Company at our House

Tuggy is visiting for a week while his Mom and Dad are vacationing in Las Vegas. He knows our dogs as they have stayed at his house. He is a good boy but BIG. I call him Hoss sometimes. I am teaching him to sit and stay while here. He is smart and learns fast. His Mom will be impressed with him. BTW--- Mom is my daughter.

He loves to watch the world go by outside out window.

Buckeye Beauty

Here is the quilt I just finished. I wanted something very light weight for the summer. I used no batting in this and just did stitch in the ditch quilting. I did pin very well as I hate puckers.

This pattern is by Eleanor Burns in her book Quilts through The Seasons. It was supposed to be made using 5 inch charms but I just cut up my own. If I were to make it again--I would cut them 5 1/2 and trim a little. They came up a little small.

Another great quilt pattern that was fun and easy. And just the perfect weight for summer.

Fusible Fun

I have decided to try making smaller projects. I have several bed sized quilts and struggle quilting them on my sewing machine.

While in Nashville I purchased a couple of patterns by Amy Bradley. Hers are quirky and lots of fun to look at. I have a good sized space on my wall at work and will make different ones to fit that space.

I changed the pattern a little bit to make the borders easier. The little quilts were a bit of a challenge but turned out well. I decided to try a quilting thread that would really stand out. My stitches are getting better.

The big white buttons were from a coat my Mothers used to have. She removed them to save them for something else.

Nashville

My husband and I went to the Nashville Quilt Show. We stayed at the beautiful Gaylord Hotel in total luxury. I was able to meet up with many internet quilting friends.

I went to a Show and Tell with Eleanore Burns and brought one of my Quilts of Valor. She is such a fun and gracious lady. I was able to read the letter from the soldier I received.

Double Wedding Ring ala Eleanor Burns

I just completed this quilt and a challenge to myself. I wanted to see if I could quilt a queen sized quilt on my Janome. I was able to do it with just a little difficulty.

I really enjoyed making the blocks even though there were so many of them.

I used the Crayola Washable markers for the quilt motif. I was a little worried they might not come off the white but that was no a problem.

Irish Chain

This is the very first quilt I made after getting my wonderful new sewing machine. I bought the Janome 6600 Memorycraft. It is the most wonderful machine and makes sewing easier and faster. It has the cutting mechanism that cuts your threads with the push of a button.

I decided this was too big for me to handle and sent it off to a longarmer. I wanted the wreaths to show in the white sections and asked her to quilt them using blue. It is exactly what I wanted.

I LOVE the way it turned out.

March Fun

Saturday was National Quilting Day. I wanted to do a quick little project to honor this important day. I started on Friday and just ran out of time. But here she is in all her brightness. I wanted something to go on the wall of my office to brightened things up. This sure will do the trick.

This was one of those all in one sewing on the strips and going through all 3 layers. Slick and quick.

Janome Free Motion Foot and ME

I finally received the new Free Motion foot and bobbin case for my Beloved Janome 6600. I have 4 tops ready to be quilted and 3 are already pinned. So I grabbed one of my Quilts of Valor. I knew the first thing I needed to do was all the straight line stabilizing quilting. This is done very easily with the wonderful accu feed system.

The first 2 blocks were stenciled with my blue wash out marker. It was almost impossible to see the lines on all this busy RWB fabric. This was discovered after making these 2 blocks. Then I switched to the continous curve system of no marking. This is quite easy once you get the pattern memorized.

The result was getting 2 tops all quilted. One is even bound and the label sewed on. I made all 3 labels at once using the momogram program on the machine. I still have not figured out how to save lettering on this machine. The second one needs the binding cut and then sewn on to it. That will probably happen today after work.

I sent away for the new accu feed SITD foot and will see if that makes life even easier. I should be able to quilt most of my own as long as I do not let them get too big. I still cannot imagine doing a Queen sized one.

Scrap Quilting

I have never ever done a scrap quilt. BUT, I have been quilting for just 3 years and learning so much with each quilt I complete. The Delectable Moutains I consider scrappy but I am now doing a really huge scrap project. I believe it is called 4 Patch Ladder. I know the pattern came from Quilters Cache which is a fabulous website.

I think there will be lots of red and blue in this quilt from the left overs from the Quilts of Valor. I try not to have any of the same fabric in the same block and that is IT for any rules. And sometimes that even is not the case. It is a big lesson on value.

I am enjoying this and finally figured out what to do with leftover fabric. I cut it into 5 inch blocks or 2 1/2 inch ones. If it is long enough...it becomes a 2 1/2 inch strip.

Delectable Mountains

This is my very first foray into a scrap quilt. I wanted to make something different for Quilts of Valor. I found the directions for this on Bonnie Hunters website.

If I do this again, and I probably will, I would make the mountain side the same fabric. It was quite confusing trying to get everything in the right direction. Then I had so many seams to line up. I finally decided to line up every other one. I think I could have lined up just the ones on each block also.

But it is done and really quite striking.