Melinda Quilts etc
Nothing on my design wall – at least nothing new. Here are the polka dot block of the month still hanging out.
I think I am almost over my bronchitis – not well but on the way. I didn’t do anything about sewing last week but hope for better this week.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I have been sick since Monday and hopefully am on the way to being well. I haven’t done anything except sleep since I got back from Guild on Tuesday. According to the doctor, I have bronchitis. I have been taking drugs and have almost recovered my voice. I am still coughing but not nearly as bad. I missed work at the quilt shop on both Friday and Saturday and the shop was closed today.
Since I haven’t been out of the house, I haven’t acquired any new fabric but I also haven’t been in the sewing room at all so I haven’t used any fabric. Here is my report.
Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date:76 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 83.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: -13.5 yards
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I had the opportunity to take a class from Sharon Schamber on Friday. She is an interesting person and wonderful teacher.
She comes at quilting from a different perspective than most of us. She looks at everything from that perspective and finds the most efficient way to do things. One of the most shocking things she does is dip all her thread in mineral oil – yes, mineral oil. I haven’t gotten up the nerve to do it yet. I have a spool of white thread that breaks all the time. In fact, it is in the trash right now. I plan to pull it out and give it a try.
Her quilts are beyond great – she must be the best quilter in the world.
Melinda
I taught a Magical Slice and Dice class a couple of weeks ago. I only had one student, Patrick but he did a wonderful job with his quilt.
Here is his quilt with the first border on it and here is a close up of some of the blocks.
He started with a Kaffe print and I wasn’t sure how it would work but it turned out great. See all the variety of blocks he was able to achieve.
Magical Slice and Dice is one of my sister Robin’s patterns. You can find it here.
Melinda
There is a lot going on with my design wall this morning. First is three more blocks for the polka dot BOM. I am really loving working on these.
At retreat, I finished Winter Wonderland. Here it is in all its glory.
It is ready to quilt! I started this quilt several years ago and it is finally done!!!!
Here is the other quilt top I finished at retreat. I have fabric for borders but I think I will switch it to the back. There isn’t enough but I think I can find something to stretch it to cover the back. I will work on that this week.
This quilt was made with a layer cake of Half Moon Modern by Moda. It used every inch of the layer cake and only took about 3 hours to put it together. I based it on a technique I saw with Missouri Star Quilt Co. but I didn’t remember it right and it still turned out. I plan on using one of my layer cakes to make it correctly next time.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them all out.
Melinda
Well, a lot came in this week but I finished Winter Wonderland at the retreat so it almost made up for it.
First I bought background fabric for a future Bonnie Hunter quilt that was 3 1/4 yards. Then new dots arrived at the shop and 2 3/4 yards came home with me. I ordered Flea Market Fancy 1/2 yards so that was another 10 1/2 yards.
At the retreat I won 2 fat quarters so that is another 1/2 yard then we were given credit at our visiting vendors store so I got 8 more fat quarters of dots for another 2 yards. Lastly I was working on the dot BOM and ran out of Kona White. I had some I bought from Joann’s but it is NOT the same shade of white. I stopped at the shop and bought 4 yards so I can complete the quilt with a consistent background.
On the good side, I finished Winter Wonderland. It used 14 1/2 yards for the front of the quilt and 4 1/4 for the back. It really wasn’t enough for the back but I was able to use scraps from the front to make it big enough. I will show a photo tomorrow for design wall Monday. It is going in the “to be quilted” mountain.
Here is the report.
Used this Week: 18.75 yards
Used year to Date:76 yards
Added this Week: 23 yards
Added Year to Date: 83.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: 13.5 yards
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
Well, I posted about my three shop hop quilts yesterday but only posted two photos. Here is the last one.
It is the same as the one by my sister Robin that is on the cover of her pattern – Lattice Patch. Our borders are different so once more we made something exactly alike, only different.
Melinda
I have been talking about the shop hop quilts and finally took photos on Sunday. Here they are. First is the quilt made from the Reunion line. The pattern is Snap Shot from the book Happy Hour. We ran out of room to hang the quilts so this one got a ribbon around the top and put up next to a door. The name of this one is Lakewood High School – 50 years later.
Next is the quilt made from the line called A Stitch in Color. I made up this pattern. I call it Color, Color and More Color.
Last is a quilt that I actually made the center of several years ago with my sister in Las Vegas. After we made it, she developed a pattern called Lattice Patch. At the Tiny Stitches retreat in October, I put the borders on and finally got it quilted. It is called Moving Up the Food Pyramid. Did you know that the second level of the pyramid is fruit and vegetables? I thought it was the bottom but that is bread, cereal, rice and grains.
Here is the actual Shop Hop quilt. Each shop designed a basket block and then a quilt made from that block. Mary designed the block and quilt and I quilted it for her.
Isn’t it cute?
Off to help set up for the retreat that starts tomorrow.
Melinda
I have more polka dot BOM blocks on my design wall today. I am really having fun with this.
The block on the left is my bingo block for retreat. We were given a list of fabric types and made our own block. I have one more ready to sew together. At the end of the retreat, we will donate these blocks to the community service project and they will be made into quilts to give to the police department at the end of the year – what a good idea.
Our retreat starts on Wednesday so I am gathering my projects to take. We have four days of nothing but sewing! The featured project this year is a Hunters Star using the ruler by Deb Tucker. I plan to make a small project – probably with my black and whites for this. I just want to experience using the ruler but not commit to a quilt.
