Wonderful Green Project for your little one!

This is the cutest way to recycle a sweater or sweater vest.

Check it out - click on the photo. This project is by Disney, yes that's her name, and she has a great blog too! You'll find the link and Susan's blog with the tutorial. Enjoy.

Progress on the QAIG

Added another border! Will have to find a new place to hang it once I add one of the horizontal borders. You can look at earlier posts on how I've been doing this quilt as I go project.

Remember the Table Runner Exchange?

This is what I got in the steal game. Has some red in it and it just the right size for my round table. I like it. May try to make one next year.

New Mystery

at Quiltville: a quilt for Christmas. Click on photo to go to Part 1.

Quilt as I go Part III

Sorry it has taken me so long to post another part on this method. Life got in the way and I had to take things one challenge at a time. Last weekend I was finally able to devote some time to this endeavor. Here goes:

Section 1 - first one quilted. Section 2 - quilted and to be attached to 1.

1. Lay section 2 wrong side up and pin backing away from edge to attach - here it is done and both sides showing photo A.

When you lay it flat the excess batting will show. You will cut this off flush with the quilt top - photo B. Unpin the backing and cut it measure 1/2" larger than the quilted section. Set this section aside for now. - photo C

2. Now lay section 1 on your cutting table right side up and true up seam you are joining to section 2 as you cut off excess batting and backing - photo D.

3. Now to section 2, pin batting AND batting away from edge. Place the two sections right sides together wish section 1 on bottom, match seams and pin. The sandwich will be 4 layers thick now - photo E. Sew a scant 1/4" seam. When done, lay the quilt top wrong sides up and unpin th batting only. Pull the sections apart and smooth, so that the quilt top is flat. Now cut off excess batting close edge of the sewn batting - photo F. I use applique scissors so I don't accidentally cut the backing, or you could fold the top in half (right sides together) with the batting sticking out to trim. The two battings will now butt up to each other.

4. Fold the 1/2"of backing in half - raw edge under, pin to quilt back of section 1, hiding the seam and and whip stitch closed - photo G.
This may sound complicated - practice on two quilted squares before you do this on your quilt, but once you've done it - it will be easier than it reads.






My top is done - need only add the borders now!

For Anne Mary

Here's a baby quilt I made for my daughter's sister-in-law's new baby. Anne Mary was born Oct 1st. I'll try and get a picture of her soon. This quilt was made with left over 9 patches and with the quilt as you go method that uses a solid back. It is 30" square. That's my size for a baby's lap quilt.

Look what our Guild has been up to!

In support of our troops and with the encouragment and leadership of our guild member, Renee - 62 quilts will be on their way to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq for Christmas. Click here for local story.

For the Quiltlet Swap

My online group, Quilters on Review, on Yahoo is having a quiltlet swap. Here is my entry. I call it Reversable Crumb Block Quiltlet. We were to start with a 6 1/2" block and make a quiltlet with it - usually one block. I decided to reach into my scrap box and see what I pulled out. It happened to be a crumb block, so I went from there - found some more I had laying around and that made the top. I decided to use a piece of Christmas fabric I had on hand for the back , so the recipient could use this at the Holidays if they wanted to. LOL - it will sure wake them up!

I quilted part of it using reverse quilting and the other half with conventional quilting. Hope someone wants it. Ps: If you enlarge the photo, you can see the quilting.

Em's Quilt

Here's my entry for the Fall Quilt Festival at parkcitygirl.blogspot.com(see link at right). I started this in 2005. It was Beth Ferrier's BOM pattern for that year and is called Simple Pleasures. You can see more of her wonderful designs at http://applewd.com/ I made it for my daugher, Emily's 35th birthday which was in 2006. She loves black and white, so I chose to make it in that colorway with a splash of color here and there. This was a challenge for me as it used a few techniques I had never used before: machine applique, borderie perse, and some intricate piecing which Beth made so easy with here sneaky piecing tips, I don't know what I was worried about. The pattern was for a twin size quilt with a pillow panel(can't remember what it's called - but is the part that lays on the pillows). Since mine was going to be a wall hanging I did not make the pillow panel. It measures about 68 x 72 and featured an appliqued cat (very similar to Bruja - the cat they had at the time) - yep, that was part of the pattern. When I pieced the top, I almost decided to keep it - I had grown so fond of it, LOL but I did give it to Em in 2006.

