SUNDAY SEW AND SEWS 2024

Since 2017 a small group of quilting friends has met at my house for fun, learning, and companionship. We began working on Block of the Month quilts from The Quilt Show, starting with Halo Star Medallion, designed by the late Sue Garman. We meet for about 2 hours on a Sunday. This past year most of us worked on Feathered Star blocks. 

Over the years much more than quilting has come from this group. It is truly an important part of our lives, as dear friends. Each year it changes a little, some come, some go. And sadly, two have passed away. 

Each December we do a "potluck" holiday meal where we share food and laughter. This year a few were sick or had other obligations, so the annual photo only shows 5 of us--I took the photo so we were a party of 6 instead of 13!

Show and Tell is always the highlight of the day. Here are some photos from our last gathering:

Pam R's Feathered Star quilt with Fussy Cut centers

Victoria's baby quilt before it was gifted to the new one

Susan with a couple more borders to go

Show and Tell at our December party featured these gems:

Cheryl finished one of Janet's projects she left behind when she passed

Cheryl made this comfy throw for a little boy--it has a soft fleece-like back that is so cuddly!

Cheryl got her Patchwork Barn done in time to gift it for Christmas--this proves that an edge-to-edge quilting pattern can work for a lot of quilts--that was all this one needed to be functional and wonderful

Holly finished her Feathered Star quilt and quilted it on her longarm. She said she learned a lot about making perfect points

Susan finished her Washington Medallion top. It is perfect in Black/White and Red. Sue Garman would have approved!

My 3 recent finishes were on the design wall. Charming Kaffe, top left, is a new sample for my Charming Sampler Class. Oh My Small Star! is a sample to teach the basics of this pattern with an adaptation that removes the Y-seam construction. The quilt on the bottom is Scrappy Star Sew Along,  made from instructions on Instagram from "reproquiltlover"--the idea was to replicate an antique quilt she owns, using my fabrics to match the antique as closely as possible. It was FUN!

Another quilt I made and finished this year is Papaw's Choice, pattern by Ricky Tims. I took his online class to learn this and highly recommend his classes. Find them on Let's Quilt Together, his quilt teaching website:

80" square, using mostly hand-dyed fabrics

I really enjoyed coming up with the quilting designs

Having a group of friends you meet with regularly is a joy and will enrich your life. I encourage you to start one if you want to be part of such a group. All I did is ask "Would anyone be interested in..." When we got to 15 people quickly I knew we were on to something.

In 2025 some of us will work on the 2025 Block of the Month quilt from The Quilt Show, LAUREL RIDGE. Some may be "inspired by" the original, yet not make an exact copy. Here are two plans friends of mine have been playing with. See how much fun it can be to play with COLOR and VALUE:

Cyndi

Sally

I have written about this group numerous times, use the SEARCH box above to find them or this link should work: SUNDAY SEW AND SEWS

Let's quilt.

Barbara

LAUREL RIDGE -- LET'S GET READY

 Laurel Ridge is the 2025 Block of the Month quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for The Quilt Show.  Star Members have FREE access to the patterns starting December 29, 2024.  Made in two colorways, the complete patterns are excellent. You will love making this quilt. Lynn supports the pattern instructions with Videos too. 

Laurel Ridge Autumn

Laurel Ridge Spring

Now is the time to prepare. What do you need to be ready?

1. Use the Fabric Requirements Information to gather your fabrics. Information Pages

2. If you intend to PRINT the patterns, have paper and ink available. The patterns are first class quality. There are separate patterns for BOTH colorways. You only need to print one of them.

3. Watch Lynn's show #3601, which airs Sunday December 29, 2024. It will be FREE TO EVERYONE so tell your friends to watch too. Lynn teaches so much about precison piecing, lessons you will use in all your future quilts.

