Quilting Linda: A Quilting Blog by Linda West

Aug

17

Summer 2016

Posted Wednesday, August 17th, 2016 in Personal | Read More

This has been a busy and hot summer at the West residence. My sewing room is so warm in the afternoon that I have not enjoyed sewing in it, even with the fan blowing in my direction. The ceiling fan seems to make it warmer. I have used my stand-up fans to try to stay cool.  We have stayed busy playing with Samantha on Tuesdays and Thursdays and taking her with us to get groceries on Wednesdays. She enjoys bringing home lunch from Wendy’s and eating before we take her home. Another big thrill and the reason she likes to go shopping with us, is to ride the horsie. “Sandy” had been out of commission for several weeks. We had to inspect him every week and tell him to feel better before we could leave the store. Today he was working again, much to the delight of Sami!

I have made a few quilt tops but haven’t quilted them yet. I’m waiting for cooler weather to arrive before loading them on the frame. Lately I have been sewing string blocks using the template paper from Missouri Star Quilt Company to use strips from a Moda scrap bag. I bought both of these items years ago.  Most of the projects I have made this summer were from things in my stash. I hope to get them quilted soon and will show them to you then.

May

1

Sauder Quilt Show – 2011

Posted Sunday, May 1st, 2011 in baby quilt, Fabrics, Quilt Shows, Quilting | Read More

On Saturday, six of my friends and I went to the quilt show at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio. There were about 400 quilts on display and a few demonstrations.

The featured guest quilter was Nancy Prince of Orlando, Florida. Her quilts were wonderful thread painted landscapes.

Nancy Prince Quilts

We shopped at Threads of Tradition after viewing the quilts. I purchased fabric to make the “Dr. Seuss on the Loose”  quilt  shown in the June 2011 issue of Quilter’s World.

Mar

27

…and now the place mats

Posted Sunday, March 27th, 2011 in Fabrics, My Projects, place mat, Quilting | Read More

I had four squares left from the panel I used for the table runner. I also had leftover triangles from the Essence quilt I made in 2009. By combining the triangles with background fabric I bought for the table runner and the four squares, I was able to make four place mats. They were too short so I added a 2 inch strip to the top and bottom of each mat. I rounded the corners using a small sauce dish for the pattern.

Close up of mats:

Mar

25

Moda Essence Table Runner

Posted Friday, March 25th, 2011 in Quilting, table runner | Read More

I saw a table runner made from the Essence panel by Moda on the shop hop in February 2011.  I had used the same panel to make a quilt in November 2009 and had some left over fabrics.  The pattern was one of the patterns we were given on the shop hop in 2010. I bought the Essence panel and fabric from another line for the background. When I was ready to start cutting out the table runner, I couldn’t find my pattern. (I think I lost it when I was at the quilt shop last week.) I looked up the pattern on line and drew it in EQ7.  This is what I created…

I have four squares left from the panel. I am making four placemats with the rest of the scraps.

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.

Jan

30

Quilt Guild Garage Sale

Posted Sunday, January 30th, 2011 in baby quilt, Fabric Stash, Fabrics, Quilt Guilds, Quilting | Read More

At the Appleseed Guild meeting in January, the program was a garage sale. About ten people rented tables and sold unwanted quilting supplies. There was a nice variety of items available for purchase. My “find” was this lunch box filled with ‘Funky Monkey’ fabrics. I measured it when I got home and found I have over five yards of fabric. One piece has one square cut out but all the other pieces are uncut. I plan to make a  quilt and maybe include a sock monkey in the lunch box for a baby gift.

Jan

21

November and December Table Runners

Posted Friday, January 21st, 2011 in Fabrics, My Projects, table runner | Read More

I didn’t have time to work on the last two runners until after the  Christmas holidays.  Bob gave me an Accuquilt Go cutter for Christmas and the die that came with it has a 4 1/2  inch square. That is the size I use for the blocks in the center and borders of the runners. I still have to stitch the appliques and quilt them but here are pictures of the unfinished table runners.

Aug

15

Edyta Sitar Quilt Class

Posted Sunday, August 15th, 2010 in Fabrics, My Projects, Patterns, Quilt Guilds, Quilt Shows, Quilting | Read More

Edyta Sitar was the featured artist at the Appleseed Quilt Show at the Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana  last week. She taught a workshop called Hannah’s  Sugar Baskets which I attended. The cost of the class included a kit of fabric. She gave us enough fabric to make the 12 baskets plus extra,  triangle paper for 700 HSTs, recipe cards with the patterns, a folder with quilt layout sheets, and her 2011 calendar that includes 3 patterns. The fabric for the class was cut into strips and ready to make half square triangles using the triangle paper.

She had each of us (21 students)  sew five sheets of HST (half square triangles), cut them apart and share with the class. We kept 7 HSTs from each sheet  and put the rest into 21 piles. When everyone was finished sewing and cutting, we each received one of the piles of HSTs.  This created a very nice variety of fabrics and colors that all coordinated.

After lunch we removed the paper from the HSTs and trimmed the ‘dog ears’ from the squares. She then demonstrated how the basket blocks were assembled, giving us hints on color placement. She also gave us tips on choosing fabric patterns. She told us to choose five prints,small, medium, and large size, dots, and stripes. We then assembled blocks until the end of the class.

During the class, Edyta displayed many of her finished quilts, showing them as she taught the class.

I attended this class with two of my very good friends, Cheryl and Kris. During the two hour lunch break, we visited the vendors and viewed some of the quilts displayed in the quilt show.

I returned to the Coliseum the next day to meet another good quilting friend,Sharon.  I met her on an online quilting forum a few years ago.

Below are the baskets I made with the HSTs from the class.

Jul

11

Piecemakers Workshop

Posted Sunday, July 11th, 2010 in Patterns, Quilt Blocks, Quilting, Websites | Read More

On Saturday, July 10, nine members of  Piecemakers Quilt Group met at Grace United Methodist Church for a workshop and pot luck lunch. This is an annual event where we all work on our own projects but use the same pattern. This year we decided to not start a new project, but to bring an unfinished object (UFO) to complete.  This event was so successful that we now plan to hold another workshop in the fall.

The project that I took to the workshop was the Fun and Done quilt that I started at the workshop last year. It is a quilt- as- you- go pattern. I had completed 48 blocks and had them joined into rows. On Saturday I top-stitched the sashing pieces that finish the quilt. When the workshop ended I had all the sashing finished and just had to top-stitch the binding which I did at home.

The finished quilt is approximately 45 X 60 inches.

To see more Fun and Done patterns go to  http://www.prairieskyquilting.com

Jul

4

July 2010 Table Runner

Posted Sunday, July 4th, 2010 in Fabrics, My Projects, Patterns, Quilting, table runner | Read More

This is the July table runner from the Calendar Table Runners pattern that I have been using all year. This month I followed the pattern suggestions for all the colors and appliques. I have a piece of fabric for the backing that has red and blue stars on a white background.

Feb

10

March 2010 Tablerunner

Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 in Fabric Stash, My Projects, Patterns, Quilting | Read More

I am having so much fun making these table runners because they are fast and easy to make. I am also enjoying choosing  fat quarters from my stash.  I am trying to do something a little different with each runner rather than following the pattern exactly.

I scattered eight shamrocks on the center of the runner and reversed the colors used in the center and border. The pattern called for  green  squares in the center  and beige squares in the border with a shamrock on each border square.