last gift finished

I was happy to get this table runner quilted and ready for giving away. It was a very cold and snowy weekend - perfect for sewing. I hope the recipient likes it. If she doesn't - it doesn't look too bad on my table :0) Seriously though, I am a few years away from being able to use a table runner. The kids spill stuff and splatter paint... I really had NO IDEA how messy kids would make my world - or how marvelous. :0)I used Press n'seal for the quilting in the center panel and again it worked just great! This time I traced the design from the pieced border - lifted the Press n'seal - stuck it down in the middle and quilted. It's so easy.
I hope to get one more Christmas stocking made yet ... yikes its the 16th already!
Happy Quilting!

candy canes

I finished this little wallhanging just in time to enjoy it this Christmas. It hangs on the wall opposite the front door. My son was quite excited about this one when he heard that it was supposed to hold candy canes. I think he thought he would be allowed to eat one whenever he liked - sadly for him ... I think not.

I especially like the snowman fabric I found for the border. I tried something new with the quilting of it. I wanted to very carefully stiple around the snowmen in the border - I'm not very good at free motion quilting so I bought some Press'n Seal - stuck it to the fabric and drew the path to follow on with a marker. The Press'n Seal worked great but my free motion quilting still needs LOTS of practice.

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Tree Skirt

We got out our Christmas decorations this weekend and put up our Christmas tree. It looks a little funny this year as all the ornaments are placed up higher than the reach of our youngest daughter. She is 10 months old now and into everything! The Christmas tree with all its sparkly lights and ornaments is just too hard to resist. I love to take out my quilted Christmas tree skirt and I thought I would share it with you. I did make one change to the pattern (from Country Quilts). I like Christmas decorations that are about Christ (after all it is His birthday we are celebrating) so I made a panel with baby Jesus wrapped up in ... a quilt ... to replace the Santa panel. It's my favorite :0)

Happy Quilting!!

Sinter Klaas

This little wall hanging found it's way into my Mom's shoe last night :0) My Mom is from Holland and every year celebrates Sinter Klaas's birthday on Dec 5. When I was a child (and a long while after I grew up) she made sure that all the shoes put out for Sinter Klaas were filled. Well, now I fill in that role in my own home for my own kids but I also like to send a package to my Mom for her shoe. This little wallhanging was in the package this year.
As for my shoe this year ... my DH snuck in a lovely chocolate treat and the December issue of Quilters Newsletter. Isn't he a sweetheart. :0)

progress

I am still working away on Christmas gifts. I thought I could safely post this table runner. (its for a non blog reader) It is now ready to be quilted. Can anyone spot the mistakes in the piecing? I decided they added charm and so I left them. :0)
I wish I could figure out how to take better pictures of the quilty things I post. If only I could add that to my Christmas wish list....
Happy Quilting!

used up quilt

I've been thinking about how I use the quilts I have made. Yesterday I was at a little gathering of quilters and someone held up a beautiful queensize quilt and remarked that they wouldn't think of sleeping under it - that it was just for show. I thought of this old quilt - made by my grandmother in the 1940's.
This was the quilt on my bed when I was a very small child (in the 1970's) it was old and used already then. When I was 5 years old I decided I wanted a comforter and so (horrifying confession) my little sister and I found spots in the quilt top that were worn through - small holes I guess you would call them - and we used a coat hanger end to rip (I can hardly bear to type this) the patches through thinking that if the old quilt was ruined then my mom would buy us a new comforter. Well I was wrong. My grandmother came to visit, bought a new, patterned sheet and sewed it over the now ruined top of the quilt and tied it through the layers. I slept under this quilt until I got married (1997). By now it was the back and the edges that were in tatters. I put it away - it was an old friend and I wasn't going to part with it.
Last year my parents came to visit and we got talking about Grandma's quilts. I have 3 other quilts made by her but I could not recall the pattern on this quilt so I removed the sheet and revealed this old, used up, worn out, faded "Nancy's Nosegay" quilt. Handpieced, hand quilted, made from scraps of my aunt's skirts and Grandma's dresses and some new bits. My dad remembered her making this quilt when he was young. What do I do with it now? Around the edges are blocks with no damage - I could salvage them and do something with them...
This next quilt is one I made for daughter #2. She's been using it for 5 years now. Every night when I tuck her in - I look at the quilt and appreciate the fabric, the pinwheels ect... I love that I can tuck her in under a quilt I made for her myself. The other day I discovered she had colored one of the flowers in the fabric with a purple marker. (serves me right after what I did to my grandmother's quilt!)
To sum up. I make quilts to be used. In my home, we all sleep under the quilts I have sewn. One day they may look like the tattered old quilt at the top. But I'm okay with that - It just gives me the excuse to make another new quilt. :0)
Happy Quilting!!

Christmas sewing

I've been doing lots of sewing but not much that I can post. I've been busy working on Christmas gifts for various people and well ... I want things to be a surprise - so I'll have to wait to post pictures.

