quilt

This quilt was made by my newest quilting student, Heather. Didn't she do a great job?

(only half the quilt is shown, and binding still needs to be added)

We saw a quilt in a quilt shop made with similar fabrics and we both fell in love with it. We picked out some fabrics, she pieced the top and I quilted it. (In exchange for some lovely fabric, I must add. Gotta feed that addiction somehow.)

The pattern is Happy Hour by Atkinson Designs. The quilt on the cover of the book isn't much to look at, but the pattern is fantastic. The blocks are 14.5" finished, so the piecing is very quick.

I have also seen this quilt done in Heather Bailey's freshcut fabrics and it was quite lovely as well.

I am anxious to start one of these myself. It is near the top of my list. (oh, you should see my list...)

surprise

my sweet, sweet husband

bought me these fabulous

sulu earrings.

just because.

family fun

My sister often asks me in her letters, "what fun things have you done with your family this week?" Little does she know how much guilt that question usually brings. I rarely plan fun things to do with my family. I feel we are usually focusing on survival. Once I think about it though, I can usually come up with a few fun things we have done together, like:

...making the alphabet out of K'nex.

...watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer together. (I remember being so freaked out by the abominable snowman as a kid.)

...shoveling snow. The boys helped me start on the driveway last night. I was thrilled to see that they are of the age that they can start helping out with some of these big tasks. We had fun shoveling. Go figure. :)

Thanks, Clair, for the reminder to enjoy those little things. I needed that.

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And here is a sneak peek of today's quilt project.

I *heart* this quilt.

another finish

This quilt was made for some dear friends that I have known for a long, long time. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in October, so this gift will be a bit belated. (I need to work on my deadlines!) They live in a hundred year old farm house and collect antique quilts. I hope this fits into their home nicely.

It all started with these squares that I didn't quite know what to do with.

When I saw this quilt, I got excited because I could still make a full size quilt with only half the amount of 9 patch blocks. Those 9 patch blocks get tedious!

The making of this quilt was touch and go several times. I had to do quite a bit of color editing. Several lighter colored squares made their way into my scrap bucket. That helped a ton, but once I got the quilt top put together I wasn't really thrilled. It hung over my banister several weeks. I started to strip piece the backing with pieces from my stash. That didn't last very long. I gave up, went to JoAnn's and bought a big piece of backing fabric...so glad I did. I thought about ripping the top apart several times. Or just cutting it apart and salvaging what I could.

But, I persevered. I decided to see the quilt through to completion. I must say that I am glad I did.

The backing is a large scale paisley that dresses it up nicely.

As does the large scale printed binding.

Someone asked me once (I think it was Megan) if I ever get nervous about how a quilt will come together. I would have to say ALL the TIME!

Is it worth it? Totally. Every time.

quilt-a-long week 4

Are you all ready for another block?

More triangles today. (sorry) But I really love this block and I think they are worth it.

cut 4 squares 3 7/8" from 2 different coordinating fabrics, for a total of 8 squares.

cut 8 squares 3 7/8" from the background fabric.

draw a line with pencil on wrong side of the background fabric from one corner to the opposite corner.
pin 2 squares right sides together-one background fabric, one colored fabric.

sew 2 lines-each one 1/4" from the line that you drew.

cut apart on the line, press and you have 2 squares.
not so bad, right?
continue doing this technique with remaining squares, pairing a colored and a background fabric each time.
you should now have 16 squares.

layout as shown

sew your strips together

and your block is done!
it should measure about 12.5" square.

any questions about this block will be answered in the comments.
happy quilting!

winner

Nicole is the winner! Thanks all, for your kind comments. I stayed away from the computer the entire contest, so this morning I read all 110 comments at once. It was lots of fun. Thanks for celebrating the sale of my house with me.

sold

We sold our house today!

The closing was this afternoon and some lovely couple in their 50's bought their first home today. Or so I hear. We didn't have to travel to Michigan to close, we did it all through the wonders of Fed-Ex. For that I am so thankful. The traveling we did over the Thanksgiving weekend nearly did me in.

Anyway, the selling of our home is reason to celebrate, don't you think? (Especially in this market.) What better way to celebrate, than to have a give away?

I sewed up this purse today in honor of this oh-so-very joyous occasion.
You know the drill.
Leave me a comment and I will pick a name on Sunday morning, December 2, 2007.

8 random things

I was tagged by Libby to do the 8 random things meme. I love reading memes, so I am happy to play along. I get a lot of questions about quilting, fabric, etc. so I thought I would combine the two.

1. Where do you buy your fabric?

I buy about a quarter of it on-line. Otherwise, I buy some from JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, Mill End Textiles (love!), and various quilt shops. I have done some fabric scrap swapping, which I love, because it rounds out my stash nicely. I used to be of the mindset that quilt shop/designer fabric was way too expensive, but now I am seeing how much better it is in quality and design. A little designer fabric goes a long way, especially when you combine it with a lot of solids, which I like to do.

2. I want to start quilting....where do I start?

I learned from a friend of mine (thank you, Nancy) and that is the best way to go, especially if you are pattern challenged like me. Having someone show me in person was the best route. If you don't know anyone personally who quilts, take a class. The teachers are usually passionate about quilting and will be happy to share their enthusiasm and knowledge. Then, after you have a good foundation, read, read, read. I love to READ quilt books. It makes me feel like such a nerd, but it is fun to learn tips, tricks and insight from other quilters. I gleaned a lot from this book, especially when it comes to design and color choices.

