Happy 2012 to all and to all a great year!!

Merry Christmas

quilting

Last week I quilted 2 quilts for a friend of a friend!! She had made them for her 5 and 7 year old daughters. They are cute, made from all children's prints. Easy pattern but turned out so cute. I did a loose feathers pantograph that I liked. I have quilted some other items, but I have misplaced my camera. I hope santa's elves locate it!!! I am using one of my husband's camera that has way too many buttons for me.

Thankful

Thankful for family, friends , fun and shopping!! Yesterday, we went to the Christmas Carousel Show (love the crafts) in Raleigh NC...I always find something to buy and lots that I wish I had room for! We always go eat Chinese (at the Food Court in Cary Towne Mall...it was a bit crowded...did not go in any stores there. Then to my favorite store JoAnn's Fabrics ( I was armed with coupons!) Got a cutting number as I went in and by the time I had selected what I wanted, it was my turn. I got some great deals...one a Christmas apron panel...orginally $11.99...I got for a $1.45!! It was the end of bolt!! The checkout line went fast.  By the time my husband was thru at Home Depot, I was ready to go. Ate the leftovers from Thanksgiving...I LOVE leftovers...just as good as on Thanksgiving. Have not started the Bonnie Hunter blocks, but the second step is string blocks...so I will start them...I love sewing them.

New Project

I decided to start Bonnie Hunter's new mystery...Orca Bay. I hope to get started this morning afternoon...I am getting ready to leave the house to hit a few local church bazaars. I love handcrafted items!! Of course, there will be delicious goodies to buy and munch on!!!

Ramblings

Been busy lately doing quilty/nonquilty things, but still good or fun things...collecting food items for food baskets, raking leaves, taught last quilting class last night for this year, raking leaves, quilting a quilt for one of the beginners in my class ( her first quilt), raking leaves, cutting 6 inch squares for a student's senior project (she needs 5000 to make throws for chemo patient ..(.And I have plenty of fabric that's not large enough for a project?or I don't know why I every bought that piece!!) raking leaves,cooking/freezing collards for Thanksgiving and Christmas...( always cook a huge pot and freeze some so as not to smell up house later!!!) raking leaves!!! Can you figure out we have lots of trees??? 7 Oaks, numerous dogwoods, and several Bradford Pear...the colors are beautiful and the leaves are pretty falling to the ground.
I also tried to enter Quiltmaker's magazine Treasure Hunt contest. I believe some of the sponsor's really do not have the contest button on their website!!! I spent time looking when I could have been RAKING LEAVES!!

Latest project

I decided to make the same quilt in fall colors. I love it. The

 background is a light beige color.

200 prairie points!!! I even found leaf buttons to use!!

I used the sewing machine to sew all the buttons!!

When I quilted it I had to be careful not to sew the prairie points down

and not to catch the sides of the trees. The quilting really makes the trees pop out.

Christmas Sampler quilt along

http://www.sewsweetness.com/2011/10/12-days-of-christmas-sampler-quilt.html

Christmas Sampler quilt along...it is on week 4, but the blocks are so cute and look very easy. I hope I have time to do these. Check it out.

Quilt show

The Mid Atlantic Quilt Fest is not until the end of February, and I'm already getting excited. A friend  ( that loves quilting and fabric as much as I do) decided we are going to take a class this time. It will be our third year going. Last year, we both bought long arm machines, AND we LOVE them!!! We looked over the classes and did the online registration...now we have to wait to see if we are in the class.
Now to get to work on the project I am working on.

Tablerunner

Front of tablerunner made using the Cotton Theory method of quilt as you go. It was fun. I had to adjust the size to fit the snowmen.

Back of tablerunner... I love the cardinals...they do not show up very well in the picture.

At least, I have it ready to put on the table in about a month!!! Christmas is fast approaching!!!

Christmas Tree Quilt

My Christmas quilt is finished...actually has been for a few weeks, but I've been busy.  It is so fun to make.  I should take a picture of the back...I just love Christmas fabric!! I found the pattern at www.modafabrics.com

This is a close up.

Now I am making one in fall leaves and fall colors...love it!!!

retreat

Our retreat was this past weekend....my hair looks like I stayed up too long!!! We were learning the Cotton Theory method of quilting as you go....I did get three sections done.  The decorative stitches look neat on the back. I hope to keep working on it until I finish it. We had fun sewing, shopping ( didn't miss any fabric shops), eating and a little sleep!

