Midnight stars

We had a very cold, snowy weekend and I managed to make good progress on Lori's Quiltalong quilt.
I was delighted with these little stars. I think if I hadn't had the corner triangles made already I'd have been tempted to just make a quilt of these simple stars.

The stars quickly became these blocks.

Some setting squares and triangles and...

A finished little top. :0) Thanks Lori!! This was such a fun little project. These blocks are so cute - I just love them. I'm hoping I can find time to start quilting it this week yet.

Happy Quilting!!

I've been away

I can't believe how long its been since I last posted! We went for a family holiday to Hawaii to escape some of our long winter. Lots of time went into getting ready to go and now after I have lots to catch up on. It was lovely and relaxing while we were there.
I worked on my applique blocks in the evenings. I finished up this block for my Bird of Paradise quilt.
I dramatically changed the birds. Following Susi's idea I made the "big pink pig birds" as she called them, into bluebirds. They look much more cheerful I think.

I laid out my first 6 blocks to see how they look so far. (They are in no particular order) These blocks are so fun to applique! I have a good start on the next block - block #1.

I am sadly way behind on Lori's Quiltalong. Here is what I have so far. Maybe this weekend I can catch up.

I found this book at the library to take along on my trip. I'm not a Mormon but I sure enjoyed this book. There are some wonderful antique quilts in it and with each quilt there are stories about the women who made them. Some of the stories are heartbreaking. I'm glad I didn't live in the 1800's!

I find myself drawn to the antique quilts with Trapunto in them. I'm going to look around and see if I can take a class and learn this technique. I still want to take a handquilting class too. So much to learn... at least I'm never bored. lol

Happy Quilting!!

top finished - on to the next one

In anticipation of Lori's quiltalong starting today, I finished this top up last night.
Because I resized the blocks I also had to resize the borders. I think the proportion is okay. For me this quilt is all about the fabric. So much color and so much pattern :0)

I would like to quilt this by hand but at 34 inches square it will take some time away from the 4 block applique quilt I'm currently working on so I may just machine quilt it to get it done.

My DH spoiled me again at Christmas with this book. The pictures are fabulous!!

Happy Quilting!!

a gift given

It was a very busy Christmas. A houseful of people for 6 days and lots of kids running around having fun. I've never hosted a major family holiday before and I'm happy it went well.
This little table topper kept me busy for a couple weeks in November. It was a gift for someone in my guild. So I can now post about it.
It looked so nice on my table with my gingerbread man it was tempting to keep it :0)

I decided I wanted to quilt it by hand. It was a fun little break from working on my 4 block applique quilt.

Maybe I'll make one for myself for next Christmas. I'll need to find more of that red stripe I used in the binding though - I just love that part.

Happy Quilting!!

A really good surprise!

It's getting close to Christmas! I hope I'll be ready :0) This little guy was the first of my Christmas sewing this year. I made one for myself and a couple more to give away. A fun little project.
Last night I stitched on the last applique piece on this block. It now needs embroidery. Quite a bit of embroidery. I'm not sure about starting in on it but I'm worried that if I don't do some - I'll end up with 25 blocks all needing some embroidery which will overwhelm me and cause the project to become a ufo.

I made a couple changes again. I took out the butterfly and replaced it with a leaf. I changed the feet a bit to make them easier. I decided after much careful study of the original block (shown here) that the brown shape in the top left might be a hummingbird so I tried to draw it more like the original. These birds get a whole lot of embroidery on their heads yet. Do I need to put something on the back to stabilize the background fabric?

A few days ago I was mixing up a batch of sugar cookies for DD#1 to take to school for her class Christmas party. The doorbell rang and when I answered the door there was a package for me from Carrie. I was so surprised!!

She very thoughtfully included a little something for each of my kids - they were so happy. And what a lovely assortment of things for me - an ornament, some fabric, a charm pack cut into circles and 2 cookie cutters! What a cute little vintage gingerbread man cutter.

Within 10 minutes of the package arriving I was putting that little guy to good use :0) I needed 25 trees for school and there was just enough leftover dough for 4 little men. They are SO cute. Thanks Carrie for your marvelous surprise package - it made my day! However did she managed to get the postal system to so perfectly time a cross continent delivery??

Happy Quilting!!

crosshatching

I've been quilting away on this applique quilt in the evenings. I finished the center going one way and now I am going back the other way. Progress is slow but it's still progress.
I know I will do something different in the borders. Something with feathers I think :0) I really enjoyed quilting the feathers on my 9 patch quilt. I'm not looking forward to quilting the hst border - it's thick with seams but will need something I think.

I got some excellent new books for my birthday on the weekend. My Mom and DH know what I like to read. There are some gorgeous, unusual quilts in the West Virginia book and I must be disciplined and not start any new projects until I finish a few. :0)
Happy Quilting!!

more Christmas sewing

I finished my 4th block for my Bird of Paradise quilt.
This block was a lot of fun to stitch. I wanted a red urn so I decided to

put pears on the table instead of apples. I opted for an extra flower instead of a butterfly in the lower right corner. I do like butterflies - I'm not entirely sure why I'm leaving them out of this quilt, but I am.

I have been doing some sewing for Christmas too. My guild was making this table runner with a different method for curves that I hadn't tried before. I'm still at the piecing stage. I am changing the pattern and still have some setting decisions to make.

As you can (hopefully) see the flying geese units are 3 dimensional. In theory they get stitched down to make curves. Some of the seams are very bulky and I've been thankful for my Featherweight machine which sews over the bulk easily. I'll have to stick to it to get this project finished before Christmas. I would like to as I am hosting Christmas for my side of the family this year and it will be the first time we're really home for Christmas. So, I'm thinking I'd like a few more more decorations. There's still time yet... right?? :0)

Happy Quilting!!