Quilt Number Five for 2011

I just finished this quilt over the weekend and I love it! This is a retreat quilt that languished in my UFO pile for a couple of years. I think that was partly due to the fact that I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Then--voila--I knew this quilt's home. That seems to happen to me. I start a project, knowing that I really don't want to keep it, but with no idea what I will do with the finished item. Somehow the perfect recipient always seems to appear. The fabric for this quilt is April Cornell's "Portugal". A long-time friend of mine is half Portuguese and this is going to him for the times that he could use a little more sunshine in his life.
Next up--a quilt for my grandson Christopher and I have another quilt ready to sandwich and quilt that will be donated to a charity. I am having a great time this year and truly finishing things.

Anya's Quilt

I am very happy here today as Anya's quilt is going in the mail! My progress is great this year and I just hope to keep on track. This quilt was made from a kit purchased at a quilting retreat I attended several years ago. It is a perfect fit for her toddler bed and I think it has all of the colors of the Disney princess dresses in it. At the age of 3, she is all about the princesses.
I am quilting the borders of another quilt that I hope will be finished by the end of next week. Yea!!!! Next up--a sampler quilt from the fabshophop made of scraps. Another yea!!!

I can't believe how much time has gone by since I last posted. I fell very short of my goal last year and so this year I just set about quilting as I please and when I please. Lo and behold, I have finished 4 quilts to date and will finish the 5th this week! I am having fun, but I am a long way from using up or substantially reducing my stash! I am having a blast making quilts for family and friends and they are so appreciative. That may be more of an incentive than attaining a goal.
Two of my friends have birthdays in January, so I made each of them a wallhanging (or table topper--they could take their pick). The picture above is one of them. And yes--it is made entirely from stash! The picture below is the other and again--all stash! Doing a little celebratory happy dance right now.

The Finished Product

Finally, Alisha's quilt finished and mailed to her. And I've even received a "thank you" text. It seemed like one of the longest projects I have worked on in a while.
I am still on my mission to reduce my generous stash and complete UFOs. To that end, I have been hand quilting every morning on my daughter's quilt and am happy to say that I have only 3 more borders to quilt. This might be the second longest quilting project, ha ha.
I have also completed a quilt top from a jelly roll that I bought a few years ago and it is layered and basted and waiting in the wings for hand quilting. This quilt will be a surprise gift to a good friend here in Tucson. Pictures will be posted later. One thing I can say about my photos is that I definitely need some help with getting good photos of my work.
Happy quilting everyone and enjoy the summer.

Machine Quilting Without a Longarm Machine-One Method

Wow-I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted anything. Life does get in the way of our plans and goals! Now that I have had my machine serviced I am making progress and have finally finished the machine quilting on all 4 sections of the quilt.
As promised, I will explain how I am joining these together. I can't take credit for this idea--it was taught to me by a good friend and fabulous quilter.
This method requires a little extra backing fabric. I cut strips 2 and 1/2 inches wide the width of the fabric. For this quilt, I only needed 4 of these. One strip was needed to join the top 2 sections together, one for the 2 bottom sections, and I sewed to strips to make a long one to sew the top and bottom halves together. The strips are then folded in half lengthwise and pressed, as you would binding strips.
Next, I trimmed off the excess backing and batting and squared of the edges.
At this point, I placed the 2 top sections right sides together and one of the prepared strips on top, all raw edges together and sewed through all layers with a 1/4 in seam.
Last step--I opened this up and stitched (hand sewing) the creased edge to the back of the quilt, taking care not to sew through to the front of the quilt.
Ta da!!
I can't wait to get this quilt bound and in the mail. I think sometimes that the binding is my 2nd favorite part of quilting because it means I have actually finished!
Happy 4th of July to all Americans and happy July to everyone else!

Machine Quilting Without a Longarm Machine-One Method

A big TA DA! here as I am finally ready to start the actual machine quilting on Alisha's quilt. I will be doing free motion type quilting with my Bernina and I have chosen to do it in sections. A friend of mine taught me this method and I have used it in the past with good results. First I assembled the pieced blocks into four sections.
Secondly, I added the borders to the individual sections. (Side note--if there is a definite top and bottom to the piece, it is best to pin a note to each section.) Now, I am ready to sandwich each of the four sections with the batting and backing. After that, I have a manageable size to work with on a standard sewing machine. Next post: how I join the four quilted pieces together. Oh, and I could certainly use some lessons on photographing my work! I'll take any suggestions!

Ocotillo In Bloom

Hope you like the pic of the ocotillo. I tried to catch the hummingbird getting nectar from the blooms, but he/she took flight.
I finally got those last 5 blogs for Alisha's quilt pieced and this weekend my plan is to assemble the blocks. The batting is purchased and I feel great that I am making real progress again. It is as if a blockage has cleared!! We are having cooler than usual weather for this time of year here, so I'm taking advantage of that to try and finish up the hand quilting on another quilt. Hip hip hooray, Katie bar the door, I'm on a quilting mission.