Next in the lineup

I saw this pattern on a website and figured out how to do it. It is strip piecing on paper. The intersections got thick tho and I think this will be a quilt I do not make again. I do love how it looks though. Afghanistan bound.

Backlog Of Quilts

My Janome 6600 has been out of order for quite sometime. I was waiting for it to be repaired so I could bind my quilts but decided to just do it on my smaller machine with a walking foot. I do my bindings totally by machine for strength and fast application.

Each day I will put up one new quilt. This quilt is made from blocks sent to me from online friends. I just put on sashing, borders and then quilt them. MUCH quicker than having to make the blocks.

This will be sent off to Afghanistan for one of our wounded military,

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Star Fun

I just love my Accuquilt Cutting System. It makes flying geese so easy to cut and sew. I love star quilts and made this one as my next Quilt Of Valor donation. The middles were inspired by my friend Polly.

Quilts From 3 Dudes Quilting

My Arizona friend Janet shared this free pattern with me in North Carolina last October. I sort of forgot about it until I saw one she made. I do not save scraps so I had to go to fabric to cut out the strips. I cut out so many I had enough to make 2. I really love making this pattern and see more in my future.

It is available here:
http://www.3dudesquilting.com/free_patterns.html

Look for the one called Let's Strip It Magic Mountain Quilt.

Both of these will be donated to Quilts Of Valor after my guild Show and Tell later this month.

First String Quilt

My friend Debbie from North Carolina sent me some 12 inch string blocks. I have never made these before but decided it was time to try this out. I chose to make them 8.5 as I had lots of paper that size in tablets.

I found out it is easy and sort of addictive. I followed her pattern of light down the middle, blue on one side and red on the other. I usually give away my scraps so I had to cut some strips from yardage.

I played with designs on my design wall which is a big piece of batting pinned up in the hallway. This is what I ended up with and I LIKE it.

I will now save strings so I can make more of these. I quilted it using the directions from the book Hooked On Feathers. That is my new quilt pattern for February.