Jamie's quilt from Loose Change book-more progress!

All 20 blocks have been made and assembled with the sashings/cornerstone squares. Now I have just 2 simple borders to add and the quilt will be complete.

When Hubby walked through the door tonight his surprise was heartening. I had told him I was not going to do the whole quilt even though I had everything cut for the complete quilt. I decided to not let those pieces languish in scrap heaven here and made the quilt to the size in the pattern. My leftovers are very minimal now.

Thursday sewing marathon-White Chocolate

This is the second quilt of this same design I have made. With the first one I tried a quilt as you go method. The results were nice but the process was not. So this quilt will be for DD#1's BD in July. I plan on quilting it with cross hatching on my Janome6600P. I finished the backing today. It is all Wizard of Oz fabrics. Lisa has wanted something made with those fabrics since I bought them a couple years ago. I bought the sepia toned collection of panels and yardage. It was like making a puzzle to get it to fit the White Chocolate's measurements. But I did it!

I am in two other 4-patch swaps this summer. Actually I was in three. That first one is completed. The next mailing is the end of June. A totally scrappy swap. The last one I am doing with Bingo Bonnie at HGTV. These will be for Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt. I love Bonnie's quilts. Lots of pieces and stunning settings. If you have never tried one of her quilts you are missing a great sewing adventure.

Anyway I wanted to show you all the 2" drawer. It is so full I can barely pick a strip out. I swear they multiply during the night!

And here is the stack of drawers I keep under the cutting table. I feed the drawers as I cut for other projects! The blank drawer is full of odds and ends...some strings and odd block pieces.

When I assembled the White Chocolate quilt I moved my "Big Board" into the livingroom so I could reduce walking through the house. I can only do this when hubby is at work. I really am taking over the entire house!

Here is the pattern I am using. McCall's Quilting August 2007 page 68. I assembled the block sections way back in 2007. So after I found the plastic box with all the pieces all I had to do was assemble them. I still have enough left for a third quilt. Can you tell I love neutrals??????

This is old news. The Pink/Brown is all done and has been claimed by the kitties of course.

I really love the Accufeed foot that was an additional accessory I had to buy for the Janome6600P. Best investment I ever made!

And a kitty picture of course. This is the back of Baby. She is so very fat. But such a sweetie. A gentle giant. I bottlefed her. I stole her from a feral cat colony when she was real young. So young that she needed me to be her mommy. Now she weighs 20+ pounds and is still my BABY!

Rainy Monday in Indiana Doggie quilt done

All quilted and bound. DD#1 came and picked it up today. Well...she brought GG AnnaMarie to stay for a few hours while she went to work. AnnaMarie worked on her hand sewing while I machine quilted the larger pink quilt. She will be 8 this August. That is how old I was when I began sewing.

I love the backs of quilts. It makes it easier to see the quilting lines.

I just joined a Yahoo group who exchange 1 1/2" squares. Here are mine all ready for mailing. There are 50 different fabrics in each of the 25 stacks. You know I had to banish the kitties while I was doing this task. I could see them running through the stacks and messing them up. And MaggieMae (who I also call Magnet) would have had the squares clinging all over her....thus the name Magnet. My kitties hate having a door shut. "Do not deny me this room." I could hear them complaining.

Ruler that rules-Marilyn Doheny Wedge Ruler

I made more blocks than I needed. So I have the extra 4 blocks for a doggie cage pad. My oldest daughter is getting a Shiba Inu puppy next week. This will be my way of welcoming Sheena into their family.

The quilt turned out to be 40" square. A nice size for my kitties to snuggle on. DH even likes it despite it being very PINK!

After taking to Elaine Adair I know what I failed to do. I need lots more fabrics and will use values instead of color to make my wedges.
I am so ready to start another one! Yes I am a glutton for sewing!

Black and White 9-patch assembled!!!!

Here are the rows being assembled this morning. I cannot believe how fast the assembly of this quilt has been!

Here are the rows on a hanger after pressing. I always do quilts this way. It keeps them clean and flat and I can just grab the next row off and the rest remain!

