Three New Projects

A quick update:  My daughter is still having contractions, but she is home and on complete bed rest.  She is bored, but it is worth it for the babies to not be born yet!  

A year ago this month I spent the weekend in Spokane for the quilt show.  I posted pics of this year's show in my previous post.  Last year I retreated in a hotel with a friend and another friend met up with us and we went to The Quilting Bee.  We each found a jelly roll and challenged each other to make a quilt.  I am a little behind the other two on their projects, but this week I decided it was time!  I had waffled on what to make all year, but finally decided on the pattern Square Dance in the book Strip Your Stash.  I have a bolt of Kona white so that is what I used for the background.  My jelly roll is called Summer Fest by Moda.

jelly roll block

 I have all twelve blocks done and there will be white sashing between them.  The blocks are on the design wall.  There isn't even any purple in these quilt blocks!

I have two baby showers coming up this next weekend.  Due to time constraints I decided against making baby quilts and ordered gifts.  Well......  Saturday I had an epiphany.   This summer I had purchased a jelly roll, Rainy Day by Me and My Sister designs for Moda.  I love the bright cheerfulness of the fabrics.  I searched online for a pattern and found a free one on Craftsy that would work.  I pulled out the "girl" fabrics and the "boy" fabrics.  I have the two tops ready for quilting .  For the girl one I found a background fabric with small color splotches, for the boy one I used plain white. 

purple/version 46.5" square

block closeup

I thought the previous quilt turned out too big, and I didn't have as many strips for this version.  I prefer rectangular quilts, but these will make nice playmats.  I have minky in my stash in blue and a pretty flannel in turquoise, pink and purple.  Perfect!  I still to find some binding in my stash.  This is the problem of using almost a whole jelly roll in the quilts! 

blue/green/orange version  40" square

 Linking up for Design Wall Monday with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. and Monday Making.

Spokane Quilt Show

I went to the Washington State Quilters show in Spokane, WA last weekend.  I didn't get as many pics as I would like.  I was so overwhelmed and trying to take everything in.  It's a huge show, over 500 quilts in a large venue.  I was going to go back and take more pics, but after being at the show several hours and facing a three hour drive back home we headed out.  Here are some pics I took for assorted reasons including design, color, quilting, incredible piecing, etc.  I didn't take time to get straight pics or full pics, just snapped a quickie with my phone and moved on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

super small paper pieced diamond log cabins

 

 

TINY pieces!!!

 

Finished Easy Street!

In 2012 I made my first Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.  It was the first year we were not having our daughters home at Christmas time so I had time in December to keep up on the clues.  I finished the top right on time according to the mystery, but as to the quilting....  The top languished in my quilt top cupboard since then.  In September I pulled it out and quilted it.  I already had the backing with it.  It took me another month to sit down and stitch down the binding, but the quilt is now finished!!  I love it!  I need to steam the binding a bit and take some better photos but I threw it up on my design wall with a lot of pins to get a photo. 

Easy Street Mystery Quilt

Here is the finished baby girl quilt for the twins.  My daughter is in preterm labor and in the hospital but the babies are doing well so far, my daughter is just very bored having to stay in bed.  She is 32 weeks now, and we are hoping they babies stay in a little longer.

baby girl fox quilt

On October 14, my older daughter hosted a baby shower at her home for the twins.  My husband and I took my mom down (six hours each way) and had a great time.  Here is Lisa after she opened the two baby quilts!  She had already seen them (and had picked the fabrics!).  Just a few days later Lisa went into the hospital!

 I went to a large quilt show in Spokane, WA this past weekend and really enjoyed myself.  It was overwhelming with over 500 quilts!  I only bought one Hoffman Spectrum panel and a pattern.  I did deliver 4 quilt tops to be quilted to a longarm quilter, getting them finished will feel good.  They are old ones in my stash that I just didn't feel like quilting myself.

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Small Projects

I have been in a quilting slump so to speak.  Lots of other activities have limited my quilting time.  Here are a few things I have worked on this past week.

