Tamale quilt

 After eating tamales for some time, and saving the bags that they come in, I finally had enough to make a quilt. It was quilt a chore to take the bags apart.

I used the embroidery machine to put the words around the border. I took the words from the tamale bag.

The bags were really a thin muslin type, so I fused an interfacing to them.

I used the green, white and red for sashing to represent the Mexican flag.

I'm glad our grocery stores carry these...all the way from Texas.

The bags are different colors, depending on the type of tamale.

I even used the UPC code that was stitched in the seam of the bag.

The back of the quilt is made from the back of the tamale bags.

I used a panto called Dazzle.

It sat on the frame for entirely too long, so today was a "just get it done" day. haha

It is 60 x 76" and used 30 bags. Glide tan thread for the top and So FIne beige for the bobbin.

Now, the question is.... should I save the bags again?    Perhaps make a jacket or something. hmmmm

Old School

 My sister pieced this top and calls it old school. She says that is the new word instead of vintage.  haha

The squares are from men's shirts that I had. She asked me if I had some plaid shirts, so I gave her all I had and this is what she made.

Since it was "old school", I quilted Xs across the blocks.

 

I could not figure out what I wanted to do in the border, so I just did lines and curves.  We'll call it Picasso meets old school. haha

 

The back is a mottled blue wide back. It is darker than my camera shows.

It is about 62 x 75". 

It went pretty fast. She won't get it for a couple weeks. She says she will have

another one (or two) to take back home with me to quilt for her.

March Challenge report

 March was a busy and productive month.

The 3 challenges were:

1.  Use white scraps and make blocks....done....and sold.

2.  Piecing red, white and black blocks...made 80...done. They are on eBay

3.  Embroidered mushroom, snail and flower blocks...made 42...done and sold.

Other things accomplished in March...

..Quilted a heart quilt for my sis

and a stars quilt for her, too.

I made the Sweet Pea house block for March

And embroidered and quilted the April and May snowman wall hangings for the studio. 

I had these snowman faces half fused....and got the other half fused. They are now on eBay. They are all different. 

The new sweater block for Bona Lisa came out, and I got that appliqued.

I made a quilt from some Dear Jane blocks that my sister made. She rejected them for her quilt, so I rescued them. haha

Another half done project is now complete. It uses 16 patch, 9 patch and rail fence blocks. Now it just needs to be quilted.

I got a few more blocks made for the pantry quilt.

dog bones...

garlic...

tomatoes

April challenges are now started.... they are...

1.  Make blocks with red selvages. These are actually done...and sold.  I started a couple days early. haha  I actually made mostly red, then added pink, orange and yellow blocks. Put them on eBay as warm color selvage blocks. They were sold in hours. Made 120 blocks.

1a.. Since I already finished the red selvage blocks, I pulled the next one for May....blue selvages.  I am working on those now.

2.  Embroidery....to finish all the monthly snowman wall hangings for the studio.  I am done through May, so 7 more to do.

3.  Piecing.  I'm making a tamale bag quilt.  We eat tamales that come in cloth bags. I have been saving the bags and now have 30 of them. It's time to make a quilt. For the past 3 days I have been taking the bags apart. It's a chore. It's a thin muslin, so I have to be careful not to cut the bag when taking the seams apart. But, I have a plan.  I have about 8 more bags to take apart first.  Then fuse a thin interfacing on the back of them. 

That's all I got. Told you it was a busy month.

Pantry quilt

 I'm doing nothing I should be doing. haha

For the past many (18) years, my pantry has had 2 pieces of fabric hanging over the doorway.  It has worked just fine for all those years.

UNTIL....I saw this on Facebook last month.....a pantry quilt!

Now, those pieces of fabric look so tacky and ugly. 

I have been scouring ebay and fabric stores for fabrics to use. The goal is before the end of the year, my pantry will have this cool pantry quilt covering the doorway.

I found some paper piecing patterns that would work....mixing bowls.

Candy jar

Dog bones

garlic

honey jar

ketchup

mustard

mixed nuts

tomatoes

Luckily, I have embroidery patterns for jars. I perhaps should have used a darker color for the background, but the pantry is in a hallway and I didn't want it to be too dark.

I have lots more goodies coming to put in jars....popcorn, nacho chips, biscuits, potato chips, pretzels, coffee beans, dollar bills, chocolate bars, and chocolate candies.

Wish I could find some cereal box fabric and other box things like mac and cheese and pastas and such. I might have to get down to fabric with veggies and fruits but I was holding out for cooler stuff. haha

Linda's Campers

 This was a surprise quilt that I made for Linda Stellar. Once I saw the pattern in an old magazine, I just knew I had to make it for her. She has now received it, so I can show it. 

She says she will carry it in the van with her so she and her fur babies can snuggle up. I'm so happy she likes it.

It's about 62 x 72".  It is fused applique. Then I stitched down all the parts by hand. It took several months to complete. There were only 6 blocks, so I added blue for the water and sky and green for the land. 

Think she'll get to camp under the Northern Lights? 

I added cats and dogs in the windows to represent her pets.

Camping in the desert might be tough.

Look at those great mountains.

There's Ozzie, looking out the window. Think he will enjoy it?

Down by the beach, checking out the fish.

It was fun finding things to put in the windows.

A bad pic, but a close up of Ozzie. haha

It's like a part of me will be traveling with Linda. Oh, the places this quilt will go.

I know she will have a great time.