Three Dudes Quilt

 Before the big move, I had made all of the blocks for this quilt..

The Three Dudes Quilt.

(There is a pattern and a youtube video showing how to make this pattern.)

In the midst of my move, I needed something to sew one day

and pulled these blocks out of the box.

I laid them out on my design floor and began sewing them into a top.

Well, somehow between the floor and the machine,

things were moved and switched and everything ended up into a mess.

 

The partially finished top went back into the box out of frustration.

 

Last week I decided it was time to spend some quality time with my seam ripper

and get this top finished.

I put a book on Hoopla to listen to and ripped away.

 

 

Here is the finished top.

Needless to say, I am very happy I decided to rip and

resew these blocks.

The black strips really makes these fabrics shine.

 

 

This is a tricky top in some ways because of all the bias

edges you have once the blocks are cut.

I starched the heck out of the blocks and that certainly helped.

 

 

This is not the border that pattern used, but I don't know

where all of my extra strips are from this top.

These pieces were cut from the left-overs from making the blocks

with the black corners added.

 

I can now check this off of my list and move on to another project

that has been in limbo land.

 

 

Last night I finished the Bucilla kit I have been working on lately.

 

 

All these need are the hangers and they are ready for a tree!

Happy Quilting and creating!

Kristen's Tree Skirt

 My niece was married last month,

so that meant a Christmas tree skirt was needed.

 

I had used the Emilia pattern by Robin Pickens

for a baby quilt recently and really loved it.

I decided this would make a pretty tree skirt.

 

 

I have never made a square tree skirt before,

but I like it.

The real test will come when it's under the tree.

 

 

I had planned on doing something different with the corners,

but it didn't work as I had wanted.

By the time I realized that, I couldn't miter them.

I like the little triangles, though.

Most all of these fabrics were from my stash!

I bought the stripe for the border and one other print.

 

 The multicolor ferny looking print in the upper right corner

is a favorite.  I should have bought more of that!

I have decided to not add ties to this one.

Last year I realized that I don't use mine when putting

it under the tree, so that saves some time and aggravation.

Merry Christmas in August!

Happy Quilting!

 

 

Tidbits

 The summer of traveling continued last week

with a trip to Michigan.

In the last 6 weeks I've been in 17 states,

but I am finished for a while!

I am ready to get back into some kind of a routine

and get sewing regularly again.

While in Michigan, I had some time to do some handwork,

so I took along a couple of Bucilla ornament kits.

It felt really good to have some down time to work on these.

 

 

This ornament is for a friend who has a dog that looks just like this,

minus the tassels!

 

 

 

This ornament will be for my nephew who loves music.

 

This guy will find a home on someone's tree,

but I'm not sure whose yet.

There will be more of these made.

 

 

While we were in Michigan,

we found a really nice gallery shop

that represented a lot of artists.

 

On the counter was a big bowl of glass buttons.

My husband and I had the best time looking through this bowl

and came home with a few of the beauties.

 

 

A pattern and black linen have been ordered to make a blouse

for myself, using the 5 flashy buttons.

I'd like to make a quilted shawl and use the blue buttons,

but I need to design a pattern.

It's been a long time since I've sewn clothes for myself,

so we shall see how this goes.

Happy Quilting!

 

Libelle is Finished

 Wow!

It has been quite a while since I've posted anything here.

Time just gets away from us sometimes, doesn't it?

 

In the past month I've finished moving,

closed on my former house,

driven cross country with my daughter, granddaughter

and granddog,

driven to PA and NY to visit family and to attend quilt camp,

gone to northern VA to help my daughter and son in law move into

their new home,

and am continuing to get settled in my new home.

 

Needless to say,

there has been very little time for quilting.

Plus, I still don't have my new Hidey Hole put together,

but hopefully that will happen in the next couple of months.

 

One thing I did finish is the baby quilt for my new

Grand Niece.

Her middle name is "Libelle" which is

German for Dragonfly.

 

I had the perfect layer cake for this little ones baby quilt.

 

 

This has to be one of my favorites.

The dragonflies in the fabric are just perfect

for this baby quilt.

I had just found the layer cake 3 days before she was born,

not knowing that Libelle would be her middle name.

I was able to draw a dragonfly and stitch them

into the large triangles in the design.

 

 

Parts for a second quilt are cut out, too.

Her grandmother, and her namesake,

needs one of these.

 

The pattern is Emilia by Robin Pickens.

 

I have not figured out a new email platform yet,

and hope to do this in the next couple of weeks.

Hopefully it won't be too difficult to move those who

get my blog posts emailed to another platform.

