Timberline quilted...

After being a flimsy for over 8 months, I finally quilted my Timberline.  I ditched around the star sections and quilted a longarm feather in the cream sections with another feather on the outside border.  I really wanted to quilt heirloom feathers as they are my favorite but with the cream sections being so small and without quilting anything in the dark logs it would have been way over quilted.  I needed an airy feather so this worked well. 

It will be awhile before I can get it hung in my home as it is now on display at Freckles Quilt Shop where I will be teaching this advanced class in October. 

Here is Jasper...he just had to pose for one shot!

And here is Copper...

Giftie...

During one of my camping trips this summer, I came across this pattern booklet for making the cutest wee blocks and using them as quilt art.  There are quite a few patterns to choose from, all making up mini 1.5 inch blocks.  They are traditionally pieced...NOT paperpieced!!!

For a little giftie for my quiltie friend, I found an old frame and selected a few of my favorite blocks, dug through my itty bitty scraps of reproduction fabric and whipped this up for her.  As you can tell by the pic, she just loved it!!!  Afterall, it was she who gave me the stack of reproduction scraps to make my previous 9 patch mini quilt.  Thanks Heather!!

Mini's...

My love for mini quilts goes way back, when I was introduced to paperpiecing and found it so easy to make the perfect little quilts with perfect little points.  Somewhere along the way, I got tired of paperpiecing and stopped making the little guys.  That is until this past winter when I joined the Jo's Little Women club at the local quilt shop.  With my new found LOVE for reproduction fabrics and precision piecing this club was perfect for me.  These quilts are made using traditional piecing methods....not paperpiecing.  Here are a couple of projects that I managed to get done.

The above quilt measures 21x29 inches and would make such a cute little doll quilt.  I'm not normally a cheddar fan and had to do some convincing in order to purchase it but just love how it pops out the 4 patches.  Sorry my pic is so slanty... 

This little guy is my ALL TIME favorite mini quilt.  It actually came from last years club but I couldn't resist it's charm and HAD to make it as soon as I saw it.  Thanks to my dear friend Heather who came rushing over with her scrap bins to help me find the perfect fabrics.  This 9 patch on point mini quilt measures 12x12 inches and each finished nine patch block measures 1.5 inches!!!!  Remember I said NOT paperpieced.  I found it hard at first to manage the itty bitty pieces but soon got the hang of it.  I still have to quilt these guys but couldn't resist showing them off now.  When this one is completed it is going to live on my lazy suzan on the middle of my dining room table!!  I'll show ya later...

It's time...

So you know it's time to update your blog, when your quilty friend says...UPDATE YOUR BLOG!! Ha ha!!! Sorry fellow bloggers, I kinda let my summer run away on me. Tons of camping and quilting! However, it is now....'the most wonderful time of the year'....and the boys have gone back to school and I can actually hear myself think...Woohoo!! I have been keeping busy at the longarm and of course have started a bunch of new projects that I can't wait to share with you!

Today I had my two nieces, aged 4 & 6 over for the day. I was supposed to be at the longarm all day as I am on a tight deadline but I played hookie instead and sewed with the gals. The wee one, Hayley and I made a mini doll quilt. We sorted through my big basket of flannel scraps and came up with a little postage stamp center surrounded by a bunch of borders. She was so cute, everytime we added a border strip she would say..."ooo, it's getting bigger"... with a huge sweet smile.


Shelby and I decided to make this adorable little bag, perfect for a little girl. I rooted through my zillions of charm squares and found that the latest one added to my collection from a dear friend was absolutely perfect for the job! (I have one more pkg left and I think I know the perfect little girl for that one..hehe). Anywho, Shelby was busy sorting through all the charms and picking out her favorites and laying them out into two patterns...one for the outer side of the bag and one for the lining. This bag took exactly 40 squares and is reversible.

Aunty loves you girls!!!

Blog it!

Miss Millie and I had the pleasure of having my dear friend Linda (sorry I don't remember how to link you) and her husband for the day. We thought we'd have scads of time to visit, but as luck would have it Miss Millie wasn't just off her rocker, she needed her brain examined too!!! I say luck...but luck for me was really having Linda and her handy dandy husband (who happens to know a great deal about APQS maintenance) take charge and whip her into shape. I can't wait to get a quilt loaded and take her for a real spin!

While in the studio Linda was drawn to my cutting table accessory rack and told me I had to blog it! I thought that was funny cause I've had that thing for YEARS and have moved it from house to house, and it is always the first thing hung up in my studio and has kept my gadgets up and off my cutting table for forever. I've always been one for organization, especially in my studio! This little dealy is from Ikea in the kitchen department. When I bought this one it was the only style to choose from but now they have a few different options for rods and hooks and even have little bins that can hang off of it too. I think I should pick up another one with bins to hang behind my cutting table for my millions of bobbins that don't seem to have a home....or maybe get the one that has the shelf attached for more display space....hmmm. Ikea is a dangerous place for those who like to organize!!! Even my sewing table and the cutting table in the picture is from Ikea. I love it because you can customize a table to suit your needs. I chose a glass top for the cutting table so that it can double as a light table for tracing!!! Ahhh yaaa!!! And the saw horse type legs with the built in shelf are awesome too...I am able to make the table whatever height I want for cutting and my scrap baskets fit perfectly on the shelves underneath for quick scrap organization!

Simplicity...

Back in the fall during my trip to Arizona, I picked up a bunch of Simplicity fabric to make a quilt for one of my oldest friends 6 year old daughter. I chose this line of fabric as her favorite color is pink! And as it turned out, before I showed her the fabric she shared with me the paint chips of the colors they had planned for her room makeover. EXACT same colors!!! I selected the courthouse step block and alternated the setting. I had just enough of the outer border fabric to make a 10 inch border, which I really think the quilt needed as the print is so pretty. The photo makes the blocks look very washed out but they aren't that light in person. I quilted it with a darker rose So Fine and used the Wandering Daisies panto which is such a sweet girly pattern with all the daisies and hearts. It covers her queen bed nicely and I'm told it is her favorite part of her room.

Civil War Love Letters...

What some might think as an absolute nightmare....quilting a civil war quilt....I was actually quite inspired by it. I was never one for tons of paper piecing, loved the results, but hated not being able to cut exact pieces for the blocks! I'm not a willy nilly kind of quilter and I hate wasting fabric so I've sort of stuck to my traditional ways of piecing and have found myself modifying new patterns to get the most out of my fabric. Anywho...when my new dear friend came into my life with this absolutely stunning masterpiece I didn't know what hit me! I had seen another version of the Love Letters quilt made up and honestly didn't give it much thought, except that it was lovely, huge and WAY too much work for me. It wasn't until I began quilting this one for my new client that I absolutely fell in love with this entire concept. Instead of fretting over the million itty bitty seams in every itty bitty block, I found myself admiring each and every block, the fabric, the history and the dedication my client gave to this jewel of a quilt....and the quilt just pulled me in. Every time I advanced the quilt, it was like unveiling a new treasure. I adore how she sashed the blocks in tiny strips of mismatched fabrics, I am convinced that it is this setting that makes me love it so much. Somehow, in the weeks that passed, I committed to making the latest Civil War quilt....Civil War Diaries!!! I will post on my progress soon....there is progress!

I couldn't resist snapping a picture with the quilt as it hung in the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts show this past weekend. My only regret is that my new friend isn't standing right there beside me. Congratulations 'D' on your work of art, it was an absolute honor to quilt it for you!