Hearts

The final quilt for 2017!  woohoo!!   wish i could say that was the final top in the to-be-quilted cabinet....haha....maybe some day....if i live long enough.

These are applique machine embroidered hearts. It is 46x57". I believe they are designs that I got online because I don't find a CD for them..and they were done in March 2015, so I have no memory of where they came from. 

I had some of the pink dot fabric with the top for the binding, but it was about 6" short...so i had some of the purple dot left and used that. But there is now only scraps of the pink and purple fabric. And I think that stripe background on the hearts is all gone, too. Progress!!

I did a large meander in the border, with a few hearts thrown in here and there. A large wiggly line in the sashings, and SID around the heart, and inside whatever was in the heart, and quilted every 3rd line in the background fabric. Oh, and an X in the cornerstones. I traveled across the row, then back the other way on the next row. .. kept going till i ran out of thread.

I like the ones that have the needle and thread and the patch.

But there is a cute bear, too.

And a kitty. I'm pretty sure that background fabric is now all used up, since i pieced it together in this kitty block.

And a dark purple sparkly velvet heart. Don't know if you can see the sparkles.

Backing came from stash...and I'm happy to say there is nothing but a couple scraps of this fabric left. 

Top thread was Glide Cotton Candy; bobbin was So Fine dark pink.

Done with 2017

Well, we are all finished with 2017. It wasn't a bad year.....i got a year older....but i'm still alive. haha

I emptied 100 spools of thread this year......better than 2016, which was 79

By the end of September, I had emptied 74. I put them in a large bowl as they are emptied and when the bowl is full, I count and record.

And finished the year with 26 more

I've been trying to come up with a cool project for these spools. I have boxes of wooden spools at the Duck. I am thinking I will glue them to a door. I have a door that goes from the front entryway into the living room that won't be used much. I am thinking I will glue the spools to the door and then spray paint them. it will make for an interesting textured door. Have to play with the idea some and see how it might work. A Spring project.

I quilted 106 things....most of them quilts....some table runners.

I made 2 jackets

I made 16 bags

I tried not to buy any new fabric....but I did sneak in some yardage.

My friend, Sharon, moved to Texas and I got a LOT of her fabric......bags and bags of scraps. I have cut out many, many quilts and they are in boxes, awaiting piecing.... at least 25 quilts.

Here's to a brand new year....and the hope, once again, of quilting more and buying less. haha

Heart Strings

Here is my quilt of the day....hahahaha

It is a pattern from Mary Johnson's blog and is called Heart Strings. it is 47x56 and will be a vet donation. This was pieced in May of this year. I seem to be quilting a lot of current quilts. i better get back to those old ones.

Usually i make these scrappy, but decided on a controlled scrappy this time.

I was going to SID all those seams and then decided....it would take too long....and it wouldn't happen in a day. so, i did wavy lines instead and like it a lot better anyway. and i could work my way across the row without stopping, too.

The back is a flannel print. i bought tons of flannels at JoAnns last big flannel sale and they are really coming in handy here.

I'm thinking i can cut all the leftover flannel pieces into blocks and make a quilt from the various left over flannels. 

Top thread was Glide Key Lime; bobbin was So Fine dark green.

Selvages with Flanges

I got bored doing regular selvage blocks and thought...how can i kick it up a notch.....flanges!!    yes, i'll do flanges.  where are my friends when i have these wild ideas......to talk me down.  well, i only broke 1 needle quilting this one. haha

It is 45x60" and will be a veterans donation. i hope i don't give someone nightmares. It only waited 4 months to be quilted.

It quilted up much quicker than i thought it would. i went around the block and circled in and back out and on to the next....across the row.

There were 3 zipper blocks left over from another project, so they got included.

Inside the zippers is a surprise....this one has pink lace.

Backing is my wild tree fabric. there is only about a yard left of this, so you won't be seeing it much longer.....at least not as a back. I used it as the binding also.  When i trimmed it, there was enough to make the binding, so figured i might as well use it for that instead of throwing it in the scrap box. 

Top thread was Glide Bark; bobbin was So Fine Taupe

2 days left in the year.....2 more possible veterans quilts. 

Signs of Spring

This little quilt only waited since April of this year to be quilted....that's pretty good for me. it's another veteran donation. about 46 x 56"

Once again, i used various binding pieces to finish it off. 

The quilting is hard to see. I used Glide Key Lime for the top

Back is a flannel print from the stash. I used So Fine dark green for the bobbin.

I quilted it with this Quiltazoid board. It comes with various flowers.

I used a combination of these 2.

Gotta go see what i can find to do tomorrow. 

Earth Angels

Another veterans donation. This one is 46" square. Machine embroidered ...called Earth Angels....a little funky, but cute. 

It sat in the to-be-quilted cabinet since March, 2015

I used a panto called Heart Strings by Jodi Beamish

And, yes, i used various bits of pieces of binding from other projects. I may not be able to use up all my selvages, but i did use all but about 8" of the blue leftover bindings with this quilt. 

Backing is a flannel print.

Top thread was Glide Cobalt; bobbin was Bottom Line Beach

I have 4 days left of this year....wonder if i can get 4 more veteran quilts finished. 

Merry Merry Snowmen quilt

This Merry Merry Snowmen pattern is the cutest quilt. but it is not as it looks. You have to piece 9 blocks....the backgrounds.  then applique the features.

Block 1 background

block one pic

it's going to be cute...but it's going to take some time

Four Seasons BOM from Buttermilk Basin for 2017

This is the 2017 BOM from Buttermilk Basin. I followed the pattern pretty well until it got to the borders. haha    They called for a border of HSTs...which means I would have had to make over 100 1 1/2" HSTs..... not going to happen at this point. so, i went for simple. It is about 48" square.

They had gray and tan borders but i didn't have enough of any gray. it still works

The first 4 or 5 months were appliqued down with the buttonhole stitch. after that, i couldn't figure out how to do it....brain fart or something...so the rest just got stitched down with a running stitch. you only notice if you look closely.

Each row was supposed to have the same background. I don't know what happened to the last row. One block has the same background as the row before it....one block is on the back side of the fabric instead of the front...and the other block is a different fabric all together.

I didn't really notice the differences until i was putting it all together. i might be getting altzheimers. haha

But, it is together....and will be quilted in the next month or so, hopefully.  then will go live at my sister's house. 

Pink and Black Selvages

Another small quilt for the veterans home....44x50".  This was pieced in September, 2015, when I attended a quilting retreat with a bunch of friends, in Conway, MO.  The place was a church camp for kids during the summers and a quilting camp during the fall. great accommodations ...excellent food ...and a whole lot of fun.

I did some lines in the border and went around all the blocks and stitched across each block 4 or 5 times, trying to stitch over the white parts since I was using pink thread.

It was a quick little project.

Back came from the stash. Binding the same fabric as the back.

Top thread was Glide Cotton Candy and bobbin was So Fine dark pink.

Plant Your Garden

This is a small quilt...44x50...pieced in January 2016.  I had some little garden blocks and added some selvages to them. It will be donated to the veterans home....some wheelchair bound person will need a lap quilt.

I traveled across the row, going around the block, inside the block, and on to the next one...all across the row. in fact, i then just moved down to the next row and kept on going till the bobbin ran out. haha

I put some leaves and an occasional flower in the border

This is my favorite block. it says Gardens are not made sitting in the shade...plant your garden. 

I used various bindings left over from other projects

Back is a mottled green flannel

Threads used was a Glide bright yellow for the top....which looks like a lime green against the dark green border...and So Fine bright green for the bobbin.

It was small and went quick. On to the next.