FAITHFUL IS FINISHED!

How long ago did Lori have the Quilt-A-Long for Faithful?  I searched her blog and found out it was October, 2013.  So, it only took me about 1 1/2 years to get this done.  Woo Hoo!

25" square

I have a reason that it took me so long.  First of all, I used the basket block in the center and it is on point.  You can't really hang a quilt on point, so I had to add corners to Faithful.  I had to think about that for a while.  If I added corners, they had to have something in them.  It wouldn't look very good to put plain fabric there, so I thought it would look nice to have lighter fabrics fanning out.

Then, I thought they needed something else and decided to appliqué something on each corner.  So I had to find things to put in the corners.  I got out magazines and books to try to find something and the first thing I picked was the bird sitting on the star.  I love Kim Diehl's quilts and have 2 of her books, although I have never made any of the quilts in them.  I have used them for appliqué designs before though, so I used some of the flower appliqué designs and the bird from her Simple Blessings book.  I'm not sure where the circle and star came from - I know I saw it somewhere.

Backing toile fabric from Boersma's basement.

The last thing I needed was some flowers for the basket, so I took the easy way out and made yo yos for it.  Thanks, Lori, for the QAL!

I finished my stack of little quilts as well and the last 2 are below.  I am on a roll with stars.  I've got a stack of 31 solid stars (not scrappy, in other words) and 9 scrappy stars.  So, I see more little quilts in my future.

21 1/2" x 17 3/4"

17" s 14"

Happy Wednesday to all of you!

SOME PROJECTS

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I posted!  I have been quite busy with having a garage sale last Friday & Saturday, getting the leftovers ready for the Salvation Army, etc.  It seems like every day this week I've been running around and not doing as much sewing as I want to do, but I am working on things.  

First of all, I want to thank you all for the many sweet comments that I received on my last post.  

I recently showed a new doll bed that I received from a friend.  Below are the blocks I'm making to put on the bed.  The pattern is from Kathleen Tracy's Remembering Adelia book.  I reduced the orange peel shape because I didn't want my quilt as big as hers.  I am appliquéing them onto a variety of shirtings.  The ones in the picture have not been sewn together except the lower left four.  I used the spray starch method to prepare the shapes for sewing.

I made another table runner similar to one that I sold in my Etsy shop and it is ready to be quilted (as soon as I get my sewing machine back from being serviced).

Another table runner made with Jo Morton's fabric.

I have started prepping my applique baskets for April and thanks to Joanne's suggestion, I sewed a basting stitch around the curved base on each side of the basket and it worked great to get a good smooth fold over of that part.   I also bought the template plastic that you can iron on and it is much better.

That's about it for this week.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

PS:  I have posted something on my secret blog (for those of you have access).  

THE WEEK FLEW BY

This has been a strange week for me.  First of all, I started having problems with my quilt puckering in one corner, so I started removing some of the stitches and I think I have all the stitches out that need to come out and my next step will be to rebaste that section of the quilt.  I know, Liri, if I would have basted it according to your method, I probably wouldn't be having this problem.  This is the reason I didn't.  I'm taking a quilting class on Craftsy and decided to follow the method for basting that the teacher (Cindy Needhan) recommended.  Actually, it is similar to Liri's method, except you don't baste the batting to the backing first and then baste the top to the batting/backing, you use safety pins.  I used it for the applique quilt and it was fine.  The applique quilt is larger than my civil war quilt, so I'm not sure what went wrong.  Hopefully, I can fix it and get it quilted soon!

Last Sunday I prepped the March baskets and I got them all finished by Tuesday!  It is really easy when they are prepped with spray starch!

I forgot to show this bundle of FQ shirtings that I got at the Dallas Quilt Show 2 weeks ago.  My friend, Karen, convinced me to go ahead and get it and I'm glad I did.

The rest of the week was taken up with a couple small projects that I really can't show the pictures of right now, plus working on a table runner for my Etsy shop.  Then, one day was taken up getting the carpet cleaned.  I've also been trying to get a little yard work done in the mornings.  So, that was my week.  I'm hoping for more to be accomplished this week.  Have a nice Palm Sunday!

A FINISH AND A WIN!

The quilt is finished except for a few little things, like embroidering antennae on the butterflies and quilting some accent lines on the some of the flowers.  Yea!! Now I can cross it off my list!!!  Don't look too close - of course, now you will!  I'm somewhat, but not completely happy with it.  I'm not looking for compliments, just admitting it isn't as good as I wish it was.  My excuses are:  I didn't have a pattern and I was making it up as I went along.  Ugh!  I don't really like white quilts and I'm not very experienced with applique, although I am attempting to remedy that.  I found that quilting the feathers is easier than quilting straight or semi-straight lines.  

