Colorful progress

This is the completed left panel from the Roseville Album Quilt by Kim Mclean.  It is done except for all the circles that can be seen in a picture of the pattern below.  I decided to wait and see what pieces I had left over before I start cutting all those circles.  Looking closely today I noticed they were all pink.  Something to consider.

I glad I chose to do the panel first instead of starting with a block.  First, now I have the equivalent of 3 blocks done and second, I learned a lot about fussy cutting that will help me throughout the rest of the quilt.  I've never sewn with these bright fabrics before and there is so much potential for playfulness and movement.

It's quite an adjustment from the repros I normally sew on.

Some of the fabrics I chose really shine in this panel and others are kind of ho-hum.  But, someone has to sing bass in the choir so the harmony rings true.  I learned a lot.

This is  a picture from the cover of the pattern.  I decided to work on the block on the lower right next.  It looks tricky and I'd just as soon get it out of the way with all those tiny flowers.  But, if you look closely at the pattern below you'll notice that the flowers are the least of my worries.

LOOK at all those wavy lines on the sides of the spikes!  YIKES!

I worked on the spike on the far right this morning.  I was glad I had fresh eyes.

Changing the subject. . . . . last week Karen from Log Cabin Quilter and I were texting back and forth about grandchildren.  They're the best!

Well, they did it Karen, they announced grandchild #13 yesterday!!!

It was a joyous Mother's Day.
Robin

12 Rows of Christmas - done

I was originally going to make this as a wall hanging but I decided to give it to my granddaughter for her birthday.  She is the kind of little girl who delights in holidays and wears Christmas and Halloween clothes year round.

Here is the pattern that I used for the quilt.  You'll notice that I changed a lot of things.  I didn't use homespun for one thing.  I added carolers and gingerbread men, different stars, and a train.

  I think it turned out pretty cute.  There isn't a lot of embellishment except for a few buttons here and there because this quilt will get used and it needs to be washer friendly.

Merry Christmas,
Robin

Doll Quilt Swap Reveal part 2 (It came)

I received the lovely little quilt from Tammy Morrow in Alberta Canada yesterday.  It was well worth the wait.  The colors are each something I would have picked out myself.  The workmanship is exquisite.  And look at that cute border fabric.  I am very pleased.

The label is impressive too.  I'm going to have to look into printing some labels.  This is so much more legible than my hand written ones.

I nestled it inside the drawer of my entry cabinet for a photo.  Doesn't it look cute there?

She also sent this card only the dogs are sitting around a quilt - ha!  And 2 pieces of fabric that I can use in something to remind me of this swap.  Thank you, thank you Tammy.

Thanks to all who participated in the Doll Quilt Swap - ESPECIALLY LORI AT HUMBLE QUILTS.

 


Our youngest son graduated from Utah State University last Saturday  We woke up to the lovely sky above.

We are so proud of him.  He received his BS in Civil Engineering and already is working in Holladay.

He always does something quirky for pictures................

I think I can pick him out of this group that was pictured on the jumbo-tron.  For someone whose hearing is diminishing slightly, it was nice to have all the speaker's words up there to read too.  I didn't miss a thing.

We had one meeting at 9:30am and another at 2:30pm.  By the time we got out of the 2nd  the thunder cracked and and rain came down.  Look back at the picture of the sunrise I'm thinking, "Red sky in morning, sailor take warning!"

Robin

Doll Quilt Swap Reveal Part I

The quilt has arrived in Australia so I can show it here.  It measured about 18" square.    I didn't get a very good picture of the completed quilt.  The colors look a little muddy in the picture above.

And then, from the leftovers, I made me a little quilt (below)  which I've shown here before.  It is about 12" X 14".  The colors in this little quilt are truer to the original.

I also made a little surprise quilt  for my swap partner.  It is only about 4" X 8".

Then I wrapped it around a little gift and tied it with ribbon.

And this is the surprise inside.  I made a tiny doll for this doll quilt swap.  So the doll that the first quilt was made for - can have a dolly too.

Too fun!
Robin

I haven't received my quilt from Canada yet.  I'm haunting the mailbox!!!

Start and then not finish. . .

 GASP!  I found this quilt online last week.  I was totally enamored!!  It's called the Urban Owls Quilt and it's looks like it would be SO fun to make.

I have to be careful.  I just finished a big project and so I'm ready to start another.  Looking for new BOMs is not a safe thing to do.

I've done this before.  Some examples are the 3 books above.

How many have started the Civil War Bride quilt only to have it languishing in a box or on a shelf?

I have wanted to make the Phoebe quilt for years.  I even signed up for a BOM only to get cold feet and cancel it a week later.  I'm sure the quilt shop wasn't very happy with me.  I still love that center.  Maybe, I should just make the center.  I later bought Di Ford's book (pricey but well worth it) Primarily Quilts that has the pattern within.    Primarily Quilts is currently unavailable  at Amazon but Primarily Quilts 2 has recently been published and is available at Quiltmania.

