What's up at Gypsy Hill Quilt Studio?

Mini Quilts in Progress

2010-11-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well I've been busy working on several mini quilts and have a few quilt tops done!

I still haven't decided on the right brown for the suitcase block, I may end up just using the solid brown so that I can then focus on finishing the whole top.

Here are some pics of the new ones I've completed.

This cute log cabin is not quilted yet, the top measures 10-1/2" x 13". The logs are 1/2" wide, the blocks measure 2-1/2". I had some trouble with the little 1/4" red border, so I think I will take it off and make it wider. I'm not sure if I will machine quilt it or hand quilt, or maybe even tie it. The quilt looks a little off in the photo but it was hanging on my design wall.

I have bins of strips that are in 1", 1-1/2" and 2" so it didn't take me very long to grab random pieces and make the quilt. 1" red square for the center of each block, and then building out with light and dark logs.

I also started sewing up some courthouse steps blocks, using the leftover 1" pieces. More to come on that one later. :)

This second quilt top is a Bricks doll quilt pattern, made from a pattern I found on modabakeshop.com. The pattern calls for a charm pack but I (again) just used my scraps that were on hand.

The bricks are 2" x 4". The light background is a shirting print I bought a couple of years ago at a Joann's store in their clearance fabric for probably a dollar a yard. I think it will look great once it's quilted up.

The pattern is at the following link:

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/06/vintage-brick-doll-quilts-1-charm-pack.html

Next on my list is to make a quilt out of small Lady of the Lake blocks - 4" blocks, and based on an antique quilt I saw browsing online.

Kind of on the same antique-y theme, I found a small hexagon quilt I had started working on about 5 or 6 years ago, and got to the stage where I needed to applique it to a foundation to make a little quilt. I guess I got to the stage where I didn't want to do that part. I had completely forgotten that I had it, but a nice surprise to find it and finally complete it.

So, this will also be a quilt for my suitcase, since I am going to include any UFOs in it as well. The little hexagons are about 1-1/4" wide, and still have the paper foundations and basting stitches in them.

I've also sewn together some small pinwheel blocks, and a strippy kaleidoscope block (Rocky Road to Kansas block) that I may decide to use as a center block for a medallion quilt. It's 6" so is the biggest block I've made during this journey.

I've also joined a great Yahoo Group recently, the Small Quilt Talk group shares tips for making little quilts, and also has fabulous photos from the group members on all the quilts they've made. Very inspiring. Kathy Tracy, the moderator of the group, has published several quilt books on small quilts. Check it out if you're interested.

Happy sewing!

Suitcase Block Center - The Mini Quilt

2010-10-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

I spent a little time (about an hour and a half) cutting and piecing the center mini quilt for the suitcase block last night. The seams aren't as perfect but I found it was a little harder to press those seams open. For the triangle squares, I did press the seams open, but when piecing the hourglass blocks together, I pressed to the side.

The main seam down the middle is pressed open on the back as well to help reduce bulk.

The brown strips are not sewn on, I wanted to see what it would look like so I laid them along the edges (some of the triangles look cut off, but thankfully I haven't sewn those strips on).

I want to use a different brown fabric - maybe a tone-on-tone floral. This one is just a sample for now, I may change my mind and do different colors for the mini quilt.

The dimensions in my previous post are correct, the center will finish 3" by 4-1/2", so I'm sure the rest of the 8" block will sew together easily. It's hard not to get too carried away when you see it coming together!

Happy sewing!

Suitcase Challenge – Quilt #1: My Journey Begins: Suitcase in the Middle

2010-10-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

So, I played around in EQ5 on Sunday and came up with a small quilt design which incorporates an 8” suitcase block in the center, and is bordered by different 4” blocks around the center. It will measure approximately 16” finished size.

The border is completed with four 4-patch variation blocks which remind me somewhat of Trip Around the World quilts, and Flying Dutchman (or Flying Geese Variation) blocks in each corner. You can choose to use a variety 4” blocks for the border if you want – I played around with choices before settling on one that was easier on the eye (and easier to piece!).

I’m not settled on the colors I have in the mock up – I was really trying to get an idea of the pattern as a whole.
I should also note that I will likely revise the look of the pattern a bit so you don't see as many lines in the mock up. The sizes will be the same though.

The obvious starting point is the suitcase block in the center. It has a mini quilt made from 24 triangle squares set into an Hourglass setting, which is what I’ll sew together first. The triangle squares measure 3/4" finished, with the Hourglass unit (4 triangle squares sewn together) measuring 1-1/2” finished. The mini quilt, when fully pieced, measures 4-1/2” x 3” finished.

For the triangle squares, use your favorite method for making them. I like Marsha McCloskey’s method of bias strip piecing and trimming, but here are a few online instructions as well:

Thimble Pleasures has a tutorial on three techniques:

http://www.thimblepleasures.com/weblog/?p=945

At about.com, using squares sewn on the diagonal:

http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpiecingtechniques/ss/halfsquaretria.htm

I’m still working on the block sewing details, but for now here are fabric cutting instructions, not including the triangle squares. You may want to wait to see how my block turns out first, if you want to make one of them. (Disclaimer: the cutting instructions haven’t been tested yet!!)

For brown pieces of the suitcase you will need one strip of brown fabric cut 1-1/2” width of fabric (40”). From the strip, subcut:

(2) 1-1/2” x 6-1/2” strips (suitcase top and bottom)
(2) 1-1/4” x 3-1/2” strips (suitcase sides)
(2) 3/4” x 1-1/2” strips (suitcase handle sides)
(1) 3/4" x 2-1/2” strip (suitcase handle top)

For the block background you will need one strip of fabric cut 1-1/2” width of fabric (40”). From the strip, subcut:

(2) 1-1/2” x 5-1/2” strips (sides)
(2) 1-1/2” x 8-1/2” strips (top and bottom)
(2) 1-1/2” x 3-1/2” strips (either side of the handle)

For the corners on the handle and the outside of the block, you will need additional:

(2) 3/4” squares of background fabric. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of each.
(4) 1-1/2” squares that match the quilt border fabric. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of each.

Here’s the drawing of the suitcase block up close. There are some lines appearing here that are not seam lines – they just make it easier to build the block in EQ5. I’ll post a colorized version in my next post but this will give you an idea of the piecing. If you click on the image you'll enlarge it to view it better.

Feel free to submit comments if you have questions! Would love to hear your thoughts on color choices.

Happy sewing ~

Quilt Show in a Suitcase Challenge!

2010-10-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a new challenge? I have been busy with several customer projects, but have wanted to get back into sewing small projects (and completing them!) for myself. My latest brainstorm: the Quilt Show in a Suitcase Challenge! The objective is to take you out of your comfort zone and create quilts in sizes you wouldn't normally make.

Just the idea of it is energizing me, and creating small quilts that will fill a (small) suitcase seems like a manageable challenge. If you'd like to join along, feel free to copy the smaller challenge image on my blog sidebar. And, if you already enjoy making mini quilts, feel free to join, too - just to see how many you can fit into a suitcase by the end of next year.

Here's how this simple challenge works:

1. You need a suitcase. My ideal suitcase (which I'm still searching for, but you may have one in your closet) measures about 16" by 20" so it's not too large or deep. Keep in mind you want to fill it with as many small quilts as you can. Any type of suitcase goes - I'd prefer a vintage one, but they're getting hard to find.

2. You will create small quilts to fill it. I don't have a specific goal - maybe 100 quilts? The challenge is to see how many quilts you can make to put into it.

3. The challenge ends on December 31, 2011.

Every challenge has rules, so here they are:

At least 30 % of the quilts you make for the suitcase should measure 10 inches or smaller
At least 30% of the quilts you make should measure between 10 inches and 20 inches (but no more than 40% of your quilt total)
At least 20% of the quilts you make should measure between 20 inches and 30 inches - no larger (and no more than 30% of your quilt total)

Okay, so if you're not an analyst or numbers person, in simple terms this means for every 10 quilts:

3 should be 10 inches or smaller
4 can be between 10 - 20 inches, and
3 can be between 20 - 30 inches.

You could change the ratios and have 4 quilts that are 10 inches or smaller, 4 that are between 10 - 20 inches, and 2 that are between 20 - 30 inches.

If your quilt measures more than 10 inches on any side, it falls in the 10 - 20 inch size. If it measures more than 20 inches on any side, it falls in the 20 - 30 inch size. Anything 10 inches or smaller is in the smallest group. (For example, if you have a quilt that is 9" x 12" it's in the middle group.)

There are so many styles and patterns to choose from for mini quilts. I compiled a list to help keep me focused. This may help you get ideas for making quilts of your own, in a variety of styles.

Square in a square

Hourglass or Pinwheels

Log Cabin or Pineapple

Sampler (maybe a medallion quilt)

Star quilts (Ohio, Evening, Feathered, etc.)

Hexagon or Grandmother's Garden

Paper pieced

Sunbonnet Sue or other folk art applique

Drunkards Path

Irish Chain

Crossed Canoes

Amish Bars

Flying Geese

Artsy or contemporary quilts

Journal quilts

Pictoral, cats, dogs, houses, sailboats

Basket quilt

Bow Tie quilt

I have thought of several others. The fun part of having a long list to choose from is that there will always be something I can pick to make that's different. Get a book on miniature quilts from your local library, borrow from a friend, look online for free patterns...I also like looking through some old issues of Miniature Quilts magazine.

