A Sad Day

My little friend died today, she was over 18 years old. Casper helped with every quilt that I made over the years. The house is empty without her. RIP Casper 1997-2015

"Saddle Tramp" made by Linda H.

Linda H made "Saddle Tramp" to be given away as a charity quilt. The free pattern is designed by Marie Patch for McCall's Quilts. Linda used the same background fabric as the pattern. It's good way to use up Thimbleberries fabric which isn't as popular as it used to be. I think Linda did a great job on this quilt, it turned out very nice.

Throwback Thursday; Christmas Table Mat

Merry Christmas! I made this table mat in the early 90s. It's interesting to see what Christmas fabrics were in style at that time, the reds and greens were clear and bright, later on in the 90s, the colours went to the brown tones and the reds were more of a brick colour.

"Dressed to the Nines" by Linda H.

Linda H just completed "Dressed to the Nines" to be donated as a charity quilt. It's a twisted nine patch pattern. I like the colour combination and interesting fabrics she used.

Table Runner

Now that this has been gifted, I can post these pictures of a Christmas table runner that I made for my friend, Donna.

Throwback Thursday; Christmas Cats

I made Christmas Cats in the early 2000s as an internet block exchange. it was for sale at a craft fair, but hardly anything sold, I was happy to keep it. I've stopped trying to sell quilts, people think that they should be sold for next to nothing, I would hope my time and supplies are worth far more than that. I designed the block in the centre, the name of it is "Tabitha Calls the Children in for Christmas Dinner".

Making Gift Bags

Every December I make several gift bags to use up some of my vast stash of Christmas fabric. Even though I've been doing this for many years, the stash never seems to diminish.

Flashback Friday; Ed Winters

I had to work yesterday, then went to our quilting guild potluck supper. I ate too much as usual, the ladies in our group are all fantastic cooks. It's Flashback Friday instead of Throwback Thursday this week. :) My sister, Linda H. made Ed Winters for me in 2003. I display him every December. My home is small, so the only place to put him is on the doors of a cabinet, he has a little tree to keep him company.

Throwback Thursday; Santa Gets Lost

I made "Santa Gets Lost" in 2000 as a mystery quilt hosted by our guild. We didn't know what we were making until just about the end when we got the pattern for the applique Santa. I was "Heat and Bond challenged" and didn't reverse the pattern before drawing it onto the fusible web. Everyone else's Santa was facing one way and mine was the opposite, that's how my quilt ended up with its name. Since it's been snowing all day today, I thought it would be a good time to show a Christmas quilt. :) When I put it away, I'll have to fold it a different way or roll it, I notice it has a nasty crease across the middle.

Throwback Thursday; 47 Year Old Potholder

The other day when I was digging around in my sewing desk, I came across this potholder that I made when I was around nine or ten years old. It's crocheted from Phentex yarn, which is totally useless for a potholder because it would melt if heated. I designed and embroidered the flower, which has dozens of french knots on it. A gift for Mom, 47 years ago.

Yahoo! A Ten Year Old UFO Finally Finished!

I finally got around to finishing this 10-year-old UFO. It was a mystery quilt that was hosted by our guild. I don't remember the designer or the name of the pattern. The quilting was just about finished on it, then I became discouraged

because I didn't like the star design I used. I dug it back out last week and finished the quilting. I put the binding on it today. It's going to be a donation quilt.

Throwback Thursday; Waves of Coffee Through Time

I made "Waves of Coffee Through Time" in 2000 as an entry in a quilt challenge that a local fabric store hosted. The theme was "A Journey Through Time" if I remember right. We had to buy several fat quarters of a certain fabric line and have the quilt mostly made up of those fabrics, we were allowed to add a tiny amount of a different fabric. This was a difficult challenge because all of the fabrics were a medium tone, there wasn't much contrast. I used black embroidery floss to outline the shapes, hoping they would stand out better.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I was machine quilting tonight and the polyester embroidery thread was jumping off the spool and getting tangled. I needed one of those nets that you put over the spool so the thread doesn't spring off. I took an old pantyhose knee high stocking and cut a section from it and put the spool inside. No more tangles! Some kinds of thread are springier than others, this would also work well with metallic thread.

