{Post #839} More Asheville Quilt Show Quilts

I have felt "under the weather" most of this week, so I don't have a lot of my own projects to show.  Some day I will figure out how to do a slide show instead of uploading pictures individually.  Here are a few quilts from the Asheville show my husband and I attended recently...

This first one was appliqued and quilted by hand.  I really enjoy doing and seeing hand work.

I have made several "kaleidoscope" type quilts.  The on-point squares of this quilt are that type application of the paisley print in the border.



Not really crazy about bowtie quilts, but the hand quilting on this was neat.  Does anyone know what type and size of needle is recommended for this "big stitch" quilting?  I will share another one done in this fashion later that was so cool.



~Joan

{Post #838} First "Count On It" Quilt Finished

I am not completely satisfied with this project, but it was a learning experience.  I will do better on the next one and likely remake this one in the future.

I will give details later...

{Post #837} Muffin Mania

We are still plugging along the plant-based diet way.  I have not been very ambitious about finding new AND tasty recipes.  This AM, I think we have another winner though...Spiced Honey Muffins (recipe here).  I just made the usual changes...rice milk for the milk and 1 T soy flour and 2 T water for each egg.  Scrumptious.  Not as sweet as we used to eat, but after 5+ weeks w/o sugar...just right.  They use honey instead of sugar as a sweetener.  I will use a little more pastry flour next time.  Shhh...don't tell!

Love Dr. Seuss..."going in"...

Do you notice the five little dots of light in front of the muffin pan?  They are coming from these babies...love this light (it's a GED 5-strip mounted under my microwave shelf)...

Coming out...

Everyone who has tried them so far has liked them a lot.  That's very encouraging when one has had failed recipes recently.  Well, not failures, but the "we wouldn't mind never having this again" response.

~Joan

{Post #836} More Quilts Listed on eBay

My AM was spent sewing.  Very relaxing.  I was mostly alone for several hours, and what better way to spend them?  My daughter, Rachel, pieced the inside of both of these quilts.

I added the borders and quilted and bound the top one.  They are both for sale on eBay.  I just love I Spy quilts.  Playing with them is so fun, and of course, they can be used as "covers".  They are great as well hangings, too.  So much punch and color for a wall!!

I ordered a table top quilt rack to make some little calendar quilts.  I was inspired by Michelle.  I tried to resist, but I just had to get the book and stand.  (sigh)...I'm blaming it on Michelle's too-cute-to-resist quilts.

Baking bread and home made (vegan) herb-seasoned French fries.  Might have time to make a little October quilt.  What do you think?  I'll give it my best.

~Joan

{Post #835} I Spy for Sale

I recently (I think it was yesterday) sent my friend, Sam, an envelope of I Spy prints.  I love pawing thru my I Spy stash.  I had just finished the zigzag layout for a surprise quilt and wanted to make an I Spy using that pattern.  Here is the result.

I am listing this on eBay in a few.  These are fantastic for quiet play at home, at grandma's, in the car.  I always used one with the older children while I was nursing the baby.  That way they were close enough to keep an eye on and I could bond with them.

How do you play with this quilt?  Easy peasy...one person finds something and says "I spy an orange" or "I spy the Cat in the Hat" and the other person finds it.

~Joan

{Post #834} For Debbie S

This is a quilt I machine quilted for Debbie S.  Her family is in Peru.  They are missionaries.  I met DS a couple years back.  We realized we also shared an interest in quilting.  Debbie pieced this lovely quilt top for her daughter but would not be able to quilt it before they left the states.  Her MIL is going to be visiting during the end of the year, so I volunteered to quilt it for her.  

Debbie has a lot of things occupying her time these days, and this was something I could do to help her.  Aren't the colors in this quilt marvelous?  She did an amazing job. 

~Joan

{Post #833} Hexagon Help

Here is my not-so-professional tutorial on how I am sewing my hexagons to each other.  I have never done a tutorial before, so bear with me.  I loaded all the pictures first.  Glance at all of them then read and follow along.

I start with  knot which was wrapped around six times.  This picture shows how I put the hexagons nearly flat next to each other and pick up a few threads.

The last picture above shows from the right side.  You can see that you CANNOT see the thread on this hexagon that I just added.

If this is not clear, let me know, and I'll try it again.

~Joan