I did manage to finish one more Christmas stocking. I had appliqued a pair of green mittens onto it but found it was just too busy so took them off. Now, even though I really like pinwheels, it seems a bit plain. Oh well, I'm hoping to get at least one more stocking made before Christmas so I can get rid of the cheap fuzzy ones we've been using.

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Friendship Star

I finished piecing Marcie's free Christmas pattern. With 152 HST's (thank goodness for triangle paper) there was a lot of squaring up to do. :0)
It was a fun project and I am happy with how it turned out. I think I may put a border or 2 on it yet - I'm still deciding. I simply must get this quilted in time for Christmas decorating!
Happy quilting!

Sunbonnet Sue times 2

I did get the costume finished in time for Halloween. Daughter #2 was very happy with her Kirsten (American Girl) costume. Here she is posing with DD#1 in her Little House on the Prairie costume from last year. They didn't pose long - they got cold feet. :0)

This picture made me think of the cute Sunbonnet Sue blocks on Cristina's blog http://cri68.blogspot.com If you scroll down far enough she has a different Sunbonnet Sue block for nearly every month. I enjoy her blog very much. I only wish I could read it - I think it is in Italian.

stockings

I am feeling inspired after seeing Libby's stockings on her blog http://simplylibby.blogspot.com/
I have a goal to make a quilted stocking for each person in my family. Last year I managed to get these 2 made to match my tree skirt. If I can get 2 made this year then I'll only need to make 2 more next year and I'll be done.

My quilting guild learned to make these cute little bags this week. I made a handle for mine, and then forgot to sew it on - opps!
My DH has his truck engine all apart in the garage - putting in a new head gasket or something ... I should have a little more time to sew this week which is good because I promised to sew daughter #2 a halloween costume. She is very into the American Girl books/dolls and wants to dress up like Kirsten from 1854. Last year I made a Little House on the Prairie costume for daughter #1 so this will be my second go at making this pattern.
I am happy to work with nice - easy to sew cotton fabric and am relieved she didn't want a fairy or a mermaid costume :0)
Marcie at http://patchalotmore.blogspot.com has her new free Christmas pattern ready to go. I really like it - I'm hoping to get started on it this weekend. As always, so many sewing projects - so little time...

trying new batting

After handquilting through Warm and Natural on my last quilt I was ready to try some different batting. This time I have Heirloom 80/20 cotton /polyester batting. So far its okay - I thought it would be a lot better. I think I'll try at least one other type of batting before basting up my 4 block applique quilt. Any suggestions??
Happily this project will keep me busy for awhile - I just have to have some portable handwork on the go! - at all times :0)
Happy Thanksgiving !

pumpkins

With Canadian Thanksgiving just a couple of weeks away I'm happy to have this little pillow finished to display. This project also comes from the UFO pile. 2 years ago I bought it as a kit and did the wool pumpkins and the blanket stitching (the fun part) and this week I finally got to the rest.


I'm happy I pulled this out because now I see I have lots of leftover orange felted wool to make snowman noses with :>)
This was the first kit that I ever bought (a Terry Morberg pattern again) - I couldn't resist the striped binding cut on the bias. In fact, in my stash I have striped fabric that I've bought intending to bind quilts that I haven't even planned yet. I'd better get sewing... :)
Happy quilting!

4 block applique

I haven't been quilting much this week as my parents have been here visiting. Last night I did get the last 2 borders sewn on this applique quilt. I had finished the borders months ago - I don't know why I didn't sew them on immediately. I suspect this quilt will sit in the UFO pile again for a bit while I work up the courage to hand quilt it.
I thought I'd show a bit of a closer view of the block design. I thought it would be easier to applique on smaller background pieces so I pieced the blocks from 4 finished 9 inch sections with 1/4 of the design on each. I'm not sure it was a good idea - I have seams in my blocks now but that's how I learn - trial and error! :0)
It is an original design inspired by an antique quilt made around 1860 in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln collection. This picture is from a book but its on their website too. I LOVE to look at antique quilts for inspiration!

So now I need to get a new applique project started soon.... LOL

Happy Quilting!

dust cover

The first weekend in September I bought this little table to sit in my room by the window. I was very happy with the size and the shape and I like the little glass knobs. However, after a couple days I noticed that since this table is black it ALWAYS looks dusty. This would not do - and so, since I like sewing better than dusting ...
I made a dust cover (sort of) This little table topper is made of simple 2 inch blocks, quilted, and then cut into an oval shape.

Now I can enjoy my little table and not worry about a little dust :)
Happy Quilting!

a bit of this and that

Since finishing my last quilt I haven't really accomplished much. I made some small stars with a border - I have no idea where this project is going.



I also got started on this snowman pattern.
And I finally found a store selling Moda's Prairie Paisley line of fabric. I was very excited and bought a bunch of small pieces and some bigger bits too. I have been looking for this line all summer. I came very close to ordering it online but having never done that before I was a bit scared to try. I'm glad to have finally found it close to home. What I really want to do is get handquilting again. I know there is a UFO or 2 that I could get going on - I just need to find a big enough block of time to thread baste something.