Remember when????

                                                                 www.modafabrics.com
While looking a free pattern on Moda's web page...I saw this picture of the wooden spools. I can truthfully say, " I remember when wooden spools  were the only type available". They were better than the plastic.

Latest project

Blocks for Christmas tree quilt

I found the pattern on the Moda page....I made 200 prairie points for it!!! I hope to put it together tomorrow.

Moda Blog hop

Looking for some creative ideas...then follow the Moda Blog Hop. I've really enjoyed the first two stops.
Here is the link for Moda..The Cutting Table

Quiz

Try this name the quilt block quiz from SewCalGal. I got 19 out of 30...I guess I need to read more quilt books and magazines!!!

Fall project

The above was made and shown at our guild meeting last night. Isn't it cute!! Vickie bought the pattern at the Hampton Quilt Fest back in February.

One Project Finished!!!

My Wounded Warrior quilt with stars quilting.I love the stars in the sashing ( super easy!!). It called Country Spirit...the pattern is from BOM. Look under the free patterns on left in the Quilts of Valor section.They have some nice free patterns.I like the way it turned out and have started one for my husband...same fabrics.

working

I have been quilting, but have no pics to show. I machine quilted a Wounded Warrior quilt and a Stack and Whack quilt for a friend...may I'll get photos when she binds them. I am also in the process of adding the binding for a Wounded Warrior quilt to turn in at tonight's Guild meeting...I better get with it!! HOT here in North Carolina...good sewing weather!!!

practice...practice...and more practice!!!

I have a quilt top I made last year with snowball and Irish chain blocks that I want to do feathers on. So, now I am in the process of becoming more consistent with them...I am practicing feathers that will go in triangles and also making round ones. I also have ordered a ruler base/extension table so I can stitch in the ditch on it too. That will mean More practice when that arrives. The quilt will be for me, BUT I hope it looks great when I finish it. I think I will soon be ready to take the big step.

Road trip!!!

Karen giving instructions to us

A Friend and I took a road trip to visit Karen Sievert ( She has a wonderful book,Better Together.) Karen taught at our quilt retreat last fall. She said she could teach us to do feathers in a day...so we set up a fun day. She was wonderful and we left knowing lots more about feathers than we knew when we arrived!! Some of ours looked pretty good.... She gave us lots of helpful hints. Of course, we are going to have to practice, practice, practice! The picture may be hard to see....this is one of mine.

Today's work

Today, with the help of my husband, I froze 18 dozen ears of corn. I cut most of it off the cob. This is all I plan to do for me, will help my daughter do hers. My husband & I are like hogs....we eat a lot of corn!!! Last year , we froze 30 dozen ears and ate it all!!! It has been so dry here, I was suprised when our neighbor called and said it was ready. It was perfect.
I had to take my midarm to the local Singer repair man...he sat down and fixed it in 10 minutes. I was having a tension problem( it was causing me a lot of tension!!) It was working great on one row of quilting and decided to do its own thing when I began the next row. He said the tension spring was out of place. I wonder if it was every in right...it worked!!!

Another Finished Project

I started making the blocks for this wounded warrior quilt several months ago...they are done on fabric softener sheets. I washed it twice . It is all patriotic fabrics...I had quite a few. The navy border helps calm it some.I will turn it in at the end of the month at our guild meeting. My husband liked it so I am looking at my stash to see what color combo I can do for him.

Latest quilt for Wounded Warriors

My guild sends quilts to Afghanistan to be used when wounded soldiers are sent out...this is the one I just finished. It is really rewarding to make these quilts ,for someone I'll never meet but who gives so much for our country. Happy Memorial Day to all...take time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom.

Latest Farmer's Wife Sampler block

Look at all the foundation pieces!! It's a puzzle to put together.

This is Darting Birds...it's a lot of triangles, but with foundation piecing, they are always perfect ( or almost, in my case.)

Back to work on the Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks!!!

Finally, I'm getting time to work on The Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt blocks...it has been awhile since I made any blocks. Today, I printed some of the foundation directions on muslin. I like sewing on it instead of paper...I don't have to rip paper out. I iron the muslin on freezer paper and it goes through my printer. I tested the first one I did to be sure the ink would not run. Time to get sewing. Yay!!!

Progress being made but no quilting going on!

