I finally cut into one of my favorite fabrics.

It has been sewn into a quilt top, which is languishing in storage.  I may have to send it out to be quilted, because I don't have the time, and my machine is not quite right for the job.

I found Thimbleberries fabrics to go with it.  They have the warm tones and pleasant colors that coordinate with the forest animals fabric.

 



Contributions to Anna Maria's project

Though the deadline has passed to submit quilt blocks, as I did (my name is somewhere in the last third of the list), there are other ways to still help.  I just wish I could teleport to Nashville somehow to help sew...

www.annamariahorner.com/rainbow.html

Blocks that I sent...

thinking about Monday

Today I am thinking about the things I'd like to accomplish before school starts next week for two kids, and myself in grad school.  Gabriel starts the following week, but I digress...

 Blocks for Anna Maria's project

I need to post pictures of two baby quilts finished, as well as some blocks that I completed for donation to Anna Maria Horner's Rainbow Around the Block project, a quilting effort for flood victims in middle Tennessee.  Anna Maria is collecting blocks and/or quilts to complete for distribution to those who have lost their homes due to flooding.  I heart her.

baby quilt from last summer

I found the pictures that my husband's cousin emailed back in February 2010--the quilt was made in spring 2009 for DH's cousin's new baby.

 

This was the first time that I used fabrics all from one line.  Red Rooster's Paisley Party caught my eye when s-i-l and I went to the Minnesota Quilt Show in Duluth.  I first found fat quarters at a shop on the way up (potty stop), and then found more at the show.  I love the colors so much; they remind me of yummy colorful candies.  It's good that I didn't see the other fabrics in the line, because the Paisley part of the Party is just as fun!

 

I used fabric markers to color in this label.  It's from "Make Your Own Quilt Labels!" Volume 4, by Kim Churbuck, whom I got to meet at the quilt show.  She has a bunch of these little books of inspiration for quilt labels--I soooo wished that I had thought of the concept first.  I also wish I'd have seen her booth in the first few hours, not the last 10 min., as I was pretty low on $$ by then, but had enough to buy one of her books.  Thank you Kim, for sharing your talent with all of us!  I will buy more next time I get to a quilt show...

baby quilt for Caelin

I made this quilt for a friend from church and Girl Scouts. It is a scrappy quilt--I did not buy anything new for it, including the batting, which was pieced together from fairly large scraps.

The label is an experiment, as I have never done any embroidery before but would like to start!  The embroidery is free form, my first attempt at some stitches.  Bird was appliqued first and embroidery worked after.  The bird is done broderie perse, I believe it is called, where you cut out an image printed on fabric, and applique it.  It's from a fat quarter a friend bought for me a long time ago, probably 10+ years.  I have never figured out what to do with it, but here's a start.

Baby quilts

Here are two baby quilts. The star quilt has Little Blessings fabric in the centers--cannot get this fabric anymore and that's too bad! I always seem to find a fabric line after it's retired. That quilt was for my cousin's baby, born 2007; I was able to give it to them in March 2008, not too bad. The pinwheel quilt was made from the triangle scraps of the star quilt--even though they were small, I couldn't bear to throw them! I believe the half-square triangles were 2.25 inches finished. That quilt went to it's tiny owner in November 2008.

The backing is scrappy, which is the first time I've ever done that.  Usually I use one big piece or two pieces of fabric.

Quilted Advent Calendar

Here is our family's Advent Calendar. I made another last year for the family of one of our Goddaughters, Anika. The pattern, which I changed a bit, is from Quiltmaker #58, November/December 1997. The inverted triangles under the buttons are little fabric pockets, where the buttons hide until it's time each night to pull one out--the kids have been faithful and attentive to that part!

