Two flowered quilts

Yesterday I finished the top to Granddaughter Ilena's big girl bed quilt and had enough blocks left over to start another quilt. So I added some flowers yardage that I already had and made a Project Linus quilt, too. I was very pleased with both of them! They are both the Yellow Brick Road pattern although the PL one is a liberal interpretation!!!

The first picture shows the PL quilt top and the second picture shows Ilena's big girl quilt top!! The light colored blocks look like polka dots, but they are really flowers--the fabric in fact, is called "Floating Flowers." If you enlarge the picture and look for it, you will see an angel, but she is upside down!!!! She is holding a puppy and a book!!!! We will use a quilting pattern that has flowers in it for Ilena's quilt, I'm sure!

Today was Frayed Edges Sit N Sew Day, we had a lot of fun talking and laughing and sewing, not always in that order! Some of the girls were helping another girl learning how to "sandwich" a quilt and then they helped her baste it and she started to quilt it and the same gals gave her a quick lesson in that. Everybody helps everyone else and that's so nice. Quilters are such a bunch of giving people!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

More Project Linus Quilts

Purple Yellow Brick Road Quilt

Airplanes Around the World Quilt

Baby Genius Quilt

Maynard has quilted some more Project Linus quilt tops and I bound them and they are in the big pile ready to go to the East Texas chapter of Project Linus! I think there must be about 25 in the pile ready to go now and since there are a bunch more tops that need quilting, I have decided to stop making tops until he can get caught up with the quilting. When Debi gets back from her trip we are planning a trip to the drop-off center in Quitman at Stitchin' Heaven. It's a good road trip--we get lots of visiting in while we drive there and some quilt shopping, too!! What could be better!!!! LOL!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Prairie Paisley Quilt Top

Finished this quilt top!! It was quite an undertaking. First came the small parts and then it was put together in rows. There were 3 different kinds of rows to keep straight and a top and bottom. I used a new notion that I had purchased on sale at Connecting Threads--the Fons and Porter little clips -- they are like little clothespins--I put my own stickers on them to mark my rows. They sure were a big help!! They helped me keep the parts of the rows separate, too. (You can see them in the picture.) I forgot to take a picture of the rows as I had them laid out on the floor, but there is a picture of the block--it was hard to keep the mediums and lights apart--that's where the little clips came in handy--as long as I remembered which color was which!!! LOL!! Disclaimer--no affiliation--just a happy customer!!

Our oldest grandchild started kindergarten yesterday--a happy/sad time for all of us--seems like time flies and it was just yesterday that we were heralding her arrival. Haven't heard yet how the big first day went, but I have a call in to hear all about it! Grandmas have to know all about this stuff--you know!!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

What I did over summer vacation....

I went to a fabulous 3 day retreat and had a ball. We arrived at Create-Away Cottage around Noon on Monday and got moved in and set up, ate our brown bag lunch and started in sewing. We stopped for supper and then sewed some more. I did make 2 trips to the local quilt store....what a fun place to look and buy fat quarters and a quilt kit that was 1/2 price--just couldn't resist! Then more sewing and chatting and eating! I finished my Grandmother Flower Garden wall hanging, 4 Yellow Brick Roads for Operation Hope (a charity that one of the other girls is working with) and a square of redwork. It was a very very productive 3 days for me! I was very happy! We left at 3:00 on Wednesday afternoon feeling very satisfied.

Create Away Cottage was such a wonderful place to hold a retreat--lots of lighting and lots of space to work--we each had our own big table to spread out on, and there were 2 cutting table and 2 big board ironing tables. The sleeping accommodations were lovely. We brought our own food that our dear, fearless leader had planned ahead of time and we each had signed up for--that worked out very well and everything tasted so good!!! All in all a wonderful place to get away for three days. Of course I thought the company of women I was with were excellent!!!! Such nice people! Everyone should go on at least one retreat in a lifetime!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Granny's Garden at Midnight

Granny's Garden at Midnight is a finished quilt! I just finished the binding on it last night and tried to take a picture of it outside, but it looks faded out--believe me it's not!! It is very bright and I love it that way. Guess I have this thing for brights!

