Toadstools!

 I hope everyone had a great Holiday I have to say we definitely had a good time around here. We ate to much and played to hard it has been nice and cold too. These are the quilts I made for our family this year. we have a thing for Super Mario Brothers at our house and so I felt it was appropriate to make a couple of toadstool quilts for our house. I used the Cut to Pieces Super Mario quilt a long pattern as my jumping off point you can find the pattern here: Super Mario Quilt Along I love the idea of making the whole quilt but I needed to be done with this in November and since I started looking in November I decided to make two of the blocks and super size them. I used the same grid as the original quilt along pattern I just cut four inch squares instead of one and a half inch squares. The total dimension of the quilt ended up being 63x63. As an afterthought I do wish I would have cut  the squares a little bit smaller such as 3 7/8 so I could have put Minky on the back with out piecing it. These did turn out to be a great throw size though and they have been a lot of fun so far. I chose to quilt the quilts differently just because I wanted a little variety I like things to coordinate but not necessarily feel like a set. Here is a close up of the quilting and some pictures of the red toadstool as well.

                        Square Dance Pantograph by Anne Bright above

                                    Clouds pantograph by Anne Bright above

What Have You Learned

 I can't wait to show all the fun quilts I quilted and pieced over the Christmas season but since most of them are gifts for people I am going to wait until after Christmas to post them. This is a quilt that I put together when I first started piecing years ago it was a great quilt to practice quilting on when I first got my quilting machine. I wanted a simple quilting design as the pattern of the quilt is busy and so I did a large meander. I hope if I have learned anything over my years it's every piece of fabric doesn't have to have a pattern on it and how to match fabrics a little better! What have you learned?

A Little Mini Quilt

What can you make from one charm pack? How about a mini quilt. This was a mini quilt pattern from Primitive Gatherings  called "Tiny Tumbler" and I have to say it was so much fun to make and to quilt. The total dimensions of this quilt are 17"X17.5" which is a little different from the pattern because I added a little border, each of the tumblers is only 2" tall. I took this to a quilting  event at my local quilt shop and it was suggested that I quilt a tree on it.  This is definitely not a design that I would have originally tried but I am pretty happy with how it turned out and it feels fight for the quilt. I have considered doing a back ground fill just to even out the density of the quilting. The piece itself does hang quite nicely on the wall so it hasn't been a huge priority.  Here is a closer look at the quilting:

A Quick Christmas Craft

This was a fun little Christmas sewing craft that is Perfect for a Hostess gift. I put the first letter of the day of the week just so these could be given if  I needed a last minute gift. If you knew who you were giving these to I thought it could be cute to put their initials on them. I fused Heat N Bond Light and cut my letters out with The Accuquilt. I used pre-washed flour sack towels from Wal-Mart. They come in a pack of five so to do the days of the week you need two packs.  This was a pretty fast and simple gift and they turned out so cute.

Twice as Nice

Are you feeling the Holiday season upon us? Things are definitely picking up around here so if I seem to be sparse I'm still here I'm just busy! These quilts were made for boys who share a room I opted for coordinating patterns and fabrics instead of making two matching quilts. The patterns I used were Pow Wow and Spin cycle by Cluck Cluck Sew you can find the patterns here http://cluckclucksew.bigcartel.com/ I love the instructions on the pattern they are so clear! I only found about a dozen other quilts patterns to try from this site. Have a happy Holiday season! Here is a closer view:

Above Spin Cycle

Above Pow Wow

Above pantograph Spilt paint By Anne Bright find it here

http://www.annebright.com

Above pantograph http://www.longarmstore.com/quilting-patterns/packet-patterns/season-nature-packet.html

A Christmas Table Topper

 This was a table topper I pieced together a few years ago when I was learning to square up blocks. I haven't ever got around to quilting it until now. These were simple hourglass blocks built from half square triangles I used a six inch squares sewed a 1/4" down both sides of a center line and then squared them down to five inch blocks. I have been loving the orange peel quilting everywhere and I figured this would be the perfect project to give it a try. This was definitely less challenging than I originally thought it would be. Here is a close up of the front quilting:

 

 

 

This is what the quilting looks like on the back:

Overall I am really happy about how this turned out and I can't wait to use this on my table this Holiday season.