4. Exceptionally helpful tools Lynn and I highly recommend, both were available at the The Quilt Show Store but are currently out of stock, more will be available in the future:

            1.25" x 2.5" finished size BlocLoc Flying Geese Ruler  AND

            5.5 inch square fabric ruler, Quilter's Select gets my vote

        You can make the Flying Geese with just the 5.5" square ruler but the BlocLoc Ruler makes the process much easier and more accurate. I had to be convinced but now I am. This quilt has MANY of those small Flying Geese units.

5. Up your THREAD game. Many of these blocks are 5" finished. The pieces are small. Accuracy in piecing is important. Try using finer thread than you may be used to. My preference is Quilter's Select 60 wt in the top and 80 wt in the bobbin. Strong, fine, low lint, these threads will improve your piecing dramatically. Also available in The Quilt Show Store. 

6. If you enjoy pre-planning your quilt, use the Coloring Page Lynn has provided: Coloring Page

7. Consider buying the Kit if you want your quilt to look exactly like the pattern. For a limited time, both Kits are available. When they are gone, they are gone. The Fabric Kits

8. Feel free to do your own thing with Fabrics and the design. I am using the Spring Kit and have added a few more fabrics to it:

I also plan to replace the two applique blocks with pieced blocks. It is your quilt, you get to decide how to make it. This quilt can easily be made larger or smaller, depending on the size quilt you need.

In addition to the patterns, Lynn's videos, and her Show, each month I will do a LIVE broadcast on Facebook and YouTube and write a blog with tips and suggestions.  The FORUM provides the best place to ask questions and share your progress. Be sure to check in there frequently.

I hope you will join us as we learn a lot with Laurel Ridge.  My FIRST LIVE for Laurel Ridge is Friday December 20, 2024, noon Central time. Find all the LIVE broadcasts HERE after they have aired Live, they remain available to you at your convenience.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

I am not a big decorator, simpler is better for me. We do very little entertaining so there is no reason to do lots of holiday decorations. Each year I concentrate on putting out the special things I love, not a lot.

So, from my house to yours, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, whether that be Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or just taking time for some peace and quiet.

Greetings!

12 Days of Christmas quilt with Teddy in a sleigh basket

This funky Frog was a gift long ago and every year he makes me SMILE!

Several of these small stockings were gifts to me from Judy Murrah and I love them. 

This quilt was featured on the cover of McCall's Quilting magazine December 1997. It was one of their top selling issues I am happy to say. It goes up Thanksgiving Day and makes the room look ready for Christmas. 

My "Quilt Tree", with special gifted ornaments from friends over the years. The Nutcracker was a gift from an old friend when she lived in Germany. My most FAVORITE ornament is the A6 wooden jet; my last Squadron in the USMC was the A6 Training Squadron, VMAT 202. One of the wives made them and I was thrilled to get one.

An Okra Angel, a gift to me

My husband made the wooden angel more than 25 years ago.  The "Old World Santa" was carved from a cypress knee--I bought it years ago from the craftsman who made it, the "Woodcarver's GrandDaughter"

Another 12 Days of Christmas quilt, pattern from Temecula Quilt Company. The first block is ONE fabric, the second block is TWO fabrics, the third is THREE, etc. I have made several of these as gifts over the years. 

The rest of the living room

Another shot of the living room

The friend who lived in Germany for a few years also gave me this wonderful gift. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

MONTH 12 -- THE QUILTING AND FINISHING

PICK A PETAL is the 2024 Block of the Month quilt designed by Jen Kingwell exclusively for The Quilt Show. It is FREE to Star Members, join today to take advantage of this great bonus. WATCH Jen's Show to see how she makes this quilt--it is FREE for EVERYONE all of 2024: Jen Kingwell Show 3401 

IMPORTANT REMINDER:  the patterns for Pick a Petal are available FREE to Star Members of The Quilt Show through December 31, 2024. Be sure you have saved/printed/backed up the files if you need them after that date. Any files you don't have will have to be purchased directly from the designer. No one here can give them to anyone, the rights to the pattern return to the designer per the contract. We protect the copyright of our designers who continue to create wonderful quilt designs for the exclusive use of The Quilt Show  Star Members for a specific amount of time.

