Angie Creates

Finally, progress!

2011-12-31T11:43:00.003-06:00

This may not seem like much progress to anyone but me, considering that I had 4 rings together back in April. However, I took those 4 all apart, reassembled 4 of them, and I've had 3 sitting together for months. My sewing time has been fairly limited, especially since August. I was not enjoying piecing all of those arcs. I seem to have gotten past that after spending some quality time with my sewing machine this past week. I finished putting this part together, then completed all of the arcs. I'm enjoying this quilt again. My frustration was probably the biggest obstacle to overcome. I have double the number of rings to assemble, then I will be adding a border. More assembly to come, soon, I hope!

HST quilt

2011-08-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

I started this quilt at the TMQG "rapture" retreat in May. I finished last month, but waited to share until after I had gifted it. I loved the idea of small half square triangles with large areas of solid. Two inch half square triangles are actually VERY small, so it ended up being more work just to make those triangles.

Of course, silly me, I made too many HSTs, so I had plenty left over from the back. I think I also have enough left for a doll quilt, so that might be happening soon.

I had planned to quilt fully in straight line quilting. I created the first bit of straight line quilting, then tried adding straight lines in between. It was a MESS. I redid it and pulled at things and tried again. Tons of mistakes, bubbles, overlapped lines, etc. I decided that stippling was much more forgiving. After I added the stippling, I actually decided that I liked it better than I would have with all of the straight lines. The straight lines I used really popped in between the stippling.

And, here's a close-up.

I believe the finished size was about 50x70, a couch sized quilt.

Recent Sewing

2011-08-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

I have been working on a couple of quilts. One is a gift that I will wait to share, and the other is making me want to stab my own eyes, though I have been plugging away at it. It is making me remember why I don't make many queen size quilts-I get bored LONG before they are finished. Baby or couch sized quilts are perfect for me. So, I wanted to do some other projects, just to avoid the work that I should be doing :) I made the above bag using this tutorial from Made by Rae. It came together really cute, but it was the first bag I've ever made, and I didn't use the right interfacing with my quilting cotton. It is far too floppy, so I will probably leave it hanging in my art room. I will use the tutorial again, though. It's really cute and only uses two fat quarters (seriously.)

I wanted to make a bag for my sister's birthday, so this time I bought a pattern from Made by Rae. I used light interfacing on both fabrics, and like the weight of it much more than the first one. I would recommend this pattern as well.

I've been wanting to make a pillowcase dress for Ashlyn for awhile. I used this tutorial with fabric from my stash. The dress is REALLY big, but, of course, I didn't try it on her until I was totally finished. I could make it shorter easily, but would have to make major adjustments to make it smaller around. At first, Ashlyn liked it, but she then decided that it wasn't made from enough fabrics. Basically, she wanted a dress pretty much like the one I made her last year.

I had already planned on using a peasant dress pattern from Little Lizard King. This was the same place I bought the pdf pattern for the apron knot dress. They were both very easy to follow. I had planned on using different fabrics, but when Ashlyn talked about wanting more than two fabrics, I headed to my stash for the rest of this Mendocino fabric. I plan to add a sash to it (and maybe a pocket,) but she wanted to wear it as soon as I made it (highest compliment.)

And, is it just me or does my little girl look awfully grown up in this photo?

TMQG sewing day tomorrow. Now to decide if I should work on my queen sized quilt, start a baby quilt, or make myself one of the two skirts I want to have before school starts.

TMQG Retreat

2011-06-19T14:21:00.000-05:00

Last month the Tulsa Modern Quilt Guild had a Saturday retreat at the Red Barn Quilting Retreat Center outside of Barnsdall, OK. It was a lovely day for the 6 of us.

Mama-Mama

The sewing area was right in the center of the shop, so fabric shopping and sewing! We had a wonderful lunch and dinner in the main house, with time to love on the dogs and cows along the way. Thank you, Brenda, for a wonderful day!

Patti's featherweight

Valerie and Sydney

Meredith and Valerie

Lisa

Sydney

The group at work

Valerie's Design Floor

Patti's Design Wall

Pressing seams

With our WIPs from the day. (I actually have many more than those two sad little 2 inch blocks, I swear!)

With Brenda

Baby Star Quilt

2011-04-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd gotten a better photo of this quilt. This is what happens when I only look at the photos on my camera before giving away the quilt.

One of my cousins is having a baby boy any day now. The nursery was decorated with moons and stars in brown and blue. I didn't necessarily want to match, but I at least knew what she liked. I found a brown and blue bird fabric in my stash. I decided to use it for the centers of a star quilts. All of this fabric was from my stash, much of it from my smaller scraps. I LOVE when that happens. I only bought new thread for this one. This quilt is approximately 52" square. I also made a doll quilt for big sister, but I apparently didn't take a photo of that one at all!

Out of my comfort zone

2011-04-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

My sewing time has definitely taken a hit this year. I am attempting this double wedding ring quilt, and, um, it is humbling to say the least. I made the first full circle. There were problems in the seams and such, so I ripped things apart, thinking I could fix the problem. I really didn't. There were more problems. So, I just kept going. And more parts don't line up. I honestly don't know how to fix the problems. I used this pattern, which has paper piecing for each arc. That seemed like it would make things a bit more accurate. Or, so I thought.

This is where I need help. I obviously can't keep going this way. Does anyone know a better way to make this pattern? I'm generally not much of a pattern follower, and have only recently become comfortable with curved piecing. Thanks!

Man Quilt

2011-03-31T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have a hard time with quilts for men. I'm not particularly a girly girl, but I have a lot of very feminine fabrics in my stash, floral galore. I do like solids, though. After a couple of bad starts, I ended up with a simple square in square design. I was determined to use as many of the scraps for the back as possible. As is often the case, I like the back as much or more than the front.

I actually finished this quilt almost two months ago, but somehow I didn't get it in the mail. This quilt was for my uncle, and I think it's about 52x70.

Help for Japan

2011-03-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

Just a couple of opportunities for quilters to help tsunami victims in Japan.

Modern relief is raffling quilts to raise money for Mercy Corps.

OR you could make a comfort quilt to go directly to a tsunami victim.

First Finish of 2011

2011-01-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

and it isn't mine.

I thought I was going to teach Ashlyn how to piece "correctly." The first few times she sewed, I kept helping her keep (close) to a 1/4" seam. But, she's 5. And I want it to be fun. And, she was at least careful about keeping her fingers out of the way. So, I let her go. You want to randomly add fabrics from my scrap bin. Ok. You want to add a strip of pink on top of the pieced sections. Ok. She was more excited when I let her work on her own, while I sewed at my own machine.

