May
25

Quilting in the Month of May

Posted Saturday, May 25th, 2019 in Accuquilt Go cutter | Read More

I apologize for my lack of posts lately. I am finding it very true that time moves very quickly as you get older. This year is nearly half gone and I have so much more I want to do. One of my goals for this year is to quilt all the tops that are waiting in the closet. But I also love to piece new quilt tops, what to do first… piecing usually wins!

This month I made a small quilt from a kit and quilted it. It was designed by my new friend Sue for the quilts we give to veterans going on a Flight of Honor. The quilts are small, lap size, and sew up quickly. This is a Common Threads of Ohio Quilt Guild project.

After finishing it so quickly, I went looking for more red and blue blocks. I found I had enough Winding Ways blocks made to make another quilt. I did make two more blue blocks so I could do the layout with the red in the center. I have the Accuquilt Go cutter for this block which makes cutting it go quickly. I am still deciding which free motion quilting pattern to use. I really like this one and want to make another to keep.


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Apr
24

Good Fortune Mystery Quilt – Finished!

Posted Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 in Quilting | Read More

I put the last stitch into the binding on Monday, April 22.  The quilt was loaded on the quilt frame for about a month before I decided how to quilt it. Because it is a very busy pattern, I quilted it with a loopy meandering design.

On Monday a group of friends from my quilt guild met at a local library to sew with our Featherweight sewing machines. This was the third monthly meeting of the Featherweight Club.  We worked on our own projects, visited, ate lunch, and sewed some more. Owning a Featherweight is not a requirement to join the group and you can work on the project of your choice. I started the morning sewing on my machine. Because I planned to take my Good Fortune quilt to the guild meeting the next day for Show and Tell, I switched to hand sewing the binding in the afternoon. I put the last stitch in the binding just as we were getting ready to stop for the day.

Joining Common Threads Ohio Quilt Guild has been one of the best things I have done since moving to Columbus. I have enjoyed sewing with others again.


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Jan
8

Mystery Quilt Reveal

Posted Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 in Quilting | Read More

Looking back, I see that I haven’t posted since clue 4 was released. That is because a nasty virus took over my life. I was too ill to even go upstairs to my sewing room for about two weeks. When I felt well enough to start sewing again, it was in small spurts of time.

Bonnie revealed the mystery quilt last Friday. I was still working on clue 7 at that time. I now have all the center blocks completed and have started working on the pieced borders. I have all the pieces finished, it is a matter of joining them together.

As I stated when the mystery began, I switched colors this year. I used some of the same colors that Bonnie used but switched them around. As a result of the switch, my chain blocks are aqua and green and the spinning star is purple and orange.

I haven’t joined them together but all of the blocks are completed.

This has been another fun mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter. I will miss getting a new clue each week and watching the progress of others on the Monday Link-up.

It is not too late to join the mystery but hurry and download the clues. Bonnie will be removing them from her blog on February 1. They will be available for purchase after that date.



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Dec
17

Good Fortune 3 and 4

Posted Monday, December 17th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt continues….

Clue 3 had us making half chevrons and half square triangle (HST) units.  The leftover corners from the chevrons were used to make the HSTs. I hadn’t finish this clue before clue 4 was released but I stopped working on it to make strip pieces for clue 4.

Bonnie gave instructions for three different ways to construct clue 4. I chose one of the faster and easier methods. I cut strips from aqua fat quarters to make strip sets. I then cut the size units needed from the strip sets. I started and finished clue 4 on Friday afternoon. That evening I finished sewing clue 3 and on Saturday I finished pressing all of the finished HSTs.

Clue 3

Clue 4

These are my finished pieces for the first four clues.

Bonnie has a link-up party on her blog. To see the progress of others making the mystery quilt, click the following link.

Mystery Monday Link-up


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Dec
16

Christmas Gift Bags

Posted Sunday, December 16th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

Earlier this month my quilt guild held the annual Christmas party. The plan was to have a gift bag exchange as part of the evening festivities. My daughter and I both planned to attend and met at my house to make bags. We happily finished them a few days early and were ready for the party. On the day of party our plans changed and we weren’t able to attend. Since we didn’t attend the party, we each kept our own bag.

