DOLL QUILT FOR EXCHANGE

This is the doll quilt that I made for Kim, and she has received it now, so I can post it here.  I saw an antique doll quilt like this on pinterest that had been made circa 1870 - 1890, so I thought I would try to make a duplicate.  I didn't know what to use for the border, but I was digging through my stash and found this fabric which was perfect and it had the cheddar in it, so I used some cheddar for the basket and binding.

I machine quilted it since I really can't do much hand sewing any more.

This was a lot of fun!  Thanks, Lori!!

MID VALLEY QUILT SHOW, RICKREALL OREGON

My quilting friend and I went to this quilt show on Friday and the first thing we looked at was the antique quilts.  I was surprised to see that this quilt was made in Elgin, Illinois, where my brother has a store (my Dad started the store around 1960).  

I think you can read the descriptions for this quilt and the following one,

This quilt was made in Wheaton, Illinois which is not far from where I grew up and it's where my sister teaches piano lessons.

Now on to the current day quilts.  This quilt, not surprisingly, won 1st place!

I think you will be able to see the quilting with variegated thread.

A great patriotic quilt!  I'm sorry some of my photos are not real sharp.

Lovely Kaffe Fassett quilt.

This would make a great patriotic quilt also.  There were 2 other quilts just like it except for different colors.

This one was made for the son of the maker who will be retiring from the Army soon.  What great eagles!!

Lots of tiny squares!

A "Garden Patch Cats" quilt!

 Challenge Quilts:  There were a lot of these, but I didn't take pictures of all of them.

At the quilt show, I bought a LED light strip to fit underneath the top part of the sewing machine.  I think it will be very helpful for quilting and appliqué.

 On our way to a quilt shop, we actually were able to see Mt. Hood, which is about 150 miles away by road.  I'm not sure how far it is "as the crow flies" but I'm going to try to figure that out.  It was about the first full sunny day that we've had since last September

DOLL QUILT RECEIVED AND IMPORTANT NOTICE!

I again participated in Lori's doll quilt swap and today I received mine!  I received this adorable doll quilt from Pat Riley from Janesville, WI.  Thank you so much, Pat!  I just love it.  

Here it is with Albert on his doll bed.  Albert was my Mother's doll and the doll bed was made for me by my Grandfather!  You can see more about Albert here.  

Another picture of Albert with his new quilt!  He loves it too!

Pat also sent me this pretty pin!

I found out that Pat lives in Wisconsin and owns a quilting retreat, Prairie Hill Retreat!  It looks like a wonderful place for a retreat.  You can find out more about it here.  

ANNOUNCEMENT

Lori, of Humble Quilts, has been an inspiration to me for quite some time.  Since I'm involved in a quilt guild here in McMinnville, OR, and Lori lives in Oregon as well, I decided to see if she could come to my quilt guild meeting to give a presentation, and she agreed!  I've been following her blog for years and have met with her in person a couple times as well as having participated in a few of her doll quilt exchanges and sew alongs.  

This is an invitation for anyone in this area to come to the meeting of Piecemakers Quilt Guild on May 8, 2017 at 1:00 PM where Lori will present her program on Seasonal Quilts.  We meet in the Brookdale Senior Living Town Center at 775 NE 27th Street, McMinnville, OR on the 2nd floor.  If you have any questions you can email me from my "About" section.  

Lori's blog, Humble Quilts, is very active with almost 2,000 followers and at their insistence she now hosts a Humble Quilts Facebook group with 870+ members. The blog has been highlighted in Quiltmania magazine.

Her online quilting activities have kept her busy for the last few years. She has hosted  doll size quilt swaps with quilters from all over the world and lead many successful and fun quiltalongs, reproducing antique quilts in small versions. These group projects motivate other quilters to stay on task with a specific pattern and/or encourage quilters to explore and work through their own idea and create unique projects for themselves.

We would love to see you there!

MODA BLOCK, ETC.

I have been very slack when it comes to blogging lately.  But I wanted to let you know that I've been doing a lot of sewing.  This is Block #5 of the Moda Block Heads block of the week.  It looks large in the photo, but is only 6 1/2" square.  I'm out of the background fabric now, but my LQS is supposed to get it in this week.  That's why I don't have Block #6 finished yet.  I need the light colored background fabric as shown in each corner block and the middle.  There are 58 pieces in this block!!!

These are 2 table runners I'm making out of a couple charm packs and they are ready to baste.  Each HST block measures 4 1/2", so it will only be 12" wide and 48" long.

I "had" to make some placemats with Joanne Kerton's free placemat pattern found here.  I found this Mary Engelbreit fabric in my stash and thought they would be cute.  I love how they turned out!  They still need more quilting on them, but I haven't decided yet how I will do it.  Thanks, Joanne!  If you want to get the pattern, click on the link and then scroll down to where it says a "few free patterns" and click on that, then scroll down again until you see this placemat pattern.

Happy Spring and Happy Quilting!

CATUS ROMANUS

A year or 2 ago I saw the amazing Garden Patch Cats quilt with blocks of appliquéd cats designed by Helene Knott.  Since my sister is a cat lover, I figured she would like it and I sent her a photo of the quilt I saw.  Each cat depicts a vegetable or fruit.  Here is the quilt that I saw in Hillsboro, OR in October, 2015.  You might be able to see the words that are embroidered on each block, or maybe you can tell which fruit or vegetable each cat represents.

And here is the pillow I made for my sister's birthday this week.  This same pattern is the top left block in the quilt above and it represents romaine lettuce.  The green sections are the lettuce parts.  It took a couple weeks of contemplation to decide which fabrics to use.  

Finished pillow.

Pillow back.  I use velcro for the closure.  I love the backing fabric that I used - mostly blue, with some green and purple.

She received it and is happy!!