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post :)

Happy quilting!

I finally finished Lucy's geese

I put the last stitch into this quilt this morning and I am so pleased to have it finished so I can use it.
This quilt was inspired by Lucy of http://lucyquilting.blogspot.com/.
I found her blog about a year and a half ago and just loved it. I read every post back to 2005. I enjoy her blog so much, her quilts are all so very lovely and inspiring. Her Dec 27,2005 post had directions for this lovely 6 inch block with flying geese in it. I ran right out and bought the ruler I needed for it and got started.

When it came time to quilt it I just knew I had to handquilt it. I thought it would take forever to do but only 2 months later it is finished. It is the first quilt of this size that I have handquilted but it won't be the last. I enjoyed the handquilting of it just as much as the piecing.
So today I experimented with taking pictures of it - in the sun, in the shade... with my garden (you can just see my favorite foxgloves in the background :o)
This will be its resting spot for now. Here in my bedroom I can cozy up under it when reading a book, quilting magazine, or just dreaming...
Thank you Lucy! for all your inspiration - I just loved making this quilt.

handquilting

I'm working away on the handquilting of a lapsize quilt - I'm getting close to finishing. I'm quite excited about it - it is by far the largest project that I have handquilted.

The 3 pictures here are the other projects I have quilted by hand. The first one was for a fabric challenge with my quilting guild. The paisley fabric was the challenge fabric. I designed this little wallhanging and used it as the background fabric. Technically it is a UFO as it sits in the pile waiting for... a hanging sleeve :)














This second one is a table topper I made as a project with my guild.

This last one hangs in my kitchen. I love the scalloped borders. I want to put a scalloped border on a big quilt someday. I don't think any quilting is visable in any of these pictures - I need to experiment a bit with lighting when taking pictures for this blog.



Have a great long weekend!

baby quilts

I was away this past week. I took my kids to visit my parents in Kelowna BC. I didn't get much sewing done so I thought I'd post pictures of my first 3 crib quilts.

This first one is my very first quilt. I made it 9 years ago with cardboard templates and I cut the triangles out with scissors. I machine quilted it without a walking foot and the fabric content is questionable. However, I was hooked and have been quilting ever since.

I had a bit more experience when I made this quilt. You might think that I have a family of boys from looking at these quilts but these first 2 quilts are for my first 2 daughters. I never wanted to find out the gender of my babies until they were born - but I did want the crib quilt to be ready.




This quilt I made after my son was born. I had been saving the Noah's ark fabric for awhile and fussy cut the star centres. The animals don't show well in this picture so I've included a close up of one of the blocks.


Crib quilt #4 for my youngest daughter is in my second post so I won't put that picture in again. All
along my DH wanted to know the gender of the babies and so with pregancy #4 he got to have his way :) and I got to make a pretty pink crib quilt at last. And yeah - I mean last!

fast finish

Hello!
I finished the kit that I bought on Tuesday. The instant gratification of this little project makes me want to make more cute little things. I'm happy with how it turned out, however, my bird is looking the wrong way. Instead of fusing the bird I needle turn appliqued it and forgot to reverse the pattern peice - opps :)

I think maybe I'll make somthing a similar size with a pumpkin on it for fall. I'm sure Terry Morberg of www.applepatchdesigns.com will come up with another lovely little pattern to make.

4 year old ideas

So I dropped off my 2 oldest at daycamp today and I asked my 4 year old son what should we do and he suggests... "Let's go to the quilting store" what a great idea!! What a little sweetheart. (he likes going because they have good toys)

Well I found the perfect snowman fabric for a winter project. (not that I'm thinking about winter or anything) I can't get a picture to show the cute little faces on the snowmen - but its perfect. Its from Andover Fabrics.

A cute little summer kit hopped into my arms too (and I never buy kits) - from Applepatch designs. Terry Morberg makes such great patterns. I'll have to whip it up quick 'cause summer won't last much longer.

The other picture is of a UFO I pulled out to work on this weekend. There were 12 blocks initially but it just wasn't what I wanted. I did the applique this spring and put it in instead of 3 of the blocks. It still needs a border. The applique in progress is in my blog header. I was working on it at a lake overlooking the mountains and couldn't resist taking a picture to remember a lovely quiet evening of stitching. My DH was out fishing with the kids.

I just can't get these pictures to go where I want them - arg!!

still learning

Now that I got my first post together I want to figure out how to link to other blogs. I thought I'd post a picture of another table topper I made recently - for Christmas. The free pattern is from Marcie's wonderful blog. http://patchalotmore.blogspot.com/

The other picture is of my lastest finish - a crib quilt for my youngest little darling. I haven't finished anything else since then because I am hand quilting a lapsized quilt and its slow going.

1st Post

I have to confess I have been enjoying other people's quilting blogs for a long long time. So now, even though I really don't have time for it, I think I'm going to start one too. So welcome to my first post!

I think it may take me awhile to figure it all out. I'm going to try to put in a picture - I'll start with this small table topper I made for my Mom recently. The pattern is from the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Quilt Sampler.