ALMOST HAPPY 4TH of JULY

I have to say, this may be almost too late but I had to share.  I made this for a church Bazaar at the end of April but it is the technique I wanted to share.  This pattern is called Land of Liberty by Debbie Mumm.  It can be downloaded for free from her website.  Look under free projects.  You might want to browse a bit there also!

Anyway, what I did for the wavy part of the flag is I just used red and white striped fabric and fan folded it a bit off kilter into a piece that would be large enough to accommodate that part of the pattern. I ironed it very well to hold the creases and then I used a bit of Unique Stitch glue here and there to hold in place.  I didn’t want it totally stuck together because I wanted it to look like it was waving in the breeze and give a little texture to the wall hanging.  Once it was cut out according to the pattern directions I just sewed it in as if it were one solid piece.  I loved the way it turned out and the lady that bought it, really looked it over trying to figure out how I did it.  It sold for $45 and I was thrilled to be able to contribute. 

I also made two quick table runners that were so simple using the same red and white stripes.  I had a couple Friendship Star blocks left over from a project and put them on the ends of a piece of that striped fabric, put a little sashing around it to make it bigger  and then quilted it and binded it. Sewed on 4 star buttons in the corners and WALA…instant table runner.  The other one is just scrap pieces sewed together and quilted.  These also sold for $45 each.  WooHoo 

This is on the display board along with many wonderful things for the bazaar.

Here is the quilt I made also for the Bazaar.  I made it queen size and included the Pillow Shams and also the pillow for them.  They sold raffle tickets on it.  I have no idea how many tickets they sold but they were happy.  I am always excited to help some organization make money.

This is actually being displayed on my dining room table before we took it to the bazaar.

AND for my electronic cutting machine friends...here is a simple little SVG for the 4th of July.  This will come in 4 pieces on your mat when you upload the SVG.  The red part has the star holes cut into it so whatever color  you use as a background is what will show through the stars.  Don't forget to keep those little stars that are cut out!  

CLICK HERE to download SVG

Have a very safe and wonderful holiday!

1930's QUILT



Here is one of the quilts I did in December.  For some reason I decided at the last minute to make my girls each a 1930's quilt.   They have been eyeballing my stash of 1930's reproduction fabrics for quite some time.  I always thought I would make myself an old fashioned looking quilt.  I still will someday 
What was I thinking?  I was sewing like a crazy woman but then again...that would be normal!  
 I had a hard time explaining why I didn't get much done for Christmas this year until after they opened their gifts.  Then they understood perfectly what I had been up to. I had vacation piled up until December 9th and was off until Jan. 3.  Oh, it was a lovely "staycation"!

My youngest daughter didn't want to use hers so she went to  Home Depot and bought a curtain rod and is using it for Wall Art...Oh, I feel so honored!
Her quilt is almost like the other one but it has that goofy green turquoise color you see in some of the blocks instead of the peach color around the outside.  I know, it looks blue on this photo.  I didn't want to decide which girl got which quilt so I didn't put names on the packages and made them chose which one they wanted to open.  Believe me...it is so nice to know they have grown up and not still fight like they used to!



Information for Quilters:
These quilts are 82 x 82 and were designed using Electric Quilt 7 software.  Fabric is from Connecting Threads and I used the Canning Day Jelly Rolls because there was no way I was parting with anything in my stash!

CHURCH LADY QUILT

I had the pleasure of making a quilt for a local church raffle for the last two years and I also was very please they have allowed me to make another one for them.

Last year's quilt was something else. OK...first of all, I love to quilt but I am the worst person for color choices for other people. If it was for me, I would have it super bright fabrics of purple, pink, green or big flowers and that is not the choice for everyone.

So last year I asked that the church ladies pick out the colors and the pattern. One of the ladies suggested a quilt that was hanging on the wall in a local quilt store. I went there and pointed out the quilt I needed to make and said I needed some fabric and the pattern. I tried to pick out some but they really picked out the majority. I didn't mind the colors at all, they just weren't my idea of a quilt.

I got to work on it and then I realized that I had to force myself to even work on it. It was mostly made of civil war reproductions and they are very dark and depressing colors in my opinion. I showed it to a few people and they seemed to like it but I have no clue why. Every time I worked on it I just hated it more and more. I started calling it Ugly Betty.

Well, I finally got it done. I was so disappointed with it that I told my friend and my ONLY quilter to just do an edge to edge design and be done with it. I sent it thru the mail and when she got it she said she liked it. I again told her to just do her thing with it. Well, I tell you...DID SHE!! When I went to pick it up, I couldn't believe it was mine. WOW She completely transformed the entire quilt. It was gorgeous!

