{Post 1,045} Hand Quilting Displayed

I took the plunge last night and UNquilted the 5 Baptist fans I had at the bottom edge of this.  Yes--I love them as much as the next girl, but I think it was too dense for this (that means it would take too long to finish!).

Here is a picture of my progress on this little number (42" square).  The first dark square on point is just lacking 3 leaves from being finished:

{Post 1,042} Ohio Quilt Progress

We got back from Ohio last night...sunburned, sniffly, and exhausted.  Glad to be sleeping in our own beds again!!  Be it ever so humble, there's NO place like home.  I like visiting others, but am always grateful to be back in my own little castle.

My son, Ben, drove all the way there and back, so I had plenty of time to read and hand quilt.  I read a whole book on the way up and a whole book on the way back.  I hand quilted for several hours MOST of one day there.  I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics 4 times!!  There isn't one near my house, but there was one 4 minutes from my parents' house.  I got a great machine quilting book.  I will be sharing from that later.

Here is what I got accomplished as far as the hand quilting.

My Grandmother's Flower Garden wall hanging is finished (the hand quilting, that is!).  I am going to machine quilt in the border (because one would not see it anyway) and add a hanging sleeve, hopefully today.

In the first picture, I had one row of straight line quilting to do.  Can you find the "space"?  It runs left to right (mostly) across the purple, red, and blue flowers.

Remember back when I couldn't decide which way to quilt it--outlining the hexagons or straight lines?  I decided to do both on this quilt.  

One of my sister's girls is a senior in high school.  I told her I'd make her a quilt as a graduation gift.  We went to Jo-Ann's one day and eliminated about 600 quilt patterns!!  She has no idea what kind of quilt she wants.  Then she saw me working on this and said, "THAT'S the kind of quilt I want!!"   I frankly told her what I told Ryan, "I love you, but not THAT much!"  I explained it was hand cut, hand pieced, and hand-quilted, but I'm not sure she got it.  

I also took the log cabin wall hanging (43" square) to work on, not having much hope of accomplishing anything on it.  Well, I not only quilted the stencil I had marked at home in the center, but I also quilted 3 straight lines in the creams and most of a leaf pattern I drew in the next row of darks.  Now I wonder, will I be ripping out the few Baptist fans I've already quilted at the bottom edge?  Probably!  I loved the idea of it being quilted with all Baptist fans, but the other goes soooo much faster and seems to be more in keeping with the quilt itself.

I will be posting another picture of the log cabin later today.

Today will be filled with getting things back in order here as far as stocking up on groceries, cooking, laundry, chiropractor visit, sewing...all the ordinary things of my life.  One exciting thing is taking Ben to Chick-fil-A to finish his paperwork and move ahead in his first job!

DH took Susie to visit his family in GA and will be back Sunday night.  Sure do miss them.

{Post #847} The Tale of Two Quilts

This pile is the beginning of a new I Spy quilt.  I'm making it for someone who is not pregnant yet.  It's going to be a big one (quilt, not baby), so I wanted to work on it gradually.  I will show some progress on it later (today or tomorrow).  After that, it will only be available on my secret blog. 

This is my log cabin quilt wall hanging for my very own house...most likely the living room.  I am sewing the rows to each other in between assembling the I Spy quilt from above.  I am going to hand quilt it.  Any design ideas besides Baptist Fans?  That is the way I'm leaning, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Off to sew a little more.  Rachel and I are meeting a group of local ladies for a sit and knit time tonight.  I will be hand quilting.  Think they'll notice?  At the craft show last week a man stopped at my table to make conversation.  He looked at all my quilts and said, "Someone's been doing a lot of crocheting!"  Yes--he was talking to me.

~Joan

{Post #824} Little Log Cabins

I took a picture of my little log cabin blocks before I took them down to use my design wall for a secret project.  If you read my secret projects blog, check over there in a few.  I am about to post my progress on a Christmas-gift quilt.

Only need a few more blocks (22) to complete this 8 x 8 setting.  Here it is so far.

Also threw a border on this ancient UFO.  It was going to be a 9-block quilt, but I cut the tan wool for the background incorrectly, so I was discouraged and threw the whole thing away except for this block.  There is a little embroidery (hand blanket stitch around the shapes, and crewel for the other details) and tiny buttons of different shapes and colors.  It has sat for years, but I decided to finish it and make a small wall hanging out of it.

I have never quilted through wool, but I am going to do a simple crosshatching pattern.

~Joan

{Post #817} Same Blocks, Two More Layouts

Which is your favorite?  I'd like some input here!!

~Joan

{Post #816} Log Cabin Wall Hanging

Today is my laundry day, which means I'm downstairs a lot.  Things are a-changin' around these parts.  My sewing room is all rearranged and my bedroom has undergone a minor rearrangement, too.  I'm still getting used to it.

I finished up several blocks for the wallhanging-to-be pictured above.  I need 28 more blocks (just one row all the way around) to make it the size I want.  I already have the 36 above and a couple others finished.  Isn't it surprising that I need so many MORE to get one more row each way?  It is to me!

~Joan

{Post #791} Monday Design Wall

Just a quick post before I get started on my chores for today.  This is my design wall from last night.  You can see all 4 of my projects made from the left over Past and Present blocks. 

On the top left is my little log cabin blocks set with some scrappy stars.  I saw this picture and thought it would make a great living room wall quilt instead of all LC blocks.  The star blocks are not identical, but it's the same idea with the layout.  Do you like it?

~Joan

{#767} Playing With Log Cabin Blocks

Same blocks, different setting.  Which do you prefer?

~Joan, who only has to hem 3 bridesmaids' dresses and make 4 sashes today!

{#766} Living Room Wall Quilt??

This is a small log cabin quilt center I started.  I kept making the little (3/4" finished) log blocks.  I want to make a new living room quilt for my house (imagine--making a quilt for myself!!).  This size is so nice for a wall hanging.  In the picture above, it is 25" wide and 30" long.  My goal size for the living room is about 40" square, so with a border or two, this could work.

~Joan, who is finishing the last bridesmaid's dress in a moment!