Shopping

I'm currently working on another row for my guild's row swap.  The theme for the quilt that I am working on right now is traditional quilt blocks in traditional fabrics.  At this point, all three rows in the quilt are made from French General fabrics.  On Tuesday morning, I sat down with the fabrics that I had and the fabrics that were included with the rows.  I had picked out an Ohio Star block for my pattern and had decided which French General fabrics I wanted to buy to complete the design as I had envisioned it.  I drove down to the quilt shop and found that she didn't have any of the fabrics I wanted for my design (apparently she had just a had a big sale and much of her stock of French General had sold out).  Once I got there, I realized that I had left the rows at home too, and the quilt shop is a 35 minute drive from my house.  I looked at the French General that was available, didn't see anything that seemed like it would work with my light and dark Ohio Star design idea, and then just decided to turn around and head home empty handed.  Tuesday was not my day.

That evening after dinner, I went back to the drawing board, literally, and drew out the Ohio Star blocks in a row to see how I liked the design as a simple row of six 6" blocks.  I decided that I wasn't thrilled with that design and dropped back to a different block I had previously considered, the Dutchman's Puzzle block.  After sketching out a row of Dutchman's Puzzle blocks I decided that I liked that design better anyway. 

On Wednesday afternoon, I drove back down to the quilt shop to find fabric in line with my new design idea.  I looked at the French General, but still wasn't feeling it for my design.  I called the person whose quilt I was working on, and asked if it had to be French General, and she said that it didn't.  So, after a lot of searching through the shop and with a great deal of help from Cindy at the shop, I finally decided on these 4 fabrics.  Each fabric will be one pair of flying geese in the block.

This is the focus fabric for the quilt.

 And these are the existing rows for the quilt.

She said she thought it needed some darker fabrics brought in, and she specifically mentioned black and green, so hopefully she will be happy with it.  I'll post pics of the row once I get it done.  Hopefully there will be no more changes to the design going forward.

More Pumpkins!

I'm a little behind on posting these. I actually made them last Tuesday (Jan 8), but have just gotten around to taking pictures of them.  Both of these are 6 inch (finished) blocks for my little pumpkin wall-hanging quilt.

The block above is based on a block I found online at Piece in the Hoop.  I didn't order the pattern.  I just looked at the picture and drafted a foundation piecing pattern from the picture.  I kind of wish I had arranged the fabric a little differently, but I think it will be okay.  If I decide that I don't like it, I will redo it latter.

I came up with the pattern for this little pumpkin on my own.  I was inspired by an appliqued pumpkin block in one of my quilt books (501 Quilt Blocks from Better Homes and Gardens).  I didn't want to do any applique, so I adapted it to a pieced design.  The top strip and the bottom strip are paper pieced, while the center of the block is traditionally pieced.

Jesus and Me - Take three

This baby quilt top is the third baby quilt that I have made with the yellow novelty print fabric "Jesus and Me".  The first one (featured in this post) was for an old high school friend who was having a baby.  The second one (featured in this post) was a Project Linus quilt I made a few years ago.  All are very different patterns, but they all three use the same novelty print and striped fabric.

This quilt top was made using the "Go Baby!" pattern in the January/February 2013 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.  It finishes 40 inches square.  The stripe fabric will be used for the binding, but I haven't chosen a backing fabric yet.  I'm thinking I may go with something predominantly yellow and quilt it with yellow thread.

At the moment, this one is intended for donation.  My quilt guild periodically makes baby quilts to give the church where we used to meet.  The church gives the quilts as gifts to babies when they are baptized.  I thought the "Jesus and Me" fabric was very fitting for a baptism gift quilt.

Country Harvest Pillow

Today is my mother's birthday and I decided to make a quilted pillow for her. The print fabric in the corners is called country harvest, thus the name. I bought the fabric several years ago and absolutely loved it. I actually made the block shortly after I bought the fabric, but I couldn't decide how to quilt it. I got it back out the other day and decided to finish it as a pillow for my mom.

