Bloggers Quilt Festival ...Fall 2010!

I have visited the 'Blogger's Quilt Festival' hosted by Amy of 'Amy's Creative Side' before but this is the first time to show one of my own quilts...

I am showing my favorite quilt! 

Which one is that?  Well, it's usually the one I am working on at the moment or the one I've just finished!

Some good friends of ours have just had a wonderful baby daughter, so I made a quilt...what else!  No prizes for guessing her name!

I suppose it's a 'wholecloth'! 

It is a "50 x 60" wholecloth!

I chose a font and printed off some letters......kind of used them as templates although it was a bit tricky....I did use an elmers purple glue stick to try to hold them in place but I was a little worried in case the printers ink came through onto the fabric....I roughly drew around them with a purple marker.

Quite simple in design but special all the same....all freehand, feathered borders, all-over feathered swirl meander, I'm still on a huge learning curve as this is only the second quilt that I have quilted on my new longarm........(that proper job gets in the way of my 'playtime')!

This is the quilt HOT off the frame, it's had a quick soak to remove any purple marks and a quick wash with a 'colour catcher' to make sure the fabrics wouldn't bleed.

Of course when it's plain white fabric, no piecing, then there's nothing but the quilting, you've got to use every trick in the book to get a good photograph!
If I find later that I can get a better shot then I'll add some more photo's or replace some!

I love how the white thread looks almost silver on that beautiful ruby red backing fabric.......I almost love the back more than the front...but that's just me, I usually do!

Don't forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them!

 Are there plenty of photos yet?

Talking of thread it was a near thing....it's just difficult to know how much thread a quilt is going to take....I was ready to send out an SOS to my British quilting friends as this is Metro thread and came in a huge multi box from bobbin central.

Can you tell "I LOVE this quilt"!

Don't forget to take a visit to Amy at the 'Blogger's Quilt Festival' and take a look at all the hundreds of quilts on show... they are magnificent!

Thank you Amy!

You know you are addicted to quilting when.....

You quilt everything insight.....

I had to force myself to make up a pair of curtains for my new downstairs bedroom which is in the room where my old sewing room used to be....I've had the fabric since it was a small lounge...so thats a couple of years...it's maybe not bedroom fabric but it's peaceful...
This fabric was taking up a lot of drawer space...can't have that....it's not quilting fabric....lol...

The motif on the fabric reminded me of a quilting motif so I quilted up what was left over and made matching tie-backs and cushions for my rocker, I like the effect....but now back to quilts!

It's time!

I love to see this.....

White cotton sheets blowing on the line.......

But this in the morning .......

 Makes me think it's time to change back to flannelette....

Packing up for winter???

It's time to packup some of the riding equipment for the winter, the kids thought they would have one last session with the horse jumps........

 I think they forgot the ponies?????

He's a big Kid?

Second time around!

There is more than one way to skin a cat ..... 'quilt' .....

This is the second time this little quilt top has been used as a practice piece...it was first used on my Mega Quilter ...non stitch regulated, the first time I used that machine.....it was a joke....lots of toe nail catchers....never got bound but I kept it thinking...'one day I'll skin that little quilt'!

So, while I was awaiting dispatch of my new longarm I took a sharp craft knife and skinned the quilt...that is I cut all the stitches by peeling back the top and cutting the stitches from inside...only a couple of little nicks ...honest!

I used a different fill in every block/patch...learned lots....like not to use your channel locks for cross hatching if your piecing isn't straight coz you can't fudge with the channel locks on.....I decided that from now on I will always turn my borders to quilt them.....also if you know that your binding fabric has previously been washed and your quilt fabric hasn't...then wash the quilt too before attaching the binding...gives a better fitting finish.....ask me how I know!

Now it's all quilted and bound...definately not a show quilt but no toe nail catchers this time!

Thanks to Shannon and the Bronze Wombat (Jennifer) for the signature tutorial!

Best Laid Plans and all that!

Well I had intended to do so much yesterday...lots of quilting....

I got a late start and decided to finish making and adding the pieced border to Kristina's 'Mystery Quilt' first....hadn't been long started when my DS called in, he was going into town so I sent him on an errand......

I got the border added eventually....'more haste, less speed' as they say...it wasn't that tricky, guess I wasn't paying attention, had to unpick one or two units but got there in the end!

What? ...You wanted to see it...it's still a mystery.....not finished just yet as I'm waiting for more background fabric to finish the plain outer border, it should be here next week!

So I did move on to doing some quilting but just on my practice sandwich....I feel quite satisfied when I have filled every square inch with quilting.....but I think it's time to move on to something more real tomorrow!

My DS came back with a styrofoam sheet which I covered with cotton batting and fixed to the wall in my studio...hope it stays put and although not perfect at least I now have a small design wall that I can also pin to.....only 5 feet high but better than nothing for now!

Hmmm..how did that get there...it's a mystery to me!

The New Saddle!

My Grandchildren, Kyle and Fieron had an impromptu riding lesson today......soley to try out Kyles new saddle for his new (this summer) pony.
It's vey difficult sometimes to find a saddle to fit the rider and the pony, (even made to measure saddles are not always successful)....especially when the pony is low withered and a little round and barrel like in the body! It's taken a while but I think we've found it, and although not new it cost an arm and a leg!

So the Kids had a short lesson in our grass school....wearing their John Deere overalls!
It was a gray autumn day, with a cutting east wind, this is Kyle (11) on Layla and below is Fieron (8) on Rosie!

'Me and Mini Me'.....lol....

Playful!

Just fooling around!

Having fun!
I see more cushion/pillow covers in my future.....

When's Saturday?

Guess What!


I've done step 8.....

I've done step 9.......

Now I'm waiting....waiting.....till Saturday for the next clues......it's fun, why don't you join in?

A bit of progress!

Kristina's High Desert Mystery is addictive, progress has been made.....

Step 3 done.....

Step 4 done.....

And step 5......

On to Step 6.....

Step 6 part 1

Step 6 part 2

Step 6 part 3

Step 6 part 4

At last Step 6 finished...not difficult but time consuming!

That's step 7....easy!
It's just little easy baby steps! It's fun!

It's a Mystery!

I need a girly quilt for my Granddaughter Fieron!

Fieron wants a cuddly quilt like her brother Kyle who has a huge log cabin quilt with a fleece back.....

So....to kill two birds with one stone I decided to join in with Kristina's 'High Desert Mystery', you can find links to it here http://froggybottomquilting.blogspot.com/on Kristina's blog....it's going to be fun to see how everyones quilt turns out with different fabric choices......

These are my fabrics......

Fieron helped me with the cutting instructions and helped place everything in the appropriate bags......

 Then later last night I did step one......

And step two........

Then this morning couldn't resist to start on step three....

I think it's going to be a fun quilt......got to get back to it and do some more.....watch this space!

Look what followed me home!

I only went to the bank!

It's so cute, only stands about 10" tall and after a small adjustment makes a lovey dainty chainstitch!