 

Happy Quilting!

 

 

Geometric

 My middle brother loves mechanical things.

He loves to figure out how things work,

why things work the way they do,

and is fascinated by old buildings,

manufacturing plants, etc.

 

When I saw this quilt pattern I knew I had to make it for him.

 

 

He loves the Escher quilts I've made,

but Kaffe is not his thing.

 

Instead I'm making this quilt in these fabrics.

 

 Not many pieces or colors, right?

This is going to be one tedious quilt to make!

Each piece has to be in the right spot

and the rows are long.

Thankfully I've started checking the placement each time I

sew pieces together.

Plus, each seam needs to be pressed open and I don't enjoy doing that!

Here are the first four rows.

Only 16 more to go!!

 

 

 

 

This week I am flying to California to help my daughter pack up their house.

Later in the week we will begin our drive back to Virginia

with a 5 month old and their English Lab.

(She, her husband and daughter are moving to northern VA...

only 2 hours from us!)

It will be and adventure, for sure!

I'm excited about seeing parts of our beautiful country I have not seen

and visiting quilt shops in states I have not been to.

(One of my bucket list items is to visit a quilt shop in each state.

I'm up to 25!)

It's a trip we will remember for a long time, I'm sure.

 

Obviously, there will not be much quilting done in the next couple of weeks,

but I'll be able to read blogs along the way.

 

So, until then....

 

Happy Quilting!

Teddy

 One of my daughters' college roommates is due to have her

first baby any time now.

She's having a boy and the nursery theme is the National Parks.

 

Plus, his name will be Theodore.

 

I found the PERFECT quilt pattern for this baby!

 

 

These guys were so much fun to make!

I had a cutting session

and then sewed them all at once,

so they were finished all at once!

 

 

I was very thankful that I didn't make any mistakes cutting

the pieces, because that could have messed up

every single bear.

 

 

This pattern is an Elizabeth Hartman pattern...

the second pattern of hers that I've made.

Glasses will be added to one of these guys

and then the top will be finished.

 

 

But look at what I found for the backing!!

 

This is the parents favorite park!

The panel will need to be trimmed, pressed and added to,

but it will make a great backing.

 

This quilt will be finished soon and given to 

Teddy after he is born.

:)

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Libelle

 I have a new grand niece.

Her name is Julie Libelle.

Julie is after her grandmother, my sister in law,

and Libelle is German for dragonfly.

Grandma Julie loves dragonflies.

 

Well, I've had a quilt finished for this little one for a while.

(I haven't unpacked it yet from my move,

but am pretty sure I know where it is!) 

However, several days before she was born,

I was looking through a box of fabrics and found a 

layer cake of fabrics with dragonflies and such.

I told myself that I needed to make something with it

soon, since it was so pretty.

Little did I know that I would have Libelle arrive within days.

 

 

 

I saw this pattern, Emilia, by Robin Pickens on line and knew

it was perfect for these fabrics.

 

 

 

It was a bit fussy to make this from 10" squares,

but it came together and I love the results.

 

 

This needs a good pressing before it's quilted.

I love how the design goes out into the borders.

Do you see all of the dragonflies?

I'm looking forward to meeting my niece and

giving her this quilt.

(I think I may have to make her grandmother one, too!)

 

I am linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Annual Patriotic Table Topper

 For those who have followed me for a while,

you might remember that annually I make a 

Patriotic Table Topper for my mom and siblings.

My dad died in July years ago and was one of the most

patriotic people I know.

It started in memory of him and I have continued over the last 8 or so years.

 

This year I felt pressed for time with our move and

not having the sewing mojo (or "Sewjo" as Libby said!).

I decided to make my own "border fabric" and use the

60 degree ruler (which I had finally found in a box!)

to make these.

 

 

To make these, I sewed 2 1/2" strips in sets of four

and used the 60 degree ruler to cut the ends of the strip sets.

This tutorial helped get me started.

 

 

For some reason the colors of the photos are not accurate.

The fabrics are brighter than shown here.

I quilted them in different ways and 

bound them all with the same fabric.

 They are ready to give to my family this month.

When making the larger runners,

there are leftover triangles that were used

to make these little toppers.

These went together so quickly and are pretty cute!

Happy Quilting!

Another Quilt Bound

 Before I moved I sent five quilts to a LAQ 

my SIL uses in upstate NY.

I figured I would be picking them up in July

when I go up for quilt camp.

This woman was fast and had them done in March!

 

Here is the third quilt I've finished from the five.

 

 

This pattern is called Junk Jewelry.