Last Saturday, Ashlyn was ready to put the "backings on" her quilt. We finished the quilt that day, with Ashlyn on my lap. We did free motion quilting with hearts all over it. Ashlyn's good friend was sick that day, so Ashlyn decided that we needed to give Lilly the quilt. While I am truly proud that Ashlyn is generous with her sewing, I did not want her to give this quilt away. I asked her (more than once) if she was SURE that she wanted to send this quilt to her friend.

fabric gathering

2011-01-21T15:06:00.001-06:00

I think I've finally chosen the fabrics for my next quilt. Maybe.

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New Quilter

2011-01-17T21:42:00.000-06:00

A new sewing machine for Christmas. Now my 5 year old has taken over a corner of my studio and has two quilts on the design wall. She's going to do things HER way, and all quilts will include pink fabric.

Quilts of 2010

2011-01-01T10:08:00.001-06:00

14 quilts for the year, mostly baby sized. (one not pictured, two backs are included in this mosaic.) I'm actually pretty surprised with how much I've accomplished this year in quilting. For this year, I had hoped to make a few quilts for charity (which only turned out to be one, but I did donate a couple that I made last year) make quilts for family and friends (check,) and make a few smaller quilts for myself (nope.) The idea of making them for myself was to try out new ideas, though, which I think I still accomplished with what I did make.

I was also a part of two different quilting bees this year. Both were a fun experience, but it's not something I am going to continue doing for now. Apparently, I didn't upload all of my blocks to flickr. I'm missing a few blocks, anyway.

Happy 2011, everyone!

Caught up! (for the moment)

2010-12-25T17:12:00.000-06:00

I've had fabric to make this baby girl's quilt since the end of September. I was so happy to finally get this one finished, and pleased with how it turned out. I made a baby size (45 x 63ish) version of this quilt. This was my first time piecing curves, and I'm feeling much less intimidated now.

And a photo of the back.

I was in two online quilting bees for a few months, then just one after September. Once I was back to work, I got WAY behind. Each month, the envelopes were really piling up. I finished blocks for the last 5 months of my bee this week.
August: Mondrian inspired blocks

September: square in square blocks

October: wonky log cabins or square in square.

November: rectangle in rectangle

December: wonky star

These really didn't take that long, so I shouldn't have gotten so far behind. At least I'm caught up now. January is the last month, and it's my turn to send out fabric. While I'm on a roll, I should get those envelopes ready.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T12:23:00.000-06:00

Borrowed from http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/2010/12/hehe-merry-christmas-my-friends.html

Just a little bit of sewing

2010-11-25T00:57:00.000-06:00

I certainly have less time to quilt these days. I have managed to find a little bit of time for sewing, though.

This quilt was for my brother in law. (Don't look too closely at my seams!)

And a bit of the back.

On my design wall...

This top is actually finished now. I just need to make a back, baste and quilt.

Kindergarten Dress

2010-08-01T08:59:00.000-05:00

I decided earlier in the summer that I wanted to make a dress for Ashlyn. I kept seeing these cute dresses, and decided they didn't look too hard. (I've never made a dress before.) I got the pattern from here.

Originally, I was planning for this to be a summer dress, Since school starts in less than two weeks, I decided it would be a new dress for school. I'd kept putting it off, but as I was repairing her princess dresses yesterday, Ashlyn started looking through my fabric for her new dress. She picked out the orange fabric, and I started adding to it. By the end of the night, I'd finished the dress.

Unfortunately, it's a bit big. I had to retie the knots to pull it up. I might make another one for her to actually wear the first day. I definitely made mistakes (besides the size) which I'm not going to point out. The fabric not only came from my stash, but was all used in at least one previous project. So really, it cost me nothing but the pattern. AND, Ashlyn LOVES her new dress. She tried it on first thing this morning and declared me to be "the goodest Mommy ever!"

(It will look even better with her hair brushed and without crocs.)

Quilter Bees Quilt

2010-07-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

April was my month for Quilter Bees. I decided to have my fellow bee members help me make a quilt for the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS. I sent out fabric and asked for 12 1/2 inch blocks using circles as the theme. Everyone came up with lovely blocks. One of the reasons I asked for circles was because I wanted to do some curved piecing myself. I ended up feeling in a bit of a rush (deadline for the challenge is the end of the month,) and used raw edge applique instead. Obviously, I still need to do some curved piecing, one more to add to the list.

Thanks to my fellow quilter bees for all of your help!

If Dr Seuss Was a Quilter...

2010-07-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

This quilt is for a friend of mine, who asked me to make a quilt for her next baby. Of course, she asked this more than 2 years ago, before she was even trying to have a baby. When she found out she was pregnant, she then decided she would like a Dr. Seuss quilt. She's due in the next couple of weeks, so, as usual, I'm getting it done down to the wire.

It took me awhile to plan this one. I had originally planned on doing the cat in the hat in applique. Instead, I decided to use a potterybarn kids sheet. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I decided that I wanted it to be fairly fun, as if Theodor Geisel had designed the quilt. You can see in the detail how I quilted each color slightly differently.

This was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I had a twin set of sheets, so I used that on the back as well as fussy cutting on the front.

The quilt is approximately 42x51-ish.

Baby Mermaids

2010-07-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

I'd been admiring these Mendocino fabrics for awhile. Last year I decided these would be perfect for a friend of mine's baby girl and ordered them. (I also ordered them in the blue colorway, just because.) Of course, at the time, she wasn't even pregnant. I knew they wanted to have another baby, though, and, ideally, they would have a girl. As luck would have it, they got pregnant and had a baby girl last month.

My original thoughts with these fabrics, was something involving waves. I kept playing with different designs and just didn't like any of them. I finally decided that what I really wanted to do was highlight the gorgeous fabrics. Simple does that best sometimes.

I used a couple additional blocks and solids to make an interesting back as well. I ended up doing pebble quilting, just felt like it went with the design really well. I used white thread on the front and a variegated pink on the back. I love the back.

And my favorite block. Love how the mermaids in pink seem to be swimming around the one in yellow.

I ended up being very happy with how it turned. Hopefully, the momma and baby will love it, too. Finished size was about 45 x 60.

Star Baby

2010-06-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

I've been eyeing these 50s looking cowboys for awhile. I thought they would be cute in a baby boy's quilt, but didn't know anyone who was really into cowboys. I finally decided that if I liked it, others who aren't into cowboys would like it, too. This quilt is for my cousin's baby boy, due next month.

