Birthday Celebration Quilt

Last month I traveled to eastern Washington state to celebrate my grandmother's 100th birthday. How amazing, to live 100 years! She always told me she wanted to live to 100, and she has, and in reasonably good health. At her party, I asked everyone to sign a fabric rectangle with the idea of making her a signature celebration quilt. I got right to work when I returned home. I added triangles to the 2.5" wide strips to make 5" finished squares. My inspiration was this quilt, but since I just had 48 signatures, I alternated the signature blocks with a delicate rose print. I just sent the finished quilt to her for a Christmas present. Most of the fabrics on the front are from her fabric drawers, and all the fabrics on the back are kettle cloth fabrics she purchased in the 70's. I hope the signatures and the fabrics bring her good memories!

Just wanted to post a few pictures of things I've finished lately ...

Pillowcases for Hole in the Wall Gang Camp ... thanks, Jackie for donating them through your guild!


A Linus quilt top using up every last bit of the racecar fabric; I like how the cars race around the pinwheel and it works well for my 9th block!


My Christmas mini quilt for the Four Seasons Holiday Swap - I can't wait to see what I receive! This little tree quilt is about 17" square.



Front and back of my QAYG charity top - I like the scrappiness of the front in a limited color range, but next time I might try to get the back square fabrics to be more scattered.

I am also excited to have joined an online quilting bee - we're starting in January and I can't wait to see what we create together! There is lots of excitement and many quilting bees starting through blockparty and the flickr group here.

sewing, not computing!

I've been getting lots of sewing time, and have chosen to sew more and blog less. I finished the quilt for my cousin and it is on the way to him for his birthday. I finished the Halloween costumes, but dd and ds don't want to model for photos yet, although they have worn them around the house often. Finishing touches to be added this weekend.


I made a small quilt for my MIL who admired the work of Sandi Garris ... it is 12" by 12" and doesn't have all the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics Sandi uses, but I liked the bright colors and hope it brightens a spot in my MIL's home.



I have finished blocks for the flickr block swap - it's been fun to get great blocks in the mail! My Holiday Swap quilt top is together - I hope to get it quilted next week.

I also make 35 QAYG blocks in pinks, reds and purples for a girly comfort quilt - I will put them together at our comfort quilt day next week.

I was given a huge bag of kids fabric and have made 9 pillowcases for Jackie's Guild and Hole in the Wall Gang camp - I have 6 more prepped, then I will send them on to her. This seemed a better use of the many chunks of fabric I received since it would be years before I got it all made into quilts. I love a cheerful pillowcase on my bed, and I'm sure these kids at camp will as well. Our guild also supports this camp, and it's a wonderful place.

Finishing Steps

My cousin's quilt is quilted and the striped bias binding is machine sewn ... I just need to sit down and finish hand stitching it to the back. There is unfortunately a lot of family drama going on at the moment, and I hope this quilt will promote some greater family peace - one can only hope.


I've been busy making Linus tops, especially some simple Halloween tops for delivery to the local hospital this month. We like to try and have some holiday themed quilts on hand when appropriate. My Linus tops are tied by the ladies that meet weekly, but other comfort quilts that I finish are machine quilted - the meander I did on this sailboat quilt finished it off nicely. I love the shark and sea turtle fabric I found for the border - keeps with the theme of the sea!


Finally, our bi-annual guild show coming in 2010 features lavish baskets filled with items of a certain theme. The basket chairwoman asked that each basket be accompanied by a mini-quilt representing the theme. I chose to do the "puzzles" basket and made a small, unsolved sudoku puzzle on the quilt - it measures about 18" by 24". Even after carefully checking and rechecking before I sewed each square, I got one section sewed together in the wrong orientation. Arghhh ... now it's been corrected, and the puzzle can be solved. My kids think it would be fun to have placemats with these puzzles - more fun to solve the sudoku than do their homework!

Next on the agenda are Halloween costumes - a leopard princess and a native American are soon to reside in our home!

Percolating to the top of my List

It's funny how sometimes projects that were not even on the radar zoom to the top of my list. I visited my 99-year-old grandmother this summer and she told me to take whatever I wished from her fabrics, she no longer can sew and would like them to be used if possible. Among her fabrics, I found 30 4" squares sewn together into a block, and a stack of 100 more of the print blocks. I took those, wondering what she had in mind when they were all cut by hand. She no longer remembers what she planned to make.

