what’s on the machine?

i’m so glad you asked!

this lovely LARGE (read HUGE) batik quilt:

technically it’s sandi’s quilt but karen pieced it.  i’m using QD select cotton batting and quilting with Rainbow flight pattern by miki & diane.  thread is olive drab.

PRESTO CHANGO!!!!!!

it’s OFF the machine!  this isn’t in all of the body of the quilt…. (again, read HUGE)

these two shots show the courthouse steps border.  i think the border really makes the quilt.  well, okay, the fabric do too.  and the perfect piecing.  and those little corner stones……

and finally, a close up for your viewing pleasure!  the photos seem kind of washed out.  maybe it’s just my monitor.  maybe it’s me.  the quilt in reality is stunning.  wtg karen!

jan quilting stats

i meant to do this monthly but you know, that doesn’t always work for me!  so i’ll do it when i can k?  you’re all so agreeable today!  anyhoo, i’ve had a couple good months and even have 2 weeks left of feb so i’ll update jan with pix and get to february later!

in january, i pieced 3 tops: NYD butterfly quilt, NOT NYD quilt, and a big baby quilt

the NYD one needs a backing, quilting and binding.  the NOTnyd was already quilted by carin in a fun funky design and i have the binding sewn on but not down.  the baby quilt still needs to have the ricrack in one direction sewed down, a backing, quilting and binding.  not bad work if i say so myself.  and i do!

in addtion to that, i got binding done!  i did the handwork on 2 and machine sewed the binding on 9 (nine!)  NINE quilts (ranging from placemat size to lappish).

and i made and sent out 8 fabric postcards (shown in a previous january post…..i just can’t make myself do another link.  sorry.)

and lastly, i actually quilted one of my own.  naturally, it’s one i need to give away soon!  it is my NYD quilt from 2009.  it’s a jo morton pattern and i find i have no pictures of it so……later k?

and now a february preview without pix!  i’ve finished 2 tops.  1 was becca’s mystery (more about that separately), and one was an adorable baby quilt that is quick and easy but with the right fabric, adorable (or did i mention that already?)  ok ok.  i’ll show a picture of that one since you asked soooo nicely.

seriously, how stinkin’ cute is that?  i think i had a chunk of about 3/4 yard of the focal fabric, some white on white for the sashing and a blue piece hand dyed by ME!  this was a great little quilt to put together when i just wasn’t quite ready to stop sewing but had used up most of the active brain cells already that day!  i believe i feel another one of these coming on…….yep, there’s another hunk of fabric begging to be cut into big squares.  🙂

i have done the handwork on 3 bindings (well, technically i have 12″ left on one but close enuf right?) and made and sent out 12 valentine postcards.

and of course, i’ve kept a spotless house and made a gourmet meal for scott each night.  uh huh.

a quilt show

was on the agenda this weekend.  it was put on by the sioux falls quilt guild.  and it was really well done i thot.  the booklet was very nice.  many times i think the booklets are a waste of money.  it’s so expensive to put together a booklet so people take short cuts to help reduce the cost and thereby make the booklet useless.  this booklet had good information regarding the show activities, vendor locations, raffle opportunities etc. as well as having the information regarding the quilts themselves organized thoughtfully and dare i say logically?  yes, i know, you’re thinking according to WHO’S logic.  yeah, mine so maybe the rest of the attendees weren’t so impressed, but i was.  i didn’t take a ton of pix but here are the few i snapped.

this was “indigo baskets” by joyce dunn.  these fabrics are imported from south africa and are termed “grandmother’s wash goods”  they are copper roll printed with indigo dye in patterns from the 1850’s.  i know all this because i quilted it for joyce.  very unique fabrics.

exquisite background quilting on this one.  i think i know the quilter but now i’m second guessing myself so i’ll not say.  really really beautiful job.

do not adjust your color.  this is truly that faded.  this quilt was made from worn dress shirts of the maker’s husband and father.  hand quilted and really spoke to me.   really really like this one.  really.

have you ever seen a happier fish?  as we walked away from this quilt we all made fishy lips.  ok, i was the only one doing it but you could tell they wanted to.  or not.

so this is a table runner.  and it is only 16″ wide so you can imagine how teeny tiny those GFG blocks are.  very kewl.

and that’s a wrap folks.  was a good show.  i love a good quilt show.  oh yeah, a little retail shopping was involved too:

deconstructed screen printing.  very kewl stuff that janet myers of flandreau is doing.  way kewl.

a fun felted wool purse with a string of balls for a handle.  how fun is that?

a little kit for an alphabet quilt and a charm pack.