I always like primary colors for baby quilts and decided maverick stars would be a great way to highlight the fabric, as well. I used a dark charcoal for the background, which I love. Stipple quilting, which I seem to use frequently. I like doing it, it's fairly quick, and makes a nice, crinkly finished product.

And a shot of the back, with a mini star as the label.

The finished quilt is approx 48 x 60, plenty big for playing on the floor and for use well into toddlerhood.

BEES!

2010-06-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

Getting caught up on my two bees.

Dorrie's May block for Quilter bees.

These are one inch blocks, requiring ironing and precision. Oh, quite the challenge for messy me. I think it turned out nicely, too. I really love the block, but this might be too much for me to make a quilt with these blocks.

Next up was Julie's blocks for Sew Bee It.

Julie requested confetti blocks with purple, 12 1/2 to 14 1/2.

And using our own favorites for a friendship block.

Sorrel requested log cabin blocks for June of Quilter Bees.

I was only able to finish one, probably because of poor planning on my part.

All caught up until next bee month!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2010-05-21T07:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog from Blogger's Quilt Festival.

This is not a new quilt, as you can see from the Christmas decorations in the back. It is, however, one of my favorites from the past year. At first glance, it is a log-cabinish quilt. But, when you look up close at the quilting, you can see portraits in the center section. I had fun with the quilting on this one, and plan to play with this idea a bit more in other quilts. I wrote about it first here.

Donnie Dinosaur, Pink zigzags, and bees

2010-05-07T00:06:00.000-05:00

Though we've been busy with moving, I did get two quilts finished while staying with my parents. This first one was for a baby boy, born early March. Kelly requested dinosaurs or space. My first thought was dinosaurs in space suits, but she clarified the "or." I couldn't resist having one of the dinosaurs at least play with a rocket. These dinosaurs were all inspired by the illustrations of Mark Teague from How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

Previously, when I've done much applique, I usually turn under the edges of all but the smallest or strangest shaped pieces. For those, I would use an adhesive (heat n bond lite) and then sew around. I decided to just use the adhesive for all of it this time. For some of the larger pieces, I did cut out the centers of the pieces before ironing them on. Things were a bit stiff, but I knew that would happen. However, I didn't realize how unhappy my machine would be when it came to quilting. Too many thick layers with the heat n bond on the front and back. Many skipped stitches. I ended up having to rip out quite a bit of the quilting stitches and redoing them. Of course, when I searched for help online, I found a great tutorial for using starch for applique, same concept as the heat n bond, but washes out. Good to know for next time. Anyway, I quilted each section around the dinosaurs differently. I wanted to make this a two sided quilt, but the quilting looked kind of odd on the dinosaur on the back. I think that would have worked better if I'd just done an allover quilting design.

All in all, I'm still happy with how the quilt turned out. It was just quite a learning experience for me. Always good, though. This quilt is approximately 48 x 60, made with all kona cottons.

I also made a lap size quilt as a wedding gift. I'd asked the bride's colors months ago, and had this in the plans.

Somehow, I still didn't get it totally finished until right before the wedding. Stipple quilting. This quilt is approximately 75x80.

It would have looked nice staying in my house, too.

I got quite behind on my bees. This is my mini quilt for Adrienne of Quilter bees.

And this is my row (really bad photo) for Tanya of Sew Bee It.

Sew Bee It blocks

2010-04-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what I was thinking signing up for another bee right before moving. Somehow, with moving halfway across the country, I got behind on my bees. A bit of catching up tonight. The photos aren't great, but I was determined to get these packed up tonight.

For March:

For April:

Still have another block for Adrienne with Quilter Bees, but it's going to take a bit longer.

Current project preview

2010-03-06T00:47:00.000-06:00

Traditional Modern

2010-02-26T18:44:00.000-06:00

A few months ago, I read about a new quilt along. I hadn't participated in one before, but this one struck me a bit differently. I've never taken a quilting class and, quite honestly, knew very little about traditional blocks when I first started quilting. I mostly just started putting fabrics together and sewing. While I'm not a traditionalist, it's nice to at least be familiar with traditional blocks. No need to reinvent the wheel type thing. I've been checking out books on quilting from the library and looking at traditional blocks for the past several months. Then I read about the modify tradition quilt along. I liked the idea of actually making several traditional blocks for a quilt.

My grandmother was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and is going through chemotherapy. I had already planned to make her a quilt, so one with a bit more traditional bent seemed perfect.

I'm not precise, with anything really, so traditional blocks are quite a challenge. It just seems like a lot of no-fun work to cut fabrics to a certain size, sew, iron, trim, sew more, iron, trim again. Ugh, I guess I'm just too lazy for precise work. As I was working on this quilt, I thought I might end up hating it. Though I liked the fabrics I chose and liked them together, I liked them less in the blocks. It just didn't seem to be working. A couple of the blocks I ended up not using, because I really didn't like them at all. The nine patch just seemed really boring at a 12.5" block. After putting the blocks together, things started to improve, and I ended up loving the quilt after quilting it. Since this was a sampler quilt, I decide to make the quilting a "sampler" of sorts, each block was quilted slightly differently. I am kicking myself for not getting better photos, especially of the quilting, but you can kind of see the quilting from the back of the quilt in these photos. (I'm going to toot my own horn here, the quilting is really pretty, despite my cruddy photos. I must get better at taking photos of my quilts. I have no idea what I was doing this day. )

The backing is a pale yellow cotton, with a strip of the orange with blue dots from the front.

I doubt that I will work on a sampler quilt with traditional blocks again. This way of working just didn't fit my personality well. Of course, if I had made the blocks as the quilt along progressed, rather than one after another I might have liked it more.

Another bee block

2010-02-07T17:21:00.000-06:00

Two more bee blocks for Sharon, in the style of Denise Schmidt's Drunk Love.

All caught up with bee blocks, back to my usual obsessive quilting.

Jewel Squares

2010-02-06T16:30:00.000-06:00

Quilter Bee blocks for Theresa. Inspired by Kaffe Fassett Jewel Squares.

Striped baby for Josiah

2010-02-06T10:14:00.000-06:00

I'm definitely keeping with the theme of simple quilts for a bit.

We learned last weekend that a couple of our good friends were adopting a baby. As in they were meeting the baby that day, and were in California. One of my first thoughts was (of course) that I needed to make something for that baby. Later I found out that they were not just in California, but near US! We hadn't seen them in three years, since we were in Alaska. I was so excited to get to see them and their brand new baby. I decided Sunday night that I MUST make a quilt for the new little boy, but I just didn't have enough in my stash for a baby boy quilt. Monday morning, I was at my local fabric store buying the fabric. By the time I went to bed that night, I had completed the quilt top and the quilting. That left me Tuesday for the binding.

