The BunkHouse

Quilt of Valor

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

This quilt was pieced by Linda in CO.

I love opening up the box when these are sent to me.
It's always a surprise to see these wonderful quilts!

Allegiance pantograph by Kristin Hoftyzer

Another great pieced backing.

Thanks Linda, for this awesome quilt!

Quilt of Valor

2012-02-13T11:38:00.001-07:00

This quilt was pieced by Linda of CO. I love the vibrant colors!

She pieced the backing also.

Thanks Linda!

Design Wall Today

2012-02-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of months since I had anything but stray threads on my design wall!

There is a project I have been working on for a couple of weeks now. I like to have a piecing project to work on while I am quilting. I learned a long time ago to pace myself. When I get tired of quilting, then I can sit and sew a few blocks together.

Pattern inspiration came from a quilt by Theresa Elsinger in Quiltmaker magazine.

This is a commissioned queen sized quilt.

Stay tuned . . . when I get all these blocks done, I will trace a pattern on each of the light colored centers before completing the top, and I will show you the light box/table my hubby made for me.

This is a typical view when I walk into the studio in the morning.

I simply can't work in a cluttered area and like to keep all my projects neat and tidy.

One photo led to another and I have decided to share a few more.

This is the table arrangement where I sew.

I used to make a lot of clothing, and you can see my serger behind the chair.

Of course, the machines are covered when not in use.

I have been using Qtools vinyl stops on my machine for several years. I am not associated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer. They are awesome!

I keep 2 of them stuck on my Bernina's expanded base: the right one lined up in a 1/4 inch position and the left one is lined up with the needle position. You can chain stitch a lot of pieces together very quickly and accurately using these great little helpers. With these vinyl stops, you can make these half-square triangles without marking the diagonal line in pencil. I hate taking that extra time to mark the squares.

Here's how it works.

I line up the top corner of the fabric with the 1/4 inch edge of my presser foot and the bottom corner with my right purple vinyl strip at the bottom.

Continue to sew keeping your eye on the bottom corner of the fabric, keeping it lined up with the vinyl strip.

I will sew all of HSTs for the entire quilt this way, chain stitching until they are all done.

Then, after cutting them all apart, I will turn them and run them through again, sewing the other side. You have to ignore the fact that the vinyl strip is not lined up with the markings on my extended base. The base markings are not 100% accurate, so I never pay attention to them.

With no pencil marking at all you can get very accurate blocks.

This is my next secret tool: a block of wood with a drilled hole and my little 97¢ seam ripper.

I love these seam rippers, I buy them 5-6 at a time and keep them in different places around the room. I don't want to walk over to get one if I need one at the quilting machine or near the ironing board. I like the fact that they fit in the palm of my hand when I use them. I stand it up in the wooden block and then it makes a hands-free way to slice the threads between all my chain piecing.

It only takes a minute to separate 100 or so pieces! You just need to make sure your seam ripper is new and sharp so it slices the threads cleanly and doesn't pull at the stitching.

Even more redneck than a block of wood is my handle on the cutting ruler that I use on my 12 inch cutting mat that I use at my sewing machine!

Yup, it's a piece of duct tape.

I quickly tired of having to slide my ruler off the edge of the mat to grab it each time I lifted it up to position it. This one little thing has been a huge time saver when you need to cut through hundreds of little pieces or trim the dog ears after pressing.

I guess this design wall post has turned into a share-my-favorite-little-tools post!

I like to use a divider box made for kitchen drawer silverware at the side of my machine. It keeps everything handy, organized, readily accessible and easy to see.

Oh! Now I need to show you the thread holder my hubby made for me.

You can see in sitting towards the back of the tray.

I love simple no-frills helpers in my studio. I hate something elaborately designed that is hard to dust. I showed him what I wanted it to do and gave him some basic dimensions. He spent an hour in the shop, welded a few scraps together, added a little black paint and this is just perfect for me!

I didn't want any eyes to have to thread, so it's made with open loops.

It will work with cones . . .

. . . or spools.

If I applique designs, I might change spools 7-8 times depending on the colors needed. This is simple and easy to change and actually feeds better than my thread holder on my Bernina.

I bought 2 of these magnetic bowls at an auto parts store for under $5.

I keep one here with things I don't want to misplace or have slip off the sewing table. I can pick up this bowl and I have everything I need to hand stitch a mitered corner on a binding.

The other bowl is for pinning the quilts on the frame.

Thank goodness it's magnetic, because sometimes I forget to move it before I start to roll!

Another huge time saver because when you unpin a quilt, you don't have to take each pin and stick it in a pin cushion, you can just drop it in the general direction of the bowl and reach for the next pin. It's amazing how much time you can save through the economy of minutes through out your day. It all adds up!

I guess that's enough for today, like talking, I never know when to stop!

I am linking up with Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict today for her Whoop, Whoop Friday!

Head on over to see what others are working on this week.

Sweet Baby Quilt

2012-02-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

This sweet quilt is for my client's first great-granddaughter.

The details: Paisleys and swirls divided by a bit of rick-rack . . .

. . . 3D petals . . .

. . . that are faced . . .

. . . quilted petal flowers on the opposite side . . .

. . . Minky back.

Very fun to quilt, very sweet little quilt!

Heart Quilt

2012-02-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have had this quilt hanging here for a while now. My customer says,"No hurry."

....but it's February already and I thought I better get it done since it's made with all these cute hearts!

I outlined the double hearts and did freehand swirls in the background to add to the whimsical look.

The back is actually a tiny golden tan check.

Quilt of Valor

2012-02-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is especially for a female veteran.

It will be sent to a group in NE New York that plan to have a summer retreat for Women Veterans who have suffered trauma from their Military service.

When I made this quilt, I didn't take a photo before it was washed. It is quilted with stars and loops and it creates a nice crinkly texture.

Matching presentation case.

Baby Pony

2012-01-28T13:48:00.001-07:00

Oh my, this client always brings me the cutest quilts . . .

. . . and this is no exception!

Don't you just love this pony's 3D mane?

"Xs" and crosshatching to match the little barn doors.
Terry Twists in the red and brown.

Minky back.

Quilts of Valor Jan. 2012

2012-01-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I am linking up with the QOV blog for QOV Project Progress Friday!

This is really an "end of the month" progress report for me. I already posted about these quilts so I will just put photos here of 3 QOVs tops I quilted in January.

Blog post here.

Here is the link if you are new to Quilts of Valor.

There are lots of QOV projects going on all around the US--

--lots of piecers, quilters and binders working diligently to cover our Veterans

February Wall Hanging

2012-01-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

I finally had to take time to finish this project I made for my Mom.

She is in a care center and I made this for her door.

This is a pattern from Joined at the Hip called "Button Up."

You make a foundation to hang on the wall/door . . .

. . . then, a separate panel buttons on this foundation: one for each month.

I chose 3 different buttons from my button box to complete the patchwork feel.

I actually started this project a few weeks ago, got the foundation done and the month of January slipped away from me.

Lots of Texture.

The finished project.

So, I had to put the January panel at the bottom of the pile . . . on to March!

Baby Quilt

2012-01-23T19:36:00.001-07:00

This little quilt packs a big surprise . . .

. . . simple strip piecing comes to life with a cute panto.

Catch that Horse Pantograph by Anne Bright

Fun western print fabrics. See that barb wire?

Minky back

Alaskan Receiving Blankets

2012-01-23T10:08:00.003-07:00

I have a little friend in Alaska who is having her first baby: a boy. I found this flannel in my stash and this morning, decided to make her a couple of these self binding receiving blankets.

By this time next year, that baby will probably have seen real moose and bear!

You need 2.25 yards of each fabric to make a matched set, and I was a few inches short of the leaf print, so I pieced this one in the center.

I posted a link to a tutorial for these little blankets some time back and you can find it here.

36 x 36

Southwest Baby Quilt

2012-01-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

What a cute panel--even the border is part of the panel.

35 x 46

Light custom quilting.

