Pink and Brown Quilts

Reilly's quilt is one of my pink and brown quilts, but I have recently finished another one that I haven't mentioned here. Awhile back the Senior Center quilting group that I lead started making some lap-size quilts using strips and the quilt-as-you-go technique. It took me longer to finish mine than it did the rest of the ladies, but I finally got mine finished and gave it to the Center to put in their shop to sell. Here it is finished and here is a close-up of one corner Here is photo of the back of the quilt . It is always good to learn at least one thing with each project - one of the things I learned with this one is how to make rounded corners. That required me to review how to do a continuous bias binding. I especially like the way a stripe fabric looks in a bias binding, so was pleased with the way this turned out. I cut many more strips than needed however, so could probably make another one without cutting any more fabric. Instead I will just add them to my collection of strips of different widths for another project. This was the same process that we used for the table runners we were taught at Retreat this year, just a different size, and with sashing added. I really like it as a quick to do quilt.
Working on this project also prompted me to investigate walking feet. I have never been happy with the one that came with my Brother CS6000i, so just didn't use it much, but these seams were pretty thick so I contacted a Brother dealer to see if there was a different foot I could get. He said that if my foot did not say "Brother" on it then it probably wasn't a Brother one, and my original one did not, so I ordered one from him, and it seems to be doing much better.
Yesterday I started quilting Reilly's quilt - my first pink and brown quilt. Here are the 4 blocks I've done so far. On the right you can still see the marking pen I use to trace the stencil design, but I will spray it tonight with some water and it will go away. I am outlining the individual sections of the pink and brown sections, and will be alternating the two stencil designs for the cream sections.

Decision on Reilly's Quilt

I am GA still tonight - I'll be driving back home from McDonough tomorrow - about 9 hours if I don't make any wrong turns!! Tonight Kristi and Micheal and I decided that we like the one border on Reilly's quilt I brought several possible fabrics, including the one they thought they wanted as the outside border, but when I laid it out in Reilly's room we all agreed on this - just one wide border of the brown polka dots; I'll use that as the backing too. I also had some stencils for the cream sections that I showed Kristi, she is leaving it up to me to pick between 4 of the 7 I showed her. Knowing me, I will probably practice with a couple of them at least before I decide. I think in the pink/brown areas I will just outline the sections. I did more of a quilting design in Lillian's but you can't really tell what it is, so I think I will do something more simple for this one.

I have had a great time visiting with all our GA kids and all of our grandkids. I left home last Wednesday afternoon, went to Johnson City, TN to stay with my mom that night, then on to McDonough on Thursday. Friday afternoon I went to Marietta, stayed there Friday and Saturday nights, then Sunday afternoon came back to McDonough. I really miss hubby though, and hope that he can come with me on my next visit here. We'll be here for Christmas, but I hope we'll be back before then.

Yoyo Bunnies, Fabric Baskets and a Sudoku Board

I have been working on making some yoyo bunnies - this one is completed and ready to give to Reba, our oldest granddaughter, later this week. I made a quilt for her out of some of these fabrics about 2 years ago. The fabric basket is one of the 6 fabric baskets I have made so far - here it is with some of the others. Starting on the left, #'s 1, 2, and 4 are for granddaughters and they all coordinate with quilts I have made or am making. The one in the middle coordinates with a table runner that I am giving to one of my daughters this week. I had given two of these baskets to the granddaughters earlier this year, but then I agreed to do a workshop on them for the guild, so I borrowed them back to use in the workshop. I am hoping to have the second bunny done by the time I see them on Friday. They take about 60 yoyos each, so not a real quick project!

For some time now I have had in the back of my head the idea that I wanted to make a Sudoku board using fabric pieces in some way that could actually be played. Eventually I came up with this idea I've used Velcro in each square, on the back of each fabric square and as strips on the sides to hold the pieces I've not used yet. I wanted some way to make "pencil marks" - and finally came up with the idea of just cutting out little pieces of each of the 9 fabrics. I made this on muslin with 1/4" fusible bias tape for the major lines. Each of the playing pieces is 2 squares of fabric sewn together with a piece of batting in the middle and frayed edges all around. It remains to be seen how long the playing pieces last, but I could always make more. The 9 fabrics I used are all from quilts I've made. In the middle is a 20" x 40" display board, so it can be folded up if I want. I set up the board by using any Sudoku puzzle, then see how far I can get.

