Friday, December 1, 2017

After All Those Quilts I Needed A Few Quick Finishes

I'm thrilled to report that all three of the recently gifted baby quilts (for my grandson, for a one year old and for a very special newborn) were received with great enthusiasm in their new homes by the parents if not also the little ones!

With the holiday season upon us, there just isn't time to start any major projects and I have (so far!) resisted the urge to whip up any gifts.  I keep a little basket on my sewing table of "maybe" projects.  I dipped into the "maybe" basket and found eight leaf blocks I made last year .  Voila!  A very long table runner to give to my son and daughter in law to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in their new home.



I quilted this in a leaf motif (of course) and added a little color to the back.

How wonderful (and surprising!) that it perfectly fit their dining room table.  It's almost like I planned it!

And a few of these for the grandson for fun!

That chenille backing is so very soft!!

But I really am itching to start another quilt...

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Finished - River's Quilt

This is the third of the baby quilts I blitzed through in September/October.  Did I mention that my son  married in September?  Gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with myself that I started and finished three quilts during this period!

River is the newborn beautiful baby daughter of another son's college roommate.  Our son and Marty were roommates all through college and we couldn't have been more excited when Marty married beautiful Angie (our son still takes match making credit for that).  And now there is River.  So, of course I had to make a quilt.

You know the fabric, Nightfall by Maureen Cracknell.  So very lovely.  The pattern is a sized up version of the Foxfire quilt. I did a little math to make the center blocks 6.5" so I could keep the owl intact (thank you greycatquilts for that idea!).  It finishes around 54" square.

The backing is a soft bunny fleece.  Why not?

I quilted it with a meander loop pattern in a salmon color.

No kidding, Art Gallery fabrics have the most wonderful feel. Made even softer after a wash.

I quilt a heart into every quilt that I free motion quilt.  These may not be quilt show quilts but they are made and given with lots of love!


Have a lovely day!
Kathy

Friday, November 10, 2017

Finished - Madison's Lattice Quilt

This cutie is the second of three recent finishes for some special little people in my life.  This was Madison's first birthday gift.
The pattern is Amy Smart's Lattice Baby Quit, a free tutorial on her web site, Diary of a Quilter. It's a great use of charm squares and the on-point placement of the blocks makes for a fast and interesting finish.  

This is the third quilt I've made with Amy's pattern. In each case I added a little something to make the quilt unique. In my first year of quilting I made this quilt for a cat lover in the family, adding a border and piecing the back.  A little later I made this baby quilt and added some dancing elephants for fun.  For the current version, I extended the length enough to appliqué the birthday girl's name to the quilt.

It was a wonderful reason to use a charm pack of Aneela Hoey's Posy fabric with a few additional squares from the stash.

The backing is a soft flannel, even softer after washing!

Again, a simple meander quilting just adds to the softness.

Happy Birthday Madison!!


Thursday, November 2, 2017

Finished - I Spy Economy Block Quilt for Grandson

Hello!  It's been a while since my last blog post and I have so much to tell you!  Life has been full and busy but I've managed to fit in some creative time.  I started three quilts a few weeks ago and as they are all in the process of being gifted I will start sharing these with you.
I've been wanting to make an economy block quilt for some time.  As this quilt is for my little grandson I wanted the focus block to be large enough to get his attention.  Using this table by The Littlest Thistle the center blocks are cut at 6.5" resulting in a finished 12" block. 

It took more time to troll my fabric stash for the right combination of colors and fun fussy cut motifs than it did to sew this one up.




The backing is an unbelievably soft minky from Michael Miller.  With simple meander quilting, this is one very soft and cozy quilt!



So, this is my grandson's third quilt from Nana and he is just six months old.  At this rate, how many will he have by the time he is 18 years old?!

Friday, July 28, 2017

Finished - Chic Country Wedding Shower Quilt

I have a list of quilts that I want to make.  Don't we all?  The Chic Country quilt by Sew Kind of Wonderful has been near the top for some time.  I've been waiting for a special reason to make this quilt. Then my son got engaged to lovely Amanda and a wedding shower quilt was just the perfect excuse!


 I enlarged the quilt adding one row to the length and width.  Perfect size for cuddling!
The quick curve ruler is easy (and fun!) to work with.  The primary fabric is Maven by Basic Grey.  

To personalize the quilt I added some special fabrics that would be unique to this couple.  Here's  some delightful Winnie the Pooh fabric for these two Disney fans.



A dog print that sort of looks like one of their dogs.

They both share a love of Star Wars.

And of course my family's Peanuts affection can't be overlooked.

And homage to their six chickens.

The quilt backing is my favorite Carrie Bloomston's News Print fabric.

I wanted the quilt to be very soft so I just stitched in the ditch to emphasize the circular movement.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt.  More importantly the future Mr. &Mrs. love it!

I was SO close to keeping this quilt as the colors would works so well in my home!!

But I love these two so they get to keep the quilt and I will enjoy visiting it!

Friday, June 23, 2017

Hello Lucy!

A hand sewing project has escalated in priority as the summer begins.  Something I can do on the deck or on the beach to keep my hands busy is the goal.  English paper piecing seems to be the perfect technique for portability and there are so many enticing projects it has been a challenge to decide where to begin.  There's beautiful hexagon projects, La Passacaglia Quilt, the Smitten Quilt and so many others.  I've decided to give Lucy Boston a try!

After some research I assembled the needed supplies.
Let's start with fabric selection.  To jump start this adventure, I've gotten quite a bit of support and supplies from Alewives Fabrics' (in Nobleboro, Maine about two and half hours from home) weekly Lucy Boston club.

Then supplies to fussy cut the fabric.  Templates to cut the fabric, mirror, small rotary blade.  I'm hoping that I can get more accurate and faster with this stage.

One of my concerns about EPP is the potential waste of fabric.

Glue basting is brilliant!

Then, there are the supplies for sewing.  Lovely Aurifil 80 weight thread and skinny needles.

After cursing numerous annoying thread tangles, I'm giving this stuff a try.

Phew.  EPP is quite a bit different than my quilting experience to date.  All of the prep work takes a surprising amount of time.  BUT I think I'm hooked!  Stitches are not perfect but using the flat back stitch seems to yield better results.



So stay tuned, in another five years or so I may have a quilt to share with you!

Kathy

Friday, June 2, 2017

A Couple More Book Bags

Hello!  I know the blog's been a little quiet lately.  Life has been wonderfully busy with the weather finally starting to improve here in New Hampshire, the new grand baby distraction (the best kind!), secret sewing and more time exercising!  Recovery from surgery in November has been a very long and slow process.  I finally am feeling enough strength and confidence in the leg to go back to some of my regular fitness activities.  I have joined a local fitness center and have returned to yoga practice!!  Hooray!  So many sore muscles now but it's all good!

A few years ago I made a book bag for my mother-in-law who has used it for many visits to the local library where the bag received compliments from the librarians.  I've been thinking about making a book bag or two to donate to her library in recognition of how great the staff have been to my voracious reader mother-in-law.  Heather Givens latest fabric collection Literary was the obvious choice for these bags!

 I love the stamps and library cards!



On the bookshelf side I embroidered book titles.  Classic book titles for one bag.

Books that probably don't exist (but should!) about South Portland, Maine.

Even the lining has book piles.

I believe the plan is to raffle off the bags for the benefit of the library.  I'm so happy to help!!

I highly recommend this fun pattern by City House Studios.

Kathy




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