I just followed the print as if it were pieced.

Added a little breeze above these cute cacti.

This inside blue border was 33 5/8 inches and I wanted to do a simple piano key on the white border. Here is what I do when I have an oddball size. Instead of trying to divide and measure evenly, I measure a piece of adding machine tape the exact length and then fold it in the center, then fold each half in the center, and so on, until I get down to about the size I want. Then you can mark the quilt evenly. The top and bottom of the center borders were 23 3/8 so they came out a little different than the sides. But to get a nice square corner, this works for me.

Little cactus matching backing. When my client brought this to me, she said she was cleaning out her sewing cupboard and this had been there for a long time. The backing actually measured 45.5 inches with only a 1/4 inch selvage!

It's been a lot of years since I have seen a piece of fabric an actual 45 inches!

Quilt of Valor

2012-01-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

Another QOV from Nancy in WY.

I used "Seaweed" pantograph by Lorien Quilting.

It looks like banners waving in the breeze.

When I have a mix of red, white and blue colors I like to use gold thread. It compliments all the colors and does not fight with any of them.

Back

Thank You Nancy!

Quilt of Valor

2012-01-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Quilt of Valor top made by Nancy in WY.

Great fabrics!

This quilt was fun to quilt. I love this curved border treatment and instead of marking even spaces, I like to change the curves randomly, I think it's less formal that way.

The back!

She pieced her back with this matching panel. I don't know if she purposely made her top to fit in the dimensions of the squares, but when I measured everything, I knew I had to make this happen.

It was a personal challenge . . .

As usual, I made sure the backing was square.

I marked a line 1/2 inch above the printed line then basted the batting along my markings.

When I attached the top, I basted it 1/4 inch from the top of the batting.

I did the same on the sides.

When I was all done, it gave me 1/4 inch left to attach the binding, leaving the squares complete~

Here's what the back will look like when the binding is sewn down.

This stripped binding is the frosting on the cake!~

Headed back to Nancy on Monday.

She will finish the binding, label, wash it and send it on to it's final destination.

Colorful, colorful...

2012-01-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

This quilt certainly brightened up the dreary cold day that is outside my window.

Freehand paisleys.

Muslin backing.

Lots of Spring flowers in the fabrics.

Baby "Box in a Box"

2012-01-18T13:56:00.001-07:00

I love these dusty muted colors my client put together in this little quilt.

48 x 48

Alfresco Pantograph by Hermione Agee / Lorien Quilting

I used this variegated "Dusty Mauves" by Signature thread.

Minky Back

Another yummy soft baby quilt.

Fall Leaves in Flannel

2012-01-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

This quilt top is brushed flannel and it looks like suede.

56 x74

I continued her leaf theme in the borders . . .

. . . and gave movement to her appliqued leaves.

See the trees and wildlife in the brown blocks?

She had me put minky on the back.

This is where you can really see all the detail.

Flannel and Minky. Yummy!

Pretty in Pink~

2012-01-09T12:35:00.001-07:00

My client made this for a retiring colleague.

She will certainly love wrapping up in this!

61 x 79

Swirl and Twirl Pantograph by Hermione Agee-Lorien Quilting

Cream Minky on the back.

It feels like a cloud!

Quilt of Valor

2012-01-07T19:25:00.001-07:00

Once again I have the prividlege of quilting one of Al Lind's quilt tops. For those of you that don't know about Al, I have an older post that shares a brief synopsis of his story here.

Top made by Al Lind, WWII Veteran, POW, Purple heart recipient.

This is the 17th top of Al's that I have quilted. He was a prolific piecer: having pieced over 500 quilts. When he passed away in 2010 at age 92, he left a legacy of over 80 tops yet to be quilted.

This quilt will be sent to Inland Northwest Quilts of Valor group for presentation in Feb. They are awarding quilts to a Post Falls, ID Unit recently returned from Iraq.

Thank You Al.

Down on the Farm

2012-01-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

This cute baby boy quilt has farm related fabrics.

Barns...

Barn Yard animals...

I have a lot of western patterns with horses, hats, boots, rodeo etc. but, sorting through my children's themed pantographs, I came across two Anne Bright patterns that were perfect!

"Counting Sheep"

and "Catch that Horse"

Since they are only 6" high, I stacked the two of them so I had a 12" + repeat. Bonus! They both had stars that were also repeated on the fabrics.

It gives the top a nice texture and creates a fun minky back.

I hope I get to see it after my client gets it bound!

New Year's Joy!

2012-01-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

This cute quilt has been in my quilts-to-get-done-after-Christmas lineup for about 2 months. After taking a week off during the holidays, I couldn't wait start quilting!

It's just so joyful and fresh, the perfect quilt for starting out the new year.

41 x 51

Here's how it started out: my client pinned the raw edge pieces to her quilt top in positions where she wanted them. As I worked my way across this area, I quilted about a 1/4 inch away from the edge of each piece.

Using pebbles for the background, helped me work my way from one flower piece to the next.

When she washes this quilt all these edges will fray making this a shabby chic bouquet.

Petal theme carried around the border.

As I worked my way down the quilt, I divided this background into 3 imaginary planes . . .

. . . and gradually made these paisleys larger as I went.

Cream Minky on the back.

~Merry Christmas~

2011-12-22T23:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower Tomorrow

2011-12-20T18:55:00.002-07:00

These are great to have on hand for a quick baby shower gift:

Self binding receiving blankets and little ribbon taggie blanket.

2 1/4 yards each, of contrasting flannel will make a matched set of these self binding receiving blankets. A few months ago, I posted about these fun little blankets. Here is a tutorial link to Piece n' Quilt if you want to see how they are made.

I visited the local "Mill End Fabrics" and found lots of ribbon pieces in their remnants box. It's also a great way to use up left over minky. I started with a 14 in. square to make this 12 inches.

I bought an 18 inch remnant of silk for the other side. So with 60 inch wide silk, I can make 4 of these.

Here is a good tutorial for a taggie over at I Can Teach My Child.

After all These Years!

2011-12-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Back in 1972, my sister was in the 7th grade when she won a couple of cute stuffed piggies for selling magazines door to door. You know, the same class competition magazine sales thingy my grandchildren are doing to raise money for THEIR class? I keep my subscriptions to my quilting magazines current this way.

But, I digress....

Anyway, my sister won a set of two piggies: one orange and one purple. I don't remember just how it came about, but I do know that I have been using these little pigs as pincushions for almost 40 years.

Isn't he cute!

My Sis has a college degree in Human Exceptionality, with a minor in History. Raised here in Idaho, after college she lived in a log house in the wilds of central Idaho and taught school in a small community.

Currently, she is happy as a clam (really? how do you know if a clam is happy?) She is happy because she moved from Idaho to Eastern Pennsylvania where she is an hour or two from Lancaster, Philadelphia, Boston, New York--really a day's drive from most of New England.

She is the one that gets a season pass to Gettysburg.

After serving in public schools for 15 years, she went back to school and redirected her career to Hospital Information Systems. She is a great cook, barbecues shrimp and steak for Thanks Giving dinner, subscribes to archaeological digests, and has a weird sense of humor.

Speaking of weird humor, both of us were devastated when Gary Larson quilt penning cartoons! That Christmas I got her the 2 volume "The Complete Far Side" which contains the complete works of Larson's entire 15-year career as a cartoonist. Funny, that Christmas she got me the same present.

She is an interesting person, I love her to pieces, but she doesn't sew.

She is still suffering from wounded pride and pricked fingers from 8th grade Home Ec. sewing class. As beginners, they were assigned to construct an gathered empire-waisted jumper with a lined bodice. Are you kidding???

Of course she doesn't sew.

In college she used a stapler to hem her jeans. Perhaps she still does.

You are wondering where on earth this is all going, but it's important to know a little background to appreciate the story.

You see, even after 40 years, my Sis is still miffed at me for taking her piggies and using them as pincushions. Every time she comes to visit me she reminds me that they are HER piggies and I stole them from her.