A printable version of the challenge rules is here.

If you don't have a suitcase just yet, you can still get started with the challenge. I will start by making a medallion quilt with a suitcase block in the center. I'm still working on the pattern, but once I have started I can post it here for those of you working on the challenge, if you'd like one for your own suitcase.

I'm looking forward to posting my success each week. The last few months of the year will be crazy with holidays and customer work, but I'm going to carve out an hour or two each week in order to work on a mini quilt. I hope you'll join me!

Happy sewing!

100 Good Wishes Quilts

2010-02-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry, my friends, that it's been so long since I've posted. While I've neglected posting on my blog, I've been busy sewing and quilting and will have some new posts coming this week.

One of the offerings in my custom quilt side of the biz is making 100 Good Wishes quilts for adopted children. I've recently finished one for one of my customers, and created a video of the progress from start to finish.

The Good Wishes quilt comes from a tradition in the northern part of China to celebrate and welcome a new life. 100 friends and family are invited to contribute a square of fabric, usually between 8 - 9", with a wish for the child. Part of the fabric goes into the quilt for the baby, while a piece goes into a memory journal with that wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric.

It is always an honor to create quilts for this special group of people. I hope you enjoy seeing the progress as much as I had making it.

UFOs and Scrap Redemption

2009-11-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. I've been busy doing some quilting for customers, but also some piecing of my own this week. It's hard to believe it's November, and my poor Scrap Redemption list is not any more complete. What have I been doing??

For starters, I've been cutting out the squares and rectangles for my scrappy Burgoyne Surrounded quilt.

This past weekend I pieced together some sample blocks that measure 15" square. I put two up on my design wall to see how they will look. The small squares are all 1" finished. The long, narrow strips I have on the sides and bottom are for the sashings, and the ones in the photo aren't finished yet. I think this will look really great as a quilt but it's really a LOT of sewing. I'm piecing the little four- and nine-patches in between my other projects. As Bonnie Hunter would say, I'm doing them as leaders and enders. :)

My other project, which is ongoing, is string piecing. This is really fun, and what you see spread out upon my floor are a random sampling of 5-1/2" blocks I've sewn to paper foundations. The narrow rectangular blocks on the right are the leftover paper pieces I had after cutting my 5-1/2" foundation squares - they measure 3" x 5-1/2". Many of these are not yet trimmed, but that's something I'll save for another time.

If you're interested, there are a lot of string-piecing tutorials out there on the internet, but really all you need is a foundation, and a short stitch length on your sewing machine...and STRIPS (otherwise knows as "strings") of varying widths. I save strips from trimming backings, and end of yardage, and from random projects, and put them in a box. They're usually pretty narrow or crooked, but it doesn't matter. You get a folksy look from them.

As you can see, I've been playing around with a layout. I think I'll piece these into 15" blocks with a solid center, and maybe with a strippy sashing. The fun part is, I can just let the design take me where it wants to go! Maybe I'll post something from EQ5 to show what it could turn out as.

Hope you are all having a good week. It's raining here in Washington (good sewing weather), I hope the sun finds you out there!

~Jennifer

Catching Up

2009-10-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Last week's quilting:

The first photo is a volunteer quilt for wounded soldiers. I have 3 more to quilt for my friend Paula, who makes many of these quilts for such a good cause!

I quilted a meander in the sashings, with continuous curves in the block triangles, and a small feathered wreath in each block center.

One of my regular customers made this quilt (second photo) out of bright pastel jelly roll strips for a friend's recently adopted daughter. It's such a great strippy pattern. I'm actually cutting out strips to make one of my own.

The quilt is quilted with an simple flower meander in the center, and a wavy flower border. The blue thread looks fantastic on it!

I've also been sewing like mad on my scrap quilts. I started piecing the many small blocks for my Burgoyne Surrounded quilt (one of my goals for the year).

The little squares are all 1" finished, so there is a lot of piecing. I've got about half the blocks done.

I also finished another Bricks and Stones quilt (see below).

I pieced the back like a large log cabin block with a 12" star in the center. It turned out great, it was easy to measure and plan, and I was able to use up a lot of random fabrics in it.

I've completed two more feathered star quilt blocks (the Serenity fabrics look wonderful) so now I'm debating whether to make the quilt with 5 blocks set on point, or make 4 more blocks and set the blocks 3 x 3.

I ordered more Serenity fabrics on the bolt, and they'll arrive this week.

I've also found some new (old) quilt patterns in some magazines that my friend Laura passed on to me - I find it interesting that some quilt magazines, depending on the issue, can have a lot of useful patterns, and sometimes they don't have anything inspiring! I wonder why that is...

I hope October finds all my sewing friends well, warm and cozy! Now I'm off to quilt!!

Who Loves College Biology? My Daughter!

2009-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

My one and only daughter graduated high school in June, and started college at Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA this fall. Her goal is a BFA in Digital Animation. She has always loved art and music, and was drawing before she was 3.

She was home over the weekend to share dinner with us, and my hubby asked if she was liking her first semester. "Yes!" she declared, quite passionately, "I love it!"

My husband got a text message on his phone yesterday, with this photo and a note saying, "See? I told you. I LOVE biology!"

Apparently they are studying the human musculature and skeleton in that class. This is what she calls doodling. I'm in awe. I guess I'm bragging, but each time I see what she comes up with, I see that she certainly has a gift. Kind of like what my quilting is to me.

If you're taking classes out there, I hope you're enjoying them as much! :)

Another Award - Kreativ Blogger - Thanks M!

2009-10-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

My blogger friend, Aunt Pitty Pat, nominated me for another blog award. Thanks so much, M - I'm in awe of your generosity! Aunt Pitty Pat deserves this award too, since she does a lot of creative projects, including Aprons, dolls, and bags and such. I'm a bit jealous, I need to take some of my sewing time and do craft projects and not always focus on quilting!

So, with this award, I have to name 7 things about myself that no one would really know. Well, to keep it honest, there are more than 7 things, but I'll be good, I promise. :) So, that said, here are 7 things you don't know about me:

1. I have a twin brother, who lives in North Carolina. He's a freight pilot for UPS and works for the FAA, and I love him very much.

2. I played Mammy Yokum in the "L'il Abner" musical in my high school, oh, 30 years ago. While I can sing, I just wasn't a match for the leading gal. That's the gypsy in me.

3. I'm not so sure I'm afraid of anything, except being called to the principal's office on Judgement Day.

4. My favorite holiday is the 4th of July. I just love to watch fireworks.

5. Someday, I will enter a quilt in a quilt show and win a ribbon.

6. I commute to my corporate job 2 hours each way, Monday thru Friday.

7. I love to read and write, and someday will publish a compilation of short stories for my family. (Maybe including "The Dead Man's Quilt." Stay tuned.)

I'll post the 7 blog sites that I've nominated for this award in tomorrow's post.

Thanks again, Aunt Pitty Pat!

Feathered Star Marathon - Not Done Yet!

2009-10-06T20:14:00.001-07:00

I've begun a Feathered Star Marathon...let's see, a real, running marathon is about 26 miles and 385 yards. That's probably a good estimation of how much I have in my fabric stash...or so my husband would think!

If you don't know the history of the marathon, the event was named after a (theoretical) run of a Greek soldier from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.

I'd like to think that the quilter's marathon is an event named after a mad quilter-woman who, after eating a hearty breakfast and on her third cup of coffee, breaks into the piecing rhythm of a long, drawn out cutting and sewing stint. Could last several hours, or most likely span a couple of days! (In my case, it takes 2 hours to complete each feathered star block, so I can do the math that way...if I want to keep track.)

In early September, I made a trip to EE Schenck's in Portland, OR to their bi-annual Trends trade show. My friend Laura came along, and we had a fun time looking at all the new fabrics coming out this fall, new gadgets, and new gift items. And, of course, I didn't leave empty handed.

One of my impulse purchases was a 37 fat quarter pack of the Daiwabo Serenity collection. Like, I needed it! But the fabric colors and patterns are beautiful.

So, I've finished 3 radiant feathered star blocks for a 9-block quilt. They are turning out wonderful! I'm usually more interested in piecing scrappy ones, like that you see in the second photo. I was working from my stash of feathered star components and almost completed the scrappy one - the bottom row isn't done - the two corner units are still being pieced.

You can really make these stars out of any fabric and they will look great!

So, maybe I'll calculate how many 72-piece stars I'll have to make in order to call it a true marathon. Or, like I said, maybe just calculate the hours...those 72 pieces can really add up!

Innovations - Machine Quilters Conference

2009-10-06T19:54:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I went with my cousin and aunt (who were visiting me from Portland, Maine) to see the quilt show at the annual Innovations Machine Quilters Conference in downtown Tacoma.

And, all I could say, in awe, was a sheepish, "wow!" when I saw all the machine quilting talent out there. This show includes any type of machine quilting - from your small domestic machine, to short-arm, mid-arm and longarm quilting.

Unfortunately, not all my photos came out well - some were a bit fuzzy. I tried to capture some of the quilting techniques and patterns these women had used on their quilts.

