 This week I delivered two quilts that I finished back to Terry. She is just starting on her quilting journey, and she is doing beautifully making these star quilts! I quilted free motion stipple on them both. This one is a surprise for her sister.  This next star is a small lap quilt for a friend in a nursing home. Terry has the true heart of a quilter already, I believe - she can't seem to stop quilting and wants to share her quilts with special people she cares about. I think most of us can relate, don't you?  I loved quilting on these bright spring colors and daisies. Thanks for letting me quilt for you, Terry!!  In other big news this week, Lydia finished her pillow that we have been working on for a while. She was so proud of herself!  As soon as she finished the pillow she asked, "So what are we going to do next?" That night we started on the next project. After Christmas she had her first official fabric shopping trip to the Little Foot Shoppe and picked out a layer cake of bright Kona solids and some cat fabric. She wanted to make a diamond quilt pattern that can be made with the Scrap Crazy 6" templates from Creative Grids. So I cut out some fabric to get started on the diamond quilt. Thanks to all the snow days and two-hour delays, she finished three blocks already!   Thanks for taking the time to visit. I hope you've seen something to inspire you. Today I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Whoop Whoop Friday!
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 Today I'll quickly show you a couple of things I am piecing right now. There is a lot of longarm quilting to be done in my basement studio, but upstairs I usually have some piecing project out that I can work on a few minutes here and there throughout the week. I really was not going to start a block of the month in 2015, but when I saw the Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots Quilt Along I couldn't resist. I decided that I only needed to purchase background fabric and I would use fabrics from my batik stash for this one. Above you can see the February block called Sew On & Sew On. I really love this block, and I used colors that remind me of Lydia's new sewing machine that she got for Christmas.  Above is the January block called Let Them Eat Cake. I like this one, too, because it brings to mind memories of cakes that were made in my family in the past. I also have an affection for pretty cake plates. I only have two that I got back when our family was big into collecting depression glass, and I do use them whenever I have the chance. I'm sure I would have more if I had a place to store and display them. I just think they are really pretty. You can click here to find out more about the quilt along and see the other monthly blocks coming up. Some of the pieces for these blocks are on the small side, but the directions are excellent, and there is even a video to help with the construction if you need it.  I have a few charm packs of spring colored fabric waiting to be made into something pretty. One of them is from the fabric line Up Parasol that I was using to make a table runner. These are actually the scrap pieces left over that I am using to design one more table runner. I just could not let those little 1" scraps go into the garbage can.
I'm pretty sure I used the word "pretty" a few too many times in this post, but I'm at a loss for adjectives right now. Thanks for understanding, and thanks for checking out my works in progress. I'm linking up over at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday. Have a good day!  This past week I finished longarm quilting for Anne. She made a quilt for her son, Ethan. Ethan helped his mom select the fabric and thread for this quilt for his bed. I can speak from my own experience that we quilting moms just love it when our young teenage (or almost teenage) sons take an interest in and even get a little excited about our quilts. I think Ethan is going to love it when it is finished! Anne made the quilt with 2-1/2" strips of fabric following the pattern Jelly Roll Race 3.0. The thread was variegated shades of green, and the back was a minky fabric. Anne usually quilts for herself using her domestic machine, but this was a large quilt, and she was concerned that the size along with the minky might be difficult. It was a pretty heavy quilt.  I quilted using the new Fossil pantograph design that I have - yes, the one I just used on the Bear Quilt. How bout that backing fabric. Wouldn't an Andes Candies mint taste good about now?   Thanks, Anne, for letting me quilt for you! Before I quilted Ethan's quilt, I did a practice one for myself. I had never used minky backing, but it was on my to-do list so that I had some experience with it in case a client ever wanted me to quilt with it. So I finally had the nudge I needed to try it. I had this small lap quilt top already made up from extra blocks from the quilt I made for my daughter, Lydia, a couple years ago. The fabric is Terrain by Kate Spain, and the pattern was Frosted Squares from The Pattern Basket. I went out to JoAnn Fabrics and got some of their minky to use. I was very pleased that I had no trouble, and it looks great and is SUPER soft and warm!! It quilted up really fast with this free motion design called Loopy Clams and can be found on a very nice instructional video here.   My kids both wanted to keep this one for themselves (Jake didn't even care that it is pink), but it will be going to Children's Hospital to hopefully cheer and comfort a kiddo there. I do have plans for a minky backed quilt for our own couch soon, though!
In this freezing weather, hope you all can keep warm under a quilt where ever you are! Thanks for visiting.  This week I finished quilting the Bear Quilt for Aunt Sharon. Sharon's son, Erik, went on a special bear hunt last year, so when she found this bear batik fabric, she knew it would be perfect for him! Sharon used the pattern Take 5, but she turned the blocks a little differently than the pattern instructed so that the directional bears would all be right side up. I quilted it with a dark gold thread and used the pantograph Fossil. Sharon did a great job piecing this one, and I think the whole quilt is beautiful.   Sharon pieced the back with batik fabric also. It was a little tricky to center the whole thing, but it was pretty close.   I think Cousin Erik will love it!! I recently added four new pantographs to my design collection. The one above, Fossil, and Fandango, Enchant, and Orange Peel. So far Fossil is a hit. The next client quilt is going to be using this design also. I'd love to quilt for you if you see something you like! It's Finish It Up Friday, so I'm linking up over at Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!
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This is me...I LOVE to quilt, and every day I must sew for my sanity! Archives
March 2020
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