They have been superior because they are solid, sturdy, easy to grab, hold a million pins and are filled with sawdust type innards.

As you can see, this little piggy is in pretty bad shape.

I have done my best to mend his thread bare hide with bright bits of thread in interesting stitchery.

He only has one eye, he's lost most of his flowers, he's a little sway backed, but he is finally going home.

Right now, at this moment, somewhere between Idaho and Pennsylvania is a box of Christmas goodies. In that box is a tenderly wrapped orange piggy with a note of sympathy. My Sis is going to get her piggy back for Christmas. I feel redeemed since I also sent some homemade candy.

Isn't is a great feeling when you know you have finally done the right thing?

Well, um...yeah. Did I mention 2 piggies?

Wonder if she will miss her purple one?

Just Like a Cloud!

2011-12-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Minky is a staple in most of the baby quilts I do, but it is a real challenge to quilt a pieced minky top with a minky back. I told my client that I had only tried this once before and she might be disappointed with the outcome. There is no way to control all that elasticity.

Stretch from North, South, East and West!

These are actually two identical quilts: each about 36 x 46. I put on a single piece for the back and batting. Then placed the tops side by side and alternately quilted them as I moved down the frame.

Hmm....looks better once you get it unpinned from the design wall.

Simple lines, just enough quilting to hold it all together.

Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Oh yeah, it's yummy to feel....

So puffy, soft and cloud-like.

A Cowboy Christmas!

2011-12-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have followed my blog recently, you might remember a few other western baby quilts done in the past month. In about a week, this baby will be boy number 5 for this family. This is the 3rd quilt I have quilted for him. One made by his Mom, and one by each of his grandmothers. I am not sure they all even know there are so many quilts....but my lips are sealed!

This has a fun little 3D bandanna.

Boots, front and back.

You can hardly see the quilting from the front, but it shows up well on the minky back.

Finally, I had a space tall enough to use my horse stencil.

ABC- 123

2011-12-11T11:35:00.001-07:00

This was so fun to quilt!

Lots of the fabrics had letters and numbers, so I randomly hid the letters A,B,C and the numbers 1,2,3 in the quilting.

This was my client's first time to machine applique. She did a great job!

Each of the large applique flowers have pebbles in the centers.

ABC print on the back.

I love it!

Rhyme Time Quilt

2011-12-08T14:52:00.001-07:00

So . . . about 6 weeks ago, I got a text from my brother-in-law in Pennsylvania. He needed a quilt for his brand new niece and would see this family in upper New York at Christmas. After texting back and forth, I got an idea of what to make and decided on this cute fabric:

Rhyme Time by Annabelle Rose for Wilmington Fabrics.

Mother Goose is here with her entourage.

Strategic cutting gives you a whole horizon of nursery rhymes.

Notice "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in the diagonal stripe border.

"The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is center stage.

More rhymes printed on the light green.

Of course, I put Minky on the back.

Hey, it's an old fashioned "I Spy"quilt with lots of things to discover!

I texed him back today to let him know it is all boxed up along with a couple of boxes of Christmas Candy and will be on it's way tomorrow.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Ultra Suede Quilt

2011-12-07T12:55:00.001-07:00

My client made this from 3 yummy shades of ultra suede!

With a loftier batting it is really more like a comforter.

I have use ultra suede for backing, but this was the first time I have quilted ultra suede that has been pieced. It actually worked out very well.

There are also 3 lovely embroidered tapestry blocks.

While I did a simple and open swirl over the quilt, I followed the flowers on these three blocks.

Wide cotton backing in a mottled rust, looks like old cracked leather.

What a super gift for her daughter's wedding after Christmas!

Christmas Candy

2011-12-03T16:27:00.001-07:00

Ok, remember the caramel from this post?

Today, I cut it in strips then cut the strips into about 1 inch squares. Dipped them in Guittard "Signature" Milk Chocolate. I put a link here just in case you wanted to see what it looks like; but, I have never ordered it online, we have a local specialty store that sells the 10# bricks. I buy one every fall and dip chocolates 2-3 times through Feb. I have family all over the US to send candy to but chocolate and warm weather is not a good mix, so, I only make this in the fall and winter.

After breaking up the chocolate, I melt it slowly (15-30 sec. at a time) in the microwave. Melt and stir, melt and stir. I am not going into all the details about the techniques of tempering chocolate, but am just going to hit a couple of high spots here. However, if you are interested, here is a very informative link: Tempering Chocolate I have always worked with my 2 quart glass measuring bowl and a microwave. Professional electric tempering units start at $500--good ones are twice that much.

Drop the caramel into the melted chocolate.

Turn it over 2-3 times to make sure it's all covered and lift it out of the bowl.

Quickly, turn it over and drop it onto waxed paper. At this point, it only takes a minute or two to harden and set up.

They will lose the shine when the chocolate hardens.

I broke one open and stuck it on a fork so you can see the consistency of the caramel inside the chocolate . . . and since chocolate melts at about body temperature you can see my thumb print, just from picking this up and breaking it. No wax or stabilizers added to this chocolate. It's a little harder to use, but the taste is a world apart from grocery store chocolate "coating."

Boxed up and ready for Christmas delivery!

No assembly line look here, each one has it's own little character.

Western Wall Hanging

2011-11-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, I am making my way through my customer's Christmas quilts. This is for my client's daughter and her hubby. It's going to look great in their house.

This center block fabric is printed with boots . . .

. . . so, I ran with that idea and next to the brown rope border, the red border is quilted full of boots, steers, and hats.

70/30 permanent press muslin blend on the back along with Quilter's Dream brand "Dream Poly" weighty batting. I have found that this combination wrinkle proofs a wall handing. It won't sag, wrinkle and it hangs very well. I have even rolled quilted wall hangings with tissue paper and sent them through the mail. They flip right out of the packaging with little distortion. A little steam is all they need to hang nicely.

I also attached a hanging sleeve.

I was not pleased with my last hanging sleeve because you could see the "rod bump" from the front of the quilt. Here I found a great tutorial for the AQS Quilt show by Bonnie Browning . This one works much better. Although it's all hand sewn on the quilt back....ugh.

Like including batteries, it will be already to hang Christmas Day!

Homemade Caramels

2011-11-20T18:55:00.001-07:00

I just wish you all could smell this wonderful aroma in my kitchen tonight!

Three pans of caramel!

When these are room temperature, I will "ripen" these in the cool back bedroom for a few days/week.

I have never taken photos of anything I have cooked, but it occurred to me to share this with you when I got to the second batch.

This is it! A few simple ingredients:

1 cup white corn syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 pound butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

I must tell you up front that I have made candy with name brands, house brand, every brand. I can tell no difference with these particular ingredients, so I always buy the one that is cheapest. When it comes to my dipping chocolate, that's another story and I will get to that in a future post.

On med. high heat, melt the butter first and then tip the pan round and round to coat the sides half way up. This helps keep the sugars from sticking to the sides of the pan when it starts to boil. Add all the other ingredients and keep it on med high heat. If you turn it on high, it cooks to fast and it's hard to keep it from scorching.

Always use a wooden spoon with candy!

Reason: you take a chance of crystallization your candy with a metal spoon.

I learned to make candy with my Mom but when I married, my mother-in-law took me to candy heaven! They learned from their mothers . . . so this wooden spoon theory goes way back. In today's world the wooden spoon gets a bad rap because it is porous and might harbor bacteria, etc. If you are interested in the science (how did Granny know this???) of wooden spoon vs. metal spoon you can read a brief explanation here.

I like one that is flat on the bottom so you get full contact with the bottom of your pan. I have been known to cut off a rounded spoon to make it flat. I prefer this old relic, which has stirred every batch of candy I have made in the past 30 years.

My favorite candy pan is a pressure cooker. It is heavy (thereby evenly heating) and has a sturdy handle. I bought my daughter a pressure cooker so she can make candy. They are deep, but not so large so they are hard to handle. Just right for a batch of candy.

