Trying to Finish Up Christmas Gifts

I am trying to finish up these 2 quilts which were meant to be Christmas gifts.  I am not allowing myself to start anything else until I finish these!  Of course I didn't get to them until a few days before Christmas.  I told the recipients they were coming- just not when.  I go back to work on January 12, so I will finish before then- I promise.

Arthur's quilt- this is a gift for the maintenance man in my condo building.  He is also a minister part-time, hence the crosses.  Lots of New Orleans themed fabrics in here too.  But, the main theme is black and white.  This one came out large- 74 X 92.  Now to quilt it on my domestic machine.

Joe's quilt- this is a gift for Joe, Arthur's assistant.  I chose these colors because Joe has such a colorful personality.  He is never in a bad mood.  He loves my little dog and looks for him each morning when we go walk.  I couldn't made a quilt for Arthur and not make one for Joe. 

These 2 guys really take care of all of us in our condo building.  They admire my quilts when they come in my unit.  But they ask why I keep making more blankets!  If you're not a quilter, you don't get the obsession, right?

Christmas is Over? Not Yet!

Each year I spend from September to the beginning of December working on items to sell at our church mission market.  From experience I know that they want small items such as placemats, napkins, table runners, aprons, etc.  This year was no exception.  I felt like I hadn't done much quilting in quite a while.

After the mission market was over I had to work on a quilt for our minister as a gift from my Sunday School class.  I have 2nd to 5th graders.  During the summer we did this handprint project on fabric.  I then designed a quilt around it.  Here is the result.

I used mostly Kaffe fabrics because those went so well with the colorful handprints.  It's hard to see in this picture, but I thread painted in stems and leaves to make this a flower garden.  I think the border just makes the quilt.  It is a French braid from a pattern which makes a whole quilt.  I made the pinwheels and French braid elements on a quilting retreat in November.  But, after our mission market I had 1 week to assemble this quilt and quilt it.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  Our minister was surprised and very, very pleased.  She says she'll treasure it for the rest of her life.

Christmas is over, right?  Well, I have 2 quilts I was working on as Christmas gifts.  All I have left to do is the quilting.  Then something happened.  The light fixture in the room blew out.  I should be able to get an electrician this week.  Meanwhile I told the 2 recipients their gift is coming, one day. 

Charity Quilts

It seems that the month of July has been all about quilting for donation quilts.  The first charge for the Cotton Pickin' quilt guild was to make a quilt to be donated to CASA Jefferson for a child.  Since my 2 1/2" strips were multiplying rapidly, I chose to do the Scrappy Trips or Trip Around the World pattern.  It says to not worry about color or patterns, so it does look eclectic, no planned.  Here is the finish project quilted. 
 

Scrappy Trips

The Stitchy Fingers quilt guild had a charity sew day at the end of June.  We were to work on a quilt to be donated to charity.  I chose to put together blocks that I assembled as a leader and ender project for a quilt of valor.  For the blocks I chose to do Heartstring blocks.  I chose a navy blue to use as the common center strip.  I made 9 1/2" blocks.  I put together a previous quilt with a heart pattern.  This one I chose to do the diamond pattern.  Love the diamonds!  After I assembled the blocks, this is the result.


Quilt of Valor

The size of this quilt just met the requirements for the Quilt of Valor.  And it looked too plain.  So, I decided to add a couple of borders. 

Quilt of Valor with borders

Now, to quilt the Quilt of Valor.  This one will go to a local quilt shop that is hosting a challenge.  I just love leader and ender projects.  It's amazing how you end up with a another quilt once you complete the pieces.

Have a quilty day!



What Am I Working on Now?

Wow!  Didn't realize I hadn't updated this blog since February.  Where has the time gone?  I don't remember what I've done in the meantime, but here's what I am currently working on. 

Of course I should be working on my 2 Judy Niemeyer quilts.  I bought Glacier Star as a block-of-the-month several years ago.  I'm on step 2.  More on that one later.  In April I took a class with Judy to make the 4th of July quilt.  So, am I working on those?  No.....

I signed up to do Gyleen Fitzgerald's summer camp.  It is online with instructions emailed every week, sometimes several times a week.  The quilt is a utility quilt, 60 X 60, to be used for picnics, beach, etc.  The top is done and the instructions for the pieced back are coming today.  I was able to use some scraps and some fabric that I had little left.  Also, some pieces that I thought what in the world am I going to do with that?

I got my Easy Street quilt, Bonnie Hunter's mystery from 2012, back from the quilter.  Loretta Webre quilted it and she did a fabulous job quilting it in a fleur de lis pattern.  The back is a blue and white toile and it is so soft.  It is on my bed now and I just love it!  It is a perfect summer quilt.

