the Quilting Belle

Oh Boy!

2012-01-14T15:57:00.000-06:00

Hubby pieced and quilted this for a special little boy born shortly before Christmas. We made a quilt for his big brother a couple of years ago (http://thequiltingbelle.blogspot.com/2010/06/staying-in-from-heat.html). So when Hubby started brain storming for this one, he decided to do something different, but a bit connected. There are some of the same fabrics in each quilt and the thread used for quilting is the same (a great variegated thread in primary colors)... and while there are similarities in style, they are each very much their own. I think this one looks like stained glass!

And the quilting on the back looks super!

Next stop for Hubs... UFO busting! We have 6 tops that need to be quilted. He pulled out a top I made for the fun of it earlier this year. I saw a photo of a quilt.. thought it was neat.. decided to see if I could recreate it. You can see the top here.. it's the 2nd quilt in the post http://thequiltingbelle.blogspot.com/2011/05/catching-up-in-blogville-part-4-all.html

And my next project (other than finishing up some embroidery on my Snowman Faces quilt), well.. here is a tiny hint..

"Belle"

What a Hoot!

2012-01-11T06:53:00.002-06:00

Owls are the rage right now.. as they have been many times in the past. Last year my daughter asked me to whip up some bibs and burp cloths for a friend who was having a little girl. She mentioned that they loved owls. I found the cutest fabric and ordered much more than I needed. Whipped up a bib and burp cloth and set the rest aside for future use.

Well that use arrived. A sweet young couple in our church had baby #2 in Dec. When I learned the nursery was going to be done in bright pink, lime green, white and sky blue I knew I had just the right fabric.. the owls! I grabbed it out of my stash, went through my nickle charms and pulled a bunch that would work, sewed a bunch of big nine patches... sliced them into 4ths... put them back together and created this cute Disappearing Nine Patch. I really do like this pattern, especially for baby quilts. It goes together quickly and turns out so cute!

Hubby quilted it basically in-the-ditch, but he kept the lines going from block to block.. creating an implied 9 patch. He used the same petal pink thread he used for Lou's baby quilt (previous post). I love the way it looks on the back against the lime green!

2 of the 2011 baby quilts down... 1 more to go....

"Belle"

Baby Lou's Quilt

2012-01-10T17:29:00.000-06:00

I made this top back in September for my SIL's first grandbaby.. a sweet little girl named, Lou. Then I got caught up in an 80th birthday bash for my mom and shortly after that she fell and broke some bones (still recovering from that)... needless to say I got essentially nothing "quilty" done during the last part of 2011.

Well 2012 is here and it is time for new stuff.. but first some of the old has to be finished up. Lou's was first on the list!

The Mad Quilter (a.k.a. hubby) and I got this one sandwiched up and off he went! Simple in-the-ditch quilting, but on what a difference it makes. This quilt top is now a quilt! A cute girlie quilt with lots of pink and green. It will be headed off to Miss Lou this week.

There are 2 more baby quilts in the works.. one is quilted (again The Mad Quilter at work!) and ready to be bound. The other is waiting patiently for some batting. And I am working again on my Snowman Faces quilt... finishing up the embrodiery so it can be quilted.

Then let the new stuff begin! (OK there are more UFOs to work on, but once these goals are met I am going to work on something new for a bit!)

"Belle"

Hint, Hint... it's a boy...

2011-12-12T08:01:00.000-06:00

A few years ago a co-worker of my husband's became grandmother to a sweet little boy. I whipped up a quilt top and hubby quilted it. Here is a picture of that top without the final border etc. I somehow forgot to take a photo of it all finished! http://thequiltingbelle.blogspot.com/2010/06/snips-and-snails-and-puppy-dog-tails.html

Well she has another grandbaby on the way.. due any day now.. and once again it's a boy! So hubby pulled fabrics this weekend and whipped up a top. I love that he used some of the same fabrics as the first quilt and the pattern is similar, but not the same. Here is a hint of what's to come...

There will be a photo of the final product once finished.

"Belle"

Swappin'

2011-12-11T18:39:00.000-06:00

My online quilt buddies and I had a little Christmas Swap. You sent your partner something to do with quilting... something to do with Faith.. something to do with Christmas.. and something just for her.. and 1 item had to be homemade / handmade.

Here is what I received:

Here is what I sent: (I added a tin of Pirouette Cookies after I took the picture)

Love sending and getting goodies!

"Belle"

Here a Nose... There a Nose...

2011-11-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

I am a huge fan of anything "Snow"... maybe because I live in a part of the world where snow is a rare treat. I recently saw a photo of the cutest quilt and immediately knew I had to make it. It quickly became a project for my hubby (a.k.a. the Mad Quilter) and me. The face shapes are there... and the flying geese (Hubs did those.. first time to make them... he did a great job!)... and there are "carrot noses" everywhere going in all directions! I had a blast adding.

Now I am adding a border of embroidery. Once that is done, Hubs will do some quilting in the ditch and then I am going to add black button eyes and mouths. The buttons will add some tacking through the entire quilt.

This will be a nice big wall hanging for our breakfast room through the Winter season. What fun! This Mississippi Girl will have quilty snow this year!

"Belle"

3 Little Bibs... all in a row...

2011-10-22T17:07:00.000-05:00

I have been having a long reprieve from quilting... actually from sewing of any kind. And sadly I am just not motivated to get going again. Ever had a quilting funk? I have a baby quilt top begging to be quilted... Christmas projects I need to make... but just cannot get my inner quilter up and going. In the midst of the funk, my daughter said "Mom, I need some baby things for a shower gift. Can you make some burp cloths?" Of course I said yes. And I decided to make bibs too. I have actually never made a bib.

I perused the web and found tons of how-tos and tutorials and templates for bibs. Decided on a very basic one. Printed out the template and went to town. It was so easy and quick and fun! Instant Creative Gratification! After making the first "practice" bib, I decided to whip up 2 more along with 3 matching burp cloths.

Here is the result:

Miss Harper will be a well bibbed baby!

"Belle"

Happy Birthday!!!

2011-09-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

Today is my sweet Mother's 80th birthday. She is a sassy Southern gal who is still going strong despite bouts with 3 separate cancers... arthritis in her hips and knees from chemotherapy.... damage to her heart and eyes due to an undiagnosed Thyroid disease... the woman will not slow down! Active in her church.. busy with her friends... checking on others .... taking meals to them... does her crossword puzzle, cryptogram and jumble each day... reads... rarely watches TV... talks on the phone as much or more than any 13 year old girl... she is a hoot and I adore her and am thankful to still have her in my life!

A few years ago a group of quilty friends made a 1930s repro churn dash as a love quilt for a dear friend going through a tough time. I had the privilege of putting all the blocks into a top and finishing up the quilt. Mother saw it and thought it was for her! She was very disappointed to learn I was mailing it off to someone else. Well she has her own now and I think it looks great on her bed!

I whipped up the blocks... the mad quilter did the rest... quilting and binding (gotta love a man who will bind a quilt for you!)... we also made 2 throw pillows from some left over blocks (I got carried away and made a few more than I needed!)

We snuck over to Mom's recently and laid the top (without borders) on her bed to see how much drop we needed. I think we did a great job with the size! I just love it.

Tonight we slipped over to Mom's while she was at church and got everything set up... we went back to drop off a mum for her (hubs heard her say she wanted one). She was just getting home, so we stayed a bit. She never left the kitchen! LOL! Couldn't think of a reason to send her to the bedroom. So we came on home. About an hour later the phone rang... she loves it! I have no doubt she has been on the phone telling her friends about her birthday present. LOL!

This is probably one of my favorite quilts ever... partially because it looks great... partially because it was made for my sweet Mother... and mostly because it made her heart sing! I don't think I have done that too often in the past 49 years... more heart ache and stress and frustration etc. The joys of parenthood. So if I can make hers sing... WOW! I have accomplished a great thing!

"Belle"

Churning Away.....

2011-08-24T16:04:00.000-05:00

My quilting has been in small spurts lately.. a block or two here.. a block or two there. I am almost done with a stack of Churn Dash blocks for a bed quilt. My mother will be 80 next month and this will be a quilt for her bed. It will be full size with a good bit of drop on the sides (she has an old high bed). I used 1930s repros as she loves them! A group of quilty friends and I made a love quilt last year (or was it the year before?) using repros and the Churn Dash pattern. Mother loved it and was disappointed that it wasn't for her. This one will be a tad bit different. There will be white sashing and at this point the border and binding will be white (Kona Snow to be exact). Basically her bed will be covered in a field of repro Churn Dashes! I also want to make a couple of pillow shams with extra blocks for her bed. And some window valances with Kona Snow and maybe some small repro squares. I think it will all look great!

Here is a taste of what is to come....

I think the bottom one (purple gingham, peach dot print) is my favorite block so far. I just love that peach fabric!!!

Stay tuned for the finished product... (and yes, the Mad Quilter will be quilting this... he loves his mom-in-law and he is much faster than I am at quilting!)

"Belle"

Time for a Little Girl Quilt!

2011-08-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law will soon be a grandmother for the first time... and It's A Girl!!! I couldn't wait to whip up something girlie after doing several boy quilts. What fun! I pulled charms and made a bunch of HSTs (my sweet husband cut them all down for me... are you jealous?) and then I put them together in a very basic patchwork layout. No fancy patterns.. just a sea of HSTs. I love all the colors. Have NO idea how it will be quilted! But it will be worked on soon. Baby Lou is due in a few weeks! Of course she lives in TX, so she won't need a quilt for warmth for a while! LOL!

Here is the finished top.. unquilted..

Saddle Up Cowboy!

2011-08-12T16:06:00.000-05:00

I posted this quilt top already, but wanted to show you the finished product. I did super simple quilting on it. Just in the ditch around the panels and then some fun boots in the sections with the cowboy print. The boots are difficult to see on the front.. I used a honey colored thread.. but they show up just fine on the back.

I love drawing out the designs (tracing them!) and then following the lines with my sewing machine. One day, maybe, I will be brave enough to go it alone and do some free motion quilting!

"Belle"

A LABOR of Love....

2011-08-12T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last January we had the threat of severe winter weather.. now let me remind you that I live in the deep deep South.. so snow flurries are severe winter weather to us! Mention snow or ice and run home and batten down the hatches.. much like we do for hurricanes. I also live in a college town, so when this warning was released, the college sent kids home... that could go home. My son's girlfriend came to our house.. and she brought her roomie, Morgan, with her. We all spent the next 24 or so hours curled up under quilts.. playing games.. eating fun food.. watching movies.. being silly. It was a lot of fun!

Morgan was intrigued by our quilting and some time later mentioned that she had a quilt top her grandmother had made for her back in the 90s. But that was all she had.. the top. Could we finish it? Sure. A bit later the top arrived. I looked at the size of it, smiled at my wonderful husband (a.k.a. the mad quilter) and said "It's all yours!"

He removed the tiny bit of quilting that was on it... removed the high loft poly-fil type batting... added a simple white border to prevent cutting the edges off the red blocks when binding... used a thin cotton batting and got it all sandwiched again (took forever!).. and off he went with the quilting. Straight-line.. in the ditch... nothing fancy... but sooo much of it! He growled at times while working on this one. Remember.. no long-arm machine here.. not even a medium one.. a very basic Kenmore sewing machine from the 1990s... work horse of a machine.. but small throat! Once quilted, he bound it and then.. gulp.. we washed it. We had NO idea if Morgan's grandmother had prewashed the fabric. I think we used 7 color catcher strips! No fading at all. Yeah!

It really turned out lovely and I know Morgan is going to love it. Her grandmother, whom we met in May, told us it was queen size. Maybe as a bedspread that reaches to the floor! We laid it on our Kingsize bed and it covers the top and drops down on the sides and the foot very nicely. I would like about 4 more inches in the drop, but still.. it is HUGE.

It was definitely a lot of work... LABOR... for Hubby. But I also know he loved doing it for Morgan. He is a keeper!

"Belle"

Kindle.. iPad... covers to go!

2011-08-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine has a Kindle and she found a cute cover for it online at the Moda Bake Shop (love that site!). She asked if I could make it... so I whipped one up for her. The binding is the biggest booger.. it is so small and tedious to work with... but still, I think it turned out cute.

The tutorial can be found here.. Moda Bookkeeper

Here is the one I made:

When my son's girlfriend saw the cover, she said "Let's make one for an iPad!" So we did some reconfiguring for size and she whipped up this cutie:

It is for her mom's birthday. I hope the size is right!

Both were fun and quick... I need little projects like this every so often... that instant gratification fix!

"Belle"

Ready for some Boys!

2011-07-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

Recently whipped up 2 baby quilts for 2 little fellas.... both due in August. I have posted pix of the tops, but wanted to show them completed.

The first is for Oliver. I pieced the top and my husband quilted it. Be sure to look at the upclose shot of the border. He had fun creating there. And there is a photo of the back.. I am hoping the quilting shows. I have to say that the photos do not do the fabrics in this quilt justice.. they are beautiful (and were all in my stash.. bought nothing for this one but batting!)

And the other is for Reed. Reed's dad is a basketball coach.. so I went with a sports theme. I pieced and quilted this one. Very simple disappearing nine-patch with in the ditch quilting. But I decided to try something else. In the 4 corner blocks and the very center one, I quilted the outline of a basket ball. They are not perfect by any long shot, but I think they turned out cute and I feel certain Reed's dad will like them. I had most of this in my stash. Had to purchase some fabric for the border and the batting.

Working on a quilt for a little girl now ... have another boy top done and ready to quilt... and then have another boy and a girl coming in December! More baby quilts on the way. I love babies and I love making baby quilts!

"Belle"

Weird & Ugly Update

2011-07-22T07:42:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I posted a photo of some fabric... it was part of a challenge among a group of quilty friends. One friend picked out a fabric she considered weird and ugly. She sent a bit to each of us and we then had to use it in a project. Here is the fabric:

And here is my creation:

It is a very large tote bag that I now use for carrying groceries and such. I like using canvas or cloth bags in place of plastic ones and carry a number with me. This one is perfect for when I am running in to pick up just a few items. It will hold them all! (It is big!) And the handles are nice and long, so I can carry it on my shoulder even when full.

I am not sure you would know the fabric was covered with skeletons and day of the dead images if you hadn't seen the fabric whole first.

Fun challenge.. wish you could see the other creations... they were all neat and varied!

"Belle"

Too busy to blog or quilt lately....

2011-07-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

Life is so full and busy lately... and that means less time to quilt or blog.. not fun!

There are a number of things in the works....

A baby quilt for a little girl due in September. The HSTs are done.. now I have to decide how I want to lay them out..

This way:

or This other way:

Here is where I got the colors I used for the HSTs...

This dot fabric will be used for a border for sure!

I am also going to try my hand at making a denim baby big. Saw this post (Recycled Denim Bib ) with the how-to and just could not resist! Pulled an old pair of jeans from my daughter and a scrap of fabric to test this out.