Buy the way, I would not advise you to ever double a candy recipe.

I like to keep my thermometer handy in a glass of hot tap water. That way, it's warmed up and ready to put into the hot syrup when it starts to boil. My pastry brush is also in the water-ready to go.

As mentioned earlier, the butter will help to keep the sugar from sticking to the pan, but when the candy starts to bubble, it will splash on the sides. This is when you need to quickly brush the sides of the pan with water to wash down any sugar crystals that may have formed. If you are interested, the Science of sugar goes into a brief but detailed explanation about candy and sugar crystallization.

Stir continuously until it reached 230-232 degrees. It will scorch in a heartbeat, so take care to really stir continuously. The flat bottom spoon will help facilitate this.

Now, I live at 5,400 feet, so If you are at sea level, or way up on that mountain top above me, you might have to find a chart and adjust a degree or two one way or the other. If it's a stormy day I might cook it another degree or two depending on the atmospheric pressure.

We all know that water boils at 212 degrees....but that's at sea level. At my house it's already boiling before it gets to 212.

Before you start cooking the candy, spray a 9 x 13 metal pan with cooking spray. My mother-in-law always used mineral oil. They certainly didn't have things like "Pam" back in the day. I like to buy the butter flavor spray for candy.

Set your 9 x 13 on a baking rack to keep the heat off of your counter top. Pour hot candy.

Do not scrape the pan.

This goes for any candy. You might pick up a sugar crystal from the side of the pan and if it enters the mass of candy, it will set off a chain reaction and sugar the whole batch.

Again, how did granny know all this???

Fear not! Waste not! After you pour into your 9 x 13, I always scrape the pan onto an oiled dinner plate. Here are the scrapings from all three batches poured on top of one another. This is about the time that the Hubby arrives with a knife to do the quality testing.

Stay tuned! All the caramel is going to be cut in squares and dipped in chocolate next week.

Baby Quilt

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

One by one, I am making my way through my client's "have-to-be-done-by-Christmas" quilts. There are going to be a lot of cozy babies this winter!

I love this fabric!

Chocolate Minky back.

Little Surprises~

2011-11-19T13:51:00.001-07:00

My client made this quilt for a new grand-baby boy coming in Feb.

If you look close, you can see some little surprises quilted here:

"Children's Toys" by Debra Geissler

Teddy bears . . .

. . . bouncing balls . . .

. . . rocking horses . . . hearts . . . stars

. . . and my favorite, the little red wagon.

Caramel color Minky on the back.

So Cute! Another Baby Quilt

2011-11-18T15:07:00.001-07:00

This is uber cute and I am going to have to borrow her idea! Strippy quilt with a row of rick-rack, a few circles and an applique.

I love it and it was so fun to quilt.

Caramel colored Minky on the back.

If you continue on down to the next post, you can see another similar quilt this sweet gal made. This little turtle quilt is for her sister who lives in Alaska. I'm sure it will keep their new little boy very warm.

Baby Quilt

2011-11-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have a little friend that is expecting her 5th boy . . . another cowboy to be exact.

She made this for her new baby who will arrive in Dec.

It was great fun to quilt!

Paint pony minky on the back.

How fun is that?

Quilt of Valor

2011-11-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

In addition to regularly quilting QOV's sent to me, I usually try to make a couple of Quilts of Valor each year. This center panel has been in my Valor project drawer for some time.

I am a regular reader of John'aLee's The Scrappy Appleyard and when I read this particular post, I knew it was time to make my QOV. You see, John'aLee's daughter was to be married to a young soldier deployed to Afghanistan. Sadly, he was killed in action 2 weeks before their wedding.

This quilt will go to a "soldier who was his best friend and who . . . was there when he took his last breath."

I contacted John'aLee and asked her if I may make a Quilt of Valor for her to give this young man.

I have loved this panel since the first time I saw it!

Faye Burgos' American Valor Fabric Collection for Marcus Fabrics. Pattern by Nancy Rink.

Simple quilting to keep it soft and cuddly.

Hobbs 80/20 batting.

More red for the backing.

Washed and labeled--ready to send out tomorrow with a presentation case.

John'aLee still needs blocks for her other quilts. She is accepting them through November. Even though this QOV is done, her goal is to make 4 more quilts for the grieving family.

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T05:00:00.043-07:00

From QOV Newsletter

In honor of Veterans Day,

I am posting a link to the Quilts of Valor website:

Quilts of Valor

If you are new to Quilts of Valor, I hope you will take a minute and look.

It talks about National Service . . .

From QOV Website

. . . and mentions the way our Veterans were treated coming home from Vietnam. This hits home for me every day as my husband is a Vietnam Vet. These stories of the shabby treatment of our homeward bound vets are true. We can't erase that period of time, but with Quilts of Valor we can move forward.

One way to do this is a new program called "Under Our Wings."

From QOV Website

"Under Our Wings" has been designed to reach out to new quilters, shop owners, fabric designers and a host of other ways to volunteer.

Quilts of Valor is not political, it doesn't support war, but it does support those men and women that have answered the call of duty over the years. Their mission statement says:

The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover ALL combat service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. This foundation is not about politics. It's about people.

We often think, "I am only one person, what difference can I make?"

Well, here is one person I would like you to meet: Alycia Quilts

When I grow up, I want to be just like her!!

You can make a huge difference in the life of a veteran.

I would also like to give a call out to my other favorite veteran, my son-in-law. He served 18 mo. in Operating Iraqi Freedom.

"Over twenty-two million living Veterans today embody our exceptional character and values as a people." ~~Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Animal Baby Quilt

2011-11-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

This baby boy quilt was commissioned by a customer:

1)Animals 2)Green 3)Brown 4)Minky back.

I started with this really cute animal print and then tossed in some coordinating fabrics . . .

. . . and a few minky patches for that wonderful "touchy-feely" texture.

Reminds me of animal fur.

Quilted it with "Seaweed" by Lorien Quilting.

A fun mix of color, fabric and texture!

She said the baby is due in Dec., so this little quilt will keep him warm all winter!

Recycling!

2011-11-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

I do love a good recycling project!

I am finally done playing "musical cupboards" with this book case.

It all started in 2007, with this tall bookcase that was left in our shed when our daughter moved to Minnesota after college. See it at the right of the window? You know the kind--it comes in a box from a big box store and has a folding cardboard backing with a wood grain laminate.

She and her hubby had a couple of these during their college days. She asked me if I could use it in my studio when I got it done.....yes of course. So, it remained in the shed until 2009. Here--my books, patterns, and misc "stuff" got stuck on the shelves, but it was really not very functional for me.

In 2010, my hubby made this thread rack and the best place for it was right here where the cupboard was . . . see that same curtain on the left?

So, the cupboard got sent to the back of the room:

. . . way back . . .

Then, this summer it spent a couple of weeks back out in the shed where it turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

I had Hubby help me cut it in half and then we reassembled the top half and bottom half--side by side. Since it was only 12 inches deep, we put a new pine top on it large enough to hold my printer/copier. The shelves were measured so my pattern binders, books and file box would fit perfectly without wasted vertical space. Wood cleats make the shelves permanently and solidly installed. There are now 6 shelves where the original only had 5. Lastly, we put a 1/4" plywood back on it to make it very stable. To finish it off, a coat of black paint!

It fits perfectly under this window. This was wasted space and now its a great little spot for storage.

It's the perfect place for my patriotic little turkey.

You probably noticed these ceramic cookie jars above the window. The pink one was my grandmother's. I remember pushing a chair across her blue kitchen floor to the counter so I could look in, hoping there were some of her gingersnaps in there. The center one belonged to my Hubby's grandmother and the one on the left was his mother's.

My Mom gave me this little pillow many years ago, and it's still true!

Stay tuned! I have a plan for another smaller one that is next to my ironing table. With a cozy fire in the shed stove, it will be a little winter project when time allows.

