Jamie's quilt from Loose Change book COMPLETE!

All done! I told you yesterday that it only needed 2 simple borders to finish it off. The amazing thing about this quilt is that I have no recipient in mind. It does seem masculine but then again I personally love blue and brown together! I usually do not make quilts without a person in mind for the quilt as a gift. I just loved the pattern so much that I jumped up and made it.
I feel real positive that when you are making something for someone you think good thoughts all while creating the object. Thus infusing it with your love/regard for the person.

The border came from my stash. Old, old, old...so old that I know I washed and starched it before folding it away years ago. And I sure made a mess digging it out of it's stack when I spyed the corner of it. It has the blues and tans that are in the blocks. It is perfect. All the selvedge says is "The Alexander Henry Collection" with a copywright sign, no year or design #.

The measurement of this quilt is 70"X 85". Perfect for my home quilting frame set-up.

Jamie's quilt from Loose Change book

I now have 9 of the 20 blocks made. They are getting easier and faster. In the beginning they seemed daunting! I did these on Friday.
Today (Sunday) I have 11 more block sections waiting to be pressed before final assembly.
There are 72 pieces in each block. I am glad I counted them AFTER I decided to make this block!

Do you sliver trim?

Many years ago I did not take the time to do this much skipped step. My piecing was less than perfect as a result. It takes so much time but makes all the patches match up perfectly.

These are my finished trimmed units. Want to know how many there are?

240 cream/brown units

160 cream/blue units

160 brown/blue units

They finish at 2"...lots of little pieces.

Luckily for me Bonnie Hunter has given me lots of practice with tiny units!

Today I finished the trimming and made two blocks just to see how the pressing should be. I followed the pattern for the first block and did not like the result. So on the second block I changed all the pressing and the result was much more to my liking!

Here is a pic of the pattern. This book was a gift to me from my secret sister.

She sure has my # pegged!

And I also got the book "It's A Wrap". I had to really search my small town to find the correct clothesline but I did find it.

French Farmhouse progress and Christmas Lights

Well here is my week's worth of sewing with no progress until it is completed. Luckily I took lots of pics!

I love the look of the taupes and creams. They all blend into a slightly masculine look.

Lots of strip piecing. Sorta mindless but I did have to concentrate on what fabrics went where.

Here is the pattern from the Fons & Porter May/June 2009 issue.

Strip set #1

Strip set #2

And my progress on GFG piecing. I love the results!

And my progress on Christmas Lights pattern by Bonnie Hunter. I am in two more exchanges for 4-patches.

More patches. MaggieMae is always near me when I sew.

Lisa's quilt on the frame. I use the frame to pin the quilt for DSM quilting.

Ready for quilting. And it is all done now. Pics to follow.......

And three of my kitties watching the chipmunk steal birdseed.

Country Lanes by Kaye England

Here is a quick shot of two of my GFG blocks. I have more done. I just did not have them up on the wall when I took this pic.

Have any of you ever made a quilt to go with the backing? Well that is what I have done. The quilt is 54" square and I have 4 yards of the backing fabric. Seems to me it is a perfect match. There is enough backing to allow me to add a small border. I plan on using the new Quilters' Dream silk batting for this quilt. It is staying home with me!

73 of these small (3 1/2") 9-patches were leftovers from my Double Delight quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter. I had to make 100 9-patches with an extra light square and 60 with all light corners.

I started this quilt on April 18th. Then put it away for a month. I got the box out on Saturday, since we were having a cool rainy day, and made a big batch of homemade chicken and noodles and sewed away.

Here it is on the wall. As I said, it is 54" square. Someday I am getting a larger design wall. One I can actually walk up to instead of climbing a ladder and leaning across a desk.

And to add another kitty picture to this new post, here is Baby laying on my bed. She warms up my spot before I get there.

Hubby and I really like the Batik Virginia Star quilt made with wool batting. It is lightweight yet warm. I know I will be making many more quilts with the Quilters' Dream wool blend batting.

Current projects: GFG, Daisy Chain & 9-patches

I have fallen in love with English Paper Piecing. I hope this does not stop me from doing any hand quilting. I am sure the "newness" will wear off but for now I pick it up at any spare moment.

I started this at my retreat. I did not use strip piecing. I used 2" squares of batiks. This could have been a "Leader/ender" project but I did not do it that way. This was stitched on my 1938 Featherweight...one square at a time. It is now 65" square and is just needing a border.

