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!

 

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Jan
3

2011 Christmas Quilts

Posted Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 in Christmas gift | Read More

The tree is down, the Christmas dishes are back in the cupboard, and the Christmas quilts are with their new owners. I started making Jeff and Christina’s quilt in November. I used a “Recently Arrived in London” jelly roll, 3 matching charm packs, and over 5 yards of background fabric using the Jacob’s Ladder block pattern. I was inspired by a quilt at the Moda Bakeshop. To make the quilt large enough, I had to make it considerably larger than the pattern. I eventually changed the placement of the blocks for an entirely different final design. I finished the quilt top in December. I put it aside to begin a quilt for Jennifer and Tristan.

Jeff and Christina’s 2011 Christmas Quilt


Jennifer and Tristan wanted a quilt they could use with the same colors as the Double Wedding Ring I had made for their wedding quilt. I had purchased extra fabric when I bought the fabrics for the DWR but I didn’t have enough to make an entire quilt. I took the brown and teal fabrics that I had left over from the DWR and went to Fabric and Friends in Roanoke , Indiana. Kent Mick helped me pick a few more fabrics and background fabric. I needed border fabric and fabric to make the teal half square triangles. I used the same block pattern as Jeff and Christina’s quilt but with a different setting.

Jennifer and Tristan’s 2011 Christmas quilt


By this time, it was getting close to Christmas. I did have some extra time because we were planning to have our Christmas celebration on December 29. I wanted to be finished with both quilts before the 25th so I could enjoy other preparations for the holiday. After working furiously for several days,  I had the second quilt top ready for quilting.

I loaded Jeff and Christina’s quilt on the frame on December 20th and quilted it.  On December 21 I loaded the second quilt on the frame and quilted it the next day. The final stitch was put in the last quilt on December 24!

Now, on to my next quilt. It is a baby quilt for our first grandson who will be born in March.

BTW, the quilt holders are Tristan on the left and Jeff on the right.


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Mar
6

Let’s twist!

Posted Sunday, March 6th, 2011 in Christmas gift, Fabric Stash, My Projects, Quilt Blocks, Quilting | Read More

Last week I went on a shop hop and bought the Twister tool.  Let me explain…  The Twister tool is used to cut pinwheel blocks from squares with no cutting of triangles or other angles. The first step is to sew squares into rows and then sew the rows together. Next a border is added.  Now it is time to use the Twister tool.  You line up the intersecting lines on the tool with the seams between the side and top borders and the first square and cut around it.  Continue placing the tool on the following seams and cutting. When you have cut all the squares they are joined together into rows, etc.. After the blocks are all sewn together another border is added.

This is a picture of some of the rows on my design board.

These  are the rows for the second half of the quilt.

Next with the rows sewn together again…

and now with the final border.

The fabrics used in this quilt were a collection of 1930’s ten inch squares that were given to me by my daughter for Christmas a few years ago. There were 35 squares in the pack so I added one square from my 30’s stash.  She purchased them at the Keepsake Quilting store in New Hampshire.

Twister Tool:

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Jan
30

Accuquilt Go Cutter- Tumbler Blocks

Posted Sunday, January 30th, 2011 in Christmas gift, Fabric Stash, Fabrics, Quilting | Read More

Bob bought me an Accuquilt Go fabric cutter for Christmas. On Christmas day, I cut over 100 squares using the die that came with the cutter. They were just the right size for the monthly table runners that I made last year. ( You can see them in the post about the November and December runners.)

I bought the 6 1/2 inch tumbler die and have been using it to cut up fabrics from my stash. I had a case with lots of fat quarters that I bought when I first began quilting. I sorted out the green, red, and blue fabrics for the dark  blocks. For the light blocks, I cut up the cream and tan fabrics that were left from all the table runners.

I am going to alternate the dark and light blocks and sew them into rows.

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Dec
11

Piecemakers Christmas Party

Posted Saturday, December 11th, 2010 in Christmas gift, Quilt Guilds, Quilting | Read More

Thursday night my quilt group met for a pot luck dinner, games, and gift exchange.  The meal was delicious  and the fellowship was wonderful. We each brought 2 fat quarters for prizes for Christmas Bingo and a gift. For the exchange we could chose a gift from under the tree or could take a gift that someone had opened.  The first gift I opened was taken and I got to choose another gift. The gift I brought home was hand made. It is a wooden waste basket with a quilt block painted on it. The basket holds a plastic grocery bag by slipping the handle opening over the handles on the basket. I also received two mini-bolts of green fabric. They are the same shades of green as the two fat quarters that I won playing Bingo!



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