The quilter in your life wants this ;-)

If you are not a quilter and have received a link to this post, then you know have a quilter in your life that has sent you this as a not so subtle hint - she wants this for Christmas, so surprise her.

(And wrap it in fabric please, preferably a batik)

I've been quilting for 30 years and have tried every free motion quilting glove known to man (and woman).

I am here to tell you that I have finally found one that I LOVE!

Machingers can be found online at quite a few places, I got mine at joannes (online only) for about 8 bucks.

They fit snug but not tight, are very comfortable, have tips that grab the quilt perfectly

And the best part, you are still able to use scissors, pull pins in and out and most importantly, drink your coffee while quilting without having to keep taking your gloves on and off.

I have nothing to do with the company that makes these, I just want to share a "good find" with my fellow quilters and if you are reading this blog you must be a quilter.

Below is a couple of links for those that may have been sent this post by your quilter loved one that you can order them

Joannes

Amazon

Create for less

Happy Holidays!

wip wed 11/28 - pretty piecing

I'm not good at piecing or patchwork as one might call it, which is why I stick with the art quilts. I am just not  precise and I don't like to follow the rules. I know my strengths and weaknesses and roll with it.

With that being said sometimes I get the urge to make a nice comfy pieced quilt so when I saw the disappearing 9 patch on quilt cabana's blog, I just had to try it.

It looks quick and fairly easy and since I was going to my moms for thanksgiving I figured I could make my own charm squares from her huge (and I mean HUGE!) stash.

here is the finished 25" by 30" quilt with stipple quilting

I'm thinking a special dog might like this, its to small for a human, not sure what to do with it yet . right now I'm just enjoying the feel of it, the close stipple makes it oh so nice!

I have squares cut out for a couple more, hopefully soon.

now on to my WIP

 trying to find the right hands to fit the background or

visa versa (does anyone say that anymore)?

these (above)seem to white

so I went with these, at least they go with the blue background

                                   

look when I quilted them though, makes the hands look ice cold

maybe I should come up with some catchy name for this odd quilt.

any suggestions?

#BFSI giveaway

 

 

hope everyone had a wonderful  thanksgiving with the family but today  is the day to reward yourself for all that cooking and cleaning you did - send away that family and get your quilty on!!

If you tweet, join other quilters today for a sew in - the hashtag #BFSI.

Sandy from quilting for the rest of us is having a huge give away so check her blog out here.

I'm giving away a free downloadable pattern for this "welcome my little chickadee quilt" to two lucky winners picked at random.  Just leave a comment telling me what you are working on today quilt - wise and if it's nothing, then why the hell not???



WIP - Welcome My Little Chickadee

my mom started quilting her scrappy star and is using the teal thread in a chain design - it looks great!

the only thing I worked on and finished this week is this chickadee quilt and tutorial. I the put the quilt up on etsy this morning and someone bought it already, so I guess it's a hit.

I may just make another, they are pretty quick:-)

I finished my chickadee quilt and made a pattern tutorial to sell it on craftsy and my etsy shop.

Making the pattern is so much more time consuming than the actual quilt making but as long as I remember to take photos along the way, I'm good. I just bought the pages app for my I pad, so I can write up the tutorial while sitting around on the couch, so I'll probablly be doing more of them. This one came out so much better than the others I've made. Just like anything else, you improve and learn the more you do something. Of course I can't just let it be the pattern, I've got 7 pages of detailed tutorial complete with photos. I figure that way even a beginner could make this little chickadee.

You would need to know how to free motion quilt - note the pine cone scales are drawn with thread but you first trace the lines from the pattern so it's not hard.

His little eye is a bead. I like a bead or button better than just fabric or thread because its shines alittle.

Makes a good little Christmas quilt ;-)

Don't you like how I shamelessly promote my pattern?

How do you think I can afford to buy all the fabric I do? 

Happy Quilting!

WIP Wed 11/14/12

This week my mom is the first photo - it's a WOW WIP!

Love those jewel tones, if you look close you can see where she is going to quilt the black areas.

It's a Celtic braid design - nice.

And of course her mitered border is perfect (unlike mine would be)

Now that the fun part is done, we will see how long it takes for her to quilt it;-)

 

This is her finish - its from a pattern kit called "up north"

I love. It but she says its full of a lot of glue and layers of fabric and is really heavy.

She says she will never do another, apparently it's a different process than the usual fusible or freezer paper appliqué and she didn't like it. It came out good though.

 

 

I'm working on a new design (or two) hopefully to eventually make them into a PDF pattern and tutorial to sell on craftsy. Above is the first and I'm not thrilled with it - needs some tweaking. The creature in the tree is alittle weird but I may like it better once its quilting, that will add more definition. First I was going to make a honey pot but not sure. Also I think the background is not enough contrast. I will make another before I decide whether to go forward with a pattern. What do you think? I would love any input - constructive criticism is always a very welcome thing. I know there is something I don't like but can't figure out what it is.

 

 

The other is a chickadee that is still only in the beginning phase. I'll have more to show in that next week, so stay tuned!

 

Happy Quilting!

and happy national button day on November 16th (who knew!)

Check out sew excited quilts blog for a button giveaway

WIP Wed 11/7/12

   I got a lot done on Rosemary the lamb

   lot's of dense quilting, see the squiggly

 "wool". I felt she needed alittle decoration

so I'm attempting to hang some rosemary

around her neck although they sort of look

like balsam branches in this photo. I'm not 

looking forward to quilting them down 

though, it's going to be thick - fusible layers 

over already dense quilting. I should do a

practice piece first, I suppose:-(               

and I finally finished my views from the summit of Poko - moonshine!

a couple of my relatives and fellow hag - festers (that's a long story - lol!)

may want these which is why I made 2. the skies are the same but the mountains and trees are different.

I'm waiting for a good day to take photos of these, as you can see they aren't that great as it's been cloudy and dark gloomyness every day here lately. 

also finished an old UFO which I described in my last post

a double sided window quilt for a 

blue star family

all in all a good week for quilting projects

(amazing what an extra day off will get you)

Blue Star Window Quilt

With Veteran's Day coming I thought about the blue star quilt I had almost finished and got it done last night. If you aren't familiar with the blue star service banner go here to understand what it means.

I designed this to be able to hang having the star facing out and the back has a couple of panels 

to enjoy from the inside - hung in a window it can also help insulate in the cold weather.

one with wolves

and one with assorted wildlife in the winter forest

here is the back side

the trick was quilting it and not interrupting the images on either side, but I think I pulled it off

I put velcro on the top tabs so it can be hung easily from a curtain rod 

I'm putting it for sale in my etsy shop 

Thank you to all the veterans for your service1

Book series - Louise Penny

I know this is a quilting blog but I don't know of any quilters that aren't also avid readers, so here is a new author I just found. (Thank you Sandy for the suggestion)

 

This is the first of the series. They are mysteries, light reading. She has a way with her characters , hard to describe but I can really identify with them.

 

This is the 2nd one that I just finished.

A line in the book that stuck with me -

There's a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in

 

 

And this one I just got today and will dive in this evening. They all take place in a small town just across the border in Quebec called 3 pines - which is why I can identify since I live not far from the border just the other way and grew up in a small town although not as quaint as 3 pines.

 

This is what I worked on today - lots of curly squiggles on my lamb.

Her name is Rosemary ;-)