I made a bag with a paper pieced tree.


Jennifer’s bag has a paper pieced polar bear.  She added buttons for eyes and embroidered a line under the button nose. Both of our patterns were from a book she received from her Secret Pat at the quilt guild.


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Dec
5

My Good Fortune! (not the mystery quilt)

Posted Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

I had the good fortune to win a mini quilt from Katy of Katy Quilts. Katy is celebrating blogging for ten years. She chose ten small quilts to give away to readers of her blog. To win, we had to leave a comment. I was fortunate to win one of her mini quilts!


I love Katy’s blog and read it every morning while I drink my coffee. She also has grandsons with the same names as my two oldest grandsons. Katy lives in Michigan and has a long arm quilting machine. I like to see the quilts she makes and the way she quilts them. It is inspirational to me.

Thank you Katy! Congratulations on your 10 year blogiversary!


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Dec
3

Good Fortune! Clue 2

Posted Monday, December 3rd, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

On Friday, Bonnie gave us another clue. I was excited to get this clue because I planned to meet with other quilters from my guild to sew all day. Catie reserved a room at a local library and set up everything we needed. All we had to bring was our machine and project.

I was up and checking Bonnie’s blog before she posted the clue. As soon as I found it, I printed it and went to my sewing room to cut strips to take with me.  I had cut more neutral strips than I needed for the challenge quilt I made earlier this year and had a large pile of strips that were the perfect size and color for clue 2. (That puts me in the mood to cut my scraps into strips. Bonnie calls this her Scrap User’s System.)

The clue was to make half square triangles. I am not following the colors that Bonnie used, instead of blue I substituted orange. I found some orange fabric left over from the baby quilt I made for Sami when she was born. It was exactly the shade of orange that I needed for “Good Fortune!”.

My daughter is not sewing the mystery quilt but she joined us to work on some Christmas gifts she is sewing. Everyone was welcome to sew on any project of their choice. I worked on my mystery clues as did several of the ladies. I had a very enjoyable day and finished sewing all the HSTs (half square triangles) for clue 2. The day reminded me of all the good times I had sewing with my friends back in Hicksville.

Here are my HSTs, counted and clipped together.

It is not too late to join the mystery. You can find the previous information and clues here ... Good Fortune! -A Quiltville Mystery. Today is link-up day at Bonnie’s blog. Other mystery quilters will be sharing their versions of clue 2 at Monday Mystery Link Up.


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Nov
25

Bonnie Hunter’s Good Fortune Mystery Quilt – Clue 1

Posted Sunday, November 25th, 2018 in Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, mystery quilt | Read More

Here we go again! I look forward to Bonnie’s mystery quilt every year. This will be the sixth year that I have joined the fun and the eighth Bonnie Hunter quilt I have made. In addition to the mysteries, I made Tropical Twist after taking a class with Bonnie and I made Pumpkin Patch from her pattern in a magazine. Both of those quilts were made in 2017.

The name of the quilt this year is Good Fortune. Bonnie chose colors she saw during a trip to China. (Click here to read more about her trip and to get the clues.) In the past I followed her color choices but this year I decided to switch some of the colors.  This is my plan:

Bonnie’s  colors                                          Linda’s colors

green                                                                   purple

blue                                                                     orange

red                                                                      green

orange                                                               aqua

We will see how this works!

The first clue went live on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Since I swapped colors, I am using green and neutral for clue 1. I cut them out and started sewing on Friday. On Saturday I finished the first clue.


The seams on the back are swirled to prevent bulk in the center of the four patch.

The finished four patches are counted and clipped together. I’m ready for the next clue!

Click here to see other Good Fortune quilts.


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Nov
18

Quilt Guild Challenge

Posted Sunday, November 18th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

In 2017 I joined the Common Threads quilt guild. The first year I watched from the sidelines , only joining the Secret Pal swap. I missed a few meetings and was just not feeling connected. This year I decided to participate in some of the swaps, again joined the Secret Pal swap, and signed up for the challenge. I have been taking quilts for Show and Tell and have made a couple quilts for the charity, Moms2Be.