Hubby has a BIG project going. A sweet girl named Morgan had a quilt top her grandmother made for her years ago. She asked if we could quilt it. We got the quilt.. it is huge! Morgan's grandmother said she was aiming for queen size. I think she may have overshot that a bit! LOL! Hubby added a border There was none and we didn't want the binding to cover any of the red squares... which are really a reddish pink in person than a true red-red. Got a back and batting.. sandwiching this one was a bear! Here is a look at the quilting, so far... I think it is going to look great when it is done and I know Morgan is going to cherish it!

Warning: Blog Reading can be costly! LOL! I was reading some quilting blogs and saw in one where the blogger was selling off some of her stash. I zipped to her etsy shop and found I was a tad late.. most everything was gone.. but there was a bundle of fabric designed by Sandi Henderson left. I LOVE Sandi Henderson's designs, so I snatched it up! Don't have a clue what they will inspire, but I know I love looking at them!

I posted awhile back where my son's girlfriend and I did some crafting and she created a cute little applique tree pillow. We had another crafty day earlier this summer. She wanted to make another pillow. This one is larger and coordinates with the small one. Turned out great!

There are 2 completed baby quilts I need to photograph and post... soon!

In the meantime... here's to hoping we all get more time to create!

"Belle"

Catching Up in Blogville -- Part 4 ... All Caught Up!

2011-05-30T21:23:00.000-05:00

One quilt got completed over the past 2 months. I made the top earlier in March and the Mad Quilter (a.k.a. my sweet hubby) quilted it and finished it, binding and all. He is a keeper! :-) This is a graduation gift for a sweet girl in our church. She will be getting it as soon as she gets home from FL! Cannot wait to see how she likes it.

I finished up a top for Friendship House in New Orleans (a transitional shelter for women). I saw a picture of this quilt online, but had no idea the pattern... so I winged it! I think it turned out well. I love the final border... I really love pieced borders!

And as I mentioned in Part 2 of Catching Up in Blogville, I put together some baby quilt tops.. which will soon be quilted. This one is the most unbaby quilt I think I have made... and I love it! My daughter has friends expecting baby #1.. a boy (lots of boys this year!). She asked me to make something using warm earthy tones. I pulled greens and golds and browns and I found a big scrap of fabric that has frogs all over it. I really love this fabric. She saw it and said "Use that!" So I added more colors that coordinated with the froggy print. Here is the result:

And here is a close up of some of the frog fabric:

The last baby quilt top I made this weekend. Another couple in our church expecting baby #1 and yes, another boy. I was digging through the stash and came across some cowboy fabric I had used in another baby quilt. I really love this fabric. An idea formed in my mind and off I went. I love braids... have made a number of braided borders, but I have never used them in a quilt this way. I like it:

That little red strip defining the braids looks great to me, but it was not the easiest thing to add. Soooo small! But worth it, I think.

Here is a close up of the inspiration fabric:

One more thing. All 4 of these were made from fabric in the stash.. no purchases necessary! I love it! I am doing my best to use from the stash and save some money!

And now I am finally caught up in Blogville!

"Belle"

Catching Up in Blogville -- Part 3

2011-05-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

Some of my time playing with fabric over the last couple of months has not involved a sewing machine. I have bought a bit.. not much actually... received some from a friend... and cut some things for a swap.

Hubs and I found this pretty fabric on clearance at Hancocks:

I have no idea where it will be used, but I am sure it will turn up somewhere.

We also found this amazingly gorgeous fabric:

It has been used to create napkins! Yes, napkins. I grew up using cloth napkins. I don't consider them for special occasions only or "fancy". I am not one who believes in saving the good stuff for company. My family deserves the good stuff! Plus using cloth napkins is environmentally friendly. :-) Hubs made these. I love them!

My friend, Jules, who knows me sooo well, sent me some dachshund fabric. She knows how much I love dachies and anything dachie! Isn't this too cute?

Then when I was at Hancocks, purchasing the fabrics above, I saw this...

Dachies and Pink! Could it be more me!? LOL!

And lastly, I am participating in an online swap... 2 1/2" x 21" strips of fabric. Pinks! Here are the ones I sent:

Cannot wait to see what I receive.

Oh yes, 1 more fabric came into my life over the past 2 months. This one:

I am sure someone loves it, but most will think it is Weird and ugly. That is why I have it. Some friends and I are participating in a Weird and Ugly challenge. I have to make something using most of this fabric. I have an idea... just need to get started as the challenge deadline is June 30. I will most definitely post the result!

"Belle"

Catching Up In Blogville -- Part 2

2011-05-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

I have been working on more baby quilts over the last 2 months for 3 little boys due later this year. A young couple in our church is expecting their first child in August. Dad is a high school basketball coach so I immediately thought of a sports themed quilt. I knew I had some fabric left over from my great-nephew's eye spy quilt, so once again I went digging in the stash. I decided to use the Disappearing 9 patch pattern. There are many tutorials online for this quick and easy quilt. I use this one: Tutorial

If you have a charm pack or, as is my case, a boatload of 5" charms, this quilt will go even faster!

First I pulled the sports fabric:

After cutting a portion of it into 5" charms, I dug through my boxes of charms and pulled out ones that coordinated:

Take 9 charms and create a nine patch.. I placed the sports fabric in the same place in each nine patch, but was random with the other fabrics:

I made seven large 9 patches:

Then sliced them up!

To create these blocks:

Played with the layout:

Sewed into a top:

Added borders and voila! Top done:

This quilt top was mostly made from stash fabrics. I didn't have anything on hand I liked for the borders, other than the white with black geometric print (and what you see in the quilt is ALL of it!), so a run to the store was made and 2 vibrant Kona Cottons were purchased.... papaya and royal. Bright and fun!

"Belle"

Catching Up in Blogville -- Part 1

2011-05-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I have not blogged in 2 months! Good Grief! I knew it had been a while, but had no idea how big a while. Lots of quilting and sewing has been happening here... so on with the catch up... buckle up, it is going to be a long multi-post ride!

JJ Sews...

JJ is my son's girlfriend. She is a sweetie and loves to craft. I have posted some of her creations before. She made a really cute pillow earlier this year with a tree and leaves. She decided to make a small companion pillow with just leaves... turned out so cute. We found this great sage green polka dot fabric in the stash for the background:

She also decided to make herself a mug rug. Very basic one, but very cute. Love the fabrics she chose... again, from the stash:

And because she did so well and loved making her mug rug, she decided to make one for her mom for Mother's Day. Her mom's loves Scotties like I love Dachies and my friend, Rhonda, loves Corgis. (There is just something about those small dogs with big attitudes! ) I remembered there was a bit of Scottie fabric buried among the novelty fabrics, so we went digging and found it. JJ added a few others and voila! A darling mug rug that was a big hit with her mom!

The Mad Quilter a.k.a my sweet husband....

Hubs has been busy over the past 2 months also. Not so much being the mad quilter (although he did quilt one for me... you will see it later). He has been whipping up quilt tops that will soon be quilts to give away (many to a women's transitional shelter). Here are his most recent creations:

All the fabric used in these tops came from our stash. I love that!

Part 2 (and 3?) coming later.

"Belle"

"Crafturday"

2011-03-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today has been a very crafty quilty day here... and since it is Saturday, I decided to dub it Crafturday. :-)

First the quilt top for a friend's daughter's graduation quilt is done. I have to laugh a bit when I see this quilt. It is so me! LOL! I love sting quilts... Pink is my favorite color and I love it with green or purple or teal or all of the above... and I love bright fabrics. Don't worry, I did not make this based on my likes.. I asked the graduating girls mom and my daughter (who knows her well) and they both suggested these colors. Seems the young lady has excellent taste!

The it was on to a bit of Fusible Applique 101 and creative fun. My son's girlfriend loves to craft. She saw a pillow she wanted to make. I had a tutorial ( Scrap Buster Pillow ) that was very similar. So we looked it over and hopped to it. She had fabric she had purchased, we added some from the stash and scraps here... mix with a bit of heat and bond lite, some heat, straight-line stitching.. and Voila! You have a really cute pillow top:

We will finish the back and add an insert soon. (Son and girl had a wedding rehearsal and dinner to attend).

Check out this cute flower:

My crafting buddy crocheted this and gave it to me today. Hot pink with green inside.. she knows me well!

While we were creating, hubby was playing around with fabric too. He grabbed up scraps that he had cut into specific shapes and sizes and just started putting them together. Here is what he came up with...

There are 2 more like this made (different fabrics of course) and more to come.

I also started a new project today. I saw a picture of a great quilt on a blog last week. I so wish I could remember what blog, so I could post it here! The block the blogger used looked like Twist from Quilters Cache but with a bit of a tweak. I really love the look. I pulled some countryish fabrics... blues, reds, golds, greens and a cream on cream and started to iron and cut and piece. My goal was to whip up 4 blocks today and put them together to see how it turned out. I got 4 blocks made and then I laid them out to sew together and noticed something... Can you see it?

The bottom block on the left is backwards from the rest! Oh well. That block will end up in my orphan box... and more blocks will be made. I think it is going to be a great quilt. By the way, those dark strips that look dark brown or black are actually a dark red with a tan print, but they are showing up super dark in the photo.

This one, the one hubby is working on and many of the UFO tops he has been quilting will be headed this fall to a Transitional Home for Homeless Women.

A week or so ago, I decided I wanted some new napkins. Hubby made some really neat ones for Christmas. We have always used cloth napkins, but never made them. I am so hooked. I love the way it feels and they are nice and big. I pulled 2 fabrics we had on hand that I love and thought would look great on our table. Here is the way it looks:

Here is a picture of each side of the napkins. They are reversible. The floral is a dark purple by Kaffe Fasset.

Hubby whipped these up for me.. well, for us to use, but for me because I wanted them. :-)

Finally... I have posted this quilt here, but wanted to show it in its new home... the wall! This is the first quilt we have hung on the wall and I love it. I really love how hubby hung it. I never thought to buy a decorative drapery rod with clips! So cool and so easy! No need for a hanging sleeve. Looks good and it will be easy to change it out with other wall hangings if we want.

I hope you've had a great Crafturday too!

"Belle"

More Fabric in the Mail

2011-03-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

I could so get use to getting Quilty stuff in the mail every day! I actually got a box earlier this week from Connecting threads and didn't post about it here. More of their lovely Essential Thread, as well as a couple of pieces of fabric that were on clearance.

Then on Friday, I received a squishy packet and a box. The squishy packet was from my unofficial-sister (LOL!) who lives in PA. I mad a mug rug earlier this month and commented that if I had more of the fabrics I used (they were scraps), I would love to make a table runner with them. No surprise, she quickly emailed and said "I have some of that green on tan fabric!" and so it arrived on Friday.

The box was from a friend in IL who is an amazing quilter and has influenced me in more ways than she knows. I recently sent her some TOT Creams and Tans for a project and she reciprocated by sending me some much needed browns and yellows and even a bit of the same green on tan my sister-friend sent.

Here is the green on tan fabric... it is, to me, one of those fabrics that look better when used than just by itself:

And here are the browns and yellows...

I really love that back yellow with the sort of folksy floral print. Love it!

I worked on my mom's GFG last night and will work on it more as the weekend continues. I am also putting together a pieced border for the graduation quilt. It is looking good. Lots of quilt action happening here!

Oh yes... and just when I think I am caught up on Baby quilts, 3 more pregnant mommas pop up! LOL! I have a little boy quilt to make, a girlie girl and one that doesn't know yet. The earliest due date is late August, so PTL I have a bit of time. But the creative process is already churning in my mind. I love baby quilts!

"Belle"

X another one off the list

2011-03-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

I made this String-X top several years ago and it has been sitting in the closet on a shelf sadly watching other tops become quilts while it was ignored. :-( I have no idea why it kept being passed over. I adore this top. I love BRIGHT and SCRAPPY... this quilt definitely covers both those!

My husband has been pulling UFOs from the shelves (most of them tops he made) and getting them finished up left and right (8 out of 12 done so far this year!) This is #9. He quilted it a couple of weeks ago and then, once again, it sat. I originally planned to bind it with black fabric.. just a solid black. He went to do that yesterday and found we did not have enough black for binding strips! (Oh my! How did that happen?!) So we started auditioning other colors and fabrics. There were several he liked, but nothing really grabbed me.

And then I remembered.... we hit the clearance bins at Hobby Lobby shortly after the first of the year and hubby pulled out a TON of this wild reddy-purply-pink fabric. I remember saying "Good grief! I don't think we need that much!" Seriously... we have about 10 yards! They were in 2 yard cuts and were $2.00 a yard. He kept saying they will show up in something. He was right... righter than right. Not only was this used for the binding of the String-X quilt, but I have some pulled to use in another string quilt I am working on for a graduation gift AND I pulled some fabric to whip up some new cheery napkins for the kitchen table and this is one of them! (Yes, I know it is bright.. did you miss the fact that I love BRIGHT?)

When I made this top years ago, our daughter announced she wanted it. Maybe one day.... LOL! For now it is on the back of the couch. The pups and I tried it out last night and it "fit" us just right!

"Belle"

p.s. The pattern for this great quilt is found at Quiltville along with lots of other great patterns and other wonderful quilty info!

More Goodies!

2011-03-11T14:41:00.000-06:00

I had to run some errands earlier today including a dash into a local thrift shop. My son leaves tomorrow to go work at Youth Retreat over Spring Break and he needs shorts. He is a tall thin fella and has a difficult time finding pants and shorts. I hoped to find either some shorts or some pants that could be cut off and hemmed for shorts. No luck. BUT while there I found a bunch of sheets. One particular sheet caught my eye. Cotton candy pink with butterflies! I am thinking this will be the perfect backing for the graduation quilt I am making. I was able to get the entire set.. fitted sheet, flat sheet and 2 pillow cases. Then I found a set with a neat folk-art type floral pattern. Got a flat and fitted sheet, no pillow cases. Lastly I found a pillow case I had to have. LOL! A bright green gingham. I love the color! Got all those treasures for $4.82! Whoo Hoo!

When I got home I found goodies... first, my hubby took the afternoon off and came home to be with me. (Happy Face!) second, a package in the mail from another quilty buddy. She knew my stash was running low of browns and yellows and sent me some! Aren't they great?

I could get use to getting goodies like this every day! What's more.. I think I need to make sure some other folks have "goodie" days too. Hmm... wonder what I can send to someone???

"Belle"

from a Sweet Friend...

2011-03-10T15:52:00.001-06:00

The other day I was quilting and I needed to wind some bobbins (I go through so many!). I loaded up my handy-dandy sidewinder (which I love) and away I went.... hmmm... away I went.... nope, away I didn't went! I fidgeted with this and that and finally realized that I have worn the poor thing out... kaput... dead. I was so sad.

I mentioned this tragedy to online quilty friends and one quickly replied "I have one I can send you!" and she did... along with some quilting inspiration!

Aren't Quilting buddies the best!?

Cannot wait to plug my new side winder up and start loading those bobbins for the next project!

