honor every November, and I made this top for that purpose.  One of our members has a computerized long arm machine, and she bought a special 250th Anniversary (America turns 250 years old this year) quilting design pattern to use on all the Quilts of Honor this year.  I'm happy to let her quilt it, honestly. 

The top measures 51 inches by 65 inches. 

Hopscotch quilt

 

I decided to name this one "Hopscotch" because the alternating rectangles and squares made me think of a hopscotch board.  Plus, the bunnies on the fabric already had me in the mindset of hopping.  I considered naming it "Paska"after the Eastern European Easter bread, because the pattern name is "Brioche and Baguettes" and the fabric was Easter themed, but decided against it.  It seemed a little too obscure and confusing for the general public that wouldn't know the pattern name.

I finished this quilt yesterday, June 5, 2025, but I started it on June 24, 2020, so this is my fourth completed UFO of the year, which completes that goal category. Yay!  This is another quilt that will be tucked away for my imagined craft show booth.

I quilted it on my long-arm in an all-over swirl-meander motif.  The thread is Isacord Chiffon, (color #2170) and the batting is Happy Cloud 50/50 Bamboo blend.  The binding was attached to the front by machine and turned to the back by hand.  The quilt finished at 57 x 75 inches.


Running total of goals accomplished:

    Finish UFOs = 4 of 4 (completed)
    Use pre-cuts = 2 of 3
    Do window paintings = 0 of 2
    Do non-window painting = 1 of 1 (completed)
    Sew sets of coasters = 5 of 5 (completed)
    Sew small bags = 0 of 2
    Sew tote bags= 1 of 2

Watermelon Tourmaline quilt

 

I finished the binding on this quilt on Sunday, and I got the label attached yesterday.  I named it Watermelon Tourmaline, because it was designed to look somewhat like the gemstone by the same name.  I started this quilt back in 2016, but never got around to quilting it or having it quilted. I couldn't decide how I wanted it quilted.  I still struggled with the "right" design and thread color up until the point when I put it into the frame.  I'm not sure what I was so worried about, really.  Perfectionism was just getting the best of me.

I quilted it with my long-arm quilter in an all-over meander pattern. I used Quilter's Dream Select cotton batting, and the thread is Isacord Rose (#2530).  The binding is attached to the front by machine and turned to the back by hand. The quilt finished at approximately 42 inches by 52 inches. This is my third finished UFO for this year.

Running total of goals accomplished: 

1. Finish UFOs = 3 of 4
   
2. Use pre-cuts = 1 of 3
   
3. Do window paintings = 0 of 2
   
4. Do non-window painting = 1 of 1 (completed)
   
5. Sew sets of coasters = 5 of 5 (completed)
   
6. Sew small bags = 0 of 2
   
7. Sew tote bags= 1 of 2

 

Little Ladies

 

I finished the binding on this quilt about a week ago, but I just got the label on it Saturday night.  I named it Little Ladies because of the cute little girls on the fabric.  I started this quilt back in 2015, and I was planning to finish it then and donate it to the blanket drive that my church was doing at that time.  But my sewing room flooded while I was working on it, so I didn't have the opportunity to finish it for that purpose.  Ultimately it got stashed away and became one of my many UFOs.  Fast forward 10 years, and my 7 year old granddaughter decided that it was "adorable," so I've decided to give it to her as part of her birthday present when she turns 8 in a couple of months.

I quilted it with my long-arm quilter in a hearts and swirls all-over pattern.  The top thread is a denim blue color (Isacord Ash Blue #3853) and bottom thread is a cream color (Isacord Twine #1760).  The binding is attached to the front by machine and turned to the back by hand.  This is my second finished UFO for this year.

Running total of goals accomplished: 

1. Finish UFOs = 2 of 4
   
2. Use pre-cuts = 1 of 3
   
3. Do window paintings = 0 of 2
   
4. Do non-window painting = 0 of 1
   
5. Sew sets of coasters = 5 of 5 (completed)
   
6. Sew small bags = 0 of 2
   
7. Sew tote bags= 0 of 2

Charmed

 

This is my most recent finished product.  I decided to name it "Charmed" because the pattern was called Layers of Charm.  Charmed seemed appropriate.  It is made from a layer cake of Healing Hearts fabric and some red yardage for the diamonds and binding.