Reilly's quilt and some table runners

As usual when I start a new blog entry, I wonder where to start. I have been working on several projects since my last posting. My newest granddaughter Reilly's quilt - the Squarin' Around that I mentioned in my last entry - is now ready for some borders. Here is the center - and a couple of possible borders - I am going to GA again next week and will take the center and the possible borders with me for her parents to help me decide what to use for the borders. I think the brown with cream dots will be the backing. I'm sure I have thought this before, but I really do think this was the hardest quilt to piece that I have ever done. I like the way it turned out -- but not sure I would want to try it again!

Last spring our guild had a workshop on quilt-as-you-go table runners. I have finally finished 2 - one I started in the workshop and one that I did while helping the Senior Center ladies learn how. Here are the two of them and here they are with the backing showing. When the piecing is finished all you have to do is add the binding. These have been very popular at our guild recently - one lady recently showed 13 she had made!

Honorable Mention

Our guild had a show July 14-18 and I entered 4 of my quilts - Fallen Leaves , BargelloBowl , Simplified Log Cabin and Say it With Flowers . Much to my surprise I got an Honorable Mention ribbon for the Say it With Flowers. I entered it in the handquilted category - I made it for my mom in '06-'07. I think it was the second handquilted one that I have finished. The comments from the judge were interesting. She thought my triangle points need improvement, and that my handquilting needed to be more consistent in size and space between - I thought the points were pretty darn good, and it was only my 2nd handquilted piece so I thought it was pretty good. She did like the theme fabric and felt the colors were well coordinated - I should give all credit to the fabric designer -- this was a kit that I bought so all the fabrics were in one collection from Northcott I think. She did like the checkerboard border - I was pleased with the way it turned out, and it was easier than I thought it would be. She also said "Excellent handling of difficult binding fabric choice - very good binding corners." That was satisfying because it was hard to do - the binding is a strip of the fabric that has a rope design that I used as the top of the binding and right beside that are some strips that show up on the binding on the back - so it was nice that she noticed that. It is instructive to get the judge's comments, but you need a bit of a thick skin. The important thing for me remains to be that I make quilts that I like, in fabrics that I like, that suit the person I am making them for if that is the purpose. My mom says she likes this quilt - and it will shortly be back in her living room - although this morning I was wrapped up in it a bit while working on this blog entry. It was a cool and foggy morning in central VA - a typical August morning that reminds us that summer is fading.

Recent Encounters with Quilters

In the last 6 weeks or so I have been out of town 4 times - Beach Week for our family the 2nd week in June, a 5-day cruise with DH's brother's family the last week in June, a great-nephew's christening July 11-12, and now I am in GA to help middle daughter with her new baby daughter. I am feeling like I will never get caught up on email, blogs, Yahoo groups, etc. However, I have a quilting friend who is way busier than I am and she posts blog entries much more frequently (EH, you know who you are), so I am finally posting a contribution to Blogland.

