I'm almost ready for Xmas. I got the Best Friends II quilt in the mail and it has been received. I also finished everything that had beed ordered as gifts. I made several purses, scrubbies and luggage tags. What a relief! Now I can work on what I want. I have a quilt to design and several purses and totes that I want to make.

I went to see DD for Thanksgiving. We had a really good time. I helped her with the Xmas gifts she's making. I cut fabric, gave her ideas and helped her make a fabric book and a potholder. I got a quilt from my LA quilter tonight. I need to the binding on and mailed next week as it is for Xmas. Then I have gifts to make.

What I've been working on

I've been working steadily on a number of projects, just not finishing them. I am making a best friends quilt. It is several borders around a panel of fabric that says best friends. I am using 6", 9" and 12" friendship stars as one of my borders. I have scattered them in the border and use background fabric to put them together. It's time consuming but very rewarding to see something I designed come together. My next step is to start putting the borders on my center.

I've also been working on a new quilt called Twister. You start by sewing 10" squares together and add a border. I used a layer cake and added 2 squares. Then you cut it apart using a special template. You cut one row at a time, twist it slightly and sew it back together. It comes out looking like pinwheels. There was a little bit of fabric leftover so I am now making smaller pinwheels to put in the border. This is all bias edges. It is amazing how quickly the pinwheels go together. I think it took longer to sew the squares than the pinwheels.

Apron

I made this apron from the BH&G magazine More Fast & Fabulous Quilting Ideas. The green part was a 20"x28" tea towel. I cut it and added the pocket and tie. The directions were very easy to follow. It only took a couple hours to make. I like how it fits and intend on using it so I don't get grease splatters on my clothes.

A Finish

I finshed the table runner I'd been working on. It is about 90" long and 10 1/2" wide. There are 4 scarecrow blocks and 5 checkerboard blocks. I machine quilted it with a simple 'X' on each block. I made it this length so it would hang off the end of a 6 ft folding table. I will put it on the table at work Friday when we have a potluck lunch.

Starts

I've been staying busy, just not finishing much. I've started a fall table runner and need to decide on the backing. I've started the top for the Twister class on Nov 7th. I've started a quilt for a friends friend. I'm also making small things for an upcoming craft show. Last weekend I visited DD and showed her how to make luggage tags for Xmas gifts. We also played with the embroidery machine as she wants some to be monogramed. She also found a purse pattern she likes.

Quilt found a new home

This quilt was a mystery quilt on New Years Day 2008 from the Quiltbus. The name of the quilt is Years To Come. The step by step instructions used a method new to me to construct the blocks. I quilted it in the ditch. My MIL came for a visit and took it home with her.

Another Table Topper

I found this kit online at Sew Many Quilts in Johnson City, NY. The swirling motion intrigued me. It was much easier to make than it looks. You start with a square for the center and cut off the corners so it is an octagon. The first strip you add for each round you use a partial seam. As you add the strips you cut them to maintain the angle of the octagon. I added 3 rounds to this. It finished 24" across. I think you could continue the pattern to make it as large as you want. I also like this because you only need 2 colors. I plan on making more using this pattern.

Table Toppers

These will make great gifts for someone. They are quick and easy to make and don't take much fabric. The Xmas Stockings and Pumpkins are made using Thangles. They are about 16" across. The Bees is slightly smaller at 14" across and is a good size for a placemat. I used the pillowcase method on these so I didn't have to deal with binding. The Ice Cream Sundaes is larger at about 25" across. I used the same pattern as I did for the Mums on a previous post. This table topper is finished the traditional method with binding. All of these were quilted in the ditch.

Baby Quilts

I've been busy making baby quilts. It satisfies my urge to start new projects yet finish what I started. Some will be given as gifts. I plan on going to some craft sales and hopefully will sell some.The mostly white quilt I call the Lazy Star. I used fabric from a quilt I made for my dd. I made two charm quilts using pink squares. One is only pink squares and the other has alternate squares of white. No two pink squares are the same. I used a charm pack of Tiddly Winks fabric along with some beige fabric to make four patches. These quilts are all about 38" wide and vary from 42" to 52" long.

Burden Bears

A couple years ago a friend lost her son. To help her and her grandson with their loss I made a Burden Bear for each of them. This is something they can cuddle and tell all their troubles to. I attached a poem I found online.

I made a quilt for each bear using the Chinese Coin pattern. The size of the quilt will vary with the size of the bear.