I quilted it on my long-arm machine using Aurifil thread in Bright Pink (#2425).  I outline quilted the diamond blocks and quilted flower motifs inside them.  I also created "ghost" diamond blocks with outline quilting and flower motifs.  Then I quilted a long feather across each row, curving it around the diamond and "ghost diamond" blocks. 

Here are some close-ups of the quilting.

 

I decided to attach the binding completely by machine.  It's not my favorite way to bind, but I wanted to get it finished in time for February Valentine's decorating.  Plus I had bought thread that exactly matched the red fabric in the diamonds and binding, and I didn't want it to go to waste.

This is my first finished UFO for the year. I started it in 2017.

Casssiopeia

 

This will certainly be the last quilt that I finish this year and it's my 9th finished UFO of the year.  I decided to name it Cassiopeia because I wanted a star related name.  Cassiopeia is actually a constellation, not a single star, but since there are actually two stars in the quilt, an inner and outer star, I thought it worked.  Plus, when I was a little girl, there was a character on a show I liked named Cassiopeia, and I've retained a fondness for the name.

I quilted it on my longarm with a hand-guided all-over flower, leaf, and loops design. The thread is Isacord Spring Frost, and the batting is Quilter's Dream Cotton.  The binding is attached by machine to the front of the quilt and hand stitched to the back.  The label was stitched using my embroidery machine, and hand stitched to the back of the quilt.

Checkerboard and Diamonds

 

I don't actually have a name for it yet, but I call the pattern checkerboard and diamonds.  I machine quilted it on my long arm quilter, using Isacord thread in Chiffon color.  It is actually custom quilted, unlike the others I've done so far.  The border is done in a continuous feather.  The diamonds each have a flower motif.  The checkerboard center was quilted using the Elvira quilting ruler by Angela Walters.  The white space around the diamonds have a feather motif (I guess that's what you'd call it).  And the border and outside of the checkerboard are outlined using a straight-edge quilting ruler.  I finished the binding on it today, which was done totally on the sewing machine.

It was my first time using quilting rulers on the long arm machine.  I've used them a little on my domestic machine.  It takes a bit to get used to, but I feel like I was getting the hang of it by the time I was done.  It is far from perfect, but I'm happy with how it looks.  I don't know what I'll end up doing with it.  There is no plan for it at the moment.

This is my 8th finished UFO for the year.  It actually leapfrogged over a quilt that I'm in the process of hand binding.

Update: I decided to name it "Let's Play."  I even made a label for it using free-motion embroidery done on my domestic (not embroidery) sewing machine.  It turned out okay.

Over the Rainbow

 

 

I finished the binding on this little quilt while we were traveling home from Washington state last week.  I went round and round on a name for it.  I finally settled on "Over the Rainbow," because I like to name quilts after songs and that song mentions both rainbow and star, so it seemed appropriate.

It is machine quilted on my new Moxie XL long-arm quilter.  I used rainbow variegated Isocord thread on the top and black cotton thread from Hobby Lobby on the back.  I quilted it in an all-over meander pattern.  I'm still working on getting the tension just right, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I decided to make the label for this quilt with my embroidery machine, which currently lives in our condo in Washington.  I haven't used it much, but making quilt labels was the main reason I bought the stupid thing, so I figured I'd give a try.  It turned out okay.

 

This quilt makes the 7th UFO that I've finished this year.

Merry & Bright

 

 

This wall hanging is made up of blocks from the Vintage Christmas book by Lori Holt. Back in 2019, the BOM group that I was a member of did the full quilt from the book.  I decided that I didn't want another full-sized Christmas quilt, so I just did a wall hanging.  I've since remodeled my living room, and don't really have a good place to display seasonal wall quilts anymore, but that's okay, too.  I'll find something to do with it now that it is finished.

It is free motion machine quilted (by me!) with a loops and holly motif in white King Tut thread.  I'm still getting the hang of using my new long arm machine, and the little holly berries are far from perfectly round, but I like how it turned out.  The quilt finished 36 inches square. 

This is the sixth of my UFOs that I wanted to finish this year, so I've met my target!

Across the Finish Line

 

 

After possibly 20 years, this quilt is finally finished.  I really don't remember when I started it, but the copyright printed in the selvage of the fabric was 2002.  I know I started it when we lived in the house before this one, which we moved into in the fall of 2008.  It's been a long journey, but I finally got it across the finish line (Ha! Ha!).  The name was my husband's suggestion, and I thought it was a good one.  I gave the completed quilt to my son last night.  He said that he's really not into NASCAR, but that he didn't mind having another blanket.  Maybe at some point I'll make him a quilt that represents something he actually likes.  And maybe it won't take 20 year to make.

