Winter News on the Quilty Side

Today is a Studio Day at Ellen Peters' quilting studio. A sudden snow storm has come rolling in to bollix up all my plans to quilt the log cabin with the piano key border. Groan! It will have to wait until I can get a new booking in March. This is the one I mean:

We had a nice quilting sew in at the Golden Gese Quilt Shop in Concord on Friday. Ellie had gotten her quilt top back from the quilter and finished the binding herself. What a beauty!

The fabrics are Civil War and traditionals in blues creams and browns.

So pretty and well pieced!

Maureen was sewing up a huge stack of star shaped mug rugs to use up some of her leftover charm squares.

Each kite shaped piece uses one square and she'll have a big bunch made when she's done.

We celebrated Maureen's February birthday with a few quilty presents. One gift that I gave her was a funny tee shirt.

Another present for Maureen from me was a mini quilt that I had free motion quilted myself.

You can click on any picture to enlarge it for better details.

Beverly was working on her cute quilty sayings quilt top with the bright colors.

Here's one square in a close up for you to see.

I was working on piecing a jelly roll race top but made very slow progress with all the chatting and celebrating, LOL!

My tee shirt reads, "A fat quarter is NOT a body part!"

On Tuesday, the weather was still fair for the meeting of the Sunshine Club at the Senior Center in Alton, New Hampshire. Meb brought in a quilt top that she had salvaged from a thrift shop or a flea market for only $10. We think that it is from the forty's.

Here is a close up for you to view the fabrics.

Meb is also working on the prettiest little hand quilting project that will become a small table mat or mug rug.

She fused the batik leave shapes on with steam and bond.

Mary was working in the kitchen but she took a few minutes to work on pinning the layers of her quilt.

So it has been a good couple of weeks for quilting and I hope it was for you too!

Happy quilting!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Felix and I celebrated Valentine's together with cards, candy, and hazelnut creme flavored coffee. It was fun and we are still best buddies!

Remember that piano key border that I put onto the log cabin top? Well, I had two panel cut pieces left over and wondered whatever to do with those.

I decided to sew them together lengthwise for a small quilt. A fat quarter for the backing and a couple of scraps of batting and then I sandwiched it all together for this.

I free motion quilted this on my white sewing machine by using a darning or quilting foot and the setting of zero on the stitch allowance.

The quilted hearts and loops are only about an inch and a half tall. I sent this piece to my older sister, Suzanne for a Valentine's Day gift.

Since the whole thing was only 11" by 14", it was simple to fold it once in half and then pop it into a large manila envelope to mail it to her. Can't wait for her to get it!

The pieces were 2½" by 6" when I started and then I put on a nice red binding and hand stitched it down.
Happy quilting!

Still Winter Here in New Hampshire!

A fair sized snowstorm is predicted for tomorrow with 6 to 10 inches on the way. Yet this morning was only overcast and chilly, so I got to go to the Sunshine Club quilters at the Alton Senior Center.

Meb was there and had a beautiful blue and white quilt in her hoop for hand quilting.

Her machine piecing is so accurate and the quilting is expert. Here's a better look at it.

Sue was also hand quilting although she doesn't use a hoop. This one is almost done!

Mary was busy volunteering in the kitchen so I used the extra space to layout the piano key borders for my log cabin quilt.

I got them all pinned into place and then brought it home to sew them into position. It was very windy when I got home. That made me attempt a photo shoot just spread over a chair. The results were pretty unsatisfactory, LOL!

These 20 Log Cabin blocks are set in the field and furrows setting and were made quickly with 2½ inch strips. The piano key border went on after an inner border of a light background fabric so about seven inches of length and width was added to the quilt top.

Later in the afternoon the winds died down a bit to allow me to get some better pictures for you.

I even remembered to grab my big steel tape measure and measure it. The top is 70" by 84" so it's a nice twin or a scant double bed size.

I love how it came out and already have an appointment to quilt it at Ellen Peters' studio later this month.

Husband Wonderful has been busy, too, cooking up a brace of oven roasted stuffed chickens. Yummy! We'll enjoy leftovers all week. Thanks, hon!

Happy quilting!

Rabbit For February!

Tuesday's weather was seasonable but clear of troublesome snow or ice, so I was able to get to my Tuesday Sunshine Club quilters. Mary had a wonderful scrap quilt to show us.

Mary had embroidered the names of her grand children to add to the center panel. Looks great!

My small quilt top was already pressed and a backing prepared so I used the big table to sandwich the layers prior to quilting it.

I used June Tailor basting spray from Joann's to secure the layers together.

The best tip for doing this is to peel back one half of the layer, spray that half and then put it back. Then carefully lift the opposite side's half of the quilt and repeat the whole process on the other half.
I prefer to lightly spray on the fabric and not on the batting. Here is the final result.

I quilted this little crib quilt for Matthew's sister's baby boy, Eli. It was just some straight line diagonals with spirals on the borders and a border matching the binding.

Although it was only 36" by 36", Matthew was thrilled to be able to take it to his sister, Anna.

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics.

Happy quilting!