It was quilted by my fellow guild member, Trina Andrews. And here is a closeup of one of the blocks:

Off to Colorado

Have been getting ready to go visit Leo in Colorado. Here is the latest picture I have of my cutie:

Bye for now!

Latest bound quilt

Here is the third bound quilt to be delivered to Soldiersangels.org this October. Our sister quilter is near her goal of 50 quilts to take with her. They are destined to be Christmas presents for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. I didn't notice that it was asymmetrical until I took the picture. What tricks the mind plays on us!

Quilt as I go - Part II

Okay, I've ironed the backing section and smoothed out the batting. I place the backing with wrong side up and position the batting piece on it. Then I lay the sewn quilt blocks (3 rows by 7 blocks) on top and smooth all over. I pin the sides of the sandwich, turn it over and check the back to see that it is smooth and then pin the entire top.

Now I take the sandwich to my machine. I will use the same kind of thread in the bobbin as on top. I am using wonderfil Invisifil white and a 60/8 needle. I have the straight stitch plate and my darning foot ready for free motion quilting. You can see this segment is just the right size for the throat of my machine:

Since these are pieced blocks I'm going to do a medium meander across the rows. I just have to remember to slow down my movement on the curves and I'll have more even stitches. I get tense when I'm free-motioning and I have to remember to relax my shoulders and drop my arms to a more relaxed position. Helps, too, if I don't hunch over the machine and breathe - LOL. I'm going to quilt the middle row first. Here's a close up of the meander.

I'll finish quilting this section and make the other 3 row one. Then I'll be back with Part III of Quilt as I go.

Finished Charity quilt

I demonstrated binding at our last guild workshop, so I started a quilt to use the edges for the binding demo. Afterwards, I went home and took out the french method binding to finish the binding by bringing up all four sides from the back. This will go to Riverside Life Services . It was a split nine-patch block pattern. After picking out the fabrics, and once it was made, felt the dark was too dark for my choices. Maybe if I had used a more medium yellow it would have looked better to me. What do you think?

Back again

Have been off vacationing with family, hence no posts or quilting for a while. Though it was 101 by Noon we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Fortunately we got there by 9am when it opened and were able to see quite a few animnals on the tram ride around the perimeter of the park. A great way to see most of the park. Here is part of the creche of giraffes they have that are one of the most successful of their breeding programs. The park has lots of shade in places and "wet zones" where one can cool off - not to mention shows that give you a respite from the heat, but still it was hot! Here is grandson #2, Frank, cozying up to Mama Gorrilla. And last but not least, they put quilting blocks on the posts giving directions. Would make a great African quilt border.

Garden spot

The summer days continue and soon I will need to think about autumn chores to get ready for winter starts. In the meantime, I roam the yard (my DH's part) and look for photo ops of his holdings - he is a cactus and succulent nut. Found this one I like. They only bloom in the morning, but they are a nice surprise when I go out to get the morning paper:

Quilting as I go, Part 1

Hello, I went to see Julie and Julia the other day, and I just loved it. Since I can't get a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking at this time (Borders has sold out, all the copies at the library are on loan - can't even interlibrary loan it), I'm going to set a quilting goal rather than a cooking goal (I was only going to make a few recipes - LOL) like Julie in the movie.

I've decided to chronicle my "quilting as I go method" for getting quilts done with my Bernina. Yes, I have taken some to long arm quilters to do, but I've become intrigued in doing these at home. I read an article by Diane Gaudinski and she has me in awe for the fabulous work she does on her home machine. So after reading books by Diane, Kaye Wood, Marti Michell, Georgia Bonesteel, Betty Cotton, Sharon Pederson and others, I decided to try quilting my own tops. Here are two I have already done this way - posted in order made:

So first thing I do is take out the batting I will need for the quilt, wash it, dry it and plan how I am going to cut up the batting for the number of sections the quilt will have. I like to use batting that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. I find that this doesn't shift as much as others and makes for smooth backs.

