Uptown July Blocks and MORE!

My July blocks of Uptown are complete. I like to lay out all of the completed blocks, but my sewing room is a creative disaster right now! Which is good, but I like to work in a clean room!

I thought I'd share the quilts I've made that Gay at Sentimental Stitches has patterned from antique quilts she owns. She does such a great job and so accurate! 

Here's the link to her shop where you can find all of these and MORE!- HERE

1857 Album block

I eliminated some blocks to keep the size in check.

Benjamin Biggs wedding quilt. I believe this was a collaboration between Brenda Papadakis and Gay. 

Again, I didn't want a giant quilt, so stuck with 9 blocks. I'm a huge fan of red and green but decided to mix it up a bit. 

Beyond the Cherry Tree quilt

I made all of the blocks and hand quilted this 100ishx100ish quilt. 

Gay's Sally Post quilt

I LOVE the setting! I opted to copy the original. This one and Cherry Tree are my fav's.

Just Takes 2 red and white commemorative quilt. This was a quilt Brenda and Gay designed, not a reproduction or antique. 

Here's mine. I didn't particularly love it and gave it away with a bunch of quilts to fire survivors in Paradise, CA. Read about that HERE. 

Seriously, I got all choked up reading about that again. So much has happened in that 4 years!

When tragedy strikes we quilters know how to move into action. We don't ask a person's religion, sexual orientation, political standing, health records (or lack thereof), or any other thing that keeps us divided! We jump into action without judgement, with bold love in our hearts for those who are hurting. Can we all try to love more and judge less? 

Okay, that's all. I love you quilter friends and hope you all have an amazing weekend! I'm going to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! Whoop! Whoop!

 

Beyond the Cherry Tree- Oldie but Goodie

I know many of you have seen this, but many of you may not. This is my last large hand quilting project. It took forever but was so worth it! It is on my bed right now so I get to enjoy it up close and personal every day!

I quilted motifs that the original antique quilt had. 

 You can get the pattern for this at Sentiment Stitches. Gay does an amazing job reproducing quilts. Her patterns are very accurate! I've done several of hers and look forward to uptown in 2022. Check it out HERE. 

I'll be ready to share later this week what I've been working on in my sewing room!

I hope you all are safe and okay after the horrific storm that whipped though the US over the weekend. If anyone hears of a way quilters can help, please let me know. For now, I love Samaritan's Purse for disaster relief.  They are rated exceptional at Charity Navigator. Click HERE to see how they are helping. 

Beyond the Cherry Tree 2021

Boom! I cannot believe this quilt is complete! 

I was finishing the last direction of cross hatch in the border, then there was no lines left to quilt! It was rather anticlimactic as I turned to my hubby and said, wow, it's done! LOL

Like the original quilt (that Gay Bomers purchased and reproduced) I opted to quilt the motifs throughout the quilt.  

I have not washed this yet, so some of my hera marker lines are still visible. 

And if you'd like to know, yes, I will be washing it before using it.

It was 10 years in the making (mostly the quilting)  so it will need to be cleaned. 

This is the quilt I shared in Monday's video about starting to machine applique after the block with 57 leaves. It is actually pretty hard to tell which blocks are done by machine and which are done by hand. 

 

This one is done by hand. Gee, you'd think if I did all these berries that 57 leaves would be a piece of cake! LOL 

8 blocks are appliqued by hand, along with all of the vines, including the border, and 17 blocks are raw edge machine appliqued. (I'm teaching a class on January 23rd! Email me for more info) 

I opted for a 108" backing on this one. I love turning over the back of an antique quilt and seeing a print. 

It's a neat one by Marcus Brothers.

I opted to make my binding a bit narrower than usual. It is double fold cut 2" wide.

And a simple label. 

This quilt measures approx 98" square and the original  was made circa 1850-1860. Patterns are still available at Sentimental Stitches website HERE. 

I heard this morning she has the patterns on sale!

Gay's patterns are very well done and I would recommend her patterns without reservation. 

