Trunk Full of Quilts 2015 - Online Trunk Show Linky Party

Thank you Lara for posting about the Trunk Full of Quilts 2015 Online Trunk Show linky party. 

Such a wonderful idea AND a chance to win awesome prizes just for participating!  So I'd like to send a big Shout Out and Thank You to Soma for having the idea and putting the show together! The linky party started on November 10th and will close on November 18th.  Click on the link above or the badge below for full details.

I'd like to show and share about several quilts I made during my 1st couple of years quilting that are still in my home. The 1st three were made before I even started blogging.

This one I made for my son Joshua.  It's a pattern called Cottage Square from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.  It was such an easy pattern that I planned to make several more...but I stopped at two. His is the 2nd one I made.  I stitched in the ditch but he insisted I tie it as well. As you can see by where I placed the ties...I had no idea what I was doing. But he still loves and uses it daily.

Edited w/auto adjust feature in Pic Monkey

This quilt I made for my son Justin.  I actually designed it.  He requested the African flag colors and the zebra border; I chose to add the blue. This is the 1st border I ever did.  I didn't want to wait for instruction from my quilting teacher and I didn't refer to the internet either. I just did what I thought needed to be done. You can't really tell, or maybe you can, but the border is all ripply and wavy.

Edited w/the auto adjust feature in Pic Monkey

Even though they both love their quilts, they are anxious for me to make them another since I've gotten so much better.

This scrappy beauty is the 1st quilt I made for myself.  I followed this Strips & Strings Log Cabin tutorial by Mary Johnson to make this liberated wonder. I really disliked binding in the beginning. I made this a quilt w/o binding...by using the envelope or birthing method.  I didn't receive any instruction, nor did I follow a tutorial for this either...because how hard could it be right?



Well, it really is a hot mess! It's quilted in a straight stitch "improv" style, AND the batting doesn't even go from edge to edge!  But I made it and I love it!

Edited w/the auto adjust feature in Pic Monkey

This last quilt is a One Block Wonder.  It's the 2nd I've made.   I used Alexander Henry fabric on both. This one is called Koto.  I fell in love w/this fabric the 1st time I saw it but wouldn't even dream of spending $12.99/yd. One day I was visiting Joann's red tag clearance sale and ended up getting it for $3.50/yd. I bought the entire bolt!

It took over a year to finish because I wanted to make it big enough for my king size bed and added overly generous borders and hated them. It then sat in a closet for many months before I decided it wasn't going to be a king size quilt after all. I pulled it out, made my revisions and viola!

I entered it in the Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2014 and it made it to the Top 20 Viewer's Choice!  I actually gave it to my mother but she recently gave it back saying it was "pretty, but too heavy". So now, it's all mine!

That's all I've got folks!  Be sure to check out the party and link up!

A Thread for Life
Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others. - Jules Renard

A Year of Quilts 2014 (photos only)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Flower Burst Wonder

When I first read about the Blogger's Quilt Festival in this post , I knew exactly which quilt I'd enter!  It's a One Block Wonder I started over a year ago.  Today I named it Flower Burst Wonder.  It measures 64" x 75".

One Block Wonder is a technique from Maxine Rosenthal's book titled One Block Wonders.  Personally I think the book should've been titled One Bolt Wonders, because you use lots of one fabric to make these amazing quilts!  I used "koto" by Alexander Henry.



This is the second One Block Wonder I've made.  Originally it was to be a quilt for my king size bed, but after adding wide borders, I hated it!  At that point I decided it wasn't going to be a quilt for my bed after all and put it in a closest where it sat for many moons.

I finally figured out what to do w/it a couple of months ago.  It would become a large lap quilt and gift for my mom's b-day November 3. I had to make it a lot smaller, so after removing the wide borders, I removed several rows of hexies to shorten the center.  Then I added narrower borders and FINALLY I started liking it again!

I'd always wanted to quilt it w/orange colored thread and that's what I did. I wanted a softer, comfier quilt and didn't want the orange thread to be overpowering, so I did minimal quilting; lazy, wavy lines in the center and a meander in the outer border.  You can see it better from the back view.

The 3 in" binding was made from the rows I removed when shortening the quilt top.

I'm extremely pleased w/how it turned out and I hope you are too! If you can figure out how to vote (it's kind of a painful process), please vote HERE  (I hope the link works) for Flower Burst Wonder as Viewer's Choice now thru Oct 31st AND for Favorite in the Large Quilt Category on Nov 1st.  I thank you in advance! The process that was kind of painful, was the nominating part.

Thank you Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side for organizing such a delightful event.  This is my first time and I'm entering Flower Burst Wonder in The Large Quilt Category.   I'm super excited to be a part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival this fall!

A Thread for Life

Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Rom 12:12

Linking up at:
Anything Goes Mondays
Linky Tuesday at Free Motion by the River
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursdays at My Quilt Infatuation
Free Motion Mavericks
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?

Finishes and Christmas Countdown Progress

In case you didn't already know, there are 67 days until Christmas.  With that being said, I'm making great progress.

In this post, I mentioned all of the projects I'd like to get completed by/before Christmas.   I've already finished the 2 charity quilts, both of which I did FMQ on. They both measure 36" x 36".

I've already started quilting mom's quilt.  Ever since I started making this One Block Wonder, well over a year ago, I planned to quilt it in orange. I'm using the color Pumpkin from Connecting Threads which is no longer available.

However, I'm not doing FMQ. I'm doing wavy lines which I've also seen called the Serpentine stitch. Mine is a lazy serpentine. You can see the quilting better from the back of the quilt. I really like it so far. I will do fmq/meandering in the borders.

back of quilt

 When mom's is finished, which should be by the end of this week, I'll get busy on my kid sis' quilt. Then I'll start knocking out the small quilted gifts, I've got 3 of 40 done so far.




Lastly, I'll start quilting Diamonds and Purples. I'm making it a quilt w/o binding AND keeping all the points. I'm trying something I've never done before and I'm excited to see how it turns out. It might even turn into a tutorial.  Stay tuned!

I spent some time this weekend organizing my stash. I usually get overwhelmed trying to figure out where to sort/file the multicolored prints, but this time...I just did it! I didn't touch the shelf on the right, but it has batiks, Christmas fabircs, pre-cuts and other miscellaneous stuff.

And since I was taking pics of my stash...I decided to straighten up the lab (that's what I refer to my sewing room as) to share some pics.

I guess that's all for now. I've got to get back to the lab.

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life

Where the spirit of the Lord is, There is freedom

Lift Your eyes to heaven, There is freedom

Freedom reigns in this place, Showers of mercy and grace

Falling on every face, There is freedom

If You're tired and thirsty, There is freedom

Give Your all to Jesus, There is freedom

Freedom reigns in this place, Showers of mercy and grace

Falling on every face, There is freedom

If your burden's heavy, He brings freedom

If you're hurt and broken, He brings freedom

Freedom reigns in this place, Showers of mercy and grace

Falling on every face, There is freedom

Great is Your faithfulness

Freedom Reigns by Jesus Culture

Linking up all over the place! 

Anything Goes Mondays
Freemotion by the River
Val's Quilting Studio Tuesday Archives
Let's Bee Social
Free Motion Mavericks
Needle and Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop
TGIFF!