More Favorites...for the Festival

Like some others of you, I had a very hard time selecting just one favorite quilt to post about. I made this 2-3 years ago as a part of my Legacy quilt series. I am making wall quilts for each of my three children so that one day they may have a piece of my passion for quilting. Two of the three are completed and hang in our house.
I like to think that my style is traditional with a twist. I love the deep jewel tones, but also appreciate the bolder spotted batiks and less orthadox or conventional designs. Quilts with intrensic movement intrigue me. Though I do not own Luisa Smith's Strips-n-Curves book, I did see a segment on a quilt show prior to making this quilt. I had actually made another quilt in this same style the previous year which I totally loved (and gave away), so it was an easy design choice.

The first step of making this quilt is to assemble about 45 1.5" strips into one large fabric, sewing them side by side. Then, the quarter circles and their mating arcs are cut from this, but at a 45 degree angle. It is a glorious design day to arrange and rearrange these until the desired look is achieved. I did a few additional blocks to put in the waving purple stripe, or to add curves that extend into the border.

I have no idea which of my children will receive this. I have not afixed labels to the quilts yet. I figured that I'd either let them decide who liked which best as they grow, or I'll select quilts based on personalities.

The quilt is completely hand quilted, mostly along the ditches of each strip. It also has border quilting. (disregard that the picture below still shows marking chalk!! - it was taken before that was removed & I'm too lazy to go snap another shot).

If you have not visited this online quilt festival, be sure to do so. There's tons to see at http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/

Another Linus Completion - Ugly Brown Betty

With my impending return to the workforce, I have been feverishly trying to wrap up some of my half-started Project Linus (and other) projects. Since coming back from vacation, I have been a tad pokey, but my table is clearing somewhat.

This top was affectionately named Ugly Brown Betty. Last week it was a bag full of brown assorted pieced squares. I added a few other strips and fillers to get it pieced into a 4' x 5' top. I despise the brown polka dots. They are a pain in the rump to sew...material is thin. But thankfully much of it is out of my stash now.
I played with my machine quilting a little bit (within reason as thread is not free and I did go through nearly 700 yards).
Here's my first feeble attempt at feathers. Not too bad, but I see much practice in order.
And my ruffle-y flowers. I kind of like these.
The fabrics are whacky and ugly and interesting. The rust and red tones keep it from all looking like mud. Anyway, binding is on and it is ready to go to the charity.

Other things...
~I am puttering away on 6" stars for my Summer Quilt's border. Hopefully this will be added by the end of next week (unless teaching Thermo keeps me from this task).
~My ALQS top is done in concept. I have several of the top's larger pieces sewn together. It's very interesting and unique; I think any partner would appreciate it.
~I free-motioned quilted another Linus top. It's binding is ready for hand sewing.
~I have dug out the last of my Legacy quilts (top one in the link) to work on the hand quilting. This is just filler for my evenings.

Legacy Quilt #2 Finished

This is the second of my three Legacy quilts. The first one is shown here.
The colors are still not true, despite these being taken outdoors under natural cloud-light. You get the idea though...a modern twist on the Amish style quilt. The green and purple materials were also in the first Legacy quilt. The idea is that there are some common fabrics between the three quilts, even though the designs are vastly different. This depicts the characteristics of my three children, who are the end recipients of these three quilts...same genes, different personality.

And, is this not just the cutest little girl???!
She's my baby and is turning two tomorrow. Oh, how the time flies. She's the sweetest little girl. And she's pretty adorable in that dress which I wore 40 years ago.

With my oldest starting back to school in 2 days, it's been a hectic week/weekend. Not too much sewing time. Plus, I have been unfocused and unmotivated. I did get two of my Forum birthday swap blocks done this weekend. I think that they are either October or November blocks. Now I can think more about getting my Summer quilt borders done and a couple Linus blankets prepared for a Blanket Day at the end of September.

Home Again...

After 8 days away, we are home safely. Here is a short synopsis of our travels...
I have returned to about 300 emails to sift through, many about 4SQS and SFRR2 mailings. I am getting there so be patient.

I have yet to get the week's mail from the post office yet. I am anxiously awaiting birthday block swap blocks and a 4SQS package from someone :-)
I did bring a bit of hand quilting, naturally. Sadly, I had the WORST quilting needle ever with me. Some evenings it took me 10-15 minutes to thread it. It had a small eye and was bent. Lovely!...

