Quilters are the best friends!

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"

Happy National Quilting Day!!!

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"

Love Quilt for a friend

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!

Finally some quilting!

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!

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"