Double Cross

 One of the most fun things I do, quilting-wise,

is to belong to the Gridster Bee... an on line quilting bee

made up of 12 quilters all around the country.

May was my month to be "Queen Bee" and I asked my

bee mates to make these Double Cross Blocks,

using black and neutrals with little pops of color.

 

 

 

I just love the blocks everyone sent and added more to make this

52x63" quilt.

The pattern is free and can be found

at Wombat Quilts.

 

 

 

The original quilt was made with bright fabrics

for all of the crosses, but I wanted a black and white

quilt with little pops of color.

 

 

 

 

Jennifer, at Peaceful Hill Quilting,

did a beautiful job quilting it with yellow thread.

I chose the swirling, circular design to soften the crosses a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

Each member of the bee sends a signature block along

with their block.

One of the bee mates sent an orange block,

made by mistake, so I included that along with an extra block I had made.

The pieced backing looks pretty cool, if I do say so myself.  :)

 

 

It sure is fun being Queen Bee!

Until next year!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas in July

 For the last number of months my evening hand work

has been working on these ornaments.

 

The patterns are by MMMCrafts and Larissa writes the best patterns.

They are so fun, whimsical and  make me smile.

These ornaments are part of her

"Twas the Night"Series.

 

I made Santa and Mrs. Claus several years ago.

 

 

I made two girl elves and one boy elf for my grandchildrens'

ornaments for this year.

 

One set is for me!

 

 

One of the tea cups is for my daughter and son-in-law and

the other is for me!

 

I'm hoping to get the "All Through the House" ornament done this

year, too, but we shall see.

I have wanted something new for the top of my

tree for several years and Larissa's Lodestar is the perfect topper!

Is it too early to put up my Christmas tree??

Happy Creating!

Patriotic Topper 2024

 Every year for I don't know how long, 

I've made my siblings a

Patriotic table runner or topper.

It began as an honor to our dad,

who was one of the most patriotic people I know.

 

This year I used a pattern my sister found and loved.

The pattern is free from Quilters Newsletter

and is called "Firework Flag".  

 

 

Image taken from pattern page

 

 

I loved the idea of this quilt,

but didn't like that the flag was square.

After extending the striped side of the quilt,

I quilted the pieces before trimming

and decided to leave the top and bottom edges wavy.

These took some time to make,

but I really love the finish.

My siblings liked them, too!

Happy Quilting!

Two Veterans Quilts

 A few weeks ago my sister called and asked if I'd like to

go with her to see the stash of the mom of a friend of her husbands.

This friends mom had been a huge quilter and had died recently.

She had suffered from dementia for several years,

so her things had been in storage for that time.

You know I said YES!!

There was so much fabric, mainly reproduction fabrics,

which I just don't use at this time.

There were also a lot of rulers, notions, cutting mats,

patterns... the list goes on.

One bin I found had a bunch of zip lock bags filled with

finished blocks.

I bought this bin, thinking I could make some quilts

with these "packages" of blocks,

and, boy, can I!

One set of blocks must have been part of a block

exchange she was involved in because I don't know

how many different baggies of 3-10 blocks there were in this bin.

I pulled them out, cut some plain blocks to alternate with the pieced blocks

and had this quilt top finished in not time.

 

 

 

 

The people who pieced these blocks were meticulous.

Each one was exactly 4" square and so well done.

It was fun looking at all of the fabric combinations that

made up the blocks.

 

 

The next set of blocks I pulled from the bin were huge 16" blocks.

At first I wasn't sure how I could use these to make a 48x60" quilt,

and then I placed them on point.

 

 

 

 

This quilt top went together very quickly, too,

and is so striking, I think.

 

I used the four extra blocks for the backing, but should have

made another quilt with them. 

I didn't think of that until it was finished.

Everything I used to make these two quilts came from this ladies stash...

the blocks, the plain blocks and backing fabrics, the batting and the thread.

It made me sad to see that she had done all of this work, but

hadn't completed the quilts.

I have no idea how many quilts she made over the years,

but she was a talented quilter.

It really has me thinking of how I will use my stash from now on.

Both of these quilts will be donated to my local Veterans hospital.

Happy Quilting!

