Marquita's Mystery Quilt

I haven't quilted anything for my friend, Marquita, in several months. but recently she brought me three tops to quilt for her. here is the first one...a mystery quilt.

She says she doesn't like it much...but i sure do. but i like scrappy quilts.

It is a joy to quilt for her...her piecing is excellent.

And her quilt tops are straight and square.

And she presses and trims.

What more could you ask for?

She didn't want custom quilting done on it...so i did Baptist Fans with my Quiltazoid. i think that always works for sampler/scrappy quilts.

I think she's gonna like it more now...at least i hope so. she now lives about 3 hours away....so i will leave this at quilt class tomorrow so she can pick it up

Later

Orange selvages for Halloween

I showed you this orange top a few weeks ago when i got it pieced...today i got it quilted.

I did a quick pattern from Quiltazoid using orange thread on the top and black thread on the bottom. got it done in a hour. the thread matches top and bottom....the quilting does not show. the pattern looks like capital Es...first up straight...then laying down. this came out 62x72".  that's the last of the orange selvages.

If you'll remember....i embroidered some halloween images in some of the blocks. cats and bats and mice and witches and monsters.

I found enough of a fabric to use for the back. it came out rather spooky in the picture. it's a black with various colored dots connected in a maze throughout. my camera is acting up....so that may be why the pic is strange.

It totally looks different in real life....weird.

Now i have to go quilt up a customer quilt...queen size. think i will use this same pattern, though. it is quick and easy.

Landon's quilt

My sister pieced this for her friend's daughter's new baby, Landon. 

It is so cute. there are appliqued hearts with paper pieced scrappy borders

And blue embroidered bunnies

And green embroidered bunnies

But the cutest thing of all is the bear....masquerading as a bunny. LOL

It was quilted with the 4" clamshells from Quiltazoid.

It was all done in under 2 hours....love that.

Cabin Cats #4 .... Stripes

This one is all quilted and has the binding, too. how about that!!  actually, the reason it is quilted already is because it was pieced on the longarm....and since i had it on there....it got quilted, too. very quick.....a few hours project.

You know...when you lay something out on the table...it looks one way....once you take a photo of it....it looks different. i think i should have used that very light fabric in place of the blue. but so many of these fabrics are dark and the blue was just so cheery .... but the light looks out of place. oh, well...hindsight.

This is so simple...all you do is cut strips however wide you want them...across the width of the fabric....and stitch them down...one after the other.

And remember to add the borders at the top and bottom....and add side borders as you go down...after stitching down a couple strips.  easy-peasy and quick.   i like quick and easy....i keep repeating myself...don't i? LOL

Once again the backing is a piece from Wilma at  www.christianlanequilters.com   if you haven't tried her FatBacks...you are missing out. her customer service is out of this world.

And to repeat myself once again...the quilting was done with the Quiltazoid...my go-to number 1 first choice. this design is SOOOo fast and SOOoo easy.  gotta love   www.quiltazoid.com   

This little beauty is 50 x 66" and used 3.25 yards of fabric. running real short on a couple of the fabrics....and have lots of selvages and pieces. so you know the LAST Cabin Cats will be a selvage and strips quilt.

OK...it will be a few days before Cabin Cats #5 makes an appearance.  first off...i have to figure out what to do...but, most importantly, i have to get the borders on the wedding quilt and quilt that baby up. that will be my last thing on my March to-do list. woohoo!!...then i can play (more) LOL 

Somewhere around the 25th or 26th i will be heading out to the Duck for 3 days of demolition...really looking forward to that. i will bring back some pictures to show you my destruction.

#1 UFO Challenge quilt finished

JudyL at www.patchworktimes.com   is so good for me. i joined 2 of her challenges this year. the monochromatic challenge....in which you make a quilt from the color that she tells you. so far, this has been...january = yellow; february = violet; and, march = brown. so i finished 3 quilts using selvages and fabrics from my stash. yea!!

And the UFO challenge is where she picks a number for each month and we finish our UFO that corresponds with that number. in january i finished the morphing pinwheels; in february i finished the strings blocks quilt; and, now in march i have finished my embroidered blocks quilt.

This one has been marinating in the 'to be quilted' closet for a couple years. it is made from the old fashioned embroidery blocks. hand embroidery takes so long....so one day i wondered if i could 'embroider' them with my sewing machine. so i chose several fancy stitches and followed the lines and this is what i came up with.

This is the block i like best...it uses the tiny star stitch. but i had to experiment....you don't know if you don't try...right?  probably not something i would do again.

I used my Quiltazoid Baptist Fans templates to quilt it. love those Quiltazoid folks!!

The Quiltazoid makes quilting so much quicker and easier. if you don't know about their quilting tools...you really should check them out. Adam and Linda are so easy to work with and they are just so friendly. They will make templates for you if you submit a design. they made me a double cable.  www.quiltazoid.com 
Here's a closer view.

Their Baptist Fan is the best i have seen. it flows beautifully

So, here it is less than 10 days into the month and i have both of JudyL's challenges done for the month. i am certainly going to keep up the mojo for the rest of the year. that is a pretty good feeling to see your UFO pile dwindling and your stash and selvage piles fading ever so slowly.  thank you, Judy, for the incentive and making it fun. I'm ready for April's challenges.

In the meantime, i will finish my baby quilt and wedding quilt that are due next month, quilt up a customer quilt or two and squeeze a couple of mine onto the frame, too.

Are you working with Judy and I to diminish your UFO pile? .... it's not too late to sign up and start.....i'll just be 3 ahead of you. LOL

Quilt with Simply Ornate Template from QZ

Well, it is 4 hours later and i am done with my sister's French Braid quilt. actually, count a half hour break in there, too. so it went pretty quickly. i loaded the quilt sideways and took 3 passes...centering them on the middle of the rows as best i could.

