Family Quilt Treasures

My Hubby and I spent the day with his mom yesterday, helping her clean and straighten one of her bedrooms. We worked, cleaned, sorted, threw awy and gathered for donation all day long. We were exhausted by last night, but the room looks great and Meme feels great about it! In one of the closets, we unearthed some family treasures. 2 quilts made by my hubby's paternal Granny! Now I have several quilts made by his maternal Granny and her mother, but I had not seen any made by the other. My MIL gave them to me! I love old quilts, made out of necessity and scraps and used as long as possible. The first is a neat pinwheel design:

The second is an elongated hexagon:

I love the little "egg cup" fabric!

Both were hand pieced and hand quilted. I will treasure them!

Christmas Fabric find

One of my goals (well 2 to be exact ) for 2010 is to make Christmas quilts for our beds. I got a start on that goal on Monday when we drove up to Boone to check on my son's cabin since the snow and ice storms. The cabin was fine, and on the way back, we stopped at on of my fave quilt shops, Sew Original. The quilt goddesses were doing end of year inventory, and I was just strolling about. I spied their group of Christmas fabrics and in that group was the layer cake I have been lusting for, Figgy Pudding. Now, I didn't get the Christmas quilt fever until mid December, and then it hit me hard! I began Googling "Christmas Quilts" at every opportunity, gathering ideas and inspiration. I found "Figgy Pudding" and was immediately drawn to the mix of modern and traditional, the reds and greens complemented by Robin's Egg blue and chocolate brown. I started trying to find the fabric on-line. Close to impossible, a fat quarter here, a half-yard there. But a layer cake, no way.

Well, there it was, a lone Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey for Moda Layer Cake. And as I was fondling it gently, lingering over each pattern, Kay calls out "all our Christmas fabric is half off". Needless to say, I changed my grasp on the fabric from a lover's caress to that of a death grip! And not happy to just get the Last Remaining Layer Cake, I also snatched up a Fat-Quarter set of Figgy Pudding as well. I know a single layer cale is not enough for a bed-quilt, and we have a king bed. Here are my goodies:

I have also decided on a pattern. Atkinson Designs "Slide Show". 

I love Terry Atkinson's patterns. Her directions are clear and she includes fabric amounts for a variety of sizes. I think this pattern will show off all the beauties in "Figgy Pudding". And I love the little squares in the sashing! I am not sure about the color of my sashing, but I am NOT using white! After all, we have hounds who love to lay on the bed! I am leaning toward dark red, brown or taupe. Possibly one of the "Dimples" colors. Now, what to do for the other bed?

A Christmas Miracle

I knew when we adopted Sarge it would be a long road to "pet" status for him. He had serious trust (or should I say anit-trust) issues. He had been negleted and was seriously underweight, full of ticks and fleas and scared of his own shadow. We have worked seriously at loving on him, taking him for walks and romps at the park. It helps having 2 other dogs that are well adjusted. But I was not prepared for Christmas Day!

I had alerted everyone to his shyness. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy and our ususal crowd was sparse, but that meant less people for Sarge to fear. My sweet Daddy loves the hounds (where do you think I got it?) and took his time talking to Sarge.

As you can see, Sarge responded by letting Daddy pet him!

Pepper, of course, had to hog the attention and went in for some sugar!

Sarge took treats from my Mom and stayed around to enjoy the day with us. It is so rewarding to see this beautiful dog blossom!

My brother and SIL didn't make it this year. We have had snow, but since they live in Banner Elk (mountainous), they had SNOW. And on Christmas Day, they had ice and lost power. They also had to spend Christmas morning at the Emergency Vet Clinic with their Jack Russel, Taz. Fortunately Taz seems to be on the mend, but as of yesterday, my brother still didn't have power. 

The 10" of snow of December 18-19 has lingered here, and Christmas Day brought 2.5" of rain, so we had flooding in our basement. It was coming in under the door. Then on Saturday, Dec 27, our furnace went out. Seems like a tradition as it went out last year on Christmas Eve. We had a repairman out, and we are blessed to have the money to fix it. I have been just piddling around, sleeping until 8, lingering over coffee and the paper. I did finish piecing a top and the back, but haven't pinned it yet. And I have been practicing piecing curves!