The challenge was to use at least ten “orphan” blocks to make a quilt or “whatever your heart desires”. We were encouraged to bring in any unwanted orphan blocks to share with other members. Going through my box, I found several blocks to share. For my quilt, I chose blocks that were red, blue or both. Some of the blocks were left over from previous quilts and some were test blocks to try out a new die or template. I also challenged myself to make the quilt using only fabrics that I had in my stash. I found a large piece for my background that was backing left from another quilt. I framed some of the blocks with fabric from my scrap bag. The backing fabric was a large piece that I bought at a garage sale years ago. I was saving it for backing and it was just the right color for this quilt.

The November meeting was a chili cook-off and the Challenge Quilt Reveal. After the meal, the quilts were paraded around the room to allow everyone to get a good look at them. They then were placed on tables and the floor for everyone to get up close and choose their favorite quilt. I didn’t win but thoroughly enjoyed the process. I can’t wait to see what the challenge will be for 2019.

This is a picture of my quilt that was taken as it was being shown at the meeting.



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Sep
21

A Halloween Mystery Quilt 2018

Posted Friday, September 21st, 2018 in mystery quilt, Quilting | Read More

I have made quilts and table runners with holiday themes but I never made a Halloween quilt. When I saw the free Halloween quilt-along at Fort Worth Fabric Studio I decided it was time to make one.  I had to go shopping because I did not have any Halloween fabric in my fabric stash. I found some nice Halloween prints of spider webs, glow in the dark eyes, bats, candy corn, pumpkins, and some nice black and orange pin dots. The background fabric has white ghosts printed on the white fabric. This was all purchased before I won the Halloween basket as shown in my previous post. I am sure there will be another Halloween quilt in the future!

The first clue gave the cutting instructions for the entire quilt. I cut it out and labeled the pieces. I made the blocks as the clues were presented.  The last clue gave the instructions for assembling the blocks into a quilt top. This is a wall hanging size quilt, about 38 inches square.

I am trying to decide how I want to quilt it. My thoughts are to quilt pumpkin vines and leaves but am still pondering the design. Do you have a suggestion? Tell me how you would quilt it in the comments section below.


The instructions for the quilt are available here – 2018 Boo to You Halloween Mystery Quilt.


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Sep
19

I won a basket of Halloween quilting goodies!

Posted Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

I am a member of the the Common Threads Ohio Quilt Guild in Columbus and we had a quilt show yesterday. The show featured quilts from Common Threads Guild members. It was fabulous, so many beautiful and well made quilts! In addition to a display of all the wonderful quilts, we raffled a quilt and several fantastic baskets of quilting items. There was one more basket (bucket) of non quilty items such as duct tape, flashlights, etc., called a man bucket.

I bought six tickets and put two of them in the bowl for the Halloween basket. It had a wool pressing mat that caught my eye. I have been wanting one ever since I saw them mentioned in some blogs I follow. Imagine my delight and surprise when my number was called for that basket!

Let me show you what other items were in my basket! (click on the picture for a closer view.)

I have been working on a mystery Halloween quilt and the final clue was published today. Now I will have to make another Halloween quilt to use all of these wonderful fabrics. What fun and a good excuse to make another quilt.


There are so many yummy candies in the basket. I will have to share them with the grandchildren.


There are two packs of holiday napkins, a pattern and a kit with a pattern. The jar is full of Halloween buttons and embellishments and there is also a candle called pumpkin cupcake. This was so much fun to open and examine each item. There are even more items that I haven’t mentioned. Thank you to the person who put this basket together for the guild raffle. I will enjoy it for a long time.


P.S.  I forgot to include a picture of the cat the was in the basket.


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Aug
6

Sami’s Unicorn Pillow

Posted Monday, August 6th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

Sami loves unicorns! Of course I had to make this unicorn pillow for her. This is an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called “Lisa the Unicorn”. The fabrics in the mane are from a collection of fat quarters that I have in my fabric stash. The horn is a scrap of sequined fabric that was left from a prom dress that I made for her mom in 1997.  The background fabric is a sparkly piece that Sami chose when we went shopping last week.  She also chose a piece for the pillow back that has unicorns and castles. This will be a 26 inch pillow when finished.