Below is the quilted pillow top.

The quilting actually shows up much better on the backside.

Here is a close up of the quilting.

Here is the finished pillow.

I really enjoyed doing the quilting.  I'd have to look back to see exactly when I last did any hand quilting, but I know it has been quite a while.  My best guess is that it was my last Project Linus quilt, which was probably close to a year ago.  Now I kind of want to do some whole cloth quilting.  I'm sure it, too, would be something small, like a pillow or wall hanging.  We'll see.

Butterfly Row

 Here is my completed butterfly row for the guild row swap.  It is a row of pieced butterflies inside a 6 inch snowball block.  The heart fabric is the focus fabric for this quilt.  Below is my row along with the other rows so far.

Quilt Blocks for Sandy Block Drive

I signed up at Quilting Gallery to make 6 quilt blocks for the quilt block drive for victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Above is a picture of the blocks I made for the drive.  If you are interested in taking part in the block drive, click on the icon over on the left with the cute little puppy.  I'm sure Michele would be happy to have more volunteers.

Butterfly block

The row that I got this month for our guild row swap is butterfly themed.  The heart fabric in the corners of the block is the "must use" fabric.  The block above is the pattern that I have decided to go with.  I've only made the one block so far, but I actually have until the January meeting to finish this time because of the holidays.

The block below was my first attempt at a butterfly block.  And while it is legitimately a butterfly pattern, and traditional at that, the other members of my household didn't think it looked enough like a butterfly.  In fact, one of my kids suggested that it looked like a couture vampire.  LOL!  So we decided to go with the above pattern instead of the one below.

Kitty in a Pumpkin, take two

After looking at the block for a while, I decided to make another block with the kitty in the pumpkin pattern.  The other one, featured in this post, didn't have enough contrast between the background fabric and the pumpkin to suit me.  I like this one better.  I still haven't made any more blocks toward completing the quilt, but I think I will be sticking with this background fabric.

Christmas stocking

This is the Christmas stocking that I made for our guild Christmas party.  Now I just have to figure out what to put in it for the gift exchange.  I have no ideas, yet.

Apple Row

This is my finished row for the apple quilt in our guild row swap. It is 6 blocks that finish 6 inches each. The block is a King's Crown block with apple fabric in the center and in the corners. The green fabric is the "must use" fabric for this quilt. I thought that the red fabric was a good compliment to the green and a good match to the red in the center apple fabric. I hope she likes it. Below is a picture of my row with the original row.

Kitty in a pumpkin

I made this little block this evening after dinner.  It will finish 6 inches square.  I found the pattern at http://www.caroldoak.com/free-quilt-patterns.php and I thought it was irresistible.  I didn't actually download the pattern, and I'm not even sure what size block the pattern there makes.  I just looked at the picture and drafted out the foundation pieces from that.  I'm planning to make a Halloween wall hanging with several different pumpkin blocks arranged in a nine-patch layout.  This is the first one and I'm thinking it will probably go right in the center of the nine-patch.

Daffodil block

This is a daffodil block that I made for a group project my guild is working on.  It measures 9 1/2 inches square (to finish 9 inches square).  The pattern is a modification of a block from a Quiltmaker quilt, "Daffodils" from the Mar/Apr 2001 issue.  The blocks in that quilt range in size from 6" x 10" to 6" x 14".  I had to scale it down, which meant redrafting the foundations to match the new size.  I also left out the center applique circle and just made a (proportionally) larger yo-yo.  I made the yo-yo the traditional way,  not the way described in the pattern instructions. 

Tree of Life Row

I finally got my row for the row swap finished.  As you can see, it is 3 Tree of Life blocks set on point using setting triangles in a fall leaf fabric.  It technically measures a little wider than 36 1/2 inches, because I am not super consistent with my 1/4 seam, but it should be fine.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

I hope it doesn't take me as long to do the rows for other people's quilts as it did for me to do mine.  Anyway, it should be fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing what everybody's rows look like on Tuesday.