Crew Cab Blizzard Blankets

2011-11-05T23:00:00.000-06:00

As I was cleaning and organizing my studio last week, I thought about ways to use up these three drawers full of Minky scraps.

Since we are rapidly going into winter here in Idaho . . .

November 5, 2010

. . . I thought about all the times we head into town and like to have an extra blanket tucked in the back seat of the truck. You see, all the folks out here live a long ways from town, almost everyone has at least one truck and lots of those trucks are Crew Cabs so there's room for the family. It's a way of life out here and the ONLY way you can get around in the winter.

With that thought in mind, the Crew Cab Blizzard Blanket was born!

1) Minky scraps 2) a width of cowboy flannel 3) some fleece binding.

I used the minky for the "back" so I could use the word stripes as a guide for quilting--just enough doodles here to hold it all together.

Fabric is Riley Blake "I Wanna Be a Cowboy 2," Cowboy Quotes.

I dug out some polar fleece for the binding.

You can see how I make a fleece binding here.

He ain't too pretty, but he might be your best friend in a blizzard!

See how "hefty" this blanket looks? It's 42x50, yet lightweight. For batting I pieced 3 leftover strips of Hobbs 80/20.

You can see how I piece batting here.

Wait!! There's more. I made a companion:

This one's a little more girly.

Same Riley Blake cowboy flannel line only in pink.

I had exactly one chunk of this fabulous pink curly Minky (left over from a granddaughter's blanket).

I just love the feel of curly minky.

There is not one inch of either of these blankets that is not cuddly, soft and warm.

I have donated these to a benefit auction Monday night for BrynLee Hutchison along with my western wall hanging I posted here.

For some of you readers--you might be wondering why all my focus is on "Western" themed articles for this auction. You see, this baby's daddy was a jockey and a rodeo clown. His brother-in-law is currently a jockey. Over the years, their extended family has competed in cutter races, horse racing and rodeos. They train horses and make saddles. They have been embedded in our western way of life for 3 generations and our families have known each other that long.

Having said that, I know there will be lots of folks there from the rodeo crowd and horse world that will be bidding on items.

Oh, by the way, I might have a lot more "Blizzard Blankets" to make, remember that first photo at the top of this post way back before I started running on and on.....remember that photo of my 3 drawers stuffed full of minky? Well, that photo was taken AFTER these two were made.

Fleece Binding

2011-11-05T22:57:00.001-06:00

There are just some quilts that can get away with this binding treatment.

Minky, flannel, fleece binding.

It's super easy, the only catch is that you have to round the corners. There is no way you can fold and miter fleece.

Here's how I make this happen:

After the quilt is quilted, I use a dinner plate to mark the corners. Then I stitch on the mark to secure all the fabric layers and then trim the corners. I didn't think to take a photo but you get the idea.

Cut enough 2.5 inch strips from fleece to go all the way around your quilt plus about 12 inches. Always make sure any seam in the binding is stitched the diagonal (99% of my bindings are joined in a like manner.) This eliminates bulk, by ensuring your seams (when the binding is folded) will not sit directly on top of each other.

Now, you won't fold this fleece to attach, I am just illustrating the reason behind the diagonal seams.

Sew the open binding to one side of your quilt. Right sides together. When you get to your starting point, measure, trim on the diagonal and stitch closed.

Here we have a layer of flannel, batting, Minky, and fleece. I sewed the fleece binding onto the Minky side of the quilt with a 1/2 inch seam. There really isn't a front and back here on this quilt, but soon you will see why I chose this side.

Turn the binding to the other side and stitch in the ditch catching the under side of the binding strip, you will have plenty of fleece.

This is what you will end up with . . .

. . . then trim closely to the stitching line and you are done!

I didn't want to be trimming the edge and fighting the pile on the Minky; hence I sewed the binding onto the Minky side first so I would be working with my scissors next to the flannel. Fleece won't fray and once it's sewed, it's like iron! You are going to be challenged if you have to pick out any stitches.

Tip the binding up just a bit . . .

. . . and hold the scissors sideways and very flat to trim.

~Feels like a cloud~

Piecing Batting

2011-11-05T22:57:00.000-06:00

You can save large strips of batting and piece them for small quilts that will receive a fair amount of quilting.

Overlap your two pieces about 3 inches.

Make a serpentine cut all along the overlapped portion.

Before you cut, make sure you have both the right sides up before you cut. How to tell? Most needle punched cotton bats have a right and a wrong side. Take a pin and poke it in the batting 5-6 times. Notice the resistance or lack thereof. Turn the batting over and repeat. The side with the least resistance is the top. You don't want your sewing needle to stitch into the resistant side when you are quilting.

Remove the little strips and you have a perfectly matched joint.

Butt up the 2 edges on the ironing board.

Iron on a 3 inch strip of lightweight interfacing. Someone actually makes a product on a roll for piecing batting, I have only heard about it though.

Front

Back.

You can do the same with a polyester bat, except you have to zigzag or whip stitch the joint together. Polyester does funny melt-y things under the iron.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2011-10-30T13:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Amy's Creative Side for once again hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival! I encourage you to head over to Amy's for a wonderful show of hundreds of different and unique quilts from other bloggers. Pull up a seat, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy everyone's talents and creativity!

My Fall Quilt Festival entry is this Western wall hanging made for a Benefit Auction.

Headin' Home!

This will be auctioned off in our small Southern Idaho community next week. It will help raise funds for a family needing to take their baby to Boston to a special surgeon. You can read all about BrynLee 2 Boston in my recent blog post.

I was thrilled to be able to go to my stash and use a piece "Gradiations" fabric by Caryl Bryer Fallert for the background. A couple of years ago, I bought 4 different color combinations of hers at a quilt show, but had not had the opportunity to use any . . . yet.

The colors in this fabric were perfect for a sunset!

Silhouette by Cutter Creations and quilt hangers by Summer Sky Creations.

You can find many more details about the products in this little quilt here.

Thanks again to Amy for hosting the Festival. What a great opportunity to enjoy everyone's talented contributions!

BrynLee 2 Boston

2011-10-29T21:27:00.001-06:00

I made this wall hanging to donate to a benefit auction that will be held for 4-month old BrynLee Nichole Hutchison.

Headin' Home!

Dinner and Auction

Monday - Nov. 7th at 6 pm.

Raft River High School Gym

Malta, ID

You can read all about this baby on her blog:

BrynLee Nichole Hutchison

Here is a brief synopsis of BrynLee's story:

"BrynLee was born with a rare condition called Bladder Exstrophy in which her bladder and abdomen did not form correctly in utero. BrynLee had her first surgery at 2 days old and about 10 weeks later had her second surgery. She has more surgeries ahead of her to complete the repair. She is currently being treated by a wonderful team of doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT and has received wonderful care. There is a more experienced Bladder Exstrophy surgeon in Boston, MA named Dr. Joseph Borer. Our goal is to help her parents get BrynLee to Boston to see Dr. Borer in the next 6 months!"

. . . and here are some details about the products I used for this wall hanging:

Batting: Quilters Dream Poly-Weighty Loft. It is great for wall hangings, as it never sags, it lays super flat, yet gives your quilting nice texture. I wouldn't use it for anything else though, it doesn't drape well for a regular quilt.

See . . . here it is "standing" up all by itself!

Thread: Superior Thread's monofilament Mono.Poly in smoke color. Can you see a tangle of it to the right of the spool here on the batting? It's like threading a hair through your needle, but it works great. You just have to turn down both your upper and lower tension to almost nothing to sew with this thread.

Clear monofilament tends to look shiny on the fabric, but not the smoke.

Fabric: When I decided to make this, I rummaged through my stash and found a yard of Caryl Bryer Fallert's "Gradations" that I used for the background.

Silhouette: No, I didn't cut these out myself! I just happened to have this silhouette on hand from a trip to HMQS a couple of years ago. Made by Cutter Creations out of Michigan.

Now I love McKenna Ryan patterns and I even made one of her small wall hangings several years ago. But for me--cutting, placing and fusing all those teeny-tiny pieces is like crocheting or knitting--I just don't have the patience!!

What a joy to roll out these three pre-cut cowboys!

I always sew my hanging sleeve into my upper binding and then secure the other edge to the quilt back fabric with my hemming stitch/foot. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get your stitch length just right and your quilt folded just right, it's a breeze.

Wall Hangers: Hubby chipped in for these cute western hangers from Summer Sky Creations in Arizona. I gave him a choice: he could make me hangers out of horse shoes, or well . . ummm . . . what did he think about these old boots right here on this cute website?

He also helped me anchor the whole wall hanging to a couple sheets of paper covered cardboard. All the donated items will be displayed in the gym before and during the dinner. The auction will be after the dinner is cleaned up. This wall hanging is secured with zip ties as are the 2 sheets of cardboard so it can fold flat or stand up. Whom ever buys it can easily carry it home assured they have all the parts.

I have been to several of these dinner/auctions and it never ceases to amaze me how supportive our small communities are when there is a need.

~Yee Haw~

Let it Snow!

2011-10-24T14:56:00.000-06:00

As I watched the falling leaves drifting through the October sun, I had the privilege of quilting this fun Snowman and Cocoa quilt.

In keeping with the theme, the borders have swirls, snowballs and ...ribbon candy? Not sure how the candy fits in, but it reminds me of an old fashioned Christmas. I remember by grandmother having hard candy in her pantry during the winter holidays and I loved the ribbon candy!

Almost every snow "person" in this quilt has a frothy mug of cocoa.

This guy is here for the day with his thermos.

A fun snowflake fabric on the back.

Wedding Quilt

2011-10-16T06:00:00.002-06:00

Another fun quilt my client and her Mom made for a friend's wedding.

Boy, hate to let this one go--I love all these fall colors.

'Feeling Groovy' by Michelle Wyman and Terry Watson

I have had this pantograph for 3 years and only used it once or twice. Interestingly, it was requested for 2 different quilts this past week.

Yummy dark chocolate Minky on the back.

This is going to be the perfect wedding gift!

Baby Quilt

2011-10-15T11:07:00.001-06:00

My clients make the cutest quilts!

Don't you just love that one little brown block . . .

. . . and the plaid border?

Waterworld pantograph by Jodi Beamish

Most of my quilting is done with 'So Fine' thread from Superior Threads. They ship it out the same day and usually it's only 2-3 days to get an order. I appreciate that. For my basics and neutrals, I always order 2 cones of each color, that way, I can fill my bobbins with one cone and keep the other cone threaded through the needle.

This was quilted with #403-Putty. I rarely use white thread unless the fabric is bright pure white . . . and then I have 4 colors of white! When you audition thread color for a quilt, if you pull out about 3 feet of thread from your cone/spool and lay it on the fabrics, you will get a better feel for what you want for your color selection. Usually, I choose 3-4 cones from my thread rack, then narrow it down to the one that is just right.

Here the thread looks light blue . . .

. . . now it looks green . . .

. . . now it's beige . . .

Fun bumpy Minky on the back.

Black, White and Red

2011-10-12T16:45:00.001-06:00

Two of my customers brought me these quilts on the same day. They are very similar with identical minky backings.

Pantograph: "Feelin' Groovy" by Michelle Wyman & Terry Watson

They found this awesome black floral Minky to go on the back.

Quilt #1

Here is the twin: Fraternal, not idenctical!

Pantograph: "Water World" by Jodi Beamish

This backing really reflects this outer border.

Quilt #2

Quilt of Valor

2011-10-05T14:39:00.001-06:00

Pieced by the Inland Northwest Virtual Quilts of Valor Group. This is the 7th quilt I have done for them this fall. They are preparing for a stand down when an Idaho National Guard unit returns from Iraq in December.

This striking quilt was wonderfully pieced!

I really like the different chunks of blue in the outer border.

McTavishing in all the Friendship Star blocks.

Pebbles in all the Churn Dash blocks.

Flag print on the back really completes the quilt.

Quilt of Valor

2011-10-03T17:08:00.001-06:00

Pieced by the Inland Northwest Virtual Quilts of Valor Group.

I love all the flags in the block centers!

Quilt of Valor

2011-10-01T11:03:00.001-06:00

This is another QOV pieced by the Inland Northwest Virtual Quilts of Valor group.

Each center has a star with ribbon streamers.

I sprinkled a few random stars around the border.

Smoke at Sunset

2011-09-30T21:14:00.000-06:00

I just happened to be outside helping my hubby at sunset tonight when we saw this smoke over the south end of Black Pine Mountain. It's probably a range fire and it may be many miles away.

Smoke enveloping this one little cloud.

This cloud has a silver lining!

See that crescent moon high above the smoke?

Moon at sunset.

T-Shirt Quilt

2011-09-30T13:00:00.003-06:00

This quilt is for a college student in Colorado. She is attending on a basketball scholarship!

These two blocks are made from a front and back sewn together to make one block.

"Sprungles" pantograph by Jodi Beamish

I love piecing their names on the back.

This is my 'go to' book for piecing the alphabet.

The true color is a vibrant blue with royal spirals.

Since a couple of friends have asked, you can find a tutorial on how I make a t-shirt quilt here.

T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial

2011-09-30T12:58:00.000-06:00

It doesn't take long to whiz through a pile of shirts once you get a rhythm going.

Pretty soon you have a neat and tidy pile of blocks!

As with all projects, there are always several ways to reach an end result, this just happens to be the way I break down a pile of t-shirts for a quilt.

Before you start--a very important thing to remember is that they need to be prewashed without laundry softener or a dryer softener sheet. The softeners don't allow the iron-on stabilizer to stick well.

No wasting time with scissors, just cut a narrow strip from each side of the shirt, keeping as close to the sleeve as possible.

Then, open it up and separate the front from the back. They look terribly wrinkled, but you can smooth them out by hand right on the cutting mat.

I am not associated with this company, just a satisfied customer. This is the light weigh stabilizer I use. One bolt will make 3 lap quilts or 2 queens.

With the shirt wrong side up I pull a length of stabilizer (glue side down) over the part I plan to use.

I don't cut it off the bolt, just keep it on a stool behind my cutting table and pull it up as needed. Every time I flip the bolt over, that annoying instruction tissue just unrolls to the floor.

Making a freehand cut right at the neckline will give me the most space above the front logo.

Pick these two pieces as a unit and take to the ironing board.

Press carefully, so as not to get the interfacing stuck to your iron! Don't iron, just press all over the piece leaving a small margin at either side. I also have to turn down my iron from my usual cotton setting.

Yes, I have my iron labeled. I have 2 irons, this is the only one I ever use with "sticky stuff." That way my other iron stays clean and I know I will never have any residue on it's soleplate that can transfer a mark onto fabric.

Then, I take the fused shirt piece back to the mat. With my ruler, I try to find a straight edge print on the logo for measuring that first cut.

I always use the bottom of the words. Here, the ruler is set on the 3.5 inch line on the bottom of the phrase "if it's got."

There are always a few with the printing that is either skewed, applied crooked or simply has wonky letters. With these, you just have to split the difference. Don't be afraid to eyeball a block and trim it up if it looks really strange. See how the B on basketball is almost 1/4 inch higher than the rest of the word?

Once you have a straight cut at the top of the shirt, then you can put this straight cut on the mat at 16, 14, 12 inches, which ever measurement you want the block to be. I usually try to cut 16 inches so I can reduce it later if needed.

After you have the top and bottom cut, then measure the logo to find the horizontal center. That way, you can mark it with a pin to measure out from the center each way to cut your edges--centering the logo. The front of most girl's shirts won't give you more than 14 inches.

Sometimes there are even shirts saved from elementary school or Jr. High to mix in the quilt. I have a 16 inch square ruler, but can rarely use it, as it only works on large men's shirts.

