What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I saw a pantograph that I really loved and had to have; in true "one thing leads to another" form I found myself ordering more than one once I had logged onto the website, a dangerous place for me to spend too long! Anyway, one of these new (to  me) pantographs, that I didn't even know that I needed, is "Malachite". I'm excited about the resulting texture on this scrappy Maze quilt that I had

I saw a pantograph that I really loved and had to have; in true "one thing leads to another" form I found myself ordering more than one once I had logged onto the website, a dangerous place for me to spend too long! Anyway, one of these new (to  me) pantographs, that I didn't even know that I needed, is "Malachite". I'm excited about the resulting texture on this scrappy Maze quilt that I had

 The end of the year is a good time to look back at what we have accomplished in the past 12 months.  Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs hosts and annual "Best of..." party and so I will be linking this post up to her blog.  I have done lots of machine sewing, hand stitching and knitting this year and it is hard to pick out which projects were my favourites.  Here is my best effort!

1. My favourite hand stitching project was "Love Birds"--a counted cross stitch picture that I made for a friend's daughter and her husband ...

Every year, I look forward to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt which begins the day after Thanksgiving here in the US. It is fun to quilt along with so many others from around the world.

I've completed Clues 1 and 2 of this year's mystery--Rhododendron Trail.

Rhododendron Trail (Clues 1 and 2)

I'm looking forward to seeing how this mystery comes together. 

If you would like to participate, it is easy! Simply visit Bonnie's blog and click on the Rhododendron Trail tab at the top. All the instructions will be posted there each Friday. There is ...

As I was looking back at my Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts (see previous post), I thought it would be interesting to remind myself of the other BH patterns I have made. I have included  Bonnie's name for the pattern and my name for individual quilts [in brackets], if they differed. The year indicated was the year that I completed the project.

Carolina Chain (2015)

Patches and Pinwheels (2015)

Bricks and Stepping Stones [AKA Autumn Path] (2015)

These were three of my first efforts. I was afraid of the small pieces, so I made the units a bit bigger than ...

I use 3.5" squares as Leaders and Enders which I sew together to create donation quilts.

Donation Quilt (74" x 80")

Donation Quilt (backing and binding detail)

This one will likely be used as a donation for my department's adopted Holiday Family in December.

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

These five will be given to Abilities First, an agency that helps individuals with developmental disabilities.

Donation Quilts (62" x 74")

I use scraps and scrappy bindings for these quilts. It is fun to look back over the projects I've done that year by revisiting the leftover scraps.

I enjoy making these--it helps ...

 Last week, I gave you a sneak peak at a gift I made, and, now that the gift has been given, I can show you the finished wall hanging.  I used up some more of my 30's prints for this one, although the barn fabric is just from my red drawer.  I quilted the barn with vertical lines to look like barn boards.  The silo is quilted with horizontal lines.  The little basket block was in my spare parts box--I made many basket blocks years ago with my friend, Christine.  This was a good opportunity to use one for ...

 I finished off the zigzag quilt top and pieced the backing from leftover fabric from the front of the quilt. Nice to use up some fabrics from the stash that have been there a while.  I still have some HST's left and may make a few more placemats for Meals on Wheels with them. 

I hope to get this one quilted this week--my sewing machine is back from repair and this will be a good test for it! The quilt top is 56" square. 

Two more blocks were put together for my Rainbow Scrap quilt... dark green and orange ...

If you have read my blog (or just looked at the pictures!) you know that I delight in string blocks. This is my latest string project.

String Carpenter's Star (82" x 82")

Carpenter's Star (sometimes called Carpenter's Wheel) is a traditional pattern, and layout charts are available in many places online (the one I used is HERE), but I substituted string blocks for the regular color or print blocks.

I drew it on EQ8, so I could get an idea of what I would need.

EQ8 Plan--I did change the four corners to string blocks rather than ...

While I can plan string quilts on EQ8, the pictures never show the real variety of string blocks.When I made Multi-Color Stars, I mentioned that I was going to make an experiment to see if I could show the layout to better effect. Here are the results.
 

String Stars 65" x 75" (straight layout)

String Stars 65" x 75" (offset layout)

Other than the layout, these quilts are alike in overall size, size of blocks (4.5" finished), mix of strings, and fabric for the stars. With the straight layout, the string diamonds come together in fours (focus on ...

Work in Progress

I'm basting a new string quilt. Here's a peek!

Make quick Christmas Quilts with 12-inch Quilt Blocks that you forgot you had! Simple layouts translate into fast gifts or holiday decor.

Last Saturday, after writing a pattern I decided I wanted to spend the rest of the day sewing. I actually wanted to see if I could make a quilt with some test blocks I had. You know that when I test blocks I try to use similar fabrics for many of them so, down the line, I can just put them together into a quilt. That was my mood that day.

The quilt above was the first one ...

Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this very blue quilt YELLOW!

Summer Sunshine (AKA Winter Blues designed by Bonnie Hunter)--84" x 94"

Winter Blues designed by Bonnie Hunter

 Click the photo above to buy the pattern from Bonnie's store.

When I first saw this pattern, I somehow KNEW that I had to make it in yellows. Yellow isn't my favorite color (that would be red), but it seemed just right for this.

Yellow, yellow, yellow!

My version is less scrappy than Bonnie's--I used a white-on-white swiss dot, a white-on-yellow polka dot, and a pale yellow sunshine print ...

 I'm chain piecing miles and miles of  Leader and Ender (L & E) blocks for donation quilts.

For the past few years, I've been using 3.5" squares for L & E. Each year, I piece them together to make simple patchwork quilts for donation.

Because these are amenable to straight-line quilting, I am able to use the white-on-white (or natural) fabrics that have the thicker paint on them. These tend to shred my thread with FMQ, but quilting with my walking foot works well. Each year, I gather the blocks and assemble the quilts--it's fun to see the ...

 Every year, I enjoy creating a version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. This year, her quilt was called Grassy Creek.

Grassy Creek [AKA October Picnic]  (98" x 98")

I used Bonnie's colors of red, orange, gold, and grey; however, I substituted blue for her green. I call this October Picnic because this was my color inspiration photo and the palette I created.

The quilt went together well, thanks to Bonnie's excellent writing of instructions. You can see some of the steps I took by clicking on the "Grassy Creek" label on the right pane of this blog ...

 I'm still working on the Quiltville mystery, Grassy Creek. A few more days, and I should have the top completed.

Grassy Creek (in progress)

I'm ready to build the borders, so it is nearly finished.

Happy Quilting! 

 I like to make a flannel baby quilt for additions to the family.

Here is my grand-nephew's baby quilt.

Safari Baby

Once kids get big enough for a bed (rather than a crib), I like to make them a big-boy or big-girl quilt.

This big-boy quilt started with the backing--I wanted to use this Thomas (as in Tank Engine) fabric since my grand-nephew's name is Thomas.

I didn't know how I wanted to do the front, but the RR crossing sign gave me the idea to use Xs.

Tom's Big-Boy Quilt   64" x 84"

I used ...

This week, Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery included string blocks--YAY! Those of you who read this blog know how much I love doing these.

Grassy Creek Mystery