Swirls and Twirls

I made this quilt "just because".  I used fat quarters from the fabric line called "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".  Almost 600 half square triangles but a joy to make and a bright, cheery quilt.  It is great on a queen sized bed and long enough to go up over the pillows.

Basket of snowflakes

I forgot that I made this little table topper.  It was a kit from Connecting Threads.  A nice little appliqué project.

Just for fun...

KayLynn sent this to me...Jim laughed!

Vintage Dresden Dishes V

     While shopping with Charlotte last spring, we found the fabric that you see in the border of this quilt.  I saw dresden plates in the print and  decided it would be great for a new quilt.  We then went forward finding fabrics that matched.  We looked here in Denver and then found quite a few on our trip together last summer.

                                         Here is the quilt ready to start the pinning process.

      I am almost done quilting this new quilt.  Have discovered quilting gloves this past year and they are a welcome addition to helping me quilt.

      This is called Vintage Dresden Dishes V because it is the 5th quilt I have made from this pattern.  I just love it.  They are all so different and have been fun to make.  Several have new homes with special friends.

Rockets and Robots II

      By the time we found out that another grandson was on the way, I couldn't buy the Rockets and Robots charm pack any more.  Some of the fabric was still available.  What I used in this little quilt was a quilt panel.  I cut the panel apart and pieced this quilt top.

     This is the little recipient of the quilt, Sawyer Nephi Greenwood.  I thought I had this little quilt made so early and was in the process of sending it to his momma, but he decided to arrive 4 weeks early!  At least it was done, so I quickly got it in the mail so he would know how happy we were that he was here safe and sound and that we were thrilled to have him join our family!

The Bear Paw Quilt-Missouri Star Quilt Method

      Here is the basic block.  The Missouri Star Quilt method uses jelly roll strips (2.5").  The fabric line is by a favorite quilt book author, Kim Diehl, called Heritage Hollow.  I did cut my own 2.5" background fabric strips.  The blocks went together nicely and quite fast.

      I love the variety of colors and the color tones.  It was so much fun to make this quilt from start to finish and not have a partially finished quilt laying around.  That is unusual for me!

Grandma Charlotte Mayer-A beautiful quilter

     This is my paternal grandmother, Charlotte Louisa Monk Mayer (1897-1987).  I post this picture of her to share with you as she is my quilting inspiration.  My grandma was quite the quilter.  Her little stitches were so beautiful.  She would quilt beautiful quilts on what we call "cheater" fabric because the design was printed on the fabric and Grandma would quilt around the print.  I have a large quilt that she quilted like that.  I wish she could see the beautiful quilts that we make today using all the wonderful modern tools available.  I hope she would be proud of her granddaughters and now great granddaughters.  Even her great great granddaughters are being taught about this special craft.
     I have a large print of this picture in my sewing room paying honor to my grandma.  Thank you for all you did for me.  Always teaching by precept and example.

"Ten Minute Block" quilt

     I have a pattern that makes large quilt blocks out of 10" squares of fabric commonly known as Layer Cake squares.  I thought I would give it a try but just had the above scraps in a drawer and they were only 4 inches square.  Sewed up great and then my imagination went a little crazy.

      In that same drawer, I found packages of 4" fabric squares that I had purchased years ago, don't ask me why, from EBay.  I got them all out and got to choosing what I thought would look good together.  Instead of having different fabrics as in the trial block, I chose 4 of the same and then a contrasting center.  I was thrilled with how it all turned out.  The instructions call for the edges of the center to be stitched down, appliqué or zig zag.  Because mine were so small, I skipped that because they got stitched down during the quilting process.

     I thought I was the luckiest girl when I could find fabric for the borders and binding at Hobby Lobby.  It was a great feat since the fabrics I used were so old.  The backing came out of my stash in the closet and I was very pleased with how it all turned out.  I have spent some cool evenings under this quilt this winter.

BFF

      This is another "want to be like KayLynn" quilt.  It is called BFF and I had so much fun making it at KayLynn's in January.  She had sent me a picture of hers and told me the fabric requirements.  I went armed with the fabric I needed and went right to work the night I arrived.  I love sewing at KayLynn's because she sews on a great Brother sewing machine like mine that I sewed on for at least 10 years.

      KayLynn has such an eye for color so she is such a great help laying out quilt blocks in an appealing fashion.  I quilted it when I got home and also backed this quilt with flannel for comfort and warmth.

Cheery Pinwheels

      I just got it in my head that I wanted to make a quilt with two sizes of pinwheels.  No real reason, just thought it would be fun!  I used LOL and Bloomers charm packs by Moda.  The pinwheels were placed randomly and added the border fabric purchased at a fun quilt shop in Yucon, OK.

     Nothing like flannel on the back of a quilt to make it feel cuddly and warm.  I loved the pink polk a dots!

Sweet Pea

      When KayLynn makes a cute quilt, of course, I have to make one also.  This is true again with this little "Sweet Pea" quilt.  When I was visiting her, she had hers all made so I quilted it for her and helped her with the wavy edge to the border.  This was a new experience for her and making a bias binding.  She did the binding herself and had a great quilt when finished.

      KayLynn had two new quilt shops all picked out for us to visit while I was there.  I purchased the fabric for this little quilt in Guthrie, OK.  It used two charm packs and border fabric.

      Loved the process of making the blocks at KayLynns and then completing it when I got home.  Now if we could have a new baby girl....

Love Notes

      A HAPPY quilt!!  Nothing but fun!  This quilt is demonstrated on a Missouri Star Quilt Tutorial on You Tube.  Nothing but half square triangles from charm pack squares so it went quickly.

      KayLynn, Donna, and I think this would be a great quilt for a bridal shower where the guests could all sign their names.  I had a delightful trip to KayLynn's in January and was able to help her make one for herself also.

Rustic Stars

      This is another "raw Edge appliqué" quilt by Lynne Hagmeier that I have made.  It is called "Rustic Stars".  I chose my fabrics out of my stash except for the borders and binding.  It was a great quilt to make and I enjoyed the process.  I also sent this quilt to my sister, Donna, to be used as an example during a quilt class during their quilt show in Idaho Falls.

Rainbow Dash

      On our way out of town to go to St. George for a weekend with Jamie's family, we stopped at the fabric store to buy Christmas socks for the kids.  I thought a new quilt magazine would be a good thing to have to read during the trip...of course, I found a new quilt that I just had to make.

      I chose this quilt because I already had a stock of batiks to use.  I got them all laid out after washing, ironing and starching each one as instructed to in the pattern.  I was really excited to get started on this colorful quilt.

      These are a few of the dresden plates that I made.  They were easy and went quickly.  I appliquéd each on a black background.  The next step was the border.  That wasn't necessarily hard, just very time consuming and I had to really be careful that the colors would flow together.

      By the time I was deeply into getting this quilt top done, my sister, Donna, asked that I would ship it up to her to display at a quilt show in Idaho Falls.  That gave me an incentive to get it done.

     I really had a tough time deciding how to quilt it but was so happy with the decision to do an all over meander.  I was thrilled with the results!