More Quilts Finished in 2010

Rouenneries

Strawberry Fields

Pies & Tarts

Eliza Jane's 9-Patch

Quilts Made in 2010

Nine Patch for Eric and Becki's wedding

Cheddar Cheese & Crackers

Pink Flowers

Kaffe Fasset Tote Bag

Welcome Presents

The way to a quilter's heart is through fabric...and quilt books. These arrived from my sweet niece, Amy, who drew my name in our annual gift exchange. The books have a more contemporary slant than my usual, which is a good thing because I like to push myself in new directions. And isn't that fabric gorgeous?

Oh, and by the way...we did not get the snow that everyone else did!

My Birthday...and I was sick!

Last Monday was my birthday. I woke up with a sore throat and by evening it had developed into a full-blown cold/flu. I was in bed for two days and now, a week later, am still not feeling 100%. But the show must go on...things to do, people to see, places to visit. I think I'm finally caught up with gift-buying, holiday cards, laundry. Got my hair cut today and that's always good for a lift!

I'm feeling a bit aimless, quiltwise, since I was on deadline for our recent show, and now that it's over...well, I have to start something new! I have resurrected one machine-piecing UFO and I also found a needlepoint pillow that has been lying dormant for one year? two years? I am thinking about a new hand-piecing project and am considering "tumbling blocks," a pattern I have never made.

The photo is from the Quilt Show in Chicago I attended in April. I don't remember if it is new or old but I thought it looked festive for this time of year.

More Quilt Show Photos

This is my Feedsack Frolic quilt, made from a collection of feedsacks accumulated over at least ten years.

I made this quilt top which was then tied by members of our guild and will be donated to one of our charitable groups.

"Strawberry Fields" shown in a previous post. Doll quilt size based on an antique quilt. See previous post for more details.

News Flash: We had a few snow flurries this morning, amounting to a light dusting. Sadly it melted before I had time to take a picture!

Needle Chasers Quilt Show

My quilt guild, Needle Chasers of Chevy Chase, had their biennial quilt show this past weekend. As you can see, I finished my Pies & Tarts quilt just in time to hang in the show. Final stitches were made at 8:30 pm the night before - perhaps a new record! See my post of November 1st to read more about this quilt. I was going to hang it on the wall in my family room but I may use it as a throw instead since it is so snuggly. Our weather here in the nation's capital has gotten very cold. It is a shock to our systems after a warm fall. More quilt show photos to follow.

Mug Rug

The fad that is sweeping the nation... Inspired by my friend, Kitty, who does all things crafty, I made this "mug rug" to match my favorite mug.

Pies & Tarts

I have been quilting steadily on my Pies & Tarts quilt which I've entered into our quilt guild's biennial show the first weekend in December. Did I say hand-quilting? Yes! I have a little less than five weeks to finish the quilting, make a sleeve, and sew the binding on. The quilt is 60" x 60". The pattern is by Sue Daley of Busyfingers in Australia. I picked it up at A Touch of Amish quilt shop in Barrington, Illinois, in August, 2009, when I was visiting my sister. I was in a state of panic because I hadn't brought anything to work on and my fingers were itchy. The circles are made using English paper piecing which are then appliqued to background squares. Very labor-intensive but great fun.

Why Does It Have to End?

We went away for Labor Day Weekend, as has been our tradition for the past seven years, since our oldest started college. Pictured is Adam in the surf at Assateague, VA. We were lucky...Hurricane Earl was a no-show and the weather was perfectly spectacular all three days.

Now it's back to my routine which hopefully will include more blogging and definitely will include more quilting.

Mills Lake in Colorado

I have gotten horribly behind on my blogging this month. We just got back from a week's vacation at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Wonderful trip! My brother and sister and their spouses joined us there for a week of hiking and good fun. No quilting was done, sad to say, but I did visit two quilt shops in Estes Park, Colorado.

