Christmas Quilt

After having the top of this done for a over a year, I finally got it quilted in early November!

I'm calling it, "Stars Were Gleaming," after one of my favorite Primary songs.

 The fabrics are mostly from Kate Spain or Basic Gray, with a tiny bit of Deb Strain, Bonnie & Camille and unknown scraps, like this gold fabric here. I hand quilted only the gold snowball with metallic thread. Everything else is done by my home machine. It was the first quilt I used multiple threads, which slowed everything way down, but made me happy with how it turned out.

 I still need to wash it to get it all crinkly but for now, it makes me happy to have it done and ready for the season ahead. Let the celebrations continue!

Dresden Plate Quilt

Finally I finished this Dresden Plate quilt made using various Bonnie & Camille fabric lines;

Vintage Picnic, Ruby, Little Ruby, and Handmade. This was started in March, intending to be my Spring quilt. Then my son got married and my other son was called on a mission and so I didn't get it finished until Sept. But that's okay, because now its ready for the Coming Spring! 

 Here are some of the details. I machine pieced the Dresdens together, then hand-appliqued them to my background fabric. Making these was much easier than I anticipated. In fact I'd like to make another Dresden plate quilt sometime it was so enjoyable. I don't mind hand-applique either. Its relaxing and slows down the pace of life which I need in my constantly on-the-go brain. What I really liked about doing it this way is that it allowed the plates to POP off the quilt, giving it more of a three-dimensional look without any added work.

 Then it came time to quilt it. My first attempt was a big FAIL so I had to unpick it and start over. I had chosen to quilt the centers first but that made the white space between them pucker.

 SO, on the second attempt, I got out my walking foot and sewed straight lines in a diagonal pattern. Some have asked how did I get them so straight? I used washi tape down the very middle and quilted along side it, then just went back and forth in sections on both side of that initial first line until it was all done. The washi tape didn't stay on long, but long enough for me to create that first line. I was glad it was so inexpensive and left no residue on the quilt because I threw it away when I was done using it, but it served its purpose so well I would gladly use it again.

 On the Dresden plates themselves, I only stitched an X in the centers and made little scallops around the center on the plates all the way around. I do Really love the plaid centers on each of these. Its just a really fun group of fabrics to play with.

It fits nicely on my railing where I like to display my quilts seasonally and you can see it from both sides. The border is also a Bonnie & Camille print, with a Bonnie & Camille basics - coral stripe -binding. I forgot to take a picture of the back, but its lime green from the Handmade line. Today marks our first day of snow in my neighborhood. I like the changing of seasons and Love Fall, but this makes me excited for when Spring returns.

Barn Quilt

The Barn Quilts

Originally a pattern from Piecemakers, a quilt shop in Costa Mesa, CA.  

We adapted this quite a bit, and made the original pattern of 13 blocks into 2 quilts of 6 blocks apiece.

We, being my mom and myself. 

We both have a quilt that has 6 different blocks. Come January we will switch them so we get to look at all our work all year long without getting bored with it.

These blocks are 14 inches each and represent different barns all through the year.

Here we see from top left, clockwise:

February, December, October, July, August, and November

Here is a close-up of the July block. I love the little piggies and the flag here!

Mom and I selected the fabrics, cut out the pieces, and ironed them on together. 

Then Mom used invisible thread to applique them onto the backgrounds we chose.

Then I would take them home and embroider them. This is where the slow-down took place.

I would let 6 months go by sometimes between doing my part, then do two in a month, and then wait long times in-between again.

When I did have a block done, Mom would use silk ribbon to embroider and add that three-dimensional accents that make them pop.

At the end, she put the corners and sashings on them and then I hand quilted them all.

It was a labor of love.

We call it our legacy quilts, as we only hang them, will never sit on them, and will give one of them to each of my daughters. In a few months, when we switch quilts, I'll repost so you can see the remaining blocks. 

It was a fun project. We actually finished it the end of June this year. 

Heavenly Peace Quilt

This quilt pattern comes from the V&Co. book, Green.

I initially started following the pattern exactly but as rows were added, I just improvised my green triangles and my neutral squares to where it felt comfortable to my eye, and of course, my fabric pull was just whatever I gathered that I liked in different shades of green. There are 24 different shades of green that I used and eight different neutrals, making it my first scrappy neutral quilt as well.

I named it Heavenly Peace because the quilting is a cloud design and the trees in the clouds, which are common where I live, are calm and peaceful to me. Its the first quilt I paid someone else to quilt it for me. I gave it as a gift to a family who has blessed many members of my family, and brought joy and peace to our lives, so it just seemed the right name. As always, my quilt titles come from songs, and this is from, "Silent Night." The backing has a small village that looks like Bethlehem with a golden star above.

I finished it the week of Thanksgiving and have only made pillow covers and pot holders since, so I am posting this again to motivate me to get back into bigger projects again. I have MANY I want to create, so here's to 2017 being a more productive quilting year for me.