The one photo I wished had been better was the first prize quilt...it had a lot of micro-stippling, it was really heavily quilted, all on a small sewing machine. Kudos to that quilter!

The first photo of the elephants was really fun. You may not be able to see the detail, but the quilter quilted all the skin wrinkles, so it looked like real elephant hide.

This second photo was just a snapshot from a larger mariner's compass quilt, but I loved how she quilted the koi on the batiks. What a cool fish pattern!

The third photo is of a different mariner's compass quilt. I was trying to capture how the quilter quilted inside the compass. I've seen similar techniques before, but she did a wonderful job on her quilt.

The last two photos show beautiful quilting. The star quilt, based on a Jinny Beyer pattern, has wonderful feathering in the white spaces. I'm totally jealous. I like to do feathers, but - wow!

And the last quilt with the coffee cup fabric was just really neat. Again, there's gorgeous feathering, and if you look closely, coffee cups are quilted in the red space too.

My cousin has a Nolting longarm, one size up from my Proto. We were both taking mental notes of how we could incorporate some of these quilting styles into our own quilts.

I hope you enjoy these snippets of the show as much as I did in person!

Will Catch up on Posts this Weekend!

2009-10-03T07:48:00.001-07:00

Sorry my blog friends, I was so busy September that I hardly posted at all, but I've got a lot to share - photos from the Innovations Machine Quilting show, of some of the projects I'm working on, some quilting for donation quilts. I've been working!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Bricks and Stepping Stones Quilt

2009-09-07T15:10:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, I finished piecing up the Bricks & Stepping Stones quilt I was working on for our guest bedroom. It's a quick-sew pattern from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website.

Over the course of the last 2 weeks I've been sewing in 30 minute segments, but this is a quilt that can easily be sewn up in a day if you set aside some dedicated sewing time. :0)

You can see the pattern here.

On Sunday I quilted it with an allover teardrop design. You might be able to see the quilting on the front and back. I was going to piece the backing with a neat design using the same fabrics but my husband thought the quilt was too dark overall, so I used some Thimbleberries backing I have instead.

This was one project I wanted to sew up to reduce all the random fabrics and strips I had that were taking up valuable space. Since I didn't have any other projects in mind for them, they went willingly into this quilt, and I think the result was great!

Bonnie's pattern calls for an 8 x 7 layout (the blocks measure 6" x 9", but I like a stouter look so my quilt is a 9 x 7 layout. It measures around 68" x 78"... a decent sized twin.

The border fabric I purchased many years ago, I think when a JoAnns store was going out of business. I have several yards of it, so this was a good place to use it.

I've already cut out the bricks for another quilt, and have them tucked into a bin for another rainy day. Some of the four-patch blocks are finished, and a couple of strips are sewn to make more.

Bonnie has some other fun quilt patterns on her site for free. I like to go there and be inspired!

Friday Quilting - Melody's Baby Quilts

2009-09-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to admit, I've spent my holiday weekend sewing again!

To start it off, my friend Melody came over on Friday evening to sew and spend some time catching up on our everyday lives. A small group of us has tried to meet on the first Friday of each month this year, but the summer was hit and miss since we were all busy with family and vacations. Mel will return to teaching this week so this was her last good Friday to spend sewing.

She brought 3 wonderful baby quilts to show and tell. They are adorable. She likes to make them and give them away to all the new moms she meets while teaching. What lucky moms!

I love the quick to sew nine-patches and snowball blocks she used in two of her quilts. The first photo I can see star blocks that have emerged as the design was put together.

The second quilt with the dogs is super cute. Melody bought most of this fabric (if not all!) on our return trip from the Sisters Quilt show. It turned out great. You might not be able to see it but she used this neat red plaid as the border fabric. She does all the quilting herself.

The last quilt she used a fun and colorful tropical fish fabric. I previously decided to do a scrap cutting marathon this holiday weekend and have a lot of novelty fabrics - so I decided to cut them into 6-1/2" squares so I can make similar quilts, too.

My problem is that I never seem to have the right coordinating fabrics to go along with all these novelties, so it gives me an excuse to go out fabric shopping.

I do make several I-spy quilts, which also use the 6-1/2" blocks. That's my back up plan I guess.

It has been raining off and on for the past few days so I continued sewing all day Saturday. My hubby was good enough to not complain about the huge mess I was making, in the effort to reduce my stash!

I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and restful weekend. Back to work in the morning for me!

Bella Sinclair Award Recipient

2009-08-26T18:57:00.001-07:00

I logged on this evening to find a nice comment and an award given to me from my blogger friend, Aunt Pitty Pat!

Otherwise called "M" in my book, Aunt Pitty Pat is so creative, and makes wonderful dolls and aprons and posts the most yummy recipes, and hosts fun swaps . I'm honored that you thought of me and passed along this award. Thanks very much for the shout out!

The Bella Sinclair Award was created by Ces and you can view the background on her art blog, Ces And Her Dishes.

The award celebrates art in blogs and honors the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing & caring. Ces named the award after Bella because she epitomizes all these things. You need to read the blog to fully grasp how wonderful this is, and what an honor to receive it from a blogger friend/sister.

Thanks, Ces, for creating such an award, and to all of you out there that will pass this award on to others, to spread friendship, sisterhood and the rest.

Quilt Layout for the Disappearing 9-Patch Swap

2009-08-13T16:09:00.001-07:00

I have to post about all the wonderful disappearing 9-patch blocks I received from Aunt Pitty Pat's block swap. They are great. Photos just don't do them justice but you can get an idea of all the different colors I have to work with now that they've arrived.

As I was looking through them I found several fabrics that I have in my own stash!

Of course, I've played with EQ5 and have come up with a quilt layout for these blocks. I'm going to combine 4 blocks to make 1 larger block, and have shown 12 large blocks in the quilt layout below to get a decent sized quilt. You can't make 12 large blocks from the 40 9-patch blocks (you can only get 10), so I'm going to sew 8 additional disappearing 9-patches to make 2 additional big blocks you see in the pattern.

Making larger blocks and adding sashing and a border allows for an ample-sized lap size quilt (around 53" x 68"). We like to cuddle under them during the winter months while watching TV and I have several lap quilts on the couch.

Here I've shown 4 of the disappearing 9-patch blocks set together with the small squares touching in the center to make one large block.

I've laid out the large quilt blocks in 4 rows of 3 blocks each. I'll add 2" sashings with some scrappy corner blocks to pull in all the colors. Here's where I can use some of the matching fabrics from my stash.

I'm going to keep the background fabrics for the sashing and outer border as one fabric so that the eye has somewhere to rest. There's a lot of color in this quilt!

The outer border is 5" with scrappy corner blocks. Then, I may use flannel as the backing fabric, or perhaps do something like Bonnie Hunter would do - piece together a scrappy back too!

I like how this looks for now. It does require a little more sewing, but I'm up for that. It will be great to think about all the bloggie friends who joined in on the swap when I'm enjoying the finished quilt!

If you have ideas of how you'll be using these blocks, I'd love to hear how you've sewn them into quilts!

Vacationing and Loving It

2009-08-12T15:49:00.001-07:00

Ah, summer vacation. I am enjoying 2 weeks off from my corporate job to spend time with my hubby, daughter and my family in New York!

My dad just turned 80 years young this week, and I flew to NY for a few days to surprise my parents (they didn't know I was coming) and to hand-deliver their birthday cards (my mom's birthday was on July 25). I have 6 siblings, and we were all there to enjoy a BBQ except for my brother Eric.

My family is very artistic - my dad is an award-winning woodcarver and instructor who retired from NY state as an Environmental Conservation Officer. He also participates in the Senior Olympics in Archery - he's won several gold and silver medals. My brother Eric paints with oils; my mom paints and quilts; my sister is an interior decorator and makes draperies and she does upholstery; I could go on and on. When we get together, we laugh and joke and have a wonderful time.

While I was at my parents, I took some time to take a couple photos of my mom's quilts that she took out to keep us warm at night. The temperature dropped to 48 degrees F on Saturday - a record breaker for the lows in their area.

The first photo is that of a kaliedoscope scrap quilt my mom did in blues. I remember seeing these blocks on her design wall a couple of years ago when she was planning how to sew them together. I just love it, and I'm thinking I want to make a similar one when I can get to it.

The second photo of the brown and tan quilt is one I quilted for her. It's a throw size and I'm not sure what the block pattern is. They are freeform, curvy half-square triangles. I had fun "practicing" the feathers on this one. Bless my mom, she lets me play with her quilt tops.

The last photo shows only a block of a twin size quilt - the original photo of the whole quilt was taken in way too much light and doesn't do the quilt justice so I didn't post it here. She made the quilt with all flannel prints and the quilt is so soft and warm! (I used this one! :o))

My mom couldn't remember where she got the pattern from. The block is stitched to a muslin foundation and is similar to a log cabin block. All the middle triangles were black and the "logs" were all different widths. The sashing was only about an inch wide and was black. This could be a good block design for the men's shirts.

I'm home for a short interim, and then off to the Pacific ocean to enjoy another weekend before heading back to work. When we got back this morning I had two nice packages waiting for me when we got home - one is the disappearing 9-patch blocks from Aunt Pitty Pat's block swap (they are totally wonderful!) and the other was a strippy, scrappy pillow cover my mom sent to me that uses the button placket from a men's shirt to make the flap in the back. I'll post a separate entry for those. Sometimes I'm blown away by all the talent out there.