(I had to include the photo with the dog's tail.)
This was definitely my fastest quilt to date. I only worked on it during the kids' nap and after they went to bed. I thought we might be seeing them Wednesday, so I needed it done fast.

For the back, I used one print, striped binding, stipple quilting. The finished quilt size if approximately 43x62.

We did get to meet the baby last night (1 week old,) but I'm not sure how many photos the parents have shared yet. I don't want to beat them to it.

Simple Quilts

2010-02-03T22:56:00.000-06:00

I tend to like the back of my quilts as much as the front, sometime even more. Just a hint of the design from the front, simple. After seeing this quilt a few months ago, I decided that I was going to make a couple of very simple baby quilts.

I've had a few of these sock monkey prints for awhile, but didn't really know what to do with them. Adding solids and polka dots to a simple quilt seemed a perfect fit. I started making a few blocks for each quilt.

This first quilt is for a friend of mine, due with baby boy #2 ~~next~~ this month.

A simple quilt still needed a bit of interest on the back.

Another view of the quilt.

And a bit of a close up of the quilting. A bit of pebble quilting for this one. I've never done any pebble quilting. I liked it for this large empty space.

This quilt is approximately 43x58.

My cousin had a baby boy (baby brother of twin boys,) um, several months ago. (I think if the baby isn't yet one, I'm still good, though. Right?) Anyway, same type blocks, different layout.

And, the polka dot back.

Another view

And, close up of the quilting. Simple stipple for this one.

This quilt is approximately 43x63.

Three in Progress

2010-01-21T17:34:00.000-06:00

I have a few quilts I'm working on right now.

One is being quilted.

One is ready to be quilted.

And another has a few more blocks to go before I start piecing the top.

These are a few of my blocks from Modify Tradition.

More to come later...

Update on Craft Hope

2010-01-21T08:52:00.000-06:00

Craft Hope has been doing amazing. So many things sold almost as quickly as they were posted. By yesterday, they had sold over 1000 items and raised over $20,000!

My First Quilt

2010-01-18T15:15:00.000-06:00

I started quilting in 1998. My first quilts were art quilts, as much paintings as quilts. And, most definitely, made for the wall. I decided I wanted to make a quilt that was utilitarian. My brother had just graduated from college and was moving to North Dakota for graduate school. I decided that he was the perfect candidate for my first quilt. I wanted something simple and warm. A friend suggested that I use two layers of double loft batting, so that it was more like a comforter. (It was quilted by a longarm quilter, too.)

My brother has used this on his bed ever since. Recently, there were a few holes and the binding was completely coming off. So, I started repairing it. Let me tell you, this quilt is so different than how I quilt now. (Two layers of double loft batting?) I guess I would use the same colors again, but that's about it. It is really heavy. I talked to my brother about it, and he says that's why he likes it, it's warm.

Ranger approves of the quilt.

JoAnn's has kona cotton solids 50% off. I stocked up today. I love the plumish color on the bottom.

Craft Hope for Haiti

2010-01-14T22:35:00.000-06:00

Another way that you could help in Haiti is through craft hope. They are setting up a site on Etsy to sell donated handmade items. All proceeds will go to Doctors without Borders. You can donate an item or purchase a handmade item (when the shop opens.)

For Haiti

2010-01-14T09:09:00.000-06:00

Yele
Red Cross
Unicef
Doctors without borders

And, for another type of donation, Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman is giving money to charities for Haiti based on the number of comments on her post.

Another bee block

2010-01-12T14:11:00.000-06:00

This was for Lisa's month for the quilting bee. She requested a churn dash block. I'll have these two bee blocks in the mail this week.

I'm doing quite a bit of traditional blocks lately, with the bees, plus I'm trying to catch up on the quilt along for Modify Tradition.

Heidi's bee month

2010-01-07T10:27:00.000-06:00

For December, Heidi had us follow crazy mom quilts' star quilt along. I was given week 4.This was definitely out of my comfort zone, from fabrics to a traditional block, but I had fun with it. I had been planning on following Modify Tradition , but didn't have the time earlier. This may have inspired me to catch up.

2009 Quilts, looking back and forward

2010-01-05T10:54:00.000-06:00

1. first improv quilt, 2. another improv quilt, 3. 25jan09 (20)a, 4. Couch Quilt, 5. Pizza Quilt, 6. Picnic quilt, 7. Squares in squares baby quilt, front, 8. white crib, 9. butterfly, 10. squares1, 11. Zig Zag Baby, front, 12. Dancing squares baby quilt, front, 13. Doll quilt in pink and yellow, front, 14. Hannah's tshirts, 15. Grandma Vicki's quilt

This was a HUGE amount of quilting for me, especially since I didn't do any quilting for about 4 months due to moving. I also made a few other Christmas gifts and decorations for house, too. I had fun, but sometimes felt overwhelmed with the amount of quilting I brought on myself. Most of these quilts were gifts, though I did make a couple for our use as well. I did try to sell a few on etsy, but I didn't enjoy making those as well and was not successful either. I am ok with this.

In this new year, I already have a long list of quilts I want to make. If someone tells me some news, I am probably thinking "I wonder what type of quilt I can make them. Or, do I have time to make another quilt?" I want to make a few quilts for charity, give away several to friends/family, but I would also like to make some for myself. Not as a thought for a bed, but just a quilt that I want to make and explore without thoughts for whether someone else will like it. I may try to do this in mini quilt size to start.

I really intended this blog to not just be about quilting, but that seems to be all I've done artistically this year. I take photos constantly, mostly of my children. I would like to continue to improve in my photo taking (definitely in my photos of quilts.) I do want to get back to drawing and painting this year, but that will have to wait until we get the rest of our stuff in storage (where all of my supplies are.)

Hannah's t-shirt quilt or More of what kept me busy in December

2010-01-04T13:08:00.000-06:00

I had been thinking about making a tshirt quilt for awhile. Allen's older brother and family moved this fall to a new town. I thought this would be a good time to make a quilt with tshirts and memories from the town they left. I made this quilt for the oldest, Hannah, because I figured that she would have more shirts and moving tends to be harder for older kids and teens.

