Saturday, May 28, 2011

Quilts For Kids


Wow! I finally got one more thing out of my sewing room. I haven't had a lot of time this week, but I did manage to finish this little quilt. Are you all familiar with Quilts For Kids?
Here's their mission statement:
 Quilts for Kids, Inc. transforms discontinued, unwanted and other fabrics into quilts that comfort children fighting a life battle with a serious illness such as cancer, AIDS, as well as children of abuse. Our goal is to link design centers and other fabric sources nationwide to their communities, so that children in need in those regions may be served.

You can request a kit and everything will come all cut and  ready to sew. You add the batting and mail it back. It's a terrific program. I've done one or two quilts for them in the past and happen to see something about it again recently and thought I'd do another one. I loved the sweet dog fabric I got to work with.

Monday, May 23, 2011

One More Disaster

The disaster in MO is horrible! The weather has been a force to reckon with this past season!!
Not to make light of the devastating tornado, but I also think one touched down in my town, and to be more specific in my sewing room! I took photos as I made my way around the room.



My blind man's Fancy blocks laid out on the floor. I wanted to keep them where I could move them around if necessary. It seems that I only keep walking on them...
The pile of fabric from Scandinavian Christmas blocks.
The next block of Beyond the Cherry Tree.
Three of hubby's shirts I told him I'd fix.... (This is first on my list this afternoon)
Quilts for Kids that I need to get busy on.
Flying geese in various stages for Blind Mans Fancy blocks.
Fabric for Beyond the Cherry Trees...
Fabric piles for flying geese combinations....
Beyond the Cherry Trees prep...
Flying geese....
Quilts for Kids strips....

Is it any wonder I'm having a hard time getting anything done? I want to do it all! LOL
Hopefully I will have something to show soon and not just bits and pieces.

We are hosting my niece's graduation party here  so we've been trying to spruce things up a little outside. I've been busier than usual so my blogging has taken a back seat. I expect it will be that way for a few more weeks.

Donna K from Quilting Bear Gal is the winner of the books. That will be a start to cleaning up my sewing room!!




Friday, May 20, 2011

 I finished the cross stitch border of the Scandinavian Christmas Block 1. So now I need to make two more small cross stitch snowflakes to go with the churn dashes. Don't mind the wrinkles as I need to give it a good pressing.
 I won these books and am ready to pass them along. One of them has the family genealogy of the Circuit Rider quilt. I know a lot of you might be interested in that since it was such a popular quilt. Let me know and I'll toss your name in a hat and draw on Monday.
I read this book and have been deeply affected. I know we all have causes that are close to our hearts but sometimes we have to take action. Sometimes that action doesn't take much time either. The woman of Congo need our voices. Maybe you could do one thing that would have a long lasting impact. Check out the website: athousandsisters.org

Monday, May 16, 2011

Heritage Stars Directions

I got such a positive response from my ZigZag quilt I thought I'd give you some easy instructions if you'd like to make it yourself. According to my EQ drawing it will measure 78 1/2" x 87". My quilt finished  a little smaller but I do not prewash, but washed after it was quilted and bound.

First off, you can see the original at www.quiltindex.org and do a search for number 4A-7F-A4F.


You will need to make 86 6" sawtooth stars, or any other 6" block of your choice.
You will need to make 8 half star blocks. I drew it out in EQ and made a full block. There is no A and no large triangle. It will be a half block.

I like to oversize my setting triangles, but am going to give you the exact size. I would encourage you to make them a little larger and trim after the quilt is in strips.
Green and Pink: Cut 22- 9 3/4" squares  then cut twice on the diagonal for 4 triangles. (you will use 85 triangles and have 3  leftover)
Cut- 5- 5 1/8" squares then cut once on the diagonal to make two triangles. (These are the smaller corner triangles)
You will assemble the quilt by vertical rows. Use the diagram as a guide if needed to put the colors in the correct position. Make 9 rows, then attach the rows together.

I used the same concept only smaller with the Strawberry Fields quilt. You can refresh your memory at this post.

Enjoy!



Saturday, May 14, 2011

2011 Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival

Here's my addition to Amy's spring bloggers quilt festival.

I saw the antique quilt in a museum and knew I must make one like it. It took me some time to make all the little star blocks (6") but it was worth it. Kathy, my machine quilter, did an awesome job of quilting it.  This is one of my favorite quilts.

The original quilt resides in New Jersey.



