Monday, April 28, 2014

Finished at last!!!

Yesterday I put the last stitches on Craftsy's 2013 Block of the Month quilt.
The fabric is almost entirely pieces I got out of a box from church when we were sorting through and washing up some of the few dozen boxes of fabrics that had accumulated in our quilting room.
I am positive at least 2 of those fabrics came from Glen's aunt because I either had a garment she had made or I have seen her daughters in garments she made using those fabrics. Maybe more, if not all, were Connie Krall's fabrics.
 
I added a small print calico and the flowers for the basket. I free motion quilted the entire thing on my home machine, using inspiration from Leah Day (Thanks, Leah!) and her Building Blocks quilt book that I purchased. There were 4 main sections of the quilt so I FMQed each of the 4 sections, then connected the sections, again using Leah's directions. Next, I added each of the borders with backing and batting. The outer border was to be entirely made of the half square triangles, but I changed it up a bit. It was difficult handling the 3 layers--top border, back, batting--and the quilt edge all at the same time. Finally, I sewed on the binding with my machine too.

You can see some of the different FMQ patterns I used on these 2 sections.

I also pieced the entire back. Each section had a different pattern. The block at the bottom right was an extra from the front. (I had made one block 2 different ways.)
I think all those seams on the back made smoothness of FMQ a little difficult, but I'm done.
You can't see my label but I used the 9mm lettering on my machine to put my name and date in one of the small rectangles at the bottom.

I'm SEW glad it's now done!!! I will eventually give it to a good friend/cousin whose mother had this fabric. Perhaps she will be surprised when that happens, so don't breathe a word to anyone! :)
Now, I'm going to start a quilt for a granddaughter...

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Spring time and grandchildren

A few weeks ago we were able to go to Maryland to see our daughter and family.
Below are Connor and Hailey: Connor is holding the owl I hand-stitched with a tooth pocket in it; Hailey is modeling the skirt I made and her baby doll has on the matching outfit that I made. 
 
 
Then we got to visit in St. Louis with our younger daughter and family. Here is Amelia swinging in the back yard. Harper and I are looking at the things I brought the girls.


 
Now for a springtime photo: daffodils in our flower bed. They are a very welcome sight!

 
Isn't my block pretty? This is last week's lesson for Delightful Stars. I have the squares cut out for the most recent one but the stitching will have to wait a day or 2 longer.