 

not too much damage.  in fact, i’d say just the right amount!

this is a couple shots of the back of joyce’s quilt.  she is putting it in a quilt show this weekend so i don’t want to spoil her fun by posting the front.  besides, my “front” shots stink so hopefully i can get some good ones at the quilt show.  🙂

and i don’t think i posted here the pix of the postcards i made last week:

and a close up:

and….brotherly love:

within seconds of the shutter shuttering, ian had kaiden in a choke hold and was banging his head on the floor.  kaiden slipped out of the hold and body slammed ian (on the quilt of course so there was padding).  just kidding.  sort of.  totally kidding.  NOT.  seriously, just kidding.

 

here today

and gone tomorrow. that’s what it seems like. kris and neil were here for most of september. it went way too fast. we mostly hung out and did famdamly things but we also went to the sidewalk arts festival and to the state quilt show. BONUS TIP: it’s illegal to drive through the unauthorized “driveways” on the interstate unless of course you are authorized. and if you DO drive through and are NOT authorized, make sure the car behind you isn’t a highway patrol car. i’m just saying, wouldn’t you rather spend $105 on fabric?!?!

i also managed (just barely) to quilt something for kris:
this is a rainbow kit from a few years ago by Starr Designs. kris enlarged it with the checkerboard and outside borders.

i quilted it using small splash by willow leaf studio

and used perma core thread in olive drab color

kris used a wide batik backing fabric. she prewashed it and i had beautiful stitches!

we used quilter’s dream PUFF for the batting. a bit more loft than cotton or 100% poly. yet very light weight. NICE!

there you have it!

saturday quilt show!

and outdoor one. with WINE!

heirloom creations and strawbale winery and their customers put on a beautiful show saturday. i hope you made it out for it. karen and i went and had a BLAST. the winerita’s may have contributed! here’s some snaps that totally do not do the show justice, but well, it’s what i got!

and of course i have to talk about this last one. it’s a latte quilt. beautifully embroidered. karen is saying…kay you have to see this quilting! i really want to make this quilt some day. i told her i had the book, dvd, and the fabrics to do so (another ufo!). she says, i really like this quilting, take some pictures of it so if i ever get one done you can quilt it something like this one. ok…being the dutiful friend, i start snapping away. you know where this is going right?

quilted by ….me. yeah. ’nuff said.

so anyway…….the show was a fun fun time. loads of money from ticket sales and other things go to project linus. if you want a quilt to BUY, there were lots that were for sale. if you want to appreciate the art, this was the place to be. and if you just want to sit around and have a winerita and enjoy a quilt talk or some music and dancing by poker alice…it was all there. stay tuned for information on next years event!!

quilty stuff!

this “top” was beautiful to start with. VERY well pieced. and it came with extra STRESS as it was for a very special gift to the maker’s daughter and fiance’ for their wedding gift. no pressure. i always worry about ruining someone’s treasure. i gotta work on that. anyway……….the deets: we went with quilter’s dream WOOL batt. it is lovely and it quilted like butta! i used signature thread in a lavender like color (orchid maybe?). i started with a green and can you say YUCK?!!? did some stitch removal for that. sooo very glad i changed. what else…….oh, the all over feathering is a technique by Suzanne Earley called……meandering magic i think…..anyway, she’s got 2 great books out so shoot me an email or comment if you want more deets i’ll dig ’em up for you. anyway, it’s a super technique that i think could be used equally well on a long or short arm or even a domestic machine. …..some ruler work, some pebbles, some freehanding, and some bead board in the border. deb levy’s video on MQR inspired me on the splitting of the pillow tuck border. okay, i think i’ve credited everyone. well, i’d also like to thank my mother on account that she birthed me and all…… i know, i hear you all saying “just get on with the pictures woman!” ok.

i know, my photos are not great. there was no sunshine to be had. trust me, even tho you can barely see it, this is QUILTED. it’s pretty good sized…..about 100×112

working from the outside in, the outside border on 3 sides is bead board followed by “barbara bush’s pearls” in the narrow lavender border. the next area of dark spikes and light spikes is a freehand feathered meander (ala suzanne). the 8 spike blocks have a variety of stuff in them (i’ll detail that in the close up), the “star” diamonds were CC (continuous curves) and the center star has pebbles, feathered wreath, and circles. the top border (which you can’t see) is larger (20″) to use as a pillow tuck. i split that border into 3 with beadboard on either side of an undulating feather.

