Spring Stars Quilt

I bought the fabric for this quilt (with the exception of the white background fabric) as a quilt kit, but I didn't like the pattern. There was NO background fabric! It just didn't show off these great prints. They remind me of spring and should just be allowed to shine. The fabric is Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry. I just decided to add some background fabric and whipped up a bunch of stars. This is the first quilt I have finished that I made without using a pattern. Figuring out the math to make sure I had enough fabric was much harder than I thought! Kudos to all of those pattern designers out there! It's a lot of work!

I am thrilled with the way this quilt turned out! It currently resides in my family room on the quilt ladder so I can see it every day. I think it will eventually become my daughter's quilt as these are her favorite colors.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you check out all the fabulous quilts at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Friday Finish ~ Hexagon Chateau

This quilt has actually been done for several months, and I just took a picture. Yeah, I'm good at procrastinating.

Last August I went on the annual quilt retreat with my quilt group, and we, of course, went shopping while we were away. I loved the Chateau Rouge jelly roll (French General). So pretty! Well I wasn't going to get it until one of the ladies found this pattern, Hexagon Garden ~ Just one jelly roll pattern by the Quilt Room.

We sewed our strips and cut our triangles, and some of the ladies even got their tops assembled. I didn't get my top assembled until I got home. I quilted it (not well, I might add), sewed the binding on with my machine, and then stuck it in a bag. I wanted it ready to go for our annual drive to my parents for Thanksgiving. It gets cold driving north, and it's even worse since my husband insists on driving with the air conditioner on, even when we get to the point where there is snow on the ground. It helps him stay awake.

It was nice having a quilt to do the hand stitching on the binding while driving north with my family. I think that's the warmest I have ever been on that drive! It was nice! I will be doing that again, hopefully, every time we drive north.

I love this quilt so much, in spite of my lack of quilting skills, that it sits on the back of a chair in my living room. I made it for a chair in my bedroom, but it's not going to make it there for a while. :)

My husband just looked at this post and told me that I had far too much to say about a blanket. Here's what he thinks I should have said: "Here's my blanket. It's red and I took a picture of it laying on the grass. It's cute."

This guy makes me laugh!

W.I.P. Wednesday ~ January 9, 2013

Wow! It has been a while since I posted. I have since finished two quilts. Start to finish. And, no, I haven't taken pictures yet. What's up with that? I'm usually super excited to take pictures of finished projects. 

The above little blocks are for Madeline, one of the many great Schnibbles patterns by Carrie Nelson. The top is actually all pieced together now, but not quilted yet. I have to say, I love the mini quilt! It's definitely good when you need a little instant gratification. Hopefully, I can get this little beauty quilted soon.

Next Project

Now that my Halloween quilt is all but finished, it is time to start thinking about my next project. 

As soon as I saw Little Black Dress, I knew I had to make a quilt from this line! So pretty!

The pattern is Marigolds by Fig Tree & Co. I think these two will pair up nicely. Don't you?

Can't wait to get started!

W.I.P. - August 8, 2012

Here is a glimpse of my Halloween quilt. The top is all put together, and I love it! However, it is smaller than what I want, so I am debating what to do. Add borders? Add more rows? I don't know. I will show the top once I figure out what I am doing.

The fabric is Happy H"owl"-o-ween by Deb Strain for Moda.

W.I.P. Wednesday ~ Week 1

I am going to try something new. Every Wednesday I am going to blog about a project I have been working on in hopes that I can finish up some UFO's. I don't like UFO's. They nag at me to finish them. Unfortunately, I am easily distracted by pretty new fabrics.

I am currently working on a Halloween quilt. Yes, I know, it is a little early to be working on a Halloween quilt, especially with a Patriotic quilt sitting on the shelf staring at me and begging to be finished. I am hoping to have the squares all trimmed and a few rows sewn together by the end of the week on this Halloween quilt.

Quilt for Abuela - Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I love the Bloggers' Quilt Festival! I really look forward to seeing all of the beautiful quilts.

The quilt I have chosen to show is a quilt I made for my husband's grandmother. He doesn't get to see her often as she lives in a different country on a different continent, but they remain very close and he calls her every week just to chat. When he does get to see her, he always wants a special gift to give her. This time he asked for a quilt. How could I refuse?

