Quilt #2 for Charity - practice with rulers

 Charity Quilt #2. This was my first attempt at ruler work, and of course I chose to do curves which are tricky. Fabric was donated by Wanda for the front and Trenna for the back.

Red and White Charity Quilt

My third quilt which will also go to charity. Fabric was donated by Jamie for the top and Trenna for the back. More ruler work with curves, but added straight lines and learning to hit markings.

This turned out so well that APQS (my longarm is an APQS Millennium), asked to repost my Instagram pictures to their Instagram page. Woo Hoo!

First Practice Quilt on my Longarm

At the end of January 2020, I finally became the owner of my own longarm quilting machine.  After the set up, I began practicing. I will begin posting pictures of the quilts that I have quilted over the last 9 months.

Many friends pass me their unwanted fabric.  With it, I have been making quilt tops for the last 8 plus years as I saved my pennies, to be able to practice my quilting once I got a longarm. These, I plan to give to a women's shelter once they are quilted. This first one  I played with free motion - a different thing in each square.

Baby Quilt for Sarah

 A friend from church was having a baby shower. I debated what to bring and two days before the party, I decided I'd just throw together a baby quilt. The quilting was done on my domestic machine - probably about 6 months before I got my longarm, but for some reason she didn't want to wait until then to have the baby, so... there it is. She probably liked the back the most. Good thing it's reversible. 

Front

Back

Cathy's Falling Charms Quilt

I was honored when Cathy asked me to quilt her Falling Charms Quilt top. 

The quilt design is called Modern Twist from Urban Elementz. 

This was finished 1 October 2020.

 

 

Cross Quilt for Melanie & Chris

I wish I could take credit for this beautiful design, but I saw it on Pinterest with the lable "Prayer for Peace." It said the pattern was coming out soon.  Well, I didn't need a wall sized quilt, I wanted it to be bed sized, so, using their picture and designed the quilt fit my needs.

My apologies for the lighting.  I wanted to take a picture outside, but it's been dark and rainy. Even when it's not raining, it's muddy outside and I have no good place to take the photo without getting that bright white dirty.


This quilt I made this past month for my good friends, Melanie and Chris, both priests at their church, who are moving away this next week. I’ve had the good fortune to watch their two little boys for the last year plus. They are good, caring people.

The back was signed by members of their church and my family. 

I’ve seen so much symbolism is the design. This is one I enjoyed making.  Here are some close up on the quilting.

One must always have a label for the quilt.  This quilt I entitled "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" inspired by a hymn (photo below) which speaks of which speaks of following the path that God has for you in what you say, what you do and where you go.

The binding is has a faux piping.  I love the subtle frame and the ease of sewing the binding on by machine.

Alexander’s Train Quilt

Emerald made 2 year old Alexander this quilt for Christmas. He loved certain zoo animals, vehicles, and trains, so with my embroidery machine, we embroidered his favorite zoo animals, cars, and trucks on to the white squares.  Then she designed and appliqued the train in the center. One of the great things about this quilt is that it was all made from fabric in our stashes. Love that! (Sorry the lighting was weird in the room).

 

Making Curtains - Tutorial

My sister asked me to make curtains.  Here's the basics of how to make a curtain.  First, figure out the size needed by measuring the window.  How much do you want it to hang below the window?  What's the overlap on the outsides of the window?  How much gather do you want when the curtains are closed?  Ultimately you can decide for yourself what you like.

1. The white lining fabric is the exact size that the curtains will be.  I have allowed 1" on each side for seams and 4-1/2" at the bottom and 2-1/2" at the top for a 1-1/2-2" rod pocket.  If you would want that ruffle at the top above the rod pocket, add 2-4" to that figure (depending on how much ruffle you want).  This was not what my sister wanted, so we left that off.

2. As much as I hate ironing, it will make this whole thing much easier.  Fold and iron 1/2" on all edges.


3. Next, carefully place and pin the lining to the curtain fabric, wrong sides together.  If you cut and ironed precisely, the raw edges of the lining should just touch the raw edges of the curtain fabric on each side.

4. Fold and iron the side seams over the lining 1". Pin in place.

5. Then sew close to the inside folded edge. Repeat for other side.

6. If you haven't done so yet, iron 1/2" from raw edge, then fold down 2" (or 4" for the bottom) so that the fold is where the liner begins. Iron, pin and sew as you did for the sides. Top is shown here, but the same applies to the bottom hem as well.

If you want a ruffle at the top, you will need a 4" fold from the top, then after sewing along the folded edge, closest to the center of the curtain, sew 2" from top and 2" from the seam that you just made, in other words, smack down the center of the pocket you just made. 

Here it is finished.  Makes the room bright and colorful, that's for sure.

Starry Baby Blanket

Emerald designed and made this baby blanket for a friend. Simple squares and half square triangles, but the colorful background makes it pop. 

Tied with yellow yarn.  I like the tactile experience for babies since I remember finding comfort in rubbing the ties on my baby blanket.  I think the yellow adds to the stars in the sky on this quilt.

For some reason the color is way off on this photo, but yellow binding is machine stitched on using a decorative stitch - stars of course.  I like to stitch the binding on by machine for quilts that are going to be used a lot, especially baby blankets that get washed frequently.  It makes them hold up better.

Hey! I made that!

This has happened a few times, where I was searching on the net or a fabric store sent me a link to their site with a photo attached and I do a double take.  "Hey! I made that!!!"  Here's one I ran across a few years ago on the fabric.com site, and I snapped a picture with my phone of the computer screen.  I had forgotten all about this since it was before I started blogging.  Kinda fun.