One of mine!!

i actually got to work on one of my own tops. technically it's not 'mine' it's davis's mom's christmas present from last year. but you know, i needed a break from customer quilts. it was beneficial because i came up with a new design. look at the gold inner border, that's NEW! yeah. now all it needs is binding (which i already have made) and it will be ready to be given to her. hey, maybe i can get it done for mother's day....

there are no stupid questions, only stupid people

Sunday Stash #4

with the economy the way it is, i thought this would be a good stash fabric to post. :) it's a robert kaufman print. i still see it in quilt shops, but i bought it about 4 yrs ago. it's funny, but the fabric doesn't look as realistic as the picture. but i do wish i could just reach in the fabric and pull out a couple of bills....

Almost done...

i have four more blocks done for my shop hop quilt! YEAH!!

starting at the top going L to R:
Tiny Stitches whose theme was 'read me a story'
Little Quilts whose theme was "under the big top"
A Scarlet Thread whose theme was "happy birthday'
Hertiage Quilts in Newnan with "christmas morning."

now i have to work on the very last shop block (Sweet Home Quilts in Conyers) and then do my three filler blocks (which will give me 12 blocks, my friend karen's going to do embroidery for them) then all the sashings and corner stones...then i have to quilt it...whew!

Tiny Stitches BOM 2009

here's the BOM that i'm doing at Tiny Stitches (click here for the link to their website). i'm doing the 'tropical heat wave' set. of course, i'm making a few changes. i'm using some of my stash, and i redesigned one block. no offense to the ladies at TS for all their hard work in this BOM, but i just want my quilt to be different from everyone else's. *grin* anywhoo, the block i changed- i used one of their blocks from a BOM they did couple years back....(hint- look at the bottom of the cheddar quilt in yesterday's post)

cheddar sampler

here's the quilt i did today. it was pieced by Madeline C. it's the BOM from one of the local quilt shops. i'm not a natural fan of traditional colored quilts, but i like this one.

the quilting design is my personal design i call 'cotton candy'. i like samplers- i get bored making the same blocks over and over again. plus samplers are a great way to build piecing skills.

i also like the batting. i think it's 'soft blend' by warm and natural. i like that it has some loft. if you have a quilt top that's misbehaving- this is a good batting choice to camouflage those problems.

of thee i sing!

here's pictures of the quilt i finished quitling today. It was perfectly pieced by Pam R. it's a Lisa DeBee Schiller pattern that apparently is no longer on the market. (sorry)

the other photos show the details of hand applique and machine quilting. hopefully it will be accepted into the East Cobb Show this september. (Click here for show/guild link)

It took me a total of 14 1/2 hours over three days to complete the quilting. i changed threads to match the fabrics i was quilting. it is quilted all free motion with only the use of rulers for the straight lines and SID.

Sunday Stash #3

i'm tired of posting just one fabric from my stash, so today i'm posting a 'group'. that's how i tend to organize my stash. this is a group of 1/2 yds i have. i don't know where they came from....oh wait- i think i got them at JoAnn's. i just liked them imediately. i have no plans for them yet, but i might add to them (i have a drawer busting with lovely browns) and make a Snapshot (from Atkinson designs) quilt with them....*shrug* i don't know....SO many fabrics; SEW little time.

i find myself attracted to neutrals these days....wonder what a shrink would say about that?....

wierd weather

well this weekend was wierd weather wise. we had some servere wind and rain. some areas of metro atlanta had it worse, so i'm not complaining. but saturday afternoon during the worst of the wind, i heard a cannon go off in the back yard, then the sound of limbs exploding. looked out the window and saw we had a tree in the backyard down. thank goodness it wasn't close to the house. we're going to clean it up once the ground dries up a little and take it to the hunting club for firewood. it's not a total loss, Barney thinks it's the best thing to climb on. it's like a doggie jungle gym.

sunday stash #2

this is "nature in harmony" by Nancy Crow for Kent Avery. The print goes from selvage to selvage. i have about 7 yards of it and plan on using it for backing some day. i have some nice earthy colored batiks that i'm considering for the quilt. i bought it from the clearance section of a quilt shop that went out of business YEARS ago. i just liked it the minute i saw it. i tend to be attracted to the 'unusal' prints and designs.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Taking out the math #1

i was designing a quilt this week and came across this handy dandy chart, so i thought i'd share.
i'll post every once in a while a 'taking the math' out of quilting topic.

today, it's what you can get from a fat quarter (a fat quarter is a piece of fabric appox. 18" x 22") these are the CUT dimensions!

