Thread

Hello Everyone,

Back a few posts ago, I had several people comment on my thread wall. So I thought I would take you through a visual tour. Here it goes, enjoy...

What do you think? I guess you can say that I am one prepared long arm quilter, ready for any color quilt that comes my way! I just love color!

If you are interested in hearing more about thread, you can listen to my Podcast! In Episode 5 that is the topic of the day. Lots of helpful hits. You can find Episode 5 and ALL my podcasts by clicking here or going to iTunes for the download.

Until Next Time...

Thread

Vintage Dresdens

Hello Everyone,

Just last week I was cruising eBay and found a beautiful vintage top. It was nearing the end of the bidding and the bidding was quite low. So I thought, what the heck and placed a bid within the last few minutes. Guess what, I won the auction!! And the best part is I received a beautiful top for only $57, a steal!!

Drum roll please...

Aren't these beautiful Dresdens? I believe they are either 30s or 40s. The item description said 20s. If anyone out there can tell for sure, I would love your opinion. They almost look like feedsack prints.

A beautiful "ice cream cone" border. It is a little flared, so I may need to make some adjustments prior to quilting it. But all in all this quilt top is in fantastic shape.

The only other thing that I might consider doing is adding a solid color fabric circle to the middle of the dresdens. What do you think, leave as is or add an appliqued circle?

Here is the entire quilt top in all its glory!! Isn't it just wonderful! I plan on quilting it and then putting it on the bed in the guest room. Very quaint and vintage. Love it!!

Business wrap up... City Scapes and Tempest Quilt Kits are now back in stock!! Find them here. Also, a brand new designer from Australia has some wonderful quilt patterns. You can find them here on my site!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Until Next Time...

Vintage Dresdens

So What Is In Your Backyard?

Hello Everyone,

We happen to live in a relatively rural area where the wildlife is plentiful. What you are about to see is a something that we see pretty often.

So can you see what my two kitties are looking at out our back window? Look closely, click on the photo to enlarge.

You can see Pavi (the one on the left) is definitely more intent on looking. While Rolo (on the right) has gotten a little bored.

Did you figure it out yet?

Wild turkeys, about 21 of them! They come through our yard about 3 times a week. This time of the year is pretty active for them. The babies have gotten big. They were quite small a few weeks ago.

You can see Pavi really doesn't know what to make of them all. If it isn't turkey it is about a dozen deer or possibly a bear.

Can you see the squirrel taking part in the photo shoot too? The turkey that is the closest, is a male. It is quite large and has prettier head feathers than the others. He is preening his feathers here.

You can see that Rolo is now totally disinterested. Ahhh, the life of a cat!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Until Next Time...

So What Is In Your Backyard?

Black and White Inspiration Vol. IV

Hello Everyone,

Yes, yet another black and white quilt!! This time the color that I added was pink, a BIG favorite of mine. There is a little story behind this quilt. I made it for my friend, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was to be auctioned at her Quilt Pink Event at her quilt store about 5 years ago.

I made the whole thing from my stash and the proceeds were to go to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure fund. I loved the quilt so much that I bought it back from her! The money still going to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure fund. All of her friends made a special quilt for her that she has and cherishes to this day.

Since then, she has been cancer free and monitored regularly. Her shop has closed and we miss having it around. Anyway, I love this quilt and it serves as a reminder to get my regular mammogram, which I did yesterday! For those of you who don't, I really encourage you to do so and do self-checks as well.

Now onto the quilt...

This quilt was all strip pieced from 2.5 inch strips. It was a pattern from Terry Atkinson. I believe it was in one of her pattern books. Forgive me, I cannot remember which one. Is anyone familiar with this one?

Here is the entire quilt. Love it!! You can see though, I used white fabrics with black prints. I chose not to use black fabric with white print. I think it gives it more of a lighter feel.

Don't you think the variety of pinks with the black on white fabric is just joyous together? What do you think of the pink, Jane??

I quilted it with a variegated trilobal polyester thread. It gave it a little bit of a sheen. The design was an edge to edge pantograph with hearts. Very sweet!

Couldn't resist just one more full shot of this quilt. So please remember to get regular mammograms and to remind your friends and loved ones to do the same.

