Easy Street, Part 5

OK- it's official!  I am behind.  Christmas gifts have taken priority over Easy Street.  I made this one piece for step 5 so that I'd have something to show.  I'll catch up starting December 26 and I will be caught up by the time Step 6 is released next Friday. 

This is one of the Christmas gifts I finished last night.  A baby quilt for my minister's sister.  I'll give it to her tonight at the Christmas Eve service.  I just love the "gender neutral" colors. 

Merry Christmas!



Easy Street, Part 4

I am in the throes of finishing up quilting projects for Christmas presents, but I had to made these just so I'd have something to show for today!  I also was so curious to see how these would come together.  I love these colors. 

Today I'm headed to a local quilt shop to quilt a queen size quilt I am making for a Christmas gift.  You know how it is when you don't get the top done in time to send it to the longarmer, so you have to do it yourself!  I haven't used the longarm in over a year, so it will be simple.  This week I also have a baby quilt to make and some placemats.  But, my goal is to finish the rest of step 4 before Friday and step 5!  I WILL NOT GET BEHIND!

Easy Street, Part 3

Easy Street, Part 3 done!  My strategy is that I don't let myself sew anything else until my Easy Street clue for the week is done.  But, honestly I found that this week's clue was easier that the others.  Maybe not easier, but we needed less units this week, so that may have made it seem easier.  I can't wait to see how this comes together because I love these units so far. 

The past 2 weekends I have participated in our church's mission market in which we sold handmade items to benefit our missions.  I made tree skirts, quilted an antique quilt, quilted a table topper, made a wall hanging.  Of everything, the wall hanging was the most in demand.  This wall hanging went for over $100!  And guess who couldn't live without it!  Our minister.

Easy Street, Part 2

I finished the 4 patches this weekend and began working on the flying geese.  Only got about 20 of them done.  They are actually easier than I thought.  After all the quilting I have done, I've never had a fool-proof method for making flying geese.  I've only made them with paper piecing.  I went out and bought the Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers and I have to tell you- this method is awesome.  There is no waste and they come out as near perfect as I can imagine.  Going to keep at it this week until I finish all 128 of them!

Easy Street, Part 1

Not exactly a good time to start a new project since I am rushing to complete Christmas quilty gifts.  But, how can I pass this up?  Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt is called Easy Street, and since I live in the Big Easy, why not?  Plus she promises that this one won't have all of the little pieces of past mysteries.  And I love the colors of this one and it is a queen bed-size quilt.  I'm working on the 192 four patches of black/white and grey.  I will be finished by the time the next clue comes out Friday.  I will not get behind on this one!  I also like that Bonnie says she likes big quilts and has little use for throw size quilts.  As much as I love throwing a quilt over me on the couch, she's right.  I have enough of those to last a lifetime.  Have you ever noticed that when you give someone a throw size quilt as a gift you can just see them trying to figure out if it will fit their bed?  You have to explain to them that this is a throw size quilt to use on the couch, at the end of the bed, etc. 
My next 2 weeks are busy trying to get projects completed for our church's mission market December 2 & 9.  Making tree skirts, table topper, wall hanging, child-size quilts and quilting an old quilt top that someone donated.  Oh, and this is all between work days! 

Donation Quilt

Each year I make a quilt for the silent auction at a national nursing convention.  I am a member of the foundation board and this silent auction benefits the foundation.  I made this quilt in a queen size for a friend- it's at the quilter.  With the fabric I had left over- and some more I purchased- I was able to put together this throw size.  Those who like lime green and tourquoise will like this quilt.  I quilted it on my home machine.  It's 72" square- a size that's pretty easy to handle on a domestic machine.  I tried to use different designs in different places.  Since there are long lines it was easier to do. 
I actually make a quilt and an afghan- so now it's time to get to the knitting since the convention is in 2 weeks!

Fleur de France

I bought this fabric and pattern this summer from MesAmis quilt shop in New Orleans.  It was to make a throw quilt for a friend who just renovated a cottage in Bay St. Louis, MS.  I set it aside to finish other more pressing projects.  You can relate, right?  The GSQA board president challenged the board members to make a diamond quilt for our October 20 program- Diamonds are a Girls' Best Friend.  So, last weekend I pulled this out.  It served 2 purposes at once!  This is my first diamond quilt.  It's not as hard as I thought once you get the hang of it.  I always wanted to make Kaffe Fassett's diamond quilt.  But, it intimidated me- all those different diamond shapes, even though there are templates, so years ago when I made that quilt I changed it to squares on point or "fake diamonds".

Charity Sew Day- Quilts of Valor

The Stitchy Fingers Quilt Guild had a charity sew day last Saturday.  This year we made quilts of valor quilt tops.  About 12 of us sewed and we ended up with 17 quilts.  We tried to make the blocks before the sew day and just construct the quilt tops on the sew day.  We used a variety of different patterns.  This one was one of the easypatterns- The Jelly Maker's Cabin. 

Sisters and Sisterscape

Oh, what a treat!  I went to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show last week.  It is something every quilter should experience at least once.  The show was awesome, but the real beauty was in the setting.  What a gorgeous part of our country. 
In January I began working on one of my Wish List quilts- Sisterscape- which was the 2006 show quilt.

This is my progress.  It's better than it looks.  I have completed the mountains, the trees, the fish and am working on the 100+ new york beauty blocks that make up the flowers in the meadow.  I am about 2/3 done.

One of the real thrills for me was to see the actual Sisterscape quilt in person.  Here it is!

I can't wait to finish mine!  I will post a picture when I do- but it may be a while.
Happy Quilting!

GSQA Quilt Show 2012

I entered 4 quilts into the Gulf States Quilting Association 2012 quilt show held this weekend.  Of the 4 quilts, 2 received ribbons. 
The first one is titled "A Day at the Beach".  It is a Flavin Glover pattern.  Pictured with me is Loretta Webre who did the beautiful hand-guided quilting.  This quilt won "Judge's Choice"!

My next one is "Total Eclipse" which is a Judy Neimeyer pattern.  I took her class at the GSQA seminar in March 2011.  This one received an Honorable Mention.

The 2 other quilts I entered are ones I did several years ago.  This one is "Poinsettia's".  It adorns my bed at Christmas time.

The last one is "Mardi Gras Masquerade".  It adorns my bed during Mardi Gras season.

When entering these last 2 quilts one thing I noticed is how much my quilt construction has improved since I made these 2.  I hope I am always in a position that I am learning and improving.
And last but not least, this is what I went home with!  Plus a cash prize for Judge's Choice.  All in all, a very nice weekend!

It's Been A While....

I guess I've been on a quilting hiatus.  Not intended, but the first part of the year was very busy.  I started a quilt in November, a quilt that is entirely paper pieced, and I keep putting it aside to make gift quilts. I hope to finish it this month.  But, after these 2 baby quilts I have to make a wedding quilt.   Here are 2 baby quilts I am working on now.  My go to baby quilt pattern- Baby Hearts.  The second one is made with scraps. 

 

Poodles, Poodles everywhere!

My friend Betty got a new toy poodle.  I have a 3 year old toy poodle. My poodle just loves quilts.  He thinks everyone I make is for him.  So, when I saw this french fabric it was just great for our french poodles!  If you look at the fabric closely, in the light pink and light blue fabric there is a girl walking a white french poodle.  These are small, big enough to fit the spot they sit on the couch.  Love my poodle- he's the sweetest, smartest little dog.  But, he's leaving again soon.  Most of the year he lives up in NYC with my daughter.  His new quilt will go with him.