Handwork lifts depression....so I have decided to keep making quilts!

I found this inspiring blog post ( recommended by our quilt guild president in the latest newsletter).....which reminded me that I am seldom despondent or hopeless, or stressed when I am planning and making quilts!

 

So yesterday I took four blocks made last year and made them into this quilt top. Today I pieced the batting and the backing. I may machine quilt this one, because ......

...I am already hand quilting on this nice little pastel quilt.....surely for a grandchild one day.....We have 5 grandchildren already and there may be more to come.

Meanwhile, other family members received these quilts this week. The top one, called Bento Box, used family scraps from our childhood + more. It went to my sister, Elaine. The scrappy string pieced star quilt went to my cousin, Judy.

Making quilts is a lifeline for me, finding homes for them is usually not hard! This quilt below will go to our quilt guild's small quilt auction this coming April!

I am LOVING my new Sew Easy cutter ruler!

 

Liberty Road quilt--- nap size

Summery and pastel flag blocks. Hand quilted with big stitch , # 12 perle cotton and a Sashiko needle.

18 light and airy blocks! Fun! Now I have a second top almost the same to baste and quilt!

 

Flower wheel wall hanging

This beaded embellished scrappy quilt was fun to make! I used a 20 degree wedge ruler to make the circle.

It is my Day of the Dead flower wheel small quilt. [Part of the therapy of dealing with Mom's death' I think.] marigolds are used in the Day of the Dead celebrations....somI used flower buttons.

I gave it to the quilt guild for,their upcoming small quilt auction!

 

Found in a scrapbook from the past...

Just flipping through the pages from the early 1980's.

2 of my quilts featured in Quilter's Newsletter magazine....the bright red and yellow was a honorable mention winning quilt in a contest held by Woman's Day...and later featured in a book.

The Tumbling blocks wall hanging hung above my fireplace for several years....as seen in this photo of my sister, Elaine, during the 1980's.

This article was in the Arkansas Gazette Little Rock newspaper.

I designed a quilt for the 150th anniversary of the city of Little Rock. It features the traditional block called "Little Rock" and a spiky 9 patch star. I designed and drafted the pieced border.

More wall hangings from this era and an article in Quilt magazine.

 

 

 

 

Then, I was invited by Fairfield, the batting company, to make a garment for their fashion show at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. I made a kimono using the "Tumbling Blocks" pattern. It was hand pieced and hand quilted....with some velveteen and border print added.

It was photographed on the model and was used in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine.

 

These were fun days for quilt making ......we were lucky even to find cotton fabrics!

VIP fabrics, Cranston print works, Peter Pan and Concord fabrics were popular!

 

Granddaughters need quilts!

These 2quilts are about to be shipped!

One is a disappearing four patch....

with a "Hello Kitty" border.

The other is a "plus sign" quilt in reds and aqua.

It has a peppermint striped binding.

The twins were escaping from their cribs and now adjusting to sleeping on a pallet. They will eventually each have a twin size big girl bed....below Sophie and Nina try out the pallet.

For now, their pink ruffled crib quilts, in a tangle here, are not quite big enough. The new quilts will be just right!

No matter where or what quilts...there is nothing sweeter than the sleeping child! Nina here.

 

Strings and selvedges

This is a top from last year...pale and feminine. Selvedges with words like "fleur", and "garden"...with pastel string pieces. The one pale beige block in the center features the Eiffel Tower . The border fabric (and backing) has roses, post marks and cursive script and the word, "Paris"!

I had to use my Singer Featherweight on the kitchen counter to piece the back. Because MY back has flared up, and sitting at the machine is part of the problem!

Voila! The back is ready for the batting and quilting!

This will be a gift for my first granddaughter, I think!

 

Small pleasures!

Ready for spring, pink tulips in a forcing jar. Snow in the front yard lingers!

On the back porch, pots of daffodil bulbs in the morning sun.....noses beginning to peep up!

Meanwhile, I have concern for our daughter and her family near Atlanta, as the winter storm approaches and shuts down the city.

I am knitting two pink cardigans for the twins there, but the cold my almost be gone by the time these are finished! I knit on one sweater, then the other so that they will finish at about the same time!

