Camper Churn Dash Finish

Here's a little cutie that's been calling out to be finished for ages.  I found this cute camping print that I thought would be just right to use on my friend Betty's quilt.

Then my sister had these cute little campers that seemed like  just the right thing to go with it!  Then I remembered that Betty enjoys camping in a tent!  So the campers just wouldn't do and they got put aside while I finished the real quilt for Betty and several others.  Now, nearly two and a half years later, I've decided to finish it.

As you can see I chose the Churn Dash patter for the blocks.  There were only a few campers so I used the green print as the alternating block.  I just loved finding all the bright colors to use as the churn dashes.  This was truly a scrappy quilt since all the fabrics came from my stash.  I'm so proud of myself for not going out and buying more fabric!  It's the little things in life isn't it?

Along the way I had some "help" from the cats.  That's Alice camped out on the ironing board.  I had to keep moving the iron every time I stopped pressing and went back the to the sewing machine.

Then Guppy decided that it wasn't fair for Alice to have all the fun so he joined her.  I don't know how to fix those shiny eyes in the picture - they are cute cats in person :-) no really they are!

Here's the layout for the quilt in process.  Shaping up nicely.  This one went together much easier than some of the others I've done.  The color choices were pretty obvious and having that green print to tie it all together was great.

I decided since I had so much of it I would use it as a sashing, borders, and backing.  I used left over solids and white for the scrappy binding.

 

The quilting came out just perfect!  I told Lorri I wanted something with a camper in the borders and sashing with rolling hills on the blocks.  You can clearly see the rolling hills but the special pattern she created for me is hard to see.  Here's a picture showing it in outline form.  Again, not the best picture taking or drawing but you get the idea.

 

 

Guppy continued to assist throughout the entire project.  Since he believes he is the center of the universe I could just imagine what he was saying:

 



He's really a cute, loving cat; just don't try to skip a meal!  So every night at 10pm I'd have to stop what I was doing and feed the cats.  Some nights I stopped sewing but other nights I was ready to keep going.  In the end it turned out like this.

Some close-ups.

 



 

 

And just for the record, this one is for me!  Hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoy making it.

 

Now I'm off in search of another unfinished project to work on - and believe me there are plenty of them around! 

 





Flannel Finish

Gee it's been forever since I've felt like I had time to post something.  I really admire those bloggers who are so proficient at keeping their blog up to date!  I have to admit I've not been doing a lot of quilting lately so there really wasn't much to say.  Now that the weather has changed here in New England and the humidity is gone I'm getting the quilting bug again.

Before I start writing about my latest project I need to catch up on one or two of my previously finished projects.  Let's start with this flannel one.  This is a project that was actually finished and delivered back in May.  I have a very dear friend that lives on a lake and I'd wanted to make a quilt for her and her husband.  So it had to be pretty but masculine at the same time.  As I poked around my stash I came up with this fun flannel fish fabric!

The fish are different types of salmon (my friend loves salmon!).  And then I found these flannel fat quarters in fall colors, plaids, and little flowers.  Seemed like just the right mix!

Deciding on a block was easy; the disappearing 9-patch is a quick fun block I’ve used it several times and loved the end results each time.  Deciding on a layout took a bit longer but after several tries I decided that what was missing from the block was the fish!  So I checked my yardage and had enough for the backing and the blocks.  Here’s what the final block looked like after it was cut and the pieces rotated.  If you have a novelty print that has a specific orientation then rotating the blocks can be tricky. For some of my previous quilts with this block I tested them first. 

 

In this case, I wanted to make sure that the fish were swimming upright but they could have been rotated any which way and still been fine.  Once the layout and rotation was determined I simply strip pieced the blocks together.

Before bringing the finished top off to the long arm quilter I had to piece the back.  Now most of the time I don’t pick a fabric that has such a distinct pattern so piecing the back just means doing the math, cutting, and sewing the pieces together.  But for this backing I just felt the fish would look weird if they were cut in half and a head swimming into a body!  Kind of ghoulish don’t you think? 

So I took the time to match the pattern and I had whole fish swimming happily around when it was pieced together. Phew!  Funny how I was hearing my mother’s voice as I lined up the pattern (not literally, they lock you up for that!).  She would have been saying “if you’re not going to do it right then don’t do it at all, it only takes a couple extra minutes to get it right!”  How true, and I’m so glad I did it.  Mom would be proud.  :o) 

I love picking out just the right quilting pattern.  This one looks like ripples on the water.  Having a long arm quilter that works with you is one of the best things.  Lori Wurtzler of Seventh Heaven Quilting here in NH has been doing a great job for me.  I always feel like she’s as excited about how the finished quilt will look as I am.  I didn’t get a very good picture of the quilting but if you look closely at the gold and cream squares you can see it.

For the binding I used the same cream fabric that was in the block.  I didn't want to distract from the scrappy nature of the layout so I didn't include any borders or sashing.

