Runners Rule...Wall Hangings Are Cool

Valentine's runner from My Runners by Disa bought on Amazon

Some of small quilts made over the years, mostly last couple.  Enjoy working in this format--get lots of experience, appliqueing, quilting and binding.  First one is from https://www.fabshophop.com/registration.asp  where they offer free quilt squares each month--gathered by visiting online quilt shops.  I've done a couple quilts from their blocks.  Also, used blocks from one set to make three runners (first one shown here), a little quilted purse and part of a baby quilt. 

Close To My Heart

Son's Elk fused applique wallhanging done for his graduation from anesthesiology residency last year

Bejewelled runner, with back below.  Like how quilting shows on black backing.

 

Circly wallhanging done with girlie girls and boyly boys.  They threw circles they'd colored randomly on floor.  Used picture of that to replicate circles, then they and their momma quilted it.

Home Twee Home resides at daughter's home now.

In Leafy Treetops is now at home of my son and family

 Girlie Girls with ladybug quilt.  Hubby thinks they look like crazed chickens--ladybugs, not girlies!

 Fishy quilt for hubby last year.  He loves it! 

 
 Ladybug pansy stained glass hanging.

 Autumn Berries runner--hubby thinks trees with buttons look like E.T.'s hands

Candy Runner...made three of these last year for daughter, daughter in law and us.

 
 Christmas runner from Disa book, 2012

 Christmas tree skirt.  Squares made with small flanges (1 in strips folded in half and ironed) sewn to 1.5 in strips.  Used three strips with flanges and one without on top, sewn into long strips then cut into squares.

 Daisy runner adaptation of Sunflower Fields, Disa book again.

Made from orphan strips left over from Christmas quilt couple years ago

Beautiful sunflower picture my friend took.  Planning to make a quilt from this but not sure exactly how  I'll do it!

Tiny wall hangings made for a friend's twin granddaughters.

Katja's baby quilt.

Sunflower Fields from Disa

Swirly Christmas Tree...fused applique.  Made them for daughter, daughter in law and us.

My son, the sewist/doctor!  When he graduated med school and since then, I've made a bunch of scrubs caps for him and to give to friends...all sorts of fabrics.  His Seahawks one wore out so he found a pattern online that he adapted--all like mother, like son he said!

Made this family history quilt in late 70's.  Home is hubby's grandparent's in Utah.  Copied from a woodblock print my sister in law made.  Trees/mountains/lake represent my side of the family in Washington.  People are hubby, brother, my children and myself.  Awarded honorable mention in a magazine contest.

Well...lots of pictures and explanations for some of my work over the years.  Love quilting and creating in fabric!

Littles--Bookmarks

Bookmarks made with my embroidery unit.  Did a little eyelet stitch with machine. Put fray check on edges 

Every month I send out a newsletter to about 25 ladies from church, a few friends, and my daughter.  When it's their birthday month, there's a little extra something included--some years it's a tiny baggie filled with confetti, sometimes it's been a little candy, one year it was appliqued flower coasters, a hanging birthday greeting, etc.  I try to make up enough for everyone for the year at one time--doesn't always happen!  Anyway...this is what was included this month.  

Base for bookmarks using my cording foot and metallic yarns and tiny ribbons.

Hooped black and gold fabric for backing and base material with pellon between  for stiffness.  Used  small rectangular borders  to delineate three bookmarks.  After embroidering, I used a tiny straight stitch around the edges to make sure everything was sewn down well before cutting out.  

Before cutting them out.  Will use scraps for another project.  Bought a bag of threads and tiny ribbons years ago .  Did a serpentine stitch to hold them down.  Love making "new" fabrics using embellishments.  Wanted something flat for mailing. These were fun and easy to make.  I've couched various threads/ribbons/yarns for years without the cording foot, so if you don't have the foot try this anyway.  My daughter has a different foot with fewer but bigger holes.

Celebrating Christmas in Cloth

Nativity I made for grandkiddos 9 years ago.  Wanted something they could play with and saw something somewhere online that inspired me.  It's all free form stitching using stitches on my machine except faces that I did with embroidery designs bought for my machine.

Saw this Swirly Christmas tree wallhanging on Craftsy

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/swirled-christmas-tree-quilt-pattern/17664 and had to have it.  Made three of them this year using Steam a Seam.  Used swirls in quilting, but they get a bit wonky in the colored areas where I was trying to get all the ends and edges of the prettiness.  In last one also sprinkled in some stars near the top.  

 The strip wallhanging uses leftovers from my Christmas quilt I've posted about over at The Christmas Quilt Festival  http://www.quilting-tutorials.blogspot.com/p/2012-christmas-quilt-show.html 

First saw the ornaments runner at my lqs: The Attic Window.  It's from the book My Runners that was found at Amazon, too.  Made it this year.  FMQ was swirls and stars with Merry Christmas written at either end near tree limbs.

