Just took another one off the long arm......

I am going to call this one my Black/White/Red Chinese Coins. 

 

 

Not sure if it is really a Chinese Coins, but that's what I am going with. 

 

This was my attempt at using up all my black and white fabrics.  Of course, I didn't have enough and had to go out and buy more.  Then to make matters worse, I just cut up ALL the black and whites and had enough to make one, two and going on three quilts.  Geesh.

 

Anyways, I started this one last winter.  It's a big one.  I think it was 92 x 111.   Wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it so put out the request for ideas from a lot of friends and the majority suggested a panto that showed movement yet maybe had some hard edges to go along with all my straight lines.   My friend Ruthie suggested "turbulence", so that is what I did.

 

 

 

I am going to have to remind myself though that I really don't care for solid backings.  They show up all your little jumps and starts.  A print or a pieced or a minky would have been a much better choice, but I had this all prepped a year ago and I think I had made this decision about not liking solid backings since that time.  Oh well.  It all worked out pretty well. 

 

Now to get into the sewing room and find something that will work for a binding.  I don't want to go and buy something if I don't have to.  I am trying really hard to use up what I have and to get my old projects done so I can check mark them off my so-called UFO list. 

 

I usually have my bindings made as soon as I make a quilt top, but apparently I wasn't sure which way to go on this one....black, white or red or black/white.  Time will tell.  I would like to mark this one off the list as done in 2014.  We will see. 

 

What's your first project going to be for 2015?!!!  Gosh, can you believe we are that close to another new year?  Where is the time going?

 

 

Green giraffes and alligators.....

 

 

Needed to hunt through my stash  to find a binding that would go well for this quilt.  I so did not need or want to run to the quilt shop for this. 

 

On looking through my solids bin, I came across a great green that matched the giraffes and alligators....aka....Kona Cotton's  "Melon".

 

Now the binding is on this quilt which makes this quilt done.

 

 

 

 

.....and I managed to do this during and after getting three double batches of Christmas cookies done today....which I might add, I had no intention of doing.....but daughter #2 said she wanted to come over and bake cookies and daughter #1 who has had the flu all week was complaining that she wasn't going to have time to bake any for the boys, I thought...."oh, what the heck".  We don't need cookies here, but I made several dozen and sent some off to DD#1 while DD#2 took hers home.  We have a few and will eat them sparingly. 

 

Hope you are getting all your Christmas preparations done!  Thanks for stopping by. 

 

 

I must have things under control......

Never in a million years would I think I would have time to work on a quilt a few days before Christmas ...AND...it's not even FOR Christmas. 

 

Either I am forgetting to do something or I have things under control.

 

I just took this piece of fabric off the long arm.

 

 

I have had this in the closet for a very long time. 

 

It's a Windham Fabrics.

 

 

It would be interesting to find out just how old this fabric is. 

 

I watched a video on YouTube  called "loopy clams" and that is the pattern I used on this quilt.  It is a free motion E2E (edge to edge).  Really pretty easy to do. 

 

 

I backed it in white minky.  (Yes, I am getting very comfortable using minky).

 

 

It really shows up the quilting nicely....AND....feels so soft and cuddly. 

 

Now I have to hunt up some fabric to make the binding and this will be added to the pile of quilts that are finished. 

 

Hmmmm...I wonder if I have some yellow dot fabric.  Maybe I will just have to make a run to the quilt store.  Heaven forbid!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Had some time the other day.....

so got out some linen/cotton blend fabric and quilted it on the long arm, did some stitching at the sewing machine and came up with this.

 

 

 

 

This is what I will be using as the "wrap" for my secret Santa gift at work. 

 

Hope she likes it. 

 

She received her gift today (December 18) and loved the stocking more than the packages inside.  Said she always wanted something quilted.  I am a happy camper. 



Done and outta here.

 

427" of binding machine stitched to the front and then flipped over and hand stitched to the back and made a label, too.

 

Called my customer and she was here in less than 30 minutes. 

 

She loves it!

 

I'm happy.....and this was all done in plenty of time for Christmas. 

 

Now I can breathe and get my house decorated. 

 

Then?  What's next?  I'll have to decide, but it will most likely be for me. 

 

If you have decorated for the holidays already.....good for you.

 

If you haven't....have fun and then enjoy. 

 



T-shirt quilt off the long arm

I fretted about doing this customer quilt as I had never done a t-shirt quilt AND I was going to back it with the dreaded minky.  Even though I had used minky recently on a baby quilt which worked out great.....this was KING SIZED!!!