"Belle"

Mug Rug!

2011-03-09T10:39:00.000-06:00

I have seen Mug Rugs on various quilting blogs and thought they were rather cute. Then my friend, Frances, started making some. She has been having a great time and they really are cute!

This morning, I decided in the midst of things I need to do like finish paying bills... reconcile the bank statement... all those kind of things... I wanted to do something just for fun... so I decided to make a mug rug! I found some leftover block pieces from a quilt I made a number of years ago for my brother and his wife. I grabbed a few of those and some black scraps and leftover batting and off I went.

It was a quick and easy project... this first mug rug is super basic! Provided me with a bit of instant gratification. LOL!

I think it turned out pretty nice:

There are issues with the binding.. but then I always have issues with binding! I am thinking mug rugs will provide some much needed practice.

Off to do things I need to do now. But no doubt there will be more mug rugs in my future.

"Belle"

Finishing things up....

2011-03-06T13:44:00.001-06:00

Two projects were finished this weekend... one just in time!

First - a baby quilt for a shower this afternoon! The nursery for this baby boy has a jungle theme. I had no jungle fabric here so I found a charm pack on eBay and ordered them... then found some fabric at Hancock's and bought it. Didn't know which I would use.... and then ended up using both! I think it turned out very cute.

Here is a close up of the quilting. Hubby did that part and chose a bright blue thread. (He also did the binding. Such a treasure!)

That blue looks so good on the back. This photo really doesn't show it well as the back is a dark milky chocolate brown.

I am sure the Mommy and Daddy to be will like it. I so love making baby quilts!

I have to add that today at church I went to love on one of the sweet babies we have had born recently and their wadded up in his carrier was the quilt we made for him. I have seen it with him many times this winter and just love it! Not because I think it is a marvelous quilt or because I want folks to see it, but because it is being used! That, for me, is the best way to say Thanks! Use the quilt!

The other completed project was a UFO. I found a cute BOM in 2005.. YEP 2005.. early in my quilting days. It was redwork and I just fell in love with it. I immediately had an idea of how I wanted to do it. Each month I would use a specific themed fabric to coordinate with the pattern. I would pick a color from the fabric to use for the embroidery. I jumped in like gangbusters for 6 or so months and then it happened... Quilter's ADD... I got caught up in other projects. I would work a bit on the blocks every now and then. I made it through November and then set it aside... for several years! So in January, I pulled it out and finished up the December embroidery and then set out to create a quilt. I love how it turned out.

This is one I did start to finish on my own. (If you could see the binding up close you would know that hubby did not do it! He is much better than I am at that.)

Here are some close ups of the blocks:

The pattern is from Bobby Socks Quilt Company and is called Child's Play. There are some super cute whimsical patterns there, as well as a free BOM available.

Off to a baby shower... then home to work on the GFG some more.

"Belle"

Stringing you along....

2011-02-17T16:10:00.000-06:00

I have a quilty friend who just does not like string quilts. I am always a bit surprised by that because she loves loves loves scrappy quilts.. the scrappier the better.. and to me a string quilt is one of the scrappiest! Oh well... my mom always says "If we all liked the same thing it would be a dull world."

I, unlike my friend, love string quilts. I think a lot of it is the resourcefulness behind them. The frugality in using up scraps. Granted, many today are made with fabric purchased specifically for that project, but the original intent was a frugal one. I also like the simplicity of making a string quilt. It is pretty difficult to mess one up!

There is a quilting group in a town an hour south of us who have a show each March called Pieces and Strings. Many of the quilts there.. most in fact.. will be string quilts. This was the first quilt show I ever attended and I look forward to it each year. I was inspired several years ago to make a string quilt.. I got the top made (I used the String X pattern found at Quiltville ). And then the top sat in a closet with all the other UFOs that have been popping up here lately. Hubby decided to quilt it this year.... no there isn't a picture yet. It would be UFO#7 for him (yesterday's Sailing Quilt is #8). It is quilted.. just needs to be bound and I will get it done.. soon.. in fact, real soon. We are going to enter it in the show! I don't expect a prize.. don't even care about that. But I love the idea of it hanging in a show and the fact that I pieced the top and hubby quilted it is wonderful... a collaboration of this quilting couple.

Here it is folded on a chair waiting patiently for me...

Hubby, tired of quilting and UFOs, decided to play with some strings himself. He is making up scrappy blocks from various size strings we have saved from other projects. Here are some of his blocks...

Here is his stack of strings.. notice that they are rather neat and tidy....

I have been playing with ideas for a quilt for a friend's daughter who graduates high school this year. After seeing hubbies string blocks and seeing all the strings we had, I decided to make her a string quilt. It is scrappy, but I am controlling the colors a bit. I'm using pinks, greens, purples and teals (or blue-green or whatever you call that!) and some white thrown in. I love how the blocks are looking....

Had to show my workspace... I am not quite as tidy as hubby! (see my GFG sneaking in the photo?)

String quilts are a bit mindless.. and right now that is great for me! Sometimes I just need to create and not have to really think about it a lot. Know what I mean?

Off to do some stringing.... "Belle"

Sailing Away....

2011-02-16T12:30:00.001-06:00

Hubby surprised me with a completed UFO for Valentine's Day. This is a top he made a few years ago. He knows I love blue and white together. I love how they play off each other.. the richness of the blue making the crispness of the white pop. My friends would look at this quilt and say it doesn't look like me. I am a pink girl.. especially pink and green or pink and purple or all 3 together... and I love bright colors and scrappy quilts. That is why I snitched a UFO he finished earlier that has lots of bright colors including a wonderful bright blue border.

But there is hidden meaning behinds elements of this quilt.. things that might not click with others, but do with hubby and I.

I grew up on water... the Muddy Mississippi is one of the most amazing things to see ... it is home for me. I can watch it flow and ripple all day along. And oh a sunset from the bluffs of my hometown, Natchez, MS is amazing. No way can you doubt God when you see it! I spent a huge portion of my growing up years on various lakes.. fishing with my dad (or attempting to get a tan while he fished)... skiing with buddies...swimming.. boating.. and sailing! Ahhh sailing... how I miss it! My best friend's dad and grandpa were into sailing and we would crew for them. Tiny boats.. Flying Scotsman. There were races each month on the lake. It was so fun! If you look closely you will see that one of the main fabrics used in this quilt is of plans for building sailboats. Thus the reference to one of my loves from days gone by.. sailing. And as for the plans.. the blueprint look to the fabric.. well my sweetie is an architect, so that ties 2 of my loves together!

And if you wonder what I gave him... well, we were not supposed to swap gifts (Hubby never minds me in that! LOL!) so he had nothing to open that night BUT I am safe... I gave birth to our first child and only daughter 23 years ago on Valentine's Day... that pretty well takes care of all Valentine's Day gifts for me forever! LOL!

"Belle"

2 more bite the dust......

2011-02-08T19:58:00.000-06:00

Hubby, a.k.a. the Mad Quilter, grabbed 2 more tops that have been lying around for a while ... we sandwiched them up.. and off he went. They are now both quilted and bound and ready for someone to use to keep warm and cozy.

As I have mentioned here before, Hubby is an architect (the best in my opinion), so linear design is something he does very well... and it is showing up in his quilting lately. He had fun creating designs when quilting these 2.

Here are some pix:

UFO #5

UFO #6:

There are 3 more UFOs ready to be bound here. Another top pieced and quilted by Hubby... one pieced by me and quilted by him... and one pieced and quilted by me. So there will be more pix coming soon!

I guess 2011 is the year of UFOs here.

"Belle"

It's a Girl!

2011-02-04T12:47:00.000-06:00

A young couple at our church are expecting a wee one soon... and It's a Girl! I love making baby quilts and especially ones for Baby Girls. I just love the colors used. This girlie has a pink and green nursery (I LOVE PINK AND GREEN!). Before I knew the nursery colors, I found this cute purple with pink flowers fabric in the sale bin at Hobby Lobby and snatched it up. I knew it would make its way into this quilt. So I added a bit more pink and green and purple.. and a touch of white.. and here you have it!

I found this cute green polka dot after finding the purple fabric and knew it would perfect for the backing... love how the thread color (Petal Pink Essential Cotton from Connecting Threads) looks on the back.

Hubby wanted to have a part in the gift also, so he did his quilting magic. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he is having fun experimenting with various straight line design ideas.

I have another baby quilt to start soon.. this one for a little fella on the way. Bright colors and a jungle theme.. should be fun!

"Belle"

In my mail....

2011-01-22T14:38:00.003-06:00

I love receiving packages in the mail. They almost always have something I want or need in them. Lately the only packages arriving here have contained books for college classes... the college student in resident doesn't really want them and neither do I! LOL! But yesterday a better kind of package came... one from Connecting Threads!

I love Connecting Threads. I especially love their Essential Cotton Threads. Last weekend hubby asked if I would order some more of a color we had tried out.. Dark Honey. He loves it! So I popped some in the shopping cart and I tossed in some Natural (we always keep that one hand) and then we just played a bit... ordering several other colors including some on clearance. I think our array is lovely...

Then I decided to look through their clearance fabric. I have bought a good bit of fabric from Connecting Threads and been very pleased with it. Found a really pretty green... it is a bit brighter in real life, almost a light lime.

These swirls were so cool had to have some of each color offered.... the orange is a bit more of a yellow-orange in real life.

Then I found 2 fat eighth samplers. The first is from their fabric line called "Cheap Talk".... 16 F8ths

And then 24 from their "Sip of Summer" line... I LOVE these and they go so great with the swirlie fabrics above. I even have a quilt idea for them already.

Last but not least are 2 blocks I made for a swap. This is the Prairie Flower block from Quilters Cache. I love pink and green, so I loved these!

Mr. Mac wanted to go outside and romp in the sunshine terrorizing birdies, but I was taking photos. I had to snap a shot of him waiting patiently. Such a good quiltie boy!

"Belle"

More Journals... another one bites the dust via the Mad Quilter... and a UFO challenge for me!

2011-01-17T13:05:00.000-06:00

I whipped up some more journal covers a while back... you might notice that one is button-less. I forgot to include the stretch band for the closure! Oh well... a sweet young lady loved the fabrics and took it just the way it is! The wild pink and purple one is mine and the other I made for my daughter. I like hers too!

The Mad Quilter (a.k.a my hubby) continues to work through finished tops that have stacked up over the past few years. The latest one is a joint effort. I made the blocks... pieced them into rows... and then pushed them aside as I went on to bigger and better things. Hubby found them and put the rows into a top.. added a flange and borders... and then set it aside with a zillion other finished tops. Last week he pulled it out, we got it sandwiched and away he went with the quilting.

He does straight-line quilting and he has been having a blast trying new patterns. He is an architect and it is showing in his quilting! I love the cranberry thread color.. looks so good.

Some online Quilt buddies and I have set a UFO challenge for ourselves for the first 3 months of 2011. I have "entered" 3 of my UFOs knowing full well that it will be a miracle if I get 1 done! I have several new projects that have to be done, as well as my mom's GFG I am doing by hand that is running behind!

Even if they aren't all done by March 31, I hope to finish all of these by the end of 2011.

This is a Mile-a-Minute quilt I did a number of years ago. I attempted to quilt it. I failed. So heavy and so many seams... I only have a regular sewing machine... so I decided to tie it. Got bored after getting about 1/3 of it tied. I need to start tying again!

I have this wonderful Fall Quilt top that is essentially done except I am adding some hand embroidered touches (leaf veins and such). About 1/2 done on that.

And lastly a redwork quilt I started years ago from an online free BOM called Child's Play. I have 11 of the 12 blocks embroidered and about 1/2 of the 12th one done. I even have fabric for the block borders and sashing and such.

The goal in the challenge is for them to be completely done.. quilted.. bound.. the works! I am shooting for the moon... hope I at least break the ozone layer!

"Belle"

Fabric Finds and 2 More UFOs done

2011-01-03T21:51:00.000-06:00

Late last week hubby and I ran to get some quilt basting spray and just happened to peruse the fabric while shopping. We bought a few goodies. Actually we were very restrained!

We found some lovely Christmas fabrics to add to our already packed boxes of Christmas fabric... but it was marked down so low, how could we resist!

A love red on red and this gorgeous poinsettia print:

These 3 Kings are too cute!

The blue fabric in this picture was also labeled a Christmas fabric, but it isn't headed to the Christmas stash. It doesn't look distinctly Christmassy to me. I think it will be cute in a quilt for a little boy or girl. The cream TOT next to it was another great buy and there is always a need here for neutrals!

I have 2 baby quilts to make. One for a little boy whose nursery is Jungle Themed in fun bright colors. I think this jungle fabric will be just the thing for him. So fun! The other is for a little girl whose nursery has no theme, but is done in pinks and greens. I don't think her mommy will mind some purple tossed in. I will begin the girlie quilt soon as she has a shower at the end of January.

The Mad Quilter (a.k.a. my sweet husband) has been busy at work. He finished up 2 more tops that have been sitting on a shelf for 2 or 3 years. There is a cute coin quilt with a fun bandana fabric border. And some very fun quilting. Hubby has been having fun while working on UFOs.

And there is this mammoth quilt... ok, it isn't really mammoth, but it is big! He used a gold thread and once again had fun with the quilting.

I haven't done as much sewing as I need to.... can't get motivated. I work part-time... deal with finances... the end of a year is not a lot of fun for me and it doesn't end on 12/31.. but soon! Plus there is a baby quilt to start... I love making baby quilts! No doubt that will motivate me. I have worked on some more fabric covers for journals. I will post pix of them soon.

"Belle"

Sewing Center is back up and going!

2010-12-29T18:34:00.000-06:00

Christmas is over and all the decorations are down (except the tree.. which I will work on soon!). The dining room is no longer a dining room... it is Sewing Central once again! Hubby got back to quilting before me. I decided to bang up my toe and ended up sitting on the couch with it propped up for a couple of days.

He pulled out 12 quilt tops we have made individually and together over the past few years. The plan, for most, is to keep them to give away when there is a need. There is just one problem.. I end up loving them and wanting to keep them all!

He pulled out a bright blue scrap happy top... we got it sandwiched and then the Mad Quilter was off! Got it done in 2 days... really an afternoon and a morning. Then got it bound and it is ready to go. Hopefully it won't leave here too soon.. I really do love this one. I love bright and scrappy and fun and this quilt is ALL of those! The binding fabric is one of my favorite fabrics too. Here are a few pix:

Also, I found a cute pattern online right before Christmas for a fabric journal cover (http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/QuarterlyChallenge/Get-Organized.pdf) I decided to play with this a bit. Here is my cover... I did not use a ribbon, but instead used a bit of elastic to close the journal. I do think next time I will make the cover just a smidgen larger as I can see some of the notebook peeking out at the top and bottom edges. Overall though, I like it. I will definitely be making more.

There will be at least one more post for 2010... I think. Bought a bit of fabric today (all on sale!) and Hubby is working on quilting another top. Be watching.... "Belle"

Finishing up 2010....

