Design Wall Monday

I pulled out some disappearing 9-patch blocks to start on a Quilt of Valor.

Sharon's Little quilts

I quilted both of these little Civil War Legacies quilts  for Sharon.

The first one is 33" x 45" and is called Garnet's Envelope. I quilted continuous curves in the blocks with loops added in the plain squares and a swirly, curly Deloa Jones style border.

And the back:

The second one, a really little one at 18" x 20" is called Little Nieces Quilt. (and it really is square)

I quilted flat edge feathers in the border and also in the center strips, alternating direction.

I stitched in the ditch on both sides of the black border.

Peggy's 1600 Quilt

I think this may be the last of the 1600 quilts that I'm quilting. Peggy and her Pit Crew made this one in lightening speed.

I chose Double Rose Vine as the quilting design, as I think it fits very well with the calico fabrics.
Very pretty calicos!

PermaCore Dyed Natural thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Next up just might be Peggy's Celebration quilt!

Congratulations To Me!

Today I celebrate my 11th Anniversary as a non-smoker! 

I can hardly remember what it was like to smoke. I'm sure I'm healthier, but I have put on a few pounds. Well maybe more than a few, but they are coming off slowly.

Cigarettes were $2.75 a pack when I quit and here's some interesting reading:


In that time I've saved over $5,545.10

I've avoided smoking over 40,181 cigarettes.

I've extended my life by over 195.32 days. (think of how many quilts I can make in that many days!)

When you quit smoking:

• After 20 minutes, your blood pressure drops back to normal
• In 8 hours, the carbon monoxide levels in your bloodstream drop by half, and oxygen levels return to normal
• In 48 hours, your change of having a heart attack decreases. All nicotine has left your system. You sense of taste and smell return to a normal level
• In 72 hours, your bronchial tubes relax and your energy levels increase
• In 2 weeks, your circulation increases and continues to improve for the next 10 weeks
• In 2 month coughs, wheezing and breathing problems dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%
• In 1 year, your risk of having a heart attack drops by half
• 5 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke will return to that of a non-smoker
• 10 years after quitting, your risk of lung cancer will return to that of a non-smoker

So, if you're a smoker, please think about quitting. It's the best thing you can do for yourself!

Design Wall Monday

Nothing at all up on the wall, but the tables are full of snap bags.
My Blue Star Mothers group is having a booth at a nursing home this weekend and I'm making snap bags to sell.

Here are the finished ones, made from prequilted fabric. Now that was easy!!

Here are the ones that just need to be stitched up the side, and finished with straps.

Here are the ones that are quilted and trimmed only.

I stitched the fabrics together and loaded them on the longarm to quilt. Now that was easy too!!

Janet's 1600+ Quilt

Janet made this cute 1600+ quilt for her son and daughter-in-law to use when camping. I call it 1600+ because I'm sure it was much longer than 1600 when the strips were sewn together. It spanned the length of her house several times and I helped her wrap it around a tupperware pitcher, which turned out to be not such a good idea.  At least the strips were contained a bit. It is 75" square and cute as can be.

Square Spiral panto, PermaCore dyed Natural thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.

I just love all the different camping themed fabrics. I had no idea there were so many out there.

The backing is 2 flannel camping prints.

Cherry's 2nd Charity Quilt

It's another purple one, but this one is flannel.
I didn't realize that there was a pattern to the fabric placement until I took this photo.

Angel Wings panto, PermaCore Lilac thread and her poly batting.

Some very pretty flannels! I'm sure this quilt will make someone very happy.

Stashbusting - April 22, 2012

Fabric Added this week - 4.75 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 27 yards

Fabric Used this week - 6.625 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 17.125 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: -9.875 yards

I'll catch up eventually. When I get a better chance to work on my own projects.
My purchases included shopping at the quilt show in Cincinnati. 3 yards for the Jefferson High School 40th Class reunion quilt, a FQ for Andrew's label, a panel to quilt for Calise. I also ordered 2 half-yards cuts of Countdown to Christmas to finish my Starry Eyed

My fabric used includes 2 yards of backing for Andrew's train quilt, .625 for his binding and 4 yards for snap bags.

