A FREE quilt? Really?

I am a bit cheap  frugal.  

Example:  When our Bee goes on a shop hop, Suzanne has purchased several laundry baskets and put our names on them so when we buy something we can throw it in our basket and then when we are done no one has to search for their bags.  My basket is always the least filled!

No kidding.  I only buy fabric when I know what I am going to make with it and not much extra either.

Therefore, when I have left over fabrics they are small pieces, none of this 1/2 yard or more stuff for me.

So.......when I can make a 2nd quilt using left over fabric I feel like it is a FREE quilt since I didn't purchase the fabrics just for that particular quilt.

This quilt is from left over fabric from a couple of Twister quilts I made last year.  Therefore....it is free.

 I am always amazed that when I sew I think I am making perfect 1/4 inch seams so all my blocks SHOULD be the same size.  Never are!  The trimmings are slightly different on each block.  Some trims are mere threads and others are close to 1/4 inch!  Can you imagine how far off your quilt would be if you didn't square up those blocks?

 Here are 30 Disappearing 9 Patch blocks all squared up and ready to sew together.

 Don't know why I bother putting them up on the design wall to make sure same fabrics aren't together.
It never seems to work anyway!

 Horizontal rows all sewn together.  I'm sure I'll have them pressed and sewn together later today or tomorrow.  These are big blocks........13 inches square so it is going together quickly.

On another topic:  My friend, Janine, had a birthday yesterday.  I made these small design boards for her.  Aren't they cute?  I love going to Lori Holt's blog, Bee in my Bonnet, and seeing what fun things she has done.  She has a tutorial on making these boards.  They go together quickly with a tiny bit of sewing and a lot of gluing.  Be aware tho.......they are addictive.  I see several more of these in my future.  Can you imagine how nice they will be for keeping blocks together (Like Buggy Barn blocks).  They can even be stacked so your cat can't mess them up.  Perfect size to take to quilt retreats or Bee's to keep projects together too.

Best get dinner in the crockpot so I can head back to my sewing room.

Happy Quilting!                 Lynda

Pinterest Quilts gets too much of my time!

 Since I retired (love that word!) I spend a little too much time on Pinterest looking at quilts.

I found a Disappearing 9 Patch  that I knew was perfect for all my leftover

black, white and red fabrics from a couple of

Twister quilts.

So I sewed together 30 of these large blocks.....

 Cut them, turned a couple sections, and sewed them back together.

 Just playing with a couple of ideas on placement.

 Several weeks ago my friend, Janine, had me take a Swoon quilt class with her.

We made 2 blocks for her quilt but she hasn't finished it yet.

I decided I better make one for myself as a practice block for when she

calls and says she can't remember how to make it.

The class made it seem like a really difficult block but when I tried it myself,

I found that it was quite simple.  

This one will probably turn into a table topper.

I took 3 quilts to the quilter last week and she called today to say 2 of them were done

BUT

I had not made the back of the 3rd one quite big enough.

How does that happen?  I measure, remeasure, cut, sew, measure again......

Happy Quilting!                   Lynda

Why oh why don't I learn from the past and plan ahead!

 Yes, I never seem to learn!  Once again I bought fabric without making sure I had the border fabrics.  By the time I finally was ready to add borders, fabrics were sold out every where I went so I had to use 2 different fabrics for the borders.  Of course, they are from the same line and they do look good together but maybe I should have mitered the corners.  (Again I am second guessing my decisions.  Does anyone else do that?)

 You can see how they look at the corners.  I do love this quilt!  

I am pretty sure the graduating young woman who is receiving this will love it too.

I also finished this great Churn Dash quilt in mostly Lexington by Moda fabrics in that lovely indigo blue color.  I just love this.  I put the blocks up on my design wall, mixed and mixed and placed and replaced but still came up with lots of the same fabrics close to each other. I love this quilt too.  (Does anyone ever NOT LIKE a quilt they make?)  Sometimes I have a hard time giving away a quilt........until I see the joy on someone's face when they get it.

Now to take them to a quilter.

I'm heading out today to use some of the gift certificates I got at retirement for more fabric.  I have a couple more quilts in the planning that I just have to make.  I wonder if I will ever get to the point when I am done planning quilts or making quilts or just going to the fabric store to feel the fabrics?

I sure hope not!

Happy Quilting!                             Lynda

Retreat production

 Here is the Chunky Dresden that I completed during the retreat.  

It still needs the border on but I wanted more room to spread it out,

measure properly, and prepare

before adding the border.

These are the beginning of another quilt.

I fell in love with Moda Lexington fabrics and decided 

Churn Dash would be a great fit.