Happy sewing, all!

New Border for Feathered Star Quilt

2009-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here's another design option for the border for the feathered star quilt I'm making out of the men's shirts. I was looking through "Pieced Borders, The Complete Resource" by Judy Martin and Marsha McCloskey for something with a little more "wow" factor than the plain plaid border in my earlier post.

This is called the "Big & Little Zigzag" border. The image shows it in all one blue, but in reality the border will be a mix of blues. And maybe not red for the little triangles, but that's the fun with envisioning it ahead of time. I might choose to do those in browns, or maybe greens.

I started on feathered star block #2 today, before it got too hot to iron the small pieces. I'll post a pic of the new block when it's all done.

Staying Cool with Swatches

2009-07-26T19:27:00.001-07:00

Whew! Outside temperature here in Spanaway, WA was over 90 degrees today. I hope all of you out there in blogland are staying cool!

I wasn't venturing outside if I could help it, so I decided to spend some time cutting and gluing shirt swatches to some cardstock. This was another great idea from Laura (thanks, Laura!!), who still has more shirts in her stash! These three 8-1/2 x 11" sheets show 58 shirt swatches (if you count the little neutrals on the side).

I didn't really put a lot of planning into how these were put onto the cardstock - I'm sure Jinny Beyer would have been better at making the colors flow wonderfully from one to the next. I just wanted the ability to grab a card if I'm shirt shopping to be sure I'm getting colors that are new.

I was using Elmer's glue to secure these swatches, so you might notice the glue spots that hadn't dried yet on the fabric. I still have the neutrals to lay out, and there are more shirts to come. I'm going to slide these into sheet protectors and keep them handy in the car for those unexpected thrift store retail therapy sessions! :)

Disappearing 9-Patches on Their Way

2009-07-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun sewing up the disappearing 9-patch blocks for Aunt Pitty Pat's swap. Here is a photo of them before I mailed them off.

I used a Moda charm pack (I think it was called Recess, but could have been something else) for some of the blocks, and some fabrics from the Bees Knees line from Maywood Studio. A few 30-ish repro prints were used to spread out the cheer.

I can't wait to see all the blocks in person that APP has been receiving and posting on her blog.

I may actually use a different layout than the standard given in the tutorial. I quilted a customer quilt who used this technique and then set the blocks with a sashing. It was really wonderful in Mary Englebreit prints. I'm going to play around w/ EQ5 and see what I can come up with. :)

Shirt Quilt Round One

2009-07-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the plan I have for the shirts Laura and I collected to save into quilts. The first quilt will be made with my favorite block, the feathered Radiant Star!

I have made so many of these blocks in the past I can make them in my sleep. I decided that shirts, while humble, can still be recycled into something great - like be in a quilt like this! What do you think? Will it work?

To try it out, I had to make a sample block. I can make one block from scratch in 2 hours - now granted, I'm pretty quick at these because I like them so much and have made probably 50 in the past 2 years.

So, I took 3 shirts I liked (teal, rusty orange and yellow). I cut and pieced them into a wonderful block. But I wasn't too sure if I liked the end result. My mind was expecting more "scrappy" than "planned" but I was planning the colors.

And, using muslin as the background. I'm not sure I like the muslin by itself. Maybe need to use one of the neutral shirts we picked out. But I need to be careful not to have too much pattern - the eye needs a place to rest!

It took me a long time to get the block created in EQ5 for the quilt layout above. The EQ5 file is so complex that Internet Explorer kept closing the program on me. After several attempts I was able to finish a block drawing to make the quilt layout. My block sample is based on a 15" feathered Radiant Star, while the EQ5 quilt has 18.5" blocks.

I'm still debating on the right sashing for this quilt. I am thinking of using either flying geese blocks, hanging diamonds or squares, or leaving it as shown with Ohio Star blocks set in the sashing.
I told my friend Laura that one block didn't even make a dent in the 3 fabrics from these shirts so there is plenty of fabric left for the second (and third!) projects... Second quilt planned is a Burgoyne Surrounded. Third project is still to be determined!

Since I've recently finished up my other projects, it's off to the cutting board for feathered star #2!

Veggie Quilting

2009-07-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

My customer, Jada, made this bright and vibrant garden quilt for one of her co-workers who is retiring.

What a wonderful use of color! There are so many wonderful prints in this lap size quilt.

I was lucky enough to quilt it for her. When I saw it I immediately knew I wanted to do an allover veggie quilting design. Well, not all veggies because there are a few apples, peaches, pears and strawberries thrown in for good measure.

The first photo is the top after quilting.

The second photo is the back of the quilt. (Sorry, the photo came out a little fuzzy.) Jada decided to use a solid green as the backing to better showcase the quilting design.

We used a wonderful variegated thread from King Tut and the quilting was inspired by Laura Lee Fritz. She has a couple of books on her technique and she does fantastic freehand quilting. I have used her ideas as starting points for a lot of quilting.

I kept thinking as I was quilting along - "Wow, I'm having a quiltin' V-8!" :D

Sisters Quilt Show (and Some Fun Shoes!)

2009-07-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun visiting the Sisters Quilt Show in Sisters, OR last weekend with my friends Laura and Mel. There were a lot of people there, and it was a lot of walking. My friend Melody saw John Flynn but we didn't see any other "celebrities."

I know some folks took oodles of photos and there were so many quilts to see. Here are some photos of the quilts we saw. I wanted to post pics of the ones that were the most interesting to me personally.

The Snail Trail quilts in the first photo were really neat. I particularly like the scrappy ones, but the planned colorways are nice too. I have the Snail Trail as a To-Do quilt this year. (I'm not sure I'll get there, though, because it's almost August already! I have a great pattern in one of Marsha McCloskey's books for a scrappy one.

This second photo is the side of the Stitchin' Post. I liked how they hung the quilts all the way up to the roofline. My friend Laura brought binoculars in case there were some too far up, but we didn't actually use them at all.

We went into the Stitchin' Post to check it out but didn't score any really great deals. However, I picked up a Dear Jane software pack for my EQ5 and hope it will help me make those tricky little blocks in the quilt. Hm - I need to get the software loaded in order to use it! LOL

The third photo is a very nice quilt made from, you guessed it! Shirts. This quilter was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's approach of using recycled shirts. I liked the scrappy (yet planned) look. I'm not sure if she sewed these blocks on a foundation or not, but it would be a nice quick way to make blocks. Laura and I noted it as a possible pattern for all those shirts we have.

We stayed in a hotel in Bend and when we arrived Friday afternoon, the 4th photo shows what was waiting for us!

We thought, OMGosh - is this from the hotel front desk?

Laura's mom Ellie met us at the hotel because she was taking Laura's daughter for the week. She lives outside of Medford, OR where the Harry & David complex is. So, she surprised us with this huge gift basket - it had chocolates, crackers, Moose Munch, smoked salmon, a basketful of goodies to eat all weekend!

We didn't really make a dent in the basket of goodies though. My favorite was the peppermint malted milk balls. Yummy!

It was really so sweet. There were cold beverages and handmade snacks too. Ellie had thought of everything!

The last photo is kind of fun. I went to Sisters and I only saw "THESE SHOES" - just kidding, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of these funky, sparkly shoes in a consignment shop there.

I don't think a true gypsy would wear these as they're not practical at all, but like a crow thats disposed to bright and shiny objects, I took the photo so I could remember them...I wouldn't have bought them. (1) they were too large for my feet and (2) I have nothing in my wardrobe that would match! :)

During our trip, we made some pit stops at thrift shops and quilt stores. Scored more shirts and fabrics. All in all, it was a fun, memorable time and we're planning to go again in 2010.

We're going to make quilts to enter next year and we've already brainstormed a couple of patterns. But that update will have to be in another post. Can't spoil the surprise!

Hope everyone is staying cool this month! We've been hotter than New York City this July...now that's saying something for the Pacific NW!

Craft Hope Quilts Ready to Mail

2009-07-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the finished quilts I made for Craft Hope's Project #3. I would have made more, but with the upcoming Sisters Quilt Show trip and the deadling for Craft Hope to receive by July 25 I wouldn't have made it!

2 of these quilts were made using the I-Spy pattern that I provide on my blog. The middle quilt was made with brights to use up some of the fabric I scored at our thrift store shopping. They all turned out wonderful and fun!

I ended up using a very thin Warm & Natural batting for these quilts. Flannel was too thin for my taste, and I was able to quilt them with freehand loops on my longarm machine. I know they will be cherished and I was happy to contribute!

Can You Say "Shirtzapalooza?"

2009-07-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

There was only two of us last night, but my friend Laura and I had a few hours of fun cutting up some of the shirts we scored last weekend (and on some other thrift store trips). I had to take a photo of Laura's shirts - she had a total of 25!

We started cutting them apart and found that it's not as quick a process as we assumed. There's yokes and bulky seams. There's sleeves with inserts (never seen that before). There's different cuffs and button plackets.

We're saving the shirt tags to add to the back of the quilt (or quilts, since I think we have enough fabric to make at least 3!) and the buttons.