2010-12-09T15:14:00.001-06:00

My sewing area is also our dining room... my dream is to have an actual sewing studio one day where everything is together and I never have to take it down for holidays and such.. but in the meantime I thank God I have the space I do!

So sewing for 2010 has pretty much been wrapped up as Sewing Central is now a Winter Wonderland. Here are some pix of the final projects of the year... at least those done by machine.. I still have handwork to do (Thanks goodness!)

My son has been dating a young lady for close to a year now... sweet girl... a keeper! She mentioned last summer that she wanted a t-shirt quilt. I said "Bring me some shirts and I will work on one for you." Well she brought them and that sat here all summer long! I finally started working on them a month of so ago... and now the quilt is all done and I love it! I did the prepping and piecing... sweet hubby did the quilting. I knew I did not want to tackle it! He used "invisible" thread for the top.. first time to use it. I love the pattern he used.. a basic straight line pattern, but it created a cool pattern. There is a close up photo, but it doesn't really show it as well as I would like.

I also whipped up another Pin Cushion Organizer. This one is for a dear friend... not a Christmas present.. just a happy... cause she deserves it! I am a pink and green girl, so this one is difficult to part with!

Sigh... sewing central is down for 2010... time to start planning 2011 projects. I have no doubt I will vow to finish up all my UFOs... and then won't! LOL! That seems to be the norm. I actually know 2 projects off the bat.. 2 baby quilts.. a jungle themed one for a boy due in April and one for a girl due in March. Maybe I can decide on patterns and fabrics over the next few weeks.

Happy Christmas Y'all!

"Belle"

Gearing up for that end of the year push....

2010-11-29T18:30:00.000-06:00

We are on quilting overload here. Sewing central is also our dining room... so it was down for Thanksgiving and at some point soon ( probably the week before Christmas) it will go down and be down until after the holidays. Sigh! So Hubs and I are working like made to get everything done that needs to be done before we close the door on 2010.

He got the baby quilt top I pieced a few weeks ago quilted....

And he quilted a quick and easy cheater quilt I put together for my mom for Christmas....

I whipped up some burp pads for a friend's granddaughter...

Several years ago (2005) I made my first Christmas quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern and some Holly Fat Quarters my hubby had bought for me. We dubbed the quilt Holly Jolly. Last year I thought it would be fun to make a matching tree skirt (I had some of the fat quarters left.) I got the blocks made, but ran out of time before getting them pieced into a skirt (Starting a Christmas project 2 weeks before Christmas is not wise!). So I pulled them out and got them pieced together. Hubs quilted them and now we have a lovely tree skirt. Can't wait to see it under the tree!

I used some of the left over blocks to make a couple of pillows for the couch...

Then I decided we needed a couple more to add to the Christmas cheer, so made 2 more with different fabrics... I really love Hubs quilting on these...

Here is one of the couches with the quilt and one of each pillow....

There are still other projects in the works. Hubby is quilting a t-shirt quilt I put together for our son's girlfriend. It will be her Christmas present from us, even though she gave us the shirts and knows we are making it! I have another pin cushion / thread catcher / sewing organizer to make to send to a friend. I also want to make up some much needed pot holders / trivets and a mug rug or two.

There will be pictures!

"Belle"

"Fabricky" Fun

2010-11-10T15:09:00.000-06:00

The past few days have been full of "fabricky" fun. Here are a few things that have been happening...

A while back I won my quilt group's lottery... some lovely 1930s repro blocks. This summer I put them together into a top and this past week my husband (a.k.a. the Mad Quilter) quilted and bound it for me. I think it looks great and I have already tried it out for cuddliness! Mac and Mia think it is wonderful too!

Yesterday I spent the day with a lovely young woman who just so happens to be dating my son. :-) She likes craftsy things and being creative with fabric, so we decided to play. We made fabric flowers (used this tutorial Scrappy Strip Rose ). The photo does not show off the colors well.

The dark red one and small green one are now in my sweet friend's hair with a bit of ecru crocheted lace to enhance. Looks lovely!

This morning I was picking up our leftover strips and decided to make a purple flower for me....

I love how it turned out! It will become a pin.

The final thing I did was put together some Yellow Brick Road blocks into a small quilt top. This will soon become a tree skirt for our Christmas Tree. I made a quilt with the same blocks and fabric several years ago.

I love "fabricky" days!

"Belle"

Giddyup Cowboy!

2010-11-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

There is a young couple in our church who are expecting their first child at the end of November... a boy. I have been trying to decide what to do for them. Hubby came in as I was pondering and said "What happened to those cowboy blocks you were playing with a while back?" That "while back" was a couple of years ago! I started these for a project... wasn't happy with how it was going... set it aside and did something else. So I dug around and found them and the fabric and such and started again. I cannot say this is my absolute favorite quilt (I really love scrappy quilts!) but I do think it turned out cute and I know they will like it. It will be quilted after the wee one is born. I want to put his name and birth date on the label.

Fun Sunday Afternoon Project

2010-10-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

I pulled fabrics for this project yesterday, but never got started on it. So this afternoon I dove in and got it done from cutting the fabric to the last stitch. It is a quick and easy project and turns out so cute! There is a link to my first try at this project in yesterday's blog post. Go to that first try and you will find a link to a great tutorial.. step by step with photos!

This bright and cheery pin cushion/scrap bag organizer will be going off to a quilty friend very soon. I am sure it will be used and loved in its new home. :-)

"Belle"

Quilty Saturday!

2010-10-23T16:24:00.000-05:00

Today has been a very quilty day! Worked this week on a t-shirt quilt I am making for my son's girlfriend. It was supposed to be her birthday present but I missed that deadline! I would LOVE to post pix, but she might look here and see, so I will have to do that after Christmas. I will say it looks great! Cannot wait until it is all quilted and done.

I found some blocks and fabric that I started some time ago for a quilt for a little boy. For some reason, I don't remember why, I abandoned it and did something else. So I ironed everything out. And am going to finish up the blocks and make the quilt for a little boy due in late November. The fabric is a vintage cowboy theme. Really cute!

I am also working on a pincushion/thread catcher thingie. I made one for myself earlier this year (see A Happy For Myself ) and love it. I use it all the time when working on my GFG quilt. I am making another one for a quilting friend. The fabrics are ironed and ready for me to cut (once I get off the computer).

Hubby and I basted a quilted today. Last year I won some lottery blocks .... a group of quilty friends have a quilt lottery every quarter. The blocks I won are mini-bowties made with 30s repros. I put them together.. added a couple of borders and a flange. (see Happy Quilt Day ) Looks so good! Hubby (the Mad Quilter) is going to quilt it for me. I cannot wait to see it done. It will be lovely on the couch this spring!

That same group of friends (the absolute best Quilt buddies ever!) do a Mystery Swap Box thing every so often. Someone gets a box and over time fills it with fun quilty stuff (and usually a few non-quilty things that she knows we will like). These can be new or things she already has but doesn't use or no longer needs. Once full, she mails it off to one of us. We go through the box.. pick up to 6 things to keep and add 6 new things. It is a lot of fun to see what folks put in and what they take. SO here are the 6 goodies I got took from the box today...

There were 3 cute patterns that I just loved (well more than 3 but I am limited to how much I can keep!)...

I also took a cute little magnetic notepad with matching magnet. I love those things. Poor Hubby... he dreams of a day when the refrigerator has nothing on it. For that to happen he will have to outlive me! :-)

I am not a huge fan of this next pattern for a fall table topper BUT I really love the fabric. The photo does not do it justice!

And the last thing I kept is a Quilt Panel...

I love Snowmen and Red Birds! This will make a cute Christmas quilt.

It was an exhausting task! If you don't believe me just ask Mac...

and Mia...

They are such great helpers!

I put some wonderful things back into the box.. but I cannot share what they are. My quilt buddies read my blog and that would spoil the surprise!

Back to Quilt Land!

"Belle"

A little fabric fun...

2010-10-04T20:07:00.000-05:00

I needed a birthday gift for a certain young lady. I had planned on going to buy her something, but life just kept getting in the way. So this weekend I decided to whip something up. I had seen a cute idea for covering a mat in a frame with pieced fabric. So I started out with that plan and tweaked it... her favorite color is green, followed by purple, so I created a small string block with green fabrics and embellished with various fun stitches and purple thread. I opted not to cover a mat with it, however, as so much was lost. Instead I mounted a photo of her and her fella (who just so happens to be my son) on the block and put it into a frame.

I really loved the look of the string block with the embellishments and wanted to make more, so I decided create a pillow. I made another string block, larger, with green fabrics again. Added the decorative stitching with purple thread. Decided to add her name and then to frame it out with the same fabric I used for the letters. I love this fabric! In fact, I have more and I noticed tonight that I have 2 other green with purple fabrics that look great with it.. I think I feel a purse coming on!

Back to the pillow.... grabbed some scrap cream fabric and polyfill to create an insert. The back of the pillow is split and overlaps to close so the cover can be removed and washed.

I think it all turned out really cute! Cannot wait to give it to her tomorrow night. "Belle"

Star Flowers

2010-09-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

The StarFlower quilt is done... bound... washed... crinkled! I love using all cotton fabric and batting and thread so that when the quilt is washed and dried it will crinkle up.. gives it an old-timey look and feel to me.

This blocks for this quilt came from a group of quilty ladies. One of them donated fabric for the back. I have to admit that the first time I saw it in person I had two thoughts.. first I LOVED IT.. it is very much a ME fabric! And secondly, I am not so sure this is going to work with the quilt top. I had seen a photo of the fabric, but it was brighter in person and the top is more muted soft colors. Well I love them together! I feel like this is a 2 for 1 quilt.. the front is soothing and comforting and the back is cheery and uplifting! I think I am going to look at backing fabric a lot differently from now on... not sure I will always aim to be matchy with the front.

I had 4 extra blocks so made up a pillowcase that holds the quilt for shipping and storage and can be used with a pillow if our friend wants.

The quilting is straight line and creates these neat Xs and Star patterns on the back. My sweet quilty husband, whom I affectionately call the mad quilter, quilted this. The man loves to quilt and is sooo fast!

Cannot wait to mail this off next week... wish I could see the recipient's face when she sees it!

The best part of quilting is giving it away!

"Belle"

Thank You for Serving

2010-09-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

I have shared before that my husband is a quilter. After watching me for a couple of years, I challenged him to give it a whirl. He did.. and he loves it. He is a big fella and he makes BIG quilts! One of his co-workers and friends has been was sent to Iraq a few years ago with the military... then after being home a year or so he was sent to Afghanistan. While Randy was gone, Bill decided to make him a quilt. You can see pictures and read about it here Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue The back contains a huge label that was signed by others in the office, many with notes thanking Randy for his service. I really love the back!

Shortly after Randy returned to work, the office took him out for a celebratory lunch... at the same restaurant they took him before he left... and while there he was given the quilt. I think he liked it. :-)

The guy that looks like Santa is mine. :-) "Belle"

Finally some time to sew!

2010-09-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

A group of quilting friends are making a love quilt for one of our own. I am the collector of blocks. Saturday my quilting hubby and I had time to lay them out and get them put together into a top. I think it looks great. Tomorrow we plan to get it sandwiched together with the back and some batting and then "Let the quilting begin!"

On a very different note, I had a bit of fun this afternoon. My mother needed a little happy for a young couple in her church expecting their first child. They are using bees in the nursery decor. I whipped up 3 burp cloths for them.

The how-to for this project can be found here: Basket-O-Burpies

2 things I did differently. The instructions say sew down the top and bottom before the sides. I did that with the first one and ended up with a bit of a crease in the diaper when I sewed down the sides. So for the other two I just sewed the top then the sides and then the bottom. Worked great! Also, I used a straight stitch with the first one.. and it looks fine.. but with the other two I did a small zigzag right along the edge of the fabric. I really like the way it looks.

I will most definitely be whipping up some more of these for future baby showers!

"Belle"

Whole lot of quilting NOT going on....

2010-08-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

Seems life has been flying in a zillion directions lately... add that to extreme heat and humidity... and you find a quilter too tired to quilt! That is a sad thing. I have continued to get some flowers made for my GFG and am working on piecing another section together. And I have 2 other projects in the works...

First... I worked on some blocks for a quilt being made for a friend with cancer. This is the Starflower Block found at Quilter's Cache. I love the way it looks and it really isn't a difficult block... this from someone who hates matching up points with triangles! My friend loves calicoes, so that is the fabric being used. I am not a huge calico fan, so don't have a lot on hand... and what I do is pink and green (Gee, I wonder why! LOL!) I think the blocks I whipped up this weekend turned out well..

Second, I will soon start cutting those t-shirts below to make a t-shirt quilt for my son's girlfriend. I have made one other t-shirt quilt in my 6 years as a quilter. Love how they turn out, but whew! they are work.... she is worth it and I have an idea to do something a little different, at least different for me, so that is motivating me.

See the GFGs in the picture? They are coming along. I need to make more white ones!

I have several other projects I NEED to get started and more than I can list that I want to do!

Our temps are still high, but the humidity has dropped.. so maybe my energy will come back and I will get motivated to spend more time in Sewing Central getting things done!

Keep Stitchin'

"Belle"

Progress...

2010-07-24T17:54:00.000-05:00

Finally got to work on some projects this weekend. I whipped up some blocks for a quilt I am doing with some friends. ... Nice crisp reds and whites (the dark ones in the photo aren't that dark in real life)... the pattern is Double Wrench from Quilters Cache (Check out the pattern here ). Very easy and quick and cute block! I especially love it on point (look on 2nd page of the pattern).

I started a Grandmother's Flower Garden about a month ago. The plan is to make a Full Size quilt with 1930s / 40s repros for my mom for her 80th birthday (Sept. 2011)... all by hand.. piecing and quilting. I have no doubt she will love it.. she has hinted and hinted for a repro quilt for a while now. :-) I am really loving making it... I just think I am wired for handwork. My Mama Rush (Paternal grandmother) never owned a sewing machine. She made a number of quilts.. did a lot of crochetting.. and sewed some of the lovliest dresses for me when I was a wee one all by hand.

No doubt machine work is quicker, but I love the control and creativity I feel when doing handwork.. and the connection I feel with my Mama Rush.

This will not be my last by hand project!

Anyway... I've been whipping up hexagons... and zipping them together into flowers... I really wanted to see what they would look like put together... so I pieced a small section, just to see. I think it turned out very nice. Ready to get more done!

I also did some non-quilt sewing this weekend. My son (college freshman) was looking online at Urban Outfitters for some shirts and shorts. Found some things on sale. The shirts were a good deal, so he got a couple, but even on sale the shorts were $40... and they were essentially non-denim cut offs. I mentioned that he might have some pants here that he no longer wears that could be cut off. He remember some gray cords he bought a year ago that are way too short these days. He used another pair of shorts as a guide.. added a 1/2"... marked a cut line and used my rotary cutter to whack them off.. and then I hemmed them. He doesn't like the ragged edge you get with cut offs. Took about 10 minutes total and cost nothing! Now that is a deal. I have a feeling I will be hemming some more in the days to come.

