Quilt #11 - Memories of the Southwest

I made this in a few hours with some fat quarters that I picked out at JoAnn Fabrics.  I wanted to find fabrics that reminded me of my trip to the southwest this past June.  I found some pretty turquoise and brown fabrics and threw in a little purple.  I like the different size square blocks.  This was a fast and fun one!

My inspiration... a picture I took at the Grand Canyon...

Rick and me at the Grand Canyon...can't wait to go back!

Quilt #10 - Gingerbread Man

I had this gingerbread panel that I didn't know what to do with but I found this really cute red plaid at a quilt show and made this quilt top in a few hours.  It is really basic but I think it turned out cute.  I love the small squares with the tiny gingerbread men!

Lots and lots of binding!!!

Three of my quilts are finished being quilted and so I have been doing ALOT of binding to get them finished before Christmas.  I still have to put labels on them.  I love the way the quilting turned out.  Here are some pictures...


Winter Parade - quilted with small snowflakes

Black & White - quilted with red thread flowers

Red, White, & Blue - quilted with stars

Finishing Touches and scrap busting....

I picked up two quilts from the quilter earlier in the week and they are beautiful! She did an amazing job and I am so excited, I'm not sure if I can wait until Christmas!

The first time I sewed a binding, it turned out horrible! Since then, I have been looking a many blogs and websites that offer photo tutorials about how to easily deal with the binding. This time, it went much more smoothly! It only took me a few hours to put the binding on the Jim Shore Angel quilt. Here are some pictures of it:

The quilting pattern is a flower (sunflower-ish) and I made the binding from scraps of the quilt.

I also did some scrap-busting this weekend.  My cat is always laying all over my fabric and my quilts as I am trying to work on them.  He just loves laying on them and rolling around.  I took some of my scraps from my Christmas quilt (currently at the quilter) and made him a little blanket/liner for his kitty  bed. 

I figured since this was for the cat (and he wouldn't mind mistakes) I decided to quilt it myself!  I used spray adhesive to put together the "quilt sandwich" and masking tape to sew the first set of lines.  The second set of lines I did free hand and they are fun and wavy.  I also tried to machine sew the binding and the results weren't that bad!  Instead of starting the binding on the front, I started it on the back.  Then I folded it over and sewed the binding to the front with a decorative stitch.  It actually looked quilt and was MUST faster than hand-sewing. 

wavy quilting

Machine sewed binding and part of the sewn name (not the best picture)

He loves it!

Pumpkin Time!

Ok, this has nothing to do with quilting, but I wanted to post a picture of my pumpkin. This year, I did Max and a monster from "Where the Wild Things Are". One lucky student will go home with this pumpkin tomorrow. Happy Halloween!!!

Projects using Scraps

My scrap bag is getting full and I wanted to use my scraps for an additional gift for those I made quilts for. The first "scrap-busting" project I found was cutting up your scraps into little squares and filling glass ornaments. (See the picture below.) I love this idea so I started small baggies with scraps for each person I made a quilt for. I am also making a mini-ornament from each bag of scraps for myself so I can celebrate each and every quilt I make.

The 2nd project I found was a cute, fabric envelope - PERFECT for giving packets of hot cocoa. Here is the free pattern.


3rd project I found was an adorable purse - well actually a great set of 7 projects - but I love this purse! I started on one using the black & white scraps from the quilt I made for my sister. Check out these free patterns.


Patterns for other ideas:
Casserole Holder / Pot Holder
Scissor Satchel

Make every scrap count!

Free Patterns

Here are some great websites that offer free patterns:

P&B Textiles
Classic Cottons
Andover Fabrics
Robert Kaufman
FreeQuilt.com
Quilt Blocks Galore (one of my favorites)
United Notions

Jim Shore Angels Quilt

I found the Jim Shore angel panel at a Quilt Show in Hoffmann Estates, Illinois and knew I had to have it! I used some fat quarters to create some "sampler" blocks to accent the angel blocks. I just dropped this one off at the quilter yesterday and it will be quilted with sunflowers. I love this quilt! A Christmas gift for a family member...

Dragonfly Quilt - Pieced together!

I pieced my squares together and started on the top of my dragonfly quilt. I still have to add a border but am debating whether I should keep it simple or make it interesting...

Here are some pics of what I have done so far...

Dragonfly Quilt

Usually when I make a quilt, I follow some type of pattern or plan. I started this quilt with about 75 - 100 different types of dragonfly fabric cut into little squares. I absolutely loved dragonflies and had to buy the fabric squares when I saw them on eBay. But what to do with them? I decided to make small blocks using the different dragonfly fabrics. Obviously, the fabrics all do not match well but I tried to make blocks with colors that complimented each other. After I made some blocks, I started to try and figure out what I am going to do with these blocks. I picked up bright pink and bright teal batiks to use with my quilt. I was thinking about using these to border the blocks. Here are some pictures of what I have done.