Some of the shirts have great pockets that will also be saved for the back. They'll be great to put notes in about the quilt when it's finished. One of Laura's shirts had the coolest flap pocket (it's a
Levi's shirt) and will be a fun addition to the back of one of her quilts. Two I saved have velcro flaps.

Another shirt gave us over 2 yards of fabric. I took a picture of my daughter in it - XXXXL. She's a size 0.

After taking the shirts apart, next will be to separate the fabrics into light and dark values. Laura has some wonderful red and brown plaids and terrific teal blue shirts. The shirts I found were more muted, so they all complement each other.

We decided on a pattern from a quilt magazine (sorry, I don't remember which magazine) but it's a nice nine-patch and split rail variation. I'll see if I can replicate it in EQ5. It gives us a good start for cutting pieces out of the shirts and for planning on how to sew all these plaids and stripes together.

We didn't get to all the shirts - after a few hours I'm not sure we even got to half of them. Who knew it would take as long? But I'm excited to keep going.

I have other projects in the works this weekend. I'll post another update tomorrow.

Happy and safe holiday to everyone!

Thrift Store Bonanza: Shirts, fabrics & ribbons Oh My!

2009-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday wasn't my official Thrift Store Shop Hop with friends, but Laura and I decided to hit the thrift stores in search of some true fabric bargains, and of course, shirts! We had a lot of fun and found some really great stuff. There's nothing better than a little "retail therapy" with a friend who also likes to quilt!

So here's the real scoop.

Shirts: At the shops we visited I found 5 good men's shirts, ranging from size L to XXL Tall. Most of the shirts are short sleeved so that means the yardage is less, but I estimate a yield of at least 4 yards of usable fabric from them. This time I was smart enough to take a "BC" photo of this pile. That's "Before Cutting." :o)

I'm still debating which pattern to use for my first recycle quilt (maybe I should call them my re-psych-ulled quilts). If not one out of Bonnie Hunter's book, I could also use some of the shirting fabrics for a Snowball Strip quilt from the "101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts" by Judy Hopkins and Nancy Martin. That's super easy and would look great.

Now for yardage goods: At the pound Goodwill (they charge by the weight and not by the individual item) I found 7+ yards of fabric plus 2 spools of ribbon. I will use the brights in kid's quilts, some of the civil war repro-looking fabrics into my "Dear Jenn" quilt and the other 30's repro into my WIP (work-in-progress) buzz saw. Laura and I will split the Mary Englebreight fabrics since we both have projects to use them in.

All of this (shirts and fabric) for less than $1.70 a yard. Now that is what I call a bargain!

Speaking of splitting fabrics and re-psych-uling, Laura found a huge lot of Debbie Mumm fabrics at Goodwill last year and kindly split them with me. We decided to make a quilt called "Shimmer" which is a pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, Feb '04 issue, using only the fabrics in that lot. Blues, greens, browns, reds and creamy tans. Oh how I love a challenge. The example of the blue and yellow Shimmer quilt below is from another quilter's website, neither sewn nor quilted by me but it looks really nice. The Debbie Mumm fabrics are darker, so it will be a totally different look for Laura's and my quilt.

This is not a quick quilt as there are a lot of pieces to cut and sew. The small star blocks are 6" but then sewn into a larger block. The overall block size is 19" once the small and large star units are sewn together.

I cut most of the pieces out last fall (644 without the borders!) and had sewn a couple of sample blocks and most of the small star segments. Last night I pieced together more of the units and you can see a few of the block A and block B completed. These are the small star blocks that measure 8-1/2" square.

I store this project in a nice, flat, clear plastic case so I can keep the pattern, acrylic templates and fabrics together. It's easy to grab and sew a few before I have to pack it up and put it away for another time. I don't have a dedicated place for my sewing machine, so all piecework is done at my kitchen table and we DO have to eat. Some quilters would beg to differ though. :o)

It would be great to have more of this completed before heading down to the Sister's Quilt Show in Oregon in 2 weeks, but I doubt I will be much farther than completing all the block A and Bs.

What will I back it with? Some of these fabrics are border prints, so if I don't use them for the borders on the front, I can definitely figure out how to show their full potential on the back. Also, Laura had found me a huge piece of red print fabric to use as backing on the red & cream quilt, but since I used the toile on that other quilt, I have another big piece that will go great with this quilt.

Now it's off to do other things for the day! Happy thrifting!

Another Easy Baby Quilt Pattern - For Craft Hope

2009-06-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ah, my virtual blogger friend Aunt Pitty Pat posted a blog about Crafthope.com.

"Craft Hope is a faith-based, love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate. " Just reading their updates shows their past project work has been pretty inspiring.

Craft Hope has a new project where they are partnering with the Miracle Foundation to supply blankets, booties and beanie caps for babies, and these items will be going to India.

I work in Seattle with several people from India, and after finding this site, am compelled to use some of my pre-cut I-Spy blocks for another great cause and make some quick baby quilts.

I've posted another free pattern (Small I-Spy Patch Quilt) on my side panel on my blog for those who need a quick and easy pattern to make a small quilt for a loved one or to donate. (The pattern assumes you have general quilting and sewing skills.)

I-Spy blocks are easy to collect...you can easily alter the pattern to accommodate charm squares too. Check out your local quilt or fabric shop (or e-Bay) for I-Spy fabric deals. I have a LOT of novelty fabric I can use up for these. If you use my pattern, please only use it for personal or donation use. And, if you have comments about the instructions, I'm happy to hear how the pattern worked out for you.

Here's a small I-Spy I sewed up just this morning using the pattern instructions. I didn't have enough bright orange like in the image above, so used a lime green and the blue and green polka dot fabric. It turned out so cute. Now because these are going to India, I'm going to use plain white baby flannel as the batting.

Feel free to check out Craft Hopes site and thanks to Aunt Pitty Pat for finding this link and sharing it! I'll post more photos of finished I-Spy quilts for the project.

Happy sewing and crafting!

Disappearing 9-Patch Swap

2009-06-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

I joined another block swap recently on Aunt Pitty Pat's blog for the Disappearing 9-patch blocks. I've made these up before, they are quick to sew and turn into a quilt top.

This example, that has been waiting in my UFO bin, used three 9-patch blocks, cut into quarters and then back sewn together. The fabrics were a charm pack of Moda's "Recess" fabric line. It looks rather kitschy and retro. The size is great as a table topper, although I was thinking small baby quilt...this was just not the right look for that. I haven't decided what fabric to use for backing, so I haven't gotten to the point of quilting it. I was thinking plain muslin, which would probably be fine, but I don't use that for backings very often. I think I'll quilt it rather simply - stitch in the ditch and echo quilting in the squares and rectangles. And maybe a heart thrown in during a serendipitous moment. :o)

This is the tutorial that we are following to make the blocks.

Aunt Pitty Pat's swap will be fun and it will be great to see all the blocks that come in!

That's it for now - happy sewing!

Save the Shirts - T-shirt delivery!

2009-06-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! The t-shirt sample I ordered earlier this week from Zazzle.com arrived today! I'm pretty impressed with how the logo came out - nice and clear. It's really fun. I'm not so sure about the placement, but this is a men's medium t-shirt, so I may have to deal with it. I had to try it on right away. Maybe I'll order a woman's tee for a sample, which would better compensate for my front. :o)

The printing on the back is also bigger than I expected, but that's what you get when you're not really sure by looking at the text placement online. It definitely makes a statement (and not the best photo of my back, of course...)

I had my in-laws visiting this week for my daughter's high school graduation, so I showed them the red & cream quilt and explained how the binding gets attached. For most quilts I do a french-fold binding. You can see that they look very serious about what they're hearing!

I'll finish the binding this weekend so the quilt will be off my to-do list. I'd also like to start sewing up a canvas curtain to attach to the edge of my longarm table (this will help keep some of my storage units and bins out of view. I think I may need to make a trip to Joann's to get some denim needles - I'm not sure I have any! But there's always another excuse to go browse the fabric stores if I did!

Scraps & Shirttails - Gift for Laura

2009-06-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura celebrated her birthday earlier this week, and has had her eye on Bonnie Hunter's (of Quiltville) book "Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse. Re-purpose, Recycle!" for a while now. Well, it's the perfect gift -- Happy Birthday, Laura!

I purchased two copies, one for me, of course, and then scouted through a Goodwill for the perfect extras - mens plaid and striped shirts! Unfortunately, I started cutting them up before taking a picture of the whole shirts, but you can see a collar with that blue plaid - I left some of the fun stuff on the shirts for Laura.

I kept some of each shirt for myself, so Laura and I can make similar quilts - we've started these kind of quests before and our projects are still works-in-progress. Bonnie provides some great looking quilts, and she also has some free patterns on her site and blog. If you're interested in going "green" this is a fun way to do it!

I've used shirts, old dresses and aprons to cut up and use in quilts - mostly in vintage minis - but Bonnie provides plenty of inspiration in the quilts she showcases. There's even a tote bag pattern in the book. Her book is available through her website, or from Amazon.com.

The boy onsies for the baby keepsake quilt I mentioned in one of my older blog posts were purchased from a thrift store to make a sample quilt.

Our little quilting group is planning a "Thrift Store Shop Hop" this summer for a day of fun rummaging. Who knows what the next quilt will look like?