Caroline's Christmas Stockings

 I love making Bucilla felt kits

and have made stocking kits for all of us

in my family.

Before Caroline, my newest granddaughter,

was born, I began making her stockings.

I made one for her house and one for mine.

This stocking is for my house.

With each stocking I've made a quilted

stocking to which I stitched the felt front.

This makes for a good and sturdy stocking,

ready for stuffing!

The Peppermint Santa stocking is for

Caroline's home.

He is adorable!

 

 

 

The fabric I used for the stocking is so cute!

 

These are ready to hang on the mantle,

but I'm not wishing for Christmas to arrive quickly.

Happy Quilting!

HST Veterans Quilt

 The Veterans quilt made from batiks given to me

by a friend who does not like batiks is finished

and ready for delivery.

This pattern was so fun and easy to make and looks so cool!

 

 

 

It's quilted with straight lines that follow the lightening bolts.

I've gotten so I really like the plain and simple quilting lines.

 

 

 

 

 

These batiks are darker than I usually like,

but they work well for this quilt.

 

The backing was purchased and I love this design.

Onto the next Veterans Quilt!

Happy Quilting!!

Spectacular Savannah

 I love Elizabeth Hartman's patterns.

This quilt makes the third one I've made

and I see more in my future.

Spectacular Savannah is for my newest granddaughter,

Caroline Sue.

 

 

 

 

The biggest challenge with this quilt was choosing the fabrics.

There were a couple that I didn't use once production began,

but I was very happy with my selections, overall.

 

 

 

 

 

It was quilted with African Samba (thank you Mary at Needledmom).

Jennifer at Peaceful Hill Quilting did a beautiful job quilting it. 

I chose an abstract plaid fabric for the binding,

have sewn the label into place

and am ready to deliver it to this new little bundle of joy.

Happy Quilting!

Birdling Baby Quilt

 One of my nieces just had her first baby...

a beautiful little girl.

Before she was born,

I saw this pattern and fell in love with the quilt.

Usually, I find a pattern and put my own spin

on it with different colors and fabrics.

This one I loved just as it was

and copied the fabrics and colors used.

Birdling was such a fun pattern to make

and I love the results.

 

 

 

 

I had never worked with Art Gallery Pure solids

and will use these again.

 

 

 

 

Jennifer at Peaceful Hill Quilting quilted

"Dandoline Floof" using pink thread

and I love this, too.

 

 

The label has been sewn on and it's ready to be mailed.

 

Welcome to the world, Eliana!

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Baby Quilts

 I've had two baby quilt tops finished for a while

and finally got around to finishing them this past week.

First up is another Disappearing Four Patch.

This has to be one of my favorite blocks to make

and I've made it a lot!

 

 

 

This colorful pack of charm squares had been in my stash

for quite a while, so I was glad to put it to use.

 

 

 

 

 

I think this one will be donated.

 

 

The other baby quilt I finished was made with 

The Erica Quilt pattern 

by Kitchen Table Quilting.

 

 

 

 

I altered the pattern by using 2 1/2" squares,

since I had a LOT of these cut.

 

There are some fun fussy cut pieces throughout the quilt,

along with many other prints.

This one will probably go to one of the babies born lately.

I just had two quilts from my longarmer returned,

so those will be bound and finished soon.

More baby quilts!

One of these is extra special....

it's for my newest granddaughter.

 

 

Happy Quilting!

HST Veterans Quilt

 A friend of my sister-in-laws came into some fabric from a

quilter who died suddenly. This friend does not like batiks,

so gave my SIL a big tub of them

My SIL was kind enough to share some with me

and I thought they would make a great Veterans Quilt.

 

Last year Vicki at Colorways by Vicki 

made a HST quilt from her beautiful scraps and

I knew I was going to make the same design at some point.

These batik fabrics would be great for this design.

 

 

 

 

 

I cut a bunch of 5" squares and the made HST's.

When I started cutting, I didn't know what design I would use,

so just made a bunch.

I was four HST's short when I finished making the blocks.

Not too bad!

This one will get quilted and then donated.

 

I can see more of these in my future!

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Baby Gifts and Bags

 It's hard to believe we are half way through May already.

We've had a wonderful first couple of weeks here 

with a five day visit with our two oldest grandchildren,

getting my flower garden straight and doing some

other fun activities.