My Quilts

Because I got behind in my posting, my quilts aren't in order of completion. Here is a list I made for myself because I need to make labels for all the quilts before I give them as Christmas presents. I want to include what # quilt it is on the label.


1. Moda Northern Solitude Quilt
2. Ducky & Bear Quilt
3. Red, White, & Blue Rail Fence Quilt
4. Snowman Quilt
5. Dolphin Quilt
6. Black & White Fat Quarter Quilt
7. Ice Capades Quilt
8. Jim Shore Angels Quilt (will post pics of this one soon)

Quilts on Deck:
Night Before Christmas
Gingerbread Men
Dragonfly
ABC's

Dolphin Quilt

Here is another quilt top I made - this one for one of my best friends who loves dolphins. We went swimming with dolphins back in college in Florida during spring break. I found this panel at Hancock fabrics as well as the other two prints. I am still debating on a back - can't decide if I should go with a dolphin fabric or something totally different. This was a straight-forward quilt - no pattern.

Winter Parade Quilt

I found this panel at a quilt show in October in Hoffmann Estates, Illinois and had to buy it! It is so colorful and fun! After some searching on the internet, I found this free pattern using the squares from this panel. I also found this website that showed the fabrics that went with it. Although they are gorgeous, they are very expensive! I found similar material at JoAnn Fabrics for a fraction of the cost.

It was easy to put together and I love the way it turned out. I found a flannel, creamy light tan background with colorful mittens for the backing. I used strips of the colorful material for a fun binding. I will post a pic when it is done being quilted!

Black & White Quilt

Here is the quilt I made for my sis for Christmas. I love the black and white together. I was going to add red in there randomly but decided not to. I have a beautiful red back for it and will have it quilted in red thread. When it is back from the quilter I will post a picture of my finished product.

I bought the pattern from Joann's - it is called "Fat Quarter Frolic". I needed to pick out 10 fat quarters so I found 5 dark ones and 5 light ones.

Lots of quilting...not a lot of posting...

I am behind on my postings! I finished a few more quilt tops and will bring them this week to the quilter. I REALLY want to learn how to quilt them myself so I started looking online for some tutorials and instructions. I might be brave and try one of my small ones out - we'll see!

My New Sewing Machine!!!

I love my new sewing machine! My cat, Jango Fett, likes to get in the way...

4th Quilt - Snowman

This is the first quilt I made that really did not have a pattern. I found this adorable Snowman panel and I wanted to use it. I added a border and then some squares which I found a free pattern for here. Then I added a final border around the blocks and panel. I really liked the way the blocks turned out!

3rd Quilt

I'm on a roll now! :) This is a picture of my 3rd quilt - a red, white, and blue rail fence quilt. The blocks are 9" with a 4 1/2" baseball border. There are small Chicago Cubs squares in the corner of this quilt. The quilt is for my brother-in-law for Christmas and I am a Sox Fan...so I liked the quilt until I sewed the Cubs blocks on. In all honesty, I really love this pattern and I think this quilt is going to look amazing with the Marine Corps logo backing.

2nd Quilt

So this is actually the first quilt I made but I only finished the top and didn't have it quilted yet. The baby quilt was the first quilt I had quilted and gave as a gift.

I love this quilt because of the panels - Northern Solitude by Moda. I purchased the complimenting fabric from Quilter's Destination in Arlington Heights, IL. The pattern I used for this quilt is one I found free online at Robert Kaufman.

Back to the beginning...

I realized that if I am going to blog about my quilting, I should have started with how I was introduced to quilting in the first place. My mother-in-law worked with me and my 4th grade class in creating a classroom quilt. Each student received a white square and used crayons to draw their favorite memory of 4th grade. My mother-in-law sewed on black borders and yellow school-themed squares. I absolutely love the border on this quilt - a black border with a colorful alphabet. The quilt was quilted with a swirl pattern and backed with a heavy fabric that was "go green" themed. While the quilt was being assembled the students researched topics associated with quilting - terms, the process, hidden codes in underground railroad quilts, and more. Please read the newspaper article about our class quilt!

After that, I guess I was bit by the quilting bug. I have the fabric for many projects chosen and have the tops of a few more finished. I will be posting pictures and descriptions in the coming weeks!

My first completely finished quilt!

I finished and had quilted my first official quilt a few weeks ago. It was a gift for my long-time childhood friend for her baby shower. The quilt was made from a panel and some borders and I chose a flannel duck fabric for the back. It was quilted with a swirly pattern called "popcorn".