I joined the Teal Mini Swap to support Ovarian Cancer research again this year  We are sent a small piece of teal we need to use and then the mini quilt is made based on a questionnaire and sent to your swap partner.  It is hosted by Eva Paige Quilt Designs.  This is the mini I made to send to my swap partner.  It is 18" square.  I thought I had a closeup of the quilting, but I don't.

This is the mini I received.  Purple is my favorite color and Becky used a lovely embroidery in the middle.

For some reason, the colors are a little off on these photos below.  I am in a small internet group and was sent three paint chips and needed to make something using those colors.  We could make anything.  They were difficult for me, but I found a panel that had been in my stash for YEARS and it worked for the colors.  I quilted it and now have a wallhanging for my wall at work.  If you look close you can see that the fabric looks knitted.

I have all the blocks made for my granddaughter's quilt.  Two yellows and oranges are in the boy quilt as well, shown in the previous post.  I need to sew it together and get it quilted.  The shower is Oct. 14th.  My daughter is now about 29 weeks along and the babies are progressing well!

Linking up wtih Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.

It is Fair Month!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!  I confess.... I love seeing my quilts on display.  I am not in it for the money, as a blue ribbon is only $3, but I do love to display my quilts.  I gift a lot of quilts, but each year I look back through photos and decide on some quilts to enter in our local county fair.  I am a co-superintendent of the quilt/afghan dept. and take an afternoon off work to help check them in.   I decided on 9 quilts/wallhangings, all in different categories to enter this year.

I am there for the judging and I am the one who stands with the judge to tell her which category this quilt or afghan is in.  Our fair is judged on the American system, one set of ribbons unless there are 10 items in the category or more.  Many years ago I was doing a LOT of quilting for others and started entering in the professional division, although I am FAR from a professional.  I still enter that category as the fair board said it's hard to switch back, even though I don't quilt for pay anymore.

I did get my Canyon Dance quilt finished.  Terrible photo in a hurry before the fair.

Canyon Dance

quilting closeup

We had a LOT of entries this year.  84 to be exact.  My friends got this display set up after judging.  I have two quilts in the front row.  My Canyon Dance with Best of Show professional and my Crown of Thorns with a blue and extra $15 sponsored cash award at the judge's discretion.  In the photo are also my Splash of Lime and Cat Houses and Snippets.  My friend also made a Canyon Dance with my templates and her quilt is on the front row right.

 I was working with two young men on the other side putting up afghans and smaller quilts in the two  photos below.  My One Block Wonder is in the second phot on the bottom.

 Then my friends did this wall with the wallhangings and tablerunners.  The screens are up so nobody can touch or steal!

 Another view of my Crown of Thorns and Canyon Dance after the screens are up.

I actually did very well, winning 9 blue ribbons.  Part of the fun of fair weekend is family.  This picture is distorted since we were in a curve, I am really not such a giant, my mom is taller than me!  Me, mom, SIL Dee holding Isaak her grandson, niece Kylie, sisters Lori and Sue.  I hadn't gotten back in line after finding a classmate walking by to take our picture.

So if that wasn't enough.... there is another fair in the next county.  They allow entries from the surrounding counties and I have never entered before.  I have never even been to that fair!  My husband wanted to go to "town" and pick up some things and I said if we went Tuesday I would enter quilts.  So after work we did.  I picked 5 because their categories were very limited.  They judge on the Danish system, entries get a ribbon if they deserve it.

I had to go down Saturday as my car was throwing codes and needed a checkup so I went to the fair. I was shocked to see the entries behind plastic, but at the same time, it keeps dirty hands off of them!  I was awarded 5 blues!   I went back Sunday afternoon to pickup up my entries.

Baby Boy Grandson quilt

Canoyon Dance was all folded up and laying down.

Two wallhangings

Crown of Thorns with a Best of Class.

I want to get back to some quilting, all I have done is make a big mess, trying to design a small wallhanging for th Teal Swap to support Ovarian cancer.  

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.