First Quilts

These are the first 3 bed size quilts that I made. The Irish Chain was the 1st. I figured it can't be that difficult to make a quilt, it's just straight sewing. I followed the directions in a quilt book and got some advice from my mother over the phone and before I knew it I was finished with the top. The 2nd quilt was the red,white and blue Windmill quilt. That one wasn't too difficult. I layered both and tied them.

Then I wanted more of a challenge so I decided to make triangles. I designed the friendship star quilt I call Stars Galore. I took my time looking for the right fabric. I used graph paper and drew the design. See the large center star? By the time I finished this one I had joined a quilt guild so I sent this quilt out to be quilted.

All of these quilts are queen size.

Small Wall Hangings

These small wall hangings were made to be gifts. Each one has a different theme, cardinal, golf and baseball. They are about 12" x 12". The center is 5 sided with strips sewn on all sides. A decorative stitch is used to quilt the block like you would a crazy quilt. This is a fast and easy gift.

Photo Quilts

I made a quilt with family photos for my neice and nephew when my brother was in Iraq. I thought it would help them cope with the separation. I put the pictures on the computer and then used the fabric that goes in the printer. The difficult part was deciding on the pictures and then getting them the size I wanted. I chose to make the pictures a little larger than 4" square so I could print 4 pictures on each sheet. I then added fabric on 2 sides to make it a 5 " square. I used a charm pack with cats for my neice's quilt and trucks/construction equipment for my nephew's quilt. Both quilts finished about 40" x 60". Then my SIL asked for a quilt for my brother so I used red, blue and gray. Since I didn't have enough pictures for every block, I fussy cut some eagles for some. I also made a pillowcase to go with the quilt.

Animal Quilts

I have made several quilts with animals as the theme. I used a wolf print for my neices' quilt. She liked the fabric so I used a Stack 'n Whack pattern and then put a wide border on it. I also made a pillowcase to go with it. I have made 2 quilts with deer fabric for hunters. The first one is called Just Your Size and is 64" x 87". The other one is a king size Turning Twenty. I used 4 fq's of the deer fabric in it. The horse quilt was made for a niece that really likes horses. I started with a pattern and made several changes to it and finished at 60" x 76". I used the Square in a Square 2 block pattern for my nephews' quilt. I fussy cut different animals for the center of the blocks. I fussy cut some smaller animals for the border on opposite corners. I even found some foxes to put in it as his grandfathers' name is Fox.

Table Topper

I just finished this table topper tonight. The finished size is 24" x 24". I got the pattern and fabric while I was on vacation this summer visiting my mother. The pattern is called Center Stage (TINY29) by Pieced Tree Patterns. I like their patterns as they are on laminated cards and easy to follow.

Baby/Lap Quilts

These are some of the baby/lap quilts I've made. They are about 40" x 40". The pink and purple pinwheel quilt is a quilt as you go quilt. As each block was made it was also quilted. A sashing on each side of the quilt joins the blocks. The yellow quilt with the nine patch blocks has prints from a panel as the alternate blocks. The red and blue quilt has fussy cut blocks of Spiderman. The last quilt has butterflies on the purple fabric. All of these quilts were sold and used as gifts.

University Quilts

I have made several quilts using the popular university fabrics. As you can see I have used several patterns. Turning Twenty was used for the UK quilt which I gave to my neighbor as she graduated high school and entered UK. The Alabama quilts were made for my dd friends. Yellow Brick Road, Blocks and Pinwheels and a pattern I came up with were used. I made the UofL quilt for me and used the Blocks and Pinwheels pattern.

Best Friends Quilt

I made this quilt for my dd best friend. This was a gift for her graduation from the University of Alabama. The center panel fabric says Best Friends and is surrounded by friendship stars. This is the first quilt that I designed myself. The back is the same as the border. It measures 60" x 72". The quilting is a star pattern done by my longarm quilter.

Lap Quilts

Here are some lap quilts. They are about 38" x 38". I machine quilted them. They would be ideal for someone sitting in a chair or a small child. The pattern for the flowered quilts is the Disappearing Nine Patch. The other 2 quilts have the same animals in them. What a difference color makes!

Disappearing Nine Patch

Here are 3 Disappearing Nine Patch quilts. Each is about 40" x 60". The first one has dinosaurs with tan and brown blocks. The back is a dark green.The one with the red border has airplanes and heilcopters, blue and green blocks. The back is the red print. The last quilt has cats on a gray background with gray and blue stripe blocks. The back is a blue print.