Something Old, Something New, & A Mystery

I pulled out some old quilts that I had downstairs... they are my husband's quilts, but they are made by his grandmother & his grand-aunt... but aren't they just ever so lovely???

The more I quilt, the more I really appreciate the older quilts and all the work that was involved in making them... everything from recycling old clothing, cutting the fabric pieces by hand and hand sewing.  

Looking at old quilts makes me appreciate my sewing machine!!!

This quilt was made by my husband's Grandma

Quilt made by Auntie Mildred in her younger days (she is now in her 80s)

I finished my "Origins" (by Basic Grey) table runner. 

White backing, brown binding.

I made my first "sun dial" - 4 quarters sewn together.

This is "Block 0" for New York Beauty Quilt Along.

There are a total of 10 different patterns for these sundials, but I think I am done.

It was fun trying it out, though!

I now have to decide if I'll quilt this quilt top (24" x 24") or if I should add some more borders or stars.

I finished up this month's 2 blocks for Freebie 15.

This year's theme is "Sand & Sea Glass"

Freebie #7: The Boardwalk

Freebie Companion #7: No Diving

I had to do some tweaking with the companion block because the quilt kit had white for the starfish (that's what I call them) but I wanted them brown, so I swapped fabrics and then was short some fabrics within this kit... but I made it all work.

And finally... I have signed up for a Mystery Quilt with Heather Spence Designs!

Heather Spence has designed a mystery quilt and the pattern is $10.  

The $10 is given to a cancer patient who needs financial help with their medical bills.

You can find more information about Heather's Mystery Blog here.

On April 27, I will receive an email with the first instructions to the Mystery Quilt, and these emails will continue once weekly for 5-6 weeks.

I have 2 of the 5 required fabrics, so I will have to go shopping yet for some more fabric.

I know I wanted to take it easy in the quilting department, but I just couldn't resist this quilt along, and it called out to my heart strings... and since I had 2 meters of fabrics at home that I didn't know what to do with... I'll now coordinate some new fabrics with that one fabric to make this lovely quilt.

I love Heather's last mystery quilt (Autumn 2011) so I am sure this quilt will also be lovely.

If you're a quilter, come join the Mystery Quilt fun!!

On a Roll Again

It seems that I haven't been finishing off a lot of projects lately, but I did have one project on the go that I just couldn't add to the blog because it was a baby gift for my sister, and I know she checks this blog.  :)

So without further rambling, here is the crib-sized quilt that I made for my newest nephew, Troy!  

Welcome, baby Troy!

Quilting was done in a meander stitch, and I used a varigated brown/cream thread.

 The backing was a polka-dot flannel.

Baby Troy on his quilt.
Born February 9 weighing in at 9 lb, Troy is now 6 weeks old and 13 lb!
He's a cutie!

I made this bag about a week ago for my church's quilt group.  We make quilts for patients with cancer, and we add a quilt in a bag so it's easier for them to bring their quilt (and perhaps a book) into hospital for treatments. 

We moved our son into a "big boy bed" and I added a quilt I had made last year.
Lots of bright colours & fun polka dots.

This photo looks really blah but the colours truly are better up close.
It was overcast & very windy today, so I took this pic indoors.
Anyways, this is my finished Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along quilt top.
Measurements: 59" x 75.5"

I whipped up this table runner last week, but I still have to add batting, backing & binding.
Measurements: 12" x 20"

 And finally... a quilt I am very excited about... the Synchronized Squares Quilt.
I had started this quilt along last year, but I then realized that it was meant to be a rag quilt, so all the coloured squares were to be ragged edges... and I do NOT like rag quilts.
I then pieced this quilt together without ragged edges (ie, the "nice sewn seams") and I just LOVE this finished look.
The squares are layer cake squares that I won last year from another quilt along!

Measurements: 48" x 56"

A peek at the backing: orange with polka dots.

Things on my sewing list now:

• finish up civil-war-coloured layer cake quilt top
• finish green/yellow/brown/white table runner (quilt top done this week)
• start ABC crib quilt
• catch up on the next 2 quilt blocks for Freebie 15 & Companion

... and then perhaps I can start catching up on my very, very overdue photo albums. 

Keeping Busy

I have 3 quilts for sale on Etsy: the Little Forest Quilt posted previously & the first 2 crib quilts pictured below.  

If you are interested in purchasing a quilt, please order through Etsy or contact me directly.

November block for Birdie Stitches Quilt Along

 I started another quilt along through my local quilt shop Traditional Pasttimes: 24 - 12.5 x 12.5 blocks to be done Oct 2011 to Sept 2012; there will be a lot of little blocks that will somehow be incorporated into the quilt when the blocks are done.

Sand & Sea block - October 2011

Sand & Sea block - October 2011

Sand & Sea small blocks

BLock #4 for Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along

Flannel scarf.
My sister visited me 2 years ago and she had this style scarf on.  It was so easy to make, and I even had the flannel & velcro for the past 2 years, but I just didn't sew it together.
This scarf will be lovely when it gets really cold here in Calgary.

My first attempt at a zippered pouch.  Not perfect, but good enough.

I finally just finished up this table runner.
This was a quilt along that I started earlier this year and I just never got around to doing the 5th block.
I like how this Tea Runner turned out.
I think I'll add this one to Etsy, too.

Latest Sewing & Quilting Projects

I have finished my Summer Star Sampler Quilt! I decided to save some money on quilting and I "stitched the ditch" for this quilt before adding another stash find for the binding. Of course, I managed to do more meandering than actually stitching the ditch, but I'm ok with that. This is our sit-on-the-couch-&-snuggle-under-a-blanket quilt. Yup, the colder evenings are a'comin'!

SSSQA: Front (measures 64" x 64")

SSSQA (Back) with label (date, place, designer, name of quilt)

In my last post, I wrote that I was doing 3 quilt blocks from the Two Toonies Thursdays quilt blocks. I have finished piecing them together, adding quilting, backing & binding. Oh, I just loooove this one. It measures 12.5" x 33" - lovely little table runner.

A peek at the backing... looove the fabric!!

Today, I whipped together the book panel that I had purchased at Jo-Ann's in October. It was easy to do, but the print seemed a bit "wharped" on the fabric so it was a bit fussy to piece together. It's for my son who's 14 months old, so perhaps he'll enjoy it yet.

July Long-Weekend Quilting Project

This Canada Day July long weekend, in between packing up the living room & kitchen and stripping all the baseboards off in preparation for the new flooring that will be installed this week, I managed to piece a small table runner together. It measures 18 1/2 x 30 1/2 inches. The pattern, called "Bubbles" is from Freckles Quilt Shop here in Calgary, but I made the table runner with blue/green colours instead of the cheerier pinks/yellows/browns that was the original sample.

The quilt top was 8 fat-eighths fabric pieces.

For the backing, I used a blue/black checker fabric that I had in my sewing stash. The binding is some more fabric that I had sitting in a box at home.