Fun Pillows in Pink

This is what I do when someone gives me lots of fabric and free reign. Thought you'd like to see them. I may not have them in this order-- still learning how to post pictures, but here goes:

Chenille by the Inch, by FabriCafe. It's so easy.
Raw Edge Applique, another easy method. I used SoftFuse.
The little log cabin is a mini-replica of the quilt. I even scalloped the edges.
The pillow is a digitized pattern by Tanya Del Togno Armanasco, Portland, Oregon, Quilt Savvy.
The quilt is called "Charming Log Cabin", and as you can see, is simple as pie. The top and bottom borders are waved with bias binding applied to the back, which will finish to the front.

Enjoy, and thanks for looking.

Next Stage of 30's Quilt

The inner top is finished. Now on to the borders. I'm deliberating about a picket fence, or hopscotch, or checkerboard, or ribbon. Lots of options...

A Fall Block Exchange

Here they are finally. I finished all my blocks to fill in and enhance the look of fall and those magnificent colors. The captions on the pictures show credit for the blocks. More to come as I add setting triangles and borders and other items to make a Harvest Moon fall quilt.

1930's Fabrics

I participated in a block exchange this year and these are the blocks I received. I added two of my own and set them according to color. I took a charm pack of 30's fabrics and made blender blocks and set them all on point. The next step is to add sashing between all the blocks as well as setting triangles. Stay tuned for further details. . . Just thought you'd like to see one of my UFOs. (UnFinishedObjects)

Charming Log Cabin

This is an example of what I like to do with my computerized quilting machine. I loved this fabric and quickly digitized some of the flora in the large print! I made it into an E2E and it looks elegant. Tell me what you think.

Wholecloth - The First

This is not a quilt for show. I learned a lot by making this one and I'm already designing the next one. A Wholecloth quilt seems easy--no piecing! Just take a couple of yards of very wide fabric for the top and the bottom, insert batting, and quilt it. Right? NOOoooooooo! You must plan how you are going to quilt it. You start at the top and quilt down to the bottom, or start in the middle and quilt out to the sides, then roll back to the top, then to the bottom. You quilt the top, the center medallion, then the bottom, leaving the center sides for last so you can distribute the designs evenly in the middle. There's more than one way to quilt a Wholecloth! If you've never done one, just jump in and try it. You can't go wrong! This one needs more quilting in the bubble spots, but I'm calling it done. I love the Battenburg Lace around the edges. I pinned the lace sleeve caps to the top of the quilt, stitched in the outer wide lace, then trimmed top excess. I trimmed away the excess quilt from underneath also. The batting edge shows, but not from the top. It isn't a very pretty finishing underneath, but it's lovely from the front. Be sure to quilt evenly all over. You can see from my pictures what happens after it's washed and dried--lots of empty spaces that need quilting. For today, it's my first. Remember Kindergarten? We all started somewhere.



Wholecloth

Ever wanted to make a quilt in a hurry?

I attempted to make a quick quilt today. Maybe it was the pattern I chose, or maybe I just didn't have the right fabrics, or it could be I'm not the agile young sewer I used to be, but it took me a couple of hours to produce just the top. I get sidetracked very easily and other household duties call on Saturday. Besides I have been working on a quilt for a wedding present and it's not finished yet.

Here are some pictures of what I did. I started with 9 fat quarters, trimmed them to 17 inch squares, the largest square I could get out of them. Cut the squares into four smaller squares that turned out to be 8.5 inches. I made four very large nine-patch blocks. Cut them into quaters which yields sixteen 12 1/4 inch blocks. I chose to use only twelve so that it would fit the width of fabric for backing. I cut the leftovers into 2 3/4 inch strips and used them for a scrappy border. I had to cut two more strips out of another fat quarter.

It's pretty wild because I just dipped into my stash and did the best I could. Next week I'll put it on the machine and quilt it. More pictures later. . .