Check out the Bloggers Quilt Festival and see all the terrific quilts!  Thanks Amy for hosting this!!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Bible BOM

 I finished my May block of Jan Patek's Bible quilt. I didn't notice until I saw the photo on my computer that one of my fish is floating! oops! And my dove seems to be floating in the air on top of the ark. That's my prim!
If you remember last month Eve's color blended in with the background so much that she was nearly invisible. I couldn't let that go, so changed her completely.

All my other projects are going kind of slow. I'm trying to get the garden prepped and ready to plant some veggies. We finally had a day or two of decent weather.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

 I finally got the binding on  Roll Roll Cotton Boll, the mystery quilt of Bonnie Hunter's from last November. I had Kathy, my machine quilter to do an all over quilt pattern, since it wasn't going to be the focus of this quilt . It is on my bed right now and I love it. Can you believe this is the largest quilt I've ever made?! Yep, the little doll quilts sure have appeal, but it is fun to have a big one!!

 I had purchased a panel with the coffee "blocks" some time ago. I needed lots of coffee to keep up with Bonnie on this one so I thought it was appropriate to put them on the back.
Carol put a call out for patriotic pillowcases. Can you believe I've never made a pillowcase before today? Here are the two I'm sending. That was a lot of fun and didn't take a huge amount of time. Maybe you'd like to help?

Linda, at Quilts in the Barn is collecting signature blocks for a raffle quilt. All the money raised will be donated to Breast Cancer Research. I made mine today but forgot to take a photo. Linda and her friends raised over $10,000 last year for this cause! So many "small" things can turn into something huge! Check it out if you would like to make a signature block.

If you'd like to see what I did on Mother's Day check out my other blog! I had a blast!!

Friday, May 6, 2011

 Thank you Lynn from Quilting in the Pines for honoring me with The Versatile Blogger Award!  I would also like to thank my dad, my mom, my co-workers, my manager- oops! Wrong award!! LOL


The rules for this award:
Thank the person who gave the award to you and link back to them.  Check

Tell 7 things about yourself that others might not know about you.
I very rarely answer my land line. If it is an important call, they'll leave a message.
I have started to really enjoy cooking.
I'm going on a quilting cruise as Bonnie Hunter's assistant.
I grew up in Seattle, but am a small town girl at heart.
I like to think I'm a good gardener, but I know I'm not.
Fourth of July is my favorite holiday...because
I love everything patriotic!


Pass along the award to newly discovered bloggers.

Quilt Minstrel
Mrs Sew and Sow
Big Lake Quilter
Collector with a Needle
Quilt Azubi
Sunflower Fields Pattern Co.

I hope you'll drop by these great blogs!

Have a lovely mother's day weekend!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Current Projects


I made these recently- actually I think I had the centers made for a few at least, but I finished all six.....


Which will join these six. Now onto making the flying geese sashing.  Do you have a favorite method? Does your method depend on the finish size you want to make.  These are fairly big so I plan on doing them traditionally, with two triangles and a rectangle.  The original antique quilt had 4 patches  as the cornerstones. This is a busy quilt and I love it!

I've rotated to my next hand project which is new! Ranette generously sent me her
Scandinavian Christmas pattern when she was done with it. It was a whole lot smaller than I thought so she has given me a lot of good tips too. My grandfather is from Denmark so I love all things Scandinavian, including this precious wallhanging! This is block one. I need to make a few more little churn dashes that go between the blocks. They are so cute I couldn't help but forge ahead and make one.
Cathy B from Big Lake Quilter sent me this adorable bag. It has a little velcro closure- it is perfect for keeping my thimble, thread, small scissors and glasses in. It is also a perfect reminder that spring really will come soon.  Thank you Cathy!


PS I have made a few cosmetic changes to my blog. If you experience any difficulties with it loading or anything else, please let me know. There are a few blogs I have trouble with and it can be very frustrating, especially if you have limited time. 

Monday, May 2, 2011

Land of the Free

 Along with my Leftovers quilt I got a chance to take a photo of this quilt. My Land of the Free by
Piece O Cake Designs. I love this quilt and can't wait to hang it up!!
Here's a closer look at the machine quilting done by my friend in Ohio, Kathy McCarty. I keep trying to get her to start a blog. She does wonderful piecing along with quilting and is always good for inspiration.

If you are interested check out my other blog to see the beautiful hike we went on yesterday.