 

 

 

 

I used a medium sized meander.

 

 

Here's a shot at the minky backing.

 

 

Here's the completed top....all 92 x 122" of it!!!

 

 

I used a silver So Fine thread for the top and an Aurifil purple for the bobbin with a very thin Mountain Mist poly batt.   

 

Well,  I can now say for sure, working with minky is NOT a problem and T-shirt quilts aren't any harder than any other quilt.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out and I am sure my customer will be just as happy. 

 

Now, I have to bind it.  So, I guess I won't mind if it gets really cold out while I am doing this as it is going to keep me plenty warm while it is in my lap as I  hand stitch down the binding. 

 

If you don't hear from me for a few days, I will probably be hibernating under this quilt with needle and thread in hand. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Monkey business......

 

 

 

 

 

That's not turkey stuffing.

 

 You've been mooned!

 

Monkey-ing around

 

 

All ready for Christmas.

 

 

 

Another one bites the dust.

One more done. 

 

Just finished the binding, but will not be able to share the whole quilt until the challenge reveal at my retreat in June. 

 

Way too long to wait, but I am so happy that I have it done this early in the game. 

 

 

I have actually surprised myself with this one. 

 

So, one more check marked off my UFO list. 

 

Yeah! 

 

Onto the next project.



When you only have a couple of hours.....

When this little guy is spending the day, he wants to do what his shirt says

"Play All Day"

 

 

But....when he took his two hour nap this morning, I jumped on my binding project and got this done. 

 

 

 

 

I had machined stitched it down last night along with the binding for my Quilts of Valor quilt.  Knowing nap time wasn't going to be super long, I picked this quilt to hand stitch down the binding. 

 

Now it's done! 

 

I am still amazed I found two border fabrics that matched so well with this panel that I bought several years ago and the minky turned out so well, too. 

 

I did put a 100 % cotton batt in this and it worked up like a dream. 

 

So happy to have another project check marked off my lengthy "to do list". 

 

Hope to get the QofV binding hand stitched down soon.  Customer quilt is next. 

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

 

 

 

Just four days ago....

I loaded this quilt onto the long arm so that when I was ready to go, all I needed to do was quilt.

 

 

Today was the day.

 

 

I free motioned an echoed loop over the whole panel/borders.

 

 

I think the quilting brought an ordinary panel to life.

 

The best part was finding out how easy it was to work with minky. That's what I used for the back of this quilt...a soft, yellow minky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh!  What better to use for the back of a baby quilt.  It is so luscious. 

 

I have another minky backed baby panel planned, but can't put it on the long arm just yet.  I am waiting for my customer to drop off the backing to her king-sized t-shirt quilt.  I am hoping she brings over minky as it was really easy to work with.  Don't know why I waited so long to give it a try. (Well, actually, I do know.  The fuzz I thought would drive me crazy)

 

I have the bindings made for my Quilts of Valor quilt and this panel quilt (need to get them on) and even have the binding ready for the T-shirt quilt. ''

 

So, I guess I will leave the long arm free for the customer and get into my sewing room to get a couple bindings on. 

 

Happy quilting!! 

 

 



In a happy place....

What makes us quilters happy?

 

Quilting and chocolate.

 

Yesterday I discovered a new to me chocolate place.  You can read all about it here. 

 

It's called Bon Bon Bon.

 

 

 

They have some really cool packaging to protect those beautiful and yummy bon bons.

 

 

Yes...I have already eaten some.  The stamped lid tells you what I had and you can see what I have left.  Very pricey, but oh so good.  I think I will eat one a day.

 

Then today, I sewed on the long-arm and got my Quilts of Valor quilt all quilted.  Can't show the whole thing as it is a challenge for my June retreat.  Yeah....I am so far ahead this year, but it is hard to keep it a secret that long, too. 

 

 

 

I used a panto called ribbons and stars.

 

Here's the backing. 

 

 

I used up every single one of my Americana fabrics for this and purchased just a few more to get it done.  The binding is made. All I have to do is to sew it on now. 

 

Next on the long-arm is a baby panel that I added some borders to make it a little bigger and this will be my first try at minky for the backing.  It actually loaded very nicely, but then again, maybe that is because it is on the small size.  Anyways, I am giving it a try as I have a customer quilt that is either going to have fleece or minky as the backing and I want to make sure I know what I am doing before I do hers. 

 

Here's the panel quilt loaded.

 

 

All that makes me happy to get something accomplished today and I am all set to go on something new as soon as the time allows. 

 

Will be posting more soon.