"Belle"

Girlie Quilts

2010-07-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

A friend has a sweet little granddaughter who will be 3 soon. She has a baby doll that she loves and cherishes... carries her everywhere. My friend found a great baby crib for the doll at a yard sale. She asked me to make a quilt for her to wrap the baby in when taking her out and about... and then a quilt and pillow for the crib. So I played with some girlie fabric and came up with these... I think they turned out nice. I have to add that my hubby loves to do machine quilting and so he quilted the carry quilt real quick one morning.

The Quilt for Carrying the baby out and about..

A look at the quilting on the back..

Crib quilt and matching pillow....

I love making girlie goodies!

"Belle"

Three Cheers for the Red, White & Blue!!!

2010-07-15T16:57:00.001-05:00

A co-worker and friend of my husband's recently returned from his 2nd tour of duty in the Middle East. While gone this time, hubby decided to make a quilt in honor of his friend. I am in love with this quilt! I have already requested one like it... but a tad bit smaller... one for tossing over the back of the couch. I could not get a really good shot of the whole quilt...

Here is a bit of it up close...

The back is cool too. Several folks donated fabric as he was working on this. Someone gave us these neat panels. The muslin used on the back and for the big label is a good quality Kona Cotton Muslin. He took the part with the panels to his office and had folks sign it and write notes to their co-worker. It looks soo good!

I know this will be a treasured gift for the recipient.... I cannot wait to hear about his reaction! And I am thankful for a hubby who uses his gifts to bless others! He is a keeper!

"Belle"

Staying in from the heat....

2010-06-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

I live in the deep South.... it is unbearably hot and humid right now, so outdoor activities are few and far between unless they include water. No water plans for the day today, so instead we holed up in the house with the a/c and ceiling fans going strong!

Several weeks ago I made a quilt top with the intention of giving it to a couple in our church expecting their first child, a boy. It was the first time I made a quilt on point and it stressed me out a bit. I like to wing it and it required me to be a bit more structured and focused. I liked the top, but it just wasn't right for the couple... the top is made with primary colors plus green... they have a nursery done in blues and browns. So I whipped up another top and made their quilt from it. The first top was put away for future use.

Well that use came quicker than expected. A friend has a new grandbaby born this past week.. a boy. So out came the quilt top. Hubby and I got it sandwiched last night and he quilted it today. WOW! I love it! I bought some variegated thread some time ago... I forget why!... that is blue, red, yellow and green... the colors of this quilt top! Hub used that thread to do some simple straightline quilting. It looks soo good!

Especially on the back.

The photos do not do it justice.

While all this was going on, I whipped up a small top that will be a doll quilt for a friend's granddaughter. Nothing fancy, just a simple patchwork quilt from 5" charms.

I also worked on my GFG project.. made 2 more flowers.. no pix... I am off to whip up an other flower or two before heading to bed.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. I pray you had/have a good Dad.. I did.. he has been gone 13 years and I still miss him. If you did not or don't have a good Dad, I encourage you to forgive him for that and focus on the fact that you do have the best Father of all in your Heavenly Father. He loves you perfectly!

"Belle"

A Happy for Myself!

2010-06-12T17:52:00.000-05:00

I have been working on so many quilts for other folks, which I love! And I have a long running project started with the GFG for my mom.... but sometimes I need something that is quick and sometimes I need something that is just for me... so today I got that! I have been using a cute little 4 patch pincushion to hold needles and pins with my GFG project... but my scissors and other supplies just sort of float around and the end table next to my couch is covered with snippets of thread! I went on an Internet quest to find a cute and easy thread catcher, but what I found is even better! ... a weighted pin cushion with plenty of room for pens and needles... a pocket to hold other supplies like small scissors, thread snips, seam ripper etc. and a thread catcher (this one can be removed to use alone or empty out!).

I decided to use some 1930 repro fabric.. and much to the shock of my family and friends, it isn't pink! I went with purple. I do love pink though and just might end up with a pink one to use at my sewing machine!

I did make one change.. the original patten (which I will post) had a felted wool strip to hold spare needles. I have no felted wool (my friend, Rhonda just fainted at that thought!)... I have never used felted wool in a project.. might one day, but really have no big draw to it. Instead, I used a contrasting fabric to create the band to hold the spare needles. They are difficult to see in the photo, but they are there!

I think it turned out well...

Here is the link to the tutorial. It is well written with photos. There are a couple of steps I had to really walk through where I felt a little more detail could have been given. For a sewing pro (like my 2 sisters-in-law who have been sewing all their lives) there will be no trouble. If you are still a novice to sewing, like me, you might have to think it through a bit as you work, but all in all it is relatively easy.

Pin Cushion Organizer

If you are looking for a quick project.. something to make for yourself or for another sewer (I am sure I will be making a few of these for some quilty friends) ... then this just might be the project for you! I am looking forward to using it this evening while I watch TV and whipping up more hexgons!

"Belle"

A New Addiction....

2010-06-09T14:33:00.000-05:00

I have started a new hand project... and it is now an addiction! The same bunch who got me quilting in the first place encourage this new project... I think it is their plot to keep me in bondage to fabric and thread just like they are!

So here is what I am doing..

First I played with some 1930 repros (I have decided it is impossible to have enough of these!)...

Then I cut some fabric squares and some templates..

A quick bit of sewing while watching tv produced these cuties...

And a bit more sewing and you have a flower... I have 8 so far...

I have always adored the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and had no idea it was as easy as it is! I am sure it will get cumbersome as I start putting flowers together, but still. This is definitely one of those quilts that looks more complicated than it is! I am doing a single flower wiin repros.... each flower has a color scheme, but different fabrics make it up. I will surround these with white hexagons and white flowers. My inspiration can be found here... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/3211500976_b0acb3c7c0.jpg

Isn't that a lovely quilt?! I have no white hexagons of flowers done because I haven't gotten my white fabric. The yellow centers are Kona Cotton - Lemon. I plan to use Kona Cotton - Snow for the white.

My goal is to have this finished before my mom's 80th birthday which is September 21, 2011.. yes 11. I am going for a full size quilt for her bed. She has seen the flowers and loves them, but has no idea the quilt is for her. She will love it! She has hinted (boldly I might add) that she wanted a quilt in repros.

I have to add that I love dong this by hand.. I plan to quilt it by hand also. My dad's mom made quilts before I was born... she also sewed baby clothes for me. She never owned a sewing machine. Everything was done by hand. I feel very connected to her when I am working on this... it is almost as if she is looking over my shoulder watching my work. I think she would be pleased.

One more picture.... Mac kept trying to help me with the GFGs and really wanted in the pictures.. after I told him no he went and pouted a bit... poor Mackie... I am sure a little throwing of the ball and a cheesy treat will make it all better.

"Belle"

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

2010-06-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

... that's what boys are made of! Last week was a week of Boy Quilts. Some dear friends are in Taiwan right now finishing up all the red tape and paperwork to bring home their 2nd son from that country. Some time ago I whipped up a quick top for Jeremiah. Last week quilter hubby and I got the label made and added to the back... sandwiched the layers and then he quilted it one afternoon... zip... zip.. done. The man is a beast when it comes to machine quilting! I think it turned out super cute!

At the beginning of last week, I put together a quilt top for a young couple in our church expecting their first child.. a boy. I had picked out some fabrics from my stash, but then learned they were using brown and blue in the nursery. Hub and I made a mad dash to a couple of fabric stores and bought a few things but nothing would gel in my mind. So I decided to stick with the original fabrics. Found a pattern in an old quilt magazine and took off. It is set on point... my first time to do that.. stressed me out totally... I am very much a wing-it girl and this took way more planning and watching than I am use to. It turned out well though.

But when it came time to sandwich and quilt, I just couldn't do it. I knew it wasn't what they wanted and would not suit them at all. So last Saturday, the day before the shower, Hub and I pulled charms and scraps and such and started cutting. I pieced together the top... a quick and easy coin top made up of tan, cream and blue coins... set with brown sashing and borders. Hubby then did his quilting magic and voila! a quilt was born. The photo does not do it justice. The brown fabric is not as dark as it appears... although it is dark.. it is Kona Cotton Espresso and has a very rich tone. The expectant mommy loved it... so it was well work the change in plans!

Now this pink girl is ready to work with something girlie!

"Belle"

Quilts for Kids

2010-04-14T15:19:00.004-05:00

I participated in the Quilts for Kids Program recently... you may have seen this promoted through Downy as Touch of Comfort. I made 2 quilts. 1 from a kit they sent... Nuts & Robolts.. and the other from my stash ... Butterflies, Bonnets & Blooms. Both were quick and easy and now are packaged up and ready to find a home with a special boy and girl!

"Belle"

Comfort Quilt

2010-04-10T17:38:00.006-05:00

Recently an online quilting buddy went through a series of treatments. One of our mutual friends made her the sweetest quilt using fabric that has certain Psalms already printed on it. I have made a quilt before for a friend going through chemo, but never with the Bible verses. I loved that ! I am a firm believer in the power of God's Word.. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word is alive and active and I can attest to the fact that that is TRUE! Now I don't think a quilt made with Bible verse fabric is magical.. not at all! But it will remind its recipient of the promises of God. So when a dear friend received a devastating diagnosis, I knew I had to make her a Comfort Quilt. I used the Psalms fabric and I also found some really lovely Faith, Hope, Love and Joy Fabric. This is a lap size quilt.. went together super fast. My hubby, who is the speediest quilter I know, quilted it for me in a flash! I love how it turned out. Here are some more pictures:

Garage Sale Finds....

2010-04-10T17:28:00.006-05:00

2 churches in our area had big garage sales this weekend for Missions. One is my mom's church and I go to it each year. The other one I have never attended before. Lots of stuff at both... I had a very small spending allowance though! Still... I found some nice stuff!

I bought books at both places... I love books! Including a hardback first editio

n with dust jacket in mint condition and autographed book that is one of my son's absolute favorite books! He is going to flip when I give this to him! Saving it for his birthday in a couple of months!

I also got this beauty....

I love glass items... especially plates and trays and bowls... just

love it! This platter is so unique to me... very simple, but really elegant. I just loved it. Almost passed it by, but hubby insisted.. he even haggled a bit and saved us a few dollars. :-) Can't wait to use it!

Of course the main thing on the lookout list was fabric! Found some nice solids (

no picture, sorry) and these 2 fun fabrics...

and then I found this baby fabric. Isn't it sweet?

And Hubby grabbed

up this stripe... he loves stripes!

So I added a bit to my stash.... and didn't break the bank!

That makes for a good day!

"Belle"

A Fun Saturday

2010-04-03T17:57:00.011-05:00

Ran to Hobby Lobby with Hubby this morning to snatch up some batting with 40% off coupons. Ended up getting a few more things. This fabric was on clearance ... how could I resist!? And while I rarely purchase quilt books (so much can be found online for free!) I just loved several of the quilts in this one and Hubby insisted I buy it. So I did!

This afternoon my

daughter whipped up some Peepshi for her brother who is a Sushi nut. A friend sent me the link for these.. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/peeps-recipes-how-to-make-peepshi-sushi-rice-krispies-treats-easter.html

Too Cute! He is going to love them!

And a good bit of today

has been spent outside with the babies.. Mac and Mia.. hunting bugs and such. Poor Miss Mia looks awful covered in Pollen! No doubt Mac is covered too, it just doesn't show up on his red coat!

Hope you

all have a very Blessed

Easter.. enjoy the food and fellowship with family and friends... hide some eggs... eat some

candy... hug a bunny... but most of all remember that Jesus is Alive! "Belle"

Quilters are the best friends!

2010-03-27T18:30:00.004-05:00

Last week I came in from one of my crazier than normal crazy days to find a big box had arrived in the mail for me... from an online quilt buddy. We both love repros and she knows I am going to be working on 2 repro quilts this year.. one for my sweet 78 year old mama and one for my dd who is graduating college and moving off to attend seminary. So my friend said "I have lots of repros.. I will send you some." SOME!?? More like the store.. LOL! Ok.. so not the store, but still.... I am thinking a few scraps maybe 2 or 3 FQs.. Nope.. I get this:

18 FQs and a pack of 10 x 10 squares! Aren't they great?!

AND THEN... she

knows my son is a huge LSU fan.. which is humorous considering hubby went to Mississippi State and I went to Ole Miss. :-) M

y friend is a Tiger fan too and lives in Tiger country so she thought I might need some Tiger fabric at some point...

18 more FQs!

I am still a bit overwhe

lmed at her generosity... but then I know for a fact that Quilters are the best friends to have!

"Belle"

Another Quilt for a Wee One

2010-03-27T18:26:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago hubby quilted 3 quilts for 3 little girls whose mom works with him. The lady who delivers their mail saw the quilts and asked if he would make one for her great-granddaughter. Of course he said "SURE!" At the time he was playing with ideas for the buggie quilt he made our daughter and so he took some of his prototypes and created this little cutie:

I like how the quilting (done in purple thread) looks on the back.

I have no doubt she will adore it!

"Belle"

From Daddy with Love....

2010-03-22T07:57:00.004-05:00

My hubby is a quilter also and I often post pictures of his projects. We have 2 children... well, they are young adults not really children. Hubby made our son a quilt a couple of years ago, so it was time to make our daughter one also. She has always loved dragonflies and other cutsie bugs like butterflies and lady bugs... and hubby has given her buggy things over the years, so it made sense that he would create a buggy themed quilt for our girl. The pattern is something he thought up... the colors a combo of his and her faves... and as always it is huge! LOL!

My husband is a big guy (6'5") and he makes big quilts! He starts out on a normal scale, but then keeps going and going and ends up with mammoth creation! Nice thing though... 1) she will have no trouble wrapping up completely in it 2) it

is big enough to cover her bed if she wants and 3) she could share it one day with a special someone as there is definitely room for 2 (I don't think Dad thought about that possibility!)

"Belle"

Happy National Quilting Day!!!

2010-03-20T15:39:00.007-05:00

Today is the first day of Spring and we are actually enjoying Spring weather. Temps in the 70s... lots of sunshine and breezes... low humidity (a real treat!)... it is wonderful! I do know others in the US are dealing with snow and cold temps! Sorry!

Today is also National Quilting Day and I felt honor bound to participate! So... the borders have been added to my repro quilt....

These blocks are from a block lottery a quilt group I belong to (online) held last year. I was so excited to win and I am even more excited that the top is done. Cannot wait until it is quilted and bound! It is lovely!

I also whipped to

gether my 2nd top for Quilts for Kids. This one came from my stash. I had some disappearing 9 patch blocks left over from another project. I whipped up a few more and put them together to make this top... along with 2 borders.

Then I remembered this cute fabric that I have had for a while in my stash. It is perfect for the backing

and there is just enough of it!

