Flea Market Flowers Sew Along

I started the Flea Market Flowers quilt along back in spring but I didn't get very far. I was interrupted by the need to make a wedding quilt. Once I completed that I was spent on quilting for a while. I hate to make excuses so I knew I had to finish this one and my goal was to get it done before the end of the year.

This quilt pattern is free on Lori Holt's blog. Each week we were to make a Dresden block. It's nice that I can go back to each week's instructions and work the project all the way through even though the quilt along is done.

                             

There were so many flower petals to make. In fact, I counted them. There were 480 Dresden flower petals in all and there were also 68 leaves. 

Even though I did not make the end of year deadline, I did have the quilt top completed by New Year's Eve. That in itself was quite an accomplishment considering my recent appendectomy. But again, no excuses!  These poor lonely quilt blocks have been hanging on my design board all summer long. Not to mention all of fall too.

I finally loaded the quilt on my longarmer on January 3rd. 

I used a pantograph called Citrine for the quilting design.

I sewed the rick rack and the binding on during the week. And I finished the quilt label yesterday. 

Yay! All done...

Dresden Neighborhood Wallhanging

Here is my Dresden Neighborhood wallhanging. The original pattern has the 'neighborhood' in a circle. But if you take some of the dresdens and turn them upside down you get them in a straight line instead of the  circle.

I used Moda Grunge in a blue and green to make the background look like sky on top and grass on the bottom. I also made sure my houses were stitched down in a rainbow effect.

I used many of the stitches on my sewing machine to stitch around the houses and roofs as well as to sew on the windows and doors. It was so much fun.

I can't wait to hang it in my sewing room. I also made sure to put a rod pocket on the back in case I enter it in quilt shows.

Rob Appell Event

I work part-time at a quilt shop. The shop did and event with Rob Appell. Rob used to work with Missouri Star Quilt Company but they let him go and now he works for Michael Miller fabrics. So Man Sewing is gone and it'sr been replaced with Making It Fun.

We rented out the civic center in town and he did his show there. There were over 200 people in attendance and for me, the tough part was the preparation. The shop had to order tons of Michael Miller fabric in order to get him to come. And do they did. I had to cut quilt and table runner kits for each item displayed at the event. It was hard work. I made so many kits I can't even count. Some of them sold out before Rob even took the stage. That's great news for the shop.


While we were setting up, Rob filmed us. I took the opportunity to ask him for a selfie and he excitedly obliged. He is such a nice guy.

His show lasted 90 minutes and I enjoyed his story-telling as well as his quilts. He is a very talented quilter. After seeing his work I was inspired to make my own "art" quilts. And I look forward to the challenge.

It was quite a treat to be involved in this fun event.

Mary's Quilts

My friend Mary brought over 3 quilts last week. I told her I would do my best to get them done for her as soon as possible. As we walked over boxes of flooring to look at her quilt tops she understood why it might take a little while for me to get to quilting. She was in no hurry so it didn't matter to her. But it matters to me.

While our flooring guy, Andy was here doing the install I decided this was a good time to spend the day in my sewing studio. I would be out of his way and frankly, what else could I do? He needed lots of space to work.

I quilted one of her quilts today while chatting with Andy. Within a few hours I got one of her quilts done. It's bright and cheerful. I think Mary and I have the same taste in fabrics. I always love her quilts.

It's a nice feeling to get something normal done among the chaos of our floor project.

Patriotic Lap Quilts

Some of the ladies at the local American Legion post gave me their leftover patriotic fabrics they wouldn't be using. I stitched the fabrics together to make some patchwork panels and added borders with the larger pieces from the donated fabrics.

Using leftover batting from larger quilt projects, I stitched the batting pieces together to fit the patchwork panels and loaded them on my longarmer. This nice donation made 5 lapsized quilts that will be taken to the VA hospital at Christmastime.

Client Quilting Projects

Today I quilted two quilts for a client. It's been raining a misty annoying rain on and off all day so it's a good day to be inside. Normally being inside on a summer day is not something I like to do. Warm weather season in Wisconsin is short so I try to enjoy every moment of it. At least being indoors has made me productive in my sewing room.

Client Quilting Projects

Today I have quilting projects to complete for a client. She is going to donate this one to charity so I just had to do a meander all over this simple quilt for her.

