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Friday, May 30, 2014

Another finish...

I forgot to include this finish from last week.  My Celtic Solstice is finished!  This is a mystery quilt project I followed on Bonnie Hunter's site last winter.  It was such fun doing each week's "chore" and I was thrilled with the final design.  Couldn't hardly wait to see what the next week brought with it!!

I used one of my wool battings for this one, Cathy will be happy about that!  I gave it to Don as he has been complaining recently about the number of quilts I make to give away and the fact he has none.  (Not really true, but he DID give the last one I made for him to Zach because it was too long for him!??)

I quilted this one with an overall meandering stitch using a variegated thread from Superior Threads.  I LIKE IT!

I've also, I think, mastered the problem of skipped stitches with my Brother 1500.  Stretch needles, feed dogs down all the way, and  set the stitch length all the way down.  Works much better!  Thanks to Google for the lead to the information I needed.
The quilt is certainly NOT PERFECT, I learned a great deal - especially about making sure my seam allowances were perfect (not quite there yet)I'm hoping my next mystery quilt will be more perfect!!


More of Amanda's Quilt

Here's a closeup of one of the squares.  Lots to see here, this could be an "I Spy" quilt!!  Purses, high heels, music notes, even letters (Amanda is Graphics Designer).  Even "moo's", as she's called cows since she was a little girl!  


 I meander quilted this one through the black and white areas and then straight stitched an X and + in the white sections.

I hope you'll like it Amanda - Nan says if you don't, she loves it...but I say, she'll have to fight ME for it!  Oh, how thoroughly full-filling quilting is!!
 

Oh My....


I'm sooo excited!  I finished Amanda's quilt this morning - and she should be here this weekend sometime and I'll get to see her face when I give it to her.  Don't you think she'll just LOVE it?  I do!!

Here it is, on my bed, over my own bedding.  I'm so thankful to Sharon for gifting me some black and whites...and for Liz finding so many wonderful pieces!!  What a deal.  I still have lots more and will making more black and white soon.  I love the extremes of this combination - it's so clean and fresh looking!
      Amanda's Quilt!



Saturday, May 24, 2014

3 NEW QUILTS ON ETSY

 

 Finally, 3 new finished quilts to add to my gotscraps.etsy.com store.  I really could just KEEP all three and Mom has decided she has uses for all three...to give as gifts...to someone...sometime...

The first one is monkeys trimmed in blue polka dot and green polka dot triangles.  SO cute.  The backing is "water" along with 4 rows of scrap triangles made into squares.  Really proud of myself here - used up almost ALL the scraps.
The second is from some leftover squares of the Farmer's Market fabric .  I remember I bought BOLTS of all the fabrics (I think there were 32 in the line - or something like that!).  I made lots of quilts from the fabric, sold LOTS of it in our booths across the country, and now I'm down to only scraps!  But they make beautiful quilts don't ya think?
The third is from a group of seersucker fabric Liz found for me at a thrift shop (I think).  I love this collection, everything girly.  And thanks to Liz, at a very good price!
They are all three adorable and Nan keeps saying she has someone to give them to????  Speaking of Nan, her pulse rate has been in the 40's and 50's lately so we have a cardiologist appt on June 6th (I think) to see about a pacemaker - our next step in this journey.  Hopefully, she'll have a lot more energy and really be able to see her progress!  The Dr. thought she was doing LOTS better than she should be with such a low pulse rate.

Amanda's and Zach's quilts are ready to quilt but I've been having some skipped stitches in the little ones and I'm afraid to tackle the big ones without some advice from friends.  Hope to hear  more about that real soon!!  Amanda and Josh are coming up next weekend I hear and I'd like to have her's ready for her to take  home and USE!  Photos as they are available....

Just for Judy's info, here's a photo of the "monkey" quilt (applique) I made for Rebecca's (our PT) baby last October I think.
Enough for today - I'll try to blog more often but progress has been slow lately. 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Not much new...

I've been really busy the last few days - haven't been able to sew much although I did finish up #5&#6 baby quilts made from ONE stack of 5" squares I cut long ago.  #6 is still in need of binding but here's a photo of the first 5.


These are on my very messy cutting table but they are soon going to be mailed out to Quilts of Compassion, Disaster Response Team in Toledo, OH.  They are hoping to receive 1500 quilts to give out to those affected by the recent thunderstorms through the mid-west.  I knew I made these little quilts for a reason and when I learned about this collection through Bonnie Hunter's blog, I knew where they would be going!!  I hope they will comfort and warm the hearts of their recipients!!!

That's all for today - back to the sandwiching and binding of #6 - oh, PLUS I started a new little quilt today - with cute teddy bears.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Zach's top is finished!

So now I have Zach's top finished.  Quite an accomplishment I thinkI've taken photos both on the camera and my new IPhone (that I don't know how to use, but I'll learn!), the IPhone is plugged into the computer, so we'll see if I can do this!!???  If this reads a little frustrated, it is.

Well, so I couldn't get the ones from the phone to load, but these were taken with the camera.  At least I can see what Zach's quilt top looks like - and I like it!!




Now I only have to sandwich and quilt them!  Easy peasy, huh?



Sunday, May 4, 2014

Amanda's Quilt Top is Finished!

 Finally!  Amanda's quilt top is finished and ready to quilt!  Now the only problem is HOW to quilt it?  I've considered using white thread, then black, maybe gray?  The white areas are so crisp and clean looking - they almost shimmer - and I think black would take away from that.  If I use white, it'll REALLY show up in the black areas.  I'm considering doing a meander in the black areas (working on the diagonal) and then doing something with white thread in the white areas?  Any ideas?  All will be appreciated!  I'm so happy with how this top turned out!

You can almost see that I pieced the white border with white strings like in the blocks.  It sure adds more interest than using plain white  - that was my first plan.

I'll add the first border to Zach's today but need more fabric to do in the added borders.  Ordered it today - nothing like having to WAIT again!!??

Friday, May 2, 2014

Updated photo

 If you've visited here before, you'll notice, I'm sure, that the photo at the top of the blog has been changed.  Mindy noticed that the colors in the photo I used weren't very good...you could hardly tell the colors were green and white.  Anyway, she used her great camera to take new photos of the quilt on her bed.  Even Giggsy, the 3 legged dog, couldn't resist getting in the photo.  I liked it so much better, so she changed it for me.  Not that I'm computer challenged or anything....

I've been working on Amanda's quilt today.  The center and first border are together, and it looks AMAZING!  I decided to add 2 more borders and the middle border is pieced so it's taking me awhile to get the squares finished.  I'm really proud of how this one is turning out.  I've decided if Amanda doesn't really like it, I'll make her another one and KEEP THIS ONE FOR ME!!

I should be able to post photos tomorrow as I think Stefani will be returning then.  She has had strep throat this week and I decided she didn't need to give any of those bad germs to Nan (or me for that matter).  

I'm off to work on squares for a pieced border for Zach's quilt next.  I think this one is going to be gorgeous too.  I wonder if I'm sounding a little prejudiced - no, probably NOT!  More tomorrow.