I will get batting soon (after payday!) and these will be sandwiched and quilted... along with the 1st Quilts for Kids quilt.

No more quilting for me today... I have to finish up some work on Beth Moore's

Breaking Free before Bible Study on Tuesday! So that is the afternoon task.

It has been a grand National Quilting Day! Hope you've been doing something quilty!

"Belle"

Robotic Fun

2010-03-17T21:26:00.004-05:00

I was able to whip up the top for the www.QuiltsForKids.org quilt in 2 afternoons (about 2 hours total), I think it turned out really cute and will be a fun cheery print for some little fella. I love the fabric I received in my quilt kit. I will get some batting later this week and get it sandwiched and quilted soon. I have to include a name for the quilt on my label. Any ideas?

When I signed up for this, the information I read encouraged the quilter to make a 2nd quilt from their own stash if they could. Tonight I found some leftover Disappearing 9 Patch blocks that I made for a little girl's quilt. I need a few more and I will have enough to make another quilt. So I will be able to send 2 quilts back.

I really do want to encourage quilters to check out the Quilts for Kids site and consider participating in this program. It is a great way to use your talent to minister to someone else. Please note they require all piecing and quilting be done by machine, so if you only hand quilt then this program will not work for you.

"Belle"

Quilts for Kids & Froggy Coins

2010-03-15T21:51:00.007-05:00

I recently read about the Touch of Comfort Quilt Program being sponsored by Downy. These quilts are given to children with terminal or critical illnesses (in hospitals) and children in shelters. To participate, you can go to http://www.quiltsforkids.org/ I went and requested a kit last week and today one arrived. I have all the fabric I need to make a quilt, already cut and with a pattern included! Check this out:

I have 4 weeks to get the quilt completed and back to the organization. All that I have to contribute is thread, batting and a bit of time.. and in return a child somewhere gets a quilt that lets him or her know someone somewhere is thinking of them and cares.

I did a bit of sewing this evening. Got the Froggy Coin quilt done for my friends' son. Later this week I will get some batting....and get everything sandwiched and ready to quilt. I think it turned out very cute. Here is the overall quilt:

And here is a close up to show some of the Froggy fabric I used:

Happy Quilting! "Belle"

Great Day Quilting

2010-03-13T21:09:00.008-06:00

Next Saturday is National Quilting Day... but we celebrated like it was today. The sewing machines have been humming... rotary blades flying... steam iron hissing... hubby and I are covered in threads... it has been a very good quilty day.

I am part of a small, wonderful, close-knit online quilting group and we do a block lottery every quarter. Last summer I won! 36 really cute repro-blocks. I finally got around to putting the blocks together and adding a single border. I am going to add another border or two, but I am waiting for some repro fabric on order. I love how it looks and evidently so does my fabric loving pooch, Mac. He decided to hop up on the bed and take a good look at my work and added some lovely smudges from his muddy paws. Oh well... it'll wash out and he is so darn cute!

Hubby is working on a quilt for our DD. Her brother has one made by dad, but she doesn't. Hub and DS have a thing about bugs.. especially dragonflies.. so her quilt has fabrics with dragonflies, lady bugs, butterflies and the likes. Very colorful and very cute. He got a lot done today. Here it is laid out in sections on the bed:

The last quilty project of the day was another one of mine. A friend is adopting baby #2 from Taiwan. Jeremiah is a special boy with CP just waiting for his mom and dad to come get him... SOON! They have been affectionately calling him Froggie boy based on the Acronym F.R.O.G. (Fully Relying On God). God has shown up and shown out in providing the funds and means to bring this sweetie home. Just like he did with big brother, Noah. So, of course, I knew Jeremiah would need a Froggie quilt. I have some Chinese Coins in the works using lots of colorful fabric... several with Frogs on them. Not sure where I am going after that, but I am sure it will be cute! Here is the beginnings of it...

Happy National Quilting Day.. a week early! Maybe we will celebrate again next week too! :-)

"Belle"

Whipped Up A Baby Quilt

2010-02-27T12:20:00.003-06:00

My husband is a quilting whiz. He can start a quilt top on Monday and have it done and ready to quilt by the weekend and that is only working at night after a full day's work. And he can quilt like the wind. I have watched him quilt a huge work in a day just chugging along on a standard Kenmore sewing machine.

Not so me. I tend to quilt in bits and snippets. 30 minutes here... 20 minutes there... it just never comes together quickly for me. I have so many unfinished projects it is criminal!

So a week ago when they announced in church that there would be a baby shower the following Sunday and my daughter said "Aren't you planning to make them a quilt?"... to which I replied, "Yes, eventually" and she said "Do it this week.. in time for the shower.. you can do it!" I thought "No way!" and then I thought "Why not give it a shot!"

She and I brain stormed and came up with an idea. I sat down with fabric that afternoon and pulled charms and border fabric and such. I worked a bit most every day this week and to my great delight and surprise I got it done! I know there are soo many quilters who could have made this quilt much faster than I did... and who won't see this as a grand accomplishment, but for one who struggles a bit with time management and finds that quilting (which she loves) causes lots of aches and pains when done for more than 30 minute spurts and who is not the best at actually finishing something, this is a big deal!

And I think it turned out really cute! There are imperfections... points that don't quite match-up... some quilting that slipped out of the ditch... but overall it looks good and I think the baby and her mommy will like it.

Now if I could just get motivated to be this diligent with all my quilt projects!

"Belle"

UFO turns into Guest Room Quilt

2010-02-20T14:25:00.002-06:00

I am trying to quilt some of the tops that fill my hall closet! 3 became gifts for 3 special girls (see post below) and while looking through and making a list of all my loose ends, I found a green and white top I forgot about. The pattern is ZigZag from www.quilterscache.com This block and color (green and white) were chosen for a quilt lottery I sometimes participate in with my online quilt group. Well I pulled fabrics.... cut fabrics.... never got them sewn into blocks and mailed off! But I didn't want to waste them, so I made the blocks with what I had cut plus enough more to create a top. And then it sat and sat.. until I found it a few weeks ago. My hubby, who is a whiz at quilting and soo fast, was on a quilting jag so we got this one sandwich and off he went! It now resides on the bed in my mom's guest room and looks lovely there. And I can check 1 more UFO off the list!

3 Special Quilts for 3 Special Girls

2010-02-20T14:15:00.006-06:00

A co-worker of my husband was expecting baby #3 (born in late Dec 2009), so we decided it would be nice to give her a quilt for the baby. We like to give the quilt after the birth so we can include the name on the label. Hubby had a cute bright scrappy top he has put together for fun a while back that was a little bigger than a traditional baby quilt might be, but still very cute for a little girl. We decided to finish it for the baby knowing she would be able to use it for many years as she grew. I made a label and we got the back together... sandwiched it... and then he quilted it and added the binding. It turned out so cute!

This co-worker has 2 other girls... 3 and 10. We thought "We need to make quilts for those girls too!" So we pulled out a very pink and girlie disappearing nine-patch top I had made and another bright top he had made. The disappearing nine-patch went to the 3 year old who we later learned adores the color pink!

And the oldest of the 3 got the bright scrappy 4 patch with yellow border.

They all turned

out cute and will hopefully bless these 3 special girls for years to

come!

Love Quilt for a friend

2010-02-20T14:04:00.004-06:00

I am part of a wonderful fairly small online quilt group. We are sooo close... it is so difficult to explain how real our relationships are. These ladies are truly my sisters... we all love and support each other... and even offer hard to hear, but needed, advice at times! One of our sweet sisters has been going through a rough time... her husband had a chronic illness, she cares for her parents, cared for her mother-in-law who recently died, and more including all the normal life stuff we all experience. So we decided she needed a Love Quilt to reminder her that God loves her and so do we!

I chose the pattern and fabrics... she loves 1930s repros, so that part was easy. I decided to go with a traditional Churn Dash made with 2 different repros per block and white for the background. I made a couple of blocks and others in the group made blocks and sent

them to me. Once they were all here white sashing was added, a pieced flange and then a cheery yellow border. And then.. it sat.. and it sat.. and it sat.. until finally my sweet husband, who can quilt a quilt on the sewing machine in no time flat said "Want me to quilt that for you?" So I got the label made and on the back... we got it sandwiched and off he went! Basic in the ditch straight line quilting.. which would be true to a quilt made in the 1930s. Added a great purple repro for the binding and it was done! I love how it turned out. My dd wants one like it... my mother wanted this one (so I will be making her one soon)... and to be honest, I really wanted to keep it for myself! But I didn't! I was a good Belle and sent it on to my precious friend who loves it too!

I strongly urge you to use whatever gift God gave you to bless someone else. It is the best feeling! One I get to share with my sweet QWHT sisters who have the biggest hearts I know!

Reversible Table Linens

2010-02-20T13:57:00.004-06:00

Hubby, also a quilter, decided to make some table linens for our breakfast room table as a Christmas surprise for me... but then we decided not to exchange presents this year! He finished them up and gave them to me AFTER Christmas! They are really neat. A bit like having 3 table runners. The cool thing is they are reversible. One side is strip pieced.... very colorful. The other side in a single piece of fabric with a border and some detailing on the ends. The ends also have fringe to add a touch of elegance. We have enjoyed using them!

Here are the 2 looks... I prefer the strip pieced runner in the center. I like seeing all those colors!

Two Goals checked off the list!

2010-01-07T17:35:00.005-06:00

I have gotten one of my January goals met and one has been lifted from me. I finished the gift for my Christmas Swap partner. I love the Charm Party Tote pattern and instructions. I used the basic how-to but adapted the pattern to be strips instead of charms. I think it turned out great! My partner sent me 2 fabrics and I was required to use at least 1 of them in my item. I used both! They are the 2 prints seen in the front pocket. They are also used in the purse itself.

Another friend, knowing a good bit about the circumstances in my life right now, has "ordered" me to send her the top I need to quilt this month to send to a mutual friend. I have hemmed and hawed over doing this, but finally relented.

So now I just need to pack up the purse and the top and send them off to their recipients.

And time to pick the next goal to work on!

"Belle"

Time to Set Goals

2010-01-01T07:57:00.004-06:00

Well 2009 was a bit of a crazy and hectic year here. Did not get nearly as much done quiltwise as I planned. Hopefully 2010 will go a bit smoother, although I am not so sure it can. My younger child grads high school and starts college.... my older child grads college (on the same day her brother grads high school!) and moves out of state to get her Masters.... we still have 2 puppies, who are getting older and settling in, but still... they make like interesting! Then add to the mix an elderly mom who needs me a bit more than she has in the past and all the normal life stuff (Financial crunch, work, church activities, friends, neighbors etc.) ... Life is FULL!

So I have decided NOT to set goals for 2010. Instead I am taking baby steps and setting short term goals.

For January, my focus is on finishing up some things. Not sure they will all get done, but I hope they do!

1) I participated in a Christmas Swap with online friends and have yet to finish my swap item and send it on to the lady with whom I am swapping. Fortunately her life has been as crazy as mine and she is behind too! So I will be getting that done and into the mail!

2) I have a quilt top done and ready to quilt for a friend that I must, must, must finish this month!

3) I started a Fall Quilt Top in Sept. It is all together, but I decided to add some embellishment with hand embroidery. I am about 3/4s of the way done with that, so my goal is to finish up the embroidery this month.

4) Several years ago I started some redwork blocks... 12 of them. I have 11 done and have started the 12th. I would love to finish that 12th block this month.

5) I have a quilt I decided to tie, my Mile-a-Minute quilt. Started it before Thanksgiving. Have about 1/3 done. Would love to finish tying it in January.

6) I participated in a Snow themed block swap with online friends recently. Have all the blocks put together into a top. Would love to get the label done and the quilt sandwiched this month.

7) I participate in a quarterly quilt block lottery with friends and the blocks are due soon (Feb 1 I think). I need to make them up this month. Easy block this time around... blue and yellow nine patches.

So those are my quilt related goals for January. They are doable if Life doesn't throw me more curve balls!

"Belle"

Fall is on the way...

2009-08-30T17:46:00.008-05:00

I love Fall. I live in the deep south and we rarely get much of a Fall. We got from hot and humid to cold and wet! Maybe that is why I love Fall and anything to do with it so much. (I feel the same about snow and snowmen!)

My online quilty sisters and I are having another block lottery. Here are my blocks... Fall Leaves... no doubt these, along with all the rest, will combine into a lovely quilt for the lucky winner!

I also recently purchased some gorgeous Fall fabrics from one of my absolute favorite online vendors... http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/ Aren't they lovely? I have a Fall Quilt in the works and plan to use these in it.

Hubby has been busy working on yet another fun scrappy quilt... he finds piecing these tops very relaxing. He has a job that can be rather stressful and this is a lot cheaper than therapy! Here is his latest creation.....

And last, but in no way least, I have another new quilting buddy.... Mia! A beautiful black and tan long haired miniature dachshund who loves her slightly older brother, Mac. Mia isn't allowed in the sewing area much just yet... she loves to chew fabric! She'll learn....

I am thankful that I have a machine that can operate without a foot pedal... not sure what would happen with those 2 swirling around underneath the table.

Happy Quilting! "Belle"

Catching up on Projects... New Toy....

2009-07-26T17:11:00.010-05:00

Seems there has been very little quilting or sewing of any kind around here for a month or so. The summer has been full and busy instead of slow and relaxed!

This past week hubby and I made up for lost time. He finished up a quilt top he is making for a co-worker who is on his 2nd our in Iraq. Most of the fabric used came from an online quilting buddy of mine who recently made a patriotic quilt for her son on his return from Iraq.

Quilting buddies are great about sharing fabric!

I played around a while back with some scrap strips (2 1/2") and came up with some blocks. I took part of them and added sashing and put them into a top this week. This will go into a pile of quilts here to be used when someone is cold or to be given away when there is a need. Last year we had an apartment complex burn and 8 families lost everything they had. I so wished I had some quilts to donate to them. I am working to create a pile of quilts to have on hand for when someone needs one... or even wants one. My kids' friends hang out here a lot and many come from less than ideal family situations.

Several have said that they want a quilt all their own. If I had some made up, I would just say "Here.. take your pick." So that is part of the plan too!

Some online quilt buddies and I do a quarterly block lottery. I won the last one... gorgeous mini-bowties made from repros on white backgrounds. SO I got to choose the next block.

I picked Buckeye Beauty (easy block that has several neat layout options) and fall fabrics. We draw in August, so just in time for the winner to get some blocks for a Fall Quilt. Here are a few of the ones I made:

A couple of weeks ago I made a bit of an impulse buy... but I think I am going to be pleased I did. I have been toying with the idea of an embroidery machine. I looked at some wonderful ones, but they are way outside my budget. I decided to just let it go and look again next year. Then one night I was looking at Craigslist and came across an add for a basic Brother embroidery machine. A bit of research and I found the seller was asking $100 less than the cheapest retail price I could find. Further inquiries and I learned she was the mom of 2 children.. toddler and infant... bought it 4 months ago with the intention of learning to sew etc. Got in over her head and needed money more. So I bought it.