Oh well, it's not going into a quilt show and it's for family.  I hope they will be happy with it. 

Now, I can work on my Civil War quilt, which is ready to baste.  In the mean time, I'm making matching dresses for Abby and her 18" doll, Lulu.

I was lucky enough to win a copy of of this book from Carolyn and just received it!  I am almost finished with Jennifer Chiaverini's other Civil War book, The Union Quilters, and have been enjoying it, so I'm looking forward to reading this one.

Since this is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, now is the time to learn more about it and Jennifer's two books, at least the first one (and I'm sure I'll find the second one too), has a lot of facts put into it and I love historical novels.  Also, the movie about President Lincoln as well as the Killing Lincoln book by Bill O'Reilly and movie that was on TV are available too.

WEEKEND QUILTING

I decided that for the February BOM baskets I would use the spray starch method to prepare the baskets  (all 12 of them) for appliqué.

Double layer of freezer paper is ironed to the back of the fabric.

Spray starch is brushed onto the edge of the freezer paper and the seam allowance.

I used the Clover mini iron to fold the seam allowance to the back and when it dries it says there.

 It is so much easier to appliqué the baskets to the fabric when I use this method and I think I'm getting better at the spray starch part.  It's kind of a pain, but worth it.

I finished "Spring Kitty" and will take it to my guild meeting tonight for "Show & Tell."  It's 22" x 28".

Spring Kitty

I quilted the background with leaves and branches.

Spirals were quilted in the sashing and border.

I have posted this quilt before, but Ann suggested I post it again.  She posted some pictures of her home and I enjoy seeing these, so I decided to post the quilt and how it hangs in my living room part of the time.  This quilt was made for my DH's grandmother in 1883 by Grandma Score in Washburn, WI.  It was the one of the only things my MIL had from her mother, who died when my MIL was only 9 years old.  

Rocky Road to Dublin

Here it is hanging in my living room on a quilt rack made for me by my DS/DIL.

If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, go here to enter.  The drawing will be on Valentine's day.

COUSINS AND SOME PROJECTS WORKED ON

 Saturday was a very busy day.  DS#3/DIL were scheduled to run in a marathon, but since Eli was sick, only DS ran.  Jonah stayed with us for the day and Abby, her Mom, Jonah and I went to a local park where the kids had a blast.  They literally ran the whole time the were there (just about).  Four year olds seem to have unending energy!

A snack to replenish the energy!

Walking to the car together.

 Jonah spent the night in our camper and played with some toys that he hadn't seen before, such as the marble maze below.  That has always been a real hit with the grandkids!  You put the marble in the top and it rolls down through all the curves, bridges and bumps to the bottom.

Uncle Sam is always fun too.  You put your penny in Uncle Sam's hand and when you press the button, Uncle Sam's hand drops the penny in his satchel.  In this bank, you can retrieve the pennies to do it all over again.  It's a heavy metal replica of an antique toy/bank.
 

Pressing the button for Uncle Sam.

 I have been sewing every day.  Some things I'm not showing on this blog, so it doesn't seem like much.  I was able to finish this panel from the Winter Wonderland pattern.  Two panels down and one to go, then they will get set into a quilted wall hanging.

Close-up of the left side.

Close-up of the right side.

I worked on the appliqué pieces for this wall hanging, which I am making two of, and had hoped to get them all ironed on, but decided I better wait until I get home to iron them on the background because the iron I have in the camper has some gunk stuck on it and I don't have a pressing cloth with me.  All the pieces are ready, though and they will be machine appliquéd when I get around to it.  The wall hanging was so cute when I saw it at the LQS that I just couldn't resist!

We will be back home in about a week.  Yea!!  We're ready to get back to normal living again.  I think I'll work on a UFO list and maybe set some goals for 2013.  I'm afraid it will be a long list!  

I MIGHT LIKE APPLIQUE AFTER ALL!

Here is the latest BOM from Gail Pan designs. I think I'm current on this one, except I haven't been putting the borders on yet. And here's the latest "A Tisket A Tasket" applique BOM. When I started these, I didn't know how I would do them, because I usually don't do applique. The first month, I tried needle turn applique and while I got it done, I wasn't real happy with it. The second one I tried the kind where you iron freezer paper on, turn the edges under and applique like needle turn. Then you cut out the back and peel off the paper. I really didn't like this method and decided I would not do it again. The last two I used Wonder Under and machine applique and I like this method the best. I know it doesn't look as good as "good" needle turn applique, but I think it looks better than MY needle turn, so I decided to do all of them this way.
I can't believe I am up to date on these! (I'll post the 4th one soon - I need to take a picture of it). I gives me a little hope and even desire to do some more applique. It would probably be better if I would do some "country" or "primitive" type applique with large pieces. Tee Hee Hee!!!