Friday, July 31, 2020

Christmas Then and Now

Today is my turn for Christmas Then and Now, hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt. I've seen SEW many wonderful projects. Here are a few of mine.
This peppermint runner was an early kit I purchased. There was enough to do 2 with only a little additional fabric of my own. I don't remember the pattern name.


I made these hot pads for all the teachers I work with one Christmas. Created my own pattern.


This poinsettia wall hanging was a lesson for our Cerro Gordo Quilters several years ago. I've made more for gifts over the years. I also made some sunflower wall hangings based on the same petal idea. It worked! I think this is called "Points and Poinsettias."


One year I taught the quilt group how to make these ornaments.


This is one of my earlier wall hangings. It's a Debbie Mumm pattern.


Below is my very first quilt (I tried to move it to the top of the page but couldn't do it--I'm not sure about this newer blogger format...). I started quilting in 2001 after my aunt showed me machine quilting and made me do some. This quilt was finished in 2002. I collect nativities and inserted my nativity applique figures into panels where other shapes should have gone. The applique figures are from "First Christmas" by Wild Goose Chase. The quilt pattern is "Signs of the Season" from the Jan, 2002 issue of McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts.


This stained glass was fairly early in my quilting life. I made 2 of them; the second went to my SIL who got me started collecting nativities. This one stays on the wall all year (for both of us). This pattern is "Stained Glass Manger Scene" by Edna Trunt of Designs by Edna. I have the patterns for the shepherds and wise men too, but have never felt the need to make them, at 26 x 33" each. Where would I put them???


This is new. I enjoy doing Rachel's kits, and I just finished this one a few months ago. I enjoy doing handwork with wool, and I did long stitch hand quilting on this too.


I just finished these "bowl fillers" by Bonnie Sullivan. I appliqued the wool and embroidered much of the rest of the designs on the pre-printed fabric. The basket is sitting on Take Four placemats (by Cary Flanagan) that I made years ago. I have made several sets over the years and taught these to our quilt group. This is a good pattern, using fat quarters.



Thanks to Carol for planning this hop! It's been fun!
Here are the rest of today's hoppers:

Sunday, July 19, 2020

One Block Wonder



I have wanted to make a One Block Wonder for a long time, ever since I saw an article in Mary Jane's Farm magazine about a man who had made many of them. They were stunning!
Then I found the book, One Block Wonders, by Maxine Rosenthal, and bought it. I also bought some pieces of fabric that I thought might work. Tried one and when I started sewing the hexies, they looked the same as the original fabric, so that project stopped. Fast forward several years to some months ago when high school friend Cindy posted on facebook that she was making one from panels. The light went on in my head: I had 5 panels of the same thing (Tivoli Garden by Wilmington Prints), just needed one more, and surely I could manage getting this done now! My friend Jo had bought a number of these panels (where I got the original 5 to make a chenille panel) so I asked if she had one more I could get from her--and the magic began!


I wish I had taken more pictures of the project in process, but I didn't.
Here's one of my hexies partially arranged.


And another of all of them. As you can see along the top and bottom, especially, you sew half-hexies and then arrange them into whole hexies and sew row by row. I had several black hexies that I had sewn and ended up taking them apart to put along the sides so I wouldn't have to cut off any of the pretty hexies.


I didn't want borders to distract and ended up using black binding to keep the distraction to a minimum.
I named it Floral Fantasy.

                                                     

My quilting is one of Lori Kennedy's designs--easy and pretty.



Here's the back. These are other Wilmington Prints, not in the same line so don't quite match, but work for the back.


Now I'm working on a bargello. Had the strip sets sewn together for several months and got after it as soon as Floral Fantasy was done. Stay tuned!

AND I am working on my post in the Christmas Now and Then hop, hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt.