I’m back!

Crazy as it sounds, it’s been 4 years since I have posted! 2015 was a busy year for me.  We sold our home, lost Kirt’s dad, moved to a rental home while we had our home built. Then in 2016, we moved again to our new home and then had to start on my studio in the basement. So, it was 2017 before I really got back into quilting ( I did do limited quilting in my temporary home). And by then, blogging was on the back burner. I’m trying to figure out how to do this again. I really want it for my personal quilting history.

Latest top done: (a Leader/Ender Quilt off of Bonnie Hunter’s website)

I’m back!

It’s been 4 years since I have done any blogging at all and would like to get back into it, if only for my personal history.  So this is a big test to see if I even remember how to do this!!

And a picture of my latest quilt top just to have something to look at! 😃It was the Leader and Ender project from Bonnie Hunter in 1017. I worked on this while working on other quilts. 

Oldest UFO done!

Yep, this was started as an online Row by Row swap in 1999! We all chose a block to do and make enough for a row. We then made our own row, passed the row and fabric on to the next person. Well, the person ahead of me was doing awesome blocks! So much so, that by the time she got close to the end, she dropped out! I was bummed. I asked her if I could send her fabric and if she would do my row when she felt back up to it. She agreed.


Well, at a quilt retreat a few weeks ago, a vote was taken and all agreed that 15 years was long enough to wait for her row! LOL. So I took the rows I had and finished the quilt. This tulip fabric was my inspiration for my quilt. I thought I saved enough for borders, but it must be in a very,very safe place! So it went on the back along with the rest of the fabrics.






I finished quilting it and got the binding on it. It's now ready to hug some little girl!

The back....





Back to the UFO pile. It just doesn't seem to end! LOL

Karen

A long overdue finish!

I hate to admit how old this project is!  I believe I started it around 2002.  It took a while to hand piece all the hexagons.  Then it took a while to do the Irish chain, it's 1" finished squares. And then it took a LONG time to figure out how to finish it.  I decided to add a border that had graduating sizes of the hexie flowers.

Grandma's Irish Chain

Since this is the year for my UFO finishes, it was time to get off the indecisive train and get going!

After it was done, I decided to make a HUMUNGOUS hexie flower for the back and threw in the last little bits of the chain. Plus it kind of makes it a bit modern on the back, you think?

Grandma's Irish Chain Back

Biggest decision? How to quilt it?  I really wanted it hand quilted and now was pushing the deadline for my Quilt Show.  I took a gamble and wrote my Amish friend who has hand quilted quilts for me for over 20 years now. I asked her if there were any barn raisings or anything going on that a group would need a quilt to work on. (she has done other quilts of mine at barn raisings). She said to bring it over and they would work it in. I did and they did. They took it to their 'hen party' (her words...it's their version of an all day Sew In. She says they mostly eat and chat and sometimes sew!) and then worked on it at home and got it done in 3 weeks! And did a great job! Thanks Mary, Edna and friends.

Grandma's Irish Chain close up

See my little addition?  I so admire all those Japanese women that make those itty, bitty, tiny hexies for their WHOLE quilt!  I wanted to make one just to see if I could. Wow, I can't imagine doing a whole quilt out of them!  The side measures 1/4". And this is my one...stuck in the corner. Just to say I did it! 

And now back to do last minute things for my Quilt Show.  I have 115+ quilts so far, just waiting to hear from a few others.  It's this Saturday and it's supposed to be gorgeous. Thank you God!

4 Patch Posy

First finish of May. Actually, got this done that first week, but just am now finding time to post!

4 Patch Posy

This is a variation of a Stack and Whack, done with only 4 layers and cutting squares.  I had several larger ones (6") and several smaller ones (4").  And then I quit. I put the whole thing in a project box, SANS directions/patterns or even a note as to what I was doing!  I had some fabric that was still pinned, like I might make more?  

7 years later: I decided to go with a layout that used what I had done so far and just use the rest of the fabric in the border and on the back. So here is the back, using what little I had left after cutting the borders/binding and used the last 4 blocks.

Don't ya love how my quilt has a head and feet? LOL

This is the original piece of fabric I used. It was really cool slipper heels in animal prints and fun colors!

Focus fabric used in blocks

 Close up of some blocks...

My apologies for such small blurry photos. They were on my ipad and I sent them to my husbands computer, since I'm working off of his today.  And they showed up really, really small! Hmm, not sure why. 

Now I am hoping for some warm weather in May! It was 39 degrees this morning. I covered all my plants last night as there was a front warning!  I think we are going to miss spring totally and go straight into summer! Oh well, at least I don't feel bad staying in and sewing!

Happy Quilting,

Karen

Slide Show done!

Another UFO bites the dust! This was a class sample for a class last year and has been hanging on the wall. I love this quilt and thought it was a good time to get it down and quilted.

Slide Show

Back in the day that I was hoarding fabric, I hated using quilt shop quality fabric for the backing, opting instead for lesser expensive fabric from JoAnn's or something. I didn't like using up all the leftover fabric thinking it could go into another quilt! Well, a friend told me that she would rather use all the fabric leftover on the back so she could buy all new for her next quilts. Hmmm, good idea!  So I have been trying, where possible to incorporate the leftover fabric into the backings.

