Quilting Lady Jane

I've gotten behind in posting about quilting Lady Jane. Here are pictures before I rolled the last time.

Left side.

I don't know if you  noticed in the first picture so here is a close up. See that sideways V? That's the center of the quilt, I'm a little more than halfway finished!

Left side blocks.

Center applique.

Right side blocks.

Right side border.

You've probably noticed the pins at the top of the quilting. I've shown these before. Several people commented they would scratch themselves while quilting. After I roll and start quilting again, those pins are at the bottom of where I quilt. I take each one out before I quilt that line. I never get scratched. They're just markers to remind me where I stopped.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday Musings

Let's Pop Some Corn

I attended a quilt retreat last week and spent most of my time working on a table runner called Let's Pop Some Corn. This table runner was a kit gifted to me by my friend Linda.

This second picture shows the color of the background fabric better than the first photo.

I quilted the runner myself using a serpentine stitch. I've been inspired by Sew Preeti's Quilts and have quilted several quilts this way.

If you look at the link to the Let's Pop Some Corn pattern, you will see there are supposed to be seven ears of corn in the runner. I didn't want my runner to be as long as the pattern specified and only used 5 ears.

My version of the table runner measures 18.5" by 41.5".

I had thought I'd make placemats with the other two ears but changed my mind. I sewed the two blocks together and will make a small table topper. I want to make checkerboard borders around the sides, there was enough fabric leftover to do this.

Let's Pop Some Corn was designed by Sandy Gervais. If you google the pattern name, you can also find links to the kit.

When autumn arrives in six or seven months, I'll be ready with a new table topper and a smaller one too.

Thank you Linda for this lovely kit, perhaps you will come visit again and view the table runner in person. Hopefully we won't have 6" of snow this visit.

While at retreat, my friend Pat gifted me this cute little fairy house. It looks perfect in my flowerbed.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

The Elkhart County Quilts & Fiber Expo!

As life is returning to normal, quilters are looking for quilting activities and quilt shows to attend. Come visit northern Indiana and check out the first ever Elkhart County Quilts & Fiber Expo! which will be held June 8 - 10, 2023.

Some of you may have attended the Shipshewana Quilt Fest which started in 2009, that festival has ended. Even before covid, they were having problems with facility space and other logistics.

The Elkhart Co. Expo will be held in one building with plenty of parking space.

There are workshops available, presentations and free demonstrations. There is even a shop hop for you and your friends to participate in. Click here for a list of the shop stops.

If you're interested in presentations, I recommend the Amish Quilt Trunk Show: Histories and Stories presented by Rebecca Haarer.

This is more than a quilt show, it's also a fiber show.

While you are in northern Indiana, you can check out the Quilt Gardens along the Heritage trail.

I've got to have a picture in the post so I'm showing this picture of a quilt garden in Wakarusa from several years ago.

See you in June!

I won't be having a Friday or Sunday post this week, I'll be retreating!

Linking to Monday This 'N That, To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday

Grandma's Flower Garden

I'm slowly getting the hexie flower sewn together for the grandmother's flower garden table runner that's supposed to go on the top of the old blanket chest.

There are papers pinned to the center of the flowers so it gets sewn into the correct place.

This is what the backside of the flowers look like. The papers have been taken out of the centers of the flowers.

It's not quite halfway finished yet.

The farmer sold most of the cows last year but he still has a heifer and two milking cows on the farm. Since spring is finally here, it's time for them to head down into the pasture.

Allie was the first one to start down into the field.

Then Maryn decided to go.

Katniss picked up the pace a little when she saw the other two were down in the field!

The whole field for just three head!

They don't seem to know what to do. Normally the group runs to the the east side of the field, turn the corner then start running back. They also like to kick up their heels.

Really, you've got the whole field and you're going to eat grass in the rocky spot?

After I put my phone away, they did start running and kicking up their heels a little.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This N That, Monday Musings

Star Dance is a Flimsy!

The first post about Star Dance was back in 2017 when I started piecing the stars using the color of the month from RSC. In 2018 I appliqued the border and finished the lap quilt. She then went into the 'to be quilted closet'. I did pull her from the closet several times with the intention of hand quilting her but she always argued with me. She said she wasn't finished!

In 2022 I was going to make her larger by adding a border of sawtooth stars, again using the color of the month from RSC. But she said the stars were too large, they didn't blend with the smaller center stars, so then I pieced a lot of shoofly blocks, 200 of them!

It was too breezy outside for pictures so these indoor pictures will have to work.

I had thought to make her large enough to for our bed but I didn't have enough of the border fabric. I purchased the border fabric over a year ago so it's long gone. 

I'll see how much she shrinks after being quilted and washed. I might use her anyway even if she's somewhat small.

Finally she's finished! She's actually bagged and going to the long arm quilter next week! She is ok with machine quilting which is good because I don't think I have enough patience for hand quilting her.

As of now she measures 95" by 105".

Here is a link to more posts about Star Dance. Blogger did not place them in consecutive order.

Here is a link to the Star Dance pattern.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap

Charity Comforters

It's that time of year and Sarah has her Hands 2 Help Comfort Quilt Challenge in progress. There are several agencies listed that need quilts. One of those groups is MCC (Mennonite Central Committee).

There are many different ways to support MCC including making comforter tops. Here is a link to the comforter page.

Comforter Bashes are held in various areas around the states. My local 'bash' is held in November. Here is a video from facebook for you to watch.

My church also has a church comforter bash coming up this month. Volunteers put the comforters in frame and 'string' them. The string hold the layers together then other volunteers sew the binding and return them to church to be finished

They will be knotted at the church bash then sent to MCC for distribution.

I am one of the volunteers who sews bindings. I recently bound 4 comforters and took pictures to show you.

Simple patterns are really the best designs for comforters.

Sometimes small quilts are donated and fabric borders are added to bring the comforter tops to size. The tops need to be at least 60" by 80".

This is a close up of what the 'stringing' looks like. The strings will be snipped then knotted.

I didn't piece any of these comforter tops. I sewed the bindings using this tutorial.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, 

Tulip Charity Quilt

In February Elaine, Lynn and I participated in a shop hop because we hadn't done anything together all winter. None of us needed anymore fabric but, you know, it was there!

I tried to focus my attention on the clearance shelves and came across this lovely panel . . . and it had matching fabric available! I bought one panel and several yards of fabric. 

I quilted the panel with my sewing machine using the X design and an iridescent variegated thread. After washing and drying, the quilt measures 34.5" by 41". I had originally planned to donate this quilt as a crib quilt but since it looks more mature, I'll donate it to the cancer center at Goshen hospital. 

Some of the matching yardage was used for backing.

I said I bought several yards of this fabric, I also made twelve 18" square napkins. I really like this fabric!

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down

SAHRR Prize

This was the first year I participated in the SAHRR. There were many prizes and I was the recipient of a $25 gift certificate donated by the Fat Quarter Shop.

I decided to shop clearance fabrics and wanted to show you what I ordered.

I don't know what I'm going to make with the Ten-Square package but I love those flowers!

Of course this beautiful roll-up of blues had to come along also.

These strips are perfect for the blue Christmas quilt I'm planning.

Of course I did spend more than the $25 certificate but I'm pleased with my purchases.

Linking to Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Monday Musings, Monday This 'N That

Cow Quilt Quilted!

Instead of putting the cow quilt into the 'to be quilted' closet, I decided to just quilt her now and have a complete finish.

First thing was to sew a 1" finished black border around the flimsy. It just needed some black to make all the other fabric shine.

Machine quilting is not my thing, I don't enjoy, I do it just to finish a small project and save some money. Since I had recently machine quilted several small projects using the serpentine design, that's what I decided to use. I used a brown/beige variegated thread.

Here is a close up picture of the quilting. Just so you know, cows don't have blue eyes.

There was green grass the day I took these pictures. I should embroider the mouth onto the cow and add a black eye to the rooster . . . I really should do that but I probably never will.

This cow quilt measures 49" by 55" after washing and drying. I'll be keeping this quilt for someone in my own family.

I had the perfect fabric for backing in my stash. I buy brown cow fabric whenever I see it because it is a rarity! I see now I took the backside picture the wrong direction. The quilting should be vertical, not horizontal.

The Cow Quilt pattern can be found here on the Counted Threads website. I did make changes to the pattern with color placement for the cow.

You can read more about piecing the cow quilt here.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

A Cow Quilt

Years ago I bought the Cow quilt pattern from Counted Quilts which was designed by Lisa Muilenburg. Back then I needed to wait while it traveled through the mail. Nowadays you can buy the pattern via PDF and print it off the same day.

She had to take her turn on the glider. Doesn't it look like she is really sitting there?

Yes, the day I took pictures we had green grass . . . and . . . the sun is shining. That is my shadow on the right side of the quilt.

Of course I wasn't going to make a holstein cow, my quilt is going to be a Guernsey. I searched out the best fabric I could find to simulate the mottled fawn color. My friend Nancy (who used to work at Yoder Department Store) helped me since she grew up on a Guernsey farm and knew what I was looking for.

I got all the fabrics together and cut out the pieces but didn't sew it right away. It became a UFQ (unfinished quilt).

After we moved, I decided this quilt was going to be finished before another year passed. This has been my latest sewing project, another UFQ finished!

The cow has a lot of light fabric but I didn't want a white cow. I reversed some of the fabric colors and this is what I came up with.

There are  3 sizes in the pattern and I made the lap quilt size. She measures 55" wide by 48.5" long.

To organize my pieces, I use trays. These trays are my sewing trays and are never used in the kitchen. There are a lot of pieces in a lot of different sizes. I labeled each group with the appropriate letter of the alphabet and also wrote the size on the slip of paper which was pinned to the group. Very important, mark the pieces! You will be very thankful you did.

I used 3 trays, there were a LOT of pieces. I did have pieces leftover but that was because I changed colors in the body. I'll admit it did get confusing prepping all the pieces.

This quilt is pieced in a row by row fashion.

There are a lot of pieces in each row.

This quilt will get quilted sometime this year but for now, completing the piecing is enough.

All of the diagonal seams were flippy corners. I have a LOT of cut off pieces! I'll take these along to the April retreat and give them to a lady who collects scraps and uses them to make dog beds.

I asked the semi-retired dairy farmer for his critique. After his first quick glance, he said he thought the head looked like a dog. However she (the cow) did have a large muzzle so she would certainly be able to consume large quantities of feed and produce plenty of milk.

He also informed me the cow did not possess the desirable characteristics that our farm has been known for. However her teats are straight and her udder has a strong attachment. 

He's still milking 2 cows once a day.

Linking to Monday This N That, To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down

On my Sunday post I showed you pictures of the hail that blasted us on March 31. Linda asked if we had any damage. We didn't personally, our vehicles are parked in the garage and it's too early to plant field crops so it came at a good time. I'm sure there are plenty of people who had damage to their vehicles if they were parked outside, that hail was big!

3/4" Grandmother's Flower Garden Hexies

I needed three more flowers for the Grandmother's Flower Garden table runner, they're finished!

This first one uses random blue hexies. Most of the centers of these flowers were stitched years ago. This was one that was recently stitched and I used a blue center. This center hexie was leftover from a previous flower.

This flower has a center pieced years ago. It's the only one with a completely beige center.

And the last hexie flower. For some reason the center looks blue, it's not. It's the same cream fabric I've used in most of the flowers.

I've arranged the flowers on the chest. I'm not certain if this background fabric will be the final fabric or not. I have removed the inner papers on the backside of the flower. 

The next step is to sew these flowers together then I'll need to piece partial flowers to fill in the side spaces.

Once all that has been completed, I'll applique the flowers onto the border fabric. I could cut the fabric and sew it on the sides but to me, that would be more work than the applique. 

I'm leaving the flowers on the chest until I decide this is how I want them placed. You know how it goes, you move one block then you end up moving 4 or 5!

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

You know the old saying about March, in like a lion, out like a lamb? Not this year, we had hail Friday evening, big hail, the biggest I've ever seen!

It became foggy after the hail finished because the air was warmer than the ground.