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Jul
30

Summer Quilting

Posted Monday, July 30th, 2018 in Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt | Read More

This summer is going by so quickly! It is hard to believe that July is almost gone!

Since the arrival of my new quilting machine and frame, I haven’t done much piecing.  I literally have a closet full of tops to quilt. My plan was to quilt all my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts first. I could have quilted them on my old machine/frame but they are almost as long as that frame. It would have involved lots of bobbins of thread and a lot of rolling on the frame. I am happy to announce that all of my Bonnie quilts are finished! I quilted Celtic Solstice, En Provence, Grand Illusion, and the last mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake. I also quilted a top from the workshop taught by Bonnie last summer, Tropical Twist.

I enjoy quilting with the new machine! It has been problem free (knock on wood). One of the nice things is that I don’t have to change bobbins as often. I haven’t done dense quilting and only have had to stop to change the bobbin once on each quilt.

Besides the five quilts I mentioned previously, I have quilted five other quilts. The first was a baby panel that I loaded for a practice quilt. I used flannel on the back and it turned out very well. I donated it to Moms2B through my quilt guild. (I forgot to take a picture.) I finished a small house wall hanging , a paper doll quilt with clothes for the dolls, and a wall hanging made from a Moda Frivol.

I did piece and quilt another baby quilt this month for my new granddaughter who is expected in November. I used the Yellow Brick Road pattern with fat quarters I received last Christmas. I had four blocks left over which I made into a doll quilt for her.

I am sorry for the poor photography. We had a rainy week when it was taken.

This is Tropical Twist. It is made entirely from my scraps. The reason I am enjoying Bonnie Hunter’s patterns is because she is a scrap quilter. I have learned how to choose fabrics from my scraps by following her patterns. Thank you Bonnie!


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May
20

Quilting Again!

Posted Sunday, May 20th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

Last month I made a huge decision to buy a new quilting machine and frame. I had known for a long time that if I bought a longarm machine, that I wanted a Handi Quilter Simply 16 with a 10 foot frame. One of my concerns was the size and fitting it into my sewing room. My daughter told me to buy it and we would make it fit. She helped me carry everything that was stored under my old machine downstairs to make room for a new frame. Most of it was plastic drawers filled with fat quarters and other sewing notions.

I was able to try out a used machine at our local quilt shop. This machine had all the extras with it and was very nice. I was so temped to buy it until I found a new machine at a shop online for almost the same price. I really wanted to support the local shop but I also had to think of my needs. I also discovered that the price was set by the previous owner of the machine and there was no room for negotiation. Used versus new, for the same price…. I went with the new.

The machine and frame were delivered on a pallet and placed in my garage. My son-in-law carried all the boxes upstairs to my sewing room that evening. Bless his heart, they were so heavy! Now I needed to assemble the frame. My sweet daughter volunteered to put it together for me. But first, we needed to reconfigure my room. She is a planner and a perfectionist. She had planned the original layout of the room for me and now was rearranging the placement of my fabric cabinet, recliner, and cutting table. I was resistant  to changing the location of these items but now I am in love with new arrangement. And the greatest part of it all….I have lots of room for the new frame and machine.

This week Jennifer came over and we moved the furniture in my sewing room to get ready for the new frame. Her hubby was going out of town for the night on Friday, so she and the girls came to stay overnight. Jen and I (mostly Jen) worked upstairs, putting the frame together. On Friday she assembled the table and had half of the tracks finished before we went to bed. On Saturday we finished the frame and put the machine on it. Next was to add the front and rear handles and the accessories to the machine. We ordered pizza for dinner and then it was time to play with the machine. I loaded a baby panel for the top and a piece of flannel for backing. Then we played!

This machine has a stitch regulator which I had to learn. My old machine only had a speed control and I had to regulate how fast to move the machine to obtain even stitches. It didn’t take long to get a feel for the new machine. I’M LOVIN’ IT!!!!!!

Sami and I checking it out before I loaded a practice quilt. She loves moving the machine on the tracks. My future little quilter!

Here is my daughter quilting for the first time. She had never quilted on a frame before this. She made feathers on the duck that look fantastic!

