What am I doing?

I started another string quilt!  My leftover strips are in 2 medium size bags now and over flowing.  So I was just going to try to organize them, ya'know.  And I started making piles by color...and I thought, hmmm I think I've seen on someone's blog a string quilt with all lights on one side and darks on the other. It was this blog. Finn has it on her sidebar.

What if I did the same thing, but by color... hmmm. And that was my afternoon yesterday. Today I planned on making purple blocks and maybe orange too.  I'm suppose to be quilting my "Leftovers" quilt, which is loaded by the way, (today). But no sewing today: aww boo.  I had to clean and take my MIL to the hairdresser's (3:30 appt. on a Friday afternoon, can anyone say traffic nightmare?)  Oh well, mom will be beautiful for Christmas. She got a perm too.  And that is more important than my quilt.  

One more thing before I forget: I've noticed that I put off loading a new quilt. It's not hard, I'm pretty quick now pinning it on to the leaders. It used to take me an hour....oh the agony. I can't say I don't like the process. I just keep putting it off and as soon as I start, I will think why do I procrastinate? It's a mystery. I think it's weird.

I know I put off sewing on bindings, because I hate doing bindings. I get that. But as I said I don't feel that way about loading quilts. I need to work on fixing this in 2010, I waste time and also, like yesterday, as I was putting off loading that quilt I started another, which I definitely didn't need to do right now.

Design Wall Monday/and other things

Here is a picture of my design wall.  It's an orphan quilt top. I do not know when I started to sew together all these leftover blocks but that top row of blocks are from Little Quilts and those I was making 4-5 years ago. It measures 60" x 79" right now.  I think I'm going to add another border on the top and down the right side and call it done.  I have a few more orphan blocks that I think I will piece into the backing.   

Here is a picture of my finished Spring Journey Sampler quilt (80 X 100) that I posted about on DWM a few weeks ago.

It took me all weekend to get the binding hand sewed to the back and I sewed the label on last night.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  I learned a lot about quilting feathers in such a large area.  I think I like the back of the quilt as much as the front and am toying with the idea of getting a big piece of white fabric and doing a whole cloth quilt.  That one's going to have to percolate in the back of my mind for a bit.

I'm so glad this is finished.  I really thought this was one that would just languish away in the back of a closet.  If I had to do it again, the only change would be the color palette, this goes with nothing in my house.  I lean towards country/primitive. I should have made it in those colors (my colors).

Here is a picture of one of the setting triangles,

here's one of the back. Crappy photo. :)

And a close up of one of the blocks.  I quilted each block differently, including using different fillers in the background of each one. In some of the blocks that's all I did was quilt a filler in the white background.  Except for knowing I was going to quilt feathers in the setting triangles, I didn't know what I was going to do in the blocks.  I decided what should be in it when I got to it. I enjoy this kind of quilting the best.

In this block I quilted flowers in the basket.

 I hope you can see them.

A Post for me

I finished the quilting on Spring Journey Sampler quilt--love it.  12/10-sewed on binding and began the hand sewing to back of quilt, this is going to take a few days, so much other stuff to do.  Also yesterday, I quilted 3 of the donation quilts, 1st one all over stipple, 2nd-all over zig-zag, really like this will have to use again.  I used a primary variegated thread on both of these. 3rd one looping circles all over, started with a pastel variegated but ran out so finished with a pastel blue. 

Today I made the binding for all 5 quilts and loaded the 4th one. I'm quilting that with an all over curvy "C's" that I like so much as a filler, just making each 'c' a little bigger.  I also cleaned up messy pile in sewing room.  I was throwing backing leftovers from quilts that were finished in a heap.  They were a jumbled mess. I pressed them and cut into strips for string quilts.  I'm going out to dinner tonight with 2 friends, if I get home in time I hope to finish the 4th one and load 5th.  Pictures will follow.  No time today.

Edit:  I got home around 9:30 (had a wonderful time) and finished quilting 4th quilt, loaded and quilted 5th one too!  I forgot and drank regulare coffee after dinner, instead of decaf.

Christmas Quilts Part 3 "That's All Folks"

I made this from a kit.

 

 I think I ordered it from somewhere. It's signed on the back 'Nov. 92' but I think I had the kit for a few years before making it.  I didn't like the pink background for a Christmas quilt.  After it was all done, I noticed that the far right row of geese were "off" top one should have been green.  This kind of thing really bothers my eye.   This quilt used to really bug me.  

I'm used to it now and think it's quite charming, but my eye still zero's right in on that top right corner.  I'm using it this year as a table topper in my kitchen. 

This next quilt is just a panel that I got at Joanne's and made 10/2000. I hand quilted it.  The blue colors don't really go with my red sofa, gives too much of a patriotic feel. So I hung it in our bedroom.  If you click and enlarge, you may be able to read the words "Do you see what I see?".  

That's one of my favorite Christmas songs.  

This is a "Little Quilt" design.  I made in 1998.  Its hand blanket-stitched and hand quilted. It is 14.5 x 18.5 inches. 

. 

Another Little Quilt, I made him in Nov. 2002.  I made 7 of them!  The rest were gifts. He's made all from scraps.  I just love him and since he's not really Christmas but winter he stays out for the rest of the winter.

This is the last Little Quilt design. 

 This is all scraps.  I finished this one 9/2003.  It is hand quilted as well. Those little HST finish 1 inch! 

I love this quilt too.  (I say that a lot, I know.)

These 2 quilts are Thimbleberries designs.  I use them for table toppers or to just stick somewhere there isn't a quilt...one is on the back of the sofa and the other is on the back of a wing chair in the living room this year. The 9-patch blocks use black fabric, instead of say a green for traditional Christmas palette.  Both quilts are a mix of Christmas fabrics and just regular prints.  I don't know why I made 2, but both were made in December 2003. 

This is made with all Christmas fabrics.  I don't remember the quilt show or designer who was on it.  But I got this idea from a show I watched.  It was a lesson in color placement and to just let the colors 'go where they may'.  You cut out 120  2 inch squares no more than 3 of the same fabric and just 1 if you had enough. Then you mixed them all up in a bag.  You reached in pulled squares out and arranged those 10 rows across 12 down.  Not re-arranging at all!  After they were all laid out you could move 2 or 3 (if say 2 of the same were right next to each other).  I made another one with batiks, it actually was the 1st and I liked it so much I made this one.  The batik one is gone and I don't think I have a digital picture of it.


This is my Weaver Fever quilt that I made in 2006.  I took a class at

my LQS The Quilting Needle. I was able to use fabrics from my stash and only had to buy yardage for the borders and one of the green prints.  The backing is a Christmas toile print.  I quilted this on a HQ16 that I rented from another LQS. This was before I got my own. It measures 57 x 46.  I keep it out most of the year, since my living room is red and green anyway.  It goes.

Oops! This should have been earlier. (I am trying to list these in order they were made, but am failing.)
I made this in April 2005.  It was another class at The quilting Needle.  The pattern is from another LQS The Quilt Company the link should go to the pattern Reversible Runner too.  It's a quilt as you go pattern. I made several of these, not for Christmas, just to use up fabric.  I didn't keep them though.  I gave a few away and donated the rest to our church festival's craft booth.  It's one of those easy addictive kind of patterns.

This was another class at The Quilting Needle.  I took this class and made this quilt in March 2007.  It was a technique class for the ribbon border.  We really only needed a plain square of fabric for the center, but I had been wanting to make a machine appliqued Oak and Reel block so I made the center one of those blocks and then added to it to get the correct size.  I actually made 2 of these as well to use up this LOUD fabric.  The back on this one is just muslin. The other one had a pieced backing sort of like a trip around the world using up all the leftovers.  That quilt was donated to church festival.  This one my son John took just a few weeks ago to his apartment.  (He came over and hinted that he needed a quilt for a big blank wall in his living room!) He picked this one. 

This last picture is not a quilt but a crewel work piece that I finished around 1990.  In 1984 we moved to the house we lived before moving here.  My Granpap bought this kit for me as a housewarming gift.  I didn't quilt then.  I didn't finish it until after we moved here which was in 1989.  I was up to my eyeballs in babies and toddlers during those years!!!  My dad made the frame for it, which I just realized you can't see. Ha! Sorry!

I'm almost done with my Spring Journey quilt.  I will finish it today.  I unloaded it to turn it to do the side borders.  I hope to have a couple pictures soon.  I'd really like those pictures to show it with the binding on it too.  But I'm not holding my breath! Just getting it quilted after all these years is joyous!!!