And what quilt would one of my quilts be without the “Guppy Quality Check”?

 

Once it passed the Guppy test the label was all that was left.  As I’ve often said I really don’t like to have a huge white block on the back of the quilt.  I always fine it distracting.  Sometimes you have to do that but I try to at least incorporate some type of fabric from the front to tie it all together.  For this one I just wanted to put my name and the date on it because I loved how the fish looked swimming around in the water.

 

 

The finished quilt came out beautiful and my friend loved it.

 

 

 

 

I hope you'll give that disappearing 9 patch block a try I think it will become one of your favorites too!

 

 



 

Monthly Quilt Group

Has it really been that long since I posted something?  Yes!  According to my Monthly Quilt Group it's been just forever.  Needless to say they were laying the guilt on pretty thick at our last get together.  All in good fun of course ;-)
 
Not that I haven't been busy with several projects its just that two of them I can't write about yet and the other two are still at the same stage as the last time I wrote about them.  So I've got some fun show and tell shots of the project that each of the Group members are working on - except the other Deb, for some reason I didn't get any pictures of her project.
 
Here are the rest of the gals with their quilts.  First up is Jane and the Houses BOM quilt.  I love the secondary pattern created by the two toned Courthouse Steps blocks.
 

 

Here's a close up of it.

 

 

Next is Carol.  She's been working on these beautiful applique blocks for quite a while now.  It looks wonderful all put together.  The black background is so striking! 
 

 

Here's a closeup of Carol's wall hanging. Those flower colors are just popping off that black.

 

 

Here's my sister Dutchy just back from her annual trip to Florida.  This snowbird was busy while she was down there for 3 months.  Golfing, swimming, and even teaching a quilting class!  She has promised to share her pictures of the quilt that her quilting class made and raffled off.  When I get them I'll be writing a post to share with everyone.

 

 
Her project is hexagons.  She's making a table runner to go in her kitchen.  I didn't get a clear picture but you can see how she fussy cut those fun chickens She'll have 3 of these hexagon chicken blocks on a beige background for the full table runner.
 

 

This is Tami and her Wonky Churn Dash quilt.  This was a class at the local quilt shop taught by Charlene, one of the other gals in our little group.  Wish I had been able to make it for this class.  Great colors! 

  

 
And she added that fun applique border. She's a whiz at applique, not just fast, her hand work is also beautiful.
 

 
 In addition to the churn dash quilt, Tami also had this cute applique wall hanging.

 

Here's a close up.  I just love those fun flowers, so pretty!

 

 



No pictures of Charlene this time, she was off to Maine to visit family. I'll catch her next month. 

 

And even though I didn't get any pictures of the other Deb's project I can tell you it is a beautiful full/queen size quilt that she is hand quilting. The blocks are hand embroidered flowers of each of the 50 states that her grandmother started. Deb is putting the finishing touches on it with beautiful floral sashing and cross-hatched hand quilting. It is just beautiful. I'm pretty sure our next get together is at her home so I will definitely take some photos of it.

 

Oh yeah, and no pictures of me this time because the project I was working on is a gift.  Besides, my face was so red in the pictures it looked like I'd been out in the sun too long.  LOL

 

A big THANK YOU to Jane for hosting this month. Jane's turn is always in April and it's always raining but this time, just for the record, NO RAIN!!!

 

See you girls next month and I promise to catch up on my blogging :o)

 

Just A Sip

I did manage to squeak in another addition to the Coffee Quilt.  I studied for about an hour but since I study in the sewing room and this quilt is on the design wall right in front of me it's a bit distracting.  :0)

This time I've added these dark triangles so the blocks are sitting square instead of on point.

When they were all up there on point I was thinking of doing a checker board of colors for in between each block.  But it's getting pretty big now so I decided to just do a sashing. 



I'm going to use the small panel squares for corner stones.  They are starting out as 2" squares so they will be 1.5" wide once I get them sewn in.  That might be a problem so I'll give it a test run.  I'm thinking I can do a 1/8" seam so I don't loose the images.  Then again as I'm writing this I'm thinking I may not be able to use them.  Decisions, decisions.


Which fabric do you like for the sashing?






There's light blue with coffee beans or

Dark brown with coffee rings!

I can't decide so let me know what you think.

This week is quilting with the once a month quilters so I'll be asking them and there's never a always a fresh opinion from them!

The Coffee's On

Late Saturday afternoon I finally got started.  Since the blocks were already cut they didn't fit the dimensions called for in the pattern.  The math had me bogged down for a bit but then I decided to just pick a number and go with it.  I figured I could get a block big enough to cut down if I have to.  I keep looking at the pattern for inspiration but I don't know what it's going to turn out to be in the end.  Here's the progress on the first set of blocks.

Based on the largest of the motif squares I cut 5 inch strips from this pretty yellow fabric.  I starched and pressed the strips . . .

then cut them into 5 inch squares, then cut the squares in half diagonally to get all these triangles.  The starch really helps to stabilize the fabric when working with triangles since the side I'm sewing is the bias edge.