For UFO #5- I have decided on seven sections. I've already taken the blocks down from the design wall, so I can't show you that. So on paper I figure out what I need. This is just breaking the quilt down to segments that are easy to handle in my machine. The center has 70 blocks, so I decided on three sections. My squares are 6"squares finished. So one section is 4 rows by seven blocks And there are 2 sections 3 rows by 7 blocks. The other 4 sections will be borders. I add 2 inches extra to the batting and backing sections so that they extend beyond the quilt segments. With planning on graph paper, I can cut all segments from a twin batting measuring 72"by 90". It's not a complicated as it reads once you've done it.

Now I like to have a patchwork back, so I look in my stash for three interesting fabrics to be the backing for the center of this quilt. If I can find something big enough, I'll use one fabric for all the borders. Off to my stash. Time for cutting batting, and picking fabrics = 1 hour.

Part II later.

Another Soldier Angel quilt

bound and ready to get packaged for delivery. Didn't make it, I just bind 'em. See more at

http://www.soldiersangels.org/ .

Mini quilt

Here's a small quilt I've finished from one of our first BOM patterns in 05. My neighbor put the blocks together and I inherited it from her. I finished it. Going to use as a table topper somewhere. The name of the block was Hatchet - really easy to make. If you'd like the pattern, leave me a comment and I'll send it to you.

Love at First Block

Here's a block I've fallen in love with. Can't you just see it as a scrappy quilt? And it's so easy!! The BOM Lady in our guild offered it to us as our block of the month for September. She saw it at a quilt store now out of business, so I don't know who came up with it. If anyone knows could you let me know? I'd like to give them credit. I'm itching to make some more! But that's the last thing I need another QIP - LOL.

Here he is!

Presenting: Leo Laban Nudge

8 lbs, 5 ozs, 20 inches long.

My first pictures

I'm a happy buela!!

It's a Boy!

Stephen called this morning and said Baby Nudge arrived at 4 AM. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 5 ozs and was delivered by water birth.

We are so excited! And no, don't know the name yet - they're seeing what fits him from their list. He has dark hair and blue eyes at this time. Pictures coming - they are so tired. Ay de mí!

Both baby and mom are fine. I'm posting a pic of a coverlet I made for DGS3. It is just cloth and flannel quilted at the squares and around the figures. I thought they could use it for the summer. Guess I'll have to get busy and make a real quilt promptly, and put the Sunbonnet Sue quilt away for later--LOL! More news as it comes.

Morning surprise

Up at 5:55 this am and what a surprise when I went to open the west facing window in our kitchen! Much brighter when I first saw them, but still there when I raced back with the camera. You can just see the second one to the right of the brighter one. What a good morning blessing!!

UFO #4 now complete

We're still waiting on grandbaby #3 to make an appearance and here is one ufo I finished to give to baby if it is a girl. My mother embroidered the squares and put the top together about 7 years ago when we were waiting for grandbaby #1. After two boys (which we love dearly),

I sandwiched the top, and quilted and bound it. All we want is a safe delivery for both mom and baby. Label will read: Made by Great Grandma Mary and quilted by Grandma Angie.

Latest Charity Quilt

Hello, here is my latest charity quilt - a 30" square one for the local regional medical center's neonatal unit. It is to cover a preemie incubator so that the light won't bother the tiny ones. The parents get to take it home when the baby is ready to go home. They are quick to make and give me a small piece on which to practice my quilting.

As I walk down the hall

I can see this spot of color. I found a packet of wildflower seeds and planted them in April - yes, late, but I wanted something green and bright that I could see through my hallway window as I walked by. What a nice surprise I got in the variety that came up even though the packet was of 2005 crop of seeds.

I've Decided

that my stash is overflowing! When I started quilting several friends gave me bagfuls of fabric, so now 10 years later, I want to do the same. I'll be posting a giveaway now and then and it will go out to the 10th person to ask for it. Here's my first giveaway - a half yard of blue that could be used for water in a landscape or ?:

Still kicking

Hi, a quick note to say I'm still alive even though I haven't posted since June. Bouts of vertigo, and grandkids, visiting family and trying to stay cool have all kept me from the computer and posting, but hope to do better.

