Wednesday, March 21, 2012

My Surprise Win



I live in St Marys County in Maryland. I belong to a very wonderful guild. There are lots of quilting opportunities in our area but many of them are during the day. This is not possible for me as I work outside the house. My guild meets at night.

We have a local quilt show for county residents every couple of years. I have been working on a large block of the month over a little over a year. It is called Civil War Tribute. I saw this quilt in Lancaster a couple of years ago and was gobsmacked.
I wanted to make it in red white and blue instead of the usual civil war colors.

It barely fit on my Handiquilter and I quilted swirls all over it. Next was binding and a sleeve.

It was one of my entries in our local show and I was both thrilled and surprised to win Best In Show. BUT this is viewer judged and it was impressive hanging up. I a not by any means a show quilter but I am proud of this quilt. This quilts is on our bed as I make quilts to be used.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Never Say Never


I have never really been interested in making a totally scrappy quilt---you know the kind---just go by light, medium and dark. BUT at our guild the other night they had the cutest block for us to make this month. So I took the plunge.

It took me about an hour to make the first one as I kept getting the placements confused. BUT I figured out a labeling system and now it is much easier.

I usually give my scraps away---except red white and blue. But I had a container of them waiting for our guild yard sale. I took them out and cut the correct sizes for a bunch of blocks. I then made the hourglass units. I cut them oversized and then trimmed to the correct size.

The block turned out a little larger but that allowed me to trim it to a perfect 11 1/2. All the seams distorted it a little--or maybe my pressing. I cut enough for quite a few and will make as many as I can with those pieces.

I may redesign this block to be able to use 2 1/2 strips and 2 inch. I think it would make a wonder Quilt Of Valor. I have LOTS of those strips in a nice big box.

Who would have thunk it?

Monday, March 12, 2012

Blue and Yellow Happiness for a Veteran Lady


Our guild is supplying quilts for the new ward opening at our local Veterans Home. I had a nice pile of blue and yellow flowered fabric. That is my favorite color combo. I have 3 quilts for us made with that and do NOT need another. I just used my 10 1/2 inch ruler and cut it all into squares.

This is like the very popular quilts that sell at Pottery Barn and other places like that. I wanted something fast and easy but still pretty. I used the puffier batting that has such a nice dimension for the quilting. It takes up more room in the box when mailing quilts---so I save it for local donations.

I bundled up the scraps to sell at our guild tonight for a little yardsale. Lots of pretties left.

Thanks for the suggestions on the string quilt. Using tissue paper is really great as I can cut it to any size I would like. I had no trouble quilting it on my HQ16 with the fabric as a foundation though.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Strings On A Foundation


In my journey of experimenting with scrappy string quilts---I decided to try stitching them onto thin fabric. I put gold in the middle as I think it adds a really bright color. The blocks are 12 inches.

I think I like this better than paper as it does not have to be removed. ALSO--I like the larger blocks. This quilt will be going to Afghanistan after it goes to my guild for show and tell.

*Sigh* I see I turned one block wrong...lol. But I still love it.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Blocks From Judy


One of my online friends sent these beautiful blocks. They were pieced very nicely so I just needed to add sashing and borders.

My big Janome was in the shop so I had to wait for it to get back home to put on the binding. Sadly after 2 quilts--it is doing the SAME thing. It will go back again today. I have 2 other sewing machines for piecing so I am able to keep making these quilts.

The little cornerstones are from Vicki and the binding from a local guild friend Kathie L. The backing is from Carla. This is a true collaborative quilt.