I didn't do Bonnie's 2013 mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice.  Her mysteries begin the day after Thanksgiving and end January 1.  For many, that is the busiest time of the year.  And she likes quilts with small pieces.  I believe one of her recent mysteries had 4,300+ pieces!  I get so many donation quilts done by having a leader and ender project.  I typically do scrap strip blocks.  But, I had a great idea!  My favorite BH quilt is Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll.  So, I thought, why not do that quilt as a leader and ender project?  It took me about a week to cut out the thousands of pieces.  I sewed together the pieces waiting to assemble the main blocks.  Now I will do the 600 red/white half square triangles as leader and enders while working on my Judy Niemeyer quilts.  Good plan, huh?  Here are the blacks I have together so for.  What I do is after I have 20 red/white half square triangles together I  stop and piece a block together.  I hope to have this one together by the end of the year.  Maybe in time for her next mystery!

Bounce UFO

I have one UFO.  I know, don't hate me, but I do not like UFOs.  I've had this one for a few years.  Several years ago I took a class with Kaffe Fassett in Houston.  The class was for the Bounce quilt.  We spent the entire class choosing colors and working on the design wall.  No sewing.  Got home and there it sat.  This is the current state.  Need to finish sewing the circles with the blanket stitch for machine applique. 

 

What's next?  To sew corners on 400+ squares snowball block style.  Think I want to do that?  That's why it has remained a UFO. This is what it looks like in the book all done.

 And I've decided I no longer like this quilt and probably won't keep it when done.  So, why spend all that time to make 400+ snowball blocks.  I'm waving the white flag on this one.  Since the center is 40 X 52 I am going to finish the applique and quilt it.  It will then be a donation quilt for a children's charity.  Some little girl will love this pink one. 

How have I avoided additional UFOs?  A friend of mind told me a few years ago that she has put together a collection of fabrics that coordinate and every class she takes she makes a few of the blocks taught in the class.  When she has enough blocks from various classes she will then put them together for a quilt.  BINGO!  That's is what I'm doing now.  Have you ever thrown in the towel on a UFO?

Scrappy challenge table runner

This past holiday season I was overwhelmed with my goals of items to make for the church's Christmas bazar.  I literally sewed and quilted from September until December.  So, this year my goal is to make 1 item each month.  When Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times came out with her monthly scrappy challenge involving a designated block she included diagrams for a quilt and a table runner.  I made this table runner using scraps from the other Christmas projects I did this year.  I do not have an inch of either the white or green fabrics left- those were truly scraps.  I do have about 1/2 yard of the red left, so you may see it again!

January done- cha ching!  Now I get to spend the rest of the month working on a UFO- right?

Christmas gift- Jai's guitar quilt

For Christmas gifts for my sister's grandchildren I made quilts.  The 2 little girls are 7 and got everything in the toy store from Santa, so I made them cute little flower quilts they could use to take a nap (Ha).  My sister's grandson is 14.  He plays the guitar and loves to hunt deer.  His quilt is guitars (and other musical instruments) on the front.

And on the back, camo fabric

He loved it!  And we put it to good use.  As it began to get dark on Christmas night we decided to all sleep over and have a slumber party!  It was so much fun.  Happy Holidays All!

Santa's Elf

I feel like one of Santa's elves on a treadmill.  Why oh why did I decide to give so many quilty items as Christmas gifts?  I've been busy the past few months making wall hanging, placemats, napkins, casserole carriers, wine gift bags, etc. for the church Christmas bazar.  It was over yesterday.  Now on to the projects for family Christmas gifts.  Oh, but I did accept a commission from one of my fellow Sunday school teachers to make a t-shirt quilt for her husband for a Christmas gift.  Did I tell you I got so excited she asked me that it never occurred to me to say no?  Thank God I am off of work until January 12.  Now, if only I can make it to December 25- then I can rest. 

Anyway, here is Aaron's t-shirt quilt.  I just finished the top.  Now to the back and quilting it.  I've never quilted a t-shirt quilt on my domestic machine, so keeping my fingers crossed all goes well. 

 

I just got back from the French bakery where I picked up a baguette.  I love the sign on the wall that says "Look Busy.  Jesus is Coming".  No problem with that here!

Gooseberry Garden

I was looking for a quilt pattern that had a center medallion that could pass as a cross.  I came across this one by Judy Niemeyer called Gooseberry Garden. 

The only problem is that it is 48" X 48" and I want a bed size quilt.  So, I am adding borders.  This is the first  few borders- the tan and then 4 patches.

Today I am working on flying geese for the next layer.  Almost finished those.

