Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

I guess I did create some quilts and other projects this year.

Pond Pillow

Koi Pond Quilt

Baby Wrenly Fleece

Tote and Queen of Hearts Purse

Orphan Baby Quilt

Make It Right Challenge Quilt

Elephants on Parade Quilt

Layers of Life and Love Quilt

Mug Rug Central

I also posted a few popular tutorials this year on basting with boards:

Board Basting with Pins Tutorial

Board Basting with Spray Adhesive

Hello 2014 - Here is to more creations and tutorials!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day January!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

WIP Wednesday, Still Quilting!

When you tend to quilt the snot out of a quilt, it does take time. Spring is a difficult season to find that time with gardening, but I have tried to fit in a few hours here and there. I am making progress on my Make it Right Challenge quilt.

 My goal was to give the quilt a lot of texture. I think I'm succeeding, but looking at just the dark grey sections, it looks kind of rainy.

 And speaking of rain, my husband and I got 2 cubic yards of mulch spread on the beach garden just before the heavens opened up. We took out most of the perennials and added in a few more shrubs and trees, put down landscape fabric and edging in hopes of making this garden a bit easier to manage. I think it still looks good.

Picture taken from inside the house, it was raining.

In other news, my Elephant quilt was nominated for viewers choice at the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Of course I would love your vote for overall viewers choice quilt, but also for the Elephant quilt in the Bed Quilt category and the Koi Pond quilt in the Home Machine Quilted category.

Here are this week's stats:
In-process: (4)
Express Your Love
Layers quilt
Grandma's Quilt
Making It Right Challenge

New projects: (0)


Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat

Shameless Tease

Okay, actually I'm shameless and a tease! I'll start with the tease. I've been quilting my Make It Right challenge quilt. Oh, it is fun. I can't share the whole quilt, but I can show you what I'm quilting; slate tile and paisley, both of which are on Leah Day's 365+ designs.

the back

I want to make sure that there is a lot of texture in the quilt since a) the line of fabric is call Textures and b) Angela Walters (the fabric designer) is an amazing long-arm quilter.  I'm using Aurifil thread and Quilters Dream Puff batting. LOVE both products, they are my favorite combination, not to mention that this fabric line is in my favorite color palette of lime and teal. You won't have to wait long, I have to have it done by June 6th.

Okay, so now for the shameless part, I would like to ask for your VOTE(S) over at the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. 

I have my Elephant quilt in the bed category

And my Koi Pond quilt in the Home Machine Quilted category

All you have to do is click on my link, then click on the word "Vote" and voila' you're done!

I'm linking up today with Leah Day for FMQ Friday, can't wait to see what everyone's been up to this week.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

WIP Wednesday

I have been working diligently on my "Make It Right" challenge quilt. The top is done, the quilt is basted. The problem is that I can't really show it to you, it's a secret.  Okay, I'll show you a sneak peek.

 I know that this isn't much of a sneak peek, you'll just have to wait until June 6th. Something else is different in this picture. I switched the spare bedroom and my sewing room. Do guests need more room that me for my sewing???  I think not!  Anyway, I'm not fully settled yet, but it is going to be cool. When it's done I will show you pictures of the room. My new setup is SWEET! I was able to baste this quilt sitting next my sewing machine.

Needless to say, the quilt only took an hour or so to press and baste. Now on to the fun part, FMQ. And I plan on quilting the snot out of it!

I also finished my Elephant quilt, just in time to enter it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival in the Bed Quilts category.

I also entered my Koi Pond quilt into the home machine quilted category. 

Voting starts on Friday, May 24. I'm shamelessly asking if you will consider voting for my quilts in their respective categories, but you really do need to check out all of the quilts. They are a world of inspiration.

Here are this week's stats:
In-process: (4)
Express Your Love
Layers quilt
Grandma's Quilt
Making It Right Challenge

New projects: (0)


Finished (1)
Elephant quilt

I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat

Elephants On Parade

My Elephant quilt is complete. It is, in my opinion, fit for a queen. Well, it is a generous queen size, 94" wide and 100" long. I quilted it in three long panels and joined them with this QAYG method here.

I free motion quilted this quilt on my domestic machine (Pfaff Quilters Expression 4.0) using Aurifil thread (I pieced it with this thread too).

I used the fun variegated (aqua/teal) thread to quilt the elephant panel. It was my first time using a variegated thread, I think it turned out very cool.

