Melinda Quilts etc
I just finished quilting the Saturday Sampler quilt – Batik Spring Sampler. It will be shown this Saturday and I will get photos. Right now here is a little bit of a tease.
There is another version with 30’s fabrics and I am looking forward to seeing it.
Melinda
This block is from Charlene. She had a problem with the white and substituted green. I am sure it will look great in the quilt! She also sent along a very cute pattern for a bag. It is now on my list of things to make.
This is block number 6 of 11. Looking forward to receiving the rest.
Melinda
I have had this hexie project for over 13 years. I bought a kit at a garage sale when we lived in Illinois and next month we will have been in Georgia for 13 years. It is probably at least 15 years in progress.
When living in Elgin, we spent many weekends at estate auctions and garage sales. I found this kit for a hexagon quilt at a garage sale and the price was $7. All the hexagons were precut (die cut) and the box said there were enough for a king-size quilt. The only problem is that they are somewhat limited in colors and the fabric is polycotton. For $7 I decided to go for it.
Of course, I haven’t been working on it regularly, or even occasionally but there are over 40 of the flowers put together, along with little kits for a lot more. The kit came with white for a patch but the fabric is extremely thin and I just couldn’t make myself do anything with them. I finally decided that I would just start stitching them flower to flower and figure out what I am doing as I go.
Here are the first seven flowers sewn together.
As you can see, the center of each flower is yellow, surrounded by a solid section and then finished with a print. There are a few more prints to use before I start to repeat. I am thinking of starting by sewing them into rows of 7, alternating with 6 and see where to go from there. Not sure what to do about the edges but I will happily accept suggestions or I will worry about it when I get the blocks sewn together.
I don’t care what size it turns out, I would just like it done.
Melinda
My actual design wall looks the same as last week. I have sewn a few more blocks together but it still needs work. Hopefully I can finish it this week.
I did finish a quilt top and a quilt this week. First the quilt top.
This started out last week as a Urban Cowgirl jelly roll. I sewed all the strips together end to end and then did the jelly roll race sewing. First sewed the long strip together in a long 800 inch seam. Sewed again making a 400 inch seam, then 200, then 100, then 50. At that point, I cleaned up the edges and cut the whole thing into three strips. I added sashing and turned the middle strip upside down. Sounds confusing but it was very easy and gives it a different look – also makes a larger quilt. Added borders and it is ready for quilting.
Lastly, I quilted and bound the Scrappy Bargello quilt. I actually made it in 2008 in a class with Bonnie Hunter. It sat around for all this time waiting for a border before I realized it didn’t need one. Quilted it with overall feathers and it it finished! Here it is hanging out in the front yard (the neighbors think I am crazy).
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times. Lots of eye candy!
Melinda
My stash report looks better today because I found 3 large cuts of patriotic fabric that I am donating to the guild for use in one of the current projects – Quilts of Valor. I am using 14 yards for this.
I finished quilting and binding my Scrappy Bargello. I already counted the fabric for the quilt and backing but I did use about 3/4 yard for binding.
I added 3 1/4 yards of fabric for borders and binding for a jelly roll quilt I am working on. Some of the excess border fabric will be used for the backing. I hope to complete the top after work today.
I am still also working on the Halloween Double Slice quilt and hope to get that top together also.
Used this Week: 14.75 yards
Used year to Date: 154.25 yards
Added this Week: 3.25 yards
Added Year to Date: 163 yards
Net Used for 2012: -8.75 yards
Not too bad. Just need to sew faster!!
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
Last night was the last class in this session of Beginning Machine Piecing. The class started with 3 students but ended up with only 2.
Here are the finished quilt tops.
Here are the proud makers of the quilts along side the quilts.
Didn’t they do a wonderful job?
Melinda
I received another bee block a few days ago. This makes 5 of the 11 so far and they are looking good. This one is from Bailey.
She also included a little recipe book that looks very interesting. Thanks Bailey.
Melinda
Every spring and early summer we have a customer quilt show at Tiny Stitches. Customers can bring in any quilt they have finished that has a connection to the shop. Either they took a class here, bought the fabric, bought the kit, etc. We display the quilts for 2 weeks at a time and do it for most of May, June into early July.
Here are two quilts that are currently hanging – both of these I quilted. First is Mary’s wonderful mystery quilt from last years retreat.
Here is Sue’s log cabin.
They are both beautiful quilts and I am glad to have contributed to each of them.
Melinda
Obviously I have a Halloween quilt on my design wall today. I hope to get it finished early this week so it can go to the shop to be a shop sample. Here is another view of it.
It is made using a layer cake of the new Halloween line by Deb Strain.
I am off to Piecemakers to teach the little charm pack table runner. Hopefully I will get photos to share.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them all out.
Melinda
My stash report is going the wrong way again but I have been doing lots of cutting and sewing this week so hopefully more progress will be made soon. I did get out my Scrappy Bargello I made a few years ago and bought backing for it so it is ready to quilt.
First the in:
Kona White (need to have this on hand since I use it so much) '- 4.5 yards, backing for a brown 5, 10, 20 quilt that needs to be finished – it was on sale!- 4.25 yards. My monthly Kaffe shipment came in – 3 yards. Backing for the Halloween double slice quilt – 3.75 yards plus .75 for binding. Scrappy Bargello Backing 1.75 (extra wide but don’t know how to account for it any other way than length) and then there was a fat quarter sale at the shop – 3.5 yards. I think this all totals 21.5 yards.
Out:
Scrappy Bargello top (made several years ago) – 8.25 yards and the backing 1.75 yards for a total of 10 yards,
Used this Week: 10 yards
Used year to Date: 141 yards
Added this Week: 21.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 159.75 yards
Net Used for 2012: -18.75 yards
Hopefully I will get some more things ready to quilt – even better would be to quilt them.
