"Help make a child smile" quilts

The Sevier County Fair will have a new entry this year.  Make a quilt (or two or three) and bring it in for judging.  The quilts will not be returned to the maker as they will be donated to the Sevier Valley Medical Center and the New Horizons Crisis Center.  I hope you all will decide to get involved in a charitable activity this year.  Have fun and help put a smile on someone's face.

We've Got a Good Thing Growing

Our Sevier County Fair is coming up in a month and I wanted to make a theme quilt.  I found a pattern in Quilter's World and added a border, the theme in the border, and cut out flower petals and leaves using my Accuquilt Studio die cutting system.  It went together easily and I had a great time designing my flowers.  I machine appliqued the flowers and the letters with monofiliment thread.  The wall hanging will eventually hang in my studio.  Hopefully, you will be inspired to design something you can enjoy.  Be inspired by everything around you.

Chili Fixin's

Several years ago we were given a bag of Fartless Chili Makin's.  I loved the canvas bag and took the stitching out and pressed the seams as flat as possible.  The canvas bag sat waiting for me to find just the right project for it to be used in.  Finally, I found some fabric with outhouses printed on it.  I knew that I had to order the fabric and create a quilt using the canvas bag.  I am very happy with the results.  I hope you are inspired by the things around you.  Find joy in the little things.  PS - if you want to check out the products from "The Old Fart" just go to fartless.com

Fun with fabric

This quilt is made from the scraps of my original project (which I am still in the process of machine quilting.)  I call it "Room with a view".  The print fabric has outhouses in the pattern.  Yep, that's what I said.  Outhouses.  I thought it was the perfect fabric to go into the unfinished quilt (to be posted at a later date).  I made it this weekend to give to someone who has had a rough month and thought it would cheer them up.  The deer fabric is from the panel fabric that I used in a previous quilt.  Still have enough for 2 more quilts!  I machine quilted this quilt with a simple cross hatch pattern.  Next quilt projects will be for our Sevier County fair in August.  This means I have to get busy.  Enjoy your projects.

Twin's Quilts

I was asked to create quilts for a set of twins.  Their Mom purchased the fabric and her request was that they be larger than a crib size and smaller than a lap size quilt.  The backing fabric was to present itself on the front, an old pair of her Dad's jeans was to be utilized in the quilt, as well as using the worn parts of the jeans.  I hope she likes what I did.  It was fun to come up with a pattern for each one.  As you can tell, there is a girl and a boy.  I quilted the boy's with a circle and wave motif.  The little girl's is done in flower shapes to mimic the floral fabric.  I didn't want to cut the large print into small units as I thought it was a lovely print.  I hope you all have fun with your quilts!

Panels are fun

QUILT                                                               PANEL

I hit the clearance table at my local quilt shop and bought a few yards of the deer panels.  I decided to use my new triangle die cut shapes from Accuquilt and this is the quilt I ended up with.  I still have a little more of the orange fabric to use too.  More deer quilts to come.  But first I have an order for two toddler quilts for a friend's twin grandchildren.  Of course my trusty Accuquilt die cutter will be pressed into use to cut squares for those quilts too.

Scrappy IV

This is the last quilt in a series of four made from a one gallon ziplock bag of scraps.  Of course, I had to add more fabric for the filling blocks, sashing & border.  However, those fabrics were straight our of my stash and had been used in other quilts.  I even went one step further and opened up my containers of precut shapes and used what was left of those to give some dimension to this last quilt.  The cutouts were created using my Accucut studio die cutting machine.  I invested in this great product a couple of years ago and have great fun with it.  I love to let my imagination fly.  If anyone ever needs some precut shapes, just find someone locally who has an Accucut studio or GO cutter (a smaller version of the studio die cutter) and ask them if they would cut some shapes for you.  You may be so lucky as to find someone willing to let you use their machine (at their home, studio, or quilt shop) for free.  Remember, have fun with your quilting.  You can chose your own color scheme, decide on the pattern to use, and even the color of thread for the quilting.  Spread your wings and enjoy the journey!

Thrifty quilting

I have always been a "green" quilter.  Using fabrics I have on hand (yes, I have a stash), using pieces of clothing that have memories attached to them, keeping an eye out for bargains, etc.  In doing this I have been able to donate and give away quite a few quilts.  They have warmed and cheered up friends and co-workers.  I think there is someone in each of our lives who could benefit from having a hand made item to snuggle up in on a cold day.  Something tangible that reminds them that someone cares and is thinking of them.

Quilting - Think outside the lines

One of the exciting things about a quilt is allowing yourself the freedom to quilt it however you choose. There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to the design and technique. For beginners, tying a quilt seems the safest way to go. I love to see a student embrace the freemotion technique with their sewing machine. I am a doodler at heart. I doodle all over the quilt and somehow it seems to find the path that I imagined. From the color of thread to the design itself I am always amazed by the end result. Don't think I haven't unpicked a wayward line or two. In the end, the story in the quilt, from design, to fabric, to finishing, is all you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Fabric leftovers

This month I am focusing on using scraps saved from other sewing projects that I stored in ziplock bags and put in a wicker basket which sits under one of my sewing tables. When the bags start to fall out of the basket, it is time to make a scrappy quilt. The size of the scraps will determine the shape of the block that I chose. In bag "1" I had some strips that were various sizes. Ever the recyler, I utilized paper that was being thrown out at work. The shape of the paper determined the actual finished shape of the block. The first rule was that I had to use whatever piece of fabric I grabbed out of the bag. The second rule was if I really didn't like the color of the fabric I grabbed out of the bag, I had to find someway to like it. The final rule was to use all the bobbins that had thread on them no matter what the color was. Fortunately, I had light, medium and dark fabrics in the bag! Be fearless. Have fun. Don't worry about making a mistake. You can always unpick or just toss out the block you cannot live with.