I think I will get some t-shirts made (see pics of front and back). I'll post pics when they come in!

Red & Cream - It's all now a dream...

2009-06-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's really unique that I post more than once a day. Sometimes I even go longer than a week before posting again. But I didn't want to forget to add an update on the red & cream quilt I started quilting on Memorial Day weekend. I was able to finish it last weekend.

I took it off my quilting machine, took off the upside down row, and sewed it back. Now the quilt is DONE! (Well, except for the binding, but that is just a minor thing.) It feels so good to see a project finished and ready for binding. I love to do binding, so that's not going to take long.

Have you ever used "running 8ths" for a quilt? I was moving bolts of fabric from my downstairs studio to an upstairs closet, and have two bolts of running eighths from Springs Industries - they sell these in Joanns, but I bought mine wholesale. Basically you have eight 4.5" strips running the length of the fabric. I have a mix of orange/raspberry and blue/yellow.

So, I was looking around for patterns to use the running 8ths in, and found this neat and super quick idea from Lyn Brown's blog. Since I love making baby quilts (and have a few more to complete to reach my donation goal this year), I wanted to give her technique a try.

Voila! It took me less than an hour to sew up two little quilt tops, which I'm calling "Bitty Quilts" (because they're so itty bitty, about 21" x 25"). I quilted one up in no time. Two quilts for using about a yard of fabric.

Also this week, I received my siggy blocks from the Siggy Block swap on Cootie Bug's blog. I will start piecing my dogtooth border this weekend. The blocks are all fantastic!

I can't wait to get started on that project.

Summer Reading Recommendations

2009-06-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

We've had some wonderful weather this week in Washington. Hot and dry - it promotes a vacation-like feeling with school ending for the summer and kids playing outside until the sun hovers over the western hills. I tend to slow down on my sewing, only doing bits early in the morning or later when it's cooler. One of my favorite things to do is sit outside on the patio in the early morning when it's quiet and do hand work like finishing binding with the birds chirping.

I always plan to read during vacations, and if you like to curl up with a good book, I've read several recently that I want to recommend to anyone who appreciates stories around quilts and quilting.

First, I enjoy reading books in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. She has 14 in print and a new one coming out in November for the holidays.

The first one I actually read was "The Quilters Homecoming," a heartwarming tale of newlyweds leaving their home in the east to settle in CA in the 1920's. It's book #10, so I jumped almost right in the middle to start. The second book I read, "The Lost Quilter," picks up a story about a runaway slave who is captured, and plans her new escape in her quilting. This book is #14.

Obviously, at this point, I wanted to start at the beginning, since I was catching snippets of characters and needed to know more.

You don't have to read these books in order, but I wanted to know how it all began. So I bought "An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler" which includes the first 3 books in one volume. Great and fun reading! I let my mom borrow it when she came to visit...she ended up taking it with her, so I don't know when I'll get it back!

I also recently read "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas - the book was published in 1995, so has been around, but I had never picked it up.

The most recent read was a book titled "A Drunkard's Path: A Someday Quilts Mystery," by Clare O'Donohue, which is not yet in print but I was able to read a editorial copy at work. The book will be released in September. In addition to this title, she has her first novel, "The Lovers Knot". That will be the next book on my reading list. For vacation!

I hope you have as much fun reading these as I did. I'm even considering working on my own quilting novel. Perhaps one about gypsys, if my mind has anything to do with it. :)

Happy sewing and reading!

Memorial Day Quilting - Not as quick as I thought...

2009-05-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

I like to use holidays as a catalyst to finishing UFOs. I'm not sure where that mindset came from, but Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day are weekends that I reserve some time for this. Usually it's a small quilt or table topper so I can get it done in a few hours.

So yesterday I decided to finish up the border on my red/cream quilt and quilt it. It's for my daughter to take with her when she goes away to college this fall. I had initially cut some scrap fabrics to piece the back (see an earlier post) but I didn't like how they looked and the quilt seemed too dark to me with a red back.

I wanted something lighter and found a great white and red toile instead. I sewed the borders on, made the backing, loaded on my quilt machine, and started quilting.

This scrappy split nine-patch quilt pattern is the same as the quilt I use on our bed in the master that was made in blues and creams. Wanting the same heavily-quilted look, I decided to do an orange-peel design in the blocks, and of course, feathering on the border just cuz I love it so much. :o)

Now, I have looked at this quilt many, many times - it's taken me a LONG time to get to this stage and I was really excited. Before this, I have shown the quilt top to friends and family, and strangers have seen it in fabric stores. But what did I discover when I had it 1/3 (heavily) quilted?

The very last row of the quilt top is sewn on upside down! I was looking at the quilt when I was taking a break, and wondered why I had these odd triangles toward the bottom. And I couldn't believe it!

Maybe my mind was mentally blocking me from seeing the mistake since I had taken so long to piece it and get it together. In my earlier blog post (February), my photo even shows the error, although I totally didn't see it at the time.

So, what to do? I don't want to leave it like that but part of me says that's the humility "row." I have to take the partially quilted quilt off my machine so I can fix it...

Well, after some thought, I've decided to quilt a few inches up to the area that needs to be redone, so it will be easier to load back on and finish once it's corrected. I won't complain that it's queen size, heavy and bulky. Or that it took me so long to piece in the first place. I'll just get 'er done.

I'm going to add this funky story to the label when I finally put one on the back. Memorial day quilt - for sure!

Hope you're all out there having fun this holiday. Back to the sewing table for me! :)

Another Siggy Border - Dogtooth (or Flying Geese)

2009-04-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, I couldn't stop playing with border ideas for the siggy quilt. I decided to carry over the triangle theme into the border this time. These dogtooth triangles look so neat!

The dogtooth units are 6" x 3". You could make flying geese blocks and use a variety of scraps, or go with a solid color as I did here. I expanded the inner border to 3" so the calculations would come out right. There are 11 dogtooth (or flying geese) units in the vertical borders, and 7 units in the horizontal borders. The little corner squares are 3" finished.

I think this border makes the quilt look more festive. This one measures 48" x 72".

How do you make flying geese units? There's a great tutorial on patchpieces.com website. Whats nice about these directions is that they are not size-specific so you can use the technique for any unit as long as you know what size you need. In this case, 3" x 6". The site offers a pdf to download if you like.

Using patchpieces guidelines, in my case I'd cut 7-1/4" squares of the red prints, and 3-7/8" squares of the light prints. Then, following the patchpieces instructions, you'll get 4 flying geese units out of each set. You'd only need 5 sets to make all the units for the siggy quilt border! (You'll actually have 2 left over.) For time-pressed people like me, I love knowing that I can sew up 4 units at one time, and in the blink of an eye.

Here's an example of a flying geese unit (I just used random colors). I'm going to cut out some squares already. It will be so fun putting them together.

Hope these ideas are helpful in planning your siggy quilt top!

Oh Siggys, How do I set thee?

2009-04-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

I played around with EQ5 today to see how I'd put my siggy blocks together from Cootiebug's siggy block swap. Here are two ideas. We will have 60 blocks. I'm sewing mine into 15 (12") blocks, rotating the siggy centers (see image on the right). I made the inner black border 2" and the outer border 3" so the finished size will be approximately 46 x 70", but any size borders would be fine. Because there will be such a variety of colors in the quilt, any border will work with this. All the blocks look fabulous, I can't wait to see them all in person!

A big shout of thanks to Connie for being our host for this swap!

Happy sewing...

UFO Attack - 3 Down, Several to Go!

2009-04-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while due to a hectic pace around here - several family visitors in and out and some travel thrown in for good measure. But, the sun was out early Saturday morning so I decided to tackle one of my UFO bins! By 9:30 am I had 2 I-spy baby quilts quilted, plus another small donation quilt. These will be donated to South Puget Sound Project Linus - part of my goal for 2009 is to donate between 10 - 12 to this great cause. I completed 25% just yesterday (and am about 50% there in total)! I have several more blocks cut and ready to sew into more I-spy tops. That may be my 60-minute sewing therapy for today. :o)

My sister-in-law from California brought me some beautiful Asian fabric FQs from a shop she discovered on a needlepoint search with a friend - The Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria, CA. She picked out the selection with my pseudo-niece Sarah; they were visiting through yesterday. What a wonderful gift. I just love the prints! Now the "hunt" is on to find the best pattern to showcase them!

There is a very pretty quilt in the "Quilts from the Quiltmakers Gift" book (the Flying Birds pattern) that uses Asian prints, but I'm also interested in making something with circles... I should scan the fabrics into EQ5.

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend! Sew happy!

3-D Pinwheel Quilt Variation: Pinwheels in Boxes

2009-03-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a completed 3-D pinwheel baby quilt. I call it "Pinwheels in Boxes." It's using the same pinwheel technique in the 3-D pinwheel pattern, but I wanted to do a different setting with these fabrics from the Bees Knees line from Maywood Studio. The backing is actually from a different fabric line, but the colors look great together, and I wanted something trendy and fun as the backing. I have a couple of extra blocks left over, so may do another quilt. The blocks with the box border measure 11", and with an outer border of 2.5" the quilt measures 38" square. Perfect for babies to snuggle under.

