Quilting Linda: A Quilting Blog by Linda West

Dec

31

Christmas 2012

Posted Monday, December 31st, 2012 in Christmas gift, Quilting | Read More

It has been a long time since I have posted. I have been very busy working on quilts for Christmas gifts for my family. I even made a wall hanging for my grand-dog. I hadn’t planned to give quilts this year until I found some new patterns that were perfect for Jennifer and Jeff. I decided I had to make a quilt for each person. I originally was going to use the same pattern to make quilts for the guys but Jennifer convinced me that Tristan really wanted needed a Zelda quilt. She designed the blocks for it  and I started  working on it in December. I burned the midnight oil making quilts the last two weeks before Christmas.

Please ignore the mess in the background. These pictures were taken after all the gifts were opened. The guys stood on the couch to hold up the quilts for pictures.

Tristan’s Zelda quilt

Jeff’s Mario quilt

Christina’s City Girl quilt

Jennifer’s Bowling Green Falcons quilt

Eli’s Berenstain Bears quilt

Back of Eli’s quilt

And last……

Banana’s wall hanging

(Bananas is our black lab grand-dog)

I am taking a break from quilting to put my house back into order and to give my sore fingers a rest. I received some really nice quilting books and notions for Christmas that I am excited to use soon. Give me a couple of days and I will be back in the quilting mood!

Nov

30

Thanksgiving 2012

Posted Friday, November 30th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

I haven’t been posting much this month because I am working on several secret projects for Christmas.  The quilt tops are all made except for one. I did take a break from sewing to go to Jennifer and Tristan’s home for Thanksgiving. We drove down to Gahanna on Thanksgiving morning and came home the following Monday afternoon. Jeff, Christina, and Eli were also there from Thursday until Saturday.

Tristan outdid himself with the Thanksgiving dinner. He smoked a ham, roasted a turkey , made two kinds of stuffing and other side dishes. It was amazing! Christina brought a sweet potato casserole and a 7 layer salad. I took pumpkin pies and wassail. We had enough food to last all weekend!

Jennifer made macaroons and cake balls and a delicious pecan pie for dessert. Tristan made real whipped cream for the pumpkin pie.

The center of attention all weekend was Eli. He is 8 months old and crawling everywhere! He and Aunt Jennifer dressed in scarlet and gray for the OSU game on Saturday.

Nov

2

Piecemakers Annual Workshop 2012

Posted Friday, November 2nd, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

My small quilt group meets at Grace UMC every Thursday evening. We bring our projects for show and tell, chat, plan road trips, celebrate birthdays, and once a year, have an all day workshop. This year, 2012, we met on Saturday, September 15, for a workshop to make Granny Squares. I was reminded last evening at our meeting, that I hadn’t blogged about our last workshop. So here goes…

We had twelve members attend the workshop. We brought a potluck lunch and sewed all day. This year we expanded into the fellowship hall rather than use the youth room. Each person had her own table for sewing  and to spread out the the finished blocks. The following pictures show the different fabrics and colors used by the quilters.

I missed taking pictures of all the quilters and their blocks. I was busy sewing and when I did remember to take pictures, they were not at their machines. Here are some friends busy working!

And this is my unmanned workstation! I used some of the 1930’s fabrics I have been collecting for years.

Oct

15

Christmas Fence Quilt Along 2012

Posted Monday, October 15th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

Would you like to make a Christmas quilt? Mama Sparks is conducting a quilt- along using a Christmas jelly roll, a matching charm pack,and 3.5 yards of sashing/framing fabric. Grab a jelly roll and charm pack and get started!

Click here to go to Mama Sparks blog to join the fun!

Oct

14

Hello Sun BOM – Aug., Sept., Oct.

Posted Sunday, October 14th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

(I know, spiders have eight legs. I followed the pattern!)

I had been faithfully making my Hello Sun blocks each month until August. Life got in the way and I didn’t have time to work on them until the beginning of October. I will try to keep up with the next two blocks and finish the quilt on time.

Sep

21

And the winner is……

Posted Friday, September 21st, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

How fun! I love the bottom right block – black house with red roof. We have a log cabin that has a red, metal roof and when I looked at your quilt, that block was the first one I saw. Great job with your dots!

Congratulations Barb! I will email you for mailing information.

Sep

19

My Mondo Bag

Posted Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

I bought the instructions  which included the fusible pattern for the Mondo Bag at the One Stop Shop Hop in Warsaw, IN this summer. I had fat quarters and lining fabric in my stash and fusible fleece that I bought for another project. I did not have to buy any thing else for the bag.

