Monday, January 30, 2017

Ready for February?


Can you believe February is just a couple of days away? I dug through some old photos to find some Valentine quilts or postcards to share.
This quilt I made a long time ago in a class with Sharon Schamber.  This was way back when Quilter's Corner was still in town, and still on Main Street - yes a long time ago :). This is wall hanging size.

The next few are postcards I received in a postcard exchange.  This was really fun and I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime!




While you're in the Valentine mood, go check out The Inbox Jaunt http://theinboxjaunt.com
Lori has all kinds of fun Valentine machine quilting motifs available in her Tuesday Tutorials!

Have a great day!!

Sunday, January 29, 2017

The Quilt Show

I so enjoyed watching The Quilt Show https://thequiltshow.com this morning with guest Lynda Faires!  I think her work is amazing!  I couldn't find a website for her, but it looks like she's on Facebook and teaches Craftsy classes, and is a Bernina Ambassador.

Alex Anderson had some great tips on using the color wheel too.

Fun show!

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Happy Birthday Jessie!!


We've had a lot of birthdays this month!  Today my daughter-in-law is celebrating her "Golden" birthday (turning 28 on the 28th!).   I hope she has a GREAT day!  It sounds like they have some fun things planned :)

Plain and Fancy


I finished up Plain and Fancy!  I need to hang onto it for a few weeks and take it to some meetings for show and tell, then I'll ship it off to my friend Kim for a late birthday gift :)


I really enjoyed quilting this quilt too.  I am enjoying the quilting process so much more than I used to.  I'm crediting my Bernina Q20 for that!  It just makes quilting a pleasure.  That and some of the techniques that I've learned from Angela Walters Shape by Shape books - they have freed up my free motion!


I'm enjoying machine quilting so much I'm even showing off the backs, which I never used to do, and I again matched my bobbin thread with my top thread, which I also never used to do!  I like it!



My quilting machine will get a rest while I tackle some hand projects this next week.

Have a great day!!

Friday, January 27, 2017

Hand Work

Here are two more little hand projects that I've been wanting to make for a long time and am finally getting them ready to stitch.  Next week I get to take care of my granddaughter so I thought it would be fun to have some hand work to do during nap time or evenings.  This is a small sewing case that I get to embellish with a pattern by Lynette Anderson.  It's actually a kit, so all of the fabrics are included.  I got it traced and ready for back basting hand appliqué.
My friend Michelle gave me this pattern for Sue Spargo's needle case and I decided I needed to get that all stitched up and ready to take her class in March! (I signed up for her class at My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe in Logan :). Michelle also gave me a packet of all of her needles so I should be very prepared for the class, once I get my needle case stitched!
So in between playing and changing diapers, I'll be stitching!  Looking forward to it :)

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Happy Birthday Mom!!


My Mom turns 82 today! She is the best Mom ever and I'm so thankful for all she's taught me over the years.  We do not live in the same state but I get to see her in a few days and I'll bring her her quilt :)



I am trying to put together some hand projects to work on.  Yesterday I fused some wool flowers onto my mini tumbling blocks quilt.  I will stitch them down and add some embroidery and hope it looks good!  Then I need to try to figure out out to quilt this little piece....


Hope you're having a great day!!

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Happy Birthday Megan!!

Today is my daughter Megan's birthday! I hope she's having a great day!

So, I have to embarrass her a little bit... When she was little and she got angry with me for not letting her have her way, she'd stomp her little foot and say, "I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party!" It would be all I could do not to laugh :)

She's a wonderful daughter with a wonderful family of her own and we're so lucky and thankful for them!!

Monday, January 23, 2017

Simply Sweet


Here she is in that adorable sweater!  She looks like a little princess :)

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Creativity


My daughter just made this cute little sweater for her daughter!  I don't know how she does this.  Knitting and crocheting are two things I've never been very good at.  She picked it right up though and makes all kinds of cute things!


Here our little model is posing for pictures before the sleeves were added :)
She is also making her a quiet book, which I can tell is going to be adorable.  The little animals are finger puppets and there will be a castle page for the Disney Princess finger puppets pictured below.

Lori from the Inbox Jaunt asked the question yesterday "Why do you quilt?"  I thought about that yesterday and decided for me it's because it makes me happy.  Creating something beautiful makes me happy, my quilting friendships make me happy, the process and the end result (ha! usually!) all make me happy.  I'm thankful to have discovered this world of quilting, that I enjoy so much!

My other daughter is going to take some classes and find a hobby that she enjoys.  She is also very artistic and creative.  I think it's just a matter of finding something creative we love to do! (And finding the time to do it :)

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Plain and Fancy


I am working on quilting my Plain and Fancy quilt, which was a block of the month at Hi Fashion last year.  This quilt is also for a dear friend, Kim, who just had a birthday (yeah, I didn't get it done in time..) We've been friends for almost 50 years though - we were practically babies :) So I'm pretty sure she will forgive the lateness!

I love quilting on this machine - I haven't enjoyed machine quilting as much as I do now.  Love it!


Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Hey Girl...


I must've looked pretty sexy today because I quilted all day in my sweat pants - haha!! (Not sure my hubby would agree :)

If you want to see some teeny tiny pieces, head on over to Rogue Quilter's blog and check out her latest works:

http://roguequilter.blogspot.com

In the top photo - those little half square triangles in the border finish at 1/4 inch!!  No, that is not a typo - really 1/4 inch...

In the bottom photo, the diameter of the Mariner's Compass is three inches!!  Pretty amazing...

