Back to the Fifties

I made this baby quilt for a couple at work who just had a new little guy. I asked what colours they liked, I was wondering if a quilt top that I had at home would be suitable. It turned out that the one I had in mind was totally wrong, they prefer colours like burnt orange, turquoise, brown, I thought, "Hmmmm, those sound like 1950's colours." I went home and looked on the internet, sure enough, 1950's colour pallets had those ones in it. I looked through my stash and came up with ones that would be suitable. For the border and binding, I ordered some 1950's reproduction fabrics for the border and binding from equilter.com. I like the fabric with atom designs on it! Next I needed to pick out a pattern, I found a good one in Quilter's World magazine, The Scrap Sensation, September, 2012. It was a bed size quilt designed by Christine A. Schultz,

I made fewer blocks so it was a baby quilt size. For the backing, I wanted to use a piece of novelty fabric that had pictures of old cars, planes and trains on it. I pieced it into the backing using muslin for the rest. I have lots of the fabrics left over, maybe I'll make a bigger quilt like this for myself.

Goal Accomplished!

Goal Accomplished! Here it is, UFO #13, completing the goal of finishing 13 UFOs in 2013. This one is titled, "Nobody is Getting This Quilt, the Blocks Took Five Years to Make". The blocks are hand appliquéd, the machine quilting is done in silk thread. I saw a quilt kit with fabric that I liked, so I bought it and didn't use the pattern, just the fabrics. The appliqué flowers that are on my quilt came from a Fons and Porter magazine: "Fun Quilts for Kids of all Ages". The pattern was called "Daisy Dreams", designed by Cyndi Walker. I didn't make the quilt the way it was in the pattern, I used an entirely different configuration.

Li'l Twister mat, Ufo #12 completed

I wanted to try the Li'l Twister ruler that I bought from Keepsake Quilting, so I made this little table mat. I used random five inch squares, alternating dark and light.

UFO #11 completed

These placemats were made from a kit from a fabric store in Whitehorse. I don't normally buy kits but I wanted the pattern and the fabrics were nice, so I gave in. The reason I don't use kits is because I don't want projects that look exactly the same as the next person's. Here is the pattern source: Take Four Placemats Pattern by Cary Flanagan www.creativequiltkits.com Take Four Placemats Pattern by Cary Flanagan is a fat-quarter friendly pattern that is great for beginners. Four fat quarters are all that is needed for the main side of the mat. One yard additional is needed for the backing.

UFO #10 completed

I finally got a chance to get to a place with good internet connection. I completed this quilt a few months ago, now I can post the picture. I can't send pictures from home because my internet is so horrible, slow and expensive. In this day and age, high speed internet should be available everywhere! This is a quilt I made for my friend Brenda to celebrate friendship since 1979. I was wanting to try the 1600 quilt pattern, so I looked up instructions online, then made the quilt a bit longer. I don't like a quilt that's too square if it's going to be used for a TV quilt. That's what I call the size that is used for cuddling up on the couch. I got the idea for the quilting design from the book "Doodle Quilting". It was quilted on my new Babylock Tiara quilting machine with Aurafil thread on the top and Bottom Line thread in the bobbin. I took the pictures outside, there was a slight breeze, which ruffled the edge, the quilt doesn't really have a smashed edge :D I'll look up where I got the 1600 instructions online, then will post the source to give credit to them, but I'll have to find it. Stay tuned :) Ok, I now have the site here to tell where I obtained the instructions: http://www.e-quilterscorner.com/media/uploads/2013/02/21/files/1600_Jelly_Roll_Quilt_Pattern.pdf

UFO #9 completed

This was a small project to complete but I was meaning to get it finished a long time ago. I used Ikea fabric that my daughter, Lindsay bought for me a long time ago. I've been saving leftover batting, tiny fabric scraps and selvages, then chopping them up to make pillow stuffing. This is a good way to use up shreds that would normally be thrown away. I wanted a firm pillow to sit on when I machine quilt so I can sit up higher and can see what I'm doing. There is quite a bit more of that fabric left that I can use for more cushions.

Penhold Braid (UFO #8 Completed)

Now that this quilt is given away, I can post some pics of it to the blog. The name of the quilt is "Penhold Braid". I made it for my friend, Anna-Marie for her birthday. It says on the label, "Celebrating friendship since 1966". The regular name for this quilt pattern would usually be "Friendship Braid", "Prairie Braid" or "Pioneer Braid". Way back when we first knew each other in Penhold, Alberta, Anna-Marie had her hair done in tight braids right next to her scalp. I always thought that must have been painful to sit there and have that done to your head every morning :D My hair was always a total mess, my mom never did anything with it, hehe! This is the first project I've quilted with my new Baby Lock Tiara machine. I tried several different feather designs, trying to learn some new things. The first two rows of feathers were a disaster, I had to pick them out. I discovered that I was unable to go up the feather and come back down the other side. It seemed to work better to go up from the bottom of each side. Maybe if I tried drawing it out first, it would be easier, but no, I always just jump right in and start sewing! I found the perfect label fabric to use for this quilt, Anna-Marie has a large brown cat named Sweetie, the angel cat seemed appropriate :) Anna_Marie has been given strict orders to use this quilt. I made a quilt for her many years ago, she didn't want to use it because it was too nice! This one is not too nice, it's a scrap quilt that's meant to be used :)