Looking at this picture I'm amazed how many tools are needed to make a quilt.  Although most of the work can be accomplished with as little as a ruler, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, and a sewing machine, you can see from this and some of the other picture that scissors, starch, a seam ripper, several different size rulers, and a wooden pressing tool were also used.  (Not to mention the remotes for the TV!)

Anyway, the triangles are sewn to the fussy cut squares.  I chain pieced the top then bottom, left side then right side.  I don't know if there's a preferred order other than doing opposite sides so that the seams overlap in a pleasing way.  I'm a big believer in pressing after each step to keep things flat.  I don't use any additional starch unless the block is really not holding it's shape.

The triangles were purposely cut to be larger than the center square so to get them lined up with the centers of the sides of the squares I used this wooden pressing tool.  I just fold the block in half and press down with the tool to crease the fabric.  You can kind of see the triangles in the background have already been creased.  This is quicker than going to the ironing board.

That handy little tool is something I bought at a craft fair many years ago.  It was supposed to be used for spreading jelly or jam on toast.  I found it one day a couple of  years ago in a basket with all my baking things.  I never used it for jelly and hardly ever bake any more, except for holidays, so I decided it would get more use in the sewing room than in the kitchen.

I finished all 12 of these main blocks before calling it a night.

I laid them out on the design wall to be inspired for the next set of blocks. 

Guppy's not sure what to make of the whole thing.  He's wondering if he'll be able to reach the top row and pull them all off the board by morning ;o)

The finished blocks ended up being 8 inches square.  I'm thinking of doing scrappy "checker board" blocks to go in between.  That way I can mix in the smallest fussy cuts.  The medium size fussy cuts may end up as sashing corner stones or as part of the border. 

I'll be back with an update soon.  For now I'm off the tackle more math for the second set of blocks!

Oh yeah, I also started a couple of applique projects so I'll be writing about those soon too.

Revisiting the Coffee Quilt

In general I love the creative process.  That's why I do this right?  Many times when I'm out shopping I'll find an individual piece of fabric spark something inside that makes me want to make a quilt right that very moment.  I have to have it.  I guess that's what leads to having a "stash" of fabrics!  (a.k.a. impulse buying LOL)

But it's a rare occasion when I can come home from shopping and start sewing.  In fact, I don't think I've ever done that because I prefer to wash and dry my fabrics before cutting and making the quilts.  Then of course there's that little thing called Life that has a way of taking my attention away from the daydreams of beautiful quilts.

So somewhere between the thrill of buying the fabric and the reality of actually having the time to start the project, 6 other ideas and 10 other projects have entered the picture!  That was the case with the Coffee Quilt.

Quite some time ago I had picked up this coffee fabric thinking I would use it for one of The Girls quilts.  It was a panel so I wasn't sure how I was going to cut it up.  I washed and dried it, then tucked it away safe from dust and cats.  

By the time I got around to doing something with it the weather had changed and it was just too hot to quilt.  The next time I pulled it out I was less than inspired and decided the colors were just not right for person that I initially wanted to give it to.  So back to the safe, clean, cat free zone for the Coffee Quilt.

Right now I"m between projects and this seemed like a great time to give it another try.  After much deliberation I had decided to cut the panel of fabric into each of the different motifs and ended up with this collection of squares.  Now what? 

I had purchased some coordinating fabrics when I bought the panel so I pulled those out looking for inspiration.  Then I searched my stash for even more coordinates.  I typically like to start with LOTS of choices and take out the ones that aren't working for me.

I went back to the pattern I had chosen back in August, shown in the top of the picture below.  Putting it all together I came up with this combination.  It seemed like a good match but I was less than thrilled to get started. 

Next I reviewed some of the pictures I had taken of the fabric "auditions" done back in August.  When the materials at hand just don't match up with the idea in your head it's hard to be excited about the project but this time I was determined to get it done.  And it's got to be quick because I'm supposed to be studying for an exam!

Snowball Baby Quilt

I got started on the snowball baby quilt over the weekend.  With Christmas just around the corner there isn't much quilting happening.  Like most folks I'm finishing up work assignments along with holiday baking and shopping.  Here's what I've got so far.

Some fun faries!

Some yummy "goes with" fabrics.

A cute pattern. 




































And my first few snowballs.

The individual snowballs are 5" squares with 2" squares on the corners.  I'm stil playing with the arrangement since as usual I'm putting my own spin on that cute pattern.

Speaking of that pattern I had the reference wrong on the previous blog entry.  The pattern is "Tea Party" by Alison Newnam and Kaitlin Witte as shown in June/July 2011 addition of "The Quilter Magazne".

I had an intersting chat with my friend at Minka's Studio about storing fabric.  We both agreed it would be a good post so that will show up here and/or there sometime soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!