Quilts for Kids

I ordered 2 quilt kits in October, then I got sick, then I went on the quilt shop bus tour. All good excuses but basically I forgot about the little UPS box sitting beside my sewing machine.  So I started working on them yesterday. Here is the first one, the fabric is already cut into strips for you, easy peasy.
They ask that if you make one with their fabrics to make a 2nd one with your own fabrics.

So on the Bus tour I was on I won a bundle of fabrics.  I used them and some of my own leftovers to make this 2nd quilt. 

Then I opened the 2nd quilt kit. It has the same fabrics as the first except the 1.5" inner border on this one is red instead of blue. 

This is the quilt I made for this one.  I had enough of the green/orange leftover for 6 blocks so I used them too.

Now I still have a little leftover and I have this green print with ladybugs from a custom baby quilt I did last summer.

  So I cut that into 15 squares for the focus fabric. This is as far as I got.  I do think I will have to go and buy some fabric for the outer border. But that's OK.  These are too much fun to make.  I was really getting them done too. And then my phone rang.   When I came upstairs (while talking on the phone), look what is happening outside!

Yeah! Snow, finally. 

And here is just an update on my UFO from forever. 

My Father Christmas hooked rug that I should be working on instead of or at least in conjunction with the donation quilts.  It is here on the floor inside my sewing room.  I think I put it there Thanksgiving day before company arrived.  

(It had been sitting on a chair in the living room.)  

Oh and the beer case in the background....I use the heavy cardboard for the bottoms in my purses.  They're pretty sturdy, very light and free.

  And yes, Father Christmas was just tossed there upside down. 

I have no shame.

Christmas Quilts Part 2

I will call this Nancy Halvorsen quilt day.  I love her applique designs; her books have great instructions and great pictures--very important. 

These are 2 tea towels for me!  I have no idea how many of these I made and gave for gifts.  The Santa one on the right, I think was a pattern in a quilt magazine.  I don't keep good notes on smaller things like this sometimes.  

I made Up on a Roof  Top in November 2004. It's companion, You better not Pout  I made in Nov. 2005  I remember using mostly scraps for these quilts.

These are 2 little angel quilts, I made in 2004 as well.  My notes say I made 6 total. They were gifts for family.  I also made one in patriotic colors with the angel holding an American Flag, but I must have donated or given that away.  I haven't seen it for a while....
They both have the words "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" stitched on them.  The top one I should have used a darker thread, it doesn't show up well.

This little one I made 3 of November 2004.  Two were gifts. (I was busy in Nov. 2004)

I love this quilt! I made it in 2006. It's about 42" square.  Again, I used fabrics from my stash and bought the border ones.  I think I did buy a few fat quarters for the 3 wise men's robes.  I machine quilted this on my domestic machine. It is not a good job.  The tension was giving me fits especially in the beige background areas. When I got it out this year and  looked at it, I was bummed.  After Christmas, I think I will take out the quilting (it won't be hard the tension it that bad) and re-do it. Before I made it, I made a smaller version of just the center panel with theHoly family.  I gave that one to my sister. Let me see if I can find a picture. I just remembered that when I was writing about this one.

Here it is, I love it too.

Today I am working on donation baby quilts.  I have 2 pieced and a 3rd almost done, one more to piece then I need to get back on the HQ and finish my Spring Journey quilt.

A Christmas Quilts Show

I have all my Christmas quilts up, so it's time to start documenting them. That means a little quilt show, this will take a few days.  I have a lot of Christmas quilts.This is one of the 1st quilts I ever made.  It was suppose to be a pillow, but I didn't know how to make it into a pillow so I just finished it. It's all pieced and appliqued by hand. I hand quilted the year in the bottom border 1989. 

These next to pictures show little quilt kit quilts I bought at whatever the Michael's craft store was, before it was Michael's (when the name comes to me I'll just yell it out, ok?) Edit: LeeWards it used to be LeeWards--remembered after a good night's sleep! I'm not getting old just sleep deprived, *wink* They were all the same design line and had some stitchery in them.

 This is my log cabin wall quilt, it's about 50".  I made this in 1993.  It's hand quilted.  After I put it together, I was so disappointed at how the dark green strips made a secondary pattern so pronounced (poor fabric selection and placement on my part--but that's how ya learn).  About 5-6 years ago, I got over it, finally! And I really like this one. Here's a close up of the quilting in the border.

And here it is on the wall behind my Christmas tree this year.  I took 2 days to decorate the tree.