Quilt Show goodies: 2 new stencils, a pattern for some fancy pants for Calise, Peek at Christmas applique book, fabrics mentioned above, Omni, So Fine thread and Bottom Line bobbins and the cute container of goodies and bag that we received from Loretta on the bus.

Beverly's Snails Trail

Beverly brought me this quilt top that she purchased. I don't think she's a quilter, she just collects quilts. We decided on the Baptist Fan pattern and I think it turned out very nice.

Not sure what era these fabrics are from, but some look quite old. She picked it up this evening and brought me another one that will have custom quilting.

Andrew's Train Quilt

Andrew celebrated his 5th birthday on Sunday and I can't believe how fast these five years have flown by.

As with his previous birthdays, I made him a quilt. I'm not sure I will always make them a quilt for their birthdays, but Julie bought this train panel from the garage sale table at Shipshewana last fall, so I had a starting point for this one.
Dan gave me suggestions for the sashing color and I drew out plans for some railroad track borders and as they say, the rest is history.

Here he is with his quilt at the party. Julie says he likes it and that's what counts, right!



My original plan was for the tracks to go all the way around, but once I got the center pieced, I thought it would have been way too long for his bed.



I bought a fat quarter of train fabric at the show and cut a piece for the label:



The backing is flannel, so it will be a snuggly quilt!

Pam's Quilt

Every once in a while I surprise myself. I caught on to doing pantographs when I first got my machine and I still love doing them. But, there are some quilts, and quilters, that deserve custom quilting. This one is just one of those!



Pam's quilt is square as can be, her piecing is perfection and the fabrics are just yummy!



She wanted feathers, CCs, and stippling. She said she like lots of quilting, so here is what I came up with.



I used So Fine/Bottom Line and I'm ever so happy that I picked up a spool of thread at their booth in Cincinnati, because I ran out of the cone I was using. The spool is a shade darker than the cone, but worked just fine. I was so mad at myself for not checking before the bus trip, but it worked out.



And the back.....almost looks as good as the front!

Janet's Bow Ties

Janet has a friend that made these bow tie blocks, using the 10-minute block pattern, and she isn't quilting any longer and is in a nursing home. Janet assembled the blocks and added borders while we were at Spring Break retreat.



I chose to do freehand curls and feathers in the bow ties and a molar feather in the border.



Here's the back. See that spot that I missed. It's done now, but I didn't see it until I took this photo.

Bonnie's Baby Quilt

Bonnie is expecting her first grandchild in a few short weeks and she has made her first quilt.



She chose stars and loops panto and I used PermaCore white thread and a poly batting she provided.



These are just the cutest fabrics!

Snap Bags

I made snap bags for my oldest Granddaughters for Easter.



I added a few things to them, including these cute toothbrushes that fold up.



See, a full size tooth brush. They are made by Colgate and I got them at Walgreens.

Stashbusting 2012 - 4/8

Fabric Added this week - .25 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 22.25 yards

Fabric Used this week - .5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 10.75 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: -11.5 yards

Not much change around here, just a few snap bags made and a bit a fabric to make one to match Elizabeth's new dress.

More Charity Quilts

Here is a charity quilt made by Cherry.



Feather me is the panto and PermaCore Dyed Natural thread with Warm and Natural batting.



And the back. I always love a rather plain back with this panto.



Here's the second one that Sue G gave me. Barb T actually made these and this one is just as nice as the first one.



Square Spiral panto, Omni Safari thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.



And the back:

Dee Dee's Quilt

Carla brought me this quilt and I finally got it loaded and quilted it this week. I chose Feather Me Pantograph, which I think works quite well with the fabrics.



PermaCore Dyed Natural thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.



Here's the pretty backing fabric, but you can't see the stitching very well.