Life's Circles

I saw this quilt on MQR earlier in the year...about April. it was shown by Anne in Australia and she called hers Liberty Circles.  I fell in love with it and had to make my own. I am calling mine Life's Circles.

Dug out my circle cutter and cut lots of circles...and lots of little cornerstones .... and lots of sashings.  I used Connecting threads Cream cotton for the background. Don't know when it will get quilted....but at least i finally finished piecing it.

The circles are machine appliqued onto the background in an applique stitch with variegated threads.

It is 82x98. I already have a quilting plan...so perhaps it will get finished sooner rather than later. and i am keeping this one.

I love it.  Thank you, Anne, for sharing yours.

I Spy flannel top

I believe my sewing mojo is back. i hadn't spent much time in the studio all summer but after my 4 day quilting retreat i can't seem to leave the sewing machine alone. LOL

I am slowly using up my I Spy blocks. i had over 100 of them and decided they would make 2 small kid quilts. here is the first.

It is 48x56

Corners are 9 patches ... to use up all the blocks evenly.

All sashings around the blocks are flannel...and the border, also.

There will be another one very similar to this one....some blocks will be different.

More yardage out of the studio....just need to get it quilted and find it a home. These used up all my flannel pieces also.

Glory Garden

My goodness!!! .... this was fun.  i finished piecing on November 4, 2013...and, now, almost 2 years later....it is finished. Sorry, I don't remember where i got the pattern.

It is hand applique with wool felt. a lot of this was done at the Duck, in the evenings. ...  i need to get back to hand work instead of computer games in the evening. LOL

I like this because it is all different and it doesn't get boring doing it.

Quilting is fun, too, when it is not all the same.

There are little lady bugs and bees added.

Took me a couple of blocks to figure out how to stitch all across the row

And buttons added between the flower names

I just did lots of stuff in the borders...graffiti style

I enjoyed using the graphic fabrics for these blocks.

I used the same fabric for the binding as the background for the words.

Back is a muslin....i always like the back.

It is 63x86.

Top thread is the Glide gold; bobbin is a Bottom Line Tan

It is going to live with my sister. 

Trying new table runner patterns.

While at the retreat last week, someone was demonstrating table runners. .... with a 60 degree ruler.  i have a 60 degree ruler, but mine was smaller. and i didn't have the proper fabric with fancy borders to do it right....but i scrounged through the stash and came up with these.

First i did this flower runner....nothing too exciting.

Then i had some cat fabric and tried that...kind of cute....but still not "IT".  not sure if i like the middle.

But i think i will play with this some more....when i find more fabric. and ask Brenda about the pattern.

and perhaps get a larger ruler.

So, basically, this is all wrong.  hahahahahahahahaha

The ones being made had the middle pieces sort of swirled around to match up with the center lines.  got to think on this.

My first quilt retreat

OMG.....i just got home yesterday. i have had so much fun since last Thursday at my first quilting retreat. it is called (Not) Just Quilting!    and is held in Conway, MO at the Beth-Eden Bible Camp. 

From sleeping in bunk beds in the bunkhouse to sewing for hours in the sewing room to the chair massage in the chapel....it was all good. we had a chef that fed us at 8am, 1pm and 6pm.  everything was fabulous...dessert at every meal. haha   i am so surprised that i came home weighing the same as i did when i left. 

I took some black and pink selvages and did this

then when i trimmed the blocks, i made quite a few crumb blocks from the black and pink pieces.... over 20

I took a selvage jacket that i had made....and showed it with the selvage quilt....and sold the jacket to a lady. LOL

i won the jelly roll race with this.....and won a bottle of spray starch....my favorite kind.

i got an attendance present...it was in a little bag with candy, hand sanitizer, nail file, wool pattern, and a couple other things.

I did some dumpster diving in the trash bags.....3 or 4 times a day....picking out the selvages and the bits and pieces that were being thrown away.  after a couple days of this....the ladies were BRINGING me their throw aways. hahahahaha  i made these blocks from their throw aways....they couldn't believe it.  i made 54 blocks

And i still brought home a whole pile of my dumpster diving pieces.

And i took some blue and white strips and made these blocks...43 of them

I got an orange tshirt....with this on the front of it.

