Santas are coming along!

I am closer to having a finished

Classic Santa Quilt!

The Sashing and Cornerstones have been added

and

I am so pleased with how the top looks.

The red sashing and gold cornerstones just add to the

richness of the wool.

Now I need to decide what to use for the

Outer Border.

I've auditioned some green fabrics and have not liked them.

I don't have the right color green in my stash, so....

A trip to the quilt shop may be in order.

DARN!!

:D

**Update**

I went to the quilt shop and brought home some
green fabric with red, gold and blue pin dots.
I thought this would be perfect for the outer border.
Well....
It wasn't.

I ended up using the same red fabric used for the sashing and
I am very pleased.

The borders are even and smooth.
I'm short and have trouble hanging the larger quilts on
the Design Wall.

This one is ready to be sent off to my
Long Arm Quilter!

WOOHOO!!

Have a great day

and 

Happy Quilting!

Santas on the Design Wall

This past week was spent at the

Beach!!

The weather was perfect and

being with my family was just wonderful.

While there,

I did some hand work.

(I threatened to take my sewing machine,

but there would have been a revolt!)

One thing I finished is the stitching on my

Classic Santas.

(Pattern by Sue Garman.)

I am so happy that I made these from wool.

The wool gives them such warmth and texture.

These two guys are my favorites~

I have to say... I've never seen a Santa with dark hair before.

I found the fabric for sashing....

a red paisley with blue, green and gold....

Each block needs to be trimmed down

and then the sashing and cornerstones will be added.

Once the top is assembled,

I'll give the name and origin of each Santa.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see

what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Six Spicy Spirals!

The Spicy Spirals are DONE!!

Six of them...

All quilted and bound and

ready to be gifted to my mom and my siblings.

(My sister is the only one who reads my blog...I think!)

These were FUN to make!

The store sample was not bound,

but was finished using the

"pillowcase" method.
(Sew around the edge, leaving a small opening
and turn the topper inside out.  Then stitch the opening closed.)

I knew I wanted to quilt and bind mine and am very pleased

that I did.

The most challenging part of making these was 

getting the binding around the points.

Some look great...

And some look.... okay.  :)

I love the red, white and blue.

Today I linked up with Link a Finish Friday
and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy Quilting!

More Table Runners...

... for the Fall Faire

at my church.

These are about 60" long...

Great for the Dining Room table.

They are made with Christmas fabric, but don't

Scream Christmas,
so can be used into January.

Happy Quilting!!

Design Wall Monday

Do you remember me starting this

last fall?

Don't worry... I almost forgot about it myself!

When I was at the AQS quilt show a few weeks ago,

the Primitive Gatherings booth was there

and I was reminded of this piece.

When I returned home,

out it came and it will be 

FINISHED soon!

I am doing a little hand quilting

to hold the top and backing together.

(I usually don't baste my hand quilted pieces with pins,

but it was easy and they were handy.)

The pattern suggests blanket stitching around the edge,

but I am going to bind mine with this piece of flannel.

I like the finished look of the binding.

Please Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Finished Shirt Top!

Shirt Top...

Kind of redundant, but it's a completed top!

(And I think I have the name for this quilt!)
:)

This quilt is made from

recycled 100% cotton

Men's shirts from a local thrift shop
and

I love it!!

I used 7 shirts in all,

following the directions found here.

I wasn't sure if I would like the 

red plaid shirt as the inner border and thought I 

would use yardage,

  but it actually worked well. 

There is not enough left of the shirt back pieces to make

 the backing, so I will either add more shirt pieces

or just use yardage for the backing.

If I use yardage, I can use the shirt backs to make the binding.

Again,

this quilt top cost $15 to make.

Not a bad deal!! 

(I will have to pay to have my Long Arm quilter quilt it...

it's too large for my machine quilting ability.)

I'm linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict today.

Enjoy
and

Happy Quilting!!

Shirt quilt progress...

This quilt is coming together nicely.

I love how the plaids work together

and how comfy this quilt looks.

I made the piano key border

with nine patch cornerstones.

Next is to sew the borders onto the quilt

and make the backing.

This entire top was made from

Seven Men's dress shirts.

The cost... $15!

Happy Quilting!

Recycling...