A while ago a friend and I cut out a bunch of wedges

from our Kaffe fabrics and each made a quilt.

I had so many wedges left over that I was able

to make a second quilt.

A wedge border was added to use up even more of the pieces.

 

 

The black narrow border adds so much to this quilt.

And you know I love the polka dots with the Kaffe!!

The LAQ used royal blue thread and quilted circles and swirls

across it. I love the design.

The backing is one of my favorite Kaffe prints.

 

This quilt is ready to be gifted.

 

Happy Quilting!

Scrappy Kaffe Finish

 This quilt was finished a few days ago,

but I didn't take the time to take photos of it until today.

The top was finished quite a while ago

and was one of the five I sent to my LAQ before I moved.

 

I really enjoyed making these blocks.

I can't remember the name of pattern and

have not looked in my boxes of patterns to find it,

but it was a wonderfully mindless quilt to make.

The pattern had all of the blocks sewn together

without sashing,

but it was way too busy for me.

There was nowhere for my eye to rest.

And you know I loved working with my Kaffe scraps!

 

 

 

The deck in my new house isn't as good for taking photos.

It was a super sunny day today, too.

 

This border fabric really works well with all of the colors in the quilt.

 

The sashing has tiny yellow polka dots

and the quilting was done with orange thread.

I think this quilt will go to a dear friend of mine.

I have given her table toppers and a wall hanging,

but have never given her a lap quilt.

 

 

There may be another quilt made from these blocks in my future.

:)

Happy Quilting!

A Finish!!!

 This quilt has been a long time in the making.

The top has been finished for several years

and just hung in my hidey hole, waiting to be quilted.

Before we moved, I sent a number of quilts off to be quilted

and put this one in the pile.

It is now done and ready to be donated.

Several years ago I decided to cut all of my

reproduction fabrics into  strips and squares and

use them up or move them out.

I'm not a fan of reproduction fabrics,

but have family members who love these quilts.

This one is the second quilt I made with HST's.

I love the simplicity of HST quilts.

The design allows the fabrics to sing.

 

 

 

It's so wonderful to have a finish!

Onto the next quilt that needs binding.

Happy Quilting!

Temporary Set Up

 I am finally to a point where I can think of sewing and creating again!

My set up is temporary until the cabinets and such are built,

but I am making it work.

We creative types will do what we have to do to be able to create,

won't we?

Thankfully I use a table for my sewing machine

so that it's at the right height for me.

This table can go just about anywhere.

And look what I found!

Fabric for binding one of my quilts!

The binding is slowly getting stitched down to the back.

It feels so good to be doing this in my down time.

And look at what else I found!

One day I suddenly remembered where my rulers were

and found the 60 degree ruler!

 

 

This quilt is going to be for one of my brothers.

He loves all things mechanical and geometrical.

It will be a fun one to make.

The colors will be different from the pattern...

yellows, greens and grays with an aqua background.

 

 

 

Now if I can get rid of this thing for good,

I'd really be in business...

 

Too much painting and cleaning

and not nearly enough fun.

 

Happy Quilting!

Crickets...

 It feels like it has been YEARS since I have sewn anything.

I got through the shakes a few weeks ago,

which was tough.  :)

 

The move went well... it happened about 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Most of the boxes that can be unpacked have been unpacked.

The problem is we need to have cabinets built in several different places.

 

One of these places is my hidey hole.

Right now there is nothing in there to store all of my quilting

treasures.  I had to leave my cabinets in the old hidey hole

because they were built into the room.

I was over there yesterday and walked into my old room

and sighed.  I really miss that room.

 

Right now this is my hidey hole...

 

Hopefully it will be ready for action in a few months.

The cabinet maker is super busy

and has a waiting list.

 

 

The other day I wanted to start cutting out a quilt

that I purchased the fabric for a while ago.

I found the fabric, but cannot find the 60 degree ruler I need.  

I'm not purchasing another one because I already have at least two.

Hopefully I'll find one soon.

 

I also have 5 quilts to trim and bind.

(They were sent to my LAQ before we moved to get

them out of the house.  She worked very quickly

and got them back to me right after the move.)

Do you know where the fabric is for the binding for these?

Yea.. neither do I.

 

As my mom always says,

"This too shall pass."

 

 

In the meantime, I am handquilting this quilt top that

my great grandmother made.

I started working on this a long, long time ago.

Unfortunately I do not enjoy hand quilting

and am not very good at it.

Plus I am very slow.

At least it's giving me something to do with my hands

and maybe I'll actually finish it!

 

Happy Quilting!!