Disappearing 9 patch table runner

I've been doing the books for the church all day, so needed some 'quilt' time to compensate.   This is  quilt made by the church ladies for a staff member at church, so I guess I'm still on topic.


My goal for 2013 had been 50 quilts, and this sweet table runner was #50.  Nancy's Rail Fence was 51, but I haven't finished my Kim Brunner quilt yet, so maybe I'll only count 50.5 for 2013.

 The quilting is a little hard to see...just some line dancing in the large squares and continuous-curve in the small squares.  The rectangles were small enough to leave alone.

 This is a simple and effective quilt block...looks so different in different layouts...square dance and different fabric choices

I feel better now, thanks for indulging me in some quilty pictures.  Now, back to budgets!  And once those books are all done, I'll finish up that WIP!

Addisons Star--FQ Challenge

In my guild, we have the option each year of participating in a FQ (Fat Quarter) challenge, in which we each put 4 FQ into a dentist bag (instead of a brown paper bag--we have a few in the group who work(ed) in dentists offices), with your name.  You draw a bag, and have to return a finished project to the owner of the FQs at the end of the year.

I talked about last year's project here.

We did the exchange last week, so it's now safe to show these.  I'm still really disappointed that I forgot to take my camera.  The projects were all wonderful, and all unique.  I love the one I received, and am going to hang it by my longarm.  The quilt I have hanging there now is too small for the space.  It's too dark and dreary now, so I'll take pictures of it another day.  

One of the fun things about the exchange, is that almost always, someone forgets what their fabrics were, and doesn't know that the quilt is theirs.  This happened with the one I made.  Extra fun.

Here's a photo fresh off the frame...

 I drew Kerri''s name and fabrics.  Her fabrics are the 4 that make up the stars, I added the background from stash, and bought the inner and outer borders. 

 I knew that this was a simply pieced project, and that I was going to add a lot of detail with the quilting, so I chose a solid backing.  It was very very hard to give up this quilt.  If you don't find a home for it Kerri, it's welcome to come back.

 I tried out a whole bunch of new-to-me stitching patterns and ideas.  It was really frustrating at times great fun.

 Kim Brunner's craftsy class showed how to do these borders, and I filled in the arcs in the corners to match quilting done in the center.

 I love love love the texture in this quilt.  I used 2 battings, two different invisafil purple threads, and a so-fine brown in the borders.  36"x36", so a good size to  be either a wall hanging or a table/bench topper.

 Kerri and I were at the Red Deer Quilt show together in April, and I found the pattern there.  I asked what she thought of it (very sneaky) and she liked it , so I bought it. 

Bought my FQs today for next weeks draw.  I'm looking forward to playing again!  Cannot wait to see what fabrics I receive to with which to work. 

Nancy's Modified Rail Fence

Nancy made this quilt for her daughter, who is teaching in England. Her daughter loves purple and  green.  I love the green 'steps' in this quilt too!

 The narrow black border adds a nice break between the blocks and the other borders.

 We wanted to emphasize the green 'steps' so they got wishbones, and the rest of the quilt was meandered.

 The thread was a bright green Magnifico which went perfectly with this quilt.

 The best part was Nancy's daughter coming home for Christmas, so Nancy got to give it to her in person, rather than just shipping it. 

Nancy added a nice dark green (I find it so hard to get good photos of minkee colors) minkee on the back, to make it extra cozy for winter in England, where central heating isn't what we have here.

I haven't talked to Nancy since Christmas, but I imagine the quilt was very well received.

Denim and Plaid quilt

 This is a quilt Vicki made for a Christmas gift for her father, with fabrics from her mother's stash.  The denims (clothing) and flannel (shirts and sheets) were all in a bin together.  Vicki's Mom had planned on rag quilts but Vicki chose to piece a top instead.  Much easier on the hands, than cutting the fringe on a rag quilt!

 The quilt has amazing texture, not from the quilting but from the fabrics.  The denims have different feels to them, some of them feel velvety.  (can you tell I spent some time petting the quilt as I quilted?)

 The perma-pressed pleats in a few pieces made me think of stirrup jeans!  And I'm sure my brother had sheets just like those borders.    Oh, and now I want a flannel shirt again too.  This quilt held memories for me, without any direct connection to the clothing at all.

We chose a meander, as I was a little worried about how the Innova would handle some of the thick seams on the jeans.  I slowed down a little going over the jeans seams (say it out loud, its fun), but had no problems at all.

And a cozy black minkee on the back.  A great man's quilt!

Tea Time in Bali #5-Cheryl's

This is Cheryl's Tea Time in Bali jelly roll quilt.  I think she's planning to keep this one for herself.

 Freehand E's and 3s with Ruby glide thread.

 I really like the effect of the light strips.

Black and White and Red Yellow Brick Road

Deborah made this Black, White and Red Yellow Brick Road for her daughter for Christmas, and I sure hope I'm safe showing it now :)

She chose a red Glide thread, which has some lovely sheen to it, and the Square Spiral pantograph, which adds such nice texture.

This first photo has yellowed the fabrics a bit, they weren't yellow at all, but I kept it as it does show the red thread.  A nice little pop of color without being too bold.

 The quilt is so big it was hard to get a photo of the whole thing.

I hope your daughter loves it Deborah!

Breaking Radio Silence

December was a bit of a whirlwind, with lots of Christmas preparation, a trips, hosting Christmas Day, a trip,  and New Years Eve.  That, plus what I was quilting was all gift-y stuff, and I didn't want to wreck any surprises for anyone, led to radio silence.  I'll catch up on those in the next few days.

In October, Along Came Quilting announced they were doing a block on the month on Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book.  I didn't have a chance to get into the store to see the sample, but I had the book, and didn't have a scrappy stash to work from...so I took a leap of faith (on a $30/month x 10 months commitment), really really hoping I'd like the fabrics chosen, and signed up.  It was so popular, I missed the first group, but got in on the 2nd, which started in December.  And, even though I live in Calgary, I decided to take the mail out option...nice to get something other than bills in the mail for a change!

When the first package arrived in December, I was so pleased with the fabric choices, phew, but, as previously stated, December was a wee bit busy, and so I only got a chance to open up those fabrics and sew some blocks yesterday.  10 blocks a month, for 10 months.

The book only has cutting instructions for each block...so I'm glad I've got some experience quilting.  And the fabrics chosen by ACQ are similar enough to the ones in Tula's blocks that it's not too hard to figure out which fabric goes where.

 ACQ provided extra fabric for pieces they thought you might choose to fussy cut...so I chose to fussy cut those birds OUT of my quilt.

 These blocks finish at 6", and many of them have 24 pieces!  I have friends who do beautiful miniature work, and I know this is NOT a miniature, but this is mini-enough for me right now!

Some of the blocks are put together in a not-expected or non-symmetrical way, the bottom blocks below are good examples.  Tula explains in her book that she's purposefully embraced the non-symmetrical...the bottom left block could have formed a pinwheel design in the center, the center block could have had the chevrons run all across the block, and the bottom right block could have had the fabric placed such that the turquoise pieces didn't touch...I pondered for a while, and decided to build the blocks as designed... although the more I look at those chevrons...I might wind up changing those