It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I decorate with quilts (!) all year but especially at Christmas.

 

A wonderful, lucky find at a Trade Day sale a few years ago.  This is an antique, professionally dated circa 1875.  Because the fabrics are all solids it's hard to get a definitive date.  Besides the lovely feathered hearts and cable quilting, there are 2 small quilted motifs:  one is a "W" and one is a dragonfly.  Oh my!  My husband's last name starts with a "W" and I LOVE dragonflies, often wearing one of many dragonfly pins on my jackets.  This was meant to be mine.  It lays out on a unused guest bed just for the month of December so I can enjoy it and wonder about who made it, what her life was like, and what she would think of my world.  The green was home dyed I imagine--there is one tiny place the green has turned blue.  One of my best treasures!

 

 

I made this years ago, the first quilt I had long-arm quilted.  It was featured on the cover of McCall's Quilting, December 1997--one of my first "cover girl" opportunities.  It hangs in the living room for the month of December and sometimes on into January or February or... The house looks ready for Christmas just as soon as this quilt appears. 

Over the years we have put up less decorations, just our most favorites.  Our sons and their women are only here a day or two and we don't entertain others very much so it pleases us to keep things simple.  I used to feel bad about this but now it feels right.  With a new grandchild on the way we are thinking of doing more next year, time will tell.  Here is the mantel with one very special new stocking in the center--for Baby Mac--what our son and daughter-in-law are calling their baby until they find out, next month, who is in there! 

 

 

In digging through my quilt stash last week, I came upon this quilt:

It is a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt from a few years ago, Roll Roll Cotton Boll.  I named this one Limeade with a Dash of Peppermint.  It is a half-size version of hers.  I thought "this looks like a Christmas quilt" so it is now displayed on the back of our red sofa--very festive! 

Last week I wrapped up the first session of the Simple WhatNots Club at Patches & Stitches, my local quilt shop.  It was a 6 month club that met one Friday night a month for a lecture/demo of small quilts designed by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass Fabrics.  Collection 2 starts in January.  Maximum capacity of the classroom is 30 chairs so that is how many we will have.  At our wrap-up party we had great goodies to share:

And a few people actually brought a quilt to share.  Here is a great one by Anna:

 

It is called Widdlytinks and she used those fabulous acid green buttons instead of the extra small yo-yos called for in the pattern--great little quilt!

My demos were on all the facets of finishing quilts, trimming borders, simple quilting, how to make and apply both straight grain and bias binding, how to sew the border down by hand or machine, and how to add a sleeve and a label--musts for me on all the quilts I make.  Even if the label is nothing more than my name and the date written on the back in Sharpie.  Most of the time my labels are more involved, but not always.

 Now, waiting for one of those very involved labels is Celtic Solstice Fanfare, our guild Raffle Quilt:

The label will list the name of the quilt, the fact that is the 2015 Fanfare Quilt show and sale Raffle quilt, the name of the pattern designer, Bonnie Hunter, and the names of those who pieced the quilt as well as the long-arm quilter.  I have to get that done very soon as we will be unveiling this quilt later this week at the guild's December meeting, our annual Holiday party.  Guild members donated fat quarters 6 months ago in the requested colors and they all seem to play nicely together.

This past week I caught up with Bonnie's 2014 mystery quilt.  Grand Illusion uses colors from the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  Her instructions are for a large quilt, so I am just making half the units currently until I see what the finished quilt looks like and decide if I want a big one or not.  Parts 1, 2 and 3:

And, now that I am caught up, here is what my cutting table looks like:

It so rarely looks like this!  I will enjoy it for today, then it's back to finishing a few Christmas gifts I need to have ready by Thursday.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Rush

Well, not really. It is December, after all, everyone is busy.  I've been happily content in my studio since returning from Houston--no tax classes or staff meetings to attend--wow, it feels so good to have that part of my life behind me.

First up is my "must do" for today--attach the sleeve and binding to our guild Raffle Quilt:

Celtic Solstice Fanfare--pattern by Bonnie Hunter, used with her permission

I have 10 days to get the quilt completely finished to show at our December Guild meeting.  I'm hoping the crowd will be pleased.  We asked for fat quarter donations of those bright fabrics, added one primary background and I am happy with how the colors came together.