Now, I take this block back to the ironing board and press, making sure all the edges are pressed well. Just remember that all your pressing must be done from the back of the blocks. These logos will melt in the blink of an eye! Ask me how I know . . .

Sometimes, sleeves have things on them also. I use every single little logo, number, patch, etc. Everyone loves having it ALL there on their quilt!

Here is a piece from the front, the number from the sleeve and the back of a shirt.

After I stabilized all three pieces, I sewed them together, appliqueing the number in the center. I use a regular 1/4 inch seam and press open. This block will be squared up and trimmed when I decide what size it needs to be as I start the quilt.

Here is the finished block.

This block is made up of two long sleeves, cut in 6.5 inch strips and then sewn together.

"Sprungle" pantograph by Jodi Beamish, gold thread.

Here is another shirt back where I appliqued a couple of logos from the front and sleeve.

After stabilizing the patch, machine blanket stitch is used to applique it to the block.

When you can make them all 16 inch blocks, and have only about a dozen shirts, it makes a nice grid and I like to use cornerstones in the sashing.

This quilt was made from 9 men's shirts.

When using different size blocks, I always sew the sizes into vertical strips, as in this quilt. The first vertical strip was made of 14 inch wide blocks, the second, 12inch, the third was 16-18 inches wide.

Unlike the blue and gold quilt above, where the sashing was all one color, for this next quilt, I was inspired by a t-shirt quilt over at Nana Girl Quilts. She used wonderful scrappy sashings to make her quilt.

Here I used all navy blue prints with gold designs. To the right, 4 small logos are pieced to make up a single block.

This is the end result, it's more of a random look. Certainly different than a 16 inch grid quilt.

I am also inspired by my little granddaughter who always tells me, "Grandma, you have to think outside the box!"

100 Quilts for Kids

2011-09-28T15:36:00.000-06:00

These quilts were made for the "100 Quilts for Kids" quilt-a-long.

Thanks to Kate over at Swim/Bike/Quilt for hosting a linky party where you can see lots of other quilts made for "100 Quilts for Kids."

This is adapted from a pattern in Amy Ellis's book, "Modern Basics".

A few appliqued stars

I like pieced bindings; but, I love pieced backs! By using up a few scraps, makes a length of fabric so much more versatile!

A couple months ago, I promised Diane over at Dew Quilting that I would participate and send this along to the Down Syndrome Assoc. of Middle TN in honor of her son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This second quilt is flannel top and bottom, pieced in random sized strips.

I had just enough pieces left over to stretch out this length of daisy fabric to cover the back!

This quilt will be donated to the Boise/SW Idaho/E Oregon Project Linus Chapter.
Don't forget to check out Kate's linky party to see all the wonderful Quilts for Kids!

Joining for Jace

2011-09-19T21:20:00.002-06:00

This sweet quilt "Bubbly Babies" by Annie Unrein was a kit that has been hiding in my stash for a couple of years! I was sorting through my fabrics and found this tucked way back in the corner. I think it was waiting for just the right event!

I made this for a Benefit Auction for a little boy named Jace. We have known his extended family for over 40 years.

You can read all about him over at Joining for Jace.

You can't see it in the pictures, but the white blocks are printed with white-on-white stars.

I used "Texture Magic" in this quilt and you can read about it here.

I hope this quilt will be unusual enough to give the auction a nice little boost.

The top is all cotton and the back is yummy soft flannel.

Texture Magic

2011-09-19T21:14:00.002-06:00

. . . a quilt with landscapes? Well, that's what I ended up with here:

This sweet quilt "Bubbly Babies" by Annie Unrein was the first time I ever used Texture Magic. I have seen it used on bags, totes, animals, but this quilt kit was in a fabric store in Utah a couple years ago and it really looked interesting.

I inserted my guide and set it for 3/4 inch to stitch a grid pattern. A 9 inch block of The Texture Magic is stitched to the back of a 9 inch cotton fabric block.

Here is the Texture Magic on the back of the fabric. It looks and feels like taffeta.

Stitching up all 10 of these took almost as long as piecing the entire quilt!

Before:

After:

Here is the back after a thorough steaming. No touching the fabric with the iron, only hovering with the steam.

Now the 9 inch block has shrunk to roughly 7 inches. I then proofed them to 6.5 inches.

A 6 inch block was too big to just leave unquilted, so after ditching the seams, I just sewed an X in the center.

It makes an interesting surprise when you see the quilt close up.

Sampler Lap Quilt

2011-09-18T16:14:00.000-06:00

I love the peachy orange colors of this quilt.

All over freehand feathers.

When my customer finished piecing this top, she decided she didn't like it as well as she originally planned. To spare further expense, she had me put muslin on the back.

The natural unbleached muslin actually looks really nice. She was surprised how pretty it turned out!

Baby Quilt

2011-09-18T10:31:00.000-06:00

Quilted with wavy lines so my customer's fabrics are the star~!

Minky, chenille, cotton and satin.

Minky Back

This is lusciously soft and cuddly~!

Quilt of Valor

2011-09-03T12:55:00.000-06:00

This top was made by two ladies in Wyoming.

One did the embroidered blocks and the other did the piecing.

There are 5 awesome embroidered blocks in the center.

The there were 3 flanges inserted into the outer borders. As the quilting "shrinks" the fabric, the flanges tend to ruffle. When quilting, I just tape the flanges back with a 12 inch piece of wide blue painter's tape and just move this along as I move the quilt. I always keep a roll of painter's tape handy in my studio!

Stars with ribbon streamers fill this area . . .

. . . one ribbon continues all the way up the side border.

It always makes my day to have finished another QOV!

Favorites: Tools, Patterns, Stencils

2011-09-01T21:18:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd take a minute and share some of my favorite tools and links to the online stores where I found them. When I first started quilting, I soon realized that you can't find quilting stencils, rulers, and patterns down at JoAnn's . . . or any other place in town.

Then, I went to my first quilting show. Oh my. Oh my. I saw so many tools, I ended up more confused than ever. There were so many goodies, I was paralyzed with indecision and didn't buy anything! Yup, that was me, this country gal staring at 400 vendor booths cram-packed with great stuff and I couldn't decide!!!

Five years later, after talking to a lot of other quilters, taking a few classes, buying way too many gadgets I have winnowed it down to my favorites.

Disclaimer: these lists and products are certainly not exhaustive, only those that I have used and I am not associated with any of these companies, just a satisfied customer.

If I had to chose one single tool it would be my Itty Bitty from Off the Edge Quilting

I have used this on every custom quilt I have ever done. In fact, I bought a second one just in case I lost or broke this one. I keep it on top of my machine. That way, it is always right there when I need it!

In addition to all my stitch in the ditch, both curved sides work well for continuous curve like these baby blocks.

Here I used all 4 sides: the straight for the ditching, the small curve for the squares, and the longer side for the triangles.

Here is a set of 8.5, 6.5, and 4.5 inch circles that seem to take care of lots of other curves. I rarely use them for a "circle", but use the edge to stitch a deep curve.

I used the edge of the 8.5 inch circle in this block.

These are the other 2 rulers I use the most. They are made by The Gadget Girls.

I like rulers that have grid marks so you can stitch a line, move the ruler a 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch or more and then echo your original stitch.

Here is an example of using the large curve in this manner for 1/4 " crosshatching.

Spacing them an inch apart gives you this look with the same ruler.

These brown borders were also done with this ruler.

For an even larger arc, I love Deloa's Boomerangs. I have the 20 inch.

I used it here for these large arcs . . .

. . . and for the large arcs on this quilt.

The wavy ruler is my go-to tool when I need to mark a border with even, undulating curves.

School chalk is my favorite tool to mark my quilts--if possible. Here is an example of a border marked with the smaller, deeper side. Once marked with chalk, then I put the ruler away and freehand the design evenly all the way around the border.

This green border is marked with the larger, more shallow side then filled with feathers in groups of three.

You must have an extended base for to make these rulers work. Mine is a Hartly. Each brand of machine has different extended bases that fit.