The pattern is Diamond Diva by Heather Mulder Peterson. The fabric is Eden by Lila Tueller. I managed to find some at a local quilt shop that was having a moving sale. It was perfect for this quilt because it has all of his grandmother's favorite colors. The small dark diamonds are actually a marbled dark purple and match certain fabrics in the quilt beautifully. Unfortunately the lighting isn't good because, the picture was taken at 1am when the binding was finished so it could be packed in a suitcase and taken to Abuela at 6am.

Quilt for Abuela

Last summer my husband started making plans to go visit his Grandmother. When he started making his plans, he requested that I make her a quilt. The only information he gave me is he wanted it to be her favorite colors: pink and purple. I picked up this fabric at a local quilt shop that was having a moving sale. It is Eden by Lila Tueller for Moda. The pattern is Diamond Diva by Heather Mulder Peterson. I love her patterns. I originally picked up this pattern to make a quilt for my family room (which I haven't done yet). This pattern was so easy to piece and went together nicely. While this quilt isn't done in colors I would choose for myself, I am very happy with the results. I will be using this pattern for my family room quilt.

In other news, I picked up some beautiful Christmas fabric today that will match my family room perfectly.

Mini Quilt Challenge

As I was browsing through the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, enjoying all the quilty goodness, I came across Amylouwho and her Mini Quilt Challenge. I totally relate to the not quilting as often as I would like because it takes too long to complete a big quilt. I now have to figure out what I am going to make!

What are you making?

Patriotic Table Topper

I love the Bloggers' Quilt Festival! It's so fun to see what everyone is making.

This year, my favorite quilt is actually a table topper. I love this block and thought it would make a fun patriotic table topper. It turned out so much better than I thought would! I made a few mistakes when calculating the border, and I am OK with that. It is a lesson I won't forget any time soon!

I machine quilted this topper. I don't love machine quilting on my machine, but I like to hand quilt even less. There are a variety of fabrics in this quilt, some from my stash and some fat quarters I picked up over the summer. Overall, I am happy with the results, and I definitely learned something in the process.

Quilting on the Rim - Quilt Retreat

 Last weekend I spent a delightful weekend at Quilting on the Rim in Linden, AZ. Pictured below is the charming house we stayed in. Barbara is a delightful hostess and an excellent cook. All of the food was absolutely delicious! Fortunately, she is working on a cookbook. I can't wait to get my hands on that!

 Here are a couple of projects that some of the other ladies were working on. There were six people in our group and I failed to get a group photo. Boo!

This was one of Sue's many projects. She is a speed demon on her machine. I think she probably accomplished more than anyone at this retreat!

Kathy is another speedy one. She put together 29 blocks from a Block of the Week program she signed up for! This quilt top is for her guest room, and absolutely perfect for the space. Can't wait to see this one finished and in its new room!

This is my daughter's Christmas quilt. At least it will be, once I get it quilted. I precut all of my fabric and sewed the entire top at the retreat. This quilt will go on her bed at Christmas time. The fabrics are The Caroler by Mary Engelbreit for Moda. I bought the fabric a couple of years ago, and life got in the way. Now that the top is done, I am sure my daughter will be getting this for Christmas this year.

It really was a great weekend, productive and fun! And to top it all off, we booked our weekend for next year while we were there!

Snowman Quilt - Finished!

I loved this quilt when I finished piecing it, but life got in the way (new house, new baby) before I could get it quilted. I finished the top over a year ago and just got it quilted a few weeks before Christmas. I got to quilt this myself at my friend's house. It was so much fun!

The back didn't come out quite like I planned, but I still like it. I had planned for the pieced part to end in colors other than red, but I didn't do the math quite right. At least I learned something for the future.

The pattern is "Done in a Jiff" by Heartspun Quilts. The fabric is Holly Jolly Snowmen by Kathy Schmitz for Moda. You really must check out Kathy Schmitz's blog! Her chalkboard doodles are so fun! I think I need a chalkboard...

What to do when it's too quiet?

This is the first week of school. I don't like it. With my little-girl-who-isn't-so-little-anymore in Kindergarten, I have found myself counting down the hours until I can go pick her up. This also makes me realize, I like my house full of people and noise (even though the noise part makes me crazy sometimes). At least I have my new little man who will eventually start filling the house with noise and activity. But until then...