I signed up for the ugly fabric challenge, too. you were to bring a yard of ugly fabric. they were all wrapped up and everyone traded....there were about 12 people. i had already gone back to the bunk house by the time they decided to do this....so i got what was left. i don't think it is that ugly and am thinking it might make some stars...or something. i have to make something and take it back next year for show and tell at the next ugly fabric challenge.

We played bingo, too.  a regular game cost you a FQ...a blackout game cost you a half yard.  i won a regular game....but someone else won, too. so we had to split. i got these FQs.

The fun just kept going. i won a door prize. it was this little blessings basket. in it were 6 pieces of felted suede. rich colors of purple, orange, red, brown, green and beige.  sorry, i missed a pic of them. these baskets are made in undeveloped countries to help them earn money. the person who made it has their name inside the basket. very cool.

There were 8 of us who knew each other that went. she takes 50 people each year. this year i was one of 5 new people. you have to sign up early and get your deposit in to make sure you get a spot. most of the women there had been coming for 5 or 6 years....since the retreat started. 

Everyone was so sweet and helpful. the chef was just amazing.....tea and coffee and water and lemonade available all day. great menus and fruit  at each meal. there was a guy there to help you unload your goodies when you got there and he helped you load back up when you left.

I don't think i could have asked for anything better. the only aggravation was most of the ladies were older than i was, so they would come into the bunkhouse and go to sleep about 9 or 9:30.....and turn the lights off!   i was working a crossword puzzle or reading by flashlight. haha   next year i am taking a better light to read by.

We took a walk down to the river.....a lady had a service dog there that she was training.....there was show and tell all day long.....little classes to learn new techniques or how to make a bag or a table runner or such. just a wonderful time.  we were out in the boondocks....40 miles to a town with a quilt shop or a walmart. but i never left the property till i came home. oh, and there were chickens.....and a turkey that got too close for my liking and i kept an eye on him. and a cat...and a dog. it was a working farm. and little kids came in for meals....slamming doors and hollering....haha

It was all great

Bunny Squares quilt

I have had this little bunny top done for a while....except for the borders. so, today i sat down and put the borders on it. there are patterns of over a dozen animals in the Quiltmaker magazines over a couple of years...around 2012. i have the owl done also, but borders not on it yet.

Don't know how long it will take me to finish them all....it's a long term project. cutting out all those little 2" squares is a time sucker.

I don't seem to make little girl quilts....i don't know why that is.....so, this one could be a girl quilt.

Have to figure out which animal i want to do next....and find some fabric for it.....and cut out hundreds of little squares.

Doll bed quilt

This is a little doll bed pattern designed by my friend, Mary.

It was quick and easy to quilt. SID around the stars and 16 patch squares, circles around that. 

I love these little stars

Tiny pieces in this block; piano keys in the final border.

Although i used a thread color that showed a bit more on the front, the back just shows it all.

Glide Chestnut on the top and a salmon sort of in Bottom line for the Bobbin

Alphabet pieces for the Duck

I had a bunch of tiny alphabet beads and decided to use them for some of the tiles going around the top of the dressing room.

First there is the alphabet....each letter made from its own letter. and i actually found stuff in my graffiti to use for each letter. i'm not sure what that says about me. haha

And the quilting words that i asked for help with....thank you all for assisting me when my brain was dead.

I definitely had to add my name and the date.  and i just happened to have a little pink Duck.  

Sometimes i feel so sorry for the people who will have this house after me.  hahahahahaha

But i am having so much fun. 

Cole Camp

My friend, Mary, designs quilts and sells the patterns. she is working in a series of Civil War quilts now. this one is called Cole Camp. she has several that are named after the different battles. i get to quilt them all for her. 

Here is the front....where basically not much quilting shows unless you are on top of it.

She chose thread to match the cream background...i used Glide cream and it matches perfectly. but seems a bit bold on the black and gray...so i used my darkest gray in the center star, and the small black border and the last border.  i feel better about that. crosshatching around the star. SID around all the blocks....a couple of echo lines around the blocks ...feathers in the small black border.

I did some frogging on the border...trying to decide what to do. the fabric was so busy. but Mary wanted feathers, so i put feathers inside ovals...with some squiggles....she always puts squiggles in her embroidery designs

The back is where the quilting shows because she used a muslin for the back.

I am always tempted to use the back of the quilt as the front...and sometimes do.

She liked it...as always....so all is well.

A have a couple more of hers to do next....so better get on it.

Glide Cream and So Fine gray for the top...off white Bottom Line for the bobbin.