Here are the hourglass blocks during assembly. I used a chalk marker to extend the lines on the dark fabrics. I used pencil for the lights. And the blocks ended up being more black/gray than black/white as I had planned. But I think this will be a plus as the border fabric has gray in it.

easy, peasy sewing...just straight lines over and over and over. I made these blocks yesterday.

So, here it is on the design wall without the borders yet. When I made Amanda's quilt it turned out 66" square. This one is a rectangle and I plan on it being 72X90. Laura always wants bigger quilts. But since I plan on quilting it on my DSM I will not make it much larger.

Batik Virginia Bound progress report FEATHERS????

OH! My aching shoulders! This is only 1/3 of the quilt as I did decide to quilt it in sections and then join the sections. The finished size will be 144X120. I am using Quilters' Dream Wool batting. Oh my goodness do I ever love the feel of this batting. I want to buy a whole roll of the stuff. It is yummy to work with. I really like cutting batting from rolls. There are no wrinkles in it at all that way. I have to let the batting relax from the bag. I used two super queen size batts to have enough for this quilt. I will have a nice chunk left from each to use in something else.

Besides the obvious size of this quilt, I have to cope with kitty approval of the quilt. I step away to stretch and the kitties pounce on it. It is more than just seeing what I am doing. They also love the wool batting. It immediately radiates their body heat. When I first tried this batting I made them a small kitty mat. They all love it. And I have washed it many times and it holds up just fine.

So far just some straight line quilting to stabilize the piecework. In the batik part of the quilt I am using a nice chocolate brown 40 weight thread by Signature called Mother Goose. In the light sections I am using a King Tut varigated tans #996. I am using a 50 weight thread in the bobbin as I want this quilt to last a long time. I usually use Bottom Line in the bobbin. But decided I wanted a heavier thread instead. I am using a size 16 needle to make a good stitch through the tightly woven batiks. There is a lot of bulk where the seams meet. Even though I pressed those areas open there is a bump to deal with. I have been hand cranking the machine through those heavier areas.

I want to try feathers. I want to try feathers. I want to try feathers. Maybe if I say it enough I will get the courage to try some Sally Terry feathers. I bought her book and she makes it seem so easy. But this quilt is so very big!

So, what say you fellow quilters????? feathers?????????

Batik Virginia Bound progress report

I am back. I have been so very busy. On National Quilting Day I went to hear and see Kaye England at the 19th annual Gathering of Quilters. I lucked out as it was in Fort Wayne this year. Only a 30 minute drive from home!

The Masonic quilt has been picked up.

I taught some quilting to a very fine woman I met on the internet. She is coming to me for lessons. She is a fast learner and is doing great. You know how hard it is at the beginning when you need to buy the right tools to do the best job. I am lending her what she needs until she gets her own gear. It is very satisfying to show someone what you love to do!

I have a bolt of this fabric from years ago. It is called Willow Mews by RJR fabrics. I made a serious dent in the bolt making the backing for the Batik Virginia Bound. Quilt's finish measurements are 144X120. I am making a serious dent in my stash by using my precious fabrics finally. And this one is for me. I have the first quilt I ever made on my bed. Heck! I zigzagged the binding on. I did not know what I was doing. And it is tied not quilted. I cannot believe it has lasted 20 years.

Here is my precious Baby..all 20#'s of her. She is the best kitty except for being shy when there is a visitor in the house.

And Macy is all her glory. She rules the bed. She chases any kitties off at the beginning of the night. Then as she falls asleep the rest of the pack creeps in.

My Pearl Piwacket. She is still bent about MaggieMae coming to live with us. We are working with her to give her extra attention. It seems to be helping.

And of course MaggieMae. She helped me cut sew and press the backing this morning. Yes...she was loads of help. I could not find Bess to get a picture. The kitties have some great hiding spots.

Gotta go...I am pinning the backing into the frame. But I wanted to post as I have been a quiet lady this last week.