I also had a table topper to quilt for this same client. The fabric is so pretty, I wouldn't mind owning this myself. The pictures do not do the fabrics justice. I quilted it using a blue fabric on top and a red on the back. It was hard to see my stitches since the thread blended in so nicely. That's not a bad problem to have! Such a pretty print. 

Easter Bunny Table Runner

This is a table runner I quilted for a client of mine. It is absolutely adorable. I might just have to ask her the name of the pattern. The hard part about quilting this was that the whiskers are made from pieces of scrap denim. It is pretty heavy-duty fabric which made it a little tough to deal with while quilting. I sure hope she likes the result, it was really fun to work on.

Table Runners

I've finished quilting 3 table runners for a friend so she can give them as Christmas gifts. With preparing for Christmas, it's the most sewing I've done all month. I really enjoyed quilting these; I think doing small projects is a nice break from all the holiday hoopla.

QAYG Christmas Stocking

I got this really cute holiday fabric from my favorite Etsy shop called the Fabric Shoppe. They always have very cute whimsical fabrics which is just my style. I've been meaning to make new Christmas stockings for a very long time and the new fabrics I ordered were perfect for that purpose. I chose to use a pattern I found online called Falling Flakes quilt-as-you-go Christmas stocking. The link for the tutorial can be found here. It's easy to follow and I whipped my stocking up in no time.

Fall Table Runners

I finished a few more fall table runners today. I would have completed them earlier however I ran out fall prints big enough for backing. Over the weekend I picked up a few new fall fun prints to complete a few more little projects.

I made one of the table runners using the leftover scraps from my Skip to my Lou quilt I made last year. I also dug up some vintage floral/pumpkin print from my stash and added some borders left over from last year's quilt project as well.

I like having a variety of sizes of runners available for sale at craft fairs and these should be good additions to my inventory. The patchwork runner is 18 inches x 20.5 inches and the fall floral one measures 48 inches x 16.5 inches.

Table Runner Completed

After I perused Pinterest's photos of table runners I decided to draw up a plan to make my own version. It was based on some fat quarters of fabric I got from my friend Mary. She gave away so much fabric that I don't think I will ever use it all up. But I'm sure going to try.

This table runner is about 20" x 44". It was designed to best show off the rich colors in the fabrics within the matching fat quarters. I like how it turned out so I just might have to make another one.

A mutual friend of Mary's and mine is very involved in a charity for PKD (polycystic kidney disease). In fall there's a PKD awareness walk here in town and a silent auction that day. I think Mary will be happy when I donate this table runner to the silent auction for that walk. 

The Quilter's Apprentice

I finally took the time to read The Quilter's Apprentice. My friend Judy recommended it years ago and I just didn't want to read it. I have a few reasons for not wanting to read it. The first is that Judy is really into genealogy and she is passionate about books that reference history. I, on the other hand, have no real interest in my family's roots. I prefer to look toward the future than review the past. I guess I am just not that curious. And this book links some real history within the quiltmakers' stories.

Another reason for not wanting to read this book is that I knew Jennifer Chiaverini's novels were in a series. If I end up liking the book I didn't want to get hooked on more novels. I have an endless list of books I want to read and more would just stress me out.

I know how silly that all sounds so I took the plunge and read the book. Of course, Judy was right. It was worth reading. More for the historical links than the quiltmakers' stories. That was a little on the cheesey side. I did enjoy some of the quilt making references and it was an easy summer read. 

So I am hooked. I'm already waiting for the second book in the series to be ready for me to pick up at my local library.

One down, nineteen to go!

1. The Quilter's Apprentice (1999)
2. Round Robin (2000)
3. The Cross-Country Quilters (2001)
4. The Runaway Quilt (2002)
5. The Quilter's Legacy (2003)
6. The Master Quilter (2004)
7. The Sugar Camp Quilt (2005)
8. The Christmas Quilt (2005)
9. Circle of Quilters (2006)
10. The Quilter's Homecoming (2007)
11. The New Year's Quilt (2007)
12. The Winding Ways Quilt (2008)
13. The Quilter's Kitchen (2008)
14. The Lost Quilter (2009)
15. A Quilter's Holiday (2009)
16. The Aloha Quilt (2010)
17. The Union Quilters (2011)
18. The Wedding Quilt (2011)
19. Sonoma Rose (2012)
20. The Giving Quilt (2012)