My Two Big Finishes

When my computer was unusable, I download pics from my card to another computer in the house. I will figure out how go get them back here, where they belong. They were my quilting-in-progress on this quilt.

I am curious about you other quilters. How do you decide to make a quilt? I usually see a picture of one and want to make one similar. Often it is years before I actually cut the first piece for said quilt. Sometimes (in this case), I see a fabric I LOVE and want to use it.

The fabric used for the "sashing" between the pieced rows here is an ancient Thimbleberries print. Naturally it had been out of print for years before I intended to use it. Thanks to the modern-day miracle called eBay, I found a two-yard long piece. I wanted to use every inch I could. The stripes are 72" long, and then I added the last two strips of the stripe at the top and bottom.

This was one of my early leader/ender projects as well. I had a box of 2" squares next to my machine that I would use as L/E. I chose only colors that matched the stripes.

I wanted to share some previous posts about this quilt. I only found one. It was the beginning of my machine quilting that went wrong. So I guess I started piecing this pre-2007.

I machine quilted the pieced sections with "peacock feathers" and meandered the rest. While this did not turn out exactly as I anticipated, I still like it very much.

Here is a close-up taken outside. There are little tan birdes, blue flowers, and raspberries in the strip.

Then there is my Grass is Always Greener quilt. This is backed with a luxurious, soft, light green flannel. The 4-patches in cream triangles are hand-quilted. The rest of the quilt is machine quilted with green thread. See my story about this quilt here.

Both these quilts are about 60" wide by 80" long. Nice throw sizes.

Take a nap now.

~Joan

Spring is in the Quilting?

Here is a quilting project I started today. The top thread has already broken on my machine at least ten times. That really takes the joy out of machine quilting for me, but to avoid basting has its price.

I am using a variegated cream/tan/taupe Signature thread. I have not had problems with the S thread in the past, but perhaps the variegating makes the thread weaker? Hmmm..

This was pieced a million quilting years ago. It was one of my first leader/ender projects. I saw and fell in love with the strip between the pieced units. Unfortunately, it was no longer in print when I first saw it. eBay to the rescue! I got a 2 yard piece. Then I picked 2" squares from my scraps that matched the colors in the strip. The strip has blue flowers, raspberries, and little tan birds. It is so beautiful. Thimbleberries, of course.

Off to my children's year-end youth group award banquet. Here are pics from last year. My sweet husband bought our three girls corsages and our two guys boutonnieres. You can be sure I'll post lots of pictures.

~Joan