Patty and I went to the quilt shop in Hiawassee yesterday to pick up a few projects that were being quilted by my friend Russ.  I picked up three, and dropped off one:  this one.  I took a class there last week to learn how to use the Hunter Star Trim Tool.  I learned how to make these beautiful star blocks.  

 

It looks simple, but I can assure you that it is NOT.  It is a process.  

 

Anyway, I am excited to see how it turns out.  I may need to make a couple more for my North Carolina friends.

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!! 

 

I guess I shoulda shown you what I've done so far.  This is the basic pattern.  Next I have to sew on three sets of borders to finish the quilt top.  

 

If you look to the left, you can see the true colors in the sunlight.  The fabrics really are gorgeous.  Even the background white is cool.  It is white on white, and it sparkles against the blues and reds.  It is way prettier in real life than the picture in the catalog.  

 

I am so happy with it so far.  I'll let you know how it works with the borders.  Stay tuned.  I'm on a roll.

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

Well, my seedlings are growing, but they are not ready to put out in the garden, so what shall we do now?  

 

I can't think of anything better than spending my days in the sewing room.  So that's what I do.  Here is my latest project.  It's called Sails at Sunset.  I got a quilt kit:  complete with fabric for the quilt top and the pattern created by Phoebe Moon Designs.  All I had to do was cut out the pieces and put them together.  Easier said than done.

 

So far I have 20 hours invested, and I still have more cutting and the borders to go. After that I will take it to my friend, Russ to have it machine quilted, then bring it back to the sewing room for binding and finishing.  In the end, I will probably have 30 hours in it.  But it is great fun, good mental exercise, and it makes me happy.  And isn't THAT the point?

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

I don't know about you, but I love a rainy day project.  It was too wet to get outside in the garden yesterday, so Jon read a book, and I got busy in the sewing room.  I started this project a few days ago, as you can see.  Everything is cut, and some of the blocks are made.  Now they just have to be assembled.  That is the fun part.

 

I had a good pattern, so it just flowed.  And here is the outcome:

 

 

It is so funny, well, maybe not all that funny, but I can never tell how it's going to turn out.  I thought it would be totally different.  I've only been quilting for 21 years, but I am still amazed with the outcome.  Sometimes I like it, and sometimes, not so much.  I guess I will just keep trying.  

 

I'll let you know....

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!

 

It has certainly been too cold for me to go outside.  So this is what I did with my time (staying warm) in the loft.

 

I picked out a bunch of "sunset" colors, and organized them from lightest to darkest.  Then I cut and stitched the strip sets, keeping the colors lightest to darkest.  From the strip sets I cut rows of different widths.  Look at the top left corner and move your eyes down the row.  See the light to dark?  Then it repeats, shifting from fabric #1 to #2 and so on, across the top.  

 

Of course, I worked from a pattern;  it's called Bargello.  It was hard enough just choosing the fabrics;  no way I could have thought up this pattern.  But it really was fun.  I will probably do it again using different colors.   At first I had to really focus on the process, but then it just flowed.  And three days later I have a quilt top.  Now, back to the quilt shop to get it quilted.

 

I'm having fun in the cold of winter.  How about you?  What are you doing to stay warm and occupied?   

 

 

HAPPY WINTRY DAYS!!!

 

Using mostly the same fabrics as the aforementioned placemats, I made this quilted hot pad.  I love this pattern.  It takes about a yard of fabric, because all those triangles are double folded.  This thing is thick enough to use as a trivet.  And I will, because I think it is gorgeous.  I love these colors.  Now, THIS makes me smile.  

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

I have had this pattern, and this fabric forever.  I love the fabric so much that I haven't cut into it, because I was saving it for THE right project.  Well, I finally did it, and they came out OK.  But I'm not that crazy about it.  

 

Oh well, it's a set of four placemats we can use in the spring.  It was fun spending a couple cold days up in the loft where it's warm, and any day spent sewing is a good day for me.  

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

I asked my friend the other day what's her favorite color, and she responded:  "sunset."  I love that answer, so I took this picture to send to her.  I want to make her a quilt and wondered about her favorite color.  Won't "sunset" make a gorgeous quilt?  I can probably use every color, just assemble it in a way that appears gradient.  I am excited.  

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

Here it is all put together.  Now I have to trim all those pointy corner bits.  I may need to go someplace with a bigger cutting table than I have.  But I am so excited to see it in this stage of "sorta finished."  This is the quilt top.

 

Of course, after I get it trimmed, it has to be sandwiched and quilted and the binding has to be sewn on.  That could take a couple more months.  But, it's a project, right?

 

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

OK.  Half way done.  

 

 

I'M A HAPPY QUILTER!!!