I began prep work for the baby boy memory quilt. Interfacing has been ironed on the jersey knits, and ready to be rotary cut into squares. That will have to wait, though, as I cut out my siggy blocks for the block exchange on Cootie Bug 2's blog.

The 3" of snow that fell overnight is slowly melting away. It will be gone tomorrow. My poor little tete-a-tete daffodils were drooping almost into the ground this morning, so they will be glad the snow will be gone too!

Another Baby Quilt Idea - Going Green and Memorable

2009-03-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of a baby keepsake (or "Onesie") quilt my cousin made for a friend. It's so cute! She used little onsies and outfits cut into simple squares to make this wonderful little baby quilt. On the back are two of the baby outfits that are tacked and sewn on after the quilting is done. I am making my own samples and will start to offer this as a service on Gypsy Hill Quilts. The cost will be based on the number of outfits provided, similar to T-shirt quilts. Most people just get rid of the outfits when their baby grows out of them, but this is a great and fun way to memorialize the early years.

I have some fun boy outfits for the first sample (see below). The quilt shown is based on simple 9-patch blocks alternating with solid (or light print) blocks. I don't recall the size of blocks my cousin made, but if you used 6" blocks, your quilt would measure 30" x 30". Great size for a wall hanging.

Of course I also like to play around with EQ5, and here is an example so you'll have an idea about the construction if you want to make one yourself. The fabric in the outfits you have would dictate the color scheme...I just threw this together to see what it would look like.

The fabrics, if jersey knit (like a t-shirt) are best stablized with an iron-on interfacing before cutting out the squares. This will keep your pieces from stretching as they are sewn together. Use one yard of a cozy flannel for the back. You could be really creative and use receiving blankets since they are usually flannel. Since these quilts would typically be decorative rather than used as a quilt, a batting like Warm & Natural will hold it's shape if the quilt will be hung on the wall. And, it's easy to machine quilt with straight lines.

I'll try to post new photos as the samples progress. For now, here is the clothing I am starting with. I love the little car and surfboard onsie. The turtleneck is little cars and trucks. So fun!

I have a lot of other projects on the table, I really need to get motivated. I have my siggys to cut out and sew, and a 3-D pinwheel to finish. It's raining - wait - actually SNOWING here in Spanaway, so sewing is a good way to spend the rest of the weekend.

Hope you have projects to keep you motivated! Happy sewing!

Free 3-D Baby Quilt Pattern from GHQS

2009-03-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about making some new baby quilts this week, and just received a great shipment of fun frog fabrics. Aha! (Try saying that 5 times fast!) I have 2 friends to make quilts for this year. One (who is really my boss) is due to have a baby girl in April, and my other friend is due in September.

I made a very cute 3D baby quilt last year for my neice's baby, and it turned out great! If you're looking to try a new techinique, I put together this free pattern and you can give it a try. Please note that this is not a technique I created, I'm not sure who came up with the 3-D technique but it is fun.

Be sure that you read the instructions carefully before you start. I had trouble at first with the technique, but after my first block, the rest sewed up very quickly, and I was done the quilt top in about 2 hours! Talk about a fast project.

You can use any focus fabric you like, or think about using 1930 repro prints. I tend to have a lot of novelty and baby fabrics around.

I will also post a link to this pattern on the right side of my blog. For now, here it is:

3-D Pinwheel Baby Quilt

Enjoy making this, and if you do, send me a comment on how you liked the pattern!

Happy sewing!

Mini Quilt Tops from My Past

2009-03-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

I found lost images of some of the scrappy mini quilts I did a few years ago, based on antique doll quilts.

Unfortunately these were my eBay photos so I can't enlarge them. I no longer have the original files.

These tops were all sold on eBay. They didn't sell for much, but I hope that the people who won them are enjoying them. After finding these images, I want to set up some time to make a few more this year for my own home. I'll post another blog showing my completed quilts that I have hanging around the house.

Here's a few more of the mini quilt tops. Most of these measured under 20" and even smaller - the hexagon quilt top was probably less than 8" x 12".

Enjoy!

Sunday Quiltin'

2009-02-22T15:42:00.001-08:00

Oh sweet sunny Sunday! I was able to start the quilting machine up early today and get some quilting done. My aunt Jean sends baby quilts to me for quilting, and I worked on two of them this morning. She is so creative! I also found a wayward quilt project from many years ago that had some minimal hand quilting to hold it together. I went ahead and finished it on the longarm.

I visited my friend Laura today and we were chatting about Cootie Bug's Siggy Block swap. I haven't picked out my fabric selections, but Laura has some great ideas for hers. We also talked about mini quilts, so I am posting two pics of unfinished minis I have hanging around. I think I'll add another border to the black and Asian fabric one. The scrappy sampler has been hanging around for a couple of years - I used to sell a lot of mini quilt tops on eBay, and this one was made during that time. It doesn't hang straight, so I kept it...I see that every time I look at it.

The Asian quilt measures 12" x 16", and the scrappy measures 9" x 12". Both were made from leftovers from other projects.

Maybe I will make more little quilts this year once I've finished these two. The ones I've made in the past were based on antique doll quilts, but unfortunately I don't have photos of those anymore.

Laura is having spaghetti for dinner, which sounds terrific, but my hubby is craving something spicy, so I see chicken-filled tortillas in my future. I better thaw out the chicken then!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Pieced Backings - Fun!

2009-02-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

I just saw a neat backing by Bonnie on Quiltville's blog, and decided that is what I want to do for my version of a split nine patch (one of my UFOs in my To-Do bin). After pulling the top out, I am going to use the red prints you see to make scrappy borders. The quilt needs to be larger as I want it to fit on our queen bed.

Any left over reds will go onto the back. Another idea I have is to actually make a large version of 4 split nine patches for a center - maybe done in creams - so there is a design on the back. I really like how the pieced backings give the quilts a little more surprise.

In Bonnie's backing example (Quiltville) she used up many scraps (7 yards worth!). I don't have that many reds so will go buy some more - Just for fun! Here are examples for backing (think varied reds). The 4 centered blocks measure 18" x 18" (see block on the right) - so they can be easily divided by 3. Making the outer borders 22" each side will yield a backing thats 80" x 80". Not quite large enough, so I will play around with the sizes.

I have made notes and put my top back in it's project bag for now. I have some prep to do for a small quilting meeting this Friday, so while inspired, my big top will have to wait a week or two for it's backing.

Hope you are happy quilting out there!

Ack! Ack! As Bill the Cat would say (Otherwise titled: Messy Room!)

2009-01-27T19:44:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have to be honest. I have fallen off the tidy wagon. (Well, at least it wasn't the tidy bowl!)

I have recently taken several books off my bookshelf to look for quilt patterns and new projects. Hm, looking at all those quilts was inspiring. I have laid out fabric in several spots (which my hubby calls "horizontal surfaces"- counter, floor and table) to contemplate how they might look in those several inspiring quilt patterns, and I have started piecing some binding and left the strips out unfinished (the goal was so that I could apply the binding to quilts in the To-Do bin). I have a pin cushion out of place. My rotary cutter is on the kitchen table. I have been bad.

I have not returned the books and fabric and binding and miscellania to their respective homes. I came home from my corporate job tonight to a messy house! My fault! Ack!

Okay, so this is blog therapy. Just letting the world know I fell off the wagon has been helpful. I am now motivated to put them all back in their places as soon as I'm done posting. :)

It's quiet on the Gypsy Hill front - January and February are the slowest months for many longarm quilters, but I have a gold, silky, embroidered store-bought comforter on my machine for a customer that wants some quilting done. Store-bought comforters are not an easy task when they have been laundered and the poly batting inside has decided to take up residence in the edges in lumpy communities. But it will look great when I'm done with it. That's a priority task for this coming weekend. I'll post a photo when it's done. I also have 3 baby quilts to quilt and 2 Quilts of Valor quilts to finish up.

I am also finishing up a couple of odd sewing projects. I have to remove some elastic from a waistband for a friend's mom who doesn't sew, hem a pair of my own pants, and fix a broken grommet on hubby's motorcycle vest. Like I said, odd projects.

No real photos for this post, as I wait to recharge my batteries for the camera. Actually, I couldn't bear to take a PHOTO of my mess - that would be entirely too embarrassing.

2009-01-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a shout out to Connie and her blog - she is hosting a Siggy Swap (signature block swap)! I have done block swaps in the past; they are really fun and you get to virtually meet quilters from all over the globe! I think she has a full list (there may not be any openings left to participate) so I have some sewing to do!

Other projects I've been working on are finishing up 4 New York Beauty scrappy blocks (paper-pieced points) and planning the layout. I should also plan to quilt on the top I have had laying around for a couple of years...deciding whether to do more elegant feathering in the background or ?? The left image is kind of what my old wall hanging looks like, the colors aren't right but somewhat close. I am looking for the quilt top so I can post a pic, I'm not sure where I stored it~ The right image is my current project, sans the center and outer pieces:

I must say the tedious sewing is done for the blocks (the points!), so the curved pieces are the easiest to add. I use a pattern from an old Fons & Porter magazine (July/Aug 2004) that was designed by Mabeth Oxenreider. I prefer a wall hanging size because it's a reachable goal if you aren't planning to sew for days in a row. :)

Other neat things: I've recently bought Moda charm squares from Hancocks of Paducah online that were half price...hm... am trying to find some fun charm quilt patterns to use them with!