At the beginning of the year I made

this Baby quilt from recycled men's shirts

and a little yardage.

A while back I made another trip to one of my local

Thrift shops and bought some more men's shirts....

All for $3.00 or less.

100% Cotton...

They looked like new....

Great plaids and colors...

I brought them home,

washed them twice on the hot water cycle,

and "deboned" them.

Then I found this blog post for making a quilt from

Recycled shirts.

I began cutting the shirt pieces...

Ironing and starching them...

Planning the blocks...

 And after a few hours work,

this is what I had.

I have half of the rows sewn together

and LOVE how it is turning out!

(This would make two cute baby quilts!)

The only yardage I might add is for a small red border

between the body and the piano key border.

Plus, there are enough shirt pieces to make the backing.

So, once this top is finished

I will have spent less than $20 on fabric for this quilt

that will measure approximately 52"x64".

(I would suggest NOT telling the clerk in the Thrift Shop

what you are planning on doing with the men's shirts...

The poor man almost cried.

"But these are good shirts and you are going to

CUT THEM UP??")

:)

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are quilting.

Happy Monday!

Summertime!!

Several years ago I made this

Watermelon Quilt.

I loved making this one...

the colors,

the traditional pattern,

the placement of the seeds....

This quilt usually gets pulled out of the cupboard

in August.... when watermelon is the Tastiest!!

Do you see what my Long arm quilter quilted into this quilt??

ANTS!!

How perfect!

(as long as they are stitched!)

 

The ants go marching...

 

Juicy slices...

 

hhmmm....

I'm craving some watermelon now!

Happy Summer!!

Knitting Friday

Wow!!

I have done very little knitting these

past two weeks.

Last week I was out of town and didn't post,

but I didn't have anything to post anyway!

There is a new start this week....

I began knitting a new pattern

and didn't like it,

so I ripped it out.

Started another pattern

and didn't like it,

so ripped it out.

Then I decided to knit my usual

Vanilla socks.

I LOVE this yarn!

It's so much fun to knit with, 

watching to see what color comes next.

The Vanilla sock really shows off the yarn.

I did finish the bodies of these socks

and will add the

Afterthought Heels

where the pink yarn is located.

The socks are the same size,

even though they don't look like it here.

My sweater is still at a standstill.

I became frustrated with not being able to figure out

what to do next.

It's time to get this going again!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others

are knitting!

Happy Friday!

A Boy Baby Quilt

I seem to usually make

Girl Baby Quilts

and decided I needed to make a

Boy Quilt

to donate to my church for the mission quilts

Somewhere in Blogland I saw this pattern.

Take a layer cake or 10" squares...

Cut the 10" squares in three different sizes...

(I cut 3" strips, 1 1/2" strips and then 5 1//2" strips were left)...

mix up the fabrics and sew the strips back into a block...

trim the blocks to 9"

and make a top!

I had a Riley Blake

"Pieces of Hope" layer cake and

began cutting.

 

After playing with the blocks,

I sewed them into this top.

 

Now it's ready for quilting and binding.

Quick and so easy!

Happy Quilting!

A Few Days Away....

This past week I enjoyed a 

"Quilting Getaway"

and had a great time!

I have been fortunate enough to take several trips with

Country Heritage Tours;

a tour company that specializes in trips for Quilters.

Oh... what fun we have!

This past week I was on the "Charlotte Getaway"

and was able to attend the AQS quilt show in Charlotte,

along with a few other adventures.

If you have ever thought of taking a quilt trip,

this company really does a nice job

and treats their clients very well.

*Commercial over*

:)

When I returned home on Saturday,

I began sewing my

"Spicy Spirals"

and yesterday finished all six!

My Design Wall isn't large enough,

so I had to pull out my Design Floor again.

These really are a lot of fun to make.

One twists in the opposite direction,

but it doesn't matter!

Now to baste and quilt these runners.

I think I will just quilt in the ditch.

I didn't take many photos of the quilts

at the AQS show, but did take this one.

When I saw this quilt, I knew immediately that it was based 

on the work of Chihuly.  I had been to his exhibit at our

local museum when it was here last year and have been a 

fan of his for some time.

Oh My!!

This won Best in Show.

To see other creations by Quilters,

visit Patchwork Times.

Happy Quilting!