New Life For Old Quilt Blocks

Quite often I start making a bunch of quilt blocks, intending to make a queen size quilt. After awhile, I lose interest and shove them in a box, thinking I'll get back to them another time. I was digging around in the block box the other day and discovered these blocks that were in there since the mid-90s. I realized that there would be enough of them if I made a small quilt. I got the centre part assembled, then looked for border fabric. I tried several different colours, nothing looked right until I put the two colours of grey next to it. I'm going to attempt to do some simple quilting on it, then give it away as a comfort quilt. The reason I say "simple" quilting is because I tend to quilt too densely and it takes forever to finish. The quilt top has been "Casper approved" (cat) After it's all finished, I'll give it a good going over with a lint roller to get kitty hair off it. The only time she is on it is for the photo, after that I don't let her sit on it.

Throwback Thursday; Crown of Thorns

There isn't a label on this Crown of Thorns quilt, I think I made it in the early 90s. I used templates and hand pieced the blocks, then machine quilted it. Now that I look at it, I'm horrified that I used invisible thread, I don't use that kind anymore. There are much nicer thread choices these days!

Throwback Thursday; Fractured Stars

I made "Fractured Stars" in 2003. It's made with the "stack and slash" method, then hand quilted. I think it's the last time I ever hand quilted anything, I just don't have time anymore.

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween, I've been working on a crocheted blanket. It's not even half way finished and already weighs a ton. I want to have it ready to take to my Yukon cabin next summer.

Throwback Thursday; Snake Boogie

I didn't put the date on the label, so I don't remember when I made it, could be around 2000 or 2001. "Snake Boogie" was made from a free pattern on the internet. I can't think of the source to credit the designer. Thank you to whoever it was that created the pattern. This was a fun quilt to make, I kept it for myself because I didn't think anybody else would want it. :) It wouldn't be a good one to give to a small child because each snake has buttons sewn on for eyes. Now that I have new curtain rings, I don't have to use a series of different clamps tied on with twill tape to hold the quilts onto the pole when I photograph them. The rings look ok, so I don't have to crop them out of the picture.

Throwback Thursday; Scrapbag Bargello

I made "Scrapbag Bargello" in 2002 as an attempt to reduce my odds and ends of fabric. I was able to use some really ugly fabric in some of the strips. It's made from Bonnie Hunter's pattern "Scrappy Bargello", there are lots of free patterns on her Quiltville blog.

Trying Out Some "Scrappy Trips" Blocks

I wanted to try the "Scrappy Trips" pattern by Bonnie Hunter, so I made four blocks and laid them together to see what they looked like. It's a good way to use up 2 1/2" strips. Now I better set that aside for awhile so I can finish machine quilting something that I started a long time ago. I have a terrible time to discipline myself to only work on one project until it's completed.

Throwback Thursday; When Pigs Fly

This was a challenge hosted in 2002 by the local fabric store, the theme was "World Unity". We had to use a common fabric, which was the one with the flags. My quilt was "World Unity Will be Achieved When Pigs Fly". I figured that world unity is a nice idea, but will not likely happen. There are lots of embellishments, hand applique and embroidery. The bottom row is made up from leftover blocks from an ugly fabric/block exchange with Susan Getchell. The top row are leftover nine patch blocks from an internet swap.

Throwback Thursday; Finger Lick'n Good

I made this crazy quilt in 1998. At the time I had been collecting fabrics with chicken and rooster designs. I made several chicken themed quilts, but still have a Rubbermaid bin full of those kind of fabrics. Now I'm gradually using them up in scrap quilts and some aprons. One can only make so many chicken themed quilts. The reason I named this quilt "Finger Lick'n Good" is because there are chicken "parts" scattered here and there on the blocks. I was being silly and was imagining a torn apart chicken, maybe from road kill or a cat. Now this whole idea horrifies me because I've been a vegetarian for the past several years!