A Quick Christmas Project

     I got the opportunity to teach at Quilt guild the other night on how to faux chenille. I looked up Chenille in Google to see what was out there and there were plenty of chenille baby blankets which are a super cute idea but I wanted to do something a little different. So this is the quick project I came up with.
      I took three layers of green and red fabric stacked them and sewed the lines for chenille. (If you don't know how to do this please search for it there are plenty of tutorials out there make sure you are sewing on the bias.)  I then Ironed a piece of Heat N' bond light onto the back of my chenille piece and  I used the Accuquilt dye similar to this one http://www.accuquilt.com/studio-isosceles-triangle   to cut out the triangle for the tree and the bottom inch of a letter for the stand. I then cut the chenille into the tree  using a chenille cutter  and sewed around the tree 1/4" in  to anchor it to the pillow top. I then assembled my pillow to be the size of my pillow form which was 18"x18."  I chose to turn my fabric so the lines of chenille were horizontal but this would be darling with the chenille on the forty five degree angle too.  Here's a close up:

Tree of Life quilt

 This was a quilt I got to make for My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe. About a year ago the shop had a triangle exchange using the 2" triangle papers by Edyta Sitar and I got to make a sample of her quilt. This quilt is called the "Tree of Life" and is out of the book "Friendship Triangles". Let me tell you this book is awesome! I only have a million more projects I want to make from the book. Once I completed this quilt I just couldn't bring myself to quilt it so I had my friend hand quilt it and she did an awesome job! Here is a close up of the quilting:

Fireworks!

I just finished this quilt for My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe and let me tell you it was so much fun to sew. The pattern is Fireworks by Thimble Blossoms.  I love how it turned out and I had so much fun quilting it. I did a square meander pattern and it fits this quilt so nicely! Here is a close up of the quilting.

Tumblers

 I love it when something comes together like this.  This quilt was a breeze and it gave me an opportunity to use the Layer Cake Tumbler by Missouri Star Quilt Company. This Template is amazing easy and there is hardly any waste. The fabric is Prayer Flag by April Cornell for Moda. I used three layer cakes and one yard for the top, this made the quilt nice and large for our King size bed. I quilted this quilt with a pantograph from Urban Elementz  "New Delhi #2".  Here is a close up of the quilting:

Right on Target

I have to say this is one of my favorite quilts I've made. This was a shop sample I made up for My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe. The Pattern is Find True Love by Sweetwater. I put my own spin on this by using traditional colors and boy this quilt is a stunner! This was the kind of quilt you cut out, sit down and enjoy your time sewing. It was so much fun. Here's a close up of the quilting:

Who Doesn't Love a Hexagon

Don't you just love hexagons? It seems like they are all over the place right now and so I just had to get in on the fun it and although this looks challenging it's a project even a beginner can do. This pattern is "Juggle" by Thimble Blossoms. I used a Honeycomb of "Happy Go Lucky" by Moda and a few fat quarters from that line to create this quilt. This is a project that would also be a great little gift for Christmas. I used the pantograph  "Merrily Feathers" by Anne Bright. Here is  a close up of the quilting:

Stash Stars

 I tend to be a traditionalist at heart so this  is something a little different for me I really enjoy pushing myself and working outside of the box. This is what keeps me interested in quilting. This quilt pattern is called Stash Stars by Atkinson Design and was a breeze to assemble thanks to the clever piecing that this block allows.  I did a large meander in the body of the quilt and a swirl in the white border area. Here are some close ups of the quilting:

Jelly Roll Racing

In case you haven't noticed the holidays are soon approaching. I am feeling it for sure as the weather changes and Halloween is just around the corner. One thing people always seem to be looking for is a speedy gift and I have to say this is it! This quilt top took around  four hours to sew together and I was surprised how big it is. With the borders this quilt would cover a twin bed. I also had a great time quilting it. Here are some close ups of the quilting:

 I used a large interlocking paisley on the body of the quilt

These borders just begged for feathers and so feathers they got.

Something a little swirly

I just got the chance to quilt this quilt. The piecing was so geometric we decided to do a swirly pattern on it. Is there more than one way to quilt a quilt? YOU BET! I did discuss quilting this with a random square pattern which would have given this quilt a very modern look.

A fun quilt for a girl

This quilt turned out so fun.  I think that most of us agree panels can be a challenge.  When I first saw this fabric I absolutely fell in love with it. The line is Flirt by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I bought a jelly roll and a panel set and went to work. I ended up building strips sets of four two and a half inch strips and then cut them into two and a half inch square strip units and built blocks and strips to work around the panels. I am pretty happy with the quilt. Here is a close up of the quilting:

A Dresden fan challenge

This project was so much fun! I asked my husband what quilt he would want me to make if there was one. The answer: A Dresden fan quilt like the one he remembers on his parents bed from his childhood. So naturally I asked my mother in law where the quilt was and she explained she has it put away because after much love the quilt was showing some wear and tear and all the quilting thread was gone. Luckily for me after I explained what I was up to she pulled the quilt out and let me take pictures of it so I could replicate it.

This is the original sewn by Velma Mackay

This is my replica

A close up of the original block

A close up of the replica

 

Something a little Different for an Awesome on point quilt

 I am so lucky to get to quilt some of the master pieces that I do like this quilt that my Dad put together, the colors are stunning! The most challenging part of this quilt was finding a great thread that would blend well with the front and back of the quilt. I went ahead and chose a neutral tan and as you can see from the bottom picture the quilting really pops on the dark back but blends right into the top. This was a choice that both of us agreed on if seeing this much quilting on the back would bother you make sure you and your quilter agree on what thread color choice would be right for you situation. We discussed using monopoly on the top and blending the thread on the back. There are definitely options for any quilt and most quilters will have a suggestion if you are just not sure what to do. I hope you enjoy this quilt!

Free motion quilting on ten inch blocks

I had a great time quilting this quilt. I really wanted the applique blocks to be balanced with the other quilt blocks so in comes a great free motion block. This block was inspired by Love bug studios "organic peas in a pod" she has a great free motion video on you tube. I then echoed around the appliques I didn't quilt the appliques down because of the fusible product that was used. I took a risk and quilted this in white and I absolutely love how it turned out! here is a close up:

Thinking outside of the box

I really want a new bed what can I say that is just how I am so after pricing upholstered beds for month I finally came up with a brilliant idea. Slipcovers that's right slipcovers were my affordable alternative to paying four hundred dollars for an upholstered bed.
The first thing I did was measure my foot board and headboard both width wise and length wise. Don't forget to measure all the way down to the bottom of the mattress. I then went to my local quilt shop and bought two pieces of extra wide 108" fabric in the color I wanted (the tops) and two pieces of muslin (the backs next to the bed) that were the same size as the two pieces of fabric.
I then machine quilted the two "quilts." Once they were quilted I folded the quilts in half and sewed them to slip over the headboard and footboard.
I did use French seams so if at one point I want to reverse them to the muslin side I always can. That's all there is to it. If you don't own a long arm you could always have a machine quilter quilt and all over pattern on your fabric for you or even possibly find a pre made quilt for this project. Have fun! Here's a little close up below so you can see the quilting.

Welcome!

 Hi everyone I'm so excited for this new adventure of mine after working as a printing press operator for the last ten years I decided to turn my hobby into a career. I got a job at a local quilt shop and started quilting for people on my Long arm machine.  I hope you all enjoy the journey with me as I post some good ideas and some GREAT quilts.