Well, the tickets sold and the quilt was won by none other than a beautiful woman named Betty. How strange that it happened that way!

All in all here it is in all it's glory. It was a queen size with 2 pillow shams. I haven't got a photo of the pillow shams but they were beautiful! She did an extraordinary job on those. They were like a work of art!

GUILT QUILT

This is my Guilt Quilt. A coworker survived breast cancer and was thrilled about that as were her friends and family. She had a tough recovery but managed to pull through. I seen her one day and asked how she was doing, etc. She said, "Hey, would you make me a pink quilt? I will pay you whatever you want." I explained to her that I just didn't have the time right now and I had never sold any of my quilts. If anyone received one from me, it was from my heart. I volunteered to help her learn to quilt and perhaps she could make her own or her friends could help. I don't think she was interested in doing that at the time. I truly was so swamped with other things in my life that I just didn't have the time to do it for her. I felt bad because I didn't know where I would fit in the time for making a quilt.

Time went on and I found out that her cancer had returned, only this time, the doctors didn't think she would make it. I was devastated! I could not believe that I said I didn't have time to make her that quilt but here she was...with no precious time to call her own! Not even if she wanted more time...she would not find it.

I got right to work and made her the quilt she wanted and I presented it to her at a fund raiser held for her. I also found the time to make another quilt to donate for her fund raiser auction.

That was about a year ago and she is still working at getting well. I believe it is at a Cancer Treatment Center that she is receiving help and they are giving her hope.

So I learned a valuable lesson. I might think my time is precious but the time I make for others is much more precious.

COLOR FOR A COLORFUL PERSON

This quilt was one I whipped up real quick when a coworker was diagnosed with a progressive brain tumor. She was always the one doing something crazy at work. Full of fun and made me laugh whenever I seen her. I wanted to get something to her that was bright but would still have space to sign by all the coworkers. I thought I had plenty of time to do this but for some reason, this quilt whipped together faster than I had ever quilted before. It was designed, cut and quilted all within a few days. Everyone at work signed it and presented it to her.

The sad part is, she passed away 8 weeks from the time she found out. Apparently there was a reason that quilt fell into place so quickly. I was so glad that she seen how many people really cared about her.

BOOKCASE QUILT

This is a photo of a quilt that I made for one of my friends who lent me tons and tons of books. I really did owe this woman a lot for her generosity. She has now moved into a newer home and has her very own Sun Room which she turned into a reading room, which I have dubbed....The West Wing Library. After putting in her new book cases she hung the quilt up behind it on the wall. I was shocked at how well it looked together with the bookcases.

I have different things appliqued on the quilt but the majority of it is all pieced. From a distance it looks like a bookcase up against a flowered wall, with feet on the bottom and a fish bowl on top. There is a seashell on a stack of books and a jar of butterflies on one of the shelves. There is also an angel on one of the shelves...something she collects.

It was so much fun to make and think of the person that was going to receive it.

QUILT OF HONOR

Here is my hubby with a quilt that he designed with a special Veteran in mind. He spent a long time researching for this quilt. He spent numerous hours looking up the medals and badges that represented what the Veteran had earned. He wanted it to be perfect. It took almost a year to complete. He thought it was time that this person was recognized for his service to his country. This Veteran received numerous injuries in the war and at one point they didn't think he would make it. He did make it and continues to serve his country by being a very active member of the VFW.

It was an honor for me to help with this.

THE QUILT FROM HELL

This started out as a very long story and try as I might...it can't be changed. So if you are ready for a small novel, read on!

What started out as a pattern called "Not All Quilt Blocks Are Square" which at first glance appeared to be a cute simple pattern. I thought to myself, "OK...I will try that one. I desperately need to get one done for Relay For Life and this will be quick. "Oh, and how wonderful, they actually have a kit for it. I don't even have to pick out fabric! It is all there!"

I was quite excited at this point and couldn't wait to get home and start in.

It was just gorgeous flannel and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. So many colors and I figured I would have tons of left overs by the amount it showed in the kit. Well, that was my first mistake. I opened it up only to find that they had put in pieces that were 8" x 10" not the customary 18" x 22" fat quarter. OK...I guess they know best. I will cut what there is.

So I started cutting. Oh, it wanted to move and twist if I stacked too many together. Why didn't they just give me yardage and I would have had it cut out in no time. Oh, no, that would be too easy...they wanted me to stack all the pieces on top of one another and then ever so neatly, cut them apart.

