March String-Along Linky

I basted this string quilt a couple months ago and decided I better get busy and sat least start quilting it.  I have quilted several of this type of quilts before, but I really didn't know how I wanted to quilt it.  So I started with some swirly quilting and continued with various swirls.  I got almost half of it quilted yesterday.

I also finished quilting and binding the flag quilt.

I will be linking this up to Lori's blog.  Thanks, Lori, for giving us the incentive to get busy with all the millions of strings that are hanging around our sewing room!  I'm trying to decide what to make with strings next. 

It's a beautiful day today, but I came down with some kind of bug, so I'm staying inside.  Hope you have a wonderful spring weekend!

VERY DELINQUENT!

Yes, I have very delinquent concerning posting lately.   I have been reading some of my favorite blogs, but not wanting to spend oodles of time with it as I have been trying to get things done in the quilting room.

For one thing, I am getting ready for the first craft show of the year at the Yamhill County Heritage Museum.  The museum is only a couple miles from my home and it is a wonderful place for many fun events.  Click on the link and then click on Farm Fest & Plowing Competition.  Last year was the first time I had been to that event and it was amazing!  It was rainy, windy and cold.  I didn't think there would be many people there.  I was very wrong!  People came to see the plowing competition and there were horses and mules everywhere.  So much fun and so interesting!  I didn't get to see everything because I had to "man" the booth, but managed to get outside a few times.  You can see my post from last year here.

Here are a couple things I've made for the sale.

Kitchen towel with bunnies

Lap quilt

Last month DH and I met my BIL/SIL in Ocean Side, WA for a barbershop singing concert which we enjoyed immensely.  There was a quilt shop in the town and I got this "printed interfacing" kit to make this flag.  I saw the flag hanging in the quilt shop and was intrigued.  The owner said you just sew along the lines to make the stripes.

I didn't realize what she meant until I got home and looked at the instructions.

You sew the interfacing onto the fabric in strips and then have to turn it like a tube and then you can iron the stripes onto the white fabric.  It wasn't very easy to turn the long tubes of fabric and interfacing because the interfacing tears very easily, but I got it done.  There is one more printed interfacing so I can make another flag.

I'm quilting it now.  I also basted a couple other things, so now I have 4 more things to quilt when I'm finished with the flag.

Spring has arrived and the weather has turned very nice.  Trees and flowers are starting to bloom - well, the daffodils have been blooming for a few weeks already.

Happy Spring!

BIRD QUILT DELIVERED

The State Bird/Flower quilt is finished!  Including a label!!  So, yesterday I delivered it to my friend.  She told me that she had embroidered the blocks around 2000 and that someone had been going to make them into a quilt, but it didn't happen.

Here are some close up views of the border and more blocks.  I quilted everything the free motion way, quilting hooked feathers in the borders and in some of the blocks.

The easiest way to quilt the blocks was to stitch around the bird and flowers and then stippling in the white spaces.

For the pelican, I made waves lines because they are a water bird and sometimes I quilted feathers or circles or echoing.  I wanted to be sure everything was sewn down well because the batting was polyester.

Here she is with her quilt.  She was very happy to have it finished.  She is pretty much home bound now, so she hasn't been to church for quite a while.  I met her in my Sunday school class a few years ago.  

One more project accomplished.  I didn't work on any strip quilting this month, so I couldn't link with Humble quilts, but I will do some in March.