Tree of Life block

My guild is starting a row swap next month and I chose "fall" for my theme.  Today I worked on the first step of my row for my row swap quilt.  I really went around and around in my head on what to do for my row.  I thought about leaves, and I thought about pumpkins, but I finally decided to go with trees.  This is my first tree, which has green and yellow leaves on the tree.  I will need to make 2 more tree blocks to complete my row.  The plan is to make one tree that has yellow and orange "leaves" and one that has orange and red "leaves".  To set the trees on point I plan to put fall leaf fabric in corners to square it up.  I haven't decided if I'm going to use the same fabric to square up all three blocks or if I'm going to mix and match.  But at least I have a start.

The tree block itself finishes 8 inches, but once I put the corners on to set it on point it will finish out at 12 inches square.  Three of them will make a 36 inch row, which is what the row is supposed to be.

Minecraft Zombie Pillow

Here is the second installment of my Minecraft pillow trio, the Zombie face. It is not quite as striking as the Creeper face, but it still reads like a Minecraft Zombie to me.  Below is a picture of the actual face from the minecraft wiki.

Below is a picture of the face on my "design wall", which is actually just some quilt batting pinned to the wall. The zombie face was actually much more difficult to design than I thought it would be. The different colors and shades of green were so hard to choose between. I bought several colors of green and cut out way more 2 inch squares than I needed, but I think it finally turned out pretty good. It makes me wonder if the skeleton is worth trying. I'll have to give it some serious thought before I dive into it.

Creeper Pillow

This is the first in a series of pillows that I plan to make.  If you are familiar with the computer video game Minecraft, I'm sure you will recognize the iconic Creeper face.  I also plan to make a Zombie face and a Skeleton face pillow to complete the set.  The graphics of the game are intentionally highly pixelated, so it translates very well to quilting/sewing.

The pillow is 14 inches square.  The face itself is a 12 inch square and a 1 inch border, of the pillow's back fabric, was added all the way around the face.

So far the Creeper pillow has been a big hit with my three sons.  But I must confess, the pillows were actually my idea.  All those pixels were just begging to become a quilt square.

This is a picture of the creeper face it is based on in case you aren't familiar with the game.

Bow Tie Cat Pillow

This is a little throw pillow that I made for the living room. I have made a few pillow covers for this pillow insert that are seasonal, but I wanted one that could be used for those times of year when I don't have a seasonal cover to match. The pillow is 14 inches square. The cat square in the center is a 12 inch square. I made the block from a combination of two cat blocks that I had in a quilting book, "501 Quilt Blocks".  The basic shape of the cat came from one pattern and the face came from a different one.  The back of the pillow is a split back to easily remove the pillow insert.

Pillowcases

My latest project was inspired by Memorial Day. I wanted to do something for soldiers/veterans on Memorial Day to celebrate the spirit of the day. I decided to make some pillowcases (pattern from Quiltmaker July/Aug '06) to be donated. I woman in my quilt guild is collecting them to donate to either active soldier or veteran, I'm not sure which. I didn't get too far into the process on Memorial Day proper. I bought and washed the fabric that day. I've worked on them when I had time between then and now. I just finished them today (with much complaining from my sewing machine). The guild meets tomorrow so they should be ready to donate then.

Patchwork Pillow

This is a pillow that I made to donate to a silent auction. The pillow is 12 inches square and features a "Crazy Ann" block from the 1930s. The pillow ended up going to a little girl who fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. Her mom bid on it for her. I'm glad that it went to someone who would really be happy to have it.

Pinwheel Pin Cushion

This is a little pin cushion that I made the other day (probably 2 weeks ago at this point).  I got the pattern at my monthly quilt guild meeting.  I thought it would be a fun little quick project.  It was pretty quick to make, but it was a little more difficult than it looks.  The center pinwheel is actually somewhat dimensional, as it is formed by layering a folded 2 inch square on top of another 2 inch square. 
That creates a lot of bulk in that center seam.  In fact, it was so difficult to sew through that I broke the needle on my sewing machine and had to sew the very center of the pin cushion top by hand.  I think it turned out really cute though.  I like the fabric and I love that color of blue.

