2009-12-25

A Very Merry Christmas!!

My husband chose and bought 2 meters of this fabric....

And used 1½  meters as packing;
then used the other ½  a meter as gift wrap
to wrap one of my gifts...
.

How can you beat that?
I Love this Man!!

2009-12-15

..it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

Merry Christmas!!
Away in a MangerJesus is the Reason

2009-12-12

007 ~ Windmills.....


I fell in love with this pattern here a while ago and had plans to make use of it the moment I saw it. The day we took pictures it was really windy so we had trouble getting a straight photo.


The bloggers world (and wealth) of information amazes me. I had made binding before and hand sewing just isn't something meant for me.....sew.... I sew my binding by machine, and Rita is fantastic with a machine sewn binding tutorial, which gave me another way of putting it together.


Matilda is always ready to help with the puzzle.


I tried something different, with stippling on the main body of the quilt, and separate stippling on the border.... not a good idea....Ready to bind; the quilting still presents a challenge for me......
but that's how we learn??

2009-12-10

Apron.....


On the Spur of the moment;
...An Apron for a friend.

I was happy with how it turned out &
I expect to be making more of them
,

alas a perfect way to use up fabric.


2009-11-07

006 ~ Stanley......

This quilt was made for a special young man, and was made from my heart, especially for, and with him in mind. Rather than an artist 'patchwork' creation, it's meant to be a story book (of sorts) with pictures to look at.
It was my first twin sized quilt,
so a lot easier to manage than the
double or queen, yet big enough to be a challenge.

Here I had the opportunity to really practice stippling.

(I can understand why they say practice, practice, practice)

Race cars, Horses, Cats, Tractors, ships, Police cars....

and his name appliqued on the back.
another learning experience... but that's part of my fun!!
started September 2009 - completed October 2009

005 ~ Leaves......

Then I got serious??

This one started out to be a double quilt
until I got the border on, (I need to get the measurements & sizes figured out), AND quilted it and then ...... the size was gigantic!! So I did an unmentionable; I resized it ~ best not to ask how I did that.

Merlin LOVES domestic duties....
he usually "helps" with laundry
(he's addicted to bleach)
as you can see...he's been helping with the quilting.

the backing fabric is a leaves & acorns print,
which I thought was a perfect addition...
considering who this quilt was being made for.
I'm happy with the binding, which I did completely with the sewing machine.Again, my quilting is still rather amateurish
......hm.... I'm wondering how many quilts it will take
before I get it looking better??

...all in good time...
started June 2009 - completed September 2009

2009-11-04

004 ~ Fence Rails ~ Elmo......


I discovered the world of blog; heard about sandwiches and stipplings. Curiosity made me take a day course to learn how to put together a sandwich and how to stipple.

In the meantime I bought a new sewing machine a Juki TL-98Q. I love this machine. It goes fast!!! I had to learn how to sew all over again.

So to put learning into practice, using the sandwich technique:

I made another baby quilt, in an Elmo theme. The top is fence rails pattern, Warm & Natural Cotton Batting, and the backing with a bit of Elmo piecing. The stippling...well it needs more practice too!! AND my first ever binding.... this is exciting!!

I decided to try making a label, using a fabric pen; I didn't like it at all. (note to self....must find a better label)

All in all.... for "another" first... it turned out okay.

started May 2009 - completed June 2009

2009-11-02

003 ~ Scrappy Trip Around the World......

Then 2009 arrived, and I decided to get serious, so I tackled a Queen Sized bedspread.
I really like the 'scrappy' look of patchworks, so made a scrappy trip around the world.

By this time I had discovered the Land-of-Blogs and learned about the "sandwich" and of the quilting techniques. Once the top was done, I toyed with making the sandwich....... several headaches later, I opted for going back to the pillowcase style.

A front, a back, no filling.
The quilting is vary amateurish(and not so straight with the lines), but considering the little Kenmore sewing machine I had to work with, I was happy with how it turned out.
Blunders and all.... I am quite proud of this huge project.
started mid March 2009 - completed mid May 2009


002 ~ Bugs......

This flannel baby blanket was also done pillowcase style.
A front, a back..no filling..

The baby theme is 'bugs"

The name tag was embroidered at an embroidery outlet.
completed 2008


2009-10-27

001 ~ Scrappy Bargello......


A lap blanket, made "pillowcase" style..
A front, a back; no filling.

I was still learning!!

Scrappy Bargello
1 inch squares
completed 2007

2009-10-26

It's a Start....



October 26, 2009

It's raining heavily; so it's a perfect day to start my blog.

Not sure what/how I'm doing.....
we'll see.