Am I Really Early or Really Late?

Okay, I admit I am late in making this Christmas wreath...  but I am really early for Christmas 2012!  I am still on a stash busting bonanza, and needed my feather fix!  I haven't stitched feathers in a week or two.  This was really fun to make and I enjoyed quilting it, too.  I sure hope I can get the binding on within the next 11 months... 

I just linked up to Sarah's blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Check it out!  Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Christmas gifts

I was able to finish these stockings just in time, literally.  I had originally planned on appliquéing an initial on each stocking, but ran out of time, so I stitched their name on the stocking. This was an idea I got from Jenny at Jennys Doodling Needle or Sew Kind of Wonderful. thanks for the idea. Jenny! They were hung on Christmas Eve, and filled with pistachios, peanuts, chocolate, and candy canes.  Grandma and Grandpa (Dean and I) happily helped the babies with their pistachios and peanuts.  What a fun Christmas we had!  All four of our grands were with us yesterday, and we watched Corinne ride her brand new bike, and Devin play with his radio controlled monster truck. 

Santa was really good to me, too!  I received a Canon EOS camera!  I am just beginning to learn all it can do.  It may take me months... I thought this was a beautiful subject.  a close up of the Nandina at my daughter's home.   I love the bright red of these berries.

A New Allover Design - Paisley

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I just discovered this new allover design, paisley, last week on Machine Quilting Resources Forum.  It was posted by Suzanne Earley, the website's founder, a couple years ago.  I love it!  If you stitch it out small, it can be used as a fill, or as I did, larger, as an allover.  It was really fun to do, too. 

It is not really easy to see on this busy fabric, but hopefully if you can zoom in on the closeup, you can see it.  I tried several times to get the right lighting, but the window of opportunity at this time of the year is so short...

This quilt belongs to Joanie, and she is sending it to a family friend as a wedding gift

How do you label your quilts?

I inherited a stack of quilts from my husband's family, and unfortunately none of the quilts have labels.  I had one of these family quilts appraised and it was assumed to be made approximately 1900, but I don't know who made it.  This reeaaaally bothers me - us quilters know how much love and effort goes into making a quilt! 

It would be so nice to keep this information permanently with the quilt, for all generations.  I have told myself that I will always send a quilt out the door with a label, but have not been 100% successful, probably not 50% successful.

I thought I found a solution...  I planned on blogging about it here... until I tried washing the label and the ink faded.  I heat-set the ink, too.  It may be my ink cartridge, and I would be willing to purchase a different type if that would set it permanently.

How do you label your quilts?  Do you label them?  I'd love to hear your method.  Thanks!

More Freehand Fun

Chistina made this for Nonnie and Papa as a Christmas gift.  She let me decide how to quilt it.  I chose a fun little freehand design that Patsy Thompson shares on her website.  Thank you,, Patsy!! 

The back is the soft minkie-type fabric that is so cuddly. 

Swirls and Ex's and Stash

This quilt just makes me smile.  It was made from some of my favorite stash fabric, with some Kona White.  I kept it simple with the quilting.  All freehand, of course.  A little bit of whimsy, with a little bit of ruler work.  I used a neon orange thread for the straight stitching - what fun!   I didn't use a pattern, just really kept it simple.  It will have a new home in January when my daughter delivers it to someone special. 

I Would Be So Grateful if You Voted for My Quilt

I entered my quilt, Stars Aligned, into the Quilting Gallery Contest for Star Quilts.  Here is the link if you care to vote for my quilt:  http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/12/02/vote-now-star-quilts-2/  If I win, the prize is fabric!  The competition is stiff, 54 quilts, so I would appreciate your support. 

Here is another picture of my quilt.

Stash Busting More Moda Fat Quarters and a Link to a Fabulous Site!

