Sweet Sue #2

I got a new car while we were in the mountains last week...a 2017 Subaru Outback to replace my 2004 model.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I wanted the new feature like back-up camera, blind spot indicators, HID headlights, and of course the navigation system and blue-tooth capacity.  I drove it home down our snowy mountain driveway, and it did great.  In fact, I love it!  The color is Crystal Black Silica, and it has little sparkles in the sunshine that look blue or green.

                                

I did get the binding applied to the charity quilt.  It was fun sewing these tropical fabrics while it was snowing outside.  I used the bright turquoise floral print for both backing and binding.  My friend Mary gave me a humongous piece of it while we were making our charity quilt tops in January.  So, this one is ready to turn into the Capital Quilters Guild.  They make charity quilts for premature babies in NICU, and also wheelchair quilts and quilts for families participating in child abuse education programs.

I felt like painting on Sunday, and looked through some Pinterest inspiration pieces to see what I could do.  This one came out nicely, I think!

I am still painting lots of angels, and I made this one for our mountain neighbor's daughter who requested one with this scripture verse.

That's about it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Flamingo Baby Quilt...Quilted!

Today I finished the quilting on the Flamingo fabric Yellow Brick Road baby quilt that I began a few weeks ago.

These are some of my favorite colors, and the flamingo print is really cute.  I decided to do an all-over feather design, with a few flowery swirls.

Next is the binding.  I will try to get that sewn on while we are here at our mountain cabin.

Sewing and Painting Fun

Happy New Year from snowy North Carolina!  It snowed once over the holidays while we were at the mountain cabin, and again today here in Raleigh.  


On Thursday, my Wake Forest quilt bee met for our annual charity quilt sew-in day at Whatever's Quilted, Donna Sontag's shop.  It was so good to be with these good friends again and get caught up.  We all brought our machines and some fat quarters to make some baby quilts for Capital Quilters Guild's Quilts for Kids projects.

Here is what I finished today, using the Yellow Brick Road pattern from Atkinson Designs.

I used a fun flamingo print with coordinating fabrics.  I think it is large enough for a baby quilt without any borders.

I will get it quilted some day, but my long arm machine is up in the mountains.  We worked hard on the basement over Christmas.  It is now painted a neutral  beige.  Next:  putting in the suspended ceiling.

We had our older son's family with us the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Once again, we donned our Clemson orange in honor of our daughter-in-law's favorite team being in the playoffs for the collegiate national football championship.  They won!

They are from South Carolina where it hardly ever snows, so they had a great time playing in it and going for Gator rides over the mountain.

I have been trying to learn how to do negative paintings like artist Linda Kemp.  I started with one in just one shade of green, then one in greens and blues.

For the last one, I started with bright yellows, then switched to more golden tones with each layer.

There are some good You-Tube videos on this technique, which I used for these practice projects.  Here is a good one to start with.  

And here is a journal page in watercolors.  I used liquid mask to draw the snowflakes, painted over them with washes of blue and violet, then removed the mask.

If you are experiencing winter weather where you live, stay safe out there!

Whacky Ladies Quilt Bee

I actually made it to a monthly meeting of my quilt bee on Thursday at Whatever's Quilted in Wake Forest.  They have started meeting in the afternoons instead of evenings since so many of us are now retired and don't like to drive at night.

I just have to show this wonderful quilt top made from baby garments and accessories.  Marie assembled it for one of Donna's customers.  She stabilized all the knit outfits and shirts to keep them from stretching.  I think it turned out great!

Next up is a Yellow Brick Road pattern quilt in luscious pink and navy fabrics made by Mary.

Mary also showed us a series of table runners featuring fabric strips and a leafy applique on the side.

We switched gears and tried our hands at crocheting a V-stitch pattern under Lori's instruction.  I used to know how to crochet back in the 70's, but have sadly forgotten both the procedures and the feeling.  Arthritis in my hands has made them a little awkward.  But it was fun to try with help from Donna and Lori.

Today I went out to the Voices art quilt exhibit at the Page-Walker House in Cary, NC, and was able to take a few photos, which I will share next time.

Repairing a Much-Loved Quilt

A couple of weeks ago, a handsome young man asked if I could repair his high school graduation quilt that I gave him in 2008.  He said he loved it, but was afraid it would be ruined if the "edge" was not fixed up. Here is the post about it and the photo of the quilting.  I used the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson Designs.

Hunting Season II, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2008

I was hoping he did not mean it had been chewed up by his dog!

When I got it back, the whole quilt was soft and cuddly...and the double-fold binding had totally worn off at the edge, and in some areas, at the seam.

Instead of picking out the stitches from the old binding, I opted to just lay my ruler along the old seam and cut the binding off with a rotary cutter.

In order to strengthen the edge of the quilt as well as the binding, I sewed the new one to the back of the quilt by machine, and then zigzagged it to the front.  

                                       

As you can see, the old label was completely faded away.  I usually use Pigma Micron pens and heat-set with an iron, but I guess it does not stand up to repeated washing over the years.

So, I made a new label and was sure to heat-set for at least one whole minute.

The old quilt now has a new look thanks to the striped-effect fabric that I found in the same box of fabrics as the original quilt.

Now it is ready to return to its owner...maybe with a jar of a gentle quilt soap?

Charity Quilt and Big Weekend

First, here is a little announcement...my blog is featured this week on We All Sew. Check out this interesting site that includes tutorials, videos, links to Free Stuff, charity projects, and lots more.

Speaking of charity projects, here is the latest Quilt on Wheels that I finished last Thursday. It was made by my friend Irene at our bee's Sew-In Day in January at Quilts Like Crazy in Wake Forest. She used the Yellow Brick Road pattern, one of my favorites.

True funny story...when I saw Irene working on this quilt, I thought it was a Christmas quilt. Reds and greens...and I thought the border fabric was a Christmas print. So, when I got ready to quilt it, I turned on my Christmas Music playlist on my iPOD to set the mood. Imagine my surprise when I saw all the flowers, gardens, ducks... LOL! Another senior moment.

When I do these charity quilts (at no charge) I try to use new quilting designs or patterns, or to make up something new. It keeps me from becoming bored, and might be something to file away for future use. On this quilt, I made a little flower with a cluster of circles that reminds me of a grape hyacinth...

and invented a new feather with a curly echo on the outside (seen here on the back side of quilt.)

I intended to do Carolyn's charity quilt first, but, another senior lapse in judgment, the piece of flannel that I put in her quilt kit for the backing was not large enough for the finished top! DUH! So, I cut a backing from a piece of wide donated fabric, but it needed ironing. Not feeling like ironing (I never feel like that, actually) I gave the backing a misting with a water sprayer, and laid it out to dry over the machine rollers with the fan blowing on it. Usually that removes the wrinkles. Not this time! Must get it ironed.

This weekend we had a house full of company including son Bryson, his two little kids, two of his Frisbee Golf buddies who live in Virginia, and son Dave and DIL Emily AND the new grand-dog, Roo.

Roo behaved admirably, was great with the kids, and generally endeared himself to all.

The weather finally warmed up, and it was especially beautiful on Sunday, when we were outside all day. Here is my husband Charlie taking the kids on a Gator ride around the yard.

And here is Emily's brand new ride, a Mini Cooper. I got to drive it around the neighborhood- very sweet! I could not imagine it being large enough to accommodate my very tall son, but it has lots of legroom, and plenty of room for Roo and his bed in the back!

Baby Girl Quilt

I interrupted my art quilt "flower gardening" yesterday to quilt a lovely baby quilt for my friend Carolyn. It is one of my favorite patterns, Yellow Brick Road. The fabrics are soft pinks, creams, tans, and browns. It seems many new moms are choosing more non-traditional palettes for little girl's nurseries these days.

Since Yellow Brick Road is such a linear design, I like to soften it with curvy quilting, and for a baby girl, I went all out with free-motion feathers, flowers, curls, and a little heart here and there.

These fabrics all have a lovely, silky "hand" or feel. They are from our local quilt shop, Quilts Like Crazy. I can't tell you how lovely they were to quilt, especially after dealing with some of the tough, non-traditional fabrics in the Blazing Stars quilt project I recently finished.

Today is going to be so windy. We have turned over the rocking chairs on the front porch and already retrieved the flag that flew off our house and was working its way toward the woods. I hope the power does not go off!

Altered Fabric

Yesterday, I showed a picture of the "twinchies," or two-inch squares, I made for the members of my quilt bee as favors at our Christmas brunch. There is a little funny story behind these.

Back in July, the bee met at our LQS, Quilts Like Crazy, for a sew-in day of making charity quilts. At the previous meeting, Donna brought a large bag of donated fabric that we rummaged through, finding choices that would work for Yellow Brick Road or other simple quilts for Quilts on Wheels. We then added some of our own fabric from our stashes and came up with some really nice quilts for wheel-chair bound residents of rest homes.

In my quilt, the donated fabric was the white flower print and the ribbons and bows on black background.

Carolyn worked with the snowman print to come up with this nice Christmasy quilt.

Marilyn chose the teddy bear Americana fabric and made enough blocks for two patriotic quilts.

The point being, that even dated, no-longer loved fabric can still make charming quilts.

But...nobody would touch this outlandish, neon-orange and green "surfer dude" print.

We had a lot of laughs as we tried to get someone to make something out of this awful stuff. I ended up taking home the extra fabric to use as backs for charity quilts that I offered to quilt for the guild. But...

I decided that for my Christmas favors, I HAD to make something out of this fabric.

When you look closely at it, there are interesting grids, lines, prints, and text throughout the fabric. What do many art quilters try to incorporate into their layered, textured, creations but line, prints, and text?

So, I started painting. I used a Jacquard textile paint in emerald green to cover the entire fabric. Then I stenciled with a gold Lumiere metallic paint, and used a stamp to add additional text that looks like script writing.

Without the glaring fluorescent colors, this was getting very interesting!

My first idea was to make stuffed bird ornaments with the gold ferns as wings, but I waited too long to attempt such an ambitious project. So, I covered the green fabric with silk ribbons, bits of Angelina and Textiva shiny stuff, and a white tulle with gold metallic dots, and machine-quilted it all to a piece of Decor-Fuse. Then I got out the heat gun and zapped the fabric to do interesting things to the Textiva and tulle. I trimmed the result into two-inch squares, fused a backing of either painted watercolor paper or a lame' print,and zigzagged a fiber around the edges. Finally, I ironed on some Swarovski crystals. If you don't care about the exact placement of the crystals, you can just use your iron to heat-set the "hot-fix" crystals. Much faster than the "Bejeweler."

Now, everyone has a little piece of the ugly fabric, which is no longer ugly.

But, I still had GOBS of the surfer dude fabric.

Our bee celebrates members' birthdays by giving them a fabric fat quarter according to their preference. Our absent member Jean had asked for "brights", and it is her birthday month.

She got a lot of nice bright batiks that will be delivered to her.

And a lovely bright package of "surfer dude" fabric! Our new White Elephant gift, that I am sure will be passed along whenever possible to unsuspecting others!

Why I Make Quilts, Part 5

Here is baby Shelby on her Yellow Brick Road quilt. I think she likes it! I love pictures of babies on their quilts!

I still have two customer quilts to finish before Christmas. One is another die-cut flower applique quilt, which I nearly finished yesterday. Will take pics soon!

Another Baby Girl Quilt

I actually finished sewing on the binding and label for this baby quilt, and am ready for its reveal!

Yes, it is another quilt from the Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson Designs. I really must buy some more of their patterns since I love this one so much. Actually, I have the Lucky Stars pattern, too, but although I have quilted at least three of those for others, I have not made it myself.

This quilt is for a new baby girl, who caused her mama all kinds of problems during her pregnancy and decided to be born quite early. I'm sure she did not mean to...she certainly looks sweet to me, although we have not met yet.

Her mama was raised on a farm, so I found a fabric in my stash with gardening tools, carrots, and things like that. I also used up the last of my Jennifer Sampou Flower Market fabric, which I have had for about fourteen years and just love.

The alert reader will also recognize some of the same fabrics left over from Lacy's quilt. When I make Yellow Brick Road quilts, I always have partial blocks left over because I just don't count how many strips I have cut and sewn. Too scientific!

Anyway, with a farm theme, there just had to be a cow!

Again, I used some of the designs from Laura Lee Fritz's book, 250 Continuous Line Quilting Designs.

And lots of my own quilted flowers and butterflies.

So, who is this quilt for?

There is a label on the pieced back...

which Blogger insists on rotating sideways, for some reason...

I traced the flowers from the print I used for the binding. This label is all done in Fabrico Markers and Identi-Pen.

Hope you like your quilt, little baby Shelby!