Are you kidding me?

January 29, 2016January 29, 20164 Comments

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to follow my own

ideas and create my own quilts, or at least finish projects hanging around

from last year. I did start off the year well but it seems that I am adding

more projects onto my ever increasing list.

At Guild, this past week, Mary,my friend, mentioned a free online

challenge called “The 365 Challenge.” When I checked

out the site, this is what I saw.

“Are you kidding me?” was my response.

But Mary’s enthusiasm and encouragement prevailed. She mentioned

that it only took 5- 10 minutes to complete each 3″ block. How could

I resist? Do you ever find yourself in this boat?

Well, I started the challenge and to be quite honest, it is fun. And

it really does only take 5-10 minutes to complete each block. The

hardest part about the whole thing is picking out the fabric for each

block.

Here are my 29 blocks completed for this month. I am hoping to

have gradated colors going around the whole quilt. For the month

of January, I have picked dark blues. There are lots of color

combinations on their website, so you can pick what colors you

like. You should check it out.

This is a glimpse of just how small these blocks really are. It seems

that each day, the difficulty increases.

Again, the total number of blocks, at the end of the year will be

365. And the completed quilt will measure 90″ x 90″.

Darlene’s ” Friends Of Baltimore”

Darlene saw Kerry’s, “Friends of Baltimore” Quilt and decided that

she would like me to quilt hers as well. It arrived at my house a

few weeks ago, so I have been diligently working on the SID work

ever since.

Today, I finished the ditch work and am moving onto filling

in all the background areas. This is always an exciting part for me

as the fun can now begin. I love working on the background fills.

Darlene is quite the appliquer. I can’t even find the stitches that

are holding the applique pieces down. These quilts really are an honor

and privilege for me to work on. I am amazed that people actually

have that much patience to create one of these masterpieces.

Personally, I think that these quilts are not quilts but actually

works of art.

What do you think?

Switching gears, before Christmas, I was asked to create this cut

baby quilt. The print has monkeys all over it.

A swirl panto was chosen for the quilting design and this

shows up beautifully on the backing.

The backing

The backing is comprised of grey minky fabric.

I worked on a purple quilt before with purple minky on the

backing and the purple minky migrated to the front of the

quilt. It actually came up through the stitches. So, be careful

when you use this on the backing of your quilts.

A close up of the stitching. Also, be careful with how you load minky

onto your quilting frame. In one direction, the minky is really

stretchy. And in the other direction, it isn’t. Ask me how I know?

I made a baby quilt and the minky on the backing stretched horribly.

When I took it off the frame, it had bunched up in some areas. Needless

to say, I was not happy at all. And I ditched the quilt. Some lucky person

will now have the job of picking out all those stitches.

And lastly, this one of the last blocks that I completed

from the Oceans BOM from last year. I am trying hard

to keep on track but some days, I think to myself “Are

you kidding me?” Maybe,just maybe I have bit off more

than I can chew. At least, I am not bored.

Have a great week!

Fast piecing

January 21, 20164 Comments

Here are a some of the quilts that I worked on before Christmas

arrived.

It always amazes me how fast some people are in getting quilt

tops completed. Dorothy is such a person.

The fabric looks like cotton but is actually flannel. It should be

really warm and cuddly for whoever is getting it.

The blocks seem fairly simple and the fabric is really nice. Lots of

trees, boughs, pinecones, and pine needles. Perfect for this time of the

year. If I remember correctly, Dorothy chose a rusty brown polyester

thread for the top and the backing. My apologies for not having

pictures of the backing.

How can you not love the bright colors in this quilt? It is for one

of her grandsons. I think that he will absolutely love it.

It has so much great fabrics in it: Thor, Iron Man, and other

comic heroes.

I had lots of fun just looking at the fabric and picking out

all the superheroes.

Dorothy chose blue polyester thread for the top and the backing. The

stitching pattern is called “Swirls” and adds lots of movement to the

straight piecing in the blocks.

A great “I Spy” quilt. Once again, the prints and fabrics are fabulous.

I Spy Quilt

Dorothy mentioned trading scraps and fabrics with some of her friends.

That”s a great way to get some new fabric at a great price.

The backing is pretty cool too. A blue polyester thread was used on the

top and the backing. And a “Circus” panto was stitched onto the top.

Lots of swirls and curls to help add some movement to the quilt top.

A modern Quilt

I really like this quilt. Dorothy wanted square boxes all over the

quilt top. I felt really brave that day so I decided to freehand squares

all over the quilt. It was quite liberating and fun! I didn’t have to mark

any lines at all and could just focus on stitching. Quite a feat in and of

itself. Sometimes, I am a bit of a perfectionist and slight wiggles bug me.