I couldn't sleep this morning. Went to bed at 11:00 p.m. And woke up at 3:00 a.m. Ugh! So I am surfing the web and just learned of a fabulous website! The site has tons of free quilting tutorials. It is called the Missouri Quilt Company. I cannot get the link to work this morning from my iPad. http://quiltingtutorials.com/


This is the the third of three quilts that my daughter and I made using up some really cute Moda fat quarters that once we're gathering dust on my WIP, PIGS, and UFO shelf.

Not the best quality photo, sorry. I didn't have my camera with me last week - had to use my phone.

Stash-busting Continued

This is the first of two quilts that I have made from those 10-1/2" Moda strips I had lurking about in my stash. I really like it.

No machine quilting this week. I am on vacation in Arizona enjoying the beautiful weather and getting lots of sewing time.

Back from my Quilting Retreat

I organize a quilting retreat at a beautiful location just outside of Yosemite National Park.  It is a fabulous location!  This is the view from the many, many windows as you are sewing.  I have been wanting to make a zig zag quilt and am still using up my stash.  This is one of the two quilts I made while there last weekend.  I love it and can't wait to quilt it.

Changing of the seasons and a forgotten quilt

Living in the Tehachapi Mountains, one can never expect distinct seasons, but seasons we do have!  This year we had a really early snow, and didn't have time to get all the apples from the trees before the first frost.  Normally we get snow at Thanksgiving time.

Almost all the leaves are gone from this wonderful Silver Maple tree that provides us with so much shade in the summer. 

And finally, since this blog is quilt related, here is a quilt I made as a wedding gift for Christina's friends, Lisa and Chris.  They were married at a winery in Livermore.  I love this quilt.  I had completely forgotten I made it, though!

"...with a little help from my friends."

Speaking of friends, I need you!  I am on a piecing kick right now, and all my UFOs, PIGs, and stash is calling to me...  I have 31 of these 'blocks.'  They are composed of 2.5" strips that are 10.5" square.  They were supposed to be used to make a quilt called, 'Fields of Flowers' but I made one already with the same strip sets, and it's just not that exciting to me. 

Do you have any ideas?  I have spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what to do with them.  I am considering a Scrappy Double Irish Chain from Quiltville, but not sure if it would work.  Would it?  Other ideas?  I do love modern quilts.  Can I cut these strip sets up and do something with them? 

If you think of anything, I'm all ears.  Thanks so much in advance...

What do Butterflies and UFOs have in Common?

Oh, my!  I unearthed a bin of "stuff" under my longarm and found a stack of butterfly blocks that I had completely forgotten about.  These were made as part of an exchange in 2002 (I think)!  I had intended on making these for a grandbaby.  Well, four grandbabies later --  I really did forget!  I'm on a mission this year to cross off a lot of "to-do's" -- wholecloth, art quilt, feather meandering, UFOs, stash-busting!! 

I have no idea who will be the lucky recipient of this cute little quilt.  The first picture is without a flash, and letting the quilt "relax" on a bed of beautiful maple leaves.  Taking this picture without the flash highlights the dimension created by the batting. 

This second picture is with a flash.  This is indicative of the true color of the fabrics. 

I got home from work a little too late tonight to take a good picture and won't have time for quite awhile to get a good pic in late afternoon sun - the best time! 

The final picture is of one of the "ghost" butterflies that I stitched in.  I've never tried this technique before, and it was fun.  I found a great new website for creating templates for machine quilting:  Coloring Book - Free Images for Templates

Freehand Feathers and Stash Busting!

I needed to practice my freehand feathers before I jump in on a beautiful quilt of Laura's.  I can make a feather, I just needed to practice the sizing, movement and "feel" of the overall feathers.  My first instinct was to grab some solid muslin and have yet an

other practice piece with no purpose.  But then I thought, use up some of that backing fabric you've got laying around!  Bust some stash!!  So, I grabbed a cute piece of baby fabric with some cuddly minkie-type fleece and voila, this is what I came up with. 