There are 9 different backgrounds and blues.

The blocks are 6 1/2 inches square.

I'm loving it already!

Now to take my sewing machine in for a good service and repair on the bobbin winder.

I had to have another quilter wind bobbins for me on her machine during the retreat.

Can't live that way forever so I will have to give up my machine for a short time.

Don't like that!

Happy Quilting!                   Lynda

November Retreat

 One of the perks of being retired is that I don't have to miss a day of the retreat and I don't have to ask for a day off of work!  I spent 2 wonderful, fun, productive days with several other quilters doing what we love most:  QUILTING!

Suzanne, our hostess, has the most amazing loft where we can all spread out and sew and laugh and snack for two whole days!

The above quilt is one she was adding the binding to the first day.  I love anything scrappy and am always looking for more ways to use up my scraps.  This one is beautiful.

 Marlene shared this fun Halloween quilt that she made.  She didn't just make 1, but she made 4!  

One for her and one for each of her 3 sisters.  Of course, she said they get to help by tracing 

the patterns and ironing down the pieces for her.  

We were all wondering how we could become a sister too.

In this picture she didn't have all the button eyes on yet but isn't it the cutest!

 Here are Marlene, Nancy and Dee checking out one of Suzanne's quilts.

 Suzanne sharing a cute little table topper of watermelons and ants.

 Marilyn and Maybelle busy working.  

Marilyn is busy with 2 Buggy Barn house quilts.  One in Christmas fabrics

and the other for Halloween.

Maybelle was working on a darling baby quilt for a future granddaughter.

 Martha and Dee purchased orange and black fabrics to make a Twister Pumpkin.

It involved a lot of planning and pinning.  This is Martha on the last row.

She looks pretty happy to finally have the first step done.

If you look on the table behind Martha you can see some of the 

gifts we share with each other too.

Pincushions, fabric baskets, fabric press, homemade wooden spoons

(Suzanne's dad makes these)

and, of course, candy too.

 Here Ina is sharing a winter table runner that was supposed to be

part of a row quilt.  Sometimes we just stop at one row!

 Ina also shared this wonderful and quick-to-put-together quilt.

She started with 8 inch squares so it went together quickly

but makes a very striking quilt.

 She also shared this quilt made during a once a month Saturday class.

These aren't her normal color choices so it was a bit of a stretch

working on this one.  It turned out so cute.

Here is a view of Marilyn's Halloween house blocks.  

Sorry that Buggy Barn closed it's doors.  It was a cute shop and fun to visit.

Hopefully they will keep making patterns!

I completed my Chunky Dresden Plate quilt but neglected to take a picture.  

I also started a Churn Dash quilt.  

Pictures coming later.

Suzanne is always a great hostess.  We always have lots of fun,

laughter, food, a sharing.  

Thank you again Suzanne!

Happy Quilting!                       Lynda

Life goes on........

Life does go on!  Lots has happened since I last posted.

My daughters and their families have all moved out.

I have started cleaning my home and still finding boxes that belong to them.

We have put in some new carpet,

painted,

and purchased.

The house is starting to look normal......

except for my sewing room!

It seems the more I go through the stuff,

the messier the surrounding hall and stairs become.

One stack goes to Nicky's house,

one goes to be recycled to other people,

and one is headed for the garbage!

But I am finding things that have been lost for 2 years!

The below picture shows I am finally working on my Chunky Desden Plate quilt.

 My friend, Janine, and I decided it needed some sashing.  I found this lovely mint green

fabric that matched perfectly.  So it will be the sashing.  

I now have about half of the blocks completed.  

I am machine appliqueing them onto the white background.

Since I have all the centers and petals made this part is going quickly.

The other big news:

I HAVE RETIRED!!!

I was worried that I would really miss working outside the home.  

But I have been so busy so far (1 week) that I haven't missed it

except for the wonderful people I worked with every day.

I have set a few goals for myself of things I want to accomplish:

quilting

cleaning

working on genealogy

reading (Elm Creek Quilts series)

visiting my grandchildren

even just sitting and relaxing.

At least none of it has to be done ... right now!

Now I'm off to spend time with my quilting friends

Happy Quilting!                               Lynda

Slow Progress

Yes, I have been working on my Chunky Dresden.

But it has been a few minutes here and there only!

So.........

Here are pictures of some of the quilts at the

Utah Valley Quilt Guild Annual Show.

 This amazing quilt was lovely up close.  But as we were leaving the show

we looked back across the hall and this one glowed.  The lime green

looked like there were lights behind them.  Very beautiful.

 I'm always looking for Scrap quilts to make and this one was amazing!  

