Retro Flower Quilt and Scrap ‘Hugs & Kisses’ Quilts

Since I’ve been on vacation this week, I’ve been hiding in my sewing room most of the time! I’ve gotten lots done and I’m enjoying every minute of it too. My mom came over this morning and she and I looked through fabric and just had a great time looking at all of the quilt tops I’ve finished that have yet to be quilted. A few too many if you ask me…..It’s expensive to have them all sent out and quilted, I keep saying I’ll get busy and try my hand free motion quilting them, but I’m still a little nervous to actually get started. I’m just going to have to buckle down and get the job done. I have 6 tops done that need to be quilted and 3 more almost done….Wow!

This is Lesley’s Retro flower quilt and it’s almost done…I’m going to make about 3 more blocks and get rid of a few blocks in the quilt I just don’t like. I think I’ll put about a 6” white border on it and then bind it with a bright color fabric. It has a shallow scalloped edge to it.

This is the ‘Hugs and Kisses’  quilt I’m making with the scraps from Lesley’s Retro flower quilt. It’s coming along very nicely and I love it so far. I think Lesley will get this one too.

Here is a picture of the quilt that got me really started quilting about 3 or 4 years ago. I’ve since made two more of them…One for me and one for my other sister Val. This quilt was made for my sister Susi…I personalized some of the blocks with embroidery. It’s really hard to tell the three of them apart!

Susi’s Quilt!

This quilt was made for me! Kris’ quilt

Please ignore the threads and cat hairs!

This one isn’t quilted yet, it’s for my sister Val….these are about 65 x65 I think….Val’s quilt

Well……enough from me….happy quilting!

Kris

Back working on the Retro Flower Quilt again

Well, I finally got the rest of my fabric for Lesley’s Retro Flower Quilt, so I’m almost finished with all of the blocks. I’ve only got 4 more to make before I reach my goal of 42….. woohoo!

I’m thinking I might make 3 extra ones and make them into a table runner and practice my free motion quilting.  I’ll get a better idea of what will look good on the flower before I start quilting this HUGE quilt.

Here are the three latest…  These are the fun blocks I’m making with the scraps from Lesley’s quilt. I found this pattern on a blog I was looking at and I just loved it…turns out the scraps work perfectly for this. There are four blocks here sewn together, they are fast and easy to make. I think I’ll have enough fabric left over for a good size ‘throw’. The name of these blocks are ‘Hugs & Kisses’ and I found them on little.miss.shabby.

Well, I’m on vacation this coming week, so I will be hidden away in my sewing room!

Happy Quilting! Kris

Hand Applique….I feel like I’ve finally won!

I’ve always loved the look of hand applique on quilts but I’ve always been afraid to try it.  It looked hard and I just didn’t know where to start, so when I saw this Aunt Grace’s Garden Party BOM, I thought this is my chance to learn how. According to the information about it, they would walk you through the steps of applique, so anyone could do it. Well, I should have known it was too good to be true! Basically they would just say….’prep for applique’ and then you were on your own. At first I was a bit frustrated, but then I decided that ‘I can do this!’….and I read and watched YouTube videos of people doing different kinds of applique. A gal at one of the quilt shops I go to also gave me some hands on teaching for about 10 minutes and that helped more than any thing. Thanks so much Norma!

I’ve figured out that straw (milliners) needles and silk thread work wonders. I’ve tried fine thread and regular needles, but have had wonderful results using the straw needles and the silk thread. So here are some pictures of my latest tries of hand applique. The picture below is of the two panels that I will need to sew together to make the large center strip of my quilt. I have half of it done and now to the other half. It might be a little difficult to get them both looking the same.

These baskets gave me fits this weekend. I had one done and then realized I hadn’t squared up the half square triangles and my basket was too big,  so I tore it all apart and squared them up and then sewed it back together and now it looks great and is the right size! That is very important when quilting! So another few hours of hand stitching and this center strip will be done!

Happy quilting! Kris

It’s Saturday and I’m working on Aunt Grace’s Garden Party BOM….I’m only 2 months behind!