I wanted to add fun fabrics to make blocks for the shirts, rather than just using t-shirts. I used a small strip of black or green around each shirt, then finished them off to 15 inches with black or polka dot. I used the green again for the binding. I stippled the quilt, but if I was to do another t-shirt quilt I would not quilt over the shirt design. My machine kept skipping stitches. I think it turned out looking like a fun, young quilt, which was my goal. The finished quilt is 75" square.

Grandma Vicki's quilt (or lack of blogging due to Christmas presents)

2010-01-04T10:19:00.000-06:00

Vicki had asked me a few months ago to make her a quilt that made her think of her grandchildren. She left how I did that or any color choices up to me. She did mention that she had a burgundy recliner where she planned to curl under the quilt. That was it. I toyed with the idea of names in the quilting, photos, etc. I decided that I did want to include faces, but I wanted it to be a bit subtle.

I decided to make log cabinish blocks that mostly read as solid color. Vicki likes pink, so that started the color palette. I love so many of Amy Butler's pale pink and yellow fabrics, so I decided on the yellow for the center. There are 8 grandchildren, but I wanted a square, so I made 9 yellow blocks for the center, surrounded with pink.

For the quilting, I outlined the yellow squares, and then quilted a line portrait in burgundy of each of the children on a square. I'd made quilted portraits before, using tracing paper to sew over and then removing. This time, following these suggestions from Kristin, I used a tear away stabilizer. I'm not sure which I liked more, but I remember with both feeling like I was ripping out the stitches as I removed the paper. I wonder if I would prefer transferring my drawing directly onto the fabric. I'm not sure, though. For the pink squares, I did a simple stipple with variegated pink thread. Anyway, here are a few closeups.

The center square says "Grandchildren"

My pictures aren't great. The weather wasn't great for photos, and I was completing this down to the wire. Anyway, I'm happy with the completed quilt. I think I would like to do quilted portraits in other quilts, but perhaps as a continuous line drawing. I practiced doing that as well, but thought it didn't work as well for the children.

Of course, a photo of the back. The finished quilt is 75" square.

Dancing Squares Baby

2009-11-20T22:19:00.000-06:00

This quilt was made for my dear friend, Jamie's baby girl due on Christmas day. She helped me pick some of the colors, and then I added more fabrics. Most of these fabrics are from Amy Butler and Anna Marie Horner. I just started making log cabinish blocks of different sizes, then added strips of some of the leftovers as I planned my layout. The finished quilt is approximately 48x60. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and so is the momma!

Circle Doll quilt

2009-11-20T10:13:00.000-06:00

I wanted to make a small doll quilt for my niece's 3rd birthday last week. I decided to play with circles a bit among my scraps.

And the back.

I had a leftover circle and decided to use it for the label. I thought it was cute. The finished quilt size is 18x24.

Ashlyn's quilt

2009-11-10T11:17:00.000-06:00

Ashlyn has always wanted to make a quilt. Whenever I was sewing, I would often give her pins and fabric. She would stick the pins into the fabric and be pretty happy with that. Then, earlier this year, I decided to let her make a quilt that she could actually keep. My plan was for her to just glue fabric squares to a piece of muslin. The end. But, she knew that wasn't a quilt! She picked out the fabric, cut the fabric pieces, and glued them to the muslin. That wasn't enough for her. I explained to her that only mommy could use the sewing machine, but I did let her help guide the fabric through the machine while quilting and sewing on the binding. It took about 6 months to complete, in part because she would only work on it for a short time, and because I left it without the binding for a while.

Ashlyn is so proud. She keeps referring to it as her "very first quilt!"

Quilt along

2009-11-02T14:56:00.001-06:00

Quilt along and give away at Block Party!

More PIQF

2009-10-26T00:36:00.000-05:00

by Carol Taylor

Five Bouquets
by Michiko Takakuwa of Japan
This isn't a style I would normally find interesting, but this was made of teeny tiny squares-nearly 53,000. It was pretty crazy.

Marshland
by Lynda Christiansen, Eugene, OR

Credo
by Annette Bamberger, Germany

Habitat in the Sun
by Morag Orr-Stevens, Canada

Black-White and Chartreuse
by Gerry Smeltzer, Eureka, CA

There were so many more incredible quilts. These are just some of the ones that impressed me.

Pacific International Quilt Festival

2009-10-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

I arrived home on Saturday, just in time to go to the last day of the Pacific International Quilt Festival on Sunday (by myself, I must add. After a day traveling with two children, going to the show by myself was heaven.) A couple of people who write quilting blogs had mentioned that they would be working at different booths, so I did try to find them, feeling for all of the world like an internet stalker.

The main reason I was there was not stalking or shopping, either. I wanted to see the quilts, of course! They did not disappoint. There were such a variety of different quilts that I think there would have been quilts for anyone's taste. These were a few of my favorites.

Color Me High on Life
by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz of Billings, MT

Coming Together-La Piaza
by Laura Fogg, Ukiah, CA

Leafing the Nest II
by Nancy Hinds, Covington, LA

The Painted Ladies of San Francisco
by Jo Names, Joy Waggener, Jeanie Ferguson, Lynda Lasich, Millie LaMoure, Marylee Drake of Grass Valley, CA

Monterey Bay Fisherman's Wharf
by Back Porch Employees (Jean Dunn, Gail Abeloa, Wendy Warth, Carol McCoy, Maggie Wentzel, Janet Tatlon, Sharon Winter, and Joan Hughes)

Not Even Solomon...
by Ruth de Vos, Australia

Carnival In Rio
by Kathryn Celliers-Louw, South Africa

Joy
by Marilyn Smith of Columbia, MO

Close up

I took photos of many more quilts, so I will probably post more later in the week.

When we lived in Kentucky, Allen and I went to the American Quilter's Society Show in Paducah. Tons of quilters, quilts, and vendors, much like this. I was fairly new to quilting at the time. I'd never seen a long arm, I'm not even sure that I knew such a thing existed. I was pretty intimidated by the incredible quilting, both hand and machine quilted. I remember Allen telling me that the biggest difference between my quilts and these was a $10,000 machine. While there was (is) more of a difference in skill as well, he did have a point. No matter what your field, you can definitely be held back by your equipment. Obviously, the machine doesn't do all of the work for you, but there are some things that just cannot be done on a cheap sewing machine. I remember reading a cartoon recently where one person asks another "If I had a camera like yours, would my photos look just as good?" The response is "and if you had a piano like Mozart's, do you think that you could play like he did?" While I get the point, there is certainly skill and artistry involved as well, having a nice camera certainly makes a big difference.