My cousin moved in with her several years ago to be her caretaker, and he has done a good job enabling Nana to live on her farm for the remainder of her life. I suddenly had an inspiration to put the squares together as a quilt for my cousin. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, with large patches of blocks like Nana had started, and keep it masculine. Her block had the red and blue print in no particular order, so I made my blocks random as well. I found a similar blue to mix with the prints, and a nice stripe that blended. I made twelve 20" bordered blocks for the quilt. The upper right block in the photo is her original blue. It was very peaceful to sew her blocks, I remembered all the times I sewed with Nana as a young girl and my happy childhood memories of time at her farm.

The top and back are all sewn together now, I just need to visit my friend and her Gammill to quilt it. I hope to finish it for my cousin's October birthday, and before my grandmother turns 100 in November.

Back to School and Time for Myself

My kids went back to school this week giving me more time to work on projects in my sewing room. I finished up several tops and quilts for linus, which look good blowing in the breeze. We like to give out holiday-themed quilts at the hospital when appropriate, so I made two with Halloween fabrics.

I have been working on some swap blocks, both for a swap among some guild friends and an online swap on flickr. Of course, I end up making extra blocks to try out patterns and different fabric combinations, so I see an orphan block quilt in my future.


I had a chance to finish binding this twin sized quilt for a local boy's shelter. It is Bonnie's TATW pattern using some space motif fabric, I love this pattern for a larger charity quilt. I hope it gives a boy some comfort.

I also packed up a box of fabric and sewing supplies for the ibol project - check it out and see what one soldier is doing to foster goodwill. I'm really impressed with his project and glad I could contribute.

Back from a wonderful Change of View

We returned last week from a wonderful trip to the west, seeing family in Washington and hiking at Mt Rainier and then Glacier National Parks. Such stunning views everywhere we looked! Someday I hope to live in the west again ...


I returned home to a freshly serviced Bernina and ready to do some creating in between unpacking and thinking about getting the kids ready for school. These two linus quilts were cut and prepped and just what I needed to get back in the swing of things.



I finished the hand quilting on my Scarlett Rose Celtic wall hanging during our travels. I echo quilted with perle cotton and I like the texture it added. It was a quick job to add the edging and binding to this 19" square piece. I just did the center portion of the Celtic Rose Garden pattern and changed the flower pattern, but I'm pleased with the result and my dd is looking forward to hanging it in her room.

Mailbox Treats

Several months ago I sent off an 8" central block on a journey around the country. This week it returned completed into a beautiful 20" quilt. What a treat to find this lovely quilt in my mailbox. I love the process of adding to one another's work, and Margaret does a fabulous job hosting the Spring Fling Round Robin.




This week I've been teaching a kids sewing class at our local Park & Rec summer camp. Thirteen girls signed up, from ages 6 to 12. The first 2 days we did hand sewing projects and made felt album covers and then needle felted pillows. Very successful projects for the wide range of skills in the class. Wednesday I pulled out the sewing machines because I want to introduce them, but as has happened before, once the sewing machines are out, everyone forgets how to hand sew and they form a long line at the machines (we only have 2). Once I convinced most of the girls to have a hand sewing project to work on while they waited for a turn at the machine, there was less standing around in line. Some girls made vests, some made fleece pillows and others made sleeping bags for their dolls. Our last day we'll dig into my box of 4" squares and make small doll or stuffed animal quilts.

More Projects in Progress

At long last I have moved forward on my piece from the Scarlett Rose workshop at our guild last fall. I finished the knotwork with enthusiasm, but then was stumped with the applique flowers, which did not inspired me. I always find applique a big hurdle, although once the pieces are prepped I enjoy the process. After the project aged in my sewing room for several months, I pulled it out and my daughter helped me choose the fabrics for the flowers. I decided to do fusible applique in a simplified flower design so it would actually get finished. My daughter wants it for her wall, and I'm enthused again to do echo quilting during our travels this summer. It is 20" square, perfect for taking along.



The expected baby boy in our extended family was born last week, so I added the label and sent off this zig zag quilt - it's bright and simple and I like how it turned out. I found a great fabric for the back and I used it on a few of the front triangles as well.

I also got started on a TATW quilt for a local boys shelter - our guild is donating several twin sized quilts with boy themes. Bonnie Hunter's strip method is easy and looks great! This is the third one I've made from her pattern. I found the space and galaxy fabric, and pulled a number of colorful prints to coordinate - I will quilt it later this summer when I get over to use my friend's gammill.