Here's a quilt I bound for the soldiersangels.org folks. One of our guild members is getting a bunch of these quilts together to send off for the military at Christmas time. We guild members help out by doing different parts of the quilt process. If you'd like to learn more about this worthy cause go to: http://www.soldiersangels.org/

May Quilts

May saw me getting back into my wobbly groove after vacation and finishing up two quilts (not UFO's - LOL). Hope to finish one before guild meeting though. This first one is for my Godson (Steve M) and his lovely wife (Waen M)'s soon to be here baby Kai. This was a kit, but as I was tired of making stars, I used the Hole in the barn door pattern for the blocks and decided since I wanted to get this one done fast and the material is flannel, I'd make it into a raw edge quilt. Here is Hey, Diddle, Diddle (kit from Connecting Threads).

The second quilt was a collaborative one with my daughter-in-law, Deanna. She wanted a wall hanging for my grandson, Frank's, preschool teacher. She came over and we put it together in six hours using my strip and flip method. Deanna cut, ironed and clipped as I sewed. We were a great team, and I love her color sense - she is such a natural at it. Keep telling her she has to make some quilts! The kids are going to sign the blocks and will be a wall hanging when done.

My Vacation

As promised here are some highlights of our trip to Puerto Rico where Mom and I were born. We stayed in a vacation rental with 3 bdrms, 3 baths, full kitchen and lots more for less than $200 per person for the week! It was great and just what we needed to relax in after sightseeing. There were six of us. My mom and I, my son, Steve and his partner, Amanda, my cousins, Juanita and Carmen from Houston. Their dad was my mom's brother.

On our first full day, Sunday after church, we went to Old San Juan - below we are in one of the gun turrets looking out toward El Condado where all the ritzy hotels and casinos are.

Then we walked around old San Juan viewing the beautiful balconies that dot the buildings there and the cobblestone streets. We then had dinner at El Jibarito where we sampled the local cuisine. Delicious!

The next day we spent it all in El Yunque National Forest which is the only tropical rainforest in the US Parks System. While we walked through the canopy of the trees at the visitors Center, Amanda and Steve hiked up one of the many trails to try to reach the top of El Yunque.

Tuesday, while Steve and Amanda went to the beach , the four of us went ancestor hunting in the mountains of PR that make up most of the island. Each town has a plaza and the oldest church is there. Here is the chuch in Naranjito where my grandfather was born - a new one as the old one was falling down. We stopped at the rectory to order baptismal records.

The roads are good and as long as you concentrate on those white lines you see on the road below, one does fine if going slow on the curves. That's forest bamboo along the side of the road and in several places you felt like you were going through a green tunnel. It was all so beautiful with impatiens growing wild everywhere.

Wednesday we headed northwest and visited Camuy - they have the third largest subterranean river in the world. We went in a tram down the side of a great big sinkhole and then walked into the cave. Here's the last picture I could take as we got further inside. The cavern was the size of a baseball field. When we reached the other side, we were again in sunlight and in the next sinkhole where we could look down on the subterranean Camuy river. And there are bats!

Thursday we went south to Ponce - the city of fountains. Ponce is known for its 6000 victorian homes of which they have renovated half of them. Didn't have enough time here, so we gotta go back! When we headed home, we stopped at another great restaurant near our place and celebrated Mom's 83rd birthday.

Friday, it was off to the beach and WOW it is a world class beach. They rake it every morning - there is a coral reef out at a distance so the waves are small and the water warm -like a great big salt water pool. There is about every concession stand you could want, but discreetly placed so they don't mess up the view. I walked in the water up to knee level and even that close to shore I saw tropical fish.

That evening we returned to Old San Juan for a farewell dinner and to celebrate Steve's 35th birthday. I had a dish called pastelon at the Princessa - think of it as the PR version of lasagna - instead of pasta they use plantains and was it good!

We hope to go again!