A UFO is finally done!

Remember this quilt?

I finally finished the binding and just put the quilt on the bed.  It is just as I envisioned it which is rare for me.

I added shams to complete the look.

It feels so good to have this one finished!

:o)

Walla Walla and a Finish!

I am in Walla Walla (love that name!), Washington today and plan to have lunch with a quilter who lives here!  How fun!  In the meantime, I wanted to share with you another finish.  My younger daughter's best buddy from high school just had a baby girl.  I sent this quilt for the baby:

 Here is the back:

 A close up before washing:

 And the after washing, soft and crinkly shot:

I really enjoyed making this quilt, mostly from stash and scraps.

:o)

Starting something new...

I have started making a baby quilt for a new baby girl who belongs to a good friend of my younger daughter.  I have known the mom for about 15 years and she is a sweetheart.  Dad's pretty cool, too!

 The quilt will be almost completely made from stash which is a bonus to me. Here are some of the fabrics I will use:

And here are a couple of test blocks:

The pattern was inspired by a quilt I saw on Maureen Cracknell's blog.

:o)

The Birthday Quilt

Miraculously, I did get my mother-in-law's 90th birthday quilt finished.  Sadly, I didn't get to go to the celebration on the Ohio River riverboat, as I was in the hospital.  Here are some photos of the finished quilt.  My hubby said she really like the quilt.  I hope she is using it.

:o)

A Sweet Baby Quilt

I met my deadline for getting this baby quilt done!  I never got to show you how it turned out.  So here are lots of pictures!  First, my attempt to have a clever display:

The front:

And the back:

 And soft and crinkly after a trip through the washer and dryer!

:o)

A little snafu...

About a month ago, I had a milestone birthday.  We'll just say Medicare is my new health insurance plan.  (How did that happen?)  And one month ago today I put my new insurance to the test as my appendix ruptured.  Happy Birthday to me!  I had emergency surgery in the wee hours of the night and am very lucky to be alive.  I am on the mend but it is taking much longer than I expected.

This week I finally got back my need to sew.  I decided to start with something simple...a small bathroom curtain.  I am very conservative when it comes to home decorating.  Most all of my windows have white curtains of some sort.  Here is the before picture in the bathroom.

 
Here is the painting (by my daughter when she was in college) that was my color inspiration.

And here is the fabric I used...a Sarah Feilke print and Liberty print.

And here is the final result...in daylight:

...and at night:

My whole family will be visiting next week.  It will be fun to see if I get any reactions to my daring decorating move!

:o)

Test block...

There's been a big gap in my blogging and blog reading again.  I am still dating applications and checks with March instead of May.  Where does the time go?!?!  My blue and cream quilt is finally cut out.

I made a test block before I cut all the fabric this time.  I've made enough mistakes with past quilts to know I need to include that step before cutting all the fabric. Time to stop livin' on the edge...

:o|

Quilt clamps...

What kind of quilt clamps or clips do you use, if any?  I have tried several methods of holding a quilt in a roll while pushing it through the throat opening when you are machine quilting.  I started many years ago with this:

This kind always got caught on the table edge, or something else, and either distorted the quilt stitch or the clamp just fell off and went clanging along the floor leaving the quilt roll to expand.

An improvement was a similar kind of clamp except it is round instead of oval.  While it was a better tool, it too often caught on the machine cabinet or the table I was using to 'catch' the quilt as I pushed it through the machine making my stitching uneven.

Next came this little plastic gadget.  I found some of these at a vendor's booth at a quilt show.  I have never seen these since and lost track of who I bought them from.  They were great...until they broke.  They are a bit too rigid.  I only have one left.  Anyone else ever see these?

Last year I found these to try...the metal oval bicycle type clamps with a rubberized coating.  The coating makes a big difference as far as snagging on table edges and staying attached to the quilt roll.  But it wasn't a 'love' notion.

And finally I just found these at a local quilt shop.  I LOVE these.  They don't want to snag on edges and once you put them on the quilt roll, they stay put.

They come in two sizes which is nice for both baby quilts and the larger lap and bed quilts.

:o)

Disclaimer:  As you know if you read my blog, I am not involved in the 'business' side of quilting.  I purchased all of these clips in various places over several years and was in no way compensated for my opinion.

A birthday present...

My mother-in-law will be 90 in June.  There are plans for a big celebration on a riverboat on the Ohio River that docks in Louisville.  I am planning on making her a lap size quilt using these fabrics.  Blue is her favorite color...not one I often use.  I am looking forward to playing with these fabrics.

:o)

A little fabric love...

I picked these fabrics up recently on a quick trip to Seattle.  I love these colors and designs.

The orange flower print fabric reminds me of fabric I might have used to make an A-line dress for myself in the late 60's or early 70's.  Except these prints were usually found on cotton/poly blend dress weight fabric.  I only remember calicoes and country type fabrics being used for the quilts I saw then.  We've come a long way since then to our current quilt fabric choices, haven't we?!?

:o)

The process...

I have heard people say you should listen to your quilt and go accordingly.  This is really starting to sink in for me...duh, FINALLY.  So I spent a fair amount of time 'communicating' with this fabric.

The quilt is for someone special so I want it to be nice.  After a lot of thinking and sketching, I was sure I had a plan.

I began cutting...lots of fussy cutting.  The prints are this quilt are quite large and the repeat is wide as well. So I wanted to catch the cuteness of the fabric and begin with big fussy cut squares in the center of the quilt.

But as I started to put these squares up on the design wall to see how they looked, I realized that the two borders I had planned (one from a print that was really too large to be a border print and one that was 'piano keys' style) were going to take away from the quilt.

So now I am going simple squares with simple straight line quilting and let the fabric do the talking.  I love this look and am always inspired by Rita at Red Pepper Quilts who can make magic with simple squares.

:o)

Starting something new...

One of my best friend's son is having a baby girl in June.  Time for a baby quilt, right?  I found this cute fabric called Storyboek 2 from Birch Organics and it's so sweet.  I love the softness of the colors.  So off I go...

Top of the Morning to You!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Another finish...

I finished the strawberry/purple themed quilt for my sister-in-law.  I was able to deliver it to her this past weekend in Indiana.  She immediately wrapped up in it as she sat in her recliner.

Here is a view of the overall quilt top.  I don't think the photos do it justice.  It is hard to photograph lavenders on a grey day.

This is a close-up before washing.  I might have 'missed' with the modern design for the top.  I noticed she had some more traditional quilts displayed on her walls.  (I hadn't been in their home for some time.)  She especially liked the strawberry backing though.

This is the back.  The quilt measures 60" by 70".  The batting is Dream Wool.  The quilting rows are 2 1/2 inches apart as I wanted to maximize the loft of the batting.

Here, it is washed, fluffy dry, and ready for snuggling.

:o)

It's coming together...

I love playing with this fabric.  Most of it is Riley Blake and Michael Miller dots and such.  I have a plan finally!  :o)