I was finishing the quilting of this piece, one of my three Legacy quilts. It is now ready for binding and removal of the chalk lines. I will take better pictures when it is finished, as these are awful, I know.
I have 2 weeks before I go back to work, and 1.5 weeks before my oldest starts 1st grade. Both of these will diminish my sewing time significantly. As a result, this week I am tasking myself to finish the borders on the Simplicity quilt (1 down, 1 in pieces, and 1 to do). I have drafted a design for my ALQS quilt in hopes of getting it started early. I know I told myself I would not do this swap, but what can I say... I am a sucker :-) I think I have a SFRR2 center in my mail that I will have to add a border to in the next month as well.

What I'm Up To

Not too much posting lately. The 2 classes I am teaching are sucking my precious sewing time. Plus the weather has been nice lately so we are outside more. Here's a few recent projects...

It's my take on a more modern looking Amish quilt...uses simple dark jewel-tone prints and batiks.

This is the 3rd of my Legacy Quilts. There are three in all, made for each of my kids to someday have. They are completely different styles, but all share similar fabrics. One is complete and hanging in the living room. The second is all pieced and partially quilted. This is like whole cloth quilting and is very relaxing. I recently got several large stencils for if from here. I highly recommend them - great selection and good price.
The heart is a 2' x 2' for our nanny's anniversary. And to just say thanks for being so great. With my school year coming to an end in 3 weeks, I don't know what will happen next fall. Sure hope she's free!! This is scrappy pieced, and I practiced my machine quilting, which is definitely getting better.


Here's one of my swap quilts. I have several swaps in the works right now so I won't sway exactly which it is for so as to tip off the new owner. I had pieced the disappearing 9-patch of the quilt a month ago, and just put it aside. After learning of my partner's likes & requests, I decided it'd be perfect for her once finished. She likes these colors. The fabrics are a little funky & retro too. I added the "Lazy Lily" (as it is named) for a burst of orange color.
It is hand-quilted in overlapping concentric circles in the center. The ivory backing and use of sage green quilting thread makes the circles show up more in reality than they do on the picture. I'll show the label and more about this quilt in a few weeks once the partner receives it.


There's a few other things on my sewing table too, just too dull to photograph!

• I'm sewing 28 feet of binding on my middle son's new bed quilt. UGGH! Boring.
• I am playing with a couple little quilts made from some Kasse Fasset squares. The colors and fabrics are wild - I love them. One of these will likely be for Kate's ALQS. I have time still as it is not due until July.
• I am brainstorming my next border for the Spring Fling round robin.
• I am contemplating finishing the Lucky Turtle quilt. I think he just needs a binding.
• I am dreaming of doing some New York Beauty blocks
• I want to make my daughter a skirt from Kaffe Fassett's Dahlias
• I am about to start a quilt for my son's kindergarden teacher with artwork by each student. This will be very fun; I'm excited. Have to gather the last 6 pictures though this week.
• I am sure there are more, but I need to finish a few of the WIPs first!!

new projects & old projects

I find myself at a loss for projects that I can post about, since many of my latest works are Christmas presents. In another month I can post pictures of some things, but not now.

Lately I have resurected this. I started three quilt tops last winter, and stopped before any of them were completed. They are what I call my Legacy Quilts. Each quilt has some of the same fabrics. They are all uniquely different, although made partly of the many of the same cloths. The styles are all distinctly different, but are all facets of my personality as well as styles I love. Someday when my kids are older, they will be for them. Much of the sewing I do gets given away. I wanted to do this so that my family might get to have beautiful quilts in our home, as well as so that my kids may someday have something I made for them when they were small. Before I embarked on yet another project, I decided I'd finish one of these quilts. I presently have the binding half on, and the hand quilting is 98% completed.

I have also been stitching away slowly on my Winter swap mini quilt. Being the orchestrator of the swap, I know who mine is going to. I know, I know...many of you are still waiting for your partners. Hopefully by week's end that will all be out. Here's my snowflake thus far...

I am still pondering how I will quilt it.

For anybody interested, here's the next Legacy quilt I will finish. Look familiar?? It was used for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap button!