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
It is time again for one of my favorite blog events – Blogger’s Quilt Festival. It was hard to decide what quilt to show this time but finally decided on my quilt called It Takes A Village. It is made from Sweetwater’s Hometown line. It is a not a large quilt and is all appliqued by machine using Superior’s MonoPoly.
When I first saw the pattern (Neighborhood by Sweetwater), I thought it was a much larger quilt/block. The houses finish at 4x6 before the little (and I mean little) border around the blocks. The houses are fused applique and I used invisible thread with a zig-zag stitch as recommended in the pattern.
It hung at Tiny Stitches in Marietta, GA as a shop sample for a few months and then went to the Bulloch Hall Quilt Show in March. I quilted it with an overall swirl pattern and am pleased with how it turned out.
There will be lots and lots of quilts linked to at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival page – be sure to go and check them out. I look at a few (lot) at a time over the next week or so. There is such inspiration there and it is so much fun to see what people are creating.
Melinda
Last night was the next to last class of Beginning Machine Piecing. I don’t have photos of the quilt tops together but I have a couple of photos of proposed settings.
Isn’t it interesting how different the quilts look? What a difference fabric selection makes.
Melinda
I received 3 more blocks from the Let’s Get Together bee. I love the ones that have come so far. I sent out the fabric and asked for star blocks. I love them.
Also, here is a photo of Tina’s second Birdie Stitches quilt. The first was brighter and this one is made with Sweetwater’s Sunkissed. I need to get mine out and work on it.
I worked on the spool blocks today and finished them up so I am ready for the swap. I made 4 blocks using selvages for the thread and the rest have the cool thread fabric I have been using. The blocks aren’t due until June so I am actually ahead – no last minute sewing this year.
I am teaching tonight so there will be photos of student quilts tomorrow.
Melinda
I know I posted about the mystery class I taught a couple of weeks ago but didn’t have any photos of finished blocks. Here are a few of Sue’s blocks. I love how the bright batiks look against the Bella black. The pattern calls for the blocks to be sewn together without sashing but a few of the quilts are going to have black sashing between the blocks. That will allow the stars to shine on their own instead of forming a secondary pattern like above.
This is always a fun evening.
Melinda
Well, I have more spool blocks completed. Still have 9 more to make – 5 for the swap and 3 more for my friends. The extra 3 are going to be selvage thread.
I also finished up the Vintage Modern Double Slice quilt and took it to the shop.
I also picked up two new quilts to make for the shop. First is a new Halloween layer cake and I am going to make another Double Slice quilt. Then I have a jelly roll of Urban Cowgirl to make a jelly roll race quilt.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check out all the other design walls.
Melinda
The stash report is going the other way this week. I started two new projects and only completed one.
First in – I got another package of solids, this time blue/green = 4 yards.
I brought home a layer cake and a jelly roll to make two more quilts for the shop. That is a total of 5.5 yards. I also got another charm pack of Mama Says Sew and a wonderful black/beige line that I have forgotten the name of. So another 1.5 yards
I am going to teach two of Bonnie Hunter’s designs in Las Vegas in July and need to make a sample. I have a sample of Scrappy Bargello but want to make at least some of the blocks of Scrappy Trips Around the World. I bought a pack of 1/8 cuts of batik for another 3.75 yards.
I quilted and bound the Vintage Modern quilt but forgot to take a photo and it is at the shop. I had already counted the fabric for the front and back but I did use 3/4 yard for binding. I also repaired, quilted and bound an old flannel quilt top for someone in San Francisco. It is in the mail now.
Used this Week: 5.5 yards
Used year to Date: 131yards
Added this Week: 14.75 yards
Added Year to Date: 138.25 yards
Net Used for 2012: –7.25
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times. I am going to go check on how others are doing.
Melinda
I thought I would share some of the decorations in the new Quilting Studio at Tiny Stitches. The theme is trees.
Then there is the bathroom!
Beth Leonard does the painting for us as well as go to school, work in the shop and teach. She is wonderful!
Melinda
We had class 5 of Beginning Machine Piecing on Wednesday evening. The first photo is of homework on the right and on the left is a preliminary layout of blocks for a second quilt.
The blocks we actually worked on last week were flying geese.
Next week we finally start putting the quilt tops together. It will be fun!
Melinda
Here is Sue’s beautiful log cabin star. Didn’t she do a great job! It was fun to quilt.
Melinda
Every year my bee group, Piecemakers does a block exchange. This year we are exchanging spool blocks. They are due in June so for a change I am planning on getting them done early. My design wall today has 5 of the 17 blocks I need to make.
In addition to the spool blocks ( by the way, check out the great “thread” fabric I found) there is my first star block from my bee month. I was late in getting the fabric out and so I am patiently waiting for the blocks to arrive. I sent out the same fabric as last year and plan to make a larger quilt. Here are my blocks from last year.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
Not much going on this week. I did finish the little challenge quilt and didn’t buy anything new.
Used this Week: 1.5 yards
Used year to Date: 124.5 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 123.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: –2 yards
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I wasn’t able to get a lot of photos of the challenge quilts. They were displayed in a room with a lot of windows and between the glare and the shadows, many of them were not able to be photographed. We had about 50 people sign up and around 35 quilts were shown – pretty good!
The challenge consisted of three things drawn from a bag – type of block, type of fabric and two colors that need to be used. In addition, the quilt had to be at least 14 inches on each side and no more than 30 inches. It had to contain at least three blocks.
One more – here is my little quilt.
It was fun!
Melinda