Ladybugs ala Patsy Thompson

 I organized a quilt retreat a while ago, and offered my quilting as a prize.  Cathy won the prize and asked me to quilt this cute little quilt for her granddaughter.  Many thanks to Patsy Thompson Designs for posting free examples of her freehand quilting online!  I have used her designs more times than I can count. 

I Want to Keep These!

I am really pleased with the way these look completed.  If you read my earlier posts, I taught myself how to design and create this triptych.  It helped to find these beautiful fabrics in a local quilt shop, and the blog posts that I read with tips.  These are 48" tall, and the center is 37.5" wide, and the narrower outside panels are 19.5" wide. 

They depict the desert hills and wind turbines near Mojave, CA where my husband works.  They are on their way to his office right now. 

I stitched black fabric all the way around, similar to a binding, and then pulled the black around the wooden frame that my husband made, and then finally taped them on with duct tape. 

Do you know of an appraiser who specializes in landscapes?  Would I just contact a quilt appraiser?  I may need to get these appraised before I start my second set.

Introducing the Newest Quilter in the Family

My daughter Christina just started quilting and this is the first quilt she made.  She wanted to do it from start to finish, so I let her use my longarm to quilt it herself.  Here she is with my newest grandchild, Landon Thomas.  He loves to 'hang out' with mom while she is longarming! 

And here is two-month old Landon kicking up his heels and enjoying his new quilt

made entirely by his mom! 

PS - Don't you love the name Landon?  We do!  Our last name is Landon so it has special significance. 

Triptych...Diptych...

I have finished on two parts of the triptych, so I guess right now it's a diptych!  I'm thinking that I want the sky to have a "windy" feel to it, any ideas on how I can achieve that?  I think I want to add some texture to the orange poppy area...

Dye Candy: Dye Candy Fabric Giveaway & Fresh Fabrics

Dye Candy: Dye Candy Fabric Giveaway & Fresh Fabrics

Hey, check out Chris' blog, Dye Candy, for a chance to win some hand dyes!

I'm Making a Landscape Quilt Triptych

I have never taken a class or studied books about landscape quilts.  This may be a BIG waste of time and money, but I am determined to create this tryptich for my husband's new office.  He is a windfarmer, and has lots of blank walls which probably need some sound reduction. 

I made a rough drawing, and from this, I've got this very rough base of a landscape. I have basted the blue batik until I get the rest of the fabric I need.  I will be doing lots of embellishing, and obviously will be placing wind turbines on it!  Can you believe I purchased this beautiful batik fabric, but forgot to get some gray for the turbines.  I plan to paint the side of the turbines to replicate shading. 

 Here are a few pictures that I am using as a reference.  I just received the picture with the poppies from my friend Carolyn, so I quickly changed my plan to add poppies.  Note the wild horses in the second photo on the right -- I hope to include a couple horses in one of the quilts, too.

 Here is a closeup photo.  Any suggestions of how I should quilt this?  I plan on purchasing some neat embellishments tomorrow.



Naomi's Carpenter Star

Angi made this for her daughter, Naomi.  I love the fabrics and colors she chose.  I wonder if Naomi's home is done in greens and browns... When I am quilting, I often think of the piecer and/or recipient.  Think, in terms of their lives, their interests, their futures, their jobs, etc.  Sometimes I turn off all sound when I am longarming.  This quilt reminds me of a grassy meadow and pine trees...  soothing.    I know Naomi lives in a huge city, quite far from a mountain meadow, but maybe she really loves pine trees and meadows?  

Longarmers, do you ever think about who will receive the quilt that you are quilting? 

I lost a lot of sleep over this one

I finished this carpenter star just in the nick of time.  It was really easy and fun to piece - just half square triangles.  The quilting probably would have been enjoyable had I allowed more time to do it.  I hope I never do that to myself again...  creating ridiculous deadlines when I am most busy - the first week of school!  Anyway, I truly like this quilt, and I do like the way I quilted it, too.  I wish I could say it is all original, but I copied most of the quilting motifs (except for the swagged border) from my online forum friends at MQR.