Hartly Extended Base

As you can see, any of the rulers, even the Itty Bitty, is almost impossible to use without the extra support the extension offers. This is going to wobble and be very unstable.

With the base you have complete support for your rulers 360 degrees around your hopping foot.

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Pantographs: I found a lady in Oregon that was selling all her pantos and getting a computerized machine. I bought all her pantographs for half price. Some I have never used, some I have used a lot. Four years later, I find that the ones I use the most are kids, masculine and patriotic.

Three I would not want to be without are:

"Allegiance" by Kristin Hoftyzer

"Square Spiral" by Keryn Emmerson

"Hurricane" by Kristin Hoftyzer

Here are a few sites I have ordered pantographs from in the past:

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Stencils:

I rarely use stencils. They are very time consuming, and very few customers want that kind of detail on their quilts.

I find I can use a star, a horse or other misc. piece of a stencil for certain blocks on my quilts. But I rarely use the whole stencil. Stencils are sized to fit in certain sized blocks and I they just hardly ever fit in the quilts that come my way. Here is an example of a long horn I used from a western stencil. Then I just put a freehand "lasso" above the horns.

I like to use the purple Marvy Erasable Farbric Markers to mark the stencil pattern on the fabric. These are air-dry markers that simply disappear after about 24-48 hours here in Idaho. With more humidity, they will probably disappear sooner.

Of the 2 dozen or so stencils here I only use bits and pieces most of the time. The stencil in the window is an exception.

It fit almost perfectly in this block. Then to fill it out I echoed the outside and the inside of the pattern.

There, that's probably more than you wanted to know! A friend of mine asked, and I would have loved to have some one take the time to share this with me when I was just learning to quilt. Keep in mind, what I know would fit in a teacup compared to all the wonderful information that is available. YouTube has a lot of how-to quilting videos that will demonstrate tools and techniques.

Last, but not least: Our minds and our own creativity are the best tools any of us will ever have.

Wedding Quilt

2011-08-31T22:35:00.001-06:00

My customer is making this quilt for her niece's wedding. The size is 99 x 99, so these sixteen blocks are each 19 inches square. Her piecing was perfect and her quilt is perfectly square.

Hmmm.....how often have I wished that I had larger blocks to quilt?

Well, I found out that it is really challenging to quilt large blocks without breaking them down into smaller spaces.

After listening to my client, here is what I came up with:

The curved lines in the brown flow clockwise and the floral design in the green curve counter clockwise. With my favorite school chalk, I chalked in arrows to remind me which way I was going in each block, because I could only get half a pinwheel in my quilting area. Still, I would head off in the wrong direction more than once!

There is a secondary feathery windmill in the blue background.

Back

The 10 inch border is a large open freehand swirly floral to match the blocks.

Back

She chose washable wool batting and this quilt is just as soft and cuddly as can be~!

Quilt of Valor

2011-08-28T10:19:00.000-06:00

From the stars at the top to the stripes at the bottom, the blocks for this quilt were made in CA, CO, OK, OR, WY, MD, NJ, NY, MI, TX, IA, IL, OH, and PA!

Now, it's been pieced and quilted in ID.

So, ~ 30% of the US had a hand in making this quilt.
How's that for representation of our country?

I wish I could personally thank everyone that had a hand in this quilt!

Quilt of Valor

2011-08-25T11:08:00.001-06:00

This has been on my frame for the past 3 weeks. I thought I might have time to slip in and work on it for a few minutes in the mornings during harvest....heh...heh.... Well that didn't happen--but finished it up last night.

This quilt was pieced by the Inland Northwest Quilts of Valor group. The blocks were donated through the Moda Fabrics "Just One Star" program.

I love this fabric! I threw open the windows in my studio . . . as the cool breeze was blowing, I thought about these houses representing all the patriotic homes across America where these blocks were made.

This quilt has blocks from OR, NY, MO, FL, TX....

....AZ, WA, MS, NC, WY and MI.

I am very proud to be another set of hands that have touched this quilt!

Quilts of Valor

2011-07-31T23:50:00.000-06:00

Two Quilts of Valor quilted and ready to send back to Northern Idaho to the Inland Northwest Virtual Quilts of Valor group.

Flag of Valor pattern by Minick and Simpson.

Each of the stars are signed by the persons that pieced them. They are from all over the US. This spring, Moda Fabrics, in conjunction with the Quilts of Valor Foundation, presented the Moda Fabrics Just One Star program. I have 2 more of these quilts standing by to quilt. It is so interesting looking at all the states that are represented in these blocks! This particular quilt had blocks from MI, FL, OH, MO, CA, NY, KS and NC.

~~~

This quilt was pieced by the Cornerstone QOV group.

Are you a Fabri-holic?

2011-07-31T11:26:00.000-06:00

H2H Challenge: Done & Delivered

2011-07-31T00:47:00.000-06:00

These are my 2 quilts sent to Green Fairy Quilts' Charity. I eagerly made my quilts back in April and May. It was a good thing because I knew there would be little time to piece and quilt this summer on the farm. July 31 is the deadline to get our quilts finished.

If you missed several of my Hands 2 Help posts in the past few months, you can find out all about the challenge over at Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I would like to thank Sarah for graciously organizing the challenge for Green Fairy's charity. I have met so many wonderful quilters from all over the world and boy have I learned some great ideas and techniques. The reward has truly been mine!

This quilt was made from fabrics sent to me by my H2H partner: Jacque, from South Carolina.

This one was made from fabrics in my stash.

Sarah is hosting a linky party today on her blog for all the H2H quilters. There were 47 active participants making 60 quilts. Head on over Sarah's to see all the challenge quilts!

My Nirvana~

2011-07-29T20:48:00.000-06:00

High Desert Summer . . .

. . . less quilting, piecing and sewing . . .

more working on the farm . . .

Everything that is not a crop has to be mowed repeatedly all summer; because that is the best way to prevent fires. Living 30 miles from the nearest volunteer fire department, means we are in charge! Our closest neighbor is 2 miles away.

Come on down to the house and I will show you around.

Sitting under the apricot tree, here are a couple of views from the side door which faces all the farm buildings. Ripening wheat fields are peeking up over the hill behind the truck. Harvest is only 3 weeks away.

Wheat storage bins, cleaned, vacuumed and ready for harvest.

Looking back to the house under the apricot tree.

I didn't plant this tree, it just grew. Back in the day, I used to home-can lots of fruit and my kiddos would sit on the fence (no longer here) and eat the fresh fruit I brought home from the Utah orchards. I always blamed my youngest son for spitting out an apricot pit right here.

Apricot tree and dwarf apple.

I am certainly glad he did, we have really enjoyed this tree!

Almost everything in the yard are perennials. I like to plant things that take care of themselves.

I decorate with old farm tools, implements and miscellaneous items.

This is a barbed wire wreath I made over 30 years ago. Still looks brand new! heh, heh....

Little ceramic birds sitting on an old broken down fence.

The old milk separator makes a great planter.

As we walk around the side of the house this rock path takes you to a little surprise as you go through the gate.

Grape vines look at home on the old fence and beyond, you can see them hanging over the deck top.

Grapes in the corner.

As the path curves around, you come to the "heart" of our yard.

See how shady the deck is with grape vines? We have dappled shade all day long. There is too much snow in the winter to have a solid roof. The vines are bare in the winter and the lattice style roof allows the snow to fall through. This way, we get the winter sunshine in the kitchen/dining room windows.

Then the rock path leads out to a fire pit. It is partially shaded by 2 cherry trees. Sometimes Idaho evenings are too cool to sit in the shade. I watched the shade pattern for about a week before I designed the rock patio.

Incidentally, with the exception of one day when our daughter and son-in-law were here helping, I placed every rock, every stone, every bucket of sand and plant by myself. It took me about 6 weeks in 2006.

Twenty years ago I planted these 2 trees with a hammock in mind.

This is the best part of the day . . .

. . . this . . . is my Nirvana.