Back to batting and crinkly quilts.  My friend Michelle showed me two quilts that have wool batting. She had not pre-washed the fabric in either quilt (and one was flannel) and both had been washed and thrown in the dryer numerous times and are absolutely beautiful, soft and snuggly.  So maybe the wool batting made a difference, or maybe the more you wash it, the better it gets??  Maybe one washing is simply not enough.

Tomorrow I will show you the quilt I'm quilting now.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Pressing Worked!


I pressed my Mom's quilt and I do like it better.  I took some before and after pictures.  This top photo is actually an after picture - it just got out of order.  Look at the lint!  I have, besides washing, rolled this with a lint roller multiple times and the black still shows every little speck of anything!


OK, these first two photos are after washing and before ironing.  I really don't mind a little crinkle but I did not like this much crinkle.  Closer quilting might have helped too, but my Mom doesn't really care for quilts that are heavily quilted ....




These two bottom photos are after ironing and I'm much happier with the result.  Thanks for the tip Sheila!  Next time I think I will buy some 80/20 or 70/30 batting.  How is wool batting for shrinkage?

Have a wonderful day!!

Monday, January 16, 2017

Block of the Month

Here is my first "block"  from the My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe's block of the month.  It was super simple to put together because everything was already cut out for me on the AccuQuilt Go.  No dog ears to trim or anything!  And... it has orange in it so I'm liking it already :)
I received some GREAT advice from Sheila and Dorothy regarding my crinkly quilt for my Mom.  One pre-washes and the other doesn't, but they both use a cotton/poly blend batting, either 80/20 or 70/30, which means the batting would shrink less than the 100% cotton batting that I used.  I really like the Request Dream cotton batting because it's so thin, but perhaps I can find a blend batting that is thin like that.... I may try pre-washing my fabric for a quilt too, just to see if I like that.  Sheila suggested pressing this quilt - I am definitely going to try that - I'll let you know how that works out.  Maybe I'll take some before and after pictures.  Many people prefer the crinkly look anyway, so I'm probably worrying about it too much.  But thanks for the tips!  I am definitely going to try them to see if I can at least get a less crinkly look!

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Masterpiece Theater


If you're a fan of Downton Abbey or other Masterpiece Theater shows, or The Crown, you might be interested in Victoria which starts tonight on Masterpiece Theater - PBS in our area.  

Oh!  One more thing!  A new episode of THE QUILT SHOW with Victoria Findlay Wolfe airs beginning today.  I was at this taping so if you watch closely you might see Wendy, Marion and myself in the audience! Front row!

Have a wonderful Sunday :)

Saturday, January 14, 2017

I Changed It....

I changed the date.  Those of you who know me well, probably knew that I would even before I did!  It only took a couple of minutes and my machine was still threaded with the right thread.  If it was super hard, I probably would have left it.  But now when I see this quilt I'll remember that we were celebrating my Mom's 82nd birthday and not her 81st :)

I also washed it and I am still not sure I like the washed, crinkly look!  It did soften the quilt up, but I still think I liked the look of it better before I washed it.  So, if you have to wash a quilt and do not like the crinkly look - what can you do?  Can anyone help me?

Do I need to prewash fabrics?  I am a non-prewasher.  Maybe I should try that...

Hope you're having a great weekend :)

Friday, January 13, 2017

Look What I Did!


I finished my Mom's quilt and I thought I would be so smart and quilt the "label" right into the cornerstones on the front of the quilt.  So here is "Happy Birthday Mom!"












Next I signed my name, so you know who made it.



And then I stitched on the date....

Yep, I quilted in January 2016!!

So I'm debating, do I rip it out and change it to 2017?  Or, a hundred years from now no one is going to care whether it was finished in 2016 or 2017?  What would you do?


I pretty much always match the bobbin thread to the back of the quilt, but then have to keep messing with the tension to avoid the little "dots" - you know what I'm talking about!  With the back of this quilt being black, I just didn't want to have to deal with black dots all over the colored sections on the front of the quilt so I used the same thread in the bobbin that I used on the top and I really like the look!  My quilting really shows up on the back of the quilt and for perhaps the first time in my life I'm just fine with that :)




Here is the quilt pre-washed.  Today I'm going to fix the date, or not, I haven't decided yet, and then wash it once or twice to get it all softened up and ready for my Mom to use on her bed :)


I hope you're staying warm and having a great day!!

Thursday, January 12, 2017

15 Months Old Today!!


This sweetie turns 15 months old today!  Just when I think she can't get any cuter, she does!

We love her a whole bunch and just can't get enough of her - I guess that's what being grandparents is all about :)








Number One in Cuteness :)

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Mystery Quilt

I received my first installment of the mystery quilt in the mail yesterday from My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe!  I'll get it sewn together and show you what it looks like!

Tonight was supposed to be our guild meeting for CO West Quilt Guild but it was cancelled due to weather.  I had a meeting last night cancelled due to weather as well.  There is a lot of ice around which makes getting out at night a little trickier.  So, I'll use the time to work on my Mom's quilt!

Another word for the year that a reader left in the comment box: Joy. She said Joy is her mother's name and she has Joy throughout the year, not just at Christmas time, as she thinks about her Mom :). Another great word!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Feathers


When I first started machine quilting I didn't really like feathers, probably partly because I had no idea how to make them.  But once I learned, I also learned to really love them!  I like the challenge of fitting them into odd shapes, such as this shape on my Mom's quilt. I drew the S shaped spine with chalk and filled in with feathers



Along the edge I put feathers in half of that shape.


The center is all quilted!  Now I need to quilt the piano key border, sew on the binding and wash it!  Hurray!