Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Little Red School House



December must be the month for Red and Black Quilts.  I just finished quilting this Little Red Schoolhouse quilt for Barbara.  It will be a gift for her grandaughter Jade.  Just love how it turned out.

Lady Madonna in Red




  I have been so busy this holiday season with work and quilting for myself as well as others.  I did get one of my own quilts made.  This is a gift for someone...shhhhhhh can't say who just yet or it will spoil the surprise.  This was a very quick, easy and fun quilt to work on.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Easy Flying Geese

With this method geese will be flying off our machine!
 
Do you get tired of cutting rectangles and squares for your flying geese, putting them together and finding that the size is off by just "that much"? This technique for flying geese will guarantee you perfectly sized geese every time, with fewer corners to trim. I originally saw this technique on "Quilt in a Day".

Cut a square of fabric from each colour you want to use for your flying geese. For the interior, cut a square 1" larger than your unfinished flying geese will be. For example, if your flying geese are 3 x 1 1/2" finished (3 1/2 x 2 unfinished), then cut a square of your interior fabric 4 1/2" square. Cut a square of the background fabric 1 1/2" larger than your interior fabric square (6" square in this example).


Center the small square on top of the large one. Mark the diagonal and sew ¼” each size of the line you marked. Cut on diagonal and press towards large triangle.




Place the 2 squares right sides together, matching the top right and bottom left corners as shown. Seams will not match, but edges should. Mark diagonal and sew ¼” on each side again.



Cut on diagonal.





Clip seam at center, and press each half of seam toards background fabric.




Cut square in half, between the interior sections.







Press, and cut geese to finished size. Place the 1/4" mark of your ruler on the point, and cut the required rectangle for your finished flying geese.

These steps make 4 flying geese.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Making your own Spray Starch

Here’s how to make your own Spray Starch:
Measure a scant teaspoon of Argo Cornstarch or any other cooking type cornstarch.  Dissolve it in a few TBSP of cold water in a 2 cup glass measuring cup then add boiling water to the 1 cup line and stir until totally dissolved.  Add cold water to the 2 cup line.  Put in a fine mist sprayer.   (The kind you get from the beauty department of the drug store works best.  Be sure to label the bottle. 
Shake the bottle every time you spray.   If white flaking occurs dilute with additional water.  Shake well every time you spray.  The bottle of starch only lasts a week or so.  Make a fresh batch each week or when you start cutting and piecing a new project.  There are no preservatives, no chemicals, nothing that harms us or the environment. 
Don't starch fabrics for storage as I have heard it will attract critters such as silverfish, centipedes, and mice.   After you have finished binding your quilt it should be washed or rinsed to remove the starch.  I hear that lavender oil will keep the critters away, but I think washing the quilt is best.
Use spray starch before cutting fabrics to prevent distortion and fraying and add more when pressing seams.  If you spritz the fabric and press carefully parallel to the selvages of the fabric it will give it a wonderful body. Don't push and pull on the fabric with the iron; be gentle, let the weight and heat of the iron do the work for you.
Happy Quilting!!!!



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Spiderweb Quilt for Halloween

I finally finished my spiderweb quilt.  The pattern is from Bonnie Hunter's site Quiltville.  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/string-spider-web.html






I learned alot from quilting this....about piecing!!!   This quilt took forever to piece and I'm glad to fnally have it finished!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Fall Table Runners!!!!


This has been the week for Wall Hangings and Table Runners.  I did 5 of them and they were really fun little projects.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Joanne's Primitive Garden Quilt



This is the most beautiful quilt that I have ever had the honor of quilting.  Joanne trusted me to quilt it for her.  I just hope I did it justice.

Scrap Happy!!!


I love scrappy quilts and this one makes me really happy

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Teddy Bear Quilt



This was such a fun quilt to do.  I did a little loopy meandering inside the bear to make it looks like he has curly hair and put a bear paw in the cornerstones. 

Friday, June 3, 2011

Mother's Day Quilt




I made this quilt in a hurry!  I thought that I had a week to complete it and had put the top together just before the tornados hit our area on April 27th.  We had plans of visiting my mother in Florida for mother's day and I really wanted to have it finished for her.  I had already spent a good deal of time doing the embroidery on the center block which named all of my mother's children, grandchildren and great grand children.  There are 28 of us in all. 

After the tornado the power was out for a full week.  It was like a camping trip where we were able to take our very comfortable bed with us.  We live out on the deck cooking our meals including the morning coffee on our gas grill.  The weather was a steady 70 degrees with clear sunny skies.  What a beautiful week.  When the power finally come on it was a mad rush to get the house back in order and this this quilt on the long arm to be quilted for Mom.

I had gotten the binding machine sewn on the front side and was about to start hand stitching when my husband came up to my sewing room and said "throw it in the truck and lets go!"   So...the binding was hand stitched on in the car on the way to Florida and Mom's gift was delivered on time. 

I think she's proud of it and I'm just proud that I was able to finish it on time.  

Now Father's day will be here soon.....Here I go again!

Friday, May 20, 2011

JoAnne's Quilt "Pinecone Blossoms"







I worked on this quilt for a full week and loved every minute of it!  It is such a beautiful quilt, I felt it derserved the best I could give it!