Longarm Tuesday

My local quilt shop recently displayed some great turkey fabric:

One of my favorite designers works at the shop and put a great pattern together. I literally begged her to let me quilt this sweet little sample. It wasn't pretty, but a quilter's got to do what a quilter's got to do, right?

Sometimes the fabric gently suggests what the quilting should be, and other times it actually tells you. This time it shouted!

In the big square, it screamed "quilt a turkey on me":

In the strips, it hollered "quilt turkey tracks":

So I did.

If you want this fabric or the tablerunner kit, contact the Quilt Basket. They'll hook you up!

Design Wall Monday

This past weekend, I taught classes at a great shop in New Hamphire. I stayed at a surprisingly nice hotel and turned it into my personal sewing room. I didn't get much done, but this is the start of a non-traditional wedding quilt for a non-traditional couple.






Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Kevin and Gretchen

The cobbler's children finally have shoes!!! My son's wedding quilt, only thirteen months late, is finished!

I pieced all of the blocks and sashings right after the wedding and the quilt sat borderless for about a year. I finished the piecing in time for their first anniversary, but the quilting, binding, and pillowcases added another month to the project.

Besides, I lent a quilt to the happy couple "just until the wedding quilt is done" and they were getting far too attached to my quilt!

Check out some other great finishes at

(* edit: I forgot to add the pattern information. You can find it here.)

Friday finish -- Chloe's quilt

This week's finish is a little new for me. Or maybe old? I'm confused. You decide.

As a longarm quilter, I haven't basted a quilt in ten years or so but when I finished this little quilt top, I layered the backing, batting and top with spray basting:



Technically this is a longarm (16 inches), but it still involves moving the fabric rather than the machine:



Once I was done, there were no puckers, pleats, or anything awful like that. I was really happy with the results:



And doesn't a little Mary Engelbreit fabric (cherry fabric on the back) make everything better?:

Friday Finish -- Betty's quilt

A few years ago:

My local quilt shop demonstrated how to make a quilt with Moda Turnovers in Fig Tree fabrics. I fell. in. love! I bought everything to make myself a quilt and finished the top in a few days. I put the top aside to quilt when I found the time.

Last month:

I noticed on the calendar that my aunt was about to turn 90 and I wanted to make her a quilt. I looked through my studio and found that Fig Tree quilt still unquilted. Even though I made it for myself and loved it dearly, I reasoned that if I hadn't quilted it in more than two years maybe it wasn't meant for me.

I enjoyed every second I spent quilting that quilt. I even enjoyed every second I spent hand binding that quilt. I laid it over a chair in the living room. Even though thousands of quilts have come through this house without comment, each member of my family saw this quilt and came to me to tell me how lovely it is.

Aunt Betty's quilt:

Close up:

I hope she enjoys this quilt as much as I have enjoyed making it!

Making More Scraps

I just finished a little quilt that I can't show you yet (sorry!). What I can show is the what I did with the leftovers.

Since it was a little quilt, there were no large pieces left, but I was able to cut some:

5-inch squares
2 1/2-inch strips
1 1/2-inch strips
2-inch squares




These will get thrown in buckets with other fabrics of the same size. As each bucket gets full, I'll make a scrap quilt from it.

After I cut my leftovers into useable sizes, what did I do with the leftovers from the leftovers?

I threw them into my Kim basket:



She does the most darling things with my leftover leftovers. The book and envelope aren't left over; she wanted to borrow the book and I need her to help me with the project in the envelope. This will all go to her the next time I see her, hopefully before Christmas!

Longarm Tuesday

Since I had something new to post on Design Wall Monday, I moved the longarm photos to Tuesday this week.

For my daughter's friend's brother's baby. Got that?

Does that batting look green? It should... it's Quilter's Dream Green batting made from recycled soda bottles (or pop bottles, depending up on where you live).

Design Wall Monday

I actually have something new on my design wall this week:



The lime green and black pieces are for a bag that my daughter-in-love and I are making together. The pink half-square triangles are for a quilt I'm thinking about designing. The scrappy squares are from a pattern called Ruffles.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Kristin's quilt

My niece graduated from high school a year ago and I finally finished her quilt. She loves blue and puple. Is this blue and purple enough?

Yes, this is yet another quilt made from my pre-cut 5-inch squares.

I've been blogged!

This winter I designed a wholecloth quilt using the Handi Quilter Pro-Stitcher. Now Erica from Erica's Craft and Sewing Center made one, too! The photo of her quilt is about half-way down the page.