I have made several of these pink burlap buntings....for the holiday....now in the mail...and one hanging here!

I am enjoying a new lime green table/ desk from the thrift store. Now I have a special corner for writing, sketching or just being!

Still loving my latest scrappy quilt!

Thinking of adding another vintage sewing machine to my collection......it has roses on the case and is 3/4 size. A Kenmore 1040, sigh!

Of course I don't NEED it!

 

Sunday Morning low volume quilt

It is still snowing today! This week I quilted and bound this "Sunday Morning" quilt ( pattern is in the quilt book by that name). It just came out of the washer and dryer, looking lovely!

 

Here is a closer look.....

I like mixing pale and light with a touch of deeper color thrown in, floral prints, large and small, and stripes and dots.....checks and plaids.....

I machine quilt, free motion on an antique Singer slant needle, 301. The machine has a "card table" in which it sits. With the feed dogs lowered, I'm all set.

This may go to a grandaughter....we will see!

Now down to clean and organize the sewing room...that is if the heaters have made it warm enough to be down there, brrrr!

 

Dreamsicle Quilt and more

We are collecting blocks for a dear quilting friend.

It has grown to become a quilt top!

It his project was inspired by a quilt which I saw on the Internet called a "Dreamsicle Quilt"! Our friend, Lovina loves orange, so this is being made for her!!!

Today, sleet, snow, cold...but I am warm and cozy inside my sewing studio, machine quilting a low-volume, "Sunday Morning", quilt...from many "scraps", and for me!

I quilt with my antique Singer 301, you can lower the feed dogs and be ready for free motion quilting,

The wooden table which works with this machine makes a wonderful surface to support the weight of the quilt while I'm quilting!

Lucky me!!!!

 

Disappearing 4 patch block

A young woman who works where I do is having a baby in November.  Her shower is Sunday.

I hope to "whip up" a small crib quilt for her.

The baby is a girl! I have lots in my stash that will work!

The pattern is

Our guild has an annual "Airing of the Quilts" which is informal and a lot of fun!  Last month we met again at a member's home with a large yard and lots of fence for hanging our quilts.

Here my friend, Paula stands by to help me tell about my "through Grandmother's Window" quilt. It is a block of the month pattern from "Piece O' Cake" designs.  I started it in 1994!  Almost 20 years later, it is almost finished!  It is for my first grandchild, Lilia.

Below is a flower garden quilt which my grandmother made and gave to me when I was 6!  Love the bright pink!

Also shown above, is my pomegranate stitchery wall hanging, an art quilt.  Love doing these!

Paula told about her first quilt which she made at my shop in the early 1990's, the trellis pattern is from "In the Beginning".  Paula used some black floral sheets which she loved and enhanced the morning glories with beaded dewdrops!

Queen of the May

A special block as my daughter's birthday is May 1st.  This pattern is not too common, but I found it in a book, Family Ties by Nancilu Butler Burdick. (c. 1991, ISBN 1-55853-134-3)

From "Family Ties" quilt book



Using scraps from family baby clothes, and other I created this version.

it will be a gift for my "secret stitcher" pal this month!



pieced from scraps 5/21/2012



String-pieced 60 degree star quilt

Pieced on light weight (tissue paper or newprint) paper using thin strips of fabrics (some sewing scraps!) these are not fast to make!

I finally have all the stars finished and it is coming together with a tradtional (and modern) white muslin setting.

I left my toe in there for a bit of humor.....I'm also thinking of polka dot border....what ever color is still on sale tomorrow at Hancock's! [when I am back at work....or back at shopping! LOL!]

Catching up on quilts

I am a bit behind on posting my quilts.....so here goes...

This is from Kaffe Fassett's Passionate Patchwork book....the "Fonthill Quilt"...

there are several more borders to go on it! Lots of 1.5 inch half-square triangles forming sawtooth borders and pinwheels. These are separated and held together by a soft green floral.

More borders to come!

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Now a look at my "Sakiori" quilt from the book "Japanese Quilt Inspirations" by Susan Briscoe.

Here the top and back are basted together for quilting. I love the cheerful bird print on the back!

The finished quilt, mostly machine quilted (on an antique Singer 301) and hand-quilted in the gold circles.