The hardest part about making this is collecting the buttons! I am a little picky about having to have a star at the top, so not just any buttons will do. Plastic buttons are easier to come by, and less expensive, but you have to pick out the nice ones, like some from Mary Englebreit. Ceramic buttons are nicer, but are harder to come by; good ones are expensive! In the photo you can see the very first ceramic gingerbread boy who started my collection in '97; I found him at The Country Peddler, a fine quilt store that sadly, is no longer around. I just checked my button collection recently, and have enough to make another, but I would have to choose for whom I would make it.

Quilt for my Grandma

Here is a quilt that I made for my Grandma Gwenny, who just turned 87. She has been living in a nursing home/assisted care facility since June. She's not too happy about it, so I had the big idea to make her a quilt, something that might help her know that I think about her every day. It was meant to be more scrappy, but it turned out all right. It had to be an appropriate size, about a lap/throw size, for a few reasons: first, Grandma's not very big in stature; second, it needed to be a quilt that wasn't too big for the bed; third, it needs to be machine-wash size, so that her caregivers can easily clean it, just in case of spills and other senior moments.

The label is from "Make Your Own Quilt Labels!", by Kim Churbuck.  I love her art!

Another Bug Jar Quilt

This Bug Jar quilt was made from "leftover" pieces from the original bug jar quilt (now a baby quilt). A few additions of bug fabric were necessary, but then I got to use some more "cutesy" bug fabrics, which didn't make the cut when the quilt was originally destined for number one son.

The best part of this project, aside from finally calling it done, is that I got my Janome machine out of the deal. I was working on the machine quilting on my old Kenmore from Sears, a gift from DH in 1994, and the timing or something went bad, so it was not catching the bobbin thread and it was not pretty! Not a good thing to happen when you are 3/4 done with the quilting!! So I brought it to the nearby sewing machine shop, and they didn't know what was wrong without sending it away. And I needed to finish it now!! It's a Christmas present! I have two weeks!! DH said that I should think about a new machine, so I looked, and for the $$ the Janome does what I need.

Bug Jar quilt for my cousin's baby

I've been doing a lot of quilting projects lately, not enough blogging. Here's a little something to celebrate.

A few years ago, 4+, I started collecting fabrics for a bug jar quilt, hoping to also learn foundation piecing for the frog, bug, lizard, and other critter in the critter quilt. Alas, the foundation piecing was a bust for me, perhaps to be taken up again in the future. Then, number one son, who was the intended recipient, decided he was too old for the bug jar concept. He wanted Star Wars. And maybe the bug/frog/lizard quilt could be for the new baby coming in our family. Sigh.

So there it sat, for a few years, a completed top, but no more energy on my part. Then, a few months ago, my cousin and his wife found they were expecting, and nicknamed the little one "Baby Bugg". Aha!

With some unsewing, and a bit of restructuring, the quilt was definitely getting somewhere, and soon!

The label is from "Make Your Own Quilt Labels!" from Kim  Churbuck.  I used fabric markers to color it in, after I traced it.

Thanks to my Auntie, who helped deliver the quilt to the new baby. I was hoping to not have to mail the quilt. The young ones, Grandma, and I drove out to SD to visit said Auntie, then she drove out to CO to visit the new grandbaby. Nice when things work out!

Snuggle Under the Sunset

Snuggle Under the Sunset is what I called this one. I usually don't name my quilts, but rather the label states businessy details, such as my name, who it was made for, the year, etc. This quilt was made for a friend's baby. I love the batiks in it. It was a bit hard to give it, but I feel that way about each quilt, and take comfort that someone is curling up in it.

Kokopeli's Night Dance

Quilt I made for my father last Christmas, sort of a Christmas/birthday present combo for his November birthday. Made with batiks and black fabric. The backing is a batik with gold Kokopelis and stars all over a black background.

The pattern was a strip pattern, originally shown in Christmas colors as a wreath.

This quilt has a bamboo batting. That stuff is smooth like a baby's bottom! Talk about soft, it almost seems a waste to put something that nice inside the quilt where you can't really feel it.