The diamond pattern was the first time I straight line quilted. I really like the texture. And speaking of texture, I used Quilters Dream Puff batting. Nobody's going to get cold using this quilt. I love this batting.

  I think that the striped binding looks good with both the back and the front. I pieced the back of the quilt with large blocks of color.

 My goal was to have a reversible quilt. I was please how well I got the elephants on the front to line up with the color breaks on the back.

I'm entering this quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. You really do have to visit to see all of the magnificent quilts. I'm entering mine in the bed quilt category.  I (shamelessly) hope you will consider nominating and voting for this quilt.

I'm also linking up with TGIFF,  Finish Friday, and FMQ Friday

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

WIP Wednesday

Almost done! My Elephant quilt that is. All three panels are joined and the binding is made.

Pictures of the joining strips, both panels, front and back.

 I'm quite pleased with how well the joining strips blend into the design. I don't think you can tell that the quilt was made in three panels.

Binding is ready to go!

I'm a sucker for striped binding. I'm ready to put it on and finish up this quilt. This is the biggest quilt (queen size) to date I've done completely, start to finish. It WILL be done for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, just two more days

Here are this week's stats:
In-process: (5)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt
Grandma's Quilt
Making It Right Challenge

New projects: (0)


Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

 

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat

Slow Progress

I have been a bit quiet lately. It's spring in upstate New York, which means gardening. I have what seems like MILES of garden beds. They are overwhelming in the spring. So this year I'm ripping out a lot of perennials and putting in shrubs. Yesterday I planted 5 shrubs and 4 trees. Not to worry, I still have plenty of flowers, just trying to make my gardens a little more reasonable. I mean, I need more time to sew!

Last night I did get a chance to work on my Elephant quilt.

I've got the first two panels joined using the small strip method. I've never worked on a quilt this big (queen sized). Yikes it's heavy!  Hopefully I can finish it in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival on Friday, that is if my gardening does kill me first! ;)

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Fresh and Bright New May Day

The months seem to fly by and I wonder what I've been doing. I always like to start a new month linking up to Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day. Of course, since I have a good deal of work in process (WIP), I will be linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, also.

I worked on two vintage quilts this month, a little FMQ, some very cool new (to me at least) methods to baste, guild projects and almost completed my Elephant quilt.

1. Grandma's quilt (pink and blue, most likely from the 1940's or 50's). I found fabric for the back and binding. Got the back pieced and the quilt basted. I also did a practice run on the quilting motif for this quilt.

2. Tereska's quilt (a few decades old), we finally got the top together, sashed with some pretty lime green, and the quilt basted.

3. I learned some new methods for basting quilts that are sooooo much easier on the knees and take far less room for the process. Basting with 1"x 3" boards, variation for both pin and spray basting.

4. The Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild Art Grid project, I completed my second block. I am just amazed with how cool it looks all together.

5. I worked a bit on Leah Day's Express Your Love Goddess quilt. I am having a good time, taking my time FMQ this panel. What fun!

6. I decided on participating in the Make It Right challenge. Of course the project design is a secret (even for me at this point, LOL). I'm looking forward to working on this.

7. Last but not least, what a spent the vast majority of my time on this month is my Elephant quilt. It's so close to being completed. I'm thinking about entering it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival later this month, if I get it finished.

So all in all, even though I didn't have and big TA DA's this month, it was a good month sewing!

Here are this week's stats:
In-process: (4)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt
Grandma's Quilt

New projects: (1)
Making It Right Challenge

Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day!

 

 

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

All Backed Up and Ready to Roll!

I'm happy to say that I have Grandma's quilt back all ready to baste.

  Since the quilt is 70" wide x 80" long, I had to piece the backing. I tried to match up the flowers and although it's not absolutely perfect, I think once it's quilted you won't seen that it's been pieced.

I even have found the perfect FMQ motif to quilt and did a little practice piece to try it out.

Of course there is no rush on THIS quilt, probably why I'm working on it. I plan on using the boards to baste this quilt, but I plan on spray basting it, not pin basting it.

I did get a whole lot accomplished on my Elephant quilt this week. All three panels are quilted and ready to be joined. I'm quite please with how this quilt it turning out.

Here are this week's stats:
In-process: (4)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt
Grandma's Quilt

New projects: (0)

Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

 

Color Me Quilty!

Pat