Sunday, September 29, 2013

ABC BOW C & D Blocks

These are so quick! I don't know how I let myself get behind. I took them with me to Vail and did not touch them. I did mange to take a luxurious bubble bath, finish up a book, and go out to an amazing dinner on both nights! No sewing, but definitely relaxing.
Seeing everyone else's girl blocks is getting me thinking that I should being doing some of those too!





Halloween!

I know September is not quite over, but I love love love Halloween. I hung this Halloween quilt up this morning. I just love how scrappy it is and of course my favorite embroidery with perle cotton. I made this probably over five years ago.
 I mixed black and orange perle cotton throughout the embroideries.
I quilted it with black perle cotton outlining every square and rectangle with primitive stitches.

Fall is definitely in the air. We had a freeze Friday night and that pretty much ended our garden. I roasted tomatoes frantically last night, washed and froze peppers, and roasted peppers this morning.

I joined my mom and some other ladies yesterday for the second day of their quilting retreat. I worked on my September Schnibbles and have the top almost done. I also got caught up on the ABC Block of the Week Quilt Along with Shush I'm Quilting. I will get those posted ASAP.  I am enjoying football today in my sewing room...How about you?

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Scrappy Saturday

These are my blocks for the Joined at the Hip Blog Sampler. They are the September blocks made completely from my stash and scrap tubs.

I also cut out some bits for the Another Year of Schnibbles Mercerie for the month of September. I just need to pick out the background fabric. I am not sure whether to go light and have the low volume look or dark with maybe a navy...Rain is forecast for tomorrow, so between that and football, it should be a great quilting day!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Shush BOW Block B

Hello! Well I am all caught up with the Shush ABC Block of the Week. Here is block B for baseball. I tried the fly stitch which she recommended and I have done before, but be cause it was so tiny it was tough. I improvised and was able to get the stitching to look better. I hope to get the next few blocks traced today. I am going to a meeting for work tomorrow over in Vail and won't be back until Wednesday night. Two nights in a fancy resort hotel by myself sounds like the perfect time to get some hand work done! A bubble bath and reading will also be on my agenda. Can't wait to see everyone else's progress!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Shush - I'm Doing the ABC BOW

Shush I'm Quilting I am trying to get caught up! My book came on Monday in the mail. I photocopied it on Tuesday, traced the A block and B block on Wednesday, stitched the A block the same night and started on the B block. Both the boy and girl quilts are so cute, I might just make both, but I did start with the boy version.
I trace my embroidery designs with a regular old pencil. I had bought plain white Kona fabric, but after receiving the book. I took her advice and used the darker cream with a dot from my stash. I like to back my embroideries with Warm and Natural batting and stitch through it. This provides stability and hides my messy stitches and back from showing through the fabric.

I am not using embroidery floss, but instead opting for my favorite perle cotton #8. The stitches will be a little thicker, but I like how the perle cotton looks and holds up over time.
I have plenty of perle cotton on hand and should be able to make this quilt entirely from my stash. Should I assemble the blocks as we go or just embroider them?

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Weekend Quilting

Yeah! A finish. This was a BOM I inherited from my sister. I have already finished the fall version and here is the winter quilt. I love the scrappy look of this.

I hand quilted with #8 ecru perle cotton making chunky, primitive stitches. I got most of the quilting done on Thursday night during the Broncos and Ravens game. I put the binding on it this morning and watched the morning football games as I hand quilted it down. The fall and winter versions of this quilt are being sent back to my sister as a house warming gift. They get to move into their new house next week...

I basted this Sea Life Baby quilt and this Welcome to the Jungle Baby quilt and will also quilt them with #8 perle cotton and chunky stitches.

Aren't the bright colors awesome! So, I desperately wanted to piece another embroidery quilt today, but I restrained myself. The embroideries are fall themed with a scarecrow, sunflowers, and a cornucopia and I plan on making it scrappy. I have to make progress on the hand quilting of these two baby quilts...Maybe next Sunday during the football games!

I got more zebra fabric to bind this one with. Too cute! Thank you for visiting.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Sea Life Baby Quilt

These pictures really do not show how bright these colors are! iPads do not take the best pictures, but they sure are easy to use for blogging. I made one of these quilts several years ago and I had so much left over fabric, I made another one. I think I embroidered these sea creatures over a year and a half ago. I totally spaced on this UFO until I saw another fish baby quilt on-line the other day.

The embroidery designs were just coloring pages I found on-line and traced onto white Kona with a pencil. The fabric squares are cut 5inches, I bought a layer cake and cut it up. I use free coloring pages from the Internet all the time for designing baby quilts. I have made some with farm animals, Winnie the Pooh, woodland animals, etc. 

Now, I need to pin it (yuck) and start the hand quilting (fun). I have never made a tutorial, but I was thinking of making one showing how I embroider, find the designs, trace, stitch, etc. Would anyone be interested? Let me know!