Sew Sunshine

This was a fun quilt to make. It is a free pattern on the Tilda website. I wanted to do an applique quilt for a long time and I do love a dresden.  I did a simple diamond quilting over the top of applique. I was not sure how hard it would be to quilt myself. It wasn't! I love everything about this one. The pattern the colors how the blocks came together. So scrappy and fun. Perfect to finish for the county fair. So glad I did. I received Judges choice and a blue! I made this quilt bigger but was not sure how much bigger so I had some extra blocks I put on the back.  66"x 76" approx. My other 2 entries I have posted about before. More about this trip around the world   HERE got a Blue ribbon and  My Bee mate quilt Notan got a blue too! Read about it  HERE

Project Quilting 14.6 Posey Patch So Project quilting this week for 14.6 was Conquer a fear. While I  don't feel this was a fear really it was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to use scraps/stash as per usual this year AND I wanted to do some applique AND I wanted to incorporate a paint chip challenge that my friend and I came up with a few weeks ago. Also my goal was to make baby size quilts for each challenge this year so my finish is 41" x 42" I was able to use the bottom 5 color chips! Woot..... I drew up a loose applique design that I felt was kind of fun.  I used a bunch of odd sized scrap cuts. Sorted them into piles of widths and then just chain pieced them together and then cut at equal lengths. Like a jelly roll race sorta. Made a great background for my applique plus I actually used some of my stash up for a change. I just started drawing on fusible web paper and cut out on various colors and voila! Linking up with  Persimon Dreams  go see other entries Wen...

One of my local quilt guilds had a chance to work with the International Quilt Museum here in town and Gallery 1516 in Omaha. The show is called Modern Quilting on the Prairie.  Modern quilts were paired with quilts from the IQM and some quilts were just in a themed section inspired by Prairie. This is my entry "O Praire Girl"  My quilt was inspired by part of the Carl Sandburg poem Prairie -  "O prairie girl, be lonely, singing, dreaming, waiting— your lover comes—your child comes—the years creep with toes of April rain on new-turned sod. O prairie girl, whoever leaves you only crimson poppies to talk with, whoever puts a good-by kiss on your lips and never comes back— There is a song deep as the falltime redhaws, long as the layer of black loam we go to, the shine of the morning star over the corn belt, the wave line of dawn up a wheat valley." and this photo I took several years ago of farmland by my home growing up My piece is improvisation, applique, with simpl...

This week Project Quilting 14.4 theme is Novel Project So of course I remembered I had a scrap of Pride and Prejudice fabric. I decided size wise it had to be a small project so why not a pillow. I adore black and white fabrics anyway and had some fun script fabrics to use.  I was so happy to make a silhouette and have it capture some of the best parts of the fabric. The silhouette is Jane Austen at a younger age and it was a free clip art.  The pillow is 16" size applique and piecing minimal quilting and applique Linking this up with Kim @ Persimmon Dreams  Project quilting 14.4 My Quilt Infatuation Alycia Quilts finish or not friday Confessions of a Fabric addict Put your foot down From bolt to beauty Wendy's Quilts and more parade

Let the Sun Shine - P.Q. 13.2  challenge theme = silhouette 16.5" x 16. 5" applique my original design My challenge piece for this weeks Project Quilting theme from  Persimon Dreams blog . The theme is silhouette this week. I knew I would keep this project small if I wanted to do applique. I decided on the fused applique and then stitched it all down with invisible thread. The invisible thread turned out to work really well but it was so hard to see when working on it.  Linking up with Persimon dreams so go check out all the entries  HERE I also wanted to do a pattern or something from my library. I remembered I had one of  Sotak Handmade  little bag patterns. I dug in my stash for some light canvas fabrics and voila... This little bag went together easy and is so cute! Perfect for a little grab and go project! I plan to make more of these for sure and I have tons of fabric..haha I love big prints even in small bags.  Also linking with NTT @ ...

"Clowning Around"  Zen Medallion pattern by Latifah Saafir 50" x50"  So much bias tape on this quilt. I enjoyed making it and sewing it on but when I went to sew the wedges together I had a hard time getting the bias tape to match in width. Because I made the bias with various fabrics some pressed better than others. I do recommend the AGF's because their hand is so smooth and presses beautifully but if you use the light prints you might get see through seams. The pressing really needs to go whichever way is the flattest.  I wanted to quilt this by hand but I soon realized that with bias tape the thickness adds up. Bias is already 2 layers on the edges sewn onto background makes 3, batting 4, backing 5. Now add putting bias tape over another fabric as in the domed pieces above...6 and finally what about over another piece of bias? 7,8! So not for my whimpy sewing fingers!!! I ended up using my walking foot and doing what I call 'radiant' lines around mak...

abound right now so I am looking at today as a small win. I have not been sewing hardly at all in the last few months. My eyes and other issues have not been great. I am to the point right now where I feel I either do what I can while I can or quit. I don't want to quit. I have been able to read on my tablet with the lighting on it set to a mild bright.  Yay! That is progress. I decided since that was going pretty well I wondered what I could do in the quilting department?  Above is a photo of hot pad. I had made the top in the style of QAYG on batting so it was perfect to add some insul-bright and a scrappy binding. It took most of the morning because I had to wind a bobbin and clean the machine. You know what happens when you are away from your machine for months or longer and suddenly you have to remember how to do everything all over again.  Well I did it! And when that one was finished I made two more..... Again.... I had forgotten how much of a mess it is to get out...

I am not even sure when this little quilt was started. I know I had access to an Accuquilt machine at a local sewday. I cut out the circles and fusible circles too. I got home and started using some fancy stitches on my sewing machine to go around the edges.  I also remember taking them to a sew day at our county fair to sew on while being in the Quilts for Kids booth. The year? I am not sure.  I am pretty sure this quilt did not want to be finished. I found the blocks when looking for materials to make masks out of.  I thought, I can sew this up quickly. I did, and then I pressed it and then had to sew the whole thing again because my antique iron melted the thread in about 75% of it. Yes melted. I could see the thread go from shiny to dull and then I rubbed it. The thread actually came up from one side like tiny beads on a strand. So very odd. I have used that thread since and the same iron and nothing?? My sewing room in disaster mode!!! ha An...

Here is my test quilt of "Eternal Moment" pattern by Simone of  Simone Quilts . This pattern is currently in  Make Modern  Magazine issue 32.  I wanted a rainbow theme for the orange peels and used up some scrappy low volume pieces for the background.   Lots of orange petals. I didn't want to raw edge them so I used freezer paper templates and starch to turn each petal.  Laying out some of the petals to see how they look behind the giant orange peel was so much fun.  I kept stopping to take more pictures of the progress because once all the little work was done this quilt top came together really quickly.  I love the texture of the mix of background fabrics.  I wish I would have gotten this quilted before Simone's pattern was released but I have done very little sewing with my current eye issues. I look forward to getting to it though hopefully this year.  Recently my black and white mini...