This bag was very easy and quick to assemble. I had cut the fat quarters into squares  last month. Yesterday I started working on the bag and finished it in the evening. I was not working on it the entire day. I think this would make a great project for an all day workshop.

The bag is very large. I plan to use it to take quilts to guild meetings and maybe for shopping at a quilt show.

Sep

17

Dots on Dots Blog Hop & Giveaway

Posted Monday, September 17th, 2012 in Dots on Dots Blog Hop, Fabric Stash | Read More

I have been collecting dot fabrics without a project in mind for several months. When a friend invited me to join the Dots on Dots blog hop, I hopped right in! I have been running ideas for a house quilt around in my mind for months but nothing was coming together until I decided to do it with my dot fabric. I did a search in EQ7 for house blocks and came up with the Crazy House block pattern.

This is my coloring of the block in EQ 7. I made it with some scraps of bright dot fabrics in my stash but was not completely happy with the results.

I made another block using orange in the center and fabric closer to the colors in the EQ7 block.

Now on to the house blocks.

I found trees and houses in EQ 7 and made them with the dotty fabrics. Two of the houses had set in seams  but I redrew the patterns to avoid the difficult seams. I set the Crazy House block in the center and surrounded it with the dotty trees and houses.

I have enjoyed sewing with all the dotty fabrics. Here is a chance for you to  win some dots and make a quilt.  Make a comment on this post and tell me which block you like the most. (To see larger images, click on the pictures.) This is what you can win…

… four fat quarters and  a pinwheel quilt pattern by Maple Island Quilts.

I will draw a winner on September 20. Good Luck!

These are the other bloggers featured today.

Sep

14

I’m still here!

Posted Friday, September 14th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

I have not posted anything for awhile but I have been sewing every day. I am working on some secret projects and can’t reveal them just yet. The blog will be featured on Monday, September 17, in the Dots on Dots Blog Hop. I have my project ready for the big reveal…. but you have to wait until Monday!

On Saturday , Piecemakers Quilt Group will hold its annual workshop. This year we are making Granny Squares. I am using fabric from my 1930’s reproduction stash. It was hard for me to cut into the fabrics I have been collecting for several years but I think this is the perfect pattern for 30’s fabric. I have pre-cut enough fabric to keep me busy sewing all day. I just couldn’t wait till Saturday to start sewing and have finished ten blocks. Here is a little preview of my blocks.

I plan to set the blocks together with white sashing and scrappy corner posts.

Aug

24

Off the Beaten Path

Posted Friday, August 24th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

This mini quilt is 18″ X 21″ and is made from a charm pack. This pattern only used 20 charms (5 inch squares) for the half square triangles. I used fat quarters from my stash for the borders.

The pattern is from a book  “Simply Charming    Small Scrap Quilts of Yesteryear” by Tara Lynn Darr.  The book has twenty patterns for small quilts made with charm packs. I would like to make all the quilts in this book!

Aug

18

Decoy…a small quilt from “another Bite of Schnibbles”

Posted Saturday, August 18th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

The top is finally finished. I started this quilt top earlier this summer. It is made from a charm pack,  ‘Prairie Paisley II’. I cut it out and then lost interest in sewing it for a couple of months. After Jennifer’s visit I made the nine stars and then it sat on the cutting table again, waiting for the borders. Bob’s knee surgery was rescheduled for August 7  and I have been busy helping him and suffering from a sore throat and terrible cough. Today I finally felt well enough to sew again.

The pattern is from  the book “another Bite of Schnibbles” by Carrie Nelson. Each quilt in the book is made from either a layer cake or a charm pack. The patterns are all given in both sizes. The author chose to name it “Decoy” because the block is named Duck Tracks.

Thank you to Jeff and Christina for giving me this book for Christmas 2011. I want to make all the small quilts in the book.

Aug

11

Dots on Dots blog hop

Posted Saturday, August 11th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

I will be participating in the Dots on Dots blog hop in September. The start date is September 10 and my blog will be featured on September 17. Click on the above logo to see all the blogs that are participating in the hop.

Aug

4

Quilting with Jennifer

Posted Saturday, August 4th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

Our daughter came home for a six day visit last week while her husband was visiting his family in New Hampshire. She is new to quilting and has caught the quilting bug. On Saturday we drove to Kokomo, Indiana to attend the One Stop Quilt Shop Hop at the Kokomo Events Center. There were 29 vendors from Indiana quilt shops.

