Freehand Baptist Fans by Bonnie Hunter

Below is a full view of my quilt I just finished.

 Below is Hubby's quilt that started the whole thing!

EDIT: And he now sets a $$$ amount before we get inside the LQS! Guess he learned!
You all know I am a faithful fan of the illustrious Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame. This quilt has taken me over a year to hand quilt using Bonnie Hunter's technique.
You can see it here:
 http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2010/05/questions-on-fans.html

This quilt has some history. Both have threads tied to my husband. The fabrics were a gift from my DH as a birthday present a few years ago. Little did he know that when he offered to cover any purchase I wanted to make at my LQS (Quilt of Many Colors in Leo, Indiana) as a birthday present that he was going to suffer sticker shock at the cash register. And oh the clerk was clever. She gave him a tour of the old converted home to LQS with a scrapbook album to look at too. All the while I was picking FQ's. I ended up with 37 drop dead gorgeous golds and light browns in Civil War fabrics. He then said he should get a quilt from his investment. So I made him a great Shaded 9-patch and gifted him with it. Everytime I saw him with it I had quilt envy. So...I made myself one too. And decided afterwards that is deserved to be hand quilted with Bonnie Hunter's Freehand Baptist Fans.
That was over a year ago. I finally finished it this last weekend. I LOVE IT! But then I loved it before it was born too!

So, I need another hand quilting project. Nevermind that I have three different Hexie projects going. And a container of Yo-yos that need to become something. My hand sewing time is very limited. I used to be able to sit in my great recliner for hours on end and quilt, quilt, crochet, and quilt the day away. But anymore my back has issues sitting that way anymore. I can handle maybe an hour now. And I am miserable long before that hour goes by. Sigh! But I can sit at the sewing machine for hours. Go figure!

 So here is my Kona Snow BowTie with the corner triangles added finally. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. one morning and decided to mark and thread baste this little quilt. It is 36" square. This is my first time marking a quilting design with a small lead pencil. By the time I had finished marking all 4 quadrants I was getting pretty good at tracing.

And saying a prayer that the marks will be covered by the quilting thread. And it is! Totally covered! I am so pleased. So today after helping out a fellow quilt friend by cutting out her entire quilt for her, I gave myself an hour in the "chair" and started quilting away. I am loving the results. The Kona fabric is also the back. And the ease that thread goes through Kona fabric is great. And I am sampling one of the Quilters' Dream Orient batting. It is silk and bamboo. It seems to have a lovely drape to it. It feels silky yet strong and the needle glides through it like hot butter. When I figure out a better way to get a photo of the quilting I will post about it again.
To my faithful followers, thanks so very much. I really appreciate your comments. I feel such positive vibes from all of you. I could not live without my blog now. Who 'wuda thunk?

XOXOXOX Subee

Wrapping it up in Indiana

I had different plans for today. I finished all my shopping yesterday and needed to go buy wrapping paper. We woke up to snow with slick roads.

I decided to strip the bed and do all the other laundry and put my purchases into their respective boxes and/or plastic containers.
Yes, I give gifts in plastic containers too. The stack on the right side is full of small gifts that still are welcomed. Hair brushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste,hand sanitizer,barrettes and bobby pins, socks...you know lots of little things.

Half way through laundry and luckily after finishing boxing, Hubby announced we needed to visit the ER. His blood pressure was 90/60 and his hands and feet were tingling. Despite three different sleep perscriptions, he has not been able to sleep since his surgery. It has been really rough on him. And rough on me too. I have no trouble sleeping until he taps me on the shoulder every few hours to wake me to tell me he cannot sleep. All night long. So I am tired too.

6 hours later and after finally talking to a great ER doctor who LISTENED to James' symptoms we came back home to worried kitties because they had played in the Christmas wrappings. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

His BP was fine after we got to the hospital. They did blood tests and a thyroid panel. He is all within the normal range. He mentioned to this doctor that he has "restless leg syndrome". She said she had it too and takes a certain medication for it. Well...she wrote the script...we went to a 24 hour CVS and he got his new meds and I bought some wrapping paper. I knew I did not have enough.