I finally had time to play with it today. One thing I love is that it has the applique stitch. I have a basic Brother sewing machine (you can see it in the picture too) that I love and have used for 5 years, but it doesn't have the applique stitch. I have not tried the embroidery features yet. That is very new to me, so will take a bit of time and patience on my part.

Hopefully now that summer is winding down, I can get back into some sort of routine and find some quilting time each week!

"Belle"

What every quilter needs!

2009-06-07T19:38:00.004-05:00

I got the most wonderful Mother's Day gift.... a new quilting buddy! I absolutely love dachshunds and when we had to put down my sweet Woodrow (age 15) 2 years ago, it broke my heart. I wasn't a quilter when we got Woods.... that came later. He loved to lay under my feet while I sewed... in fact, he taught me how important it is too turn off the sewing machine when not in use... I was up doing something else and he rolled over onto the foot pedal and all of a sudden my machine was sewing air! Woodrow was a smooth coat dark mahogany red standard size dachie... my new baby is a miniature (should top out at 10 lbs)... long-haired... strawberry blond dachshund. He is soo handsome with the cutest little curls on the tips of his ears.

He has decided his favorite place to sleep when hubby or I am playing with fabric is in a box of scraps... and when I sew he takes up residency under my feet just like my sweet Woodrow.

I have no doubt you will see more pix of Mac popping up on this blog. After all, I think every quilter needs a furry quilting buddy!

"Belle"

Quilt Stimulus Package -- Great Deal!

2009-03-19T09:27:00.001-05:00

I am on a quilting email group at yahoogroups called Real Women Quilt. One of the ladies there was telling us about a Quilt Stimulus Package. I was sure this was some cute ha-ha someone had come up with, so I went to check it out.

It is not a ha-ha at all... it is a great deal for anyone who has a ton of tops that need quilting (like me).

Joanne is offering a special deal on her long arm quilting services from March 15 - April 15... but there is a limit to the number she can quilt, so you have to act fast.

Her prices are super before the discount... which makes the discount even better. Check it out... http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/2009/03/update-on-stimulus-package.html

Barb

A Very Special Quilt

2009-03-08T16:19:00.005-05:00

DH decided to make a black and white quilt for our son's 15th birthday (in 2007!). It turned out great... very big... but great. There is a hint of red in it also as I had one piece of red fabric that he wanted to use. It has musical instruments on it and our son is a musician. Well, this poor quilt top (like so many others here) has been waiting patiently to become an honest to goodness quilt and that finally happened this past week. DD and I were out of town... DS was busy with friends and a music GIG... so DH took advantage of alone time and quilted the quilt... bound it too! It turned out great! He used a red thread and a basic grid quilting pattern. The quilt has 3 basic blocks.. a large 1 patch, a 7 patch that uses 6 small squares and 1 rectangle to create a sort of faux 9 patch look, and then a traditional 9 patch. DS loves it! So do I!

I LOVE REPROS!

2009-02-28T20:32:00.004-06:00

I really do love 1930s repro fabrics. Maybe it is because the quilts I grew up with were made with feedsacks and such. NO I am not that old... but most of the quilts I grew up with were older ones made by my grandmothers and one great-grandmother in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. My mother remember a large chifforobe (Southern for armoire) full of feed sacks that her mother saved over the years. Whatever happened to them no one knows.

So when my quilting groups spring block lottery was announce and I saw that it was a cute block using repros, I knew I had to play! Here are the 6 I have made... aren't they cute!?

(This is the mini-bow tie block from Quilter's Cache... http://www.quilterscache.com/M/MiniBowTieBlock.html )

I also decided to play with one of my favorite blocks.. the Churn Dash.. I have always made it with 2 fabrics... one for the background, one for the dash... this time I used 3 fabrics... solid white for the background, one repro for the HSTs and one for the rectangles. I love the look! I am certain I will be whipping up more of these blocks soon!

Playing with Scraps....

2009-02-28T20:27:00.005-06:00

I saw a quilt in a magazine or catalog recently that was really cute and immediately the wheels started turning and I began adapting it idea to what I have on hand. I participate in a monthly 5" charm swap, so I always have plenty of those... and I also cut a lot of 2 1/2" strips for projects, so I have a lot of those in my scrap bin. I came up with a neat and easy to piece block. I will use these to create 2 more tops for charity quilts.

Here are some laid out together...

And her are some more with an added strip that will create a "faux" sashing when sewn together...

We like bright colors here... can you tell? :)

Hubby's Been Busy!

2009-02-28T20:17:00.002-06:00

My quilty hubby has been sewing up a storm over the past few weeks. We have already broken our "you must finish one of the tops already made before starting a new one" rule.... no surprise there! We have many, many tops which are begging to be quilted!

Here are 2 tops he whipped up from scraps for the Buried Treasures Ministry....

another "coin" quilt...

and this is an original pattern that he worked out using my 5" charms and some 2 1/2" rectangles and squares. I love it!

And lastly is today's foray into creativity... again playing with 5" charms and 2 1/2" squares... this is the block he has created... it is an 18" block... (he likes big blocks and big quilts!)...

Whole Lot of Quilting Going On...

2009-01-01T11:18:00.011-06:00

Last weekend DH (who also quilts) and I pulled out all the completed tops that were waiting patiently to be quilted. We made a nice list with each quilt top on it... the size...recipient or purpose... and then noted if we had batting, backing, label... it is so nice to be organized! There is now a list on the side of my blog of pre-2009 tops ready to be quilted (including 2 we made this past week!) This will be a year of tying up loose ends.. getting these tops quilted and to their rightful owners. It will also be a year full of quilting! There is a wonderful local charity that God has knit my heart to called Buried Treasures (the link is down below all the lists on this page). The plan is to make a slew of quilts (12 - 15) for them by next Christmas. 2 of our pre-2009 tops will go in the pile and one of the 2 tops made this past week is for them. I am excited about this project. Quilting is fun, but it is so much better for me when I am giving them to others and I love that God has shown me how to use this as a ministry.

So about those 2 quilt tops pieced at the tail end of 2008... DH has been off work since Dec 22 (vacation time) and I have been swamped! I do finances for a small church part-time, but the end of the year is my craziest and busiest time. Add to that our kids went off with the church youth group to the Mountains of TN this week and DH has had a lot of alone time. He has wasted none of it! He grabbed scraps and created a scrappy version of a Chinese Coin quilt.. he calls it Bear Coins because of the novelty fabric he used for the border.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but there will be another pix soon. We sandwiched this one yesterday and he has already started quilting it! I bet he has it totally finished by tomorrow.. binding and all!

I also tossed together a top at year's end... a baby quilt. A friend's dd is expecting her first child.. a little girl, Allison, due in January. I have been wanting to try the Disappearing Nine Patch (http://quiltsatcs.blogspot.com/2007/04/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial.html) and this seemed the perfect project for it. I am pleased with the results. I need to get some backing fabric and once Baby Allison arrives I will make up a label and get it quilted and on its way.

We also sandwiched one of our pre-2009 tops yesterday. My Mile-a-Minute top (http://bp1.blogger.com/_rPYeZO7HnZU/Rztv8KSQ3aI/AAAAAAAAALA/LxX0-AQJcnE/s1600-h/mile+a+minute+top.jpg) I loved making this and thought I would keep it for me. But I have decided someone else will love it more.. so it will be going in with the Buried Treasures quilts. I will start quilting on it today. I am NOT as quick as DH, so it will be a while before I am done.

We have a rule for 2009... at least until we are caught up with the unquilted tops... for each new top you make, you have to finish a quilt before you can start a new one! We will see how long that lasts! LOL!

Happy Quilty New Year! Consider using the talent and gift and love of quilting God has given you to touch another life.. other lives.. there are many quilt charities online.. and you can look around your own part of the world. There are charities like Buried Treasures.. and there are individuals.. a friend with cancer.. someone grieving.. someone lonely.. wrap them in a quilt of love!

"Belle"

Obligations Fulfilled... Finally!

2008-12-15T20:01:00.005-06:00

I finished up the last 2 sewing commitments I had for 2008... YEAH! The first were some blocks I was sending to a friend. They look easy, but they were a booger to make! I think those flying geese had it in for me! LOL! They turned out nice in the end. Here is one of the 8 I made ...

Oh yes, this is the Indian Star pattern found at www.quilterscache.com

The other commitment I had was to make a tote for a friend to give her dd for Christmas. I LOVE making things to give to other folks, but I find that I hate making things for people... does that make sense? When it is a gift, I tend to be relaxed and while I want it to be well made and nice, I don't get overly uptight when I see a small flaw here or there (like points that don't quite match up). But when making for someone to give to someone else, wow! The pressure! And that made me make mistakes.. really dumb ones that frustrated me! But it is done and I think it turned out nice. I love pink and I love purple, so I thought I would have a difficult time giving this one up.. but I know the young woman who will be getting this for Christmas and she will enjoy it... so that makes the parting easier! LOL!

I will be taking a sewing break for a week or so... at least through Christmas... maybe even through New Years! But I already have projects for 2009 on tap... lots of them! So I will be back up and running in sewing central soon.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! "Belle"

Finally some quilting!

2008-11-24T20:15:00.015-06:00

As usual life has been moving at a rapid pace and I have had no real time for quilting and, to be honest, when I have had a bit of time I've been to tired to quilt. How sad is that!? LOL!

But I got motivated this past week... mainly because I will be seeing 2 of my great nieces at Thanksgiving and 2 of these quilts are for them! So we have had a bit of a quilt marathon recently. I had the tops done on all these quilts... the labels printed... one back was done (meaning it was cut to the right size and the label had been added)... so I cut the backs for the others.. added the labels.. then got them all sandwiched. My hubby quilted and bound (binded?) 2 for me... he is a gem! (And no, I will not share! LOL!)

First is Ellie's quilt... I had the pillow made, the top pieced and the back ready... so once I got it sandwiched, hubby took off and got it finished in no time flat (he is a quick quilter!)... I think it turned out great...

Next is Noah's quilt... the top is a cheater, but the panel is so cute! I whipped it together a few weeks ago. The "pieced" border is actually a neat stripe fabric. We decided to use the same fabric for the binding.... I love the way it turned out! Hubby finished this one up too.

Here are the 2 I finished up... these are headed to Texas for our family Thanksgiving get together... the first is Madeleine's quilt... my first quilt using repros... it won't be my last! I did a simple diagonal grid for the stitching. I didn't wash the fabrics ahead of time (a first for me.. and it went so against my nature).. and as always I used cotton batting.. so when I washed and dried it, things crinkled up nicely! I love that crinkly look!

Madeleine's big sis, Caroline, has a quilt I made for her when she was born 2 years ago, but I knew she needed a happy too... so she has a doll quilt made from Madeleine's leftovers. This was soo quick and soo easy. A great idea for a child's Christmas!

It's nice to have some WIPs done... of course there are plenty more begging to be quilted... and more than I can list begging to be started! A quilters to do list never ends... it just continually grows and grows....

"Belle"

Baby Quilts Everywhere!

2008-09-06T10:50:00.006-05:00

Baby Quilts have invaded Sewing Central here. I love baby quilts... one because they are quick to make (instant gratification)... and two they mean there's a baby! I love babies! So here are the ones hubby and I whipped up last weekend....

We have a young couple in our church expecting a little boy in December. When hubby finished up his blue and yellow snail tails quilt, he had some left over blocks. I commented that the pattern and colors would be a cute quilt for a boy. So he whipped up a few more blocks and created one. It will be quilted after the little one is born. I like to put the baby's name and birthday on the quilt label, along with a Bible verse. And I always put labels on before quilting.

On Friday, Sept. 5, my great-niece Madeleine was born. I decided months ago that I wanted to make her quilt using 1930s repros. I have never made a repro quilt. This will definitely not be the only one I make! I used a simple pattern that shows off the fabrics and is quick to make... Yellow Brick Road. Originally I planned to put 1 border on Madeleine's quilt using another repro fabric... but when I laid it next to the center I didn't like how it looked. I really love the look of white fabric with repros. It seems to make them stand out. So I added the white borders with a slim pieced once (using leftovers from the blocks) in between. I really love how this quilt turned out and the fabrics feel sooo good! I have a sweet purple (sort of lilac) repro print for the back and binding. This one will be quilted soon and then off it goes to Madeleine.

Madeleine has a big sister, 2 year old Caroline. I made her a quilt when she was born, but I decided to send her another one... not for her, but for her baby doll. So I made a few extra blocks when working on Madeleine's quilt... put them together... added a border... and voila... it's done. I have a fun green repro for the back of this one and the border. This is my first doll quilt... lots of fun!

And last.. but not least.. is Noah's quilt. Noah is a very special fella. He is 16 months old and in an orphanage in Taiwan. Tomorrow (Sun. Sept 7) he will meet his mom and dad for the first time. They are there now and anxious to get him into their arms. It has been an amazing journey for the last 9 months. God has been working this out and providing in ways unimaginable to our frail human minds. Noah's quilt is a cheater quilt... so very quick and easy (I suspect he will get another one from his Aunt "Belle" down the road!). I bought 2 of these panels and some coordinating fabrics on clearance a year ago. Thought they were cute and knew someone would need this quilt. The pieced border is also a cheater... it is a wonderful striped fabric that goes with the panel. I have a really cute coordinating fabric to back this one with... it has animals all over it. This is a scrumptious feeling fabric too! Noah's quilt will be quilted this week. They are due home next Friday and I would love to have his quilt waiting for them.

That's all the baby quilts for now. I have one more that I made some time ago. It is about to be backed and quilted for my great-niece Ellie, who was born in June. (Running a tad late with hers!) Once it is done, I will post a picture.

"Belle"

Charm Party Walker Bag

2008-08-27T16:17:00.001-05:00

I adapted the Charm Party tote bag pattern and created a walker bag for my mom. We were both pleased with how it turned out. I even remembered to put pockets inside this time... on her last bag I failed to do that! There are 3 things I will do different on her next one (which she wants to be another Charm Party version)... one is to put the top tabs on the back instead of the front (that was a mistake! so they button on the back)... I will also position those top tabs a bit further apart to make it a tad easier to get into the bag ... and last I made the tabs like I normally make the handles for the Charm Party Tote.. so you end up with 2 layers of fabric and 2 layers of fusible fleece. It is so thick, that is made creating button holes difficult. I will work it so there is only 1 layer of fleece next time.

Another Snail Tail Picture

2008-08-24T18:24:00.003-05:00

Here is hubby's snail tail quilt top pieced together with all the borders. It is a 90 x 90... as I have said before, hubby is a big guy and makes big quilts! Now when this will get sandwiched and quilted is anyone's guess! LOL! We both have a bad habit of making more tops than quilts!

Bees Buzzing around Snail Tails....

2008-08-23T13:14:00.003-05:00

Hubby finished all his Snail Tail blocks with some extras. In fact, we are going to whip up a few more and have enough for a baby quilt... which is great! We have a young couple in our church expecting a boy in December, so that will be his quilt.