Anyway, the quilting was mostly about practice and trying out motifs.  The outer border is a large meander.  The inner border and sashing is done with cursive Ls.  Reading left to right and top to bottom, the block motifs are still water, circles/cobblestones, swirls, leaves, stars and loops, and flames.  The cobblestones show up too much, mostly because the thread was too light a color for that much quilting on that fabric.

Since this was the first actual quilt that I quilted on a long-arm machine, it was a learning experience.  I was just using thread that came with the machine and learning to quilt in a new way.  If I were doing it over, I'd use a medium gray thread instead of the white and gray variegated threaded that it's mostly quilted in.  I ran out of thread before it was finished and I bought some light gray thread that matched what I was already using the best that I could.  

Also, if I were buying the fabric for this quilt today, I probably wouldn't have bought black and white checkerboard fabric for the binding.  I think I would have done it in red.  I decided to cut the binding on the bias, because I thought it would look better.  I think that was a good idea.  I did the binding completely by machine, but I sewed the label on by hand.  The label also has the bias checkerboard around the outside.  I really wouldn't want to bind a whole quilt by hand with that fabric.  Mostly because in many places you are sewing black to black, which is very difficult to see.

NASCAR quilt top

 

This quilt top is one of my UFOs that I wanted to finish this year.  As it turns out, it wasn't actually a completed quilt top.  The borders still needed to be cut and added.  

It had been so long since I last worked on this quilt, that I had forgotten exactly what the plan had been.  There was far more of the Jeff Gordon fabric than the Dale Earnhardt fabric, and I needed to use the fabric for both the borders and the backing.  Since the panels alternated between the two, I decided to have both represented in the borders and the backing.  I didn't take a picture of it, but the backing is pieced with large cuts of the two different fabric - 18 x width of fabric for the Gordon fabric and 18 x 20-ish for the Earnhardt fabric.  For some reason that I totally don't remember, I had cut off about 3 inches all along one selvage edge of the Earnhardt fabric.

Having the side borders cut wider than the top and bottom was intentional, because the quilt seemed a little oddly narrow.  I decided to cut the border based on the grid-work in the fabric, so the sides are twice as wide as the top and bottom.  It might would have looked a little better if I had made them a little closer together in size, but it's fine.  It's not like it's going to be displayed on a wall or anything.  Anyway, the quilt top ended up measuring 54 x 64.

O Holy Night

 

 

This little wall hanging is the latest of my UFOs.  The quilt top was finished so long ago that I don't actually have a record of when I made it.  I know that it is over 16 years old.  It may be closer to 20 years old.  I designed it and made the quilt top, but couldn't figure out how I wanted to quilt it.  This was back when I was still hand quilting everything and some spots where multiple seams come together are very thick.  I put it aside and never came back to it.  I decided to go ahead and tackle it now, because it was the smallest of the UFOs.

My husband suggested the swirl quilting pattern.  I remembered that I had a swirl quilting template for free-motion quilting, so I used it.  There are a few places where the quilting foot didn't want to go over the thick spots, so the pattern isn't completely fluid, but overall I think it turned out pretty well.  I used the same gold colored thread that I used on the patriotic lap quilt.  The binding is attached by machine and hand turned.  The little quilt finished at about 19 inches x 25 inches.

Big Hug

 

I finally finished this quilt that has been a finished quilt top since April of 2019.  I think that makes it my 3rd finished quilt from my UFO collection.  I decided to machine quilt it in a cross-hatch of diagonal lines using a pale pink thread.  The binding is attached by machine to the front and then hand-stitched to the back.  The quilt finished at 49 inches square.  I feel pretty good about how it turned out.

I decided to name it "Big Hug" because the outstretched arms on the doll make her look like she's asking to be hugged.  Or maybe she is offering a hug to the person who ends up with the quilt.  Either way, I like the name. 

My plan for this quilt is to try to sell it.  There is a small craft show near here in the fall and I plan to look into getting a booth there.  If I can't get a booth, or if it just doesn't sell there, then I plan to offer it for sale in my Etsy shop.

Patriotic Lap Quilt

 

I finished the binding on this quilt last night.  This is one of the UFOs that I've been trying to finish this year.  I finished the quilt top back in 2016.  I decided to free-motion quilt this one myself.  It is quilted in a star and swirl motif in a light gold colored thread.  It is far from perfect - the stitch length is all over the place, the tension is a little off in places on the back, and there are a few pucker in the backing fabric - but overall not too bad for a beginner free-motion quilter.  I enjoyed doing it.  The binding is hand turned.  It still needs a name and a label.