In the last few weeks I have had two encounters with Quilters - Capital "Q" because both of them have published patterns that I have used or had some relationship to. First of all, a few weeks back I had a whole Friday all to myself - doesn't seem like such a big deal for a retiree, but trust me, it is! I wanted to get some serious work done on new granddaughter's quilt. Her parents picked out Squarin' Around after looking at hundreds of patterns that I showed them in books, magazines, and my stash of singles. We finally settled on some of the fabrics from the "Backporch Bouquet" collection from Maywood Studios, with other fabrics added in. I made a few blocks, which don't look anything like I thought they would when I looked at the pattern, and took them to the beach with us so they could see what I had done so far. We tweaked the fabric selection a bit so I was ready to roll the Friday after the beach trip. I cut out enough pieces to get started on and began sewing them together, did the trimming of the blocks, etc -- and had real trouble getting them to come out right. Such trouble that I felt like I could only use about 10 of the first 20 blocks I made. By the afternoon I was wondering what my problem was, and what I could do differently and was getting pretty frustrated and worried. In desparation I googled the designer of the pattern - Karla Alexander - to see if I could find a link or email address for her. I did find her listed on a webpage with a place to send her an email message. So I did that, describing my problem. As I was thinking about which of my MANY UFO's I wanted to work on while I waited to hear from her in the next few days my phone rings - and it is Karla!! This was not more than 5 minutes after I pressed "Send!!" She said she had just turned on her computer and saw my message so thought she would just give me a call. She gave me some good advice about the situation and encouraged me to continue. I am still amazed that she responded so quickly. Too bad she lives in Oregon and I live in VA - I am the Program Co-chair for my guild and I'd suggest her in a heartbeat for a program but I don't think our program budget could swing airfare for a trip from Oregon!

A couple of weeks ago I had a message from Christine Thresh, who designed the Going Around in Circles Again quilt that our daughter Allie made for the niece of her employers. She was very complimentary of Allie's work on the quilt and we emailed back and forth a couple of times. I was happy to hear the compliments, and gladly forwarded her messages to Allie. Pretty cool!

Catching Up for the Last Two Months!

I HAVE been quilting during the last 2 months, just not blogging about it. I finished the "Simplified Log Cabin" a few weeks back and last week I went to GA to see our kids and grands and also to take a class in using the Handiquilter at A Scarlet Thread in McDonough. After taking the class I rented time on the machine for the rest of that day and most of the next day. During that time I was able to get a comfort quilt done that I started 2 years ago - as well as my "Simplified Log Cabin" and the "BargelloBowl" that I pieced on Super Bowl Sunday 2008 (a Bonnie Hunter project) These last 2 will stay at our house - I am hoping to get them bound and labelled in time to put them in the quilt show our guild has in July. I learned a lot from Kathy, the Handiquilter teacher at A Scarlet Thread, and had fun using the machine. Thanks so much to Wendy for helping me out when I had little boo-boos! I am not planning to buy one anytime soon as I have no room for it, but it sure does allow this hand-quilter to get some tops done more quickly!

Our guild had a retreat 2 weeks ago. It was held at the Virginia Horse Center in town, but it still felt like a get-away with 20+ quilting friends. Friday we had a class taught by Augusta Cole about making what she called Batik Beauty. We made 9-patch blocks to look like half-square triangles and saw various ways to assemble them. I have 9 blocks made so far and am thinking that I will put them together like this - The picture of the red and white quilt is in Karen Combs' Combing Through Your Scraps - called Star Puzzle. I took a class from Karen Combs thru Quilt University 4 years ago when I first got back into quilting - it was called Combing Through Your Scraps, but at that time I didn't realize she had a book by that name. I never finished that quilt, but I did learn a lot from her. We all enjoyed Augusta's class, as well as her lecture on tips the following morning, and hope she will come back for a guild meeting next year. One of the most helpful things she showed us was how to use Eleanor Burns' Triangle Square Up Ruler - a great ruler for squaring up HST's! And most of us bought one from her too!

Saturday afternoon at our retreat one of our members showed us how to make a folded log cabin square using iron-on templates from Foldy Stuff. Here are the two I have done so far - It is fun to do, and goes pretty fast once you have your strips cut. Of course it took me longer than most of the others because I was trying to use different fabrics in each block, or at least putting the fabrics in different places - typical of the way I seem to do things -- making them more difficult than is wise! A few of my quilting friends were surprised that I was using colors that were not blue and yellow, but I have lots of black/white and white/black fabrics left from the quilt I made for Lillian.

I am the program co-chair for the guild for the next two years. We are planning a challenge for our ladies that will begin in June. I don't want to give anything away in case some of them are reading this - but here is a picture of the pieces of a block that is involved in the challenge - More to follow in mid-June!