All the blocks have at least 1 piece of a yellow fabric with bees on it (Hence the title of this post!).

Hubby laid the blocks out of the bed... here they are ready to be sewn into a top...

Snails, Orange Crush and a Party

2008-08-17T17:48:00.006-05:00

How's that for a title?! LOL! It has been a productive weekend here.

Hubby has started a new quilt and as always is making progress at the speed of light! He is making a scrappy Snails' Tail quilt in all blues and yellows. Here is a sampling of the blocks:

I continue to work on my Orange Crush Quilt (which is not orange!) in amongst other projects. I am finishing up these blocks:

I will have all the square blocks done then. I am not planning on putting this on point. In fact, I am not sure how I am going to put it together. Once the blocks are all done I am going to lay them out and play with various options until the right one hits me!

And lastly I made another Charm Party Tote. This one is for a dear friend (a surprise!) and I so want to keep it! (Isn't that the way it goes?). She loves green... I tried an all green layout, but it seemed blah. She loves purple and green together, so I added in some purple and voila! I think it turned out great. I changed one of the inner pockets a bit.. the divided one. I made it a bit shallower and wider. Here are some photos of the outside and inside:

I still have some fabric to cut up for a charm swap and some birthday fat quarters... so off to get that done and then I am thinking ice cream! Yep, I thinking after all this work some ice cream is called for... ok, I'll be good and stick with peach yogurt.. the real stuff, not frozen. But I really want Rocky Road from Baskins & Robbins!

"Belle"

A bit more weekend sewing....

2008-07-20T15:09:00.002-05:00

I did a bit more sewing this weekend. Whipped up some blocks for a project I am working on with friends. This pattern is called Dutch Nine Patch (found at http://www.quilterscache.com/). It is a fairly easy block to make, although I think a couple of my centers are a bit wonky! That green fabric stretched a bit while sewing. Still.... I think they turned out pretty cute.

"Belle"

Charm Party Tote Done!

2008-07-19T17:57:00.005-05:00

I was determined to finish this tote today! The pattern is great... easy to follow and easy to make.... and along the way I learned a few tricks that I will be using on other projects. I also plan to make more of these totes... probably adapting them a bit with smaller size or fewer charms.

The handles have fallen behind the tote in the picture... they are solid black fabric handles... long enough to tote the bag under by arm, but not so long that it bounces on my hip.

The interior has 2 pockets... one in large and open... the other is divided. The divided pocket ends up being 2 deep narrow pockets that will work fine for pens and an eyeglasses case. On the next tote, I am going to make that pocket shallower and wider... easier for me to "dig" things out.

I used this project to get a bit of free motion quilting practice... on the inside! I traced around the squares on the front.

There is a small front pocket that is perfect for my cell phone!

The pattern calls for buttons to be sew where the charms come together. I opted not to do that. It had no purpose other than decoration and I like the clean look without the buttons. Now if my points hadn't lined up pretty well, I might have added those buttons!

I bought very little for this project. I swap 5" square charms with a group of online friends and so have a nice size stash of them. I pulled the ones used here from that stash... all cut and ready to use! I also used charms for the outer and inner pockets... although the inner pockets could easily be created with a single piece of fabric. The lining came from my stash... as did the handle fabric and the fabric I used to cover a piece of cardboard in the bottom of the bag. Even the button on the front came from a can a buttons I have. The only thing I purchased was the fusible fleece. (Loved working with it!)

I have never had a lot of confidence in my ability to sew. I tried as a kid and later as a young adult and got very frustrated. I still avoid clothing projects! So I get a bit excited when I try something new and it works! And I love that this is for me... selfish I know... but I give away so much of what I make (and love doing that!), it's nice to keep something for once!

Now to get back to Orange Crush blocks... and other projects that are begging to be finished!

"Belle"

Finally! Some Time to Sew!

2008-07-09T11:21:00.005-05:00

I have been running in circles lately... going here... going there... doing this... doing that... and all this busyness has taken over my sewing time. But this morning I was able to jump into sewing central (a.k.a. the dining room) and get some things done. I worked on 2 projects.

I am working on a tote for church (I want to be able to take 1 bag... no purse... with all my stuff in it!) using the Charm Party pattern I bought a few weeks ago. I swap charms each month with a group on online friends, so I have lots! I planned to use black and white charms, but as I was digging through my charm stash I came across a black fabric with bright pink flowers... I love this fabric! and I am such a pink girl! So I decided to toss some pink into the mix. I have pieced the front and back panels for the tote (they look the same) and I have the inner pockets pieced. And now I am on hold. I need some fusible fleece for the next bit. I will get that on Friday when I am across town near Hancock's.

I have also jumped back into the Quiltville Mystery Quilt... Orange Crush. It isn't a mystery anymore since all the steps have been posted, but still... there is a tad bit of mystery in not knowing how my fabrics will look when all is said and done. I am working on the blocks created in step 4. I have 2 done... 28 to go! The "red" fabric isn't reading true... it is a dark magenta. It really pops in the HSTs with that bright tealish blue.

I realized today that this quilt is a tad reminiscent of some I have from my great-grandmother. She didn't buy fabric for those quilts. She used what she had on hand (usually from clothes or other sewing projects or feed sacks). And she made them for use... utility quilts. This quilt will be a utility quilt. Both my kids travel several times a year with church groups and such to camps and we need some quilts that can be hauled off with them. And all the fabric in my orange crush (which is orangeless) is from my stash. I might purchase fabric for the back.... or I might try my hand at a pieced back... I'll decide that when the time comes.

Back to the sewing machine.... "Belle"

B & W top finished.. finally!

2008-07-01T20:57:00.005-05:00

I finally had time to work on my nephew's quilt this past weekend and got the top done! It is a very easy pattern -- Turn Twenty Again -- and I love the way it all comes together. Here is the center without any borders added:

I knew I wanted to add a little punch of color, so I added a small blue flange between the inner and outer black borders. It doesn't show up in the photo of the finished top, but I am posting a close up shot that shows it well.

Now to get the label done and back pieced... sandwich it.. and quilt away!

In the meantime I have pulled out my Orange Crush box and started working on it again. I have the first 3 parts done and am working on part 4.

"Belle"

Travelling with a Quilter

2008-06-14T10:45:00.008-05:00

My hubby had an overnight business trip earlier this week and I tagged along... just to have some us time away from the kiddos. Travelling with a quilter is an adventure... and since he does a bit of quilting also, we had a blast!

First there had to be some reading material to keep me occupied while he handled business stuff.....

And then we had to stop at fabric / quilt shops. I really loved the Gotta Have It Quilt Shop in Baldwyn, MS. I bought 2 patterns... both of these I had seen online or in catalogs and was hem-hawing about buying them.. but when I saw them in person, I was sold! So sometime down the road I will be making a Charm Party Tote Bag and a Hip To Be Square quilt....

I also ran into a brand new Hancock Fabrics store in Tupelo, MS (FYI Hancock Fabrics is headquarter in the small town of Baldwyn, MS). There was a Bernina shop in the middle of the store. Hadn't seen that before. The lady there told me Bernina had a deal with Hancock and we will be seeing more of these. I had fun looking at the various embroidery machines... I am contemplating buying one some day... and then I found a Pattern book that caught my eye... well several caught my eye, but I limited myself to one purchase... a stash buster book...

I also found some cute repro fabrics for this month's charm swap and to use in a baby quilt I am planning for my great-niece (due in Sept.)

My hubby's employer pays for the trip...except my meals and purchases.... I get time alone with him, some news mags and patterns, and fabric to boot... that makes for a great trip!

"Belle"

Black & White Blocks Done!

2008-06-14T10:42:00.002-05:00

Last week I finally had the time to get all the black and white pieces of fabric put together into Turning Twenty Again Blocks. I am loving how this quilt is coming together. The goal this week is to get the blocks sewn together to create the main center part of the quilt. I am planning on adding 2 borders, but don't have the fabric for either one yet. I want to take the center part to the quilt shop and play with fabrics there. Such fun!

Ginger Blossoms... Black & White... and Being Behind

2008-05-25T22:31:00.003-05:00

I went to my favorite LQS this week... Quilt Arts... http://www.quiltartsonline.com/ I love this shop! It opened last November and is already a hub of activity among quilters. You walk in and are just wowed by color and texture and pattern. When I walked in the door last week I was greeted with the Ginger Blossom line by Sandi Henderson (http://www.portabellopixie.typepad.com/) WOW! I love this line! I bought 6 lovely fat quarters... but alas they are now packaged up ready to be mailed off next week to a friend. Sigh! I think I must return and buy some for my very own! They are just to wonderful to do without!

I also bought a few black and white prints. I have some in my stash... received some from an online friend... and had bought some online. I am going to make my nephew a quilt for his High School graduation. I am using the Turn Twenty Again pattern and have been cutting fabric this weekend. I plan to start sewing tomorrow. I think I may add a small border of a single bright color for a pop.

Bonnie at Quiltville has posted step 5 of her current mystery quilt... Orange Crush... I am woefully behind! I have step 1 and 2 done... did a bit of step 3 and got frustrated... haven't even started step 4 must less 5! Oh well... I will press on (as well as cut on... sew on... LOL! sorry bad joke!) and get caught up one day!

I have been terribly unmotivated in the area of quilting the past few weeks, so I am thrilled to be back in the land of fabric, thread, rulers, rotary cutters etc. The slump has passed and I am ready to get going again!

Step 3 Woes....

2008-05-07T08:15:00.002-05:00

Bonnie is challenging me to death with this mystery! LOL! I absolutely abhor working with triangles! Love the way they look... but hate cutting them and lining things up and sewing them.. and these are sooo small! I survived Step 2 by coming up with my own method.. but Step 3 stumped me. PTL Merete came up with a neat way... http://mreteveian.blogspot.com/2008/04/del-3-kjapt-part-3-fast.html

So off I went to give it a try... and it worked! Sort of... they look good, but they are measuring what I think they should measure. From the chatter on the list, the short sides should line up with the sides of the blocks created in step 1 and 2. Mine are too long. Ugh!

So I am setting this aside and waiting for future steps to see how these are used... how they line up. It may be that I can shave a tiny tad off (they are just barely too big) or it may be that they are just the right size and I don't realize it. Either way, I am going to step back and wait a bit to see where Bonnie is going with this.

In the meantime, I need to whip up a couple of new walker bags for my mom, pull out a UFO or 2, start my nephew's quilt... plenty of quilty things to work on here!

Step 2 done... just under the wire!

2008-04-28T09:35:00.003-05:00

Step 2 was a bit daunting to me... at first. I didn't purchase the Easy Angle ruler, so I had to work with the regular method. I love the look of triangles, but absolutely hate sewing them! And this block has 3 triangles and 2 are tiny! So I did a bit of playing around and tweaking and came up with my own method. It still took a long time to make them all, but I think they turned out great. I really like this little block, especially paired up with four-patches. I played around with several layout ideas last night. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I use this in another quilt some day down the line.

So now I wait patiently for step 3. Of course I have a "zillion" other projects to work on in the meantime, but this one is more fun!

Step 1 Done!

2008-04-11T10:11:00.002-05:00

Aren't little four patches cute? I just love them! They went together a lot quickly than you might think from the time I started until the time I finished. I got interrupted and had several days with no sewing time at all! (Tragic, I know!) I am still fairly new to the quilting game (4 years) and I haven't made a lot of four patches in my day, but I think I will be using them more in the future. I have all sorts of ideas bubbling around!

So step 1 is done... PTL! Now I just have to be patient and wait for step 2! Barb

Step 1 started.....

2008-04-01T14:37:00.003-05:00

Bonnie posted step 1 of her newest mystery Quilt - Orange Crush - yesterday... and I wasted no time gather up my strips and heading to the sewing machine. Unfortunately I keep having detours and haven't gotten as much done as I wanted. I am piecing together a dark strips with light strips as Bonnie instructed. I even have some pressed open and ready to cut into small 2 patches (which will be sewn together into 150 4 -patch units!) I have 2 weeks to get these done before Step 2 is posted. Which should be plenty of time. After all I only have those to piece, a quilt for a 4/26 wedding to finish (the blocks are done), a Round Robin center to create, house to clean, family to feed, work, laundry..... no big deal! Lots of "free" time!

Off to move clothes from washer to dryer... towels from floor to washer... and then fabric strips through the sewing machine!

"Belle"

Of course I have time for another project!

2008-03-26T10:19:00.003-05:00

I have several tops waiting for me to quilt them... I have a mystery quilt from a few weeks ago begging me to and the final borders and then finish it up... I am in the midst of a quilt for a couple getting married in April... I desperately need to start a quilt for my nephew who is graduating in May... so what did I do this week? Signed up for yet another project! But wait.. it is Bonnie at Quiltville's (www.quiltville.com) newest mystery - Orange Crush. Who could resist that???

Mine will be an Orangeless Crush. I was determined to use only stash fabrics (and I sort of did... I was short on one of my main fabrics and ordered a bit more). I like orange and would have used it in my quilt, just didn't have enough.

I really wanted a different feel... I wanted to get away from wild and bright and do something different, but guess what I found out? I am a wild and bright person and most of my fabrics prove it! So I am determined to start adding things to my stash that don't fit my norm.... browns, gold, burgundy, forest greens, pastels (for when I need some light!).... things like that.

I am pleased with my choices. I have lots of dark and light scraps (as per Bonnie's instructions). The darks are mostly reds, greens, purples, a few browns, pink and golds. The lights are mainly white on white, white on cream and a super pale pink and green that are both almost white. My 3 yardage colors are a dark peacoat navy Moda marble (looks black in the photo), a Jinny Beyer print that is a magenta marble with black accents (that's the one I needed a bit more of), and a wonderful teal by Northcott (I love their fabrics!). For the accent color, I am going with a mixture of lemony yellows that read the same. Bonnie has said this quilt will not have a lot of light fabrics in it, so I am hoping these yellows lighten things up and add a punch of bright sunshine to the quilt.

Time to iron and get everything ready for step 1.. which should be coming next week!

"Belle"

Mystery Revealed!

2008-03-05T12:58:00.003-06:00

I finally had time to finish up my Mystery Quilt this weekend. Well, technically the mystery part is done. I still want to add a border of some sort and then quilt and bind it. It is a 56" x 56" right now. I am thinking of adding a small white border and then a larger border (4" I think) of the heart print material. This quilt is going to be a charity quilt for a little girl.

I like how the pattern came together. I really love the smaller blocks and think they would be cute alone in a quilt.

I love how putting simple things together... 4 patches and HSTs in this case... can create a pattern that looks complicated. I need to try my hand at making up smaller elements and laying them out in different ways to create unique looks.

I am very visual which has kept me from participating in Mystery Quilts. I like to see what the end result should look like... most time. I also love to just jump in and do this and that and create a pattern-less quilt. After the fun I had with this Mystery Quilt, I am sure I will participate in more.

"Belle"