Thanks for spurring me on for so many years! I'm so thrilled!

Hand Quilting Cherry Tree

I must be the slowest hand quilter in the world! This is one of my first posts about quilting Beyond the Cherry Tree- HERE.(in 2012!!)

I have cross hatches going one direction in the border complete, now working on the other direction. 

I use a Hera marker for that. 

And once it is complete these little oopsies will be harder to find. Thankfully the quilt in 100x100!

My friend Sharon sent hers away to be marked because she knew she'd experience these types of mishaps. 

I'm not sure I'll have this done this winter or not. It's been great to work on it in the evenings for a short while.

Love ya'll!

 

Beyond the Cherry Tree & More

Good morning! The cold night time temps means it's time to once again bring out the whopping 100x100" quilt for hand quilting in the evenings. 

I got the table extended a bit so I can trim up a larger quilt and get it ready for binding, but thought it would be a good time to spread this out and see where I am on it.

I laugh when I see this block. It has 57 leaves! I was hand appliqueing this quilt but when I got to this block and got a few leaves hand appliqued on, I knew I'd never get it finished, so I started machine applique and finished the quilt that way. All except the bias stems. I opted to do them traditionally by hand. 

My borders have the cross hatching going one direction and it looks like I need to continue the other direction. I also think I didn't outline all of the border applique. I figure I can easily go back and do that after the quilt is completed. 

Here's my center blocks. That's a lot of grapes! 

I'm looking forward to getting up close and personal with this one again. Maybe I'll complete it this winter!!

Hubby and I and the 2 dogs went for a last outing in the camper. The temps took a dive over the weekend and inside the camper our water froze! I think it is the coldest time we've been out camping. We had fun but both agree we are fair weather campers. 

I look forward to seeing the larches (also called tamarack) change color. Did you know they lose their needles in the winter? 

Always squirrels and chipmunks getting ready for winter. Elsa thinks they are great fun to watch. 

Surprisingly the trees around the lake weren't changing color as ones not around the lake. This one was the exception. It was about 35 degrees and that sun sure was welcome!

This is such a great time to head to the mountains. Hunters are out but the campgrounds are pretty much empty. 

It takes our aging Porter time to recover, but he sure likes it outdoors. 

All that squirrel chasing poops Elsa out. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week. 

Revisiting My Cherry Tree Quilt

The weather turned cold and that means it was time to bring out the Cherry Tree Quilt to continue hand quilting this 100x100 quilt! The end is in site!  

I've cross hatched 1 1/2" apart and around each applique piece.

I've been working on the border, going one direction all the way around. It's time to start my alternate direction!! Whoop! Whoop!

I think I may have stopped outlining the applique at some point on the border so will need to complete that on my way around the quilt. 

I added the fun and unique motifs that were on the original quilt. 

Gay does an amazing job reproducing these wonderful quilts that she finds and patterns. It's possible she may have a sale this weekend. You can find Beyond the Cherry Tree HERE. 

We had our first snow! I recall quite a few Thanksgivings having to travel in snowy weather or saying goodbye to loved ones having to drive home on the snow. I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

I want to say thank you all for the joy you bring to me by continuing to read my blog and offer comments and encouragement. I appreciate each one of you!

Much Love, 

Quilt Projects Moving Forward

 My stars in a time warp quilt. Barbara Brackman did this as a sewalong, learning about fabric and styles in 2015.  I've never been known to be a fast quilter!! LOL  It's been basted for awhile and I finished marking it one direction last night.

I'm going to do a simple cross hatch. I have it marked one way, and when it is quilted I will remove the basting and mark it going the other direction. I told my friend last night I'll try and get it completed in 2 marathon machine quilting sessions. 

I've also finished marking the border one direction as well on my Cherry Tree quilt. 

My wrist is really giving me a hard time, so hand quilting may be set aside for awhile. I thought a week off in TX would help, it didn't. 

Here's my Instagram feed for the week. It was such a beautiful day yesterday I had to get out and enjoy it.

Have a wonderful weekend.