And then there is sweet Dear Jane.  I bought the book, I bought all the rulers, and that's as far as it has gone.  Elaine at Emily's Cupboard has recently started a Dear Jane Quilt.  It's worth a look to see the fabrics she has chosen.  This is her 3rd or 4th attempt to make a Dear Jane Quilt.  She didn't like her earlier fabric choices. She has the "Don't Give Up" attitude.

And then there's this very colorful quilt, the Roseville Album Quilt.  I purchased this pattern while my son was serving a mission in Roseville California in 2010.  It seemed so appropriate. . .

Hmmmm, I see a bump that needs repairing

I worked on the left border for about 2 months and then wasn't enjoying myself so I put it in a box, under the bed, in the downstairs bedroom.

So. . .  to continue this long story, [Drum Roll] I talked myself out of joining the Urban Owls Quilt BOM and decided to work on the Roseville Quilt.

Since working on it seven years ago I've discovered back-basting applique.  It makes doing this quilt and making sure the fussy cut pieces are in the right place so much easier!!!  I worked on the 1857 quilt with Sentimental Stitches and my applique skills improved exponentially.  It's now a delight to work on this quilt.

I can't guarantee I'll finish the whole quilt.  I'm taking it one block or panel at a time.

Please tell me about the quilts you want to make that you haven't gotten around to or tell me about the dreams that got away.  We're all in this together~

Robin

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday on Patchwork Times.  Go check it out.

Because I didn't have to. . .

Well, I completed the Cross Stitch Christmas stockings (by sewing on the red corduroy on the back, inserting the previously made lining, and putting some faux fur around the top).  It was time to look for the next thing to work on.  I've been wanting to clean my sewing room since January but knew it would take some serious time.  I didn't want to take any time away from the stockings or the quilt in the hoop so I delayed tackling the job until yesterday.

It's always hard shifting from a project that I've been working on for a while and getting the rhythm going for the new project.

I decided to start with the big basket of scraps.  I took a bag off of the top of the pile.  Inside the bag was all the leftovers from a baby quilt I made for one of my grandson's four years ago.  I say one of my grandsons because I got 3 that year.  I took the fabric out and found 22 blocks already made along with some big pieces of the leftover fabric.   "Hmmmmmmm,"  I said to myself.  "There's enough material in here to make another quilt."

So I did just that. . . 

It's a very low value quilt top.  Not my usual high contrast style.

I trimmed down a piece of fabric to 18 1/2" for the center.  I alternated the pinwheel-like blocks with a framed 4-patch made from the squares I had previously made for the border on the other quilt.  I found some trimmings from the back of the original quilt and some of another quilt I made last year for the frames and border.  It measure about 50" square.

It was so fun to spend the morning doing something I didn't have to do.  

Now, I need to get back to the scraps.

And, as for spring, it snowed AGAIN!

Robin

Interesting snow design on my outdoor mat,

The snow almost looks fake with the little pellets of frost.

This little fellow looks irritated.

Christmas never seems to end. . .

around here.  I am currently working on three projects and they are all Christmas themed.

The first is all but done  It is my Peppermint Quilt from the book  "Quilting the Garden"  by Blackbird Designs.  It is all quilted and bound.  It just needs a label and a sleeve so I can hang it above my couch next Christmas.  I hate to put it away without the sleeve because when I'm ready to decorate it will be frustrating if the quilt needs a sleeve before it can be hung.

I quilted a baptist fan around the border.  It went fast and filled up the space well.  I would do it again.  I wanted a design that didn't call attention to itself since it would almost be lost in the floral fabric.

I quilted stars on the vases and baskets in red thread so it would not detract from the applique flowers.

It is a pretty little quilt, only measuring  61 1/4" square.

It took me 5 months to hand quilt it because of all the distractions.  Christmas itself was the biggest distraction but I spent a lot of my time doing cross stitch for the stockings below.

This is the 2nd project.  The cross stitching is all completed.  Now I need to make them into the stockings which shouldn't take very long except that I'm dragging my feet.  I get that way when a project is taking too long.  I push and push and then have to take a break before I finish it to refind the joy in sewing.

Above are the old stockings made out of red corduroy that I'm going to take apart for the backing.  The musical fabric is the lining already sewn together.  It is a deep cheerful fabric but only the back side is showing.

Here are the Mom and Dad's stockings made in 1990 and 2005 respectively.  My goal is to get them all finished by the end of April.  I'm running out of month - only one more week to go.

The 3rd project is this Christmas Row Quilt.  It is the 12 days of Christmas.  I'm sure this is familiar because they were all the rage around 10 years ago.  Gasp!  Has it really been that long?  It's time to get this quilted and out of the way.  I was able to big stitch two rows today.  It will quilt up quickly and then it will be time to embellish it.  That will be fun.

And now I'm thinking I want to make this little tree skirt quilt out of the plaids I have leftover from this little quilt for my sister-in-law.  NOT ANOTHER CHRISTMAS PROJECT!!!!

 How am I going to get out of this loop?

On another note, it was my DH 66th birthday this week.  I made a 3 layer Applesauce Carrot cake.  It is really yummy.

And, finally, I have six blocks done on my take-along project.  I'm in no hurry on this one.  I'm just enjoying the process.

Merry Christmas~
Robin