Just a little business, make sure you check my shop, lots of new items have been added! To learn of new things the day they come in "like" me on my Facebook fan page (you will know the minute new things are there) and also sign up for my discount and happenings e-mailing, by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Black and White Inspiration Vol. IV

So Here is What I Was Thinking...

Hello Everyone,

Remember my last post on the AccuQuilt Go! I was working with the Chisel Shape. Here is what I have started, a braid! I am enjoying the process and the easy piecing of this braid. But there is a little trick when using your Go!

Look how nicely they all match up. The die cutting makes this a breeze, but when die cutting these shapes to make a braid you must do it two ways. I will explain...

You will notice, in the photo above, I have stacked my fabric right sides down on the die. In my last post they were facing right sides up. By doing this, you will create a right and a left chisel. If you do NOT do this, (place half of your fabrics up and half down), you will not be able to make a braid. You can also achieve this effect by folding the fabric in half either right or wrong sides together.

Above you will see the right and the left chisels. This is wonderful in working on the braid. Very quick and easy!

Here is the die board and mat. If you are still intrigued by what I am making, be sure to stay tuned for more progress on this project and an AccuQuilt Go! giveaway coming up too!!

Until Next Time...

So Here is What I Was Thinking...

Bordered Diamonds is Quilted, Binding on and Done!!

Hello Everyone,

Remember the quilt that I was working on for the The SSSQ Quilt Along with Kaffe Fassett, well, it is completely FINISHED!! Yay!! And the best part is I absolutely love it!!!

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to my Floral Diamonds quilt...

It was an absolute picture perfect day here so I had tons of fun taking photos of this quilt outside. Here is the quilt draped over our patio wall. One of my favorite shots.

I decided to quilt it with an overall quilt design that has a little bit of a leafy floral look to it. I used Superior Rainbows Citrus Cooler thread. It is a variegated thread which is a 40wt trilobal polyester. I think that it was just right and doesn't detract from the quilt top itself.

For the backing fabric I chose Martha Negley's Variegated Horsetail fabric. The fabric can be found by clicking here. I wanted something simple and non floral for the backing and thought this really worked well.

Here it is thrown over our deck railing. Don't you just love the Rose of Sharon in the back. It is my favorite color, pink!

The binding is done in the plum aboriginal dots, which can be found by clicking here. I wanted a strong color for the binding and this really frames up the quilt, did the job!

A close up of the quilting. Love the swirl effect! This almost turned out to be a charm quilt, but not quite.

Draped over the patio wall again. Did I mention that I just love this quilt? I really do. It isn't all that big. It is approximately 36 X 60. Small but a good foot warmer.

Here it is in all it's floral glory! If you want to make this pattern, it is found in Kaffe's newest book Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts, which can be found by clicking here. It is also on the cover of Quilt Magazine with the pattern inside, that can be found by clicking here.

I hope you have enjoyed my photo journey of this quilt from beginning to end. Now onto the next project!

Until Next Time...

Bordered Diamonds is Quilted, Binding on and Done!!

Black and White Inspiration Vol. III

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my third installment of Black and White Inspiration. So on my second post regarding my black and white quilts, I had asked which color I would use next. For those of you who guessed lime green, you were right!!!

This just seemed to be the right color to try next. I loved the results. So here we go...

I again used a variety of black and white fabrics since I have an extensive collection. This quilt was created from a class that I took with Laurie Shifrin. Those of you who may not be familiar with her, she is the one who has written a series of batik books. Her most "famous" one being Batik Beauties.

Yes, there is curved piecing and I do love curves!! This little bit of lime that is in the curve is actually dimensional. It is a flange just peeking out of there.

It kind of undulates with the curves. I do love the way it looks. The pattern is Laurie's Mango Tango. It is a single pattern and is not in any of her books.

She was a phenomenal teacher. I learned quite a bit from her. If you have a chance to take a class with her, do it!

Here is the entire quilt. Yet, another one that I have not quilted. Don't know why either, this is a smallish one too. I have the backing all ready to go too. I guess I should get it on the long arm soon, right?

But I did just quilt the Bordered Diamonds quilt and am going to start binding it tonight!! Stay tuned for another post with a finished quilt!! Woohoo!

Until Next Time...

Black and White Inspiration Vol. III