Celtic Solstice

My Celtic Solstice is finally done. I tried to follow along with Bonnie Hunter's clues back in 2014 but life got too busy and I had to put it aside. This March I found myself with the opportunity to pull it out of the box and finish it. I am gifting it to my brother.  It is sufficiently large to cover him in the recliner. He's my tallest brother so that's a relief!

I love this quilt and have gotten many compliments on it. I probably wouldn't have attempted this quilt without Bonnie's simple steps. She gives a mystery quilt-along every November-December. Check her out at www.quiltville.com.

A Chance of Flowers

My recent finish is the combination of a block of the month from a LQS and the pattern "Flower Pots". I think it turned out great.

I am linking up with Amanda's Finish it p Friday. Go check out the awesome finishes this week! http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2016/04/scrapalicious-quilt-top.html?m=1

A new finish

My latest finish is a baby quilt I called "Pinwheel Parade" for a little girl born in December.  I am a little late getting it to her because life keeps getting in the way!

I also like to make some burp cloths to go with the quilt. These things are great to have!

How 'bout them boys?

My latest finish is for the new son of a Dallas Cowboys fan.

The pattern is "Quick Strippie" from Maryquilts.com.

And boy is it quick!

Joyeux Noel

Here's another recent finish,  my first of 2016. Joyeux Noel for a little girl born on Christmas Day.

The tumbler is definitely my new "go to" pattern for a quick finish! I use the template from Marti Michell .

It's Time

It's time I got back to this blog. Life got in the way and I had to let go of some things that I previously had time for. Thankfully,  I did not have to stop quilting and sewing, I just didn't have time to talk about it. And to prove that, here are some of my most recent finishes. They are all baby quilts - something I think I am pretty good at!

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.

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...

 



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!

 

#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.

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!

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.

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!

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

#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.

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.