Snowman quilt, made using free designs called Snowbound by Bunny Hill.  I used pinwheel blocks instead of what they suggested.  It's one of the favorite quilts I've ever made and my grandkiddos love it.

Christmas Quilt Show

There's a Christmas Quilt Show going on over at Michele Hester's:  http://www.quilting-tutorials.blogspot.com/p/2012-christmas-quilt-show.html

.  Have wanted to join this for a couple years but never remember to get it done.  This year I saw an email about it, so decided to add my quilt from a year or so ago.  I found a book with over 300 block ideas for Christmas and made a lot of blocks from those pictures and directions; also made some extras found online or made up such as the candy cane one.

Finished quilt...obviously not symmetrical, but it's how it came together considering all the different sized blocks I ended up with!!  The three large red squares have Christmas sayings, plus the red border and dividing pieces have some wording on them--like my grandchildren's names.

Backing--just kept growing and growing with scraps I had left over.

Got a Kate Spain Christmas fabric layer cake in 2010 I think and had lots of fun making up blocks. Most are from a book already mentioned on here: 301 Country Christmas Quilt Blocks by Cheri Saffiote, printed 2002.

One of my absolute favorite squares.

Made several star blocks using fussy-cut pieces for centers.

Love this little angel block.  Ended up making a lot of blocks and have several left overs
need to make into something small.

My daughter says this is her favorite...he's pretty cute I think, too.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7854712989797547840#editor/target=post;postID=1843900617486082048
  shows several of the blocks sewn into sections.

Enjoy the festival.  And have a wonderful Christmas season.

Batik Strata Quilt

This is how I envisioned the quilt--strips going horizontally.

 Saw a strata quilt somewhere in last year or so.  It was made similarly to this one with colored strips about 2 1/2 inches wide and about 40 inches long, same size for white muslin strips.  Really wanted to make one for  grandniece Sabra and her hubby, Ben who got married last November.  It's taken me awhile to finish as I was making the Interlocking Seasons and working on several other things.  

Inspirational one was a rainbow quilt and it used printed cottons.  This one uses sets of batiks in blues, pink/oranges, greens and blue/purples.  There are 28 strips.  Used all materials I had on hand except for a couple orange scraps my dear friend Shirley gave  me from gorgeous quilts she's made.

To make each strip, I sewed a batik piece to muslin piece to form a continuous loop, then randomly cut the white pieces so there'd be one on either end of colored ones.  In one instance the colored goes clear to edge, otherwise they varied.  Love randomness of it.  

Another way to use the quilt--it's square

Below shows part of backing.  It includes a bunch of good wishes to the couple.  I cut small pieces of freezer paper and ironed to back of muslin, put them in a basket with various colors of washable-ink pens and instructions,  this was passed around at a shower and also at their reception.  After getting them back, they were ironed to set ink and sewn together into strips to be inserted in backing.  

This is part of the backing showing some of the good wishes pieces.

Not the best picture but it shows some of the quilting.  All batiks had just a serpentine sort of design.  Muslin had a different design in every strip and tried to alternate a geometric sort of design for a more organic one.  Had fun making them up and used designs that were in my fmq diary.  Some designs were from others, too.

Strips for the quilt.

Color sections sewn together--greens and purply ones.

Up close on mostly blue section

Showing backing in progress

In midst of making this and trying to quilt a baby quilt, my Brother Duetta decided to throw a fit--it literally started screeching and then totally refused to work!  Hadn't been in for a "spa treatment" for a long time. But the shop from which I got it and where it usually goes is 88 miles away and over two mountain passes with lots of snow on them.  I spent a couple hours fishing out a LOT of lint and then oiling it--supposed to let repairman do that, but needed it to work now!  After awhile fly wheel would move a bit and then little by little it started working again.  After I got the baby quilt done, and two strips of this quilted, the Duetta decided to break stitches every inch or two---SOOOO fun--HA!  Decided to give my 1976 Pfaff a try.  It was ridiculously slow and with my wonderful shoulders, just not going to work since it would take me about four or five times longer per strip to sew.  New sales/repair place in town has both of those machines and hubby got me a "Baby Brother" from Costco for $140 that worked well to finish this since they're backed up two weeks or more.

Have a picture of dear hubby pinning the quilt but he said I couldn't use it!!  He's always so good to measure/cut batting, sandwich quilts and pin them for me.  Ben and Sabra came by today and we gave them their quilt--on their one year anniversary, no less!  They loved it...Sabra spent all the time looking at the quilting so that was fun she enjoyed it!  Forgot to get a picture of them with it, but have the memory of them sitting under it while they were here.