Doesn't it look 3 dimensional, like the center is popping out at you?

Love it!

 What can I say.  There were so many wonderful quilts and I just couldn't

take pictures of every one of them.

 I couldn't get a good picture of the quilting but it was fantastic.

 I'm quite partial to this beautifully appliqued and pieced quilt.  

It was made by my friend, Suzanne (where we have all our great quilt retreats).

 More eye candy.  I have not made a quilt using solid fabrics before

but the one on the right really caught my eye.

The border on the blue and white quilt is really beautiful.

 Another feast for the eyes.

I love applique quilts......BUT I don't make them.

Just not impressed with my abilities.

I'll share some more quilts from the show tomorrow.  

Happy Quilting!                Lynda

A baby quilt for Linsey

 A few years ago my friend, Janine, and I were down in Southern Utah and stopped at a quilt store (big surprise!) and Janine purchased a quilt kit for a cute little baby girl quilt.  It sat on her shelf for a couple of years or more.  Then she gave it to me thinking I would get around to it quickly.  Not the case.

So today, probably 3 years later, I pulled it out and started cutting, sewing and pressing.  A couple of hours later I have this baby buggy quilt flimsy ready  to go to the quilter!  It went together quickly until I got to the outside border.  If I would have cut it the way they said it would end up with baby buggies going sideways.   Now I just can't do that so I matched and pinned and sewed until hopefully it isn't too noticeable that the borders are pieced so that all the buggies are right side up.  I think Janine will be surprised that a kit she purchased several years ago will end up for her next little granddaughter.......due in a few weeks.

Happy Quilting!                   Lynda

Chunky Flower Petals

 From Twosies to Foursies

And then to these wonderful Chunky Flower Petals!

It seems each step goes a little quicker. 

 Now to read the instructions to

see how to do the

centers.

Happy Quilting!                               Lynda

Cake and Sewing

 We have a friend and neighbor who is a plumber. 

 His birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  

We had to get him this cake!  Isn't it the best!!

 From Onsies........

To Twosies.....

Just enjoying the process and I simply LOVE the fabrics.  

Happy Quilting!                                  Lynda

Finally.........Starting something new

 My youngest daughter, Nicky, made this cute Olaf (from Frozen) towel for her kids to use.  

 I have finally started a new quilt!  I fell in love with the fabrics and found a Dresden pattern I wanted to use from "Bee in my Bonnet" blog.  Laurie Holt has a few books and patterns and they are all fantastic.  The pieces go from these cute little wedges.............

 To long strips of sewn wedges waiting to be cut apart, opened up, turned right side out and pressed to make............................

 These wonderful petals !

Then when sewn together they turn into the most beautiful flower.  The center will be red with white polka dots.  They get sewn onto a 12 inch white background.  I've been trying to enjoy the process more and not rush through so fast just to get it done.  This one is for a graduate next year.  Last year I made 5 quilts for graduates, this year NONE.  Looks like only 1 for next year.  I do love making quilts and then giving them away (even tho I want to keep every one of them!)

Happy Quilting!                              Lynda

Finished.......with 2 days to spare!

I took the Scrappy String quilt to the quilters a couple of weeks ago hoping she could have it done in time.  She did!  So I put on the binding today and it is ready for the wedding Friday night.  I think it turned out so great.  I know I'll make another scrappy string quilt again soon.

I actually machine stitched the binding down this time because of the time.  I usually sew it down on one side and hand stitch along the back.  But this one is so big and I knew I wouldn't have time to get it done so I opted to go with the machine stitching.  It was so quick and easy that I may just forget the hand stitching from now on.  I always worry about the outcome when making a scrappy quilt..........but I'm always pleasantly surprised too when it is done.

I've already purchased the fabrics for my next quilt and I'm ready to start cutting.  I saw it on Bee in my Bonnet blog.  It is a big 12 inch block of a dresden flower.  However........the center of the flower is a big 7 inch circle.  I'm using red and white polka dot for the center of each flower.  I can hardly wait!

Happy Quilting!                         Lynda

TaDaaaaa!

 My grandson always says "tadaaa" when he does something he thinks is great.  

So.....................TADAAA!!!

It is about 80 X 100 inches right now but I think I may put a border on it.  I'm still debating.  It is for a young couple getting married and I really want it to fit on a bed.  

I love the way it turned out. It is amazing that mixing all kinds of scraps together can produce such a beautiful finish.  I was worried because some of the sashing strips had the same fabrics so close to each other but it is so busy that no one will even notice.

I've already got my next project ready to start cutting out.  

Happy Quilting!                        Lynda