I would really like to donate this one to be used as a wheelchair lap quilt.  My first thought was a VA hospital, but I'm not sure where the nearest one is or if they take donations.  Another option is to check with one of the nursing homes here in town.  Chances are good that there is a veteran there who uses a wheelchair.  I'll have to check around and see.

Four Corners

One of my oldest friends is going to be a grandmother for the first time, and this quilt is for her soon-to-be-born granddaughter.  I finished the binding about 10 days ago, but I just got the label on it today.  I'm thinking that I might pre-wash it before I give it to them.  All the wrinkles from the folds bother me a bit and pre-washing baby items seems like a good idea, so that new parents have one less thing to worry about.

This quilt is made from a quilt top that I made back in 2020.  It is one of the UFOs that I wanted to get finished this year. The finished quilt is 40 inches square.  I machine quilted it echoing the seam lines around all the concentric squares.  It is a pattern that I designed myself and have used for a little quilt for one of my grandsons, too.

Clearly Canadian Quilt

 This is a quilt with something of a long story behind it, or at least a long history in its making.  Way back in 2017 I wrote the directions for making this quilt.  I figured out the fabric requirements, decided on how I wanted the blocks to go together, drafted color diagrams, and got them all typed up.  And then it just sat there for a couple of years.  Life happens, etc. etc. but I had the directions written down, so all was well and I could come back to it whenever I got ready.  

In August of 2019 I decided that I was ready to make this quilt.  I needed olive green, yellow, orange, red-orange, deep red, light brown, dark brown, off-white, and a fall leaf print fabric.  I went to the quilt shop and agonized over the fabric choices, like I almost always do.  After about 2 hours of agonizing, I bought the fabric just like I had figured up and written down.  I brought it home, and it sat in the bag - for a whole year.  Again, oh well, it's there when I get ready to actually sew.

Once the pandemic started in early 2020 I decided to focus on sewing project that I already had all the materials for.  That way I could still sew, but wouldn't have to get out of the house.  When August rolled around again (obviously August makes me really ready for fall to begin) I decided to work on this quilt.  I got out the fabric and I my already typed-up, detailed pattern and got to work.  I made the first leaf block and I hated it.  I thought that the color placement looked good in the drawing, but I really didn't like how it looked in the fabric.  The original color placement looked like this:

In the fabric, the value placements seemed all wrong. The brown near the stem and the red at the point were dark, but the orange and red-orange in the middle were lighter in the actual fabric than in the drawing, so the balance seemed wrong.  Plus, in the original plan, all the leaf blocks were going to be the same, so I just couldn't bring myself to go ahead with it using those fabrics.  I decided that I wanted a little variety in the leaf blocks and came up with two different colorways for them.  I had to go in search of more fabric.  Again, after much deliberation, I decided on new fabric, but kept the old, too.  I added another orange and another brown.  I rearranged the fabric placement and came up with two blocks that I really liked.  

But again, life happens, and the quilt had to be put on hold.  My mother-in-law, who lived 1000 miles away, had a fall, then got sick and finally passed away in January of 2021.  So it wasn't until February of 2021 that I finally got the quilt top finished.  I took it to the quilt shop to be quilted and in my haste to get it there I forgot to take a picture of the completed quilt top, like I usually do. 

I got it back quilted in late June 2021.  I attached the binding strips and started hand-turning the binding, like I almost always do.  Even though I usually do hand work in the car while we are traveling, and we were making multiple trips to work on clearing out my mother-in-law's house and settling her estate, I just wasn't doing much work on binding the quilt.  But finally, on our last trip to Tuscaloosa for our grandson's birthday party, I finished the binding.  This was actually a month ago (August 6), but I'm just getting around to posting it.

In fact, the quilt still needs a label, which I haven't made yet.  But at least I already have a name for it.  I decided to call it Clearly Canadian, because with maple leaves and flying geese it was indeed clearly Canadian. 

When I initially wrote the pattern up I was planning to offer it for sale in my Etsy store.  But now, since it has gone through so many changes in the process of actually making the quilt, many things will need to be changed in the fabric requirements and directions before I could offer it for sale.  Maybe someday I will get around to that.  It seems to be a quilt that inhabits the Augusts of my life, so maybe next August, or the next.  Who knows?