I'm editing here. I finally finished this project. It took me five days to fit it in. Total time was probably under 4 hours. If I had left enough backing, I would have just turned it to the front for binding. I spent a while cutting, piecing, pressing/folding, and attaching the binding with my DSM. For a quick kid's quilt, it's much sturdier and will last longer than hand finishing. Quicker too!

If you have the need for a quick project, this would be a good one. You could do it in a day with no problem, and probably half a day if everything is at hand. More pictures at Webshots.



Quickie Quilt

Lazy Days of August Shop Hop

With six shops to visit we started in Eugene at Piece By Piece Quilt Shop, and worked our way up the Valley ending at the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego. Each shop had a mystery item to find, a sort of fruit either real, picture, fabric, etc. After finding the item, we received a stamp in our passport and a pattern for a block in the Indian Summer quilt, designed by Karen Stephens at the Speckled Hen Quilt Shop in Wilsonville. Thimbles and Thread in Junction City had a darling fall version of the quilt on display. Greenbaums in Salem made a table runner out of the nine-patch and snowball blocks, and Karen's completed quilt hung at the Speckled Hen. The Pine Needle displayed a pillow made from the center block. Grandma's Attic in Dallas gave us the friendship block in a plastic pattern bag to keep all the pieces. The quilt consists of five different blocks and Karen gave the sheet with assembly instructions. I noticed that Piece by Piece had colored patterns to give out; all the rest are in black and white. That means we have to come up with our own colorway. I don't know when I'll get to this one. It is very simple, great for beginners, and it shouldn't take very long to put together. The weather was nice and cool, a little sprinkle of rain early this morning on the way to Eugene, but the rest of the day was cloudy. Traffic was a mess in Portland from 4:00 on. We skirted around and after taking cousin Patty home, we arrived home in time to go for a bike ride around Dundee. After riding in the car all day, only to get out six times, it felt good to get a little exercise before retiring to the sewing room for the evening.

July Fry--sizzling hot and lovely quilts

What do you think of this patriotic quilt? It's Michelle Christiansen's Star Crazy pattern. The quilting is called Ripples by Kay Oft, Mountain Top Quilting. It's sort of a stack and whack, then shuffle the pieces. Check with Speckled Hen Quilts in Wilsonville, Oregon. Karen Stephens is the owner and Michelle has taught classes there.

Hot and Sunny in Sisters 2009

People were plentiful, the sun was glorious, sales were down, but it was a lovely second Saturday in July, 2009. You just can't help being on cloud nine to visit such a quaint little Central Oregon town in the middle of July and see all those quilts flapping in the breeze. My hat's off to the organizers and sponsers and volunteers who put on this show ever year. This was my first year to enter quilts in the SOQS, and since the economy was not in our favor, sales were the lowest they have ever been. Emerald Quilts, a consignment shop next to the Stitchin Post, sells quilts and it was a pleasure to meet Barbara. If you ever travel through Sisters, stop in and browse her inventory. You'll find some great treasures reasonably priced. Some of the profit from her sales goes to fund the SOQS. Pictures from top to bottom: Main Street Sisters, Becky's Kings Golden Highway, Patty's X-Blocks, my Coffee Cats, and Anna's Ribbons and Bows. SOQS arranged the quilts according to color and setting that complimented the colors. I thought it was a beautiful display all over town. Impressive!

I've been playing . . .

It isn't often that we get to work on our own projects. I had some free time between clients and decided to pull out one of my PHD's. This is a black sweatshirt I cut apart last winter, intending to make into a jacket. I began with the back and found that I had the makings for a Fire and Ice jacket. The back is my favorite Sun Face, the sleeves have water waves and snow flakes. The front began as a tropical theme, using an applique I made last year for MQS, and freehanding some feathery leafy designs. I think it needs crystals, don't you agree? Well, now I'm busy again and have to put it away to finish later. I also started this little cat panel. I wanted to thread paint it, but decided to make a sampler out of it. I began with Darlene Epp's little books and tried something different in each bubble. Now I'm working on the background. The nose and necklace are actually popping out from the dense quilting. Of course I intended for it to be that way (smiley face).