I looked high and low for the leftover scraps on this quilt, no where to be found.  Surely I had to have something leftover. I finally gave up and used the 1/2 yard that I could find and put back into stash and figured out the best way to use all of it, mixed with Kona Snow.

Slide Show back

The pattern is Slide Show from Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs.  Great instructions, as usual. Terry's patterns are among my favorite patterns for her simple, clear patterns and so easy to understand. And NO mistakes. A big pet peeve of mine. 

The fabric was from the OZ by Sanae for Moda Fabrics.  Unfortunately it's no longer available as my hubby got me a FQ bundle a few years ago. It didn't come with any yardage and it took a bit of digging to find any yardage to match for borders.  Note to self: either use the fabric quickly OR get yardage with bundles! 

I love this quilt, although a bit tedious at times. A great one to do while among friends! You can gab and sew and you'll get done before you know it.

Oh, and remember that I couldn't find any scraps leftover from this project? Guess what I found, oh...about 30 minutes AFTER I finished the last of the binding! Go figure!

Now, what to do with all this?

Happy quilting!

Pink Pinwheels

I'm still going strong on finishing up my old UFO's.  I just run out of time to get them posted here!  The trouble is that I am taking most of my photos with my iPhone, and they take HUGE pictures (file size) and I have to import them into another place to resize them to make them work on the web, or you would be half the day downloading them. Well, maybe not half the day, but more than you would like!

So, here is Pink Pinwheels. I taught this as a class and we used the QuiltSmart fusibles (this one was called Black Eyed Susans--but my pink made them look more like pinwheels) to make the pinwheels. Awesome way to do this block.  But I set  it aside..ahem...4 years ago!! Because I thought I would want to do a special border on it and couldn't decide. So into the thinking bin it went and left it there.

Pink Pinwheel top

So, I sketched out a border design that I was sure would be awesome. Made the paper pieced patterns to make it easy on myself. 

Border design sketch and pp pattern

Made the first piece of the border (the bottom would have been a mirror image) and 

DID. NOT. LIKE. IT. 

I just love the thought of it, but it was not working for me on this quilt. Sheesh, back to square one. I hauled out all sorts of fabrics. Pinks, blacks, white on black, black on white and the only one that fit was a pink one that had flowers that sort of looked like the pinwheels.  

Pink Pinwheel Border trial

I tried adding a small little border in between the top and bigger border. Nope. Didn't work either. So after all that, I ended up with a plain border out of one fabric! And it waited 4 years! Yowsa! I need to get better on that one! LOL

Pink Pinwheels

Pink Pinwheel Back

I lucked out and had a piece of fabric large enough for the back. All that figuring on the front wore my brain out for the week and I relished the thought of doing a plain back. I know, not my style. 

Back to quilting....

on a roll..

after last year of traveling and spending lots of time with my hubby, who had cancer (and is in remission--PTL), I can finally get back to sewing...cleaning and basically catching up with life at home. And it feels so good! I love to travel, but I think I overdid it last year. Oh it was fun...but I sure paid the price!

My bi-annual quilt show is this year and I don't have very many quilts to enter in my own show! I went through my UFO's....and I had a LOT more than I thought I did! YIKES!  I vowed to myself that I would make a valiant effort to get ONE quilt done per week, sometimes two!  Oh yeah. Sounded good at first, but things are starting to slow down a bit as the UFO's now are needing more than borders and backings!  And my list of flimsies (quilt tops) is dwindling as I'm getting those done as well.  But I will give it my best shot.

Here are a few that I have worked on in the last few weeks.  I will get all of them posted eventually.


This little wallhanging has been ready and basted and all it needed was quilted! Sheesh! I made the Figgy Pudding 3D quilt a few years ago and loved doing the trees. So I did just 3, with negative images. I just love the look and will be perfect in my great room next Christmas

3D Black and White trees

 Another little wallhanging that has been patient as well. I made a Garden Gate Trellis quilt for my MIL several years ago. Well, I had to fussy cut the fabric to get the desired flowers and left my fabric looking like swiss cheese! I cut it up into little squares and decided to teach a watercolor class using those leftover pieces.  I got it done in time for her birthday this past March. She wasn't at home when I dropped it off with the other gifts for her, but she never mentioned this one. Hmmm. Wonder if my family is tired of getting 'quilty' gifts from me?  I did get her some other things as well. Oh well, I enjoyed making it for her. :)

Watercolor Flower Basket

 I designed this ( I was inspired by my friends quilt) for my last quilt retreat in Pawleys.  I recently re-did one of our guest rooms in gray, yellow and pink and thought it would be a perfect wallhanging. It's about 42" square.

Keep Calm and Quilt On

...and the embroidered center....

This is 9 Patch Lattice, done with Elizabeth Hartman's of Oh Fransson, free pattern. I just love this. It's so simple and a nice blend of fabrics. Some little baby at some point is going to love it. 

9 Patch Lattice

and the backing done with leftover strips...

9 Patch Lattice back

9 Patch Lattice

Back to work, I have binding to do on one and blocks to finish on another.