(99)- 2" squares
(50)- 2 1/2" sqs
(42)- 3" sqs
(30)- 3 1/2" sqs
(20)- 4" sqs
(16)- 4 1/2" sqs
(12)- 5" sqs
(12)- 5 1/2" sqs
(9)- 6" sqs
(6)-6 1/2" sqs

next time you start digging in your stash for fabric, i hope this chart comes in handy.

Sunday Stash #1

i KNOW it's not sunday, but how fun is this idea! From Tamara's blog. click here

my fabric from my stash is:

it's a vintage piece. it has a feedsack weave feel to it, but it's not a feedsack. there is no printed selvage with manufacturer's info. it was given to me by someone who said, "here i want you to have this cause you shoot guns." cool, i thought. it's been sitting in my stash ever since....it reminds me of the 'Howdy Doody' cowboy craze from the late 40s to 1960.

round them doggies up!

today was a good quilting day. i got to work on a cowboy themed quilt my friend Becky pieced.

of course, once i got to quilting i realized that cattle brand symbols would of looked awesome in the setting triangles, but, alas, it was too late.

i used clip art from my computer to 'draft' the motifs in the setting squares. then using a chalk pencil i drew them onto the quilt. (i ONLY use chalk on quilts cause i've never had an issue with removing it) then i just traced the drawings with my machine. i changed thread color for more of a contrast. if i'm going to do something that 'fancy' i want it to show.

my favorite fabric she used was a small scaled peanut. it reminded me of the restaurants you go to that let you throw the shells on the floor. :)

if i can say so, i'm pleased with the finished quilt. i think my favorite is the horse. it came out perfect! i know Becky will love it too!

Ebay and vintage quilt tops....

back before the economy was bad and i had to count my pennies, i was addicted to buying vintage quilts from ebay. (hi, my name is shannon and i'm an ebay addict) i don't know if i felt compeled to give loving homes to all the strays or what. some just called out for me to adopt them (i.e. buy them) or if there was some greater, stronger force at work...but this one is my FAV! i saw the tiny thumbnail and it was love at first sight! you know the feeling: that split second involuntary intake of breath and you instantly imagine finishing it and hanging in your house. yeah, that feeling. i placed a bid and crossed my fingers. i KNEW i had to have it. well, as per se on ebay, a bidding war ensued. but the battle was mine. I WON! a week later a package came in the mail and i tore open that box like a kid on christmas morn. there folded in a plastic bag was MY quilt. still one of the most beautiful vintage quilts i've ever seen and it's mine!

to some this story would leave a wierd look on their face, but hey, if i have to explain it- you STILL wouldn't understand.

Under Construction!

i was itchn' to do some piecing, so since i was all excited about the shop hop quilt, i started it. remember the theme was "The Magic of Childhood" and each shop chose a theme to fit into the main theme. The goal of Shop Hop is to go to all 9 greater Atlanta quilt shops, have your passport stamped, then on to the next one. at each shop they give you the directions for their store's block and the directions to their shop hop quilt. Some give out 'goodie' bags with special treats: candy, fabric, or small quilty notion. When you go to all nine shops, you give your fully stamped passport to the last store to be entered into the drawings. Apparently i didn't win anything, because one of the shops sent out an email with their drawing's winner. *pout* There's always next year. i'll focus on making my quilt *smile*

The first block (L to R) is Little Quilts. their theme was "Under the Big Top".
the next block is from Quilts n Fixins', their theme was "Saturday Morning Cartoons." i actually used the fabric that was in my goodie bag from them. next row , Red Hen Fabric's block, their theme was "Down on the Farm'. lastly, there is Patrick's with "Weekend at Grandma's".

so four blocks down, 8 to go. i'll post my progress.