Dragonflies on the Lake

I just finished quilting this beautiful dragonfly quilt for my husband's cousin.  It was so much fun to quilt.  I got to try out some McTavishing for the first time in the sky portion of the center panel and put in a couple of "ghost" dragonflies.  At the bottom where the blue gets very very dark I quilted water.  The photos don't show too much detail on the borders but I quilted dragonflies buzzing around on the first border and ferns growing up the outside border.  Its the first one I have quilted for Doris, I sure hope she likes it.

Back of quilt...can you see the dragonflies buzzing around

Quilt Front

I put a dragonfly wreath in the corners

Joanne's Baby Quilt and other things.....

This week I finally got Joanne's baby quilt done.  I waited and waited for my computer to be hooked up then the machine was down for awhile and now the USB port does not work.  So.....the feather wreathes are freehand and not as perfect as I would have liked. 

 I also finished her table runner.  Joanne does the most beautiful wool applique.

Fnally I worked a little more on my puzzle hearts quilt.  That will be a very slow work in progress.  I now have to hand applique the hearts onto the background.

Puzzle Hearts

Christmas is behind us and I decided to start a new quilt while waiting for my Long Arm to be repaired....UGH!  Santa brought me a Robot for my machine and when attaching it the cable to the stitch regulator got messed up somehow.  Now all I can do is wait for the UPS guy to bring me a new one. 
In the mean time....

I am piecing Puzzle Hearts since Valentine's Day will be here before you know it.

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.

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.

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!!!!