Buck a Block Quilt Finished

I stitched in the ditch around all the flanges, beadboard in the border, all by hand and ruler. The swirls are actually two digitized patterns I did which overlap and form a lattice over all. I'm sorry the back doesn't show as well. Even the cranapple color thread doesn't show very much on the top. Patty chose striped fabric cut on the bias for binding. It was a sunny day and the grass was dry and inviting. Couldn't resist using it for a backdrop for pictures.

New Quilts in the process...

This is one of Anna's quilts that I just finished. She pieced the top in her own original design. The E2E and outer border is a design called Daisy Days by Kay Oft, Mountain Top Quilting. The inner border is one I did myself. It has elements from the fabric and makes a nice division between the inner and outer quilt. The batting is Quilter's Dream Wool and feels so nice and light, but has the warmth of wool. The backing is a fine batik and the thread is 100% cotton Signature. Bury threads, finish binding and it's done.

And MORE Spring Cleaning

The first two are Lisa's shop sample, the next one is Linda's, next is Patty's, and the last one is Debbie's.

A couple of years ago there was a quilt shop in Carlton, Oregon called Late Bloomers. The shop sold to Lisa White and she changed the name to The Quilt Nest. Eventually she moved the shop to her home and phased it out. I purchased four sets of her Buck a Block quilt kits and passed them around to my cousin, and my two daughters, keeping one for myself.
Since then I have had two customers bring me tops that were from the same project. SO, eventually I will have the pleasure of quilting SIX of these beauties, besides the shop sample for Lisa when she was still in the Carlton brick and mortar. I'm posting pictures of the various versions, and the two that are already quilted. Talk about spring cleaning, someone has been busy! Patty's and Debbie's are in queue, mine is still in the block stage, and as far as I know, my daughters have not started theirs yet. And so spring cleaning goes on. . .

Spring Cleaning

With spring comes joy in my heart that I can't explain. All the daffodils and tulips bursting into bloom along with the cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, plum trees, viburnum, and it continues like there is no end.

I think my quilting tasks are just as prolific as the bulbs in my garden. I've had several tops in queue all winter waiting for quilting, and as I looked through my album, I thought I'd share a few with you. Click on the picture to see the original size and a closer look.


This is a Dick and Jane child's quilt. I did a custom border which has beach balls and stars. The circular patches are hand appliqued and finished with a blanket stitch; SID and echoed circles around the applique, and bump/dips in the center squares. A beach ball covers the other triangular blocks. A very old fashioned look for a new quilt.
You must click this picture to see the quilting up close. I placed a flowering cherry tree in six places and filled in with a peaceful river. The fabrics are asian and the quilting echos the cherry blossoms in the fabric.

This black and white quilt is 120 inches square and has hot pink minky for the backing. I used a special technique to prevent wrinkles and excess stretching in the minky and it turned out beautifully.
This blue/peach/white quilt is made from reproduction fabrics and quilted with a simple square feathered wreath and feather border. A charming quilt.

If you have any questions, just ask. Thank you for visiting my blog.

A Kaleidoscope of Kolor

Finished! I'm excited that this piece is finished and will be showing in the booth. It's too large for the show, but you want to see it close-up and see all the motifs and designs I used. Here is a link to my Flickr small album. Enjoy!

Gearing up for Oregon Garden Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show

Just two more weeks and we'll be feasting our eyes on the best 'eye-candy' you can imagine. Just think--it's winter! and we get to think "Spring" at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. My booth will have a few quilts for sale, a few fun wall hangings, and a special exhibit of innovative quilting in my Kaleidoscope quilt. My cousin Patty and I will have available the X-Blocks template and the new Square-in-a-Square template for demonstrations through out the day. My daughter, Becky Hafer, is supplying me with lots of Kutter Keepers and Knitting Stitch Keepers as well as her quilt patterns from Becky's Bouquet of Quilts. I hear there is a great luncheon planned and an enjoyable day for all. If you want more information go to their website at www.oregongarden.org, or beckysbouquet.com.

I hope to see you there.