Easy Scrap Redemption - Sickle Quilt

2009-01-03T08:49:00.001-08:00

I was looking through an older book from my quilting library (Better Homes and Gardens "America's Heritage Quilts", published in 1991) and found a quilt that will be a quick sew called the Sickle Quilt. I added the block and colored a sample quilt in EQ5:

The block is 16", so the quilt with 20 blocks and 2 borders will make a good queen size quilt (the inner border is 4" and the outer is 6"). I have a great old shirting print that I plan on using for the large light triangles, and a cheddar gold to use for the small light squares in the four-patch blocks. The rest - I will use black or indigo scraps and random others.

I've also added the Streak of Lightening quilt to the Deliverance list. I've always wanted to make one in grays and blacks.

I'd better be careful to not make my Deliverance/Redemption list too long! :)

Goals for 2009

2009-01-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

I have been reading a lot of blogs and of course, all the great New Year resolutions and goals that quilters have set for themselves. I'm not usually one to make resolutions, but with a better organized sewing and quilting space, I am now also "organizing" what I have on my plate for 2009.

First thing you'll likely notice is that I've changed the look of my blog. I didn't really like the standard green template I had first chosen - so maybe this one will be okay...that is, until I think I can alter it. At least I don't lose the previous posts! LOL. I'd really like something with gypsies and shoes... Check out these adorable glass "gypsy" shoes my friend Laura gave me:

Second is that I've added my Scrap Deliverance list in the sidebar. "Scrap Deliverance" is an idea that Debby Kratovil shares on her Quilting Lessons website for using up scraps. While I've just neatly stacked my scrap stash, there are several quilts I've wanted to make and the list here are the ones I'd like to get a head start on. Maybe mine should be "Scrap Redemption." Redeem those homeless waifs and put them into a loved quilt!

A few aims I will strive toward: finishing UFOs before starting new projects, donating 10-12 quilts to South Sound Project Linus, keeping my quilting space tidy, my quilting machine clean and oiled, and updating my blog on a regular basis!

Here's a UFO from 15 years ago, which I started in Germany and had done the basting and just a tiny bit of handquilting. I actually finished quilting it on the longarm, after an internal debate on keeping the original intent, but I no longer care for the colors much, so this is going to be a cuddley quilt for the couch:

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, but I originally marked hand-quilting designs on the pink in pencil, and a cable design maybe in ink on the borders. This was before I really new better. Hopefully Sew Clean will come to the rescue.

Happy New Year!

What I Did on My Winter Vacation

2008-12-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so winter has really just officially begun, but with my non-quilting job, I was able to take 10 days off over the holidays, and I have been busy!

I have enjoyed my free time, and I hope you have been able to do so too. I have not had so much vacation time at this time of year for over 9 years, so I was very excited to focus on my sewing and quilting. This is what I have accomplished in the past 5 days:

1) labeled 4 finished quilts to donate to Project Linus
2) made 2 I-spy quilt tops to donate to Project Linus, and made kits for several more to sew in the coming days
3) pieced, quilted and finished 2 lap-size quilts and 1 queen-size quilt for holiday gifts, using ONLY my stash, no new fabrics! (2 shown here)
4) finished a UFO top (queen size quilt started in spring 2008)
5) organized my sewing and quilting spaces (with help from my very organized neighbor, who is NOT a quilter)
6) had track lighting installed over my quilting machine to give me more working hours in winter!

I have also been blessed to spend time with my family and friends. I hope you have been able to enjoy the season, and sneak in sewing time. I am almost dreading returning to corporate work in January!

Happy holidays and a safe New Year wish to everyone. !!

Holiday Crafting - Post #1

2008-11-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I mentioned I would post some of my favorite ideas for quick and easy (my favorite word) holiday gift ideas! I will post a couple of entries in the next couple of days to share them with you.

To start off with, if you're a quilter, there are easy quilt patterns such as the Atkinson Designs pattern "Yellow Brick Road" or their book "Take Two and Add a Few". Many of these patterns can be made in a day or a few hours (I have these on my website for sale if interested).

Or, how about small purse or bag patterns such as those by Lazy Girl Designs? They typically use fat quarters or scraps and sew up quickly. Their website has a wonderful blog with lots of ideas, tips and techiques.

Maybe a small "Gadget Pouch"? Check out youcanmakethis.com - they have this cute pattern for sale (you simply purchase the pattern and get it as a pdf file). Neat!

Along the same line, I really love another small felt pouch - instructions are free, photos are great, and you can see it here! I am planning on making a few of these myself - you can customize the embroidery or applique to fit your style (or your gift recipient's)!

I am also setting time aside this fall to work on some of my own projects. I hope you are able to do the same!

Cute Gift to Make for Your Dog Friends

2008-10-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's getting chilly in the mornings now that October is half over. My dog Sandy doesn't like to stay outside when the temp drops - this morning the thermometer read 33 degrees. Brrr!

Dog clothing is expensive to buy, and I didn't really see anything I liked after surfing the internet, so I decided to make her a wrap of some type to keep her body warm. I looked for free patterns, and voila! I found the cute and easy pattern to make the vest you see.

I found the pattern at http://www.sewing.circleofcrafters.com/ and the instructions for completing the vest.

The pattern is provided in different sizes for small dogs - for Sandy I had to adjust the pattern to get it to fit her. But after I had enlarged the pattern, it was super quick to sew up.

I measured the chest and the length of her back, and drew a pattern out on freezer paper. I had to do this a few times to get the pattern to fit properly (draw, cut out the paper pattern, see if it would fit) so it wasn't a quick 15 minute project at first. You can also have the pattern re-sized at a copy shop but I didn't want to drive somewhere to do that. Now that I've made one, I am looking forward to sewing up more of them for her.

I used a quilted scrap of muslin that I was practicing pantograph designs on for the lining, and used a funky batik. The vest is reversable, which is really neat.

If you have friends or family that have smaller dogs, this may be a super cute gift idea. You can use fleece or flannel or cotton - after you make one you'll want to make more. I know I can use all the holiday gift ideas and tips I get these days.

I'll post more gift ideas in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

2008-10-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

We all feel good when we help others. Many of us don't have much free time to volunteer, but I try to quilt for a few volunteer groups when I can. I also contribute to Project Linus and Quilts of Valor several times a year.

If you want a new take on this volunteering thing, a couple of us from our local quilting group (the Obsessive Compulsive Quilters in Graham, WA) have decided to donate small quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. People can make small quilts or postcards and send them in to be auctioned off. The winning donations go straight to Alzheimer research.

The most current quilt auction started today and runs through October 10. You won't see any of our quilt group quilts there just yet...we are still working on submissions (you can see my ladybug quilt on the home page of my website). But if you think you might want to make a little quilt for a good cause, try out a new technique on one, or are curious about the initiative, you may just want to check out the auction. You don't have to be an expert quilt goddess to send in a quilt. Click on the You Can Help link to see more information.

Have fun if you decide to try it! Let me know if you do!

Calculating Fabric for Your Projects

2008-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

I play around a lot with my EQ5 software program, making new quilt patterns and scanning in my own fabrics. But I have to be careful and watch my time - it is so much fun I lose track of other important things, like dinner. LOL

My friend Laura and I have set two tasks for ourselves - 1) using 23 Diawabo fat quarters each to make a quilt and 2) using a variety of Mary Englebreit fabrics Laura found at Goodwill (in varying sizes, no less) to make star quilts. While I use EQ5 to give some fabric guidance, it isn't perfect and it doesn't take scraps or fat quarters into consideration. Have you ever wondered how to calculate what you can actually cut from a fat quarter?

There is a great fabric calculator available online at http://vrya.net/quilt/index.php. What's cool about this calculator is that it allows you to calculate fabric based on either the finished size of squares, rectangles, and triangles or on the cut dimensions. Try it using fat quarter width of 22". Too cool!

I also use Microsoft excel to graph out cutting guidelines. You can make a graph by setting your column width at "2" and the row height at "12.75" - you will have a graph on a 1 x 1 grid. Then, play around with the border options to outline your pieces - like so:

Odd size squares I just outline at the next full inch line...

I hope these tips come in handy for you sometime. Wish me luck on these projects!

Hello Friends!

2008-09-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

I have added blogging to my non-corporate, off-hours of my day! My aim is to use my blog to share tips, ideas, and other happenings at Gypsy Hill Quilt Studio. I won't share anything too personal, I promise!

So what's new? I'm busy quilting, of course! :) I have an upcoming feathered star class I'm teaching at the Front Porch Quilts (Graham, WA) on October 4 - a lot to prep for. The Front Porch just had it's first anniversary and is a light and bright place - I love stopping in there.

Today Chris's quilt is on the machine. I love all those Mary Englebreit fabrics. The quilting design is based on the cute little flowers in the fabrics.

Note: if you have holiday quilt projects planned and need to have them quilted, please let me know as soon as possible...I am booked now 6 weeks out!

Joyce stopped by to pick up her cute Loralie shoppers quilt - it was quilted with shoes and cocktail glasses. What a wonderful backing - the quilt turned out great!

If you have to spend time on a quilt, why not add a bit of surprise while you're at it?! LOL