Sunday update

I am a winner!!!! I simply love all the blogs there are on quilting. And I also feel as if these women are my friends although we are miles apart. I made a suggestion on Scraps and Threadtales blog and I won! There were two other winners too. We are all so very lucky this week! http://scrapsandthreadtales.blogspot.com/ Here is the link to the blog.

I have the Masonic quilt finished. I just need to call Marg and tell her to come get it.

I visited my oldest daughter at a new dining place she is working at on Thursday when I was doing my running around town. She is a workhorse....2 jobs, 4 daughters and a host of running for Grandma Iole. Anyway...I noticed that her apron was kinda threadworn. I checked my records and yep! it has been 2 years since I made some for her. SO that is what I worked on this last Friday and Saturday. I made 8 aprons. Five for Lisa and three for Laura (she does not work as much).
Today I am back making more batik Virginia Bound blocks for my bed quilt. Yes....I am finally sewing for myself again. I have 144 quarter blocks done. But I want the quilt to have a lot of overhang. I can always make a smaller one for the chair if I make too many. I want it 120" wide and 144" long. I plan on quilting it in sections. Guess I will worry about that when the time comes for assembly.

Masonic Quilt progress

The hard part is done. Well it was not that hard but agonizing. No mistakes allowed (my rule). I was terrified to quilt this. I had to force myself into the quilt room. I loaded it and then had to walk away. Happened all day long. I had to keep stepping out of the room...shutting the door and paced! But I did get it quilted and it looks great if I do say so myself!

Here is the quilt drapped over the bar after I removed it from the frame. There are no ripples in the quilt. It looks as if there may be a ripple but that is only cause I must not have had it even when I threw it over the bar.

Someone wanted to see my machine and frame. Not a real good picture of either but I think you get the idea.

9-patch minis ready for mailing

Aren't they sweet? I have them all packed for mailing and a hostess gift included. I cannot wait to get the return blocks. I really like these swaps.

mini 9-patches and some kitty pictures

I am in a swap on a Yahoo group. We are each making 10 sets of 10 different 3 1/2" 9-patches. I am nearly done making this little beauties. So I am sending in 100 blocks and will get 100 back! WHOOOHOOO!!!!!!

There are 5 cats in this picture. From left to right they are: MaggieMay, Pearl, Baby, Macy and Bess. Yes, I have 5 indoor cats. I love each of them!

MaggieMay is on the smaller table. Pearl is on the blue cutting mat. Baby is sitting like the sandbag she is (20#'s) and Bess is peeking out the window at the birdies.

Hubby just called and said he has seen robins today. It makes him so happy to know Spring is coming and that there will be no more snow plowing for him.

Guild Mystery Quilt quilted and bound

All done, labeled and bound. Started quilting at 7 this morning and was done at 1:30! I love my Janome 6600P. The 9" throat allows so much room for quilting. I did a diagonal cross hatching. I used a southwest horse fabric for the backing. This quilt is for my grand daughter Arika. She loves horses. The print went very nicely with the border fabric. Her birthday is March 7th. I am early and have it ready to take to the guild meeting tonight. WhoooHoo!

I used 200 safety pins to baste this quilt. I know it is 200 because I opened a new package of these "safety brites" and I used all of them plus a few extra I had on hand. I had to open a new package because the bulk of my pins are in two hand quilting projects. I love hand quilting but it takes sooooooo long to finish them. I am glad I had another package of these pins. If you haven't tried them yet do so. They are very sharp and very easy to see. I basted the quilt on my machine frame. Took only an hour to load the machine and put in all the pins. I did that yesterday while doing laundry. So much easier on the back than crawling on the floor.

I did not have any idea of how I was going to quilt this when I stated this morning. After I went around the borders a couple of times I could see what the quilt wanted. It did not take away from the piecing at all. I love it!

I added a label and one of my "SubeeSews Originals" labels. I used the navy fabric for the binding. All in all it came out great! I cannot wait for my guild friends to see this quilt. Several ladies have brought their quilts in for show and tell. They all look so different. None has shown one like this one yet!

Purple/Gold quilt

Middle of quilt destined for donation to my 40th class reunion this summer.

I will need to hide this from daughter #2 as purple is her favorite color.