This month the pattern instructions show how to assemble various parts of the quilt. Most of us did this as we were making the quilt. If you are ready for the quilting, it's time! 

Be sure to watch Show 3401 while it is free to Star Members, through December 31, 2024. Jen talks about her quilting designs and shows some details of the free-form quilting she did with decorative thread. She doesn't have a plan for specific motifs quilted in specific places. It appears she did what the quilt told her it wanted in any given area.

Here are some detail shots that may assist you as you do the quilting on your own Pick A Petal:

Some of the visible stitching is additional embroidery added to just the top, not quilting lines that go through all three layers. Some of the visible stitching is hand quilting, that does go through all three layers. I leave it to you to decide how you want to enhance your quilt with your quilting.

In addition, the Month 12 pattern contains Jen's instructions for how she added a FACING, to finish the completed quilt, rather than an applied binding. I plan to  try that on a small quilt I will soon have finished. A FACING is a nice way to treat the edge of a quilt when a binding might detract. 

The FACING brings the front of the quilt to the back without adding a binding. Here you can see additional rows of hand quilting at the very edge of the quilt. People will wonder how you did that outside edge! 

I hope you have enjoyed Pick A Petal this year. Now it's time to pull my fabrics for Laurel Ridge--the 2025 Block of the Month Quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for The Quilt Show. Be watching for a post about how you can be prepared to get started in January 2025 when Laurel Ridge hits the website! 

Grandmother's Autumn

Granddaughter's Spring

I am making mine with Granddaughter's Spring and some additional fabrics. Be watching for that soon.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

BUCKET LIST QUILT # 4

As I try to de-stash a bit, I am pulling fabrics for about a dozen "BUCKET LIST QUILTS".  Those I still want to make. Here is the next one, Pieces of the Past in Purple. 

PIECES OF THE PAST--CIRCA 1875:

I have written about this quilt several times. To read the whole story go here: MY FAVORITE QUILTS #1  It is a reproduction of an antique top I found at a yard sale in 1988. The top was later determined by a well-known quilt historian to be from approximately 1875, hence the name, 

As a baby quilter then I thought I would hand quilt it. After studying it for a while, it was clear the fragile fabrics would not stand up to that so I reproduced it. Following the antique top, I used my least favorite color, BROWN. The quilt took all the skills I had at that time--those four-patches are "set-in", on the diagonal. Not easy by machine.

As much as I loved this quilt I knew no one would want to make it, the construction was just too difficult. So I made it again, easier this time, by replacing the four-patches with a square and adding more geese to create regular sashing that could be machine pieced. This has been a successful class for me. I named it "FIVE EASY PIECES":

Some years later I took it to a workshop with Liz Porter who assured me the large squares of what look like cotton bolls was originally PURPLE, not brown! Everyone laughed as they knew purple is my favorite color. From that moment on, it has been my intention to make the original one more time--in PURPLE this time.

PIECES OF THE PAST IN PURPLE:  The FABRIC PULL:

                                        

The antique top, now stored safely in a pillowcase, in a closet, out of light. It rarely leaves home these days:

the back showing the hand piecing

Front detail 

Front showing very worn border fabrics

The day I bought it at a yard sale I had my sons hold it for a photograph

This top is one of my greatest treasures. It has taught me a lot. Like:

1. Don't judge a book by its' cover

2. Look at the bright side of things

3. When you find a treasure, forget about the one that got away

4. Beautiful things are all around, you just have to look

5. Being in the right place at the right time is mostly luck and good fortune

6. Someday your skills will catch up to your desires

I am really eager to see this one made new and fresh, maybe looking more like it originally did Circa 1875.

Let's quilt.

Barbara