Time to quilt!



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May
9

Women of the Bible – 17 & 18

Posted Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 in QAL, Quilting | Read More

The newest blocks in the Women of the Bible series are quick and easy to sew. I chose to use less busy fabrics in these two blocks because some of the previous blocks are very busy.

Block 17 is named Jael. She and her husband hid a Canaanite military leader in their home. As he was sleeping, she killed him. Jael was declared a heroine for bringing down an enemy of Israel.

The 18th block in the series is Tamar. The story of Tamar can be found in Deuteronomy 25: 5-6.

The stories of some of these women of the Bible are quite shocking. They were heroines in their time but would be considered extremely inappropriate and even criminal by today’s standards.

The patterns for these blocks can be found at Prairie Quilt.


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Apr
21

Women of the Bible – 15 & 16

Posted Saturday, April 21st, 2018 in QAL, Quilt Blocks | Read More

The next two blocks for the Women of the Bible sew-along are Deborah and Miriam. Miriam was the sister of Moses. She hid him in a basket in the river when Pharaoh ordered the death of all male Hebrew babies. The name of the block used to represent Miriam is mosaic.

Deborah was a respected judge of Israel. The name of the block for Deborah is Courthouse steps. I may remake this block as I am not really happy with my fabric choises.

A link to these blocks can be found here.


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Apr
8

Trying out a new template

Posted Sunday, April 8th, 2018 in Quilt Blocks, Scrap Quilts | Read More

I watch the Fons and Porter show that is broadcast on Saturday mornings here in Columbus. A couple of weeks ago they used a template from Fons and Porter to make a quilt called Orange Peel Two-Step. It was also featured in their magazine in the March/April issue. I looked up the pattern in my magazine and then ordered the template. It is curved piecing similar to a Drunkard’s Path block. In the TV show, they pieced strips of fabric before cutting the pieces with the templates. A pieced background is then sewn on both sides of the melon shaped  piece. I loved how the different shades played out in the block. When my templates arrived this week, I had to try it out. I used fabric from my scrap bin and a couple fat quarters.

I enjoy sewing curved pieces and have made several drunkard’s path quilts in the past.


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Apr
8

Women of the Bible – 13 & 14

Posted Sunday, April 8th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

The Women of the Bible blocks this week are Asenath and Jephtah’s Daughter. Asenath was Joseph’s wife and mother of two sons. Her sons became forefathers of two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jephtah was the son of a prostitute and was an outcast. He became a strong soldier and leader. While in battle, he made a vow to God that he would sacrifice the first person to come out of his house if he would win the battle. He thought that a servant would be the first to greet him but it was his daughter who ran out to meet him.

I used the same fabrics in these blocks that I used in the block for Jezebel. I like to use the same fabrics at least three blocks in a quilt top.

The next two patterns will be available on May 1 at the Prairie Quilt website.


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Mar
17

Women of the Bible – 11 & 12

Posted Saturday, March 17th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

The blocks this week are named for Naomi and Judith. These were two quick and easy blocks. I did change the way I made the triangle in a square parts of the Judith block. I used my  Tri-Recs tools  instead of following the pattern instructions. It made cutting and constructing it much simpler.

I wasn’t sure I would get them made this week after being sidelined with illness. I am finally feeling well enough to go up to my sewing room and work a bit today. I am also working on another quilt that has been in the UFO pile for years. I will post more about that quilt later. Here are the Naomi and Judith blocks.


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Mar
5

Women of the Bible Blocks 7-10

Posted Monday, March 5th, 2018 in Quilting | Read More

I made blocks 7 and 8 in February but didn’t take pictures of them until I had completed the next two blocks. Block 7 is Rebekah. The designer of the block said she chose Crosses and Losses to reflect Rebekah’s story. The large light hourglass represents Rebekah, the mother caught between her twin sons, represented by the small dark hourglasses.

Block 8 is Ruth, a loyal daughter -in-law to Naomi.


The next two blocks are Bathsheba and Esther. Bathsheba married King David and was the mother of Solomon. Esther was of Jewish heritage and was chosen Queen of Persia.

The next two patterns will be available on March 15th.


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