The different sizes and shapes of the squares were fun to stitch in. The only

concern I had was to make sure that I didn’t stitch over any boxes in

previously stitched areas. A grey polyester thread was used for the top and

a cream for the backing. The backing fabric was comprised of the a solid light

cream color.

What a great design! I love the little squares running through all the blocks.

Dorothy chose a white polyester thread for the top and the backing.

“Happy Times” was the panto used for the quilting design and it adds

movement to the straight blocks too.

A great border for this particular quilt.

The backing

The backing is pretty funky and definitely gives a different look when the

quilt is turned over.

As for my resolution to work on my own stuff, I have added anther project

to the list. This year I want to complete several of the BOM’s that I have

hanging around from last year.

My design wall

This is what my design wall looks like right now. Quilt ARt Designs had an

“Oceans” BOM last year. It was comprised of 9 paper pieced blocks in total.

I am missing 2 in this picture but they are on the bottom of the design wall.

I have an idea in my head of what I would like the finished quilt to look like but

I wonder if the finished quilt will look that good. You will have to stay tuned

for that one. It might be a while.

Have a great week and find some time for yourself.

Keeping on track…

January 12, 2016January 12, 20165 Comments

Even though it is only the second week into the new year, I am still

on track with my resolution to work on-and complete- some of my

own personal projects.

I have 3 Advent Calendars on the frame right now. You could say

that I am either really late or really early; it depends on which way you

look at it.

This is the center of the Advent Calendars. They are pretty cute and stitch

up really quickly. I am getting ready for Christmas, 2016. Please, don’t send

me any hate mail for that last comment. The panels were purchased at

Fabricland and several borders were added to enlarge the panel.

Besides completing these 3 projects, I have actually found time work on

my Monarch wallhanging.

Monarch wing

The wing is broken up into 2 sections and I used some fusible webbing

to cut and paste the pieces onto the black wing. I actually found a dead

Monarch and kept it in a plastic bag for a few years. I copied the

Monarch and enlarged it for the shape of the wings. My kids think

I am crazy; sometimes, I think I am too.

Now, I just have to decide what color for the background. I am hoping to

have it on the frame by the end of the week.

This octopus has been waiting for several months to be put together.

I don’t like some of the fabrics I picked-the purple-but it is

staying that way. The block is paper pieced and is part of a BOM,2015,

from Quilt Art Designs. I only have 1 more block to complete and

then I can put the quilt together.

I do have an idea of how to put the 9 blocks together but hopefully, the

picture I have in my mind, will look good in reality.

Dale is quite the quick quilter. Here is another quilt that she has

completed. She wasn’t sure of what type of stitching but I thought

that the piecing spoke of a modern quilt.

The backing

We can’t forget the backing of the quilt. I used a polyester thread

for both the top and the bottom of the quilt.

Eva was in a recycling mood when she completed this quilt for

grandson. The fabric came from a friend who was getting rid of

some fabric and Eva stitched it together. What a great

idea!! Free fabric and a completed quilt.

Here is a funky backing .

I hope that you are finding time to work on and complete some

of your own projects. It feels so good to actually complete

some of your own things.

Have a great week.

Happy Belated New Year!!

January 6, 20164 Comments

I hope that you had a great Christmas and New Year. To say that mine

was relaxing is an understatement. I think that I need a holiday from the

Holidays. It was all good though.

To kick start the year off, I have completed something of my own.

This year, I have made a resolution to take Fridays off to work on some

of my own stuff. I am very excited about this decision. It will be interesting

to see if I actually stick to it.

What are some of your resolutions?

This is blue red work embroidery. When I first heard this phrase, it

made me laugh. Why not just call it blue work? Anyways, my snowmen

are done and are awaiting their transformation into a cover for one of

my pillows.

I used 2 strands of blue DMC floss-#311. They stitched up quite quickly

too, I might add.

I love the hat on the snowman to the right of the sign.

Today I worked on this quilt for Laura. She made this lovely quilt

with her niece. It is always so encouraging to see young women

take up quilting. I wonder what this younger generation will

do within the quilting world?

The blocks look pretty simple but it is the fabric and color that make

any quilt.

The border in this quilt is pretty interesting. I love the blocks that are

used to make the border. Laura’s niece is pretty artsy so she picked a light

blue polyester thread for the top and the backing. She wanted simple

stitching on the quilt top so she chose “Swirl” by Norma Sharp. It does look

nice with all the straight lines in the piecing and blocks.

The backing.

The backing is made up of a silver flannel. Very soft and warm; the light

blue thread shows up nicely on the backing.

A close up of the swirl panto design on the backing.

Take some time this week to do something that makes you

happy.

Stitching Impressions

All aspects of longarm quilting

Month: January 2016

Are you kidding me?

Fast piecing

Keeping on track…

Happy Belated New Year!!