Thursday, October 25, 2012

Monkey Blanket

Today was my grandson's 3rd birthday. I finished is "monkey blanket" last night - just in time for his birthday today.  He has known about this quilt for a little while and every time he saw me, he asked if I was working on his monkey blanket.  He was so happy to finally get it today.

 
 
It is the "Peekaboo Monkeys" pattern from the book Quilting for Baby  by House of White Birches.  The original pattern is for a wall hanging, but I wanted it to fit his bed - so it looks a little disproportionate.

 
Hiding amongst the vines...
 
 
I quilted free-hand leaves horizontal across. I had intended to turn it the other way so the leaves would follow the green vines, but alas, it was too long.  This was my first time to attempt leaves, and I think it turned out great!
 
This is lifetime #53.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Mosaic Crosses

Here is a new finish!  Lifetime #52 and #8 for this year. Mosaic Crosses....



This is my first quilt made from batiks. This was a joint effort with me and my sister.  We made it for our niece who is getting married next month.

A little of the quilting. I didn't quilt on the crosses. I did a loopy meander in the white areas and sort of flower in the black.
 
 
 
A small type of feather in the borders. I used  a buttery yellow thread in the scrappy border. It was the only color I had in stock that sort of blended without being too obvious.  I couldn't get the invisible thread to work - tension was off and it kept breaking.
 

 
 
And the back...
 


Saturday, September 22, 2012

Play time at my house

This is what play time at my house looks like...

This is my 2012 Moda U quilt....

This block is one I added because I didn't like the other ones I had to choose from in the pattern.  I used my Marti Michell template sets A and C. I believe the pattern is called Georgetown Star.


 
I used my own fabric collection, mostly "Beach House" by Blackbird Designs for Moda.


 
 
 
Almost a top.
 
 
 
 
and...
This is a quilt  I am quilting for a friend...
 
 
 
She did all the embroidery by hand. Let me tell you - it is gorgeous! And she made 4 of them! One for each of her children.
 

 
 
We are trying to get them done for Christmas.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There's lots of fun going on around here!
 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

#10 Hunter's Star

I finally completed a quilt for my husband.  He really likes blue and yellow, but not the soft color combination.  This is my lifetime quilt #10...

 
I added the light blue fabric and I really think it ruined it.
 
 
 
 
I did a regular meandering stitch with invisible thread.   It fits on a queen-size bed and is the biggest quilt I have made so far.
 
 I currently have a green and purple quilt in the works for him. The new one is done with a kaliedoscope ruler.

Friday, September 14, 2012

New finish - Lifetime #51

I was able to finish one this week. Whew!
This is for a couple who got married in February. I know, I am way behind!




I get to give it to them Sunday. I am so excited to finish something and pass it on to someone to enjoy. When she told me that she liked browns/tans/creams, I couldn't see the beauty in that combination. But I am won over now!


 

This is a free pattern from MaryQuilts.com. I will definitely make this pattern again and I will definitely make another brown/tan/cream quilt!

Back to finished quilts - #8 & #9

I need to get back to documenting my finished quilt list. Here is #8

This was for my neighbor who had twins. I got the pattern from the Moda Bake Shop. This was the first time I did prairie points. Of course, I do not have a picture of it quilted.

Here is #9
I wanted to make a quilt similar to the other one, but different also. So, I carried over the pinwheel theme and did a double pinwheel (or is this a bow-tie or broken dishes??). I love the fabric in this one!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Hexies

I got a little bit of hand sewing in yesterday and today. I finished this block for my hexy project inspired by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Something quilted...

I got something else done this week! I quilted this lovely BOM that my sister put together.



She wanted some simple loopy meandering which made the quilting go very quick.


And I love the backing! It's perfection!


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Long Time No Blog!

Boy! It's been ages since I last posted. 