I have worked this week on getting the attic cleaned up. We live in a ranch style house so the roof is low pitch....no standing room up there. I wanted to get it done before it got HOT! Here in NC, 80 plus humidity plus attic equals HOT!!! I should have sweated off some weight, but didn't. I got rid of lots of things that needed to go and have 4 big boxes of STUFF for the Habitat Restore...they love me. It looks so neat....now on to the upstairs in the garage...at least, we have lots of walking room there and will have more if we get rid of STUFF. It seems my husband thinks what should go is mine and I find it easy to get rid of his stuff!!!

I won!!

I entered Dawn's Quilt Corners  giveaway and won one of the fat quarter bundles shown above. The mailman brought them today...I love them. Now to decide what to make!!!

Day 13 & 14 FMQ Challenge

On the final two days, I practiced on Kids For Quilts quilts. The first is the fabric they sent me. I did free motion all over. I got curves and stars in!!! It was also the first time that I have zigzagged a binding. In the instructions, it said to quilt heavily for heavy use. I thought the machine sewing would be studier than hand stitches. Last year was the first year I did a Quilt For Kids kit...it had all the fabric I needed. This year, when I got to the borders, I had no more fabric, so I searched my stash and added cornerstones. I had a print that was exactly the same color. They sent no binding fabric, so I looked and found a green that exactly matched even though it had a swirly design.

 

 Quilts For Kids ask if you will send a second quilt also. It was made from a book panel that a friend gave me. She didn't remember how long she had had it...I had never seen it before....but is is so colorful and cute. I did the pantograph on it. Not all curves and loops are smooth and I still have some problems when the machine bumps the side tensioner clamps.  I know one of my problems was that the backing was on a little over 2 inches larger on each side. From now on, I'll baste a strip so the tensioners are farther out.

The FMQ (Free Motion Quilting) Challenge gave me practice I needed.

Day 12 FMQ Challenge

I practiced this pantograph because I think it has more quilting than the one I did yesterday. The curves look smoother...to me..LOL!!

FMQ Day11

Trying out the pantograph I think I will use on theQuilts for Kids quilt... It may not be heavy enough on the quilting...they wrote they wanted heavy quilting as it will get lots of wear. I got the top pieced...it is a cute monkey print and bright pink. My curves are not very smooth.

Day 10..FMQ challenge

Day 10: More stars( top pic)...the machine platform wanted to keep grabbing the side tensioners.

Added some stippling and practiced some of a pantogragh one of my friends gave me. I think I am going to use it on the Quilts For Kids quilt I am making. 

FMQ Day 8 & 9

Forgot to post last night ...so doing 2 days again. 

Day 8:When I put the new fabric on my frame and started trying to make hearts , I kept having problems in one area with "Drag"...like the machine did not want to move. I took a peek and saw no problem. Then quilted a few more hearts...looked again...then I saw that I had left my 5 inch square pincushion on the machine's support...no wonder it could not move freely.  Most of the hearts look consistent.

I also tried feathers again...I think I will be practicing them for years!!

Day 9: Practiced stars again...I still need practice here.

I guess I could call them very free form stars!!!

I decided to practice a star pantogragh also...it is difficult to stay in a straight line even with the laser light.

FMQ Challenge Day 6 & 7

Day 6: practiced more curves and squiggles...not good. Tried feathers....Hard!!

Tried some loose curves...sort of even.

Day 7: Tried to do some meandering hearts...I think they would look nice on a project...they are my best "project" so far.

Tried to do some stars...some okay, BUT I still need lots of practice here!!! I ran ut of fabric....so Time to take this section off and pin more on.

FMQ Day 5

Day 5: I turned the page. First, I tried some feathers using the method described in The Quilter Magazine I received yesterday.  They have a great article, Ruffle Your Feathers. Mine couldn't get started!!! Time to get out the doodle pad!!! the leaf shapes seem to be improving, but that "squiggley" thing at the top below is AWFUL. I may be on this page several days!!!LOL!!

FMQ challenge Day3-4

Day 3:  Still on page one of basics. More practice on circles & leaves ( 2 rows not pictured)

The hearts looked ok going one direction, but bad news when I went back across!!!

Day 4: More practice on hearts...not there yet!! The flowers were fairly easy to do!!

I might use them on a border somewhere. Tomorrow, I might turn the page.

My quilt guild is hosting a Day Of Sharing in May. The theme is Recycling.The challenge was to use Scraps, etc. in a creative way. I used selvedges, leftover  batting pieces and scrappy fabric to make a CATCH ALL basket for tools, accessories, etc. for my midarm.