Pinwheel Quilt

I finished my pinwheel quilt and an very proud of myself for the design.  I had 7 large pinwheels that I made from the cutoff corners of the Heartstrings quilt designed by Gail Yakos.  Not really enough to make a quilt.  I took the coordinating solid strips from the Jellyroll I used,  sewed three jellyrolls together and then cut them in 6.5 inch squares.  I used the tutorial from "that girl that quilts" blog http://www.thatgirlthatquilt.com/2011/11/half-square-triangles-3-ways.html   I wish I had found that tutorial ages ago, what an easy way to make HST.  I did not do any math just let them come out at what size they did.  I now had 8 11 inch HST and 11 8 inch HST.  I cut down one of the large HST to 8 inches and put them on the design board.  After staring at them for a while I found I could cut 8x11 rectangles and, voila, a quilt was born.  I wanted the quilting to stand out so I used a King Tut variegated thread Chariots of Fire.  I pictured this to be a spring quilt so used the Flutterby groovy board for the butterfly's.  And here it is.

A Quilters Legacy

Do you ever wonder what happens when a quilter is no longer around to quilt.  All that fabric, tools and tops, her legacy gone.  My brother in law, Brian, mother was a quilter, I never knew this until after she had passed.  I had the distinct pleasure of being given several quilt tops, some squares yet to be made into tops and some fabric.  These sat around my sewing room for several months while I pondered what to do with them.  There were two finished wall hangings that were beautiful.  This wonderful women really knew her craft.  The first top, a lovely sampler wall hanging I quilted and gave to Brian for Christmas.  The second one, a smaller paper pieced wall hanging, I just finished and sent off.  I was so pleased and touched to see the pleasure and emotion on Brian's face when I gave him the quilt at Christmas.  The knowledge that I was able to give him a little piece of his mom made that Christmas so special for me.  He hung the top in his music room and told my sister " he loves having his mom smiling down at him with a touch of love from you".  I just want Brian to know what a privilege it has been to carry on his mothers quilting legacy.

This is the top I just finished.

The above quilt is the one I gave him for Christmas

Pinwheels

As Sister Sue knows I HATE triangles.  All that math, marking, sewing, cutting, trimming dog ears and bias.  Bleck!!!  Give me squares, nice straight lines, easily added or divided.  WELL my goal in 2013 was to embrace triangles, make them my friend find all the ways that I can use them.  First step was to take a class from Sandy Turner.  In another class that used the flip method to make hearts.  In the process of making the hearts I had to cut off a large corner triangle -  SOOOOO I am using these in another quilt that will have large and small pinwheels.  Turns out this is kind of fun.  Very liberating.  See Sue I can do it.

Quilt of Valor

I had a goal in 2012 to make 6 Quilts of  Valor and to volunteer long arm 6 quilts.  I did get the 6 done on the long arm but only made 4 tops as life got in the way.  My goal this month is to get my UFO's done and the two Quilt of Valor tops were on the top of the list. This quilt came off the long arm three days ago and today was finally calm enough for me to get pictures (it has been very windy here).  This is a pattern Sister Sue's thought up.  I bought a half yard bundle from the line Yankee Doodle Bear and added a few other fabrics and was able to get two quilts out of it.  The quilting is in my favorite bubble pattern.  Should get this mailed out to the recipient in a few days.

and the label

and the presentation case

Quilting class bag "The Queen Bee Bag"

Here in the Santa Ynez Valley we have a wonderful Quilt Shop, the Creation Station, http://www.thecreationstation.com/.  On the first Wednesday of every month the Valley Bees meet there and on the third Monday they have an open sew.  The space is large and airy, with plenty of tables and irons.  This year they are having wonderful classes and I have signed up for three.  My problem has always been getting all my stuff there.  First solution was to buy a Singer Featherweight, that is another whole post!  I came across this wonderful pattern at Moda Bake Shop called "The Queen Bee Bag" http://www.modabakeshop.com/search/label/Bags%20and%20Totes  It went together even more quickly than the instructions as I used strips of fabric instead of a layer cake.  It was wonderful to be able to use up fabric left over from other quilts.  It did end up being heavier than I thought and the straps are to long for me,   I am 5'3.  However I love it and I can fit all my stuff in it and have only two things to carry.  Caution - don't fill it to full or it becomes to heavy.
And here i is Front

The Back

The inside

UFO'S

I have been in Quilt limbo since October 2012. I finally took a class at my LQS and got my mojo back. I am one of those obsessive compulsive quilters that hates to start a new project if I have an unfinished one. Usually I have one on the long arm and one I am piecing.  I had to clean my sewing room to find all the stuff to take to class and I found I had 7 UFO'S!  I have gotten two done, finishing the binding on number 3 and have number 4 on the longarm.  I took a second class so have to add the two class quilts to the pile and that makes 9.  Of course that does not count the fabric I have bought for future projects.  Such is a quilters life.

Patriotic Quilt

I started this quilt on September 20, 2012. I had bought a half yard bundle of fabric from the Yankee Doodle bear line over a year before. I have been trying to use up my stash and when Sister Sue showed me the pattern at www.ModaBakeshop.com called Positively Perfect Nap Quilt a quilt was born. Due to life getting in the way I have just now gotten this quilt finished. It finished out at 64x76.

New quilt

I was able to take a wonderful quilting class with Sandy Turner on her birds in the air technique for Large print fabric. It was a really fun time and it helped me get my quilting mojo back. this quilt will go on the back burner for now as I have 5 others I want to get finished

New things

I broke down and bought an iPad.  Man am I having fun.  I am a dedicated quilter and am finding all kinds of thing I can do with the iPad to help me with my hobby.  Just got back from an awesome quilt retreat in Leavenworth , Wa.  Brought my trusty new toy, took pics, was able to get on Facebook, get my email and I did it all with this small portable tool.  I am still learning about it, just discovered iBooks and already have saved several quilt patterns to it.  Here is the cool row quilt that I got at the retreat.  Not finished but it will be such a great reminder of a wonderful time.