While I still do not have a $10,000 longarm, while looking at some of the quilts, I did find myself thinking "I could do that!" Actually, I really mean that I could do that eventually. In other words, I don't think my machine is keeping me from eventually having the skills to do certain applique and quilting techniques. (Yes, there are still quilters who do everything by hand, but I will NEVER be one of them. I do NOT have the patience or desire to quilt by hand.) Now, some day I could reach the end of what my current machine is capable of doing, or I might just decide that it would be easier on a longarm (and I have the money and space for the investment.) In short, I found most of what I saw to be inspiring, rather than only intimidating.

Baby Maggie Quilt

2009-10-21T00:44:00.000-05:00

I finished this quilt back in July for Maggie, not due until September. Her mom told me to wait and give it to her in person. While I definitely prefer to give gifts in person, I was so excited that I wanted to mail it. Anyway, Christal (baby's momma) picked out most of the fabrics with me and requested something simple and modern. With all of the fabrics, I wasn't sure that I liked the quilt at first, but once I started putting more together, I loved it. It is very bright and feminine.

I used a row of blocks in between a simpler pink for the back, and made a scrappy binding. And, I realize now that I didn't take a photo of the quilting. I quilted a curved swirl in the center of each block and then squared up the lines on the outer part of each block. Maybe not the best description. I actually quilted this one twice, because I hated the quilting the first time. I'm much happier with this quilting.

And giving it to Christal.

Quilt Festival

2009-10-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

Park City Girl is hosting an online quilt festival.

My entry is a quilt from earlier this year. I couldn't find the best photo of it, and I didn't make it for me, so I couldn't get another. Anyway, I made this quilt for the prayer shawl ministry in Germany. It was for a friend who had recently lost her fiancee in Afghanistan. I had also recently become involved in Jacquie's Project Improv. I was playing with improv blocks here. I really liked the palette of this quilt and was really happy with how it turned out.

When planning, I just thought it should do this way, so it bothered me when my husband held it "upside down."

I first blogged about the quilt here.

Go check out the rest of the quilts!

Zig Zag Baby

2009-09-29T01:20:00.000-05:00

This quilt started with an alphabet fabric. My original plan was to add more reds, a bit of white, with blue or green accents. With squares in the center and stripes around the outside. Then I saw some black and white fabrics while shopping. I bought several and totally changed the plan. I used the tutorial here, but added to it to make it a bit larger. I made extra zig zags for the back.

I LOVE the back. I like the black in between each band of color and I like that each colorway is scrappy, rather than all one print like the front. I can definitely see making the front of a quilt with these combos.

I thought I would probably follow the zig zag design for quilting, but I liked how stippling could soften the sharp angles. Again, change of plans. I really like how the quilt turned out. Hopefully, the baby's parents do, too. The finished quilt is approximately 44x56.

Another gathering of fabrics

2009-09-28T17:54:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I am going to keep gathering fabrics and not complete anything. I may be adding a few more fabrics to this mix, too.

New Quilt

2009-09-23T23:36:00.000-05:00

I love these fabrics. Almost too pretty to cut...

Bee houses

2009-09-22T00:52:00.000-05:00

We are making blocks for Anna this month in our quilting bee. She requested pieced houses 2-3 inches, set in a 9.5 inch block. I didn't have enough of the background to set all of the houses, but I did try to even them a bit to make it easier to complete.

I started with the one on top, and that was not my plan. This was a bit harder to get started than I thought it would be. I realized that my house was going to be quite a bit larger than 3 inches, so I stopped and made another house. Looking back at the first start, I thought it looked a bit like a mobile home. So, I tried to curve out the edges and add wheels. I didn't allow enough and the curves ended up in the seam allowances. I still liked that one, though. Anna was right, these are definitely addictive. I kept making houses, until I didn't have enough fabric to keep making more.

Finished blocks in the mail

2009-09-18T01:29:00.000-05:00

First I have a block for our virtual quilting bee for Meagan. Meagan wanted squares, no larger than 3 inches. Here is my take on a block made entirely of squares.

I'm interested to see how she pulls all of the blocks together. As I suspected, I like working with someone else's plans. It pushes my ideas into other directions. Perfect timing on finishing this one, since I received fabric for next month's block in the mail today!

I also told Amanda Jean that I would make a wonky star block for her quilt(s) for Quilts of Valor. I have wanted to make quilts for this group in the past, but hadn't "gotten to it," so I'm glad that I was at least able to help out with a block.

I actually made two blocks, because I over-wonked the first block so much that it wasn't the right size. I added a bit of extra fabric to two different areas to make them the right size. It just looks like a mess. I only had just enough of the red blocks for this one block, so I couldn't just redo those parts.

I went shopping for a bit of red that wouldn't overwhelm the blue that I had. This time, I cut the blocks at 5 inches, so I could trim after making the star points. Much better.

I'm still sending both blocks, in case she doesn't end up with the right number of blocks. She can trash it if it's not needed!

IBOL Sundae

2009-09-06T16:32:00.000-05:00

In honor of IBOL we ate sundaes. Except we did this yesterday, so since today is really IBOL Sundae, we will be forced to eat them again. Tuesday is the last day to send out bundles for IBOL! And, sneak peek of my latest quilt. I really like how it is turning out.

White squares baby quilt, fabrics, and a bee

2009-08-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

(I admit, I'm not good with quilt names.)

I had some kind of image in my head of white strips with bits of bright color in between. I started sewing strips and squares of color. It didn't quite turn out like I had planned, but I still like it.
Of course, I liked it even more after quilting and washing it. I also like that I didn't have to buy any new fabric for this quilt, except backing. All of the squares and the white were already in my stash. I had enough fabrics for the backing, too, but I wanted a solid backing for this quilt with all of the smaller pieces on the front. Scrappy binding, though.
The finished quilt is about 45 x 55.

The quilt is now for sale in my etsy shop.

I'm going a very different direction with my next quilt (another baby size.) Just the fabrics together for now.

I've been reading what others have been doing in their virtual quilting bees. I liked the idea, but never knew when any of them were getting started. I managed to sign up for one this time. I'm a bit nervous about making quilting blocks for other quilters, but pretty excited, too. You can check it out over here. These are the fabrics I have to make a block for Meagan.

Bundles Still Going

2009-08-21T23:11:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to remind everyone about Iraqi Bundles of Love. I'm getting my package together right now. You have until September 7 to get those into the mail.

Quilt Museum

2009-08-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I took the kids to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. It's a pretty small museum, but they had two main exhibits. One exhibit were molas, which are pretty amazing, and I'd never seen so many in person. The other exhibit were quilts, very traditional, from about the 1850s to 1940s, I believe. Most, if not all of them were hand quilted. They were really phenomenal. They could either be inspiring or something that makes you put away your sewing for good. I have no desire to do hand quilting, but the detail was incredible. Even though these were obviously intended to be used on a bed, it was nice to see them hanging.

While the museum was rather small, I will definitely be returning again when their next exhibit opens.

I did it!

2009-08-06T01:39:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop for about a year now. Now, I finally did it!

I have two ready made items in the shop, as well as an option for a custom made quilt. For now, I just have baby quilts, but we'll see later. Check it out, pass on the information if you know anyone looking for a quilt.

One of my quilts for sale is the butterfly quilt I posted earlier. I decided the white background was part of what was bothering me, so I used a light purple batik and a full piece rather than strips. Then, I used the butterfly batik around the outside. Much better. I still used some of the bright pink for the back, along with a strip of purple and more of the butterfly batik. I like a pieced back!
After finishing the butterfly, I wanted to do something completely different. I decided polka dots were in order. I wanted to make a pretty funky quilt. I started with wonky log cabins of a couple of different sizes. I had a great time figuring out how to fit all of them together. I added strips in between blocks to make things fit together. The back is just orange with white polka dots. The binding is all scraps from the front. I am really happy with how it turned out, its so bright and sunny.

Iraqi Bundles of Love

2009-08-05T07:59:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to pass on this information if anyone would like to donate to this cause. I'm just cutting and pasting from Kristin's site.

My very own Tech Support & World’s Greatest Husband, AKA, Mr. Incredible, has just launched a short-duration project to “surge” fabric and sewing materials into the area around which he’s posted in Iraq. It is timed to coincide with both Ramadan, and the departure of his units from Iraq.

The project started, as many do, out of a confluence of inspiration and circumstances. It may have started with reading 3 Cups of Tea, an inspirational story not only of one man’s impact, but of his conviction that terrorism can only be fought effectively with education and opportunity, not by force. Follow that with the understanding that when a US military unit leaves an area, although they take with them everything on their master list of what they brought, truth is they leave a whole lot behind as well — bed sheets, small refrigerators, DVDs, old clothes, unused building materials, etc. As one man’s trash is another’s treasure, the idea to donate re-usable materials to local groups emerged. Then came the idea to supplement those resources with more — tailor made for individuals and sewing co-ops trying to make a living in the community.

The basic premise is to make a bundle of fabric and sewing supplies from your own stash, mail it to my hubby’s APO (American) address, and he will facilitate the distribution of the bundles. By bundling teh goodies, it saves time on his end as he won’t have to redistribute the supplies or use excess packaging for them, and it makes it far simpler for his local counterparts to distribute them to those in need.

The project is called Iraqi Bundles of Love, here’s a link to his FAQ page, and we’ve got until September 7, 2009 to bust our stashes and send what we probably won’t get around to using to my man, who will get it to those who will use it right away.

Indecision and Picnics

2009-07-28T00:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently this has just been indecision time. While I was trying to decide how to complete the butterfly quilt, I moved on to quilting this baby quilt. I used a bit of an all over swirly pattern (someone probably has a real name for this, but whatever.) I HATED it. I not only thought the quilting pattern took away from the quilt, but I didn't think I'd done a good job. So, I spent a few days ripping out all of the quilting. And, then requilted it. I'm not quite ready to show the completed quilt yet, but it is completed. Yeah.
We go on a lot of picnics around here. At least two a week, where we sit on the ground. I've been talking about making a quilt for picnics, and finally got around to it. I knew I wanted the quilt to be cheap, or as inexpensive as possible. So, when JoAnn's had a good sale, I bought all of the materials for the quilt. About $25 worth I think. I also wanted the quilt to be pretty easy to make. I borrowed this book from the library, which had the perfect quilt design. It took me just a couple of hours to complete the quilt top, though quite a bit more for quilting. I quilted it with an all over stipple. I also wanted the quilt to be bright, as in stain-resistant. I think I got that. We've already picnicked twice on it, so it already has peanut butter, jelly, milk, and cheese spilled on it.
I believe it is about 60 X 80. The green for the sashing was the first color I chose, thinking grass stains.

(I can't seem to get the color right on these photos. The quilts are a bit brighter than they are showing up. I'm having a hard time editing lately.)

Help!

2009-07-07T16:56:00.001-05:00

I'm working on an applique baby quilt. I knew that I wanted to make a bright, butterfly quilt. In 2004, I made this baby quilt inspired by Eric Carle, containing a butterfly.
I loved the bright colors, and wanted to make something totally girly this time. I found this batik and used it as my starting point for fabric choices, though the colors are a bit outside of my comfort zone.

I now have the butterflies appliqued together, but not the whole quilt pieced. One of the butterflies is bothering me a bit. I'm not a big fan of bright pink, so that pink, ugh. I bought quite a bit of that pink, too. I guess I thought it really went well with the butterfly batik.

So, this is where I need your help. I planned this background, with strips of purple and the butterfly batik on either side of the white. I'm not sure how well you can see them in these photos. Should I keep it this way?

Or, should I add a bit of the pink, so the pink on the butterfly doesn't stand out as much? Or, would a pink binding tie things together enough (attempts at showing a pink binding in above photo with the wad of pink on the side.)

Or, should I lose the purple and just have the butterfly batik between the white (like in the photo below?)

Or, should I tear out all bits of that bright pink from the butterfly, replacing with some other color? Like maybe a lighter pink?

Or, do you have other suggestions? Please be honest, I do want input. (though I did spend quite a bit of time designing and sewing this, so, you know, be kind.)

A few projects

2009-07-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

My current WIPs.

I certainly am more (cough) organized when I have only one project going at a time, but I'm definitely not bored with anything when I have a few sewing projects all in various stages.

Easy quilt top, almost completed

Applique from the beginning of a baby quilt

And a sandwiched, ready to be quilted, very feminine quilt

Pizza Quilt

2009-07-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

I made this quilt for Brad, a friend of mine who is recovering from a brain injury. I tried to use masculine fabrics in a simple design. Ashlyn thinks the orange dots are hilarious and calls them pizza fabric, hence the name of the quilt. I was originally planning to add a few more different design blocks, but decided that I would just stick with these two as I was putting stuff together. I used some of the different designs for the back.
The yellow might be a little bright, but I like the back otherwise. Notice the three pairs of feet behind the quilt. Allen was being such a goofball about holding up the quilt that the kids thought it must be great fun to hold a quilt, too.

And the goofball holding the quilt when I asked him to turn the quilt around to show me the other side.

Couch quilt

2009-06-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

I've had a few plans for quilts for other people coming up, but with my new machine I wanted to have a "practice" piece first. We didn't have a quilt/throw/blanket for curling up on the couch, so that was what I planned for my practice piece. I wanted to do something simple, since I was really trying to get to the quilting part this time. I know. That is usually my least favorite part, but I wanted to try out the stitch regulator. So, I made several improv log cabins, completing them with white and trimming to about 15 inches, I think.

I had a rough start on the quilting, but just kept going after tearing out several really bad parts. I think I was sort of getting the hang of it by the end of this quilt. I did learn that my machine is picky about thread. I've always just used coats and clark quilting thread, but the Bernina just wasn't having it. I had to run to JoAnn's for Gutermann thread instead. Things ran much more smoothly after that.

I like how the quilt turned out, but I'm glad I decided the first quilt was for us. The blocks add just a touch of color to our otherwise blah living room.

My New Love

2009-05-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

What is this?My new baby, my bernina.

Isn't she pretty?

I don't know how to use it, but it has made it out of the box. I am excited to play. Three classes are included with the purchase, but it will be a few weeks.

My last machine was purchased in 1999 for $120, very basic. I was ready for an upgrade. I tried out a few different brands at the dealer, and I just didn't know how lovely sewing machines could be. I loved them all, but was excited about having the Bernina stitch regulator that comes with this machine. I tried showing Allen the foot and telling him what it does. He just isn't any fun when it comes to sewing stuff. So, I've turned to the internet with my excitement.

3 Quilts/3 Weeks

2009-01-25T09:43:00.000-06:00

As mentioned before, I've previously been a quilt or two a year kind of quilter. Last year, I made 4 quilts. Now, I made 3 in the past 3 weeks. All three of these quilts are for the prayer shawl ministry.

I started the first one the day before I read about project improv. I had already planned on making a log cabin quilt, alternating white and color. I deciding to change things up a bit, so I went from all 2 1/2 strips, to strips that were also 4 and 5 inches. I then started putting them together, trimming edges to make things a bit wonkier. I do like how it turned out, and I think the bright colors combined with the white really emphasize the wonk. This quilt is for the mother of a childhood friend, who has breast cancer.

I was almost finished with the first top and had just told Allen that this was the last quilt I was going to make before we moved. Then, we heard the news about Brian. I decided that two more quilts were in order.

I had really enjoyed the wonky log cabin, so I decided that I would continue to play for awhile. Instead of cutting exact strip lengths, I just grabbed my scissors and started cutting random width strips of all of the fabrics I was using - freedom! Working this way really fits my personality- kind of messy, plus I don't tend to get things exactly square, anyway, now I don't need to! Anyway, I pushed the blocks a bit more with this one, but kind of evened things out with the white. This quilt is for Brian's son, Nate.

For the next quilt, I pulled out a few fabrics that I had purchased together, with no specific project in mind. I thought they would make a beautiful quilt for Kirsten, Brian's fiancee. Again, I just started cutting the fabric in random widths. I had this wild floral that I used for the centers and a bit on the sides. I really love this quilt. By just butting the blocks up against one another, it is more difficult to tell where one block ends and the next begins. I want to keep this quilt, really it is one of my favorites.

yes, the picture is upside down, but Allen was holding it the wrong way.

And, you can see why I like the quilt. See how nicely it fits into my living room.

I used these same fabrics to make my red/aqua block for the project improv charity quilt. I'm not sure that I'm as crazy about it as some of the blocks in the full quilt, or maybe I just like them all put together better. It does need to be ironed and squared up a bit (like I said, not so good at the square thing.) Either way, I'm done quilting for awhile. My sewing machine, along with most of my other worldly possessions, will be packed in about 10 days.

When we are settled, I would like to continue quilting improvisationally. I am already looking for fabric for future projects.

Yes, I do have a few travel photos and the kids to post, it will have to wait a few days. Seriously, 3 quilts/3 weeks does not allow much time for other things.

A New Quilt for Old John

2009-01-21T09:44:00.000-06:00

Several years ago, John and Joy were cleaning out a shed on their property. In it, they found quilt squares made by John's mom in the 1940s. (They were paper pieced onto newspaper from 1944.) At the time, I didn't know what to do with them. This time last year, I pulled them out again, and decided they needed a new life. I asked Joy to send me photos of John and his mom. I then sewed everything together into a new quilt for old John.

mini quilts

2008-11-21T09:50:00.000-06:00

I made a couple of mini quilts or prayer cloths for our Prayer shawl ministry.

This first one was made for a lady who recently lost her mother. It's about 21" square.

This other one was made for a soldier. It's approximately 18" square (and yes, I use the term "square" rather loosely on this one.)

One Week

2008-10-30T09:56:00.000-05:00

I made a commitment to make a quilt in a week. One week. Up until this time, I've kind of been a 1-2 quilts(not counting more arty quilts) a year kind of quilter. I recently joined a local Prayer Shawl Ministry. I volunteered to make a lap quilt. When I was asked when I could complete it, I found myself saying "I can do it by next week." As I walked out of there, I thought,"Did I just tell her that I would make a quilt (from planning to picking fabric, etc.) in A WEEK?" Anyway, I did it, but it didn't allow for blogging, or mopping, or much laundry, really.

This is the completed quilt, in part following tutorials from Crazy Mom. (Thanks!)

I made log cabin blocks and did free motion quilting. The quilting was actually fun! I've never enjoyed the quilting part before. It was around the size of 48x66.

The quilt was made for a woman in the states with terminal cancer.

Christopher, helping.

Baby Quilts

2008-08-21T10:02:00.000-05:00

A couple of quilts that I finished this summer. Both of these babies are in Alaska, so I wanted something "Alaskan" for their quilts. So, fish and dragonflies it was.Baby boy Madden quilt
Baby girl Krabbenhoft quilt. This quilt was inspired by Tiffany dragonfly lamps. I don't know if the idea transferred as well into fabric, but I still like it.

Ashlyn's quilt

2007-12-02T10:09:00.000-06:00

I finished the top of Ashlyn's quilt at the first of September. At the time, I thought that I was going to quilt it myself. Then, we decided to move and I felt suddenly overwhelmed with all that I need to do. So, I sent the quilt to Laura, who had someone else do the quilting. It is phenomenal! I could never have done that good of a job. I couldn't quite get a good close-up of the quilting, though. Each section is quilted slightly differently. The flowers in the center have butterflies on them, just in the quilting. I am really pleased with how it turned out.