Quilting, Quilting and More Quilting!

Last week I made a big effort to quilt some of the things that I have made recently. 

Firstly, I finished another calico practice piece that I have had on the frame for ages.  I enjoy the freedom of working on the calico as I can try out things that I have drawn in my sketch book.

I then quilted my Hidden Stars quilt with a spiral design.

This quilt was made from a Layer Cake called Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda.  Absolutely beautiful fabric to work with and gorgeous designs.  I loved the greys in this collection. 



Next, I quilted one that I had made for my youngest son quite a while ago.  It's made from fabric that I bought in The City Quilter, which by the way is an amazing shop.  They designed the Times Square and Subway fabrics themselves. 

I quilted the centre with alternating parallel lines, a ribbon effect in the red border and I stippled the outer border.  It was a learning process for me as I got fed up having to stop and start the different designs every time that I had to roll the quilt on my frame.  So I then quilted all of the centre in one go.  I then rolled it back up and quilted the narrow border down one side across the bottom and up the other side.  Then finally I quilted the outer border in the same fashion.

This little quilt makes me very nostalgic for my trip to New York.  Maybe I'll be able to go back some day. 

Outside Grand Central Station

This reminds me of going to work in Grand Central every morning to demonstrate quilting at a Tourism Ireland Exhibition.

I'm really enjoying the new things that I'm learning on my Gracie Frame.  Now all I have to do is make and sew the bindings on the quilts. 

Bye for now.
Sandra

Scrappy Nine Patch Quilt

Last Saturday my husband took our two boys to the North West 200.  While they were away I listened to itunes and just sewed all day.  I had a very productive and enjoyable time designing my scrappy nine patch quilt from the blocks that I had made with my friends.

My aim was to only use fabric from my stash.  I tweaked the design a few times while it was on my design wall.  I hope you like what I came up with.

Scrappy Nine Patch Quilt Top

Pieced Border

The quilting will have to wait as there a lots of other jobs that will need to be completed first.

Bye for now.
Sandra

More Cubbies

I meant to write this post a few weeks ago but so much has been happening around here that I just didn't get the chance.  You may remember that I bought my cubby.  Well, I liked it so much that I ordered three more.  I know that sounds a bit like overload but I can assure you it's not.  My husband put them on the wall above my sideboard and I just love them.

Large Cubby

I still haven't quite finished deciding what to put into each little compartment and I can't find some of the things that I would like to use.  But I suppose this will evolve over time. 

Fabric Pear

Ribbons

'Gaudi' Frog

Hearts

I have to add that I got the cubbies from a little shop at Church Brae in Drumahoe here in Derry which is called The Gift Corner.  It is a treasure trove of beautiful things that everyone, especially quilters, will love.   As well as the gorgeous hearts and plaques and wire baskets, Pamela sells special occasion gifts and cards.  It's the kind of shop that does your heart good even if you only go in for a browse around.  I nearly guarantee that if you visit the shop, you will fall in love with something and bring it home with you.  I would recommend a visit to everyone.

Bye for now.
Sandra

Scrappy Nine Patch Day Continued

My friends and I got together on Friday to make our scrappy nine patch blocks.  We had a lovely day, lots of craic and gorgeous food.  There were five of us - Ann, Mary, Liz, Hazel and myself.  We each brought 250 squares measuring 2 1/2 inches and we each gave away four bags of fifty squares.

I mentioned the squares that I had cut in a previous post Scrappy Nine Patch Day.  We arrived at Mary's house at 10am and sewed until lunchtime.



Mary looking very industrious

Mary's blocks

Ann gave everyone brown bags for all our squares.  These were mixed together and picked out at random and sewn to make our nine patch blocks.

Ann chain piecing

Ann's blocks

  

Hazel pressing her blocks

 



Hazel's blocks

Liz concentrating on her seams

Liz's blocks

My chain piecing

My nine patch blocks

Now this isn't as easy to do as you may think.  I love scrappy quilts but I generally would use only fabrics and colours that I have chosen for that particular project.  So in a way it was quite liberating. 

We sewed until late afternoon.  Liz brought two scrappy quilts with her to show us how pretty the scrappy blocks can look when paired with the right link fabrics.

Scrappy Four Patches

Scrappy Four Patches Again

Our next task now is to figure out how we want to incorporate our blocks into a quilt and then have another get together to show each other what we made.  I'll keep you informed when that happens.

My scrappy nine patches

The more I look at my nine patches the more they seem to be growing on me.  Well I must go now as it's getting late.

Bye for now.
Sandra

Books and Scraps

I had a very hectic week last week.  What with my classes starting, the boys going back to school, my daughter going back to uni and attending my great niece's Christening, which was wonderful.  So I must apologise for not having posted for a while. 

One of the nice things that happened on Friday was that I received my copy of "Sunday Morning Quilts" by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison.  I have to say, that it was the front cover of the book which first drew me to it. The colours and simple style of the scrappy quilt that the little girl has pulled around herself as she goes down the stairs in the morning, just appealed to me.

I have been waiting for it for quite a while as it hadn't been released when I placed my order, but I am really pleased with the book.  Amanda Jean has a blog called crazy mom quilts which is well worth a visit.  Both Amanda Jean and Cheryl have great ideas on how to organise and use any scraps you may have.  I keep mine in plastic boxes which are starting to look a bit too full at the moment. 

My Scrap Boxes

Cream & Beige Scraps

Yellow-Orange-Brown & Red-Pink

Green Scraps

Blue Scraps

Red & Pink Scraps

So as you can see, I have some lovely scraps and I might try one of the projects in "Sunday Morning Quilts" to put them to good use.

I have found that amongst my own quilts, the scrappy ones are my favourites.  This is one from a book called "Simple Traditions" by Kim Diehl. I liked this book so much that I recently bought "Simple Graces", also by Kim and I absolutely love it as well. 

Country Stars
Pattern by Kim Diehl

Beautiful Scrappy Border

As my ironing won't do itself, I had better go now.  I'm looking forward to my scrappy nine-patch day at my friend Mary's house on Friday.  Hoping to get some nice pictures to show you all.

Bye for now.
Sandra

Show and Tell 2

These are the beautiful quilts that the girls made at my Tuesday night class.   



Group photo

Claire

 

Elma

Margaret

Noel

Pat

The girls will be choosing their fabrics for their new quilts during the Easter holidays.

Looking forward to our Tuesday nights again soon.

I still have three places available in this class so contact me soon if interested in starting.

Bye for now.

Sandra





Show and Tell

Today was the last day of my Jelly Roll Quilt Class.  Here are the photographs of the gorgeous quilts that everyone made this term.

Alison

Anna Rita

Bridie

Caroline

Edna

Hannah

Josie

Majella

Margaret

Mary

Philomena

I must apologise for the focus in some of the photos. 

We had a lovely day to finish off today and the girls are already planning colours and fabrics for the class next term.

Bye for now.
Sandra