That doesn't really show any quilting .... here's a closeup so you can see it better.

and the back shows it better still. i used gray thread and it shows better in real life. hahahaha

This pattern flows well and quilts up beautifully. i like it a lot.

My sister mainly hangs her quilts on her walls so i assume this one is headed for the beast. i will take it to her on Tuesday when i go to visit and help remove even more wallpaper from the beast.

You might want to check out Adam and Linda at http://www.quiltazoid.com/   they are awesome.

New QZ toys

Last night about 6pm....late for our UPS driver...i had kind of given up on him for the day....but he  brought  my newest package from the wonderful Quiltazoid people, Linda and Adam.

I got 2 new continuous templates....

Simply Ornate.....isn't that an oxymoron....how can you be simple and ornate at the same time...aren't those opposites? LOL   anyway...it is beautiful. i am using it on my sister's quilt today.

And Adam made me baby clamshells...just 2" wide. aren't they cute? i think they will be great for background fill for larger blocks.

I also got 6 new individual templates. Since i am doing donation quilts a lot these days i think i will try each one out on its own quilt top and see how many designs i can make with each template. should prove interesting.

Here is #6  Crosses

#8 Snowflakes

#18 Regal

#10 Ovals

and #16...it doesn't have a name. there are 4 designs for 12" blocks.

and the pinched square spiral. i really like square spirals so can hardly wait to try out this one, too.

And that is my loot for today. my dh says i now officially have more toys than he does....i say no way. his barn is larger than my studio. LOL

I am off to do a quilt with the simply ornate continuous template and will show you when it is finished.

Quitazoid Rocks!!

Progress being made.

I have been working hard...outside at the farm and in the studio. and progress is being made. i finally, finally got all the tree branches and bark picked up and burned from the last tree that we had taken down. loaded, unloaded and stacked 2 truck loads yesterday. i am done with wood till next year. jim still has to cut up some huge trunks to get split...and he is working on them today...but my part is done. i am glad to see the end of that. we have been working on those 3 trees for several months.

In the studio i have made 5 or 6 row quilts. they go rather quickly and use up the stash. i finished my stained glass angel and got it quilted. and i only have 2 more blocks to do on the tokyo subway map quilt. i think progress would go much faster if i just worked on one thing at a time but it is not in my nature to do that. LOL  i have one of the Atomic Bloom blocks redone. i finally figured out what mistake i had made and had to take all 4 blocks apart again and redo them. i am going to put something else over that white circle with the pink dots. it doesn't have enough contrast. note to self....don't use white background fabrics for dots. LOL this quilt has lots and lots of small pieces but i am going to like it. i couldn't resist the smiley face in one circle.

And i have one of my quilts on the frame and should have it done today or tomorrow. it is a column quilt versus a row quilt. applique flowery vines and rectangles..kind of like a coin quilt. it is a UFO from a couple years back.

And my sister decided she needs to get all her designs embroidered up that she has been buying online. i get to do the big ones since her machine only does 4" designs. this week we are working on vintage signs. they are SOOO cute. so far i have done...

maple syrup..this one is 10"x6" and took 3.5 hours to stitch...wow

root beer

and eggs

Although in the pictures the background fabrics look different...they are all unbleached muslin. my camera skills are lacking.

I got an email yesterday that my latest Quiltazoid order will be here Tuesday.... woohoo!! ...another reason to get that quilt off the frame. play time will be here and i want to be ready. i still need to play with the Gingko template that i got from Circle Lord. it will work on my QZ and i need to play with it, also.

A friend of mine took me up on my offer to let her quilt on my longarm. she has come over two afternoons so far and quilted up pillow tops. she is so excited. she did say she thought it would be easier. i keep telling her she just needs practice. she hasn't hurt herself yet so that is good and she has two cute little pillowtops to show for her work so far.

Are you making progress on your projects? just a thought....Christmas will be here very shortly....just saying. LOL

Now...go quilt.

Quiltazoid play piece

Today i got out some plain fabric and played with the Quiltazoid. i haven't done it in a while and wanted to see what i could make.

Here is the whole piece. it's about 36x52...the back is the same as the binding. and the 'batting' is a microfleece blanket i found at a thrift store for 99 cents. it will be a donation quilt.

And here are the 'blocks'.
#1 dresden plate....of course, the frame in wonky. lesson learned...watch where you start and make the frame straight. ....  or not. hahahahah

#2  i was trying to stitch as i stepped and i didn't hold the stylus in place every time so i got a bit wonky here, too.   siiggghh!





#3  i think this one is my favorite but it kind of got cut off when i straightened up the side of the quilt before binding.

#4  i like the frame around this one. i went back to put in the middle after i had moved to another block. lesson learned...you can't go back and hit the middle again...even if it is marked.

#5  simple curved crosshatching

#6  this is kind of neat, too. kind of like ribbons

#7  stars and sun and moon and i think a lightning bolt. LOL

#8 wavy lines crossed over each other

#9  i like the frame around this one, too.  it looks like octupus holding hands. LOL

#10  just messing with circles

#11 and a feathered wreath

My favorite is #3...which is your favorite?

i ordered more toys from Quiltazoid yesterday....more individual templates...crosses; snowflakes; ovals; regal; pinched square spiral; and #16..which doesn't have a name but lookes like leaves...sort of.   and got the simply ornate continuous templates and a 2" clamshell. they should be here in 2 or 3 weeks....so i see another play day in my future. woohoo!!

tomorrow i am going to try a row quilt pieced and quilted on the longarm. Deb Levy showed us how to do this some time ago in a video on MQR. i better go do some things i learned.

And i am working on a stained glass angel from quilt class....i hope to show that to you in a few days. it's my first try at stained glass quilting.

OK...back to work.
later