Here I sit on the computer. Hoping that the new sleeping med will help my DH sleep. He is in a freshly washed bed...I love fresh sheets. They are all straight and tucked in. I will stay up as long as I can so I do not distrub him. I may just stay up all night and perhaps sew a bit. As we waited at the ER I worked on and nearly finished my hand quilted Freehand Baptist project that has taken me a year. It was really a large quilt to be done this way but I do love this process. Of course the process is by Our Bonnie Hunter!

The great thing about this process is that as you finish you go round and round FASTER because you start on the outside and work your way in. Since it is done that way I had the binding already sewn on too.
Check out her process at http://www.quiltville.com Freehand Baptist Fans.

It's all about contrast!

Yes, it is all about contrast. No matter what you sew contrast makes or breaks your work.

We are so very lucky to be quilters in this day and age. I feel as if I am riding the big surf wave and winning!!!!
I am so grateful to designers like Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com/) for education about letting loose. I am no longer a matchy/matchy gal. Gotta have that contrast!!!! Thanks Bonnie!

I could not resist trying my hand at the pineapple block Bonnie has posted about for a few months now. I have been saving all my little triangles just for this project. As you can see I love browns and it shows in my use of color with this paper-pieced project.

Contrast...contrast...contrast.... Bingo-Bonnie (http://www.bingobonnie.blogspot.com/) is a great teacher too. She gently helps us learn about contrast through her swaps.

This is my batch that will be mailed off to her as soon as I get permission to do twenty sets instead of ten sets. I am a mega swapper!!!!!!!!

Now..on the home front...the chipmunks are really storing food away for the coming winter season. This one raids the bird feeder daily much to Baby (on the left) and Bess's dismay. The chipmunk KNOWS that they cannot get to the feeder and I swear the eye contact just drives Baby up the window in a total attack mode!!! Unfortunately for my blinds as Baby weighs 22 lbs.

I love Bess's expression...

I cannot get enough of this method of quilting. Kudos again to Bonnie Hunter for showing us how to do the Freehand Baptist Fans without any marking. It just flows around the quilt.

And the back looks just as good as the front. I am using a deep rust YLI quilting thread.

MaggieMae tries to help me with the sewing...lots of help.

Her fur is coming in so nice. And she likes being brushed now since there are no more tangles.

Pink Smokey Mountain Stars done!

This is my second Smokey Mountain Star quilt. The first one went to a grand daughter. I loved it so much I had to make myself one. My pink fabrics were seriously depleted after the first one. What a good reason to buy more pinks! Anyway....I hand quilted this one. I love it!

I am using Bonnie Hunter's/Tonya's Freehand Baptist Fans! Love the process. I am not marking them at all. For the first arc I kinda scratch the surface with the needle then just "go for it"!!!

I am using a deep rust YLI quilting thread. Lots of contrast. My stitches really show up!

I hope my stitches improve with more practice. Bonnie dares us to step beyond our own boundries. I jumped!

Maggie's fur is growing back in so fast. She loves total body rubs and brushing now that she no longer has those tangles.

I do have another appointment for her this month. But I do not think she needs shaved again...maybe just a bath and painted nails!

I babysat this poor pooch. My brother-in-law had to leave for the day and I would not let him keep this pooch in his car. It is 90+ out there...one dead dog...so I said I would watch him.

He cried and cried...whimpered..scratched at the door..barked and then decided to help me quilt.I tied a big bow on him. Took him for three walks...did not want any pee on my carpet. He did not pee outside. And I worked on him as Caesar Milan recommends. He minded me.

And I taught him how to sing. Hubby really laughed at that! Said I was teaching him a bad habit. I thought it was the least I could do for this poor Texas dog. He really missed his master. A very loyal dog! He stayed with us for three days. And my five cats did very well considering they have never interacted with a dog before. Well...Baby was in the closet the whole time. I brought her food and treats. She must have sneaked out to use the litterbox. At least I hope she did.

I bought a new purse at a quilt shop. It is called a Miranda Bag. I really like it but there are no zippered pockets inside. I found the pattern online and will make myself one with the inside how I want it!