Sue and Mabel

Last week Sue G came to visit Mabel. She planned on quilting a small quilt but decided to do a big on instead. She did a great job and it only took her 3 hours, start to finish! She used the Leafage pantograph.

I forgot to take a photo of her with the finished quilt, but here another shot of her concentrating very hard.

Catching Up On The Blog!

Janet reminded me today that it's been almost a week since I posted and I don't know where the time goes.

Since I was here last, I made 9 blocks for Quiltmaker's Block Party in Williamsburg, Virginia. Unfortunately, I won't be attending, but my blocks will be there. I was given the color palette, Americana and these are the fabrics I pulled from my stash:

I got to chose a block from one of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks issues. I chose  from the first issue. I have kept one and the other eight were mailed to Quiltmaker. After the blocks are exchanged, I will receive 8 different Americana blocks back.

I'm not sure why I didn't put mine up there also, but I didn't. Dan came into the sewing room as I was packaging them up. He said I needed some in-progress shots for the blog and he took these.
The bottom right photo was taken a while back at the beginning of my weight loss, that's me on the right. I have lost almost 30 pounds so far. When I saw the photos that Dan took, I knew I needed something to compare them to. Quite a difference, I'd say!

Another project for Quiltmaker is in the works and these are my very pretty Robert Kaufman 1930's prints:

They are all cut up and I started piecing this evening.

Design Wall (floor) Tuesday

I know it's Tuesday again, but here is my design floor. I've outgrown the wall and now, most of the sewing room floor. I have begun to stitch the blocks together in diagonal rows.

There are going to be 2 and a half more rounds of dark brown blocks and then it's done.
I have this many ready to tear the paper off of and then about 30 more to make.

Here's my fabric choices for Quiltmaker's Block Exchange. My colors are to be Americana and I pulled all these from my stash.

Janet's Bug Jar Quilt

Janet made this cute quilt for one of her grandsons who will be 3 years old soon.

I chose a dragonfly panto and what a great choice. Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting and Omni lite green thread.

And the backing:

My New Quilting Assistant!

I have a new Assistant! My husband Dan has learned to use the longarm.

He has done 2 cheater quilts to be donated to the Veterans home, 2 NICU quilts that he loaded and quilted on the same backing and this big one.
Here he is checking the stitches on the back after he finished.

Dan really didn't have this quilt loaded for a week, I just haven't updated the blog. I think he may have had it on Mabel for 2 days, which is pretty good considering the quilt was 84x94.

We chose Erin as the pantograph, partly because it was already on the table and also, it's an easy one.

And here's the back:

He's doing a really good job!

When he's not working on the longarm, you might find him repairing a sewing machine. His blog is here. If you need a machine serviced, contact him through his blog.

Virginia's First 2012 Christmas Quilt

Virginia makes quilts for her family for Christmas and this is the first one I'm quilting for her this year. I have 2 more waiting for their turn.

I chose Erin Panto as this one is for a guy and it doesn't have such a flowery look as most of my pantos.  Omni Light Tan thread and a poly batting.

And the back, which is actually tan, but the lighting is way off.

Design Wall Monday

Well hey, I'm actaully posting on Monday this week.

I got a few more blocks made for Matt's Carmel Latte quilt.

This quilt is made up of string blocks in these colors:
cream
cream/tan
tan
tan/light brown
light brown
light brown/dark brown
dark brown

Mary's Tumbler Quilt

Mary made this great tumbler quilt using lots of reproductions fabrics. She has a lot of antiques in her beautiful house and it will look wonderful there.

Bountiful feathers is the quilting designPermacore Khaki thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Lisa's Baby Quilt

Lisa, a member of my guild, made this adorable baby quilt.

I chose Daisy Swirl panto, Omni Pearl White thread, with just a touch of pink, and Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting. I just love the fabrics she chose.

And the back:

Ah, it's lovely!

Connie's embroidery quilt is finished, binding and all.
I can't wait for her to see it.

And the back:

Connie's Embroidery Quilt

I'm not finished with the quilting of this one, but it's a great story...

28 years ago Connie started cross stitching these blocks while she was pregnant. She planned to make a quilt with them for her new daughter. It's been a funny joke within the family for many years that Connie will eventually finish the blocks. Well, her daughter is getting married this month and she plans to give the quilt to her at that time. She worked hard to finish 10 of them and brought them to me to assemble them into a quilt. I set 9 of them on the diagonal with muslin in the alternating blocks, setting triangles and borders. There are printed stitching lines, which I am somewhat following.