courthouse steps finish

Today is my DD#2's birthday. It seems fitting that tonight she can sleep under her new quilt.   



 

 It took me a very long time to machine quilt this quilt.  It is SO heavy with seams and with the Warm and Natural batting inside.  The time was spent in the procrastinating not exactly at the machine. 

 I was going to try to free motion quilt this quilt but in the end I stitched in the ditch  - about 1/2 of the ditches - I figured that was enough quilting.  I am really happy with how the feathered border turned out.  It shows up better than I thought it would.

It looks great on her bed.  It's 104 inches long and tucks in really far - this quilt won't be coming untucked in the middle of the night.  No cold toes  :0)

Happy Quilting!!

corn and beans- finished!

It's been a very busy week.  I took these pictures on Monday afternoon and just haven't had time to post.

I started my Corn and Beans quilt back in January of 2009.  It is now finished in May of 2013.

 



 The first setback was deciding on a border.  I had planned a pieced border but never got started on it.

 After a while in the ufo pile I decided on an appliqued border.  I'm glad I did because it's my favorite part of the quilt.

 Then I couldn't decide how to quilt it.  I wanted to handquilt the border but not the pieced center.  I would have machine quilted it but I didn't know what to do in the border.  This time it sat in the ufo pile a long time.

 

I basted it for handquilting  in Dec and I'm glad I did.  It's not my best handquilting -I found the center was challenging.  But, it is now finished, it is soft and cuddly and I look forward to using it when I get it back after the show.  It only took 5 months to quilt in contrast to the year and 5 months it took to machine quilt the Courthouse steps quilt. I find handquilting so much more fun and relaxing  than machine quilting! 

I hope to post the Courthouse steps quilt this weekend.  The Heritage Park quilt show is on Saturday - I can't wait!  I wish the weather forecast was better -it may have to be indoors.  But, there are over 800 quilts in the show and DD#1 even put one in this year :0)

 

Happy Quilting!!



sneak peak

I haven't been posting lately but a whole lot of sewing has been going on.  Next Tuesday I need to deliver the 2 quilts I have entered to be in the annual outdoor quilt show.  Ask me if they are finished yet?  :0)   These are the two quilts.  I have every expectation that they will be finished in time.

 Last night I quilted the year and my initials into my Corn and Beans quilt.  It`s a bit hard to see in the hst`s but it`s there as a surprise for anyone who looks closely.

This quilt I have been machine quilting.  It`s a big heavy monster and I can`t wait to be finished.  DD2 has been patiently waiting for months for this to be done.  On Mother`s Day I found a few hours to do the free motion feathers I wanted in the border.  They don`t show up too well either as the border print is busy but, I know they`re there  :0)
I should be back next week with 2 finishes!
Happy Quilting!!

no border yet...

Thanks for your comments to help me choose a border.  I appreciate your ideas about the choices.  I thought I had decided...  Maybe next week I'll get back to it  :0)

I did get a bit sidetracked. Tim Latimer posted a collection of fabulous antique blocks that he is assembling.  The block name is Solomon's Temple.

 

I just loved his blocks and had to make one.  What fun!  Pieced together they form a great secondary design.  I don't know how many I will make but there will definitely be more!!  

 

Happy Quilting!!

decision, decisions...

I am having trouble choosing border fabric for this runner.  I have lots of the blue and I found the green at the LQS today.  Originally I was going to use a fairly solid peach but it was too strong and took over the blocks.

I was hoping to be using this runner by now.  I would be most grateful if you would tell me what you think.  Which border fabric would you choose?

I thought after taking pictures of the options I would be able to decide as that sometimes can help. 
I hope you get a chance to do some stitching this weekend  :0)
Happy Quilting!!

quilting retreat - yahoo!

I got away for the weekend on a quilting retreat with my quilt guild.  We stayed at a hotel in Canmore in the mountains.  The facility was wonderful and I look forward to going again!

 

I worked on some more blocks for my signature quilt that I started only 3 years ago... :0)  There is no rush.  I have yet to decide how I will set them and there are still some signatures to make blocks for. 

 

 I was hoping to finish this long, skinny table runner. I finished the blocks but once I  put in the setting triangles the border fabric I had thought I would use just didn't look right.  Maybe later this week I can get back to it.

 

There were wonderful door prizes!  The guild member who put the door prizes together had made these pincushions to put in some.  I think they are very fun!  There were lots of other lovely handmade gifts in the bags.

Here are the contents of my door prize.  The tea towel is beautifully appliqued - almost too pretty to use.  There is a little fabric roll with pockets to store extra notions and a little kit for a Christmas ornament and other goodies :0)

 

 It was such a relaxing weekend of sewing with friends.  We also popped over to the quilt shop in town.  I was elated to find border fabric for my Bird of Paradise quilt.  I also found Quilters Dream Request batting.  I have heard many hand quilters love this batting but I have never been able to find it.  I can't wait to try it in my next hand quilting project.  It is so soft and thin - I think it will needle beautifully.
I had brought fabric to start something new but resisted and spent the last few hours hand quilting on my Corn and Beans quilt from last post.  It is progressing well for my end of May deadline.

The weather was cold, windy and snowy while we were there but when we went to load up our cars to go home this was the view from the hotel doorway.  So beautiful in the sunshine!!

 

Happy Quilting!!

Harmony top

Lori shared such a charming antique doll quilt on her blog this week.  I loved it right away.  It had such marvelous variety of fabrics and whimsical piecing.  It really struck me as a project a child could have made learning to sew.  Lori decided a few days later to host a quiltalong to reproduce this little quilt and I could not resist. 

 It was fun to pull fabrics from my stash.  I decided to size the hst's a bit larger than Lori's instructions. I took care to carefully study the color combinations and orientation of the hst's and I copied it as closely as I could with what I had at home. 

 I found myself wondering if this end result was what the maker had in mind.  If somehow some of the pieces got turned around and the maker - loathe to take stitches out - just kept on going  :0)  Sometimes when making a reproduction I want to "fix" what I perceive as "mistakes" however, then in my eyes the finish inevitably loses the charm of the original.   I am eager to handquilt this little top and throw it in the wash - hoping to capture the worn, used look of the original.  But...  I don't want to lose momentum on this big quilt I am handquilting.

 I debated for a while how to quilt the border of this quilt.  I wanted to echo quilt the vine but after consideration decided that quilting would be too dense compared to the center.  I took it to my guild meeting and liked the idea a friend suggested to do clamshells in the border.  In the end I decided it could be difficult to mark them and execute the corners so I opted for boring old diagonal lines.  It is going quickly and I hope to finish before the annual outdoor quilt show in late May. 

Although lines seem boring - they are fun to quilt  :0)  No pesky seams to go through.

 

So the little Harmony top will have to wait.  I do need to remember it though, when I get this bigger quilt finished.  I love to participate in Lori's quiltalongs but I've only actually finished one of the quilts...

Happy Quilting!!