Then there will be another border of tan followed by half-square triangles.  The last wide border will be the cream color onto which I will applique the vines, leaves and flowers that are on the center of the quilt on the pattern.  If my measurements end up accurate, the final quilt will measure 105" X 105".  Obviously this one will take a while to get the applique done. 

Wild Women Don't Get the Blues

This is my version of Wild Women Don't Get the Blues.  I took this class with Karen Stone in January 2012 at a GSQA workshop in Pensacola, FL.  I tried to go with the predominant colors of pink and black, but, I also added in blue, yellow, lime green, etc.  It is all paper pieced.  It is 42 blocks total.  Just needs a little long-arming! 

Effervescent Pineapple

I finished my pineapple quilt.  I took the Trash to Treasures class with Gyleen Fitzgerald in March at the GSQA seminar in Baton Rouge.  I made 42 pineapple blocks and completed it with borders from Robert Kaufman's Effervescence fabric I got at my LQS.  It's hard to see in this picture, but the border on the top and bottom are the border fabric.  The sides are a 3" narrower border suggested by Gyleen.  It's not borders as above, it's just bubbles on black background fabric.  Ready for the longarmer now!

Spiritual Tree of Life

This is what I call Spiritual Tree of Life.  I saw a picture of one in a magazine several years ago and adapted it my life.  The leaves are aspects of life that are part of my spirituality.  I machine quilted it on my domestic machine. I hand embroidered the words on the leaves.  The rest of it went together in a weekend.

Leader & Ender String Blocks

I am still working on my paper pieced pieces for the Wild Women Don't Get the Blues quilt blocks.  This takes so much longer than I expected.  I keep telling myself I should have gone for a wall hanging!  Truth is that I think I'm bored with it and haven't seemed to find the time to work too much on it.  Anyway, I have used the Bonnie Hunter philosophy of leaders and enders to make string blocks.  I will need 42 of them for a quilt and I suspect I will have that done by the time I finish the Wild Women Don't Get the Blues blocks done!  The string blocks will be made into a throw size quilt and machine quilted.  It will be a donation quilt.  I can't believe it has hardly made a dent in my string stash!  So, I guess I'll start on another one as a leader and ender.

Quick Baby Quilt

I needed a quick baby quilt for my niece's baby shower next Saturday.  She's having a baby girl and is so excited.  I found a pattern in a McCall's Modern quilting publication.  You sew 3 1/2" strips to the batting and backing together diagonally.  Here is the result!

I used scraps and cut 3 1/2" strips off of fabric in my stash.  When I look at the sample in the publication it has all different width strips.  However, probably for the ease of directions, they went with 3 1/2" strips.  It was so easy.  Within a few hours I had a finished quilt- except to sew the binding. 

Wild Women Don't Get the Blues

Back in January 2012 I took a workshop with Karen Stone for a quilt titled "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues!"  This is Karen's quilt:

Each block has 4 pieces that are paper-pieced.  Yes, I love paper piecing.  I just love getting those perfect points without struggling.  While Karen's quilt features a lot of autumn colors, I prefer brights.  I am focusing on black and pink as my main colors.  Here is one of the blocks I am working on:

My quilt will be larger than Karen's- throw size or so- 70 X 80.  I will need 56 blocks.  That comes to 224 of these paper-pieced units.  I think I will be working on this for the next few weeks!

Trash to Treasures Pineapple Quilt

 

Last weekend I took a class at the GSQA seminar.  The class was on the pineapple quilt- Gyleen Fitzgerald's version called Trash to Treasure.  She has a book by the same name and a tool that makes the pineapple block so easy.  I can't imagine making a pineapple quilt without this tool!  You can see my border fabric on the left.  This is the border on a fabric by Robert Kaufmann called Effervesence.  I'll use this for the top and bottom borders.  On the sides Gyleen suggested a small 3" border of the bubbles portion of the fabric.  Sounds good to me!  And what a way to use up scraps!  Just love this block. 

Vintage

I ran into a friend in my LQS, Mes Amis.  She was gathering Kaffe Fassett fabric to make this quilt.  Well, I just had to have one!  It is the perfect quilt to put at the end of the bed in the summer and pull up over you when the AC gets chilly.  It is all Kaffe fabrics and I just love it!  Lots of 9 patches and half-square triangles.  The pattern is in the Kaffe book Quilts in Sweeden and is called Vintage.

Easy Street is Done!

Easy Street is done!  I finished it yesterday.  Here it is.

Too big for me to hold up by myself for a picture.  I added borders which you couldn't see in the picture above..

Love the name Easy Street and since I live in the Big Easy (New Orleans) I used as many New Orleans prints as I could- fleur de lis, jazz cats, music notes, Mardi Gras crowns, etc. as you can see in this picture.

So glad this one is done!  It is a big one.  It measures 100 X 100! 

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!