Since I’ve finished free motion quilting my mom’s throws….(12 of them!) I decided it was time to do some catching up on lots of different  projects. One of them is my Aunt Grace’s BOM, this is a 6 month block of the month made from reproduction 30’s fabric. It’s different in that you do a whole strip every month instead of a block. I like how it’s turning out so far and it’s really my first true attempt at hand appliqueing. So far I think I’m doing okay, but I’ve already learned a lot on what not to do. If I made another one of these it would turn out lots better, but I don’t think I’ll get around to doing another one! One thing I will say about this BOM is that if you weren’t a quilter, this one would be rather confusing to figure out. The instructions are just okay….not much help in the applique department, you already need to know what to do, or you might be in trouble.

The picture below is the next strip I’m working on…It’s the large center strip with lots of applique and the Grandmother’s Flower Garden Flowers in it. I’ve pretty much got everything ‘applique’ done so now I just need to get the half square triangle blocks done for the baskets and then it’s time to sew it all together. I figure I’ve got the hard part done already. I also would recommend using the press bars when making the bias stems or vines. These really come in handy when presssing them. They are from Collins and you can find them in most quilt stores and they are also available on line.

Well, I’d better get back to my sewing room! Aunt Grace here I come!

Kris

Free Motion Quilting…..trying to learn

Well, I have the day off today and I’m planning on going to Cambridge to pick up my mom and we are off to Arapahoe to visit my sister. I made stew, homemade dinner rolls and brownies to take to them since my sister is home this week with some health issues. I’m sure we’ll have a great time. I’m also taking the Kansas Troubles Log Cabin Quilt I made her. I finished binding it Sunday during the Super Bowl.

I’m ready to try my hand at Free Motion quilting a quilt I made for my mom….Snow Days…..it’s a lot of embroidery and quilt blocks combined. I blogged about it  a couple of weeks ago and also posted some pix. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing on it, but I guess I’m ready to try. Now I need to get some Warm and Natural so I can tackle this quilt!

Here are a few pictures of a couple of the ‘throws’ my mom made, that I free motioned quilted for her. I am a beginner at this, and sometimes I can get very frustrated with how things turn out.

The quilts below are done with two   different  types of circles, I can do these okay since there is no rhyme or reason, the size of the circle doesn’t really matter and it’s pretty much ‘anything goes’. Overall, I like how these quilts look when completely done. I just need to keep practicing and hopefully it will get easier and easier!

Now it’s on to bigger and fancier stitches! Wish me luck….

Kris

Barb’s quilt is done….finally!

I pieced this quilt for my sister Barb almost 9 months ago. I’ve had time to make one for myself too, but mine isn’t quilted yet. I just got the binding put on my sister’s this weekend, so it’s officially ready to give to her.  Last year, I was really into Kansas Troubles and I made a few quilts with the fabric. I still love those ‘darker’ fabrics. I also completed free motion quilting the last quilt for my mom! woo hoo! I just need to get it bound and I’ll be done with other people’s projects! That is a weight lifted.

I’m so glad to get this done!

kris

Will I get tomorrow off or not?

I’m not scheduled to work tomorrow, and am I ever glad. The weather forecast isn’t looking too good, and I really don’t like driving on bad roads. I have a feeling I’ll be called in, the freight will be late because of weather and I heard rumors that someone from North Platte is sick. If that happens…..there goes my day of sewing!

I’ve started another redwork sampler and this time I traced the design on using the right pen. I’m also using DMC #8 perle cotton vs. #12 Valdani perle cotton. I already like the DMC better, I’ve always used DMC, but was desperate to get started on the sampler and the only perle cotton I could buy right away was the Valdani. It’s very expensive compared to the DMC and the spool is smaller. I also think it tends to knot up and tangle easier and just isn’t as smooth as the DMC. When I’m done with this sampler I’ll post a picture of both and you can judge for yourself.

Here is a picture of Morris my cat sleeping on a quilt I’m free motion quilting for my mom. I went in my sewing room this morning to sew for about an hour, but Morris looked so comfortable I just decided to let him sleep. He’d been outside all night and needed to catch up on his sleep.

More embroidery from Aunt Martha’s transfers….Don’t know what I’ll do with these, but someday I’m sure I’ll think of something.

Hopefully I’ll spend  tomorrow sewing!

Kris