Jennifer brought home a Lazy Girl purse pattern and fabric that she bought last year when we attended the quilt show in Columbus. The fabric had to be quilted then cut into pieces for the outside of the purse. To quilt it, she drew a grid with a chalk pencil on the fabric for the top portion of the bag and followed the pattern on the fabric for the bottom of the bag. She used my Janome 10001 to quilt and construct the bag.

The lining has several pockets that she customized to fit her iPad, phone, and other items. It will  be very useful when attending any event (quilt show).

Jul

15

July Craftsy BOM-Dresden Plate

Posted Sunday, July 15th, 2012 in Quilting | Read More

The Free Craftsy Blocks of the Month for July are two versions of Dresden Plates. This is the first time I have made either block. I do have another Dresden Plate project cut but not sewn. This inspires me to work on that UFO next.

Jul

14

3 years later….Confetti Log Cabin

Posted Saturday, July 14th, 2012 in My Projects, Quilting | Read More

In February 2009, I took a class taught by Carol Vinnedge, a member of Appleseed Quilters Guild. I made three blocks during the class. I posted pictures of the blocks in one of my first posts on this blog. The blocks and fabrics for the quilt were put away as I worked on another quilt all the while thinking about this quilt. As you can see from the blog, lots of quilts  have been started and finished since that date in February 2009.

One of my goals for 2012 is to finish some of the UFOs in my stash. In June I made 3 of the mini quilt kits that I bought years ago. The Confetti quilt was still nagging at me to be finished. Two weeks ago I got it out again and started working on the blocks. I like to chain piece and this is not a block that can be chain pieced easily. I did work out a method for piecing. I made lots of strips with the bright colors inserted into the white and black fabrics.

Next I cut the strips to the correct length and arranged them on a flannel board in the order they were to be sewn. I have three boards therefore I prepared three blocks at a time.

Rather than using the iron to press each seam (outside temperatures over 100 F), I finger pressed the strips and waited until three blocks were finished to press them.  And finally…the last block was made today!

There are 35 blocks ( 7.5  inches finished size) in seven rows of five blocks across. There will be borders added to make a small quilt approximately 45″ X 59″.

Jul

12

Hello Sun BOM in July

Posted Thursday, July 12th, 2012 in Fabric Stash, Patterns | Read More

This month the Block of the Month pattern did not have a picture of the finished block. I usually follow the suggested colors in the block but had to use my imagination this time. Since the sun is setting, I changed the background from the white fabric used in the previous blocks to an orange/yellow to resemble the sky at sunset. The post the gull is perched on is cut from a stripe in a  fat quarter of African fabric. It was the only piece in my stash that resembled  wood grain.

Jun

19

Another Mini Quilt in June

Posted Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 in Fabric Stash | Read More

Several years ago I bought a few kits at Joann’s that were clearance priced. I was cleaning out my sewing  room and found this kit. It only took an afternoon to cut and piece it together.

Jun

19

Drunkards Path Table Runner

Posted Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 in Fabric Stash, table runner, Twister quilt | Read More

When blocks for a Twister quilt are cut, a square of fabric is leftover between each block. The square is not on the straight of grain. Care must be taken when working with these leftovers because of the stretchy bias edges. I used my Go! Cutter to cut out small Drunkards Path (DP) blocks with the squares left from a Twister quilt made with a layer cake.

This is the first project I made with the small DP die. What fun using every bit of fabric from a layer cake!

Jun

13

June “Hello Sun”

Posted Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 in Hello Sun Block of the Month, Quilting | Read More

I finished the June block today. I started it the first week of June but due to problems with the foot pedal on my machine, did not finish the top stitching. I ordered a new pedal which arrived in the mail today. It works!

Jun

7

“Sliced Apples QAL” (quilt along)

Posted Thursday, June 7th, 2012 in Patterns | Read More

My friend Kris invited me to join an online quilt along. Fabric requirements included three matching charm packs and two plain charm packs. (Charm packs are packages of forty two 5 inch squares of coordinating fabric.) I had the charm packs I needed in my stash. I only needed to buy fabric for the borders.

The first instructions posted were for cutting the borders. I decided to wait until I had the center constructed to cut the borders. The second set of instructions told how to construct the half square triangle blocks using the charm packs. Following the picture for the finished quilt, I made the center and added the borders.

I haven’t yet decided how I will quilt it. Any suggestions for quilting?