Puss in the Corner quilt

Quite some time ago (Nov. of 2017, to be exact), I decided to make a small quilt to line the cardboard box that my cats had commandeered for use as a cat bed (more of the story available here).  I made the top from fabric out of my stash.  The plan was to use it as an opportunity to practice my free-motion quilting.  Well, over 2 years later, I finally got around to quilting it.

I'm generally pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect, but as I kept telling myself while I was working on it, "It's okay, it's for cats."  I learned that I have a really hard time quilting a star shape unless I start in the bottom left-hand corner.  If I tried to start from any other position they turned out really wonky.  I also learned that it's difficult for me to quilt a more open pattern.  I had planned to try to not have the quilting as close together as I had in my previous free-motion quilting endeavors, but it turned out about the same.  I think it may have something to do with having such a small area to work in, since I'm using my regular home sewing machine to quilt it.

I also machine attached the binding, which I don't normally do.  I usually attach the binding to the front on the quilt with the machine and then turn it to the back by hand.  But again, since it was for the cats, I decided to do it with the machine.  I watched a tutorial on YouTube from the Fat Quarter Shop on how to machine bind your quilt and generally followed their directions (I trimmed mine even with the edge of the quilt top and didn't leave the extra quarter inch or however much they said).  It turned out okay.  The stitching only missed the binding in one small spot near one of the corners, but I really can't imagine using that technique again.  I felt like I was sewing a porcupine instead of a quilt with all those pins sticking out all around the outside edge of the quilt.  Ouch!  Literally.  I stuck myself many times.  (Watch the tutorial and you'll understand.)

But now it is finished and Cleopatra seems to be enjoying it.  Dusty, my other cat, is still leery of it, but he's a totally scaredy cat about everything.  Clearly a quilt in box is some type of trap.  I mean, what else could it be, right?

Fantasy Land quilt

I finished the binding on this quilt at my guild's quilt retreat yesterday.  I made the top so long ago that I don't even remember how long ago it was.  I'm thinking it is at least 12 years old.  It was definitely from before I started posting pictures of completed quilt tops and possibly from before I started this blog!  I wanted to start the year off by tackling a UFO and this seemed like a good place to start.

I decided to try free-motion quilting it on my regular sewing machine.  I have done some place-mats before but I don't think I've ever free-motioned a quilt before.  It is far from perfect.  In fact, I'm sure it can't even see perfect from where it is, but I'm good with how it turned out.  I think it is very respectable for a first attempt at something of that size (33 inches square).

The fabric that I used was not a panel, but continuous yardage with sort of overlapping fantasy scenery.  I fussy-cut the larger square that are in the corners and center of quilt and some of the smaller square that are in the border.  These many years later when it was time to choose the fabric for the backing, I decided to cut out the largest piece that I could from the fantasy yardage to use on the back.  I surrounded it with some light blue fabric that I had in my stash.  I think it makes a nice back.  It makes the quilt almost reversible, really.  Here is the back:

My church is having a blanket drive to donate to the child advocacy center in few weeks. I am planning to donate this quilt as part of my offering.

Scrappy Hearts

This quilt was also finished on our last trip to New Jersey (Sept. 5), and I didn't take a picture or post about it either.  I've just had too many irons in the fire lately (plus I need a new iron, but that's another story), I guess.  It also still needs a label, and this one also needs an official name.

For the moment I'm calling it Scrappy Hearts, but I don't know if it will be the pattern name or the quilt name.  And I don't know if I would even write up this pattern.  The heart pattern is the same heart from my Heart Strings pattern, but this time with scraps instead of a jelly roll, and obviously in a different configuration.  Hopefully it will at least get a label made for it soon.  I'd hate to forget!

Update: I decided to name this one Piece of My Heart, after the Janis Joplin song.

Felina

I actually finished the binding on this quilt over a month ago (Aug. 29), while we were on our latest trip to New Jersey, but I forgot to post a picture of it.  It is actually still waiting on a label because I have other hand sewing that is getting priority over it, but I wanted to go ahead and post about it before it gets any farther away from it's "finished" date.

The pattern is called Latin Lady, and I was having trouble coming up with a name for the quilt.  One of my sons suggested the name "Felina" - the name of the lady love in the old song El Paso.  We also used to have a cat by that name.  I decided to go with it.  It's as good as any other name, I guess, and Felina was a Latina Lady.