OK...got that done, most were not perfect by a long shot but I believed they must mean to square them up after sewing. WRONG! They have to come out perfectly. Oh, that only took a day to cut out! Maybe I am slow...but you had to be so careful!

Alright, by this time, I really noticed that I would be sewing on the bias, and for those of you who don't sew...this is the stretchiest angle of the fabric to sew. You sometimes sew on the bias to make it curve around something, etc. See what I mean? OK...things were not going well at all. Had to sew very slow and carefully. And for Pete's sake, you can't use steam to iron them or they will distort.

OK...another day passed, and half of another and I had the blocks all sewn.
WHAT?????? There is a piece missing? No way. It was a kit, they can't be wrong. I checked and double checked. Nope...there was a piece missing. Not only was there a piece missing...it meant that I had to have at least 2 pieces of fabric that would work with the rest and I would have to take apart 2 of the squares so I could blend in the new colors. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

OK...patience my dear. I searched in my fabric stash, "Thank You, God, for my Stash" a prayer that should be hung in every quilting room...I don't even care if you are atheist....you will be thankful to someone for that stash!
I FOUND THEM! Yes, for some reason in the last couple years I had picked up the same fabric along the way. WOOHOO

OK...got that cut, tore apart some squares, made it look like it was supposed to be that way. "Creative License" I believe it is called.

Ah, now the fun part! I get to sew all the squares together. I laid them all out to see what would work and apparently it really didn't matter. I figured it would go well putting all the rows together. I was burning the midnight oil and kept telling myself..."My goal is to finish this quilt top today".

WELL...that came to a grinding halt. It appears that who ever made this pattern could not have possibly sewn it together. Maybe she had her friends do it and they didn't have the heart to tell her that there would be 8 fabrics that would be meeting at one point! OK...here is where it really started to be the Quilt from Hell! Eight pieces of fabric do not lay down well when they are all going in different directions and are bunched up in one corner. I felt like taking a hammer after it to smash the fabric into one another. For some reason, the screaming didn't help. Maybe if hubby hadn't been sleeping I would have felt that it did some good. I think it has something to do with that story about "if a tree falls in the forest..."

Well, after having chocolate and coffee I was able to relax and keep working. Nope...didn't get it done in a day...what was I thinking? Have to start again tomorrow.

OK...fresh new day, fresh new start, the borders went quite well and I used a method I just read about. I will share that some other time.

OK...quilting time 2:30pm. Careful...that flannel is still stretching...don't pull too tight. Oh, wait...that is exactly what the quilting frame will do! I had to be so careful to ease in the sides and stitch slowly, pushing fabric in here and there.

Had to change the needle, kept hitting those lumpy layers of fabric but I did get them to go down at some points. Tension was off, at one point I rolled up the quilt to do the next row and there was the most humongous bird's nest on the other side. Apparently along the line the thread got out of whack. At this point I had to actually "relieve" myself I was so upset.

OK...body free of toxins, I got to work taking all those stitches out. My back still hurts from bending over it and I have a slight limp to remember it. OK...maybe I did have that limp before.

THEN...for some reason to top things off...I was on the home stretch and the thread kept breaking and I only had a little left to do! It would sew 6 inches and break. I finally changed the spool of thread and it seemed to work. Not sure if that was it or not...but it worked.

I finally finished it. The binding actually went on quite well...maybe it felt sorry for me at this point...not sure!
I started at 2:30 p.m. and completed it by midnight. Sure seemed like a long 4-5 hours because that is what I usually tell people it takes to quilt a quilt.

So the moral of this story (and yes there is one) is how I justify it all.

This quilt was made in honor of a dear friend...a cancer survivor and hopefully will be raffled off for Relay For Life.

I complain about the tough time I went through making this but it is nothing compared to what my friend and all the other cancer patients have went through and all the future cancer patients will go through. My few hours of what I call suffering is nothing. I was able to fix things, make it work and that is what we want Relay For Life to do. We want to fix our cancer patients, we want our research to work and we want our whole world to be cancer free.

If we can do that, and we free the world of cancer my work and everyone else's will be all worth it. I just feel my work is a small part of the huge picture but it is those small parts, just as in a quilt, that make up the whole picture.

Nah, I won't quit making quilts if we suddenly find a cure because someone, somewhere still needs the warmth and comfort that a quilt gives. I will continue doing what I can for Relay For Life and Quilts of Valor no matter if the Quilt From Hell suddenly appears at my sewing table. I will just have to take it and make it just Heavenly!

Please if you have access to buying a ticket please do so because I will NEVER make this quilt again!