Friday, March 19, 2010

DONE... well almost.

two and a half years ago, I bought a civil war kit.
six months ago I got brave enough to start it.
one month ago I finished the top.
yesterday I picked it up from the quilter.
today it is on my bed
maybe tomorrow I will do the binding.
maybe.





here is a shot of just a few of the projects I have going...
the machine is in the shop,
so I think I'll cut out another project.
isn't that what we do??

Friday, March 12, 2010

A Memory Quilt for Kaye

My world was turned upside down in February when my eldest sister was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I was able to go visit her for a week, and nurse her after her surgery. Not knowing what else could be a comfort for Kaye, I prepared all the makings of a special quilt from my family, and took them with me. I was able to finish it while there and present it to her before I left.


Kaye deserves to have a prize-winning quilt because she is a prize-winning sister. I am no prize-winning quilt maker, so this will have to do. I hope it gives her the comfort she needs.


Each member of my family made a block that said something special about Aunt Kaye. I added a few blocks that highlighted some special events from her life. The red and blue blocks are horse print fabrics because she always enjoyed horses.


Here is the result.























The blocks with hand-written messages are done in crayon. By placing a sheet of sandpaper underneath the muslin, you can color and write whatever you like without the fabric wrinkling up. "Set" the color by placing a piece of brown paper sack on top of the design, and press with a hot iron for 10-15 seconds. It will never wash out now...any mother who has tried to remove color from laundered crayons left in a child's pocket knows what I mean!


The back is anti-pill fleece, just like I made here. This one is machine stippled, and I am happy with the way it worked out, despite a lot of thread breakages this time (I was using a machine I wasn't accustomed to).

Monday, March 1, 2010

Flower Power

"Flower Power" was one of the many patterns found in the book 9-Patch Pizzazz. This is a great pattern for large print floral fabric that just doesn't lend itself well to being cut into small pieces. I like this quilt because (especially with the fabric used) it has an oriental flair to it. Even though it is only about 40" x 56", it is still a great quilt to curl up with. I backed it with black fabric and Cathy quilted it using black thread. The quilting design doesn't show up much in the front, but the back shows the quilting beautifully. I should have taken a picture of that too!