October Blocks of the Month

So where did this month go?  So much to do to get the yard in order before the winter weather sets in.  I finally had a moment to work on the October Craftsy blocks of the month.  This month's lesson was on paper piecing.  Not my favorite technique, but since it's the last of the blocks in this Craftsy series, I had to follow through.  As you can see I am still using the bright colors.  Next months lesson is putting the blocks together into a quilt.

On the left is Friendship Circle Block

On the right  is the Circle of Geese Block

Fence Rail Diamond - "Pumpkin Spice"

Finished putting the label on the Fence Rail Diamond quilt last night. As you can see by the label it is called"Pumpkin Spice". That happens to be the name of the dark brown with pumpkin print fabric. This is a queensized quilt that will be donated to the New Horizons Center in Richfield, Utah as a raffle quilt. The quilt blocks were from the tutorial on Fence Rail Diamonds from The Missouri Star Quilt Company. It worked up very quickly and I like the final product. I added the border and corner blocks & decided to highlight the quilt by using the pumpkin colored binding.

HAD FUN WITH THE LABEL!

MACHINE QUILTED WITH SWIRLS (IN HONOR OF HALLOWEEN I CALL IT MAKING WITCHES TOES)

NEED NEW CAMERA TO SHOW BETTER COLORING

What a Find!

On our way home from shopping today something shiny caught my eye.  Around the block we went and parked in front of the yard sale.  The shiny thing was the chrome on a Free Westinghouse Zig Zag sewing machine in a cabinet.  The bobbin winder tire needed replacement, the shaft on the winder was seized, the light will need to be rewired.  However, after 2 1/2 hours of cleaning and servicing I have one sweet machine.  What a bargain (or so I think) at $80.  The machine has a wonderful stitch and is very quiet.  I will have to buy some wiring to get the light going, but I am so happy with the purchase.  The machine is living in the kitchen for a few days until I decide where I want to put it.  I am not sure of the age but believe it is a model J2 manufactured somewhere in the late 1920's or 1930's.  It has all the attachments and instruction booklet too.

My daughter-in-law, Trista, came to visit her Mom over the last few days and made a wonderful little "motorcycle" out of diapers and baby stuff for our new little Hannah.  Her Mom helped her make the name blocks.  The gifts were so adorable that I had to take photos.  Trista is very creative (if you couldn't already tell from the gifts).

Here's hoping you all have a great autumn and remember to share your talents with others.

September Blocks of the Month

This past month has been so busy that I just now got around to completing the September blocks of the month for my Craftsy class.  I did take a shortcut in making the units.  I have made a Drunkard's Path quilt in the past so I do know how to construct the unit.  However, I learned a simpler way of construction from Jenny Doan on Missouri Star Quilt Company's tutorial page.  As I am using only fabric on hand, the Cleopatra's Puzzle block is a little different than the actual pattern.  The pattern uses only 2 fabrics, but I didn't have quite enough so I used the 'lemon' & 'lime' fabrics.  The chain block pattern is another block made with what I had on hand.  My little stash box that I am using for this Craftsy class has alot of bright colors and some darker colors, but not very big pieces of those fabrics.  So this quilt will be a truly scrappy creation.

Chain Block on the left  -- Cleopatra's Puzzle on the right

PS - this beautiful little angel is our precious Hannah born this past Thursday.  Truly a little miracle and she has captured all of our hearts.



Boo-tiful Night

Finished my Halloween quilt last night.  The blocks are made using the tube technique.  I learned this technique from Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Company website.  This is a quick and easy way to make a block.  Most of the fabric was purchased at our local quilt store in Richfield, Utah - Marcia's.  It is a charming little store right on the main street.  I machine quilted the project with a meandering loop style and threw in a word or two.

Hope your harvest was good and that you are all enjoying the beautiful weather.

'Boo-tiful Night"

Meandering loops with a word or two thrown in

and of course, the label.



Cocoa Creme

Finally finished the "1600 Quilt".  I used a smaller "jelly roll" so the center section of the quilt is smaller than the "1600 Quilt" would be.  I added two borders to make the quilt a finished sized of about 50" x 80".  This makes a nice quilt for someone who is tall or someone who just likes to be tucked in!  I used the scalloped edge by using my new Vines & Curves ruler purchased from Quilt In A Day.  I watched Jenny Doan's tutorial on the Missouri Star Quilt Company website (also found on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIHhTxTpMQ0&feature=player_detailpage.  The quilting is the "Meandering Peacock" pattern designed by Linda Taylor.  I used my Brother 1500 sewing machine which is set on a Start Right quilt frame from Grace Frame Co.  By using the Grace Laser I am able to follow a pantograph to do an all over design.
The quilt's name is "Cocoa Creme".  The colors reminded me of cherry chocolates and I used brown thread for the machine quilting.

Sorry, the photos didn't come out as well as they should have.  May have to break down and purchase a new digital camera.

Cocoa Creme

Center showing use of the 2 1/2" jelly roll strips

Curved edges - gentle 5" curves using the Vines & Curves ruler

Small Jelly Roll

The jelly roll from Riley Blake was a samller one than some so I decided to make the center strips the focus of the quilt.  I have added one border so far and am now trying to decide what color to put next.  Decisions, decisions!

1600 Quilt

I am using one of my new jelly rolls from Riley Blake Designs.  It is a quick and easy pattern and can be found on the web at several sites.  If you want to see how to do this go to the Missouri Star Quilt Company and watch Jenny Doan give her tutorial.  http://www.missouriquiltco.com/

Will post photos when I get it done, if my blog will let me.  Having some issues there.

August Blocks of the Month

After work last night my plan was to do the yard work before the weekend as I have plans.  Well, Mother Nature had other plans and it rained like the dickens last night.  So plans changed and I took the time to make the August blocks of the month.  The blocks this month were the Ohio Star & the Double Star.  I used the techniques as outlined in the course.  Still using the odds & ends of fabric that I started out with.  Definitely like the bright colors that will be in the finished quilt.

Sorry, the blog won't let me upload photos so I posted them on Facebook.


Finally found another way to load photos.  I have sent message to Blogger a bout the problem.

Here are the August blocks of the month.

Double Star on the left and the Ohio Star on the right.

Scrappy Balkan

I finished putting my label on my Scrappy Balkan quilt tonight.  I used the Balkan Puzzle pattern to use up some of my 5" scraps for the center of the blocks & the green & red fabric were in my stash.  I decided to use the 2 1/2" scraps for the binding.  I really like the finished quilt.  Then again, scrappy is my favorite type of quilt.  I will now have to get my August blocks of the month started before September blocks get here.  Still crocheting around receiving blankets & burp cloths in the middle of every thing else.  My poor garden didn't do too well in the hot weather this summer.  Of course, I don't have much of a green thumb.  My wall hanging got a Theme ribbon at our County Fair this week.  Very happy with that.

Balkan Puzzle  blocks set on point

Overall machine quilted using my open petal design 

Scrappy binding & label