My Redwork Sampler is finished!

Well, this redwork sampler is finished, and I love it. Just wish I had used the right marker to trace it with. I think this will work to hang in my sewing room and I’ll make another one that doesn’t have any black lines on it! I still get upset when I think of using the wrong marker…..Oh well, I can’t change it now.

I’m not sure how I’ll finish this….maybe just some fabric borders around it and then bind it? Not sure yet. I think I’ll frame one and hang it up somewhere. I just love Redwork!

 

This is another Redwork piece I did before Christmas, I haven’t done anything to it yet, again, I’m not sure how I’ll finish it. I do really like it though. It’s from Bird Brain Designs and is called:  Christmas Prayer Redwork #300

 

One more embroidery design from CrabApple Hill Studios  and I’ll call it good! This is called ‘Winter Sampler # 409’ I made this a couple of years ago and I still haven’t finished it. I also have the patterns and floss for the ‘Spring’, ‘Autumn’ and ‘Summer’. I really need to get started on them too. I think I will probably finish it like the patterns shows, small red quilt blocks around the embroidery. We’ll see.

I have 9 more blocks to make for my Retro Flowers Quilt….I’ve decided I will need to make 42 blocks for the quilt to be big enough to fit my daughter’s bed.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Kris

Baby Stuff!

I’ve been making baby blankets for years, I usually try to keep a stash on hand so when I need a gift I have plenty to pick from. The newest addition to my ‘stash’ has been burp pads, I made these when my daughters were babies, so I’ve been at it for years. Though recently when my grandson was born, my daughter asked me to make her some, and by trial and error we slowly changed them until we came up with something we both liked. When I give these for gifts, almost everyone who gets them calls back and wants to buy more of them. I enjoy making them and they really go together fast. These are my ‘self-binding’ baby blankets, the corners are mitered and I think they look pretty nice! These are my larger receiving blankets…..they are 1 1/4 yards of two matching prints that are sewn right sides together and then turned right sides out. I sew a fancy stitch around the outside edges and then just ‘wrap’ them up with a bow of like fabric. They are always a hit!These are flannel baby quilts. Before my grandson was born, my daughter and I just knew he was a girl….so I made double of all of the baby stuff for a girl. Well, we were wrong, so I have lots of girl stuff and very little boy stuff left.A nursery set that I made for my daughter’s sister-in-law. These were the fabrics she picked out, they were batiks. I would have liked to have made the sheets too, but she said she already had some that would match…..I can’t wait for another grandbaby, so I can get busy and make some more baby things! And last, I have more retro flower blocks made. I’m waiting for my daughter to send me the measurements to see how much bigger I need to make her quilt. I have over 30 of the Retro flowers blocks made now.

Kris…

I just figured out I’ll need more blocks! Ugh!

I now have 28 blocks done for my Retro Flowers Quilt and have figured out I’ll probably need more to make the quilt big enough to fit my daughter’s bed. So now I’m in search of more fat quarters that will match what I’ve already bought. I’ve found some on line that don’t look too bad. Here are the latest two I’ve done.

This is a Snow Days quilt that I made for my mom that’s not yet quilted. I have another one about half done for myself. The pattern is from Crabapple Hill Studios, I love most of their embroidery patterns.

I personalized the ‘General Store’ with our last name…..Nelson’sI also changed the sign on the church to read….Jesus Saves. I love to embroider!

Since I had the day off today, I went to Cambridge to visit my mom and have my sister give me a hair cut. My mom and I went to Cottage Inspirations because they had a big sale going on. I bought some fat quarters, baby flannel, some Kansas Troubles backing and a quilt book. That took the rest of my Christmas money!

Have lots more pictures to post later!

Kris

24 Blocks done and only 6 to go!

Lesley and Erik went home today, so I did quite a bit of sewing this afternoon. I got 4 more of the Retro Flower quilt blocks done, so I’m very pleased with my progress. I need to find 2 more fabrics that will go with the rest of what I’ve already purchased. Hopefully my daughter Karmon who is in Omaha for the next 2 days will be able to do a little shopping for me.

I’ve also been working on a Redwork embroidery sampler from Bird Brain Designs, I love to embroider and I just had to buy this pattern when I saw it. The only problem is I transferred the pattern with a permanent marker when I thought I was using my Frixion marker by Pilot, which will iron out. I think it will be okay, but a few of the lines will show a little….this is definitely a ‘lesson learned’! I just might end up doing another with the right pen. I’ve seen this Frixion heat removable ink pen in most quilt stores I’ve been in. The ink will reappear if you get the fabric real cold. I love mine and will definitely buy another one when this one runs out of ink.

Hope you all had a great day like I did! Happy Quilting!

Kris

Calendar/Memory Quilt 2011

Okay….so this is my calendar quilt for the year 2011. My mom gave me a book for Christmas 2010 by Pat Sloan entitled ‘Pat Sloan’s Favorite Techniques’, and looking at the front cover I thought I wouldn’t like the book.  I didn’t really look at it until about two weeks after Christmas, and when I did I found a project that really excited me. So the idea for my Calendar Quilt was born. I made up lost time and had caught up by the middle of January. I have over 365 different pieces of fabric in this quilt, one for each day of the year, and every single piece was used in one of the quilts I’ve been working on in the year 2011.  I also added some embellishments; for example the flowers that I appliqued and then blanket stitched around….this was for the center of the blocks for two quilts I made out of Kansas Troubles fabric.

I think I will free motion this one myself, not sure what I’ll do yet, but when I get started hopefully I’ll be inspired!

This is the quilt made out of Kansas Troubles with the appliqued flowers that I did the blanket stitch around. I made one for my sister Barb, and then one just like it for me.  It was machine quilted by Kelly Kreft from La Junta Colorado.

Retro Flowers Quilt for Lesley

I’ve been working on this quilt for my daughter Lesley who lives in Kansas City Mo.  She picked this pattern from Pinterest and sent me the link. It’s from The Sometimes Crafter Patterns and is entitled ‘Retro Flowers Quilt’. I’m making it bigger than the pattern, so instead of 16 blocks I’m making 30. I have 20 made already, so only have 10 more to go. I think I’ll free motion quilt it myself too. I’m pretty new to free motion quilting, so I’m not the most confident with how my quilts will turn out. I think patience and practice is the key to learning the ins and outs of free motion quilting.

I recently bought a  Bernina 440QE Sewing machine. I’ve owned a Bernina for 30 years now and I think they are the best. My new machine has a walking foot and a BSR (Bernina stitch regulator) which comes in handy when you try your hand at free motion quilting. So far I absolutely love my new machine. I’ve kept my older Bernina 1080 (Bernie) and I love it too,  because we’ve been through so much together. I think my sister is going to borrow it for a while!

I purchased the Curve Master Presser foot since the pattern recommended buying it when you make this quilt. I tried it for the first block and did not like it at all, I made my next block without it and had much better luck with my block. I found I could make the curve just as fast and  it looked much nicer than the one using the curve master presser foot. I’ve read on line that it takes time and practice to use the curve master and maybe I just didn’t give it enough time. Oh well, the quilt is 2/3 done and I love how it’s turning out.

I’ll post the rest of the blocks as soon as they are done….

Kris