 

 

 I pulled out scraps and just sat down and did it! Each one was easier and better than the last. I have fabric from the Moda "Arcadia" collection ready for this quilt. I have also been making hanging sleeves and sewing them on for my show next month.

 

A question for my fellow quilters out there: What is a Schnibble? I have seen the "Year of Schnibbles" badges, but can't figure out what a schnibble is. The schibble quilts are cute and scrappy (which I love!), and I would love to participate if someone can tell me how! Just leave me a comment or email me (kheliwud at gmail dot com).Thanks in advance!  

I am thinking/planning on what my quilting goals will be for 2010. I will blog about them later this week. Anyone out there have interesting quilting resolutions?

Some Quilt love

Shelia LOVED her quilt! She said she had been waiting for me to make her one! She told me it was her FAVORITE gift! I knew she would be very happy!

 

Sam loved his too! He opened it and immediately exclaimed "Its a skateboard quilt!"

So now, back to the studio for more sewing! Oh, and this:

My Mom and I are having an exhibition starting January 27,2010. Stop by if you are in the Stokes County NC area!

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to all my blogesphere friends! 

I wish for all of us peace and love.

Another completion

Yes, being snowed in has it's advantages. I have been in the studio, sewing and quilting.

Its 52" x 64", a mixture of hand- and commercially dyed fabrics.

The middle panel has free-motion circles and undulation lines. The 2 outside panels I used my walking foot to quilt straight parallel lines.

Here's the sketch I made when the idea hit me at work:

And here is my sweet hubby playing in the snow with Sarge, Pepper is off running in the distance, and Murray is plodding through. 

 

Our 2009 Christmas card

Gotta love Shutterfly.

And trying to get all 6 of us to look in the same direction at the same time, fuggetaboutit!

Snow on a Saturday

It is not to bad to be on the news when it is about the weather. We here in the mountains of NC got hit with a winter storm yesterday. Quite unusual, especially in December, as we normally get our snow in February and March. It is pretty, but I get cabin fever really quickly! 

Here's a shot out of my front door last night:

I love how the light reflects on the snow!

And here is sweet Sarge:

Murray has really had fun tromping through:

And Pepper? Well she has either been curled up in a ball on the sofa, or running too fast to capture on the camera!

As for me, I have been sewing. I have 20 blocks made on my scrap-string quilt:

Sweet hubby loves it so I am making it king-size for our bed. This will be an on-going project to make it big  enough. I am making my blocks 12.5" inches. Why 12.5"? Well, 2 reasons: 1. that makes 12" finished squares which makes it quicker to make a large quilt, and 2. That is the size of my square ruler! I may get a larger square ruler, it would make a king-size quilt even quicker!

I am also working on another art quilt for my exhibit in January:

 

Currently just strips sewn together, but it is starting to come together in my head.

I am also taking advantage of being house-bound to clean a bit in the studio. I have lots of rogue scraps and threads lying about.

Winter in North Carolina

Here's what it looks like in my neck of the woods:

It has been snowing since about 9am here. We do not usually get much snow at all, much less this close to Christmas! We are predicted to get 6-12 inches (or more) before it ends. But we are home and I believe I will sew!

Christmas Quilt inspiration

I am stringing along in my scrap reduction, so no new quilt completions yet for me. Also, my delightful son is home from school and I have wanted to spend precious time with him! But, I still dream (day and night) about new quilts to make. In the past I have never been drawn to Christmas quilts or prints, but in the last week, that has changed! Nicole at Sister's Choice Quilts has blogged about her Christmas quilts. And boy are they cute!  I love this one:

And then there is this beauty:

Nicole has made a lot of Christmas quilts. She has inspired me!

So, (an New Year's Resolution), I am going to make Christmas quilts for our home in time for next Christmas! Great time to decide this, as maybe I can buy Christmas fabric on sale after the Holiday ;o).