Here's my quilt:



I used Fairy Frost fabric. It looks fabulous in person but it sure is tough to photograph!

Design Wall Monday

My design wall remains the same, so I'm once again substituting photos of what is on my longarms.

This is a for a friend:



This is for a friend, too:



Let's play "Date that fabric" with the bottom photo. Any guesses? How about "Name that fabric line"?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

I've been blogged!

I had a great surprise earlier this week when I learned that I had won a give-away from Cupcakes and Daisies!

Friday finish -- Jason's quilt

My oldest nephew graduated from high school this year. For long-time readers, I'm certain this quilt looks familiar. I made four in the same pattern and colors last year:



The backing was also donated by my dear quilty friend:

If you look closely at the binding, it is machine sewn. I'm getting better at that with each quilt!

Design Wall Monday

My design wall looks the same as last week, so I decided to show you photos of what is on my longarms. (Yes, I have two. Well, three actually.)



This Fig Tree quilt is a gift for a relative. I'm having so much fun quilting it. It's going to be hard to give this one away!



This wedding quilt is a sample for the designer. I ADORE THIS QUILT!!!

Get the pattern or the kit.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- a pair of aprons

I'm in love..... with an apron pattern. I think I'm about to wear out my Lilly pattern!

Look! See!

Here are two more:

One was for a dear friend who spends plenty of time in her kitchen: she is the mother of eight children. The other is for a bride-to-be. She begged me to make her one for her wedding shower. Happy to oblige!

Back Porch Tuesday?

I strongly dislike summer. My central air conditioning hasn't worked in the 9 summers we've owned this house, and it's not even close to the top of our house To-Do list. I bought a window unit for my office/studio and camp out in there during the worst parts of summer. The past ten days have been awful. I don't think we've been below 90-degrees, and we had a run of four or five days between 97- and 102-degrees. It was, in a word, yukky.

I tend to wake with the sun and sometimes that means I have several loads of laundry hanging on the line by 6am. Yesterday morning was one of those days. As I was hanging clothes, I noticed a nocturnal companion:



My shoe is in the bottom of the photo for scale. I adore luna moths, and this was close enough to make my day!

Design Wall Monday

My daughter-in-love has been bitten by the quilting bug ever since her first sewing adventure. We're now making quilted handbags from the cover of Quilts and More, Spring 2010.

We raided my black and white 5-inch squares and picked contrasting fabric from my stash (mine = pea green polka dot, Gretchen's = turquoise). We layered the pieces and quilted them on regular sewing machines. My daughter-in-love QUILTED HER OWN PIECE!

She keeps her pieces with her, but mine are on my design wall:

When we get more sewing time, I'll post photos of both finished handbags.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- Bill's quilt

When I said that I had cut thousands of 5-inch squares from my scraps, you may have been tempted to think I was exaggerating. I promise you that I was not.

Here is more proof:



The quilt is 66x66 inches square. The front was made from scrap 5-inch squares. The backing was donated by a friend. The kind of friend who says, "Please take this awful fabric out of my sewing room so I don't ever have to think about it again." In case you think that the fabric doesn't match the front of the quilt, let me asssure you that it matches the recipient perfectly. He's a relative who had some extensive surgery earlier this week. I hope this brightens his day just a little.

May you have a speedy recovery, Bill!

Friday finish -- fun with scraps

This quilt is in need of a home:

I made it out of my overflowing 1-1/2 inch strip bucket. It's 60x72-inches.

I'm certain the right person will come along and claim this quilt.

Questions answered

So I caught a little bloggy heck *cough*Amy*cough* for not detailing my fabric cutting adventures. Please allow me to clarify.

I try to keep my scraps in order. My style is similar to Bonnie's.

If the fabric is a yard or larger, it gets folded and stored in a bin. If it's smaller than a yard, I cut it into:

10 1/2 inch squares, used for quilt backs and in place of layer cakes:









The 5 inch squares are used for tossed nine patch quilts and in place of charm packs:

The 2 1/2 in strips are used in scrap quits or in place of jelly rolls:

The 2 inch squares are used in scrap quilts:



The 1 1/2 inch strips are used in scrap quilts and in place of honey buns:

I wish I could say that all of my scraps are cut and neatly stored in this manner but they are not. I haven't had many stress-induced cutting sessions lately. For that I'm very grateful.