We returned home on Friday and son Adam came home from camp on Saturday. I enjoyed being an empty-nester for five weeks but am very happy to have him back. On Sunday, a violent thunderstorm hit Washington, DC, and many trees and large limbs came down, with resulting power outages. We lost our power on Sunday at 5:00 pm. Fortunately, it came back at 3:00 this morning - yippee! What I missed most: 1)air conditioning, 2)garbage disposal, and 3)hair dryer.

Eliza Jane's Nine-patch Doll Quilt

I joined Kathleen Tracy's American Schoolgirl Club so each month I receive a pattern for a doll quilt - this is the first installment. I have decided to try to match the fabrics in the original and was able to use some antique fabrics from my stash.

Baby Quilt (Tied)

It's been awhile since I've posted. Life has intervened! But in a good way. One son was home from Israel and the other finished school. So I've been busy with doctors' appointments, shopping trips, a visit to the DMV (yes, my youngest now has his learner's permit!), and then a 3-day trip to the Poconos and the Berkshires to drop them off at their respective camps. Now we are empty-nesters for 5 whole weeks! Woo-hoo!

Thank you all for your kind comments about my Strawberry Fields quilt. I had great fun working on it and like the way it turned out. For those of you considering hand-quilting, go for it! I think you will find that it goes a lot faster than you think it will.

Pictured is the baby quilt I made for a woman who works for my husband, at his request. Instead of hand- or machine-quilting, I tied it. I used a higher-loft batting than I usually use (Quilt-Lite which I found in my stash). It's so fluffy and snuggly. The baby shower is on Friday...I finished just in time!

Strawberry Fields, Finished

My Strawberry Fields Doll Quilt is quilted and bound. I stayed true to the original and used a red paisley fabric for the setting. This is the first time I have done a zig zag setting. It was not hard and it was fun to try something new.

For the quilting pattern, I went with my go-to, "when in doubt" the tried-and-true Baptist Fan. It's an allover pattern which I marked using a blue washout pen. I hand-quilted it using Mettler quilting thread, #514.

I mixed reproduction and antique fabrics. It's easy to use antique fabrics when the pieces are so small - you don't need much! The setting and backing fabrics are reproduction. All fabrics came from my stash. Thank you, Lori!

Mini Housewife

My Bernina is fixed and I am back in business - yippee! To celebrate, I made myself this mini "housewife" or needle case. The pattern comes from Kathleen Tracy's book, American Doll Quilts and the fabric is from Rural Jardin, the new French General line by Moda.

I love handmade sewing accessories!

End of May

The month of May is almost over and I am sad to see it go. School is winding down, the weather is beautiful and not hot yet, flowers are in bloom, and the summer months stretch out ahead. My second child was born in May and I have such happy memories of that time in my life. Now we are on the verge of Memorial Day Weekend - I will put out my flag tomorrow.

Baby Quilt in Progress; Bernina Uncooperative

Alas! Last week, as I was stitching away on this baby quilt, my Bernina made a wheezing sound and the handwheel froze. I tinkered with it a bit then called my local quilt shop, hoping to bring my machine in for repair that day. Instead I was told they couldn't take it until the week of May 31st! So it's all hand-sewing for me for the time being.

Patchwork Bag

I made a bag! The pattern comes from an out-of-print book that I borrowed from a friend, featuring designs by Kaffe Fassett and others. It may have been his first foray into quilting? It's an easy pattern, just front, back, two side gussets, a bottom gusset and the strap, plus the same for the lining. I quilted each section using Big Stitch. The fabric was a packet of fat quarters given to me by my daughter. One can never have too many bags, right?

Strawberry Fields Top

I finished my Strawberry Fields doll quilt top yesterday (see Humble Quilts.) The zizag, or streak of lightning setting was only a little bit challenging and I like the way it turned out. It's the first time I've used this setting - it's very old fashioned looking, I think. Now to find a backing and start quilting!