Also, my mom and I have a quilt show coming up in January, so I have been making and sewing my labels on my quilts and need to sew the hanging sleeves on as well. I have the pieces for one more I may try to finish in time for the show, but haven't felt the love for it yet. I am waiting for the fabric to tell me what it wants to be.

Not enough time.....

This is when there is just not enough time to do all I want to do. I really want to be sewing, but I have a full-time job (thank God!). I have so many quilt ideas, I have to write them down and check them off as I go. I need to sew every day, but until this coming weekend, I really do not have the focus to start a big quilt, so I have been string-piecing. My scrap stash has blossomed (I have finished 21 quilts, 6 table runners and 6 handbags this year!), so last night I began. I am stringing 12.5" blocks, with a white/off-white/light neutral strip in the center. I am just going to piece until I use up all my scraps! No pressure, no deadline, just something to do that is quite relaxing. Need help getting started "stringing"? Here's Bonnie's tutorial, she uses muslin as her foundation (that's what I am doing), for a paper foundation tutorial, here's Filminthefridge's link.

And since I always like to include a photo with a post, here's one:

Pepper in Daddy's chair. She looks so sweet and sleepy!

Some fun eye candy

I am in the "in-between time". I finished my Christmas present quilts and now must shop for the others on our list. Why shop? Well, I did give quilts last Christmas too!

I need to excercise my creativity everyday to keep it strong, so, since I am not cutting, pieceing or quilting today, I played with some of my Christmas lights photos. I think these are great starters for quilt ideas. Enjoy!

Last Christmas present quilt finished!

It is all done except the binding.

Quilting on this one was as smooth as running a warm knife through butter!

It was a true joy to quilt. 

The colors are so traditional and soothing. The soft gold and warm burgundy.

Perfect for the intended recipient!

I hope she feels the love I put into it. 

Too cute to miss!

Check out this delightful pictorial!

more gift ideas for your quilter!

How about a selection of needles? You can not have too many needles. Remember to change your needles often!

And batting, quilters need a lot of batting (I like 100% cotton).

A huge collection of coordinating fabrics is nice!

And Thread:

I prefer YLI, Mettler and Sulky Blendables!

Plus, your LQS (local quilt shop) has tons of other great ideas, from inexpensive to quite expensive.

Great gift ideas for the quilter on your list

If there is a quilter in your life, you may get a quilt for Christmas. But what to get the quilter?  Here are some things I like!:

Wicked cool tshirt from Crafty Gear.

The Juki TL98Q is a Single Needle, Lockstitch Machine for straight stitching and quilting. Not sure if it is perfect,but seems close to it!

A Gammill Longarm. MMMMMM.!!

More later!

2nd quilt top completed

I got this top completed today. It measures 56" x 67". I am pin-basting it tomorrow and hope to start quilting.

I like this pattern, I made it up as I went along. I need to write all the measurements down, since I will definitely want to make it again. It is great to show off really neat patterns and went together very quickly. I did find out that I do not need to make the 3rd quilt, that recipient received on last year as a wedding gift and needs something for her home. Still, its nice to have these done and know I can get 1 done a week if I have to!

1 down, 2 to go!

I am still trying to get 2 more quilts done, even though one of my giftees may want something else! (She got a quilt last year as a wedding present and I want to give her what she wants for her new home.) This just needs binding, then wrapping.  Below is a detail:

  The Rouenneries collection is simply beautiful. And this giftee had requested a pink and brown quilt, I think this fills that order! Actually I would keep it for myself if she didn't want it.

The 2-day quilting class I was registered to take this weekend was cancelled due to snow, so I am grateful to have 2 extra days to sew!

Progress report

I have half of this quilt, quilted!

I am using a YLI thread in Cafe Mocha-love this thread color! I have been using Sticks and Stones a lot, but this is more brown and less beige. Looks nice with the burgundy and taupes in theis quilt!

I have received my first Christmas gift! My friend Lynn, of Imperfections Unique, made me this:

LOVE IT! Visit her etsy shop for great beaded jewelry and really cute bags!