Then I am eager to get back to the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery:  Grand Illusion Mystery.  I was not going to start this until the mystery was revealed but got sucked in by all the great units people were showing on Facebook.  I have limited myself to half the units in each clue, in case I decide not to make the full 88" x 88" quilt. 

The four Double Diamond units at the top are step 2, some folks have had difficulty with this one.  It's a great way to learn to improve your piecing, making units that are less familiar to you.  The bottom shows four units from step 1.  We don't know how these units will go in the final quilt--I'm just playing with design here.

Then there are these Christmas quilts I have to get done:  12 Days of Christmas in Red and White:

This pattern is from Temecula Quilt Co.  Every other day from December 1 to December 24 their blog will have the directions for each simple 3" block.  Day one has one piece, day two has two pieces, etc.  They did this pattern in 2010 and I made two then.  Now I am in the middle of three more, using fabrics left over from my Red and White--By the Numbers quilt.  Simple yet a sweet Christmas quilt. 

At night I am hand quilting my first baby quilt for our grandbaby, due June 2015--at least I'll have the baby quilt done on time:

Another pattern from Temecula Quilt Co:  Little Letters.  This was easy and fun to make in between all the other things I've been working on the past month.  In January the kids will find out if she's a girl or a boy, and I'll do the binding then, pretty purple if it's a girl, wild green if it's a boy. 

That should keep me busy this week.  I'm linking up to Bonnie's Monday Mystery Link Up and Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

Have a great week--Let's Quilt!

Barbara

What Have You Been Doing?

After being away for two weeks in Houston, then recuperating and doing all the house things that needed to be done, I've had a couple of good weeks getting quilt things done. 

As co-chair for our next guild quilt show, Fanfare 2015 Quilt Show and Sale, October 9-11, 2015, it was time to be sure the Raffle Quilt got finished.  So, I formed a "working party" of 7 other quilters and we sewed all day two days this week.  There was only about an hour when all 8 of us were sewing at the same time--people had appointments and obligations so they came and went but by 5 pm the second day the majority of the top was done.  Those two days turned out to be record-breaking cold weather but we were toasty and happily engaged in our sewing.  I heard words like "sweatshop" and "slave driver" but they all cheerfully kept pedal to the metal and got her done.   I spent another full day putting all the borders on and here we have Celtic Solstice Fanfare:

96" square, pattern by Bonnie Hunter, used with her permission

Today I pieced the 3 yard square back and it's off to the long arm quilter next week. 

The other thing I had to accomplish was getting class samples quilted and bound.  I bound three quilts, basted a twin-size quilt, machine quilted two twin-size quilts--in the ditch with the walking foot, and completed a comfy quilt to donate to my guild--free  motion quilted that one.  Still a long way to go in the practice department.  I taught 2 classes and attended guild last night.  It's been a full couple of weeks:

Comfy quilt donated to our guild, an old project finally complete

Antique Rose Star, still needs big stitch quilting, ditch quilting done and bound--class sample

Southern Super Star, class sample, binding almost complete

Ditch quilting done by machine, needs more hand or machine quilting and binding

I often complete my quilts with what I call the "hybrid" method:  ditch quilting by machine, more visible quilting by hand, either fine hand quilting or big stitch with perle cotton thread.  Free-motion skills have eluded me so far but I'm pretty sure that's because I don't practice very much.  The problem is, I get a quilt done I really like and don't want to mess it up with inferior machine quilting.  Like the quilt in the last photo--those blocks are hand appliqued and some of my favorite repro fabrics.  A couple of friends have been pushing me to free-motion this but I'm still reluctant.  Maybe after the first of the year, when it's a time for new beginnings...

Now I have a bunch of smaller projects I need to jump on.  We have a Thanksgiving invitation to our daughter-in-law's mother's house and we'll enjoy that.  I'm glad I don't have to do much cooking--just my requested Cranberry Chutney and a few other easy dishes.  More time to quilt!

Count your blessings and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Fanfare '15--Let the Fun Begin!

