Christmas Tablerunner

I made this table runner for Christmas last year as a gift. It was wonderful because I used fabric I had on hand. I got the pattern from the Quilt Sampler Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens the Fall/ Winter 2007 edition.The pattern was from a much larger quilt featured on the cover. Inside they had also modified the pattern to suit a table runner. You really could do that with so many different patterns that you already have on hand. I'm all about trying to use what I have. Especially in this economy.

I quilted it in an all over meandering star pattern. Quilting with stars is one of my favorite ways to quilt. This 3 block table runner I made for my Mom. She wanted something to put on her coffee table and this fits perfectly!

I would love to make the actual quilt that is on the cover of the magazine but I've got to many other things on my to do list! There is never enough time.

Well, I'm off to stitch!!

Finished in August

Here is my last entry to "finish it in the month of August". I made 6 Christmas pillow cases for my nieces, nephews, and son. I actually finished these over the weekend but had problems with getting the photos taken so I could post. Always excuses I know! I got the fabric from The Fat Quarter Shop's Christmas Cloth Store. They have an awesome selection and it was so hard to choose. That place is my online "Candy Shop"!!
I'm so glad I got these done ahead of time because they have to be shipped across the pond to Denmark and Germany along with some other handmades. I'm really trying to do another hand made Christmas this year. I have many things to create, and I've got a great start!

So to sum up my August finishes:

1. "Seeing Stars"quilted, binding done, labeled

2. "Kaleidoscope" quilt top complete

3. BOM flying geese sashing strips and borders, quilt top complete

4. "Falling Leaves" wallhanging, wiped off dust bunnies and finished applique...top done

5. "Sew Square Pear" Tablerunner quilted and complete

6. 6 pillowcases made

7. Pink knit socks...I know it's not a quilt but they got done!

8. Something I can't talk about because my sister is reading this!!

Whew!! I'm just amazed at how much I got done. Thanks to Kim for the kick in the pants! Check out her blog Kim's Big Quilting Adventure to see what everyone else has done. There were some very busy girls that completed some amazing projects in August.

Seeing Stars

Okay, so this is another quilt along hosted by Crazy Mom Quilts. It is the Star Quilt Along which you can find here. It started in April of 2008 and ended in July 2008. I was pretty good at keeping up with it until it came time to the quilt sandwich and quilting. It was in my WIP pile for awhile and I finished quilting it a few months ago. We will just ignore that it is August 2009.

I know, it's suprising that I used pink and green fabric...not really. I used fabrics from Moda's "Simplicity", Lake House Dry Goods "Cherry Baby", and others from my stash.

Once again I quilted in a meandering pattern so it wrinkled up nicely after washing...Love it!

One more checked off on my WIP list. . . What have you checked off your list?

Watercolor Window

For My Mom's birthday I decided to make this quilted wallhanging called "Cat Nap". It is actually from a kit by Whims Water Color Quilts. My mom had purchased this kit at their booth during our local quilt show a few years back, but never got around to putting it together. She passed it on to me and got it back for her birthday!

The kit came with plenty of precut 2" squares (plus some) to create your "masterpiece". They recommend using this Quilt Fuse, a fusible nonwoven product that already has a pre-printed grid that you can lay out your 2" fabric squares on. Once you lay it out, you iron them to the quilt fuse, turn it over and fold on each grid line. Using a 1/4" seam allowance you sew them all in one direction first, press, then sew in the other direction and viola!

A cool trick that I never thought about before was reversing the fabric and using the back side. It gave a much lighter value and worked perfectly for this style of quilt.

This wall hanging was simply quilted in the ditch around each window pane in nylon thread so it wouldn't show. I also did some straight stitching to look like the sun's rays which they suggested in the pattern.

Here is my beautiful Mom with the finished product.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thankful knees

This wonderful quilt top has been waiting to be quilted for quite a while. Being a full size quilt I was procrastinating on putting my quilt sandwich together. Finding floor space to spread the quilt out to pin baste it together while damaging my knees in the process is not what I call fun. While I was attending the big quilt show this spring, I met a woman standing by the wonderful Gammill quilt machine. She mentioned that she was a nearby quilt shop owner and frequently basted peoples quilt sandwiches together so they could then take it home and quilt it themselves! While she was at it I had her do two other full size quilts for me. She is an answer to my prayers and my knees and back are forever thankful!
Instead of quilting this on my Bernina, I decided to get creative. I came up with a quilt design and digitized it for our commercial embroidery machine. I am hoping to get this quilted and put the binding on so I can post the completed quilt next week.