I made another black/white 9-patch for my daughter's birthday She loves Oriental fabric and I used it for the border and for the backing. It turned out beautiful. I quilted it on my DSM.

Here is my Precious Pearl sleeping near the sewing machine. She looks as if she is praying. I hope she is praying for me. Somehow I have hurt my back. Until yesterday I was not able to walk without a cane/walker. I started PT and my mobility has improved but the pain level is still near a TEN! I fear it is more that a pinched nerve...feels more like a blown disc. I see the back doctor again next week.

Country Lanes pattern by Kaye England

I bought this batik off EBay. They called it Taupe and the picture looked very light taupe. But this is what I received. Looks gray to me.

Anyway, I went to a Gathering of quilters a few weeks ago and met Kaye England. I also bought several of her patterns. This is the first one I am doing. It is called Country Lanes. I am using the bagillion pink/white 3 1/2" 9-patches I had leftover from the Double Delight. And throwing in a few of my precious neutrals.

I still need to make 100 9-patches that have an extra light square in them.

I modified it to a 1 1/2"x 2 1/2" piece to make the odd square. I found some deep cigar boxes at the smokers' store. They are about 4" deep...great for patches.

Yes, I know...looks like a mess but I am totally in control until a cat decides to patch-out on my stuff!!! MaggieMae you know who I mean!

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.

Black and White 9-patch

Yes, I am starting another black and white 9-patch. My daughter #2 saw Amanda's black and white and went nuts over it.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthdDk71N0VV-6lZevFimDVizv7Z73qp7L2CV7EBCQ2CakVSjkJQzxSgMmip-mmLE_gg032NymEW5T5vIuqauZE-7-waoxsZZWFdBs4hfCwIWRM5RhRx1TqGWNetG09tt6LP5FLb0BgvI/s1600-h/DSC02340.JPG

So I started on Friday with pressing and cutting. By Sunday afternoon I had 77 blocks made. I only need 50 so there may end up being a third black and white 9-patch. I used 18 different black and white prints and 12 white or white on black prints. I have a good selection of blocks so they will all appear different in the quilt.

I bought a beautiful gray/black/white oriental fabric that I plan on using for the back and border. I need to get that cut today. And I need to cut two fabrics for the hourglass alternate blocks. I may use the oriental fabric there too. Need to get them up on the design wall to see how they look.

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.

Cats and the quilting process

There is nothing more precious than a child or an animal asleep. They are so innocent and trusting. MaggieMay is leaning her head on a fold of my quilt. She can be so very trying at times. And then I find her like this and I forget all the troubles she can cause.

I was chosing thread colors for Arika's birthday quilt. I left the room for a moment to get the bobbin thread and Pearl decided this was a great place to take a nap. I used a "King Tut" thread for the top and a John Flynn "So Fine" for the bobbin.

Strip Twist complete

I finished this Strip Twist yesterday. It measures 56X72. A perfect size for a 7 year old. It is ready for quilting. I need to decide on a backing fabric. Anna loves orange and pink together so I may use an orange fabric for the backing. Kudos to Bonnie Hunter, creator of www.quiltville.com , for giving us this great pattern.

Chipmunk with watermelon

This chipmunk raids the feeder day after day. I enjoy it's antics. The cats do not scare it at all. So I gave it a piece of watermelon. Stopped all the seed storing and enjoyed a cool lick of the watermelon most of the afternoon.
No matter where I move that little topper a cat finds it. Macy is saying "Don't move me!"
Here is one of Bonnie's patterns called Strip Twist. I made it all in one marathon sewing session. All I need to do is add a small border strip and then a floral border to finish. I will keep you all posted. Anna's BD is not until August. I am way early!

Squares quilts are all done

Quilting was all done on my Janome6600P with a walking foot. Really was not hard. It did make my shoulders ache.

I made two of these. One for my Daughter Lisa's birthday this July 27th and one for me. This pattern matches my rugs!!!!
Yes, Pearl is helping me get ready to do one of the long diagonals on the Squares quilt. This one is Lisa's. I used a great rose fabric for the back!
Don't you love her "bedroom" eyes. She is so relaxed all the time. She was an old cat even when she was a kitten. Hubby calls her "pick on me Pearl". Macy is always chasing her off!
I really love having my machine under the picture window. I can quilt and watch the world go by.

ALL DONE!!!!! Both of them.