 I have made a change in positions at my job which added 15-25 extra hours each week to my work load.  I have been doing only minimal sewing the last couple of months.  I did finish quilting my brother-in-law's quilt today! Woohoo.  Poor guy. I bet he was beginning to think I would never finish it. I've had it since December of last year.  My sister pieced it in short time. We got the kit at Stitchin' Heaven over the Thanksgiving holidays and she had it done in a couple of weeks.


It was a monster to quilt.  I have a Grace Frame with a Juki sewing machine.  The blocks proved to be too large to quilt the complete Saints blocks so I had to quilt it on my dining room table the old-fashioned way. 


 I tried to incorporate the fleur-de-lis in the diamonds surrounding the Saints squares and in the border.  I think it turned out ok. And he likes it, which is the most important thing. :D

Sunday, February 12, 2012

#7 - Hotrod

Here is my quilt #7 made for my son-in-law (yes - he got his before I made one for my daughter and my husband - how did that happen!?)

Just the flimsy..

Quilted - sorry for the sideways view. I did a "pebbles" quilting based on Pat Sloan's tutorial here

Here is the back..


This was a fun and easy quilt to put together. I am thinking about making another one for a couple in my church who is getting married this month.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quilt #6 - Holiday runner

I guess a table runner qualifies as a quilt. I am counting it as one for my purposes.




I made this as an incentive give-away for my company's food bank food drive.  Participants would get entries based on the # of cans/boxes of food they donated. It ended up going to my superviser - but no one complained of it being rigged. :D

I didn't take a close up of the quilting. I believe I quilted loopy-loops.  I was a little disappointed in it because it wouldn't lay flat. My supervisor said that it was nice on her table at Thanksgiving.

I have another one started (it's on my UFO challenge list for 2012). The one for me will be two-sided so I can use it for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

#5 - Baby Faces

Next on my list is the first quilt I made for my grandson.  This was a kit from my friend Linda. My grandson calls it his "Night-night" and keeps close tabs on it.  It is definitely loved.


Some close-ups....

I quilted it with a special stitch on my machine in the background of each face block, outlined the faces, and did a meandering star with loops.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Quilt #4

My fourth quilt was a commissioned project for a coworker's mom for Christmas 2009.  I barely finished it in time for her to send it on time.


 This came from a magazine (I think Quilt). It is a close match to the fabrics used in the magazine. 

A somewhat closeup of the quilting. I alternated rows of loopy-loops and loopy hearts. 

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Quilt #3

Back to my list... This one is #3 from the Off-center Log Cabin by Ursula Reikes in the book More Quilts for Baby. 


It was a baby quilt for a friend. This was the first time I tried quilting feathers.



It was good practice. I have since learned how to do the hook better at the tip of the feather. Not bad for a first try, I think.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Progress on January challenge quilt

I'm gonna make my deadline for sure as long as no real disaster strikes.  Woohoo!  Here is the top all pieced and ready to quilt.


I was trying to decide if I wanted to add borders. I went without. I think the blocks are so pretty and I love the fact that no two are alike in any way, except for size. This is for a couple who are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary this month. That is so awesome!  I am half way there... :D  I decided to add four more blocks to make it bigger and to square it out.  I don't think they are very obvious.

I am almost half way on the quilting. Here are some close ups--





It's kind of a mixture of meandering feathers and clamshells.  I get a little lost and trapped at times, so it isn't as smooth as I would like it.  The green line is a chalk mark I put on where the boundary of my quilting area is for that pass so I don't end up with a lot of straight lines because I bump up against the takeup roll. That is not pretty when you have a bunch of curvy things and then all of a sudden there's this straight line. I know - no quilt police and all, but still I want it to be as perfect as I can make it. So, I am gonna count this one as a completion for January's challenge since the top was pieced by the 31st. My computer has been acting up this week and I had a 51 hour week at work, thus the excuse reason for my lateness in posting this.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Changed #5

I switched #5 with #6 on my list for the UFO Challenge.  I found a home for the original #6 - the Traditional Sampler BOM for 2010.  So, it had to be bumped up.  My deadline is Feb 10.



Some close-ups..



A good time was had by all...

...especially the birthday girl!