Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Feast or Famine

I have been busy! My husband will only be here one more week and I have one more visitor coming today but I have a few minutes today to catch up on some blogging. First off...Show and Tell from last week's Breakfast Club.  Last month's pattern was, "Perfect Ten." Here are all the versions that got completed.

Marty added a small inner border in brown...


 Jackie added a flange...


 Marilyn made her blocks bigger to accommodate a panel print...


I did a different take by going with borders around the blocks that faded into the background...


Marcia's class sample...


Barb added a flange.


Dawn's with a panel print...


I thought it was worth seeing all the quilts together of this pattern even though I have posted some of these photos before. 

I'll do a second posting of the rest of show and tell...running out of time again!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sunday, July 13, 2014

One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

How does one count time spent quilting a top? Should I include the six hours I have spent ripping out? Erase the three hours I spent quilting the part I ripped out? This time it was not tension or the fault of the machine at all that led me to pick up the seam ripper...it was a woman's prerogative...I changed my mind about the design.


I just wasn't sure about what to do in the floral fabric border area...so I went to the default feathering solution. It just bugged me when I got done. Too much stitching...wasted in an area that really wouldn't show the work against the print of the fabric. In the middle of a Jazzercise class...the design solution came to me out of the blue. Love it when that happens. Finally ready to get re-started.

I finished another cross-stitch ornament. Only one more to finish the series of six.


I ordered the full set of Hoffman 1895, five-inch samples from Webfabrics and I want to pink all the edges. I bought a set of samples when Hoffman first came out with the 1895s but since then a whole lot of colors have been added! It was time to update...I do use these quite often when determining colors for quilts...kind of like having a paint chip set.


And I ordered another backing fabric from Sew Batik...a teal color for my storm at sea version. Love the Sew Batik backings. They have a loser thread count than the standard batik which is nice and soft for backings.


I'm anxious to get back to quilting!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Quickie Quilt

At Breakfast Club I started the quilt pattern, "Perfect Ten," by sewing dark purple frames around several squares. When I got home and threw everything on the wall I hated the dark purple frames with my border fabric. I envisioned a green field with scattered flowers.


So I headed back to my stash for a green fabric to use as the frames and also took out the blue fabrics.


I'm very pleased with the sweet little finish. I think I have had these batiks for 10 years...waiting patiently in my stash to see some action.

60 x 72"

This quilt could easily be cut and sewn completely in a day.  Here's the pattern.


I was killing time while I waited for my batting to relax after removing it from the packaging. I will be using a wool batting for the first time on the next quilting design.

Monday, July 7, 2014

On the Wall...A Finish

Here's my Irish Mist all washed and ready for viewing. This came as a kit  that I bought at the Houston Quilt Show in 2012. The only change I made (of course I made change) was to go with an organized color layout for the corner squares. The pattern called for random placement of the various 2-inch batik squares in the corners.

63 x 75"

My challenge in this quilt design was to create as many stars as I could and connect them.



Time to figure out the next quilt design...


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

June Breakfast Club Show and Tell

It's time again for some fun pics of quilty projects from the ladies at our Breakfast Club gatherings. First up is a Layer Cake quilt from Kathy...and of course I have no idea what pattern this is!


Several of the ladies also participate in a monthly strip club and this was the pattern from June, "Gallantly Streaming." Gorgeous!


A nice little quilt, finished just in time for the 4th of July.


Another Strip Club quilt..."Romantic Getaway."


June's Breakfast Club pattern, "Perfect Ten."


Bonnie made this quilt for a friend battling Breast Cancer. She used breast-cancer themed fabrics and the Creative Grids templates, Scrap Crazy 6. There is a companion book with this scrappy pattern.


A stash-busting Tumbler Block quilt.


Bonnie is also a great gatherer of scraps...


Two red, white and blue minis...




And another great mini using leftover HSTs.


Look for Bonnie's twist on this strip club pattern, "Romantic Getaway." The inside corners are the same fabric as the last border.


And Bonnie's Christmas version of, "Gallantly Streaming." She has the same colorway throughout all her stars which is a different take than the pattern.


Jackie volunteered to put these blocks together for her SIL who was participating in a Block of the Month program. She had to help some of blocks out a little bit before putting them all together. I don't think she'll be volunteering for any more projects like this...but it sure turned out lovely!


Partially completed top of May's BC pattern, "Daydream Believer," a free online pattern from Michael Miller.


Another version of, "Perfect Ten." Totally Alaska!


May's BC pattern, "Sundance."


A very colorful, "Daydream Believer."


A stash-busting, "Daydream Believer."


Another "Sundance." The floral fabric had been hiding away in stash!


And another patriotic project finished just in time for the 4th...


These little mats were made using the three different-sized star panels. The strips are pieced.