Spools Going Up, Too!

What quilter could resist a spool quilt? I've been piecing these as fast as I can cut them out. This is my current leader/ender project. The top picture is ones that are all sewn together. You might remember this picture. I decided to take that unit and set it on point.


The second picture is all the ones I have pieced just laid out on the design wall with the others. I want to add rows diagonally, so I'll probably add a row once I have a good assortment of colors. I am making several of the same color at once. Naturally, I want them spaced out over the surface of the quilt, so I will do this the old-fashioned way. Diagonal rows are more tedious as far as sewing the blocks to each other. Can't web the top with these. But patience is a virtue, and one I need to work on for sure.

Off to put my Tulip Chains top together.

~Joan

Snowed In, and What To Do?

Got up this morning to the sound of ice/sleet pinging on the windows. Once I am awake I usually have a hard time falling back to sleep. I went out to the kitchen and didn't see any signs of life, so I headed down to my sewing room. I didn't want to make a racket cooking or cleaning up the kitchen (the girls' bedroom is right below the kitchen).

Last night everyone was making sounds about sleeping in. So I cut and sewed quietly, and voila'...finished blocks! These are laid out on my design wall. I'll go down shortly and stack them to be webbed. Then I'll prepare chicken enchiladas to go in the oven in a bit for lunch.

Maybe some more machine sewing this afternoon.

I have this quilt to machine quilt. The flannel back is pieced and ready to load on my Little Gracie frame. Maybe I should start on that. If we lose power, I'll hand quilt!!

~Joan

Tulip Chains

You've heard of daisy chains? Well, this is Tulip Chains (my own name, as if that isn't obvious).

Yes, another new quilt top started tonight. Will I ever run out of quilts I want to make?

The beauty of this is that all I had to do was cut a few pieces for the tulip blocks and the rest was already cut out!! Who could resist THAT? The 9-patch and tulip blocks are pieced. The sashing and cornerstones are not. That's why it looks a little distorted as far as square size.

We have a lot of snow, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get a few more tulip blocks pieced tomorrow! One can only hope!

~Joan

Quilt Top Up for Auction

I have not been on Ebay in so long that I nearly forgot my password! Just finished listing this beautiful quilt top. Pop over and take a peek if you're interested. The bottom two pictures are closeups of two of the blocks. Many, many lovely Thimbleberries fabrics in this top.

~Joan

Another Quilt Top Bites The Dust

Emily pin-basted this quilt for me last week. Much to my surprise, I machine-quilted it in about 3 nights of spare time. I did a simple diagonal line of stitching in both directions. The stitching runs through the center of the cream stars. This is such a busy quilt that I thought it best to go simple on the quilting. If you click on the picture, it should enlarge. Even in the enlargement, you can barely see the stitching lines.

I used up scraps of different leftover bindings to bind it--didn't have to cut and press one inch of new binding. Glad those are out of my scrap drawer and onto one of my quilts. This is a beautiful and very easy quilt to piece...excellent for a beginner.

Here are some pictures of the quilt top in progress if you're interested...

~Joan

First Flower Block of Row #5...

Here is the first block of my row #5. Each flower, flower center, and leaves are the same, framed with the same cream fabric. The outside triangles are different in each block. You can see that the second block is framed with gold triangles.

I wish I could hand quilt several hours a day. I LOVE it!! It is relaxing and rewarding to see the quilt come to life as the lines of stitches are laid.

~Joan

Hand Quilt No More on Row #4...

A little industry goes a long way. I am counting the top row of half square triangles as a row, so I am finished with the fourth row. There are four more, so I am halfway finished. The next row is a particularly cute one. I will show a picture after I get a block finished.

I am using a stencil to quilt large and small pumpkin seeds touching along the cream separator rows, so even after the pieced rows are finished, there is a long way to go. But even with that said, I am encouraged at the progress.

~Joan

Hand Quilting Spree

Above is my row quilt. I have had this set aside for ages, but I'm hand quilting on it again. Susanna inspired me. I took it to church last night because I was over an hour early for a ladies meeting. Got much accomplished. The fun of hand quilting is seeing the texture that pops out once an area is quilted. You can see other parts of this same quilt here.

This quilt was pieced with two friends, one of whom I've never met in person. We also pieced this quilt together. Such fun memories!

Stay tuned for more quilty adventures...

~Joan