Getting my ducks all in a row for retreat--I always take more than I can accomplish, so this time I'm trying not to take too much--but you can get a lot accomplished in 3 days time!--Well, I guess it's just 2 days time, since we get there at noon Monday and leave at 4:00 on Wednesday. Depends on how late we want to stay up at night, I guess! I have 3 projects that I'm taking--so that should surely be just the right amount. Two are handwork and one is for the machine. I get to take my Featherweight and see how she likes retreats, too! I'm really looking forward to it--can you tell I'm excited?!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Finished Disappearing Nine-Patch

This DNP was so much fun to do--I want to do another one soon. Just have to pick out some more fabric!! They certainly go together fast and easy enough!

Finished 3 more Project Linus quilts last night---they were panels , so went quickly--I like to do panels--they usually have a really cute picture on them and they go very quickly because I can meander quilt them and bring the backing to the front to bind them, put the label on and they are done and are cute besides. One of the panels was Thomas the Train, so I'm sure that will be a hit with either some boy or girl--girls like Thomas, too!!!

Today I want to work on my Prairie Paisley quilt--it is all cut out and ready to be sewn together, just have to do it!

Actually am hearing some thunder outside--could we be getting some rain today? The last couple of days it has been teasing us and going around us, maybe today will be the day--we need some rain.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Disappearing 9 Patch

This is a Disappearing -9-Patch block and it is so fun to do. Vickey at Quilt Mercantile gave me a copy of the pattern that is located on the web and we both decided that this airplane fabric would work so well and it did!! You basically cut 5" squares, make a 9 patch (picture 1) and then cut it in half both ways, turn 2 of the patches a half turn each and viola!! you have a brand new square (picture 2!) The squares are 14" if you use 5" squares to start with, so the quilt will go together quickly. I only got 2 squares done yesterday afternoon since I was quilting some Project Linus quilts also. Just have to bind those today and I can add 3 more to my evergrowing pile!

Only 3 more days and I will be going on a retreat--what fun! A group from Sit N Sew will be going to a place north of here for 3 days of sewing and gabbing and eating and more sewing. I have most every thing ready to go, I think. I have my list from last time and added a few things that I thought would be nice that I didn't take last time. There will 14 of us--a good size group--it's such a fun way to get to know each better and to form some new freindships and get some projects done without distractions!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

One Step at a Time Finished

Finished and ready to be quilted--One Step at a Time in Portugal by April Cornell for Moda. I love these fabrics--so fresh and summery looking!!! Sorry the picture is a little dark. This was easy peasy to sew together, but took a little figuring to cut the jelly roll to get it to all come the way I wanted it! I used 1 jelly roll in this size. It's just right for a lap robe. Will probably end up as a Project Linus quilt and some girl somewhere will love it, I hope!

We have been having temps up to 107 degrees and that is just not good for a mind set of quilting even though we have the air conditioning running all the time! When you know the temp outside, you just feel hot, no matter what! Hopefully August will go as quickly as July did and summer will be over soon!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

One Step at a TIme

Started a new quilt yesterday and have 2 blocks done. This one used a jelly roll and was fun trying to get all the colors used up and placed the right way in it! But the first two blocks look good! It will only have 9 blocks since the blocks measure 14"x 20". Big blocks, so need fewer of them--in this case just nine to make a smaller lap top size. The fabrics are called "Portugal" by April Cornell. I seem to be taking a liking to her fabrics lately because I used some of her "Little Romance" in my Heirloom Romance quilt. Once you get the hang of it, these blocks go together very easily. The pattern is called "One Step at a Time and is by Kansas Troubles Quilters and is a Jelly Roll Project. It is designed by Lynne Hagmeier. I think it is a great pattern for showing off the fabric, don't you?

I'm having lots of fun with these jelly rolls, but sometimes have a hard time finding patterns that will work for just any jelly roll. Some of the patterns call for specific Jelly Rolls and that is fine except it doesn't always work for the one that I have!!! But sometimes you just have to "Make It Work" just like Tim Gunn says on the Project Runway show!!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan