Superheros!!!

My grandson Anson is late in getting his four year old quilt. This is mostly Grandma's fault, but I think it was probably worth the wait. This is hands down the coolest quilt I have ever made. Maybe the coolest quilt I will ever make. I know there will be prettier ones and most definitely technically more challenging quilts, but cool, I really doubt it. What I learned from this quilt is that really simple quilting is not only OK, but sometimes the very best thing. I had a lot of fun with this quilt. Every step just made me grin because it was turning out so well. Hope you like it!


 

Strawberries, just strawberries

Lily wanted strawberries on her 4 year old quilt.  Ok.  So, this one took quite a bit of thinking and I think I really like what I came up with.  I decided that I would have blocks 1-9 with the corresponding number of strawberries in each.  The pink striped material I found down in Penn Yan at one of the Mennonite shops.  Then I took a pattern called the flower basket and made blocks and added strawberries to the middle. 

I love my Baby Loc!  I love that tear away paper called Golden Threads.  I love in-line quilting!  It was a fun quilt to make. 

Star Wars Quilt

Evan wanted a "StarWars" quilt.  I think I came up with what I hope will be right up his alley.  I became an expert paper piecer putting this one together.  I really love how all the star blocks look.  I have to admit, I thought the material I used for the sashings was blue.  It wasn't until Amy was helping me sandwhich it that I learned it was purple.  I knew I loved that material for some reason!  The quilting was a little difficult because I decided to follow the patterning in each block.  But I do like the affect.  I quilted a loopy line and star pattern in the last border.  I was really glad I decided to use black thread on the top because although you can see it, it blends nicely.

I also used a product called Golden Threads Quilting Paper in the last border.  I LOVE IT!!! And, would highly recommend it to anyone who does any amount of quilting.  It tears away perfectly.  It would be great for hand quilters too.  I just can't say enough about it.  The quilt was finished and delivered 17 January 2011.

Funky Log Cabin

 This Funky Log Cabin was made for Melissa VanRy Sheh as a wedding gift.  The wedding was in June and here I am just finishing it.  In my defence, I have been on 3 vacations since the wedding, finished 2 other quilts, pulled off a weekend retreat for 175 women, and took care of Rod and I, each post minor surgery.  So, I guess it's not really so surprising that it is just now getting done.  The most valuable thing I learned from this quilt was to make sure the back is securely taped down before adding the batting and top and to stick with my Warm and Natural batting.  The back isn't as nice as I would like for it to be-- it got some folds in the process, but it's going out just the same.  Somehow the wildness of the fabrics work.

Fishies 7/2010

This quilt is a belated birthday present for my friend Coreen. She is Hawaiian and loves tropicals and fish.  I started this quilt more years ago than I want to admit.  I did the cross stitching and then tried to quilt it, but it was awful so I took all the stitching out and it has sat since then.  I didn't like the borders I had on it so I took them off and put these on.  Then I fired up the Baby Lock.  I think it came out great and I can't wait for her to get it.

Barbie Princesses 6/2010

June 19, 2010
Barbie Princesses Quilt - Pink and Purple
Ruthie Payne

Ruthie wanted a Barbie Princess quilt in pink and purple.  OK, so how do I do that?  I talked to some friends and fellow quilters and they told me about a product called Printed Treasures.  This is treated fabric sheets mounted onto paper that allows you to print images onto it and then add it to your quilt.  The treatment on the fabric ensures the printing to become color fast.  Then I simply went to the internet, downloaded stills from the Barbie princess movies, printed them and started construction.  I had a little trouble printing, but I think it was more due to the advanced age of our printer than anything else.  The photos in the quilt are really indeed color fast (it has already been washed) and sharp.  I am pretty happy with the result.  I chose to use only one pieced pattern in the quilt, a pinwheel, and use a different pink or purple for each square.  This is also the 1st quilt I have attempted to machine quilt.  And, I learned a few things in the process.  I have learned that I probably want to keep the quilting fairly simple for the time being and getting many more continuous line quilt patterns is a must.  I also learned that the Babylock  Espire is a wonderful machine.

 This is an enlarged view of the center.  It's not very clear here but hopefully you can get an idea of how it might look.  I think Ruthie is going to love it!  It goes in the mail tomorrow.