Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my first time participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

I am entering my latest finish, my Baltimore Spring quilt.  This was purchased as a laser cut kit, but most of the pieces were just scored, not actually cut.  I sat at a quilt retreat for four days and cut apart and fused the blocks inside the border.  I did the border after I got home.  Then I rolled it up on a large tube I had on hand and it sat.  I finally decided to stitch down the appliques in August.

I used a variety of threads, mostly Superior Fantastico.  I machine quilted it Labor Day weekend.  I can't believe it is finished!  I added a hanging sleeve to the back as it will be hung in my home on a quilt hanger a friend's husband made me.

Closeup  detail photos.

 I entered the quilt in our local county fair a couple weeks ago.  We have about 10,000 people in the county, and the fair and Lumberjack Days are a big event in town in mid September.  I won Best of Show and the photo below is hanging at the fair.

The third weekend in September is another fair an hour away.  Residents from surrounding counties can enter that fair, which is unlike our county fair.  I was surprised to win Best of Show again!  I also received Best in Class and Superintendent's Choice.  They put all the quilts behind plastic to keep people from touching them.  It doesn't make for good photography!

The most popular question I get asked is "How long did it take?"  I really should keep track sometime, but then again, that might take the fun out of it!  I am quilting obsessed and I think I will get back to piecing for awhile!

Finished Baltimore Spring quilt!

After many, many hours of stitching this past week I finished my Baltimore Spring quilt.  I stitching every evening after work and all day Friday and Saturday.  Saturday evening I applied binding.  I added a hanging sleeve as it will go onto a quilt hanger a friend's husband made me.  It's a bit heavier than I had hoped and I need to block it I think, but it's done!

Baltimore Spring

detail

detail

I started cutting up panels for a One Block Wonder and will have that on my design wall soon!

Be sure and check out my blog tomorrow for a special post and and links to many other bloggers for a meet and greet!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday and Monday Making 

Machine Quilting/Applique

A few months ago I finished this top.

It was a laser cut kit from Keepsake Quilting.  The pieces were just fused, not stitched.  I got it out this past week to start stitching.  I layered the top with just one layer of Quilter's Dream Request loft batting and nothing else and I have been free motion stitching around the edges, changing colors of thread.  I am using a lot of Superior Fantastico thread.  

There were some VERY, VERY thin vines that wouldn't fuse well and when I tried stitching I had a huge mess.  I kept going (stupidly) and finally decided I could not live with it.  I worked hard to get all the vines out from under one row of stitching.  Then I decided to just free motion stitch a stem.  I like it so much better!

 The cherry stems are just drawn on, but I will stitch over them and make it connected!  I still have lots of stitching to go!

After I finish this part, I will add another layer of the Request loft batting and backing and stitch all the background.  That is going to take time too!

It was back to work today,  I always forget that we really do have a lot of rules and routines!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday.

Finished a quilt top!

Finally, I got my act together and got my guild's fundraiser quilt together. A member had donated the center panel, but it was just fused so I did lots of threadwork. Other blocks were handed in fused but not stitched so I had to do some of them as well. I had the floral fabric in my stash and it worked wonderfully! Now to hand it off to someone else to quilt hopefully!

Quilt a day #17

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I wore my green and white polka dot socks to work today, forgetting I was also going to the Dr. in Moscow afterwards! Oh well, it was fun! My boss gave us all dill pickles this morning for something green. She couldn't find green frosted cookies at the store! Most students at school love dill pickles, except the two kindergartners.

Today's offerings of quilts are just random photos again. I saw the pattern for this first quilt in a magazine a long time ago. I was just starting into the liking yellow phase. If you look closely you will see a mistake, something I didn't notice until it was completely done. My weekly hand quilting group quilted this one, so I know it's older than 7 years old, we disbanded then. There were only three of us left and I was working.
I saw this quilt in a magazine also. I made it in about two days, working intently. It's called Winter Rose. I had the border fabric and desperately wanted to use it. It's machine quilted and machine appliqued and is a large wallhanging.