I am taking my Winter Wonderland blocks in hopes of completing the quilt. The center applique has been done for a couple of months and I just need to make the border blocks. They are mostly cut out so I hope to get them put together. I am also going to pack a sock monkey quilt that I want to finish for Bill. Another project where I made the blocks a couple of years ago but never completed the quilt.
Of course I will pack up my dots and perhaps fit in a couple of blocks.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.
Melinda
Not much going on this last week. I worked on my shop hop quilts and quilted the “official” shop hop quilt. No time to piece except for a few 6 inch blocks for the guild BOM.
I found some more Dear Jane blocks to give to Michele and made a few little design boards – not a lot of fabric used but on the other hand, I didn’t buy any. Here is the up to date report.
Used this Week: .75 yards
Used year to Date: 57.25 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 60.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: 3.25 yards
For more reports, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.
Melinda
Joan won my flannel layer cake. Here is her comment.
Probably my Fons and Potter scissors, so sharp.
Marjorie won the wonder clips. Her is her comment.
great giveaway!! thank you....I love anything fuseable....lol
And lately my Go!Baby
I have sent each of the an email so hopefully I will get their addresses soon so I can get the prizes in the mail to them.
I have been busy with Shop Hop so no photos – hopefully I will have some to share soon.
Melinda
We survived the first day of Shop Hop. We were supposed to close at 7:00 pm but we got several calls from people on the way. We ended up closing just after 7:30. One of the last customers to come in brought her completed quilt from the Callaway Retreat. It turned out so great.
After she put the outer border on, she decided to add all the yellow strips – I think it really makes the quilt. She also made a pieced back.
She used all her leftover fabric and made a back that could be a front. Great quilt. By the way, the pattern for the quilt is Lattice Patch by my sister Robin and can be found here.
Melinda
Years ago I started making a Dear Jane quilt. I used 30’s fabrics and it just didn’t do anything for me. I like Dear Jane and still have it on my list of quilts to make but other things are calling me first. Michele is in love with 30’s fabrics so I decided to give her the blocks I have. I dug them out and there were 40+ blocks. She has started playing with them.
I had made four triangles so Michele is exploring how to make them into a medallion center. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with plus I was able to count some fabric as used – that is a good thing.
Melinda
I just realized that I forgot to post a photo of my quilt yesterday. Here it is.
Now I am off to write the pattern for the quilt.
Melinda
I delivered my three quilts to Tiny Stitches yesterday for the shop hop. Here they are stacked on Bill’s chair right before they left home.
Once I got to the shop, I only took a photo of one of them. I will get the others while they are hanging. This one is called Color, Color and More Color. I still need to write the pattern for it. Remember that the center of the quilt is a panel, not pieced. Just the borders are pieced. I used orange Cuddle on the back and it turned out very cute and warm.
After delivering the quilts, and picking up my quilts from the Bulloch Hall show (thanks to Stella who actually picked them up and brought them to the shop), I came home and quilted the “official” shop hop quilt that Mary made. I will get photos of that one later in the week also. I finished it around midnight so had a long day!
Melinda
My design wall has changed. I took down the stack blocks top to add the borders and have put up my first nine blocks for my guild block of the month. I am using dots of any kind and Kona white. I hope to not repeat fabrics but I probably will by accident. The blocks are 6 inch finished and there will be 50 of them in the quilt.
I am having fun! I cut several blocks last week and got them all pieced. I need to get more cut soon. I am still working on the shop hop quilts. Two are bound and only one more to do the hand sewing on. Then I need to quilt the actual shop hop quilt tonight and tomorrow.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
Well, I had another week of buying more than I used. I got 3 more fat quarters of dots (I am going to need an intervention soon). I bought the backing for the stacked blocks quilt but didn’t get it pieced. I also go my monthly shipment of Kaffe 1/2 yard cuts. Here are the results.
Used this Week: 2.75 yards
Used year to Date: 56.5 yards
Added this Week: 7.25 yards
Added Year to Date: 60.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: 4 yards
I made binding for two shop hop quilts and am currently working on the handwork – they are almost finished. I also gave my friend Michelle my Dear Jane blocks that I decided I don’t like. They are in 30’s fabrics and they just don’t do anything for me. She loves 30’s fabrics and will have fun playing with them.
I still have one more shop hop quilt to put the binding on – that is after I finish quilting it tonight.
For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
The Bulloch Hall Quilt Show started last Saturday and will run through Sunday. I thought I would share my quilts that are hanging there. The first one is Christmas Tree Farm.
The second one is It Takes a Village.
My friend Danielle was feeling up to an outing so I picked her up and took her to the show with me. Here is a photo of us – not a good photo but I was taking it with my iPhone.
Danielle even felt good enough to go out to lunch so it was a very good day.
Melinda
It is time for another blog hop party. I have another flannel layer cake that I will be offering to one lucky person. No hoops to jump through, just leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite quilting notion is. As a quilting notion junkie, I am eager to hear from you. My new favorite notion is these clips from Clover.
They are great for binding and for sewing with the wonderful laminates out there in the quilting world now. I like them so much that I will do a second draw for a package of these.
Here is the layer cake.
If you are a no-reply blogger, be sure to leave your email address in your comment.
This giveaway will remain open until March 23. I will pick a winner on the morning of the 24th.
Be sure to check out all the other giveaways at The Quilting Gallery.
Melinda