 

I've been able to get a few little things done in my Hidey Hole

in between the other activities.

 

We have a new great niece, so these burp cloths and

bath towels were made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I order bamboo terry cloth from Nature's Fabrics

and it makes the softest, most absorbent towels.

The burp cloths are cloth diapers with sayings

made on my Circut.

 

 

 

Another quick project was these

Hemingway Pouches made with vinyl and fun

zippers from Zipper Valley.  

The Hemingway Pouches are so easy to make,

but go so much faster when you don't have

to quilt the fabric first.

These are a request from my aunt,

so they are on their way to her house as I type.

For the xlarge pouch, I pieced two pieces of vinyl together.

You can see how I seamed it on the smallest pouch.

 

 (I have no affiliation with any of these companies.)

There has been some quilting going on, too.

I'll save that for another post!

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Miss C's Quilt

 My newest little love bug arrived a month early

and I had not even started her quilt,

not that she cared at all.

My daughter and son-in-law had picked the

pattern... Elizabeth Hartman's 

"Spectacular Savannah". 

I've made a few of her patterns before

and always cut all of the pieces

before I begin piecing.

Each animal had it's own baggie of parts.

I find the process is much faster when I do it this way.

 

 

 

The most challenging part of making the quilt

was choosing the fabrics. 

I pulled and put back,

went shopping and didn't use a few that I bought,

but finally came up with a pile.

 

 

 

These patterns are so well written and easy to follow.

The animals came together in no time.

(Well... maybe a little time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo shows the true color of the background fabric.

Mr. Lion is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the backing fabric arrives,

this will be sent to Jennifer at 
Peaceful Hill Quilting.

Then the menagerie will reside in little Love Bug's room. 

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Welcome Caroline Sue

 We have added another granddaughter to our hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

Caroline Sue was born April 11th

and is just beautiful.

(Sue is my middle name and I am so touched.)

 

 

 

 

 

This dark haired beauty joins our other two grands

and they are so excited. 

The world has been waiting for you,

Caroline!

 

 

With hearts full of love.

Bars and Dots

A population explosion is happening again in my world,

so I have been busy making baby quilts.

 

I had mentioned in my last post that my box of 2 1/2" squares

is rather full and that is after I made this scrappy quilt.

 

This jelly roll of black and white fabrics had been in my cabinet

for quite some time and needed to be used.

 

I saw a similar quilt on Pinterest and decided to make one

with the jelly roll and scrappy squares.

 

 

 

This went together in no time,

especially since all of the 2 1/2" squares were

already cut.

 

 

 

 

Half of the jelly roll was used,

so I may make another quilt similar to this one.

 

 

 

 

This one is ready for a label once the new little one is born.

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Forgotten Quilt

 I am not one to start a quilt and not finish it

in a timely manner.

Sometimes they wait a while to be quilted,

but I usually get them finished sooner rather than later.

 

Well, I was reorganizing some things in my Hidey Hole

a couple of weeks ago and pulled this box

out of one of my cabinets.

Inside was a completed quilt top AND the backing!

I had totally forgotten about it.

It had been in this box since I had moved THREE years ago!!

 

What a nice surprise!

I pulled it out, gave it a good press and had it quilted

in a weeks time.

 

 

 

 

 

I remember making these blocks and having fun

pulling the 2 1/2" squares from my jug.

 

 

 

 

My 2 1/2" square box has gotten rather full,

so there may be another quilt like this in my future.

 

 It will be added to the baby quilt pile.

 

Happy Quilting!

 

New Stocking for Baby Girl

 I have a new granddaughter on the way!

She will be joining us in 6-ish weeks

and we cannot wait.

Each member of the family has a stocking

made from a Bucilla kit hanging on our mantel

at Christmas.

My daughter and son-in-law have stockings at their home

that I've made for each of them too.

I knew I needed to start Baby Girl's stockings so they 

would be finished in time for Christmas.

This will be the stocking for my house.

I just love the detail on Santa's coat.

 I will quilt the stocking itself and stitch this to the front.

It will make a sturdy stocking that can be stuffed to the top!

Now, onto the stocking for her home.

Happy Creating!