(blah blah blah…..i can hear my sister saying that!)

here’s the pillow tuck.

this is the feather meander magic and a bit of “barbara bush’s pearls”

there are 8 of these blocks and they are all quilted the same. i started with pebbles behind the 1st spike (which has SID), the curved flying geese are feathered, again SID the spikes and then two 1/4inchish outlines, row of pebbles, 1/4 inchish again with a curly-q reaching out to the edge.

close up

close up (again)

the center. hard to see but the very center is a double circle filled with pebbles, a feathered wreath, double circles, SID, pebbles, SID

the most full shot of the back that i have. i played with the exposure and contrast in the photo so the color is completely off but you see the stitching better.

the back center

this shows the pillow tuck quilting (left side) pretty well

a bit “truer” color

and that’s a wrap! the quilt was picked up in the bag.  a few hours later i received a lovely phone call from deb and her hubby saying how much she liked the quilting.  made my day.

for those of you still with me, here’s a snack.

i also made 500 cream cheese mints for a dear friend’s son’s wedding tomorrow. the girls helped me one night so i got a good start and then i finished up the remaining 200 last night. scott did NOT help.  nor did he get up at 3 am to flip the mints.  you’re all surprised right?!?!?!

qr……quilt related!

believe it or not, i am a quilter.  not that there is much recent proof of that.  BUT  here is something to bolter my cred.

doesn’t that look yummy in the natural light?

a bit more of the quilt.  i used 2 battings in this.  quilters dream cotton and wool.  the wool is scrumptious to quilt.

a bit hard to see but this is the back

lovin’ the wool.  great definition in the quilting.  customer is happy.  i’m happy.  next!

i finished something!

so let’s see, we’ve had kid content and cussin’ content lately. what’s left? oh yeah! i am a quilter aren’t i?!?! so just to prove it, here’s a couple pix

this quilt belongs to a favorite customer

it’s a LARGE quilt. this is about 2/3’s of it. oh and in the upper left hand corner? yeah. that’s the furnace room and underneath that, well that’s frozen pipes. grrrr.  color me happy about that.

a little closer pic. i struggled with what to put in the black borders. i didn’t really want to do outline quilting so for several days, i tried to come up with an alternative. i did outline quilting.

outline quilting, bordered by cross hatching.

center panel was freehand quilted and then individual detail quilting in the motifs.

there you have it. quilt content!

sewing weekend

i was lucky enough to wave goodbye to scott and emmett again on friday night as they took a weekend to hunt on the west side of the state.  so karen and i had another sewing weekend at her house.  we agreed to a NO FRILLS weekend.  i think she broke the rules.  what do you think?

 

this was my birthday gift:

  this is a 2 for 1 pattern by pat speth.  it’s companion quilt is called labor day madness and this is the pinwheel quilt.  karen kept the labor day madness for herself and gave this one to me.  when you assemble the blocks, you end up with a left and a right and use them in the 2 quilts.  how very fun that we have companion quilts in each our homes.  i LOVE LOVE LOVE it (picture me kicking my leg up in the air real high like).  here’s a close up.  i did the quilting on it using rob’s ruler for a clam shell effect.

 

 

and as if that wasn’t enough.  the next day i received this:

 

hundreds of kaffe stripes.  our plan was to make a pattern by ardvark quilts.  karen got busy collecting her stripes.  i’ve been procrastinating so she decided to make it happen by giving me the stripes already cut. 

 

i think she broke the rules but man o man am i a lucky dog!

we also laughed our butts off at a skit that was on SNL.  it was about beyonce’s new song “single ladies”.  you can find it on youtube (not at home on my computer so can’t provide the link).  anyhoo, i think we watched it about a dozen times. 

so i made some progress on the pink and brown and hope to have a WIP wednesday report in a day or two!

i was also given a cool bloggie award by becca and jan!  thanks a ton guys, i’ll try to follow the rules and get a post up about that also!