Tax season is over so it's time to start the next major project:  being co-chair of my guild's next quilt show.  Jane and I are working hard to get all the pieces in place:  date and location are set, next job is to finalize the budget and the rules.  Fanfare '15, our 14th judged show, will be October 9-11, 2015, at the Von Braun Center, here in Huntsville.  Check out our guild Website, it's terrific.

Also needing to get done:  the Raffle Quilt!  It takes a lot of money to produce a show as wonderful as ours is, and having a great "opportunity" quilt people can purchase tickets for is a necessity.

Here's what we have planned.  With Bonnie Hunter's permission, we are going to use her latest Mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice, for the pattern:

 

 

And with the permission of Rhianon Taylor, the Nifty Stitcher, a quilter from Fife, Scotland, we are going to use this colorway:

Isn't this just luscious?!  Jane and I both fell in love with Rhianon's version--it's perfect for the look we want.   Thanks to the amazing Internet, I was able to "talk" to her and get her permission to post these photos here.   Why?  There's a good reason...

Jane and I are striving for a quilt show of inclusion and participation from our almost 250 members. Now you probably know, this is NOT the kind of quilt you want to make as a "group" project.  Apparently, not everyone has the same 1/4" seam allowance!!  So, we chose one of our excellent members, Carla R, who is a superb piecer, to make the quilt top and thankfully, she agreed. 

As a way for our members to participate, we are asking everyone to donate ONE fat quarter of fabric, in any of these colors.  They have ONE month--this will be revealed at our April 17 guild meeting tonight and the only time to turn in the fat quarter is next month  at the May guild meeting.  Since the quilt show at Paducah is next weekend, those going to the show can easily pick up a fat quarter.  Those who can't go, should definitely treat themselves to a visit to their local quilt shop in the next month, since they can't get to the big shopping experience in Paducah, and while there, pick up an extra fat quarter for this quilt.  After the May meeting, we'll shop for the remaining fabric we need, most likely background, and Carla will be off and running to get the top made.  The reveal of the quilt to the guild is set for early Fall of this year--to kick off the next year of fun plans and some hard work too.

Since Spring has tried to appear here, this quilt, in these color,s is like a breath of spring fresh air, minus the pollen.  I'm looking forward to seeing what our members contribute to this effort! 

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Small Feathers

I seem to have a thing for Feathered Star blocks and made this one to commemorate the 2013 Raffle quilt I created for our guild show, which is this October.   Here is my "baby":

I'm still hand quilting it--the wool batt is luscious to quilt with.  Then I'll bind it and add a sleeve.  It's 26" square and those feathers are 13/16" finished, the star is 12" finished.

Here is the "mama": 

It's 84" square and the star is 15" finished.  Tickets are still available for this beauty--just contact me and I'll fix you right up with as many tickets as you want--$1 each and you do not have to be present to win.

The kittens are getting adjusted.  The male was diagnosed on Saturday with a parasite, Coccidiosis, and is taking 3 meds to clear it up and control his "problem".  And we have to watch for symptoms in the female--she tested negative but it's early and she may still develop it.  They are 12 weeks old now and growing.  They sleep most of the time, then run and chase each other hard for a few minutes, then eat, "go", and sleep some more. 

Check out Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog to see what others are doing--I seem to make it by Tuesday!

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Exciting News!

The Huntsville Museum of Art is doing a Showcase of quilts made by members of my guild, the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville.  It is a juried exhibit, selections were made by the museum folks.  They received over 100 entries from 26 of our members.

Today I got the happy letter--3 of my quilts will be exhibited, as part of the 31 selections.  I'm really excited!  It is terrific that a real art museum is willing to recognize local artists.  They recently did a photography exhibit of the work of local photographers.

Here are my 3 pieces:



Color Play #2

 

Simple Symmetry--Night

 

Teeny-Tiny-2-4-1

 

What's most odd to me is that I machine quilted all three of these myself--most definitely, not my strong suit.  Anyway, I'll be happy to have them in the exhibition.

 

We've been given permission by the Museum to display and sell tickets for our opportunity quilt at the special exhibition opening and demo days.  Here is that quilt--if you need tickets, I can hook you  up!

 

Fall Fanfare

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara