Spring Break

It's been some time since I last posted, but I finally have a break at work.  I've been able to finish a few things and thought I'd post.  I've also started some more projects that I wasn't looking for, but stumbled upon.  I'll be sharing those too.

I finished my fat quarter shop block of the month (2011) including this block, which I think was block nine.  I found it in my pile after I thought I had finished all of the blocks.  I was getting ready to put all the blocks together along with sorting through all the scraps and ran across it.  However, I was able to finish it and complete the top as well.  I had to arrange it differently than what was called for as I didn't order the finishing kit.  I like how it turned out though and plan on getting it to a friend that is going through surgery soon.  I'm sure she'll love it.  I found the green polka dot fabric at JoAnn and love the way it looks with all the fabrics.  It really makes the inside of the quilt pop.  I must not have photographed them all as I assembled them, but you get the view of all of them in the finished top.

About a month ago, I finished a t-shirt quilt for a friend's daughter.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I was able to quilt it as well even though I was terrified to put it on my longarm because I wasn't sure how it would go through.  Luckily, it went through without any issues.  It turned out really long because of the use of the backs of the shirts.  It works out well for her since she's extremely tall.

I also worked on one right before Christmas and couldn't post it until I was sure that the receiver got it for Christmas.  It's now four months later and here it is.  It's another long one for a guy.  With this one, I quilted along the sashing pieces.

 

With a little more experience with t-shirt quilts, I started my daughter's quilt.  She graduates this year and she's collected a lot of t-shirts along the way.  From her church groups to her school groups, she's been a part of a lot of activities.  I have it quilted but don't want to bind it until we get a little closer to her going off to college as I don't want her to use it until she's away at school.  It shouldn't take long to do.  I also wanted to add a border around hers as it seemed a little small compared to the other two.

Next up, the quilts I'm starting.  I've started to get into a few quilts online.  One is the Blogger Girls Block of the Month.  You can find it at this address. http://www.opengatequilts.com/bloggergirlsbom.html

She uses a certain ruler, but as I am trying to not spend money and use up a lot of what I have in terms of fabric, I am managing to assemble the blocks without the ruler.  They were all pretty easy except the second block.  Here is my progress so far on those.  The first two blocks I remembered to photograph individually and the third and fourth blocks are in the top left and bottom right corners of the last picture.  Again, more fabric that I had left over from my mother-in-law's quilt is used as the light background fabric.  Recently, I've found that I'm really loving fabrics with wording.  It's tricky with these blocks as I want to have the wording all going the same way.  As I got to the fourth block, I was able to get them all in the same direction after a lot of frogging! I just love how the black and red fabrics are playing along with the background. :)

Another online group I plan on starting after this post is the Quilty Barn Along from Bee In My Bonnet.  I just love her site and often find things to keep me occupied; as if I need anything else on my plate!  If you're like me though, you have a lot of different projects going on at the same time.

Here's the link to the start of her tutorial and then you can find the rest by searching her blog at the left for March.  http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-quilty-barn-along-tutorial.html

Once I have a block finished, I'll upload it.  I have to catch up with her though, so it might be a little bit.  I also go back to work soon, so my time to post will be limited.  Once summer hits, I hope to quilt like a mad woman!

I'm also starting to look at the Virtual Quilting Bee online.  They are two or three blocks in.  I just joined the site by email, so I'll see how that pans out.  Here's the link to that. http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/p/the-virtual-quilting-bee.html  She says that a stack of 42 - 10 inch squares may be enough for the quilt and I have a stack of those to use.  I think I may start that as well and use it as a baby gift. It will be a little big, but the baby that gets it can grow along with it. 

A Few Finishes

I have been able to finish a couple quilts. One of my resolutions this year is to finish up many of my UFOs. I have at least 9 that I can think of off the top of my head and that's only the quilt projects! Yikes! The two quilts I finished were for a set of twins. Their parents have been waiting for them for a long time. Their arrival will be a blessed one.

Since I'm trying to post this on my iPad, I'm not sure how the pictures will come out. I have two more baby quilts to finish up before I can get to my UFOs. The picture with the bears is the start of one of the quilts. The other quilt i should be finishing this week. The other picture of the crocheted blocks were sent to an organization on Facebook so that they can be placed in memory blankets for the families in Connecticut.

T-shirt quilts lead to t-shirt yarn

I'm on my 3rd t-shirt quilt.  This one is for my daughter, Margaret, who's graduating this year.  I can't believe she's already getting so close!  As they say, times flies.  We're so incredibly proud of her.

Since I've made a few of these quilts, I've discovered Pinterest.  Dang!  That can really be addictive!  Through leafing through the site, I found t-shirt yarn!  Who knew!  So, as I cut up my daughters shirts, I tried to save as much of the bottom of the shirt as possible.  Through watching a video on youtube on how to cut them up, I learned how to make a continuous piece of material that when stretched, gives you yarn!  How cool is that!  Now what to make with it?

Here's all the balls of yarn that I have so far.  There still are a lot of shirts to go yet.

Quilt of Valor of to Afganistan

It's been a while since I blogged!  I really need to carve out time to blog more of what's going on in my life.  Since I've gone back to teaching, I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to crafting.  However, I received notice that one of the quilts that I helped top stitch is on it's way to Afghanistan.  Needless to say, I cried.  Soon after, I received another email from a quilter that was sending her QOV quilt top. The interesting thing about that one was there was a journal to go along with the quilt where they quilter, Beth, described the journey she was on while she created the quilt.  That's something I'll definitely have to do next time.  What a great idea!

An all over swirl pattern with stars thrown in.

The finished quilt on the way to Afghanistan.

loved these!

Beth's quilt top stitched!

I've finished a few more quilts and a few crochet projects.  It was cold here for a couple weeks in August, especially unusual for around here.  But, it put me in the mood to crochet some scarves.  I also completed 4 baby blankets, one of which I give out tomorrow and another 2 I give out to twins that were born a few months early and will be spending the next couple of weeks in ICU.  They were four pounds, so they have a pretty good chance of making it out okay. I haven't seen them yet, but I understand they are quite cute!  My prayers are out there for them for a quick and speedy healthy exit out of the hospital.  The fourth quilt is also for a baby that's already here.  I've seen pictures and still another cutie!  In addition to all of the baby quilts, I made a quilt for my brother Don, who served in Vietnam and recently did a stint in the hospital for a blocked carotid artery.  There were some moments that were touch and go, but he's safe at home now.

My daughter Rachael graciously offered to model the scarves.  I made the gray one for her.

Baby Quilt top completed

There are a lot of babies on the way in my neck of the woods.  I have finished 6 and have to quilt 4 of them and bind 5.  I still have 6 or 7 more to do.  I lost count of the babies that are coming up.  I think I should probably make a list.  This pattern is from one of the Quilter magazines.  I can't tell you which one since I tore it out of the magazine years ago and filed it in a protective sleeve in a binder.  It's utilizes HSTs and 1 1/2" strips and squares in between.  I also decided to dive into the dragon fly fabric that I've had for years.  I don't know why I was so afraid to use it.

This one I completed a few weeks ago, but I think it needs another border along two sides.  I'll have to think about it and figure out what I want to do.

Octagon House Quilt Show

There's an octagon shaped house near where I live that was built in the 1800s.  Ever since I saw the structure, I've wanted to go in and this was the perfect excuse for me to take a look.  I took some pictures of some quilts on display there.  I was so enamored by the quilts, that I forgot to take pictures of the house.  Below are some of the quilts that were on display and caught my eye.  There were some old and some new.  I was especially impressed by the one that was a whole cloth quilt that had been completely cross stitched.  I saw two different versions of this quilt with different colored threads used for the cross stitching.  What a lot of work and love went into these quilts.  I wish I had taken pictures of all of them along with the house.  It was a nice little diversion from life and I even talked my husband into joining me.  He really wanted to see them inside of the house as well.  Here's a direct link to the group that is trying to save the house if you'd like to see a little bit of the history behind it.  It was actually a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Pretty cool!  I apologize, but I didn't take pictures of the names of who made the quilts either.  Next time!

http://www.octagonhouse.org/

 

The quilt below used repurposed materials to create it.  There were laces, buttons, fabric and all different types of materials used and it looked like it took a long time.  This one got my vote for the most creative.  They had one there made out of neckties, one made out of handkerchiefs and another made out of t-shirts.

The quilt below was the one that was crossed stitched.  Incredible amount of work!