Library Book Quilt

I got these embroidered designs years ago to make a quilt for the local library. it finally happened.

I hope the kids at the library get a kick out of it.

Monkey, owl, giraffe, turtle, dinosaur, dinosaur

One-eyed monster, elephant, frog, cow, dragon, robot

This cow may be my favorite. she's just laying in the field, enjoying her book.

I'm off to the Duck tomorrow for a few days and will get this quilted when i get back. will show more pics when it is quilted.

Block Rockin'

I finally have the top finished with the Block Rockin' blocks....celebrating all the Rock & Roll bands of years ago.

The blocks are 12" finished....so not very big at all. 

You almost need sunglasses...it is sooo bright.

Not looking forward to quilting that black and white .... i'm thinking i'll be getting dizzy looking at that.  this one might get a panto.

I don't know anyone in a rock and roll band....so don't know where this will wind up. maybe just with a kid that likes loud colors.

HSTeria week 2

I am beginning to like all these HSTs....who knew.

I will be out of town on Thursday for a few days so figured i better get this out here so i can hook up with Vicki on Friday....hopefully.

I made 158 white and red squares.....11 different patterns.  i still have about 60 more to sew together but don't know if i will get them done before i leave town.  but at least i have something done for this week.

Thanks again, Vicki

Last of the Block Rockin' series

I sort of lost interest in these for a while.....no big surprise...hahaha...but today decided to finish up the last two.

Floyd

Mercury

Now to put them all together. i'm thinking that black and white eye popping fabric for the sashing. perhaps orange for the cornerstones and the final border. it will either keep you from sleeping or give you nightmares....it is pretty loud.

I need a wild Rock and Roll buddy to give this to. 

Funky I Spy

I found this pattern in an old magazine.....it looks kind of cute.

I picked out a bunch of little kids I Spy blocks, put 2 borders on them....and "squared" them up all crooked and funky....i made the blocks 6"

I used almost all plain fabrics since it was for a small child.

I picked 4 colors that matched the block. for instance...the monkey block (below) has blue and brown and gold and white.ipbut the blue and brown on opposite sides and the gold and white on the other sides. i didn't worry about width of fabric. 

I made the blocks over-sized so when i trimmed them down to 6", i could cut them at an angle and make them all funky. i like them that way. but some are straighter than others. Elmo is kind of straight. the fabric strips were narrower on that one.

I still need to find something to put some borders on it. i'm going to do the borders like the pattern shows. i made 56 blocks and set them 7x8.  currently it is about 40x45".  i'm figuring borders will add another 6" to each side so it will be about 52x57 when finished. give or take an inch or 2.  a good size for a  small child to drag around and play with. there are lots of animals on there to look at....all blocks are different. 

I'm going to do another....larger.....for an older child with age appropriate pictures. no matter how many scrappy quilts i do....the scraps never seem to decrease.  sigh!!

OK....i added the border on this today. so, to make it complete....here is a pic with the border...

And a closeup of the border to see the animal prints. i must have bought a lot of this....i still have over a yard left.

Now it just needs quilting.

Empty spools so far this year

I like to keep track of how many thread spools i empty each year....i don't know why....just something silly to keep track of. anyhow.....i throw them all in a huge bowl in my studio as i get them emptied.....and today i had to empty out the bowl....it was overflowing.

So far, this year i have emptied 175 spools.  i'm not sure i should be proud or sad...that's a LOT of sewing    LOL

There are 3 large spools on the left from thread for the longarm. and the smaller ones under it are from the embroidery machine. 

The tiny black and white ones on the right came from a yard sale find. they all had some thread on them but not all were full. 

All the rest are from yard sale boxes....auction boxes....who knows where.  i have found when i get auction boxes and thread is in there.....sometimes they are dirty. i can simply pull off the top layer of thread and expose the new clean section and use the rest. these are great for piecing quilt tops. i don't really care what color i use....you don't see it anyway.   i have a couple hundred more spools to use up yet. 

And i have a couple hundred spools of embroidery thread....that seems to go slowly. and quite a few spools of longarm thread.....also goes slowly. 

So, who knows how many will be used by the end of the year. but i have a good start.

HSTeria .... week 1

My friend Vicki Welsh is having a quilt along with half square triangles....HST    we are to make as many as we like....the size we want....and report in on Fridays to see how we are doing.  i really don't like sewing HSTs....the corners never feed well through my machine. but i like a challenge....so i dug out the AccuCut machine and my boxes of scraps and spent a few hours cutting.

So far, for this week, i have sewn together....