Valentine

This is the valentine that I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. I designed it myself. I'm a little disappointed in how the binding turned out. It didn't fully cover the 1/4 inch that it was supposed to, so the hearts ended up a little misshapen in places. But my hubby was happy with it. He was actually quite surprised.

The finished size was about 4x6. It is machine pieced, using paper piecing, and machine quilted. I also made the envelope, which is the red fabric that the card is laying on in the picture.

Snowmen on Parade

This is my most recent project. I finished it last night. My husband actually suggested the name, "Snowmen on Parade". When I was describing it to him, I said that it wasn't really made of blocks, it was just strips of snowman fabric. Then he said, "oh, so it just snowmen on parade." I thought that would be a cute name for it, so I went with it.

The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted in simple straight lines. The batting is a high loft batting, so the quilting is kind of far apart, but within the manufacturers recommendations (between 2" and 4"). The finished size is 36 x 42.5 inches.

I made it to donate to Project Linus for make a blanket day. I need to get it in the mail on Monday. Although it doesn't really matter too much on the timing. Project Linus accepts blankets year round, if I'm not mistaken.

Crocheted Afghan

This is a baby afghan that I crocheted several months ago. I forgot to take a picture of it when I finished it. It is made by simply chaining a long row then making a row of double crochets back into that chain. Then you chain up to the next row and make another row of double crochets. Then you just repeat until it is as long as you want it to be. It is made from Bernat Baby's Breath yarn. The finished afghan is 29 inches by 34 inches. I entered it in the Pike County Fair, too, and it also won a blue ribbon.

Froggie in the Tulips

I finished this quilt just in time to enter it in the Pike County Fair. I didn't even take a picture of it before I entered it. I just picked it up from the fair today and it won a blue ribbon.

I found the frog and tulip fabric at the quilt shop and I just fell in love with it. I decided to put tulip blocks in the corners and a frog block in the center of a large nine patch design. I didn't have a frog pattern so a drafted one based on a picture of the frog block from the "by the pond" pattern that Quiltmaker published several years ago before I started subscribing. The frog block is paper pieced and so are the stem and leaf sections of the tulip blocks. The quilt finished 36 inches square and is machine pieced and hand quilted. The eyes of the frog are large buttons that I sewed onto the finished quilt.

Charity Quilt

I just finished this one today. The blocks are printed pillow panels and the sashing is 4 inch strips of a coordinating fabric. The cornerstones are cut from the border strips on the edges of the pillow panel fabric. It's finished size is 44 x 64 inches.

It was done completely on the machine, which is extremely unusual for me. The machine that I have has a walking foot, but it doesn't work very well, so I seldom use it. However, the blankets are due this Sunday and I really wanted to make a quilt to donate. I knew that I didn't have time to hand quilt it and I was afraid that I wouldn't have time to hand turn the binding, so I just did it all by machine. It will be donated to the child advocacy center along with the fleece blankets featured in the post below.

Fleece Blankets!

My project this summer has been to make fleece blankets. The women's group at my church decided to make blankets to donate to the Child Advocacy Center. Walmart had their fleece marked down so I bought a whole bunch and started making blankets. There are ten blankets in all. Six of them have a fringed hem and four of them have a braided hem. I was going to do it 5 & 5, but I accidentally cut the sixth one with a 3 inch cut (to make the fringe) instead of a 2 inch cut (to make the braid). No big deal either way. I think both ways looks nice.

Sisters Quilt Show

I actually got a chance to go to the annual outdoor quilt show in Sisters, Oregon this year. This is a picture of me with my quilt. It is the same quilt that is featured in this post. I was afraid that we were never going to find it. There were so many beautiful quilts there. We finally found mine hanging on a house close to the edge of town. It didn't sell, but it was fun to have a quilt in the show. Maybe next year I'll enter one of the contests. We'll see.