I have a few sewing projects I am working on. I am only going to show you one today. The others will make appearances as they are completed.

I am particularly pleased with this BOM I am doing. It's Tonga Nature by Wing and a Prayer Design. This is the first month and I waited to start my block because I was worried that it was way beyond my skill level. To my surprise, this block came together nicely. Future blocks may be more challenging. And the fabrics are bold, beautiful batiks.

Holly Jolly Snowmen Quilt

I just finished this quilt top tonight, and I love it! I love the fabric, Holly Jolly Snowmen by Kathy Schmitz for Moda. The colors are absolutely beautiful and the designs are so fun and happy. This photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful fabric. If you don't already have some of this fabric in your stash, get it while you can!

The quilt pattern is Done in a Jiff by Heartspun Quilts. It wasn't too difficult, and I love the results. I made some mistakes in making this quilt, but I learned some new things that would have made the final result much better. Just new knowledge for the next quilt.

Rag Quilt

No, there's nothing wrong with your computer screen. The blue flannel bled all over everything else. I used color catchers and Retayne. I bought this fabric 8+ years ago at a quilt shop and just never got the blanket finished. Because I bought the fabric at a good quilt shop, I thought everything would be just great when I washed it. Well, I was wrong. Oh well. I'm sure my little guy will use and love it just the same.

My First Foray Into Free Motion Quilting

This was my first foray into free motion quilting. The best thing I can say about it is IT'S DONE! I practiced A LOT before doing it, and I was terrified of doing it. So terrified that I came up with an alternate plan. I was going to quilt a grid pattern, and I did. But I didn't like it. So, I unpicked it and practiced free motion a bit more. I finally got brave enough to just do it. And now it's done. It's not great, but it's not horrible either considering how bad I was when I started practicing.
This is another Moda Bake Shop project. The braid fabric is Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda and the main fabric is Harvest by Timeless Treasures (I previously posted the main fabric was by Northcott. Sorry for the confusion.)

Machine Quilting

My friend Kathy is amazingly talented and I admire so much about her (not just her crafting style, but today's post is about quilting). She is a great decorator, and has the cutest house. She is so creative and is always making the cutest stuff. Just today she showed me the most ADORABLE tote bag she made. The last week has been a real eye opener as to how talented she really is.

This last week I have been trying to teach myself to machine quilt. It is not easy! I ended up buying THIS BOOK and it has been very helpful. It's still not easy. I am making progress, but not as quickly as I would like. It is an understatement to say that I am not patient, but this learning process has highlighted how truly impatient I am.

Kathy on the other hand is so good at machine quilting! I wish I had some pictures of stuff she has quilted so you could see it. I will see if I can get some pictures of her quilting next time I see her.

Quilt Festival - Fall 2009

I am participating in Park City Girl's Fall 2009 Quilt Festival. I love looking at all the beautiful quilts. It's fun to see all the different ways people express their creativity.

I know I already posted about this quilt, but I love it. This is only the second quilt I have made, and I made it for a wedding. I'm still a little sad that I gave it away, but my sister-in-law loves it. And that makes me happy, because she has done something for me that I won't ever be able to repay. She is the one who took care of my only child when I had to return to work after my daughter was born. Not only did she care for her, she loved her. This quilt was beyond my skill level and could not have been completed without the guidance my mother provided. It was quilted by my friend, Kathy.

The quilt pattern is Making History from the magazine Quilt Sampler. The fabric is Gallery in Red by Marcus Brothers.

Finished Quilt

I love this quilt! I am a little sad to be giving it away, but at least it's for someone I adore. I wanted to make a queen size version of this quilt for my bedroom, but after this experience, I'm glad I didn't. It was a lot of hard work and way beyond my skill level (this is only my 2nd quilt). I learned a ton and am grateful for the experience and the help. I couldn't have finished it without my mom, who was instrumental in piecing the top (I did all the cutting and sewing and Mom did all the pinning), and Kathy, who quilted it for me.

The quilt pattern is called Making History and is from the magazine Quilt Sampler Fall/Winter 2008. The fabric is Gallery in Red by Marcus Brothers.

THANKS, MOM!

THANKS, KATHY!
And it only took 45 days start to finish.