3. What type of batting do you use?

Warm and Natural. I buy it at JoAnn's and either use a coupon or wait until it goes on sale, otherwise it gets quite spendy. Once in a while I will use a higher loft polyester batting when I want a slightly thicker and bulkier quilt. Sometimes I use the needlepunch cotton batting from Wal-Mart. It comes in king size, so it works for large quilts.

4. Do you have any machine quilting tips?

Practice, practice, practice.
Then practice some more.

Don't expect perfection the first (or second or third or forth) time.

5. How do you baste your quilts?

I did a tutorial here.
Good basting is a large factor in quilting success, as well.

6. How do you get so much accomplished?

I am a work-aholic.

I stay home a lot.

I can't sit still.

I am always working on something.

I am a firm believer that you will find time to do what you want to do.

And also, I feel like I am pretty good at time management.

7. I am just starting to build a stash, how much yardage of each fabric should I buy?

This is purely personal preference. I like to buy a quarter yard cut of a large variety of fabrics rather than buying more yardage of fewer fabrics. Of course there are exceptions to this. I will buy more if I know that I really love it, that it is very versitile and that it will be unavaliable to me very soon. But you also have to consider that I love scrappy quilts-the more fabrics in a single quilt, the better. Usually. If I find a great deal on fabric that will work great as a backing fabric, I have been known to buy the end of the bolt. I think the largest chunk of fabric that I have bought is 7 yards and 11". Oh, that was a good day. :)

8. One quirky thing about me and fabric...when I buy new fabric, I have a hard time adding it in to my stash right away. I leave it in the pile that I bought it, separate from the stash for some time, thus preserving it's newish-ness. I guess once it is blended into the stash, I feel like it isn't quite so special anymore. Strange, eh? The fabrics in the photos are from various shopping trips in the last few months. One of my local quilt shops in Michigan still had lots of Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy fabric left, so I had to stock up before it was gone forever. (so sad.) I *heart* fabric.

I am not going to tag anyone, but please join in on the 8 random things meme if you would like-I would love to read your list.

block of the week quilt

edit: the quilt is about a twin size

Marcia asked me if I could show a picture of the completed quilt-a-long quilt.

The quilt shown here was made from a block of the month program at my former local quilt shop a few years back. This is what I am basing the design of my 30's quilt-a-long project on. I will change several of the blocks to ones that are easier. (you can thank me later...some of these were buggers to piece!) I hesitate to show you the photo of this quilt, because I don't want to turn anyone off. The civil war fabrics aren't so much my style, but I really do like the quilt. And it does look better in person. I am excited to see how this quilt will look in 30's prints.

This is how I chose to put my 12 blocks together, but when you get your 12 blocks (or 24 blocks, for some of you) completed, you can arrange them any way you choose. Otherwise, I will walk you through the process to achieve something similar to this.

One reason I am enjoying this quilt-a-long so much, (besides the fact that you are joining me and are sharing in the excitement!), is because it is giving me a chance to explore how changing the fabric changes the quilt. This is something that I have wanted to explore for a long time now, but I am not really into making multiple quilts in the same pattern. {Unlike some people I know. :) } It will be so much fun to see how your fabric combinations come together, too.

Thanks, Marcia, for asking the question, so I had something to post about today. :)

quilt-a-long, week 3

Welcome to week 3 of the quilt-a-long. We are going to be done before we know it!

Today we tackle triangles. I am sorry-but it's inevitable. Triangles are not my favorite, I admit, but if you take it slow and if you pin well, you should have good results.

Cut one square 7 1/4" from your colored fabric.

Cut that square in half on the diagonal both ways. It is good to make both diagonal cuts before moving any of your fabric. (Does that make sense?) If you move your triangles before the second cut it will be difficult to know where to make the second cut.

Cut one square 7 1/4" from your background fabric.

Cut this square on the diagonal both ways as well.

Cut 2 squares 6 7/8" from your background fabric.

Cut those in half on the diagonal, but only once this time. Each square should make 2 triangles for a total of 4 triangles.

Sew together as shown.



And you have block #3. We are a quarter of the way done with our blocks.

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them in the comments. Thanks for quilting along with me. The response has been so positive-I still can't believe it. And if you are wondering, it's still not too late to join in. But no pressure! :)

fabric

I flubbed up the NaBloPoMo thing, so I decided to take a few days off...I am feeling quite burnt out when it comes to just about everything right now. Any one else right there with me?

But you know what cheers a girl up?
Fabric in the mail!

Lovely Lera sent me a box FULL of fabric scraps and other goodies. I was grinning from ear to ear when I left the post office. Thank you Lera! I love it all. Again, I feel quite spoiled. :)

That left my husband pondering why on earth I would still need to buy more fabric this weekend. I guess I didn't NEED to. But I got some lovely additions for the stash.

I found the cutest little quilt shop ever. I gasped several times as I was discovering gorgeous bolts of fabric. The store is crammed full of fabric and vintage linens, gifts and antiques, so the shopping experience becomes like a treasure hunt. It was FUN! The owner's taste in fabric is simply wonderful. I was there an hour past closing...it was that good. There was a fabulous quilt sample in the shop, so I will be starting another quilt this week, most likely. It's a good thing that I am almost done with this one. And this one, too.

work in progress

Quilting this full size quilt was my project for the day.
I was hoping to get it all quilted and the binding machine stitched on, but that goal was a little lofty for a single day, apparently. I wanted to take it along to our multiple thanksgiving festivities tomorrow so I had something to stitch while I was visiting. I have a crochet blanket that I will probably cart along with me instead. (I have to be doing something!)

See, that's why it's important to have multiple projects going. :)