90 red dots .... that's all i had of that dot fabric....wish i had more. this will probably be a baby quilt.

188 light green.....i have many more of these cut out...just need to sew them together. and i have some white ones cut out also and ready to sew together. 

I am liking this block and might use it for the light greens.

I also really like this block and would like to use it for the red dot squares but i only have 90 red dots and each block takes 16 .... so i can only make 5 blocks. so i either need to find more red dot fabric....don't really want to do that. or use some white to add to it. i have a bunch of white HSTs cut out. i will probably cut more red and mix the red and whites with the red and dots. does that make sense?  I know what i'm talking about, anyway. hahahaha

Vicki put this configuration out on her blog and i like it, too. i might have to do this one for sure.

I don't know how many quilts will come of this quilt along. we are making HSTs through July....that could be thousands of them. think how much stash busting that would be. hopefully this will make a good dent in the scraps.

Thanks, Vicki, for the inspiration to go for it and make some HSTeria.

Colorful strippy diamonds

These blocks have been laying around for over a year. i would work on them for a bit.....then let them sit for months. finally decided i had enough of them and put them together yesterday.  it is about 80" x 90".

Each block has the same piece through the center....and a light on each side of that. then it was anything i pulled out of the tub. and i have a HUGE tub full of strips. enough for probably 50 more quilts. the strips are any width, any color. leftovers from bindings, etc.

They are sewed onto a foundation. it's a great way to use up fabrics i no longer want to use in a quilt. 

Now it is ready to be quilted......which we all know might be a year from now.

Or it could be tomorrow....who knows. it will probably get an allover quicky....some large meandering or large feathers.....who knows.

I'll think on it. and i have lots of thread to use, too. maybe a bright neon orange or yellow. 

What would you quilt on it?  what color thread?

If i like your idea it might inspire me to quilt it up quickly....like tomorrow.

Ebony and Ivory...part 2

When i made Ebony and Ivory

....the pattern from my friend, Mary.....i had lots of fabric left.

So, i used it to make this....Ebony and Ivory part 2

Those are simple 8 inch blocks, 4 inch blocks, and 2 inch blocks

If i were to do this again, i think i would make less large blocks and more medium blocks.

I quilted it with Key Lime Green....you can't even SEE it...since when does key lime blend in with black and white. sheesh!!

So i added a lime green binding.

Since you can't see the quilting on the front....here is a back photo....large blocks

Medium blocks

Small blocks

All blocks quilted the same except added circle swirls in the large blocks. i thought it needed something in the middle. and feathers around the border.

A sort of brownish gray thread for the bobbin. muslin backing. maybe i should have put the key lime in the bobbin, too. it's about 82 x 90".

There was still more of this fabric left....so there is an Ebony and Ivory part 3....still to be quilted.....soon.

Now i have to go play with some I Spy blocks.

Neutral Crazy Quilt

I've been working on this quilt top for over a year....off and on. finally decided it needed to get finished. so it is all pieced and awaiting quilting. came out to be 104" square. All paper pieced blocks

Middle heart was a pattern i got from my friend, Mary.

Then a little border and 2 rows of 8" blocks.

A 2" border and some 4" blocks

A 4" border and more 8" blocks

Then an 8" border at the end.  This block with the purple flowers was an embroidered piece i got for Christmas from my friend, Diana. actually she gave me 2 flowers....the other piece is in the quilt also.

There are lots of laces and trims

Some embroidered pieces found on linens at thrift shops

Most seams have some sort of trim or lace or rick rack on them.

Probably be a lot of feathers in those white borders

This quilt is heavy already so after quilting it will be a hefty thing. the blocks were paper pieced. I used a lot of my neutral trims and laces and buttons. i have a sack of pieces that were trimmed off in the paper piecing process. got to come up with a quilt for the leftovers.

Hope to quilt this one soon.

I Spy 4 patch

This is quilt #2 out of the to-be-quilted cabinet. it's an I Spy in a 4 patch setting.

Quilted with the baptist fan boards.

If i had been paying attention.....i would have put this homerun baseball square.....

With this peanut square....hahahaha

But the football and the money seem appropriate...they are making all the money..right?  hahaha

And, every once in a while i find another one of these little puppies....when i think i've used them all.

The border is a basketball print.

It's about 56x72....about couch cuddle size. didn't get a pic of the back....it is a pink floral.....with red and blue roses.hahahahahah   remember, i am using up what is in the studio. 

I did get the binding on it this morning.....a scrappy binding. i have rolls and rolls of pieces all sewed together....i just roll off enough for the quilt and there you go. instant binding. 

On to the next one...#3.