The Finished Product

I finally finished the quilt in the post below. I actually finished it several days ago (April 5th, I think), but have just gotten around to posting the pictures. The quilt finished 40 inches square. It was machine pieced and hand quilted in a house top motif. I decided to call it "Jungle Babies" because of the focus fabric.

Baby Quilt in Progress

This is my current project in progress (in the quilting frame). It is a baby quilt for my cousin and his wife's new baby that is due this month. I had to make it gender neutral because they are not finding out the sex of the baby ahead of time. She said she was doing the nursery in elephants so I thought these baby jungle animals would be prefect. Green and yellow were as gender neutral as I could think of.

Amongst the Waves

Here is a picture of my most recent finished quilt project. I made it for my youngest son's bed. Below is a picture of him on the bed with the quilt. It was made from a storm at sea pattern. I used the Marti Michell Storm at Sea template set to cut the patches for the diamond blocks, using the 12" block cutting directions. The quilt finished approximately 71" x 95".

My son picked out the fabric; I cut out the patches, pieced the top and sewed on the binding; and my dad hand quilted it. It was multi-generational family project.



We had a little difficulty coming up with a name for the quilt. We wanted something to reflect the wave-like feeling that the pattern creates. At first my son just kept making a "woosh" sound and doing what we called a "crab-walk, jazz-hands hula", which we decided could be the subtitle for the quilt. For the "official" name we decided on "Amongst the Waves", which comes from the title of a song by Pearl Jam.

My First Fabric Postcard

This year I decided to try to entry a quilt in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. I noticed that at the quilt show they also have a postcard auction and sale for charity. Anyone can donate fabric postcards to the sale, so I thought I would try my hand at making one to possibly donate. Yesterday morning I sat down and made this little postcard. It was fun and I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt at postcard making. I got the directions from Red Shoe Ramblings. The directions were easy to follow and had great picture illustrations.

Pinwheels in Autumn

I made this quilt using the same pattern I used for my last Project Linus quilt. This time I used deer fabric with a fall theme. The fabric matches my living room furniture very well. This one I'm calling a lap quilt instead of a baby quilt, even though they are the same size. The fabric is a little less juvenile, but it could still work as a toddler quilt.

Here is a close up of the quilting. I quilted it the same way as the Linus quilt: outlining the gold triangles, down the center of the rust border, outlining and going down the center of the print border, and making a grid in the center panel.


I entered the quilt in the Pike County Fair last week, and it won a Blue Ribbon!

Flower Cross Pillow

This is a pillow that I made for the silent auction at the Alabama State Homemakers' Club meeting. (That's not their official name anymore, but I forget what the official name is these days.)

The pillow is 11 inches x 14 inches. The center of the cross is a folded flower. I just quilted in the ditch around the cross and around the border. It has a split back to insert the pillow form. The back of the pillow is made from the floral material that the cross is made from.

I made the pillow from start to finish in about 8 hours.

Up, Up & Away

I actually finished this baby quilt on March 2, but it has taken me this long to get it posted. The photo below is a close up of the quilting.


The balloons are foundation pieced from a pattern I made myself. The large balloons are 5" by 8" and the small balloons are 2.5" by 4".

It was machine pieced and hand quilted. The balloons are quilted in the ditch around the outside of the balloon and then quilted through the balloon to indicate the lines that a hot-air balloon has. To mimic the cloud motif in the background I decided to quilt a seashell pattern. To make the seashell pattern easier to hand quilt, I cut several scallops out of sticky-backed labels (left over from an old political campaign) and stuck them to the quilt, then quilted around them.

It took a long time and it is the most intricately quilted quilt I have made so far. The finished quilt is about 37" by 53".

Update: I entered the quilt in the Pike County Fair last week and it won a Red Ribbon!

Trip Pictures

I've uploaded most of our trip pictures from our trip to New England and Niagara Falls to Webshots. There is a permanent link to my albums over in the side bar, but here is a link to the new album. Here are just a few to get you started. Enjoy.

American Falls at Niagara

Nubble Lighthouse

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse