Sunday, May 30, 2010

Brenda's Kentucky Quilt

Brenda put this one together, with embroidered blocks that she purchased, I believe.


It is light custom with terry twists, beadboard in the outer border and swirls in the inner border.



Permacore white thread on top and chambray in the bobbin, Hobbs 80/20 batting.



Saturday, May 29, 2010

Cheryl's Quilt Shop

I went to the monthly BOM at Cheryl's this morning to get my new block.

Here are my blocks so far.



We get an extra chance for a drawing if we make a smaller block also, so I have been making 6" blocks along with my 12" blocks. Maybe I'll make Elizabeth a doll quilt with the 6" ones, or maybe they will go in the borders.

Anyway, have a great Memorial Day weekend and thank all your military family and friends for me!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Rosemary's Mint Chocolate Swirls



I LOVE this quilt! The combination of greens and the brown batik are stunning. The shape looks wonky in my photo, but actually the quilt is as square as they come. It laid flat and was a dream to quilt. I quilted it with Michelle Wyman's Ribbon Twirl pantograph, Permacore Olive thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting



And the back, which really isn't this bright:

Monday, May 24, 2010

Design Wall Monday



I have these nine patch blocks on my design wall today. I put them together with my new machine and now I have to decide what to do with them. The Hawaiian fabrics are from the airport in Hawaii and my co-worker Margaret picked them up for me a couple years ago.

Check out Judy's blog to see more design walls in blogland.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Singer 15-91



Well, it's not my birthday quite yet, but I got a present this weekend. Dan found this Singer for me!

The 2nd Big One is Done!

I loaded Stephanie's 116" square quilt last night and I thought it would be days before it was done, but I just kept quilting and ta-da, it's finished. I've never done this type of quilting, called cinnamon bun, but that's what she wanted. She brought some books by Kim Diehl with photos of this quilting design.







My first practice was a 30's panel, which I will bind for a NICU quilt. I thought there was too much space between the swirls.



So, I loaded this Quilt of Valor of Kathy's and tried again. This one is flannel, so the swirls are a bit larger, but I thought I had practiced enough to load Stephanie's quilt.





I think that's enough cinnamon bun quilting for me for a while!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Janet's Quilts

I quilted these two tumbler quilts for Janet a week or so ago and she came to pick them up today.



One is Rhapsody and the other is whirlygig, and they both have hobbs 80/20 batting and white permacore thread. They are about 43 x 48 and cute as can be. She is giving them to her daughter-in-law to give to her nieces.

While she was here we loaded her 80" square charm/jelly roll batik quilt and she quilted it. She did very well and only stitched one row without bobbin thread. The panto is Square Spiral and she used PermaCore Mother Goose thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.



And the back:

Friday, May 21, 2010

T-shirt Quilt

Last night, I loaded this t-shirt quilt and did a couple of passes of quilting. I came home on my lunch hour and did a couple more, and I finished it this evening.

The quilting is Angel Wings, and I believe the recipient loves butterflies, so that's why this was chosen. Quilting a t-shirt quilt from the back of the machine isn't one of my favorite things to do, I have discovered. Especially one that is pieced shirt-to-shirt. If there had been sashing, it would have been much easier, I think. Some of the seams were so thick that I was sure I was going to break a needle, but I didn't, and it's done, so now I only have 2 more to finish by next weekend. Hobbs 80/20 bating and Permacore Shrimp Pink thread.



I do love the look of the quilting on the back!

Depression Blocks

Barb made this quilt after I showed her one that I had made with "block lotto" blocks I had won at a retreat. The pattern is on quilterscache.com and used scraps, so if you have lots of scraps, this one's for you.



PermaCore natural thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting. The quilting is Chantilly Lace pantograph in the borders, and a Chantilly Lace block pattern in the dark on-point block segments, with Continuous Curves in the light blocks, along with the loops in the center.



What a nice back it made, don't you think?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Common Threads Auction

One of my guilds had an auction tonight and boy was there a lot of stuff there. I donated quite a bit when cleaning my sewing room and didn't plan on buying much. When this Bunny Hill Snowman Country kit went up, I couldn't resist. I paid $17.50 for it and looked it up online and it sold for $75, so I got quite a deal. I think there may be a few of the fat quarters missing, but at that price, who cares!



I left after about an hour and a half because I really wanted to make some progress on Barb's depression blocks quilt. I have finished the center and have the bottom border to do and then I will take it off, turn it and re-load it to do the side borders. It seems like this one has taken me a long time. I loaded it Sunday morning and would like it to be finished tomorrow evening.



My plan was to come home at lunch again today to get in some stitching time, but I really needed a haircut, so I did that and I'm feeling a bit behind. I have 3 quilts (2 are king size) that must be finished in the next 10 days, so Mabel will be one busy machine.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

What a fast weekend!

I can't believe the weekend is over already. I guess I got a lot accomplished, but not a lot of quilting.

The Blue Star Moms garage sale made over $300, which will help pay the postage for over 20 packages to deployed military from the area. It was really nice to spend the day with Luana, Becky and Mary. We got to know each other a little better and it's so good to know that someone else is going through the same emotions, regarding a child in the military.

We had an open house today so Saturday evening and this morning were filled with dozens of last minute things to do. Two of the visiters talked about bringing their spouses back for a look. Let's hope they do!

My design wall still looks like it did here, two weeks ago, as I haven't started anything else because I didn't want to mess up my sewing room. See, it's still tidy!



Saturday, May 15, 2010

Blue Star Moms

I'm off to work at the Blue Star Moms garage sale in Monticello this morning. It's next to Arni's if you're in the area.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

2 More Quilts On and Off!



I finished Deb's Tractor Quilt this evening. I believe this one is for her dad and I'm sure he will love it. I used the Circle Lord Baptist Fan templates, PermaCore white thread, and Hobbs 80/20 batting



The back is muslin and I love it!


This one is Mary's and she needs it for a baby shower this Sunday. She's been spending lots of time watching baseball games lately, but still found time to assemble this cute quilt.



It is from a book panel, and I would say by the thin gold sashing around the blocks that it is a Golden Book panel. Again, I used white PermaCore thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting. The quilting is Square Spiral and just as a reference, I took the tractor quilt off at 8:00 and loaded this one and was finished 5 minutes after American Idol started at 9:05. It's only 50 x 42, but that's still pretty good time, I think.


Just look at this cute fabric on the back

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A Heavy Heart!

Maybe you remember Dan's grandson, Jackson, who was born December 13th at 26 weeks, and weighed 1 pound and 12 ounces. Well, he is out of the hospital and weighs over 7 pounds now. Notice, I didn't say he was home.....because
his mom and dad, Mandy and Cory have decided to go their separate ways. Cory wants nothing to do with his son, as I guess it's just to much work caring for a newborn. Mandy and baby Jackson are living with her mom, but it's too much work for her also, so they will be putting him up for adoption. I know this little boy will have a wonderful life with parents who cherish him, but it sure is hard. I didn't get a chance to hold him in my arms and bond with him like Teresa, Dan's ex-wife did. She drove those kids to the hospital once or twice a week to visit Jackson for 4 months. After leaving the hospital, she kept him overnight and says this is probably the hardest thing she's ever gone through.



So, if you have a chance, say a little prayer that Jackson will know how much he is loved by our family.

Pink & Brown and Fig Tree Table Runner

I put the label and finished the binding on this baby quilt last night. This morning at work I realized that I spelled the baby's last name wrong, so tonight it came off and a new one is on.




I finished quilting this one last night for myself and got started on the binding.



This is part of the Fig Tree Club at Rossville Quilts.


Tonight we trimmed bushes, cleaned flower beds and mowed, getting ready for the open house on Sunday. Oh, I hope, I hope, we find a buyer.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

2 Quilts for Carol

Put your sunglasses on cause this yellow one is really bright.



Daisy Swirl is the quilting design, Permacore canary thread, and Hobbs 80/20 batting.



This one uses the same thread and batting, but I choose to use my Circle Lord Swirls templates to play off of the circles in her fabrics.





And the back:

Monday, May 3, 2010

I Won a Blog Giveaway



A few weeks ago Paula at Coffee Time Stitches had a blog anniversary giveaway and I won the Fantastic Fabric prize. What a very nice bag of prizes she sent and I can't wait to try my first Schnibbles pattern. I've been seeing these everywhere in blogland lately. The chocolates sure made Dan's eyes light up, so of course, I'm sharing those.

Thanks so much Paula!

Aaron's Batik Quilt



I finished quilting this beautiful batik quilt this evening. It was made by my guild friend Gwen and her son Aaron. What a great idea, right? They even made a really cute label for the back.



The center is Square Spiral by Keryn Emmerson, and I used Hobbs 80/20 batting and PermaCore Chambray thread. And since he's a boy, she wanted some spider webs or something like that, so they are in the corners.

Design Wall Monday



Here is my design wall today. I finished the background of the Merry Triple tree wall hanging on Saturday and here it hangs still. There are 3 wonky looking trees that will be appliqued in the center. These are all 5" nickels from our guild nickel swaps.

Check out all the design walls on Judy's blog.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Stashbusting 2010 - #18

Fabric Added This Week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 13 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 11.875 yard
Fabric Used Year to Date - 52.5 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 39.5 yards

Used a little bit these past couple of weeks. Having the carpet in the 4 main rooms in the house cleaned last week had me out of commission for a bit. But I found some things in my sewing room that I had forgotten about.