Workshop Points and Quilting Complete at Last

At long last I finished the table runner from the Judy Neimeyer workshop this spring. It looks great in my dining room, and I had it finished for show and tell at our last guild meeting of the year. However, it paled in comparison to someone who had finished a bed-sized quilt of her design. Oh well, I enjoyed the runner size, but did not want to make any more so I'm satisfied with my completion. I was pleased with my quilting - simple stippling and following the star points, but it enhances the design.


Our Linus coordinator commented that we had many more girl quilts than boy quilts in our last delivery, so I started thinking "boy" in my Linus tops. I have a few boy novelty prints which I will make up soon. I also think this sailboat pattern is easy, great for a boy and can use scraps of any non-floral fabrics.


Finally, a sneak peak of my SFRR3 ... I finished the quilting and I love the result. I just need to finish sewing the label and hanging sleeve. It will be hard to send this on! I'll show the completed quilt after the recipient receives it.

Inspired by Gifts of Fabric

I was amazed recently to be the winner of a fabric give-away from generous Victoria of Bumble Bean's blog. What a delight to receive a squishy full of fun kid fabrics in my mailbox late last week. And, even though I have drawers and bins full of fabric, new fabric is often more inspirational. I quickly whipped up this quick strippy quilt (from Mary's pattern) for my project Linus group using 2 of the cat fabrics.


And then my daughter and I decided the pink dog fabric would be a perfect pillowcase for her friend's birthday gift. I cut and she sewed it together with some coordinating fabrics and will wrap it up with a book and some homemade bubble bath for a special gift.


I also put together some more pieces from my "Flower Garden" quilt for another placemat ... this is currently my daughter's favorite, although they are all floating around the table from place to place.

gifts, school and a re-do

The busy pace of the end-of-school-year is upon our house, and I've been finishing projects for several activities. I've done quilts featuring class artwork for my daughter's teachers since kindergarten. However, for this year's third grade and her third grade teacher, a quilt didn't seem the right gift. So, my daughter and I made a quilted apple tote bag together. We started with an apple print fabric, she selected coordinating prints, embroidered one square with an apple and signed in the center of her stitchery. I did the assembly and quilting. We are both very pleased with how it turned out. Perhaps I need one as well! She is going to fill the bag with a batch of cookies for her teacher and her teacher's family before she gives it next week.


My son's teacher got a class quilt last year (when my daughter was in her class). Since this teacher loves reading and really inspires the class, this year we made a "reading cushion" for her room. Each child decorated a square of fabric with the title of a favorite book, and we hope future classes will sit on the cushion and be inspired to read.

My son needed overalls for his "old schoolhouse day" next week. The class dresses in 1909 clothes and spends the day in the one-room schoolhouse which is on the school grounds. It is a wonderful day that every 2nd grader looks forward to. He has his poem and his 12 multiplication tables memorized already! Since I always make my daughter all these special dresses for these types of occasions, of course I need to make my son overalls. He's not a fan of stiff denim or jeans, so I made them of a heavy chambray and I think he will be comfortable.


Finally, back in February I made a guild challenge quilt for the song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone". I liked quilt elements, but I wasn't that crazy about the whole quilt together. I tucked it away in a box after the challenge, and couldn't imagine ever displaying it or giving it to anyone. I love using fun quilted place mats in our kitchen, I've made lots and the kids love changing them. It occurred to me the other day, why not cut the quilt up into place mats. I love them! The kids love them! I'm so glad I thought of a way to re-do my work and now we can enjoy the fun pieced people around our table.

Bound at Last

I finally finished the binding on this 16-patch quilt inspired by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston's book Collaborative Quilting. It's a large throw size, and I like it, although I think I need more contrast between the setting triangles and the 16-patch blocks. It was fun to find bits and pieces of all my brights for the blocks. I also did my first attempt at feathers with my friend's Gammill ... they need lots of work, but I still like how they look.


I also tried out the no triangle zig-zag quilt tutorial. I ran out of the bright music background fabric, so it ended up short several rows and square. My daughter and I laughed together as we laid out the squares on the floor trying to get the zig and zag correct. This will be tied by my Linus group, and I hope the cozy square shape and bright colors will cheer up a child.