Here are the others I finished in 2016

This one I made for my oldest son's 24th birthday. We called it "Moose Fighter." Up close you can see Moose everywhere and the Fighter is from the Keith Urban song, "The Fighter." Its a song about protecting those you love. Quilts offer comfort and protection for those we love as well. I quilted it on my home machine. The fabric was "Moose on the Loose," by Cheryl Haynes for Benartex. The pattern is from Atkinson Designs, called "Lucky Stars."

This was as table runner I made for my friend's wedding. She loves poppies and these are the colors she uses in her home. I found the pattern free online and used fabrics I had gotten at Joann's the year before when I was in UT visiting the store my daughter manages.

I also made a Christmas quilt for my family but have yet to quilt it. That needs to become a finished project soon, though I'm not super motivated to do it right now, so we'll see. I'm also working on the last barn quilt. I thought it would be done last week, but maybe this week instead.

Look For The Beautiful

In thinking about how tragic the events in Paris were, a city I've been to twice,
and loved both times,I read a blogpost by Amy Smart of her trip to Paris in 2012 and
at the end she said, "Don't let ugly win." As I did a quick google search on that, all the
headlines that came up were ugly wins. That wasn't what I was looking for, so then I
did a search for Look for the Beautiful, and I found this hymn of the same name at the top.
As I read it, I thought, this is the answer. If only people were to look for the beautiful in
one another.

If only we could see how the Lord looks on us, and then look at others that way.
Anyhow, I share the hymn lyrics with you, in hopes that you will feel the peace of these
words. I feel pretty confident that all who read my blog are people who have a greater
desire to do good and be good and lift others, not destroy them. Let us all "look for the
beautiful, look for the true," is my hope this Sabbath Day and every day!

A Hymn by Thoro Harris, 1911

Look for the beautiful, look for the true;

Look for the beautiful, life’s journey thro’.

Seeking true loveliness, joy you will know,
As to the home above onward you go.

Refrain

Look for the beautiful, seek to find the true,
God and the beautiful will dwell with you;
Look for the beautiful, seek to find the true,
You shall be beautiful, beautiful within.

Think of the beautiful, think of the pure;
Only the beautiful long can endure.
God to His lowly ones giveth more grace;
None but the pure in heart look on His face.

Refrain

Speak of the beautiful, speak of the pure;
These to eternity fadeless endure.
Error shall vanish soon, evil decay;
God and the beautiful pass not away.

Refrain

Look to the stars of light (not down to earth);
All that is beautiful there had its birth.
Upward and forward go, looking above;
There is the dwelling-place of perfect love.

Refrain

Many Thanks

So many hands came together at the end to tie the YW quilts. I wish I'd taken a photo of them all completed. This was right before I put the batting and back on and got it ready for tying. I couldn't have done everything myself and the YW put in a hearty effort last Tuesday, and two more came on Friday night but we still weren't done, so Mom and two of her friends came and helped us finish up, then Mom and the YW president took the last ones home to finish tying and last night they were all done and ready to share at YW in Excellence. 

So, I needed to thank them, and since we were making cards at Activity Days also, I thought I'd share a few samples of what I've been putting out lately. Fabric projects are fun but time consuming. Paper projects are fast and simple especially since all cards I make are using paper scraps. 

I keep this pillow on my bed year round. I made it last year from scraps when I was pulling together the fabrics I would use for Littlebuddy's quilt. Both the fabric and the printed canvas saying is from Sweetwater Co. Its says, There is Always Something to be Thankful For. . . . so true.  Its a good reminder to myself year round that no matter how crazy life in general can get or specifically on any given day, I am still blessed beyond measure! Running water, plenty of food to eat. . . some of the happiest people in the world have far less than that. Its easy to get in the habit of complaining about the things that make my life less convenient or that bother me, but this reminds me that focusing on gratitude makes me far happier than I when I complain. 

And, as this is Veteran's Day, I feel we owe our troops and our veterans our greatest appreciation! Thank you to the many who serve in harm's way for our peace.

Quilting as Service and 3 Halloween Cards

Wanted to post this better photo of my son's quilt. Upright and in good light you can see it as it really looks.

Last week a new friend came over.  My mom and I have been busy making receiving blankets for our local hospital's NICU. A friend told me they were in desperate need so that's been another fun project. (Check out Jinny Doan's You Tube tutorial on the mitered corner receiving blanket.) My new friend wanted to help, so she took home some flannel and wanted to contribute some too so I'm glad to have been able to invite her to serve with me. I also invited my quilt guild, so hope to collect a lot at our meeting in Nov. While my new friend and I visited, we also made cards. The first one is for my own children (I made more than one of this design) and the rest are for others.

This is the last of the five quilts I've been teaching the young women to make at church. I laid this all out on my family room floor before I bagged up each row and had the girls sew all 16 rows. They got the rows  done, so now its sewing rows together, putting on the binding and backing and then all 5 will be done except for tying, which takes place the first week of Nov. Then in Dec. they'll give them to the homeless shelter in town. Its been a great year long project, and I'm proud of how much the girls have learned and how hard they've worked to make this happen.  Some of the girls want to go home and start making their own bedroom quilts now. Service can lead to so many opportunities for ourselves and others and how fun it is to be creative and helpful at the same time. I love it!