Christmas Tree skirt
Michael, when do you sleep? He paper pieced this amazing tree skirt for Christmas, and more coming! The white background is quilted with a glitter thread from Superior Threads. While this thread and I will never be best friends, it does look nice when you see it in person.
Again, I cannot imagine the patience it must have taken to create this quilt. one large house is the same size as 4 of the smaller houses. All those little tiny little pieces! Quilted with Baptist Fans, and destined to be a gift for a friend.
Sara hasn't even seen her quilt yet. Personally, I can't imagine spending all the time necessary to piece these dimensional stars, but it surely works. We used a poly batt for the extra loft so that the stars would lift up off the quilt top, and then densely quilted the background. I hope that she will put this into a show.
Turing 20
I am ashamed to say that I can't remember who Marie said this quilt was for. I believe it was a grand-daughter who loves purple. Could you tell that they love purple? Turning 20 takes it's name because you use 20 fat quarters of fabric to make the quilt. I think this is a smaller size, so probably not 20, but still a good bunch of fun fabrics.
Isn't this a fun one? Not what I usually do or work with, but wow! The bottom photo is what she has created on the back.
String Theory
As a quilter, I have a collection of fabric, known as my "stash". My main stash consists of fabrics that I have purchased for a specific project, or just because they were fun. Usually these are in pieces at least 12"x22". Then you use those pieces for a project, and are left with a small "string". Too big to throw away, but too small to try to keep in your regular stash. I started this quilt as a "beginner and ender". Meaning that when I was chain piecing other blocks, I would start and end each chain with two strips of fabric from my string bin. This eliminates long thread tails, and makes for easier piecing. I have large tote in my basement, nearly full of strings for use "someday". These pieces of fabric are many difference widths, from 1" t0 2" wide, and lengths. I would use what I needed, and put the rest back into the bin. My rules for this quilt were that I had to reach into the bin without looking, and pull out a strip of fabric. I couldn't look for anything specific, and if they clashed, oh well, too bad. The point was to get as much fabric out of my bin as possible. I was allowed to put a strip back in the bin and choose again only if I was about to sew two of the same fabrics together. Once the piece was large enough, it was cut to a 6" square on the diagonal. Squares were sewn together into blocks of 4 squares and then sewn into rows and finally an extra long twin sized bed quilt. As I was sewing this, it was fun to try to remember what project the fabric was originally purchased for, or to try to remember who had given me the fabric. I think that if I have ever made anything for you, there is probably a remnant of it in this quilt. The entire quilt is made up from leftovers that otherwise would have remained sitting in the house, gathering more dust. The backing was made from 2 pieces of flannel that I had left over, and even the batting was pieced from remnants from other projects. The binding was made as I pulled out strings of fabric from my bin, and found that they were already pieced and pressed for use as binding. Those were set aside, and used to bind this quilt. If you are a quilter, this is a great way to feel good about using up those little bits of leftover fabrics, but I have to say that it didn't even seem to make a dent in the bin in the basement. In fact, right now I have another string to add to the collection. Oh well, guess I will have an excuse to make more string pieced quilts in the future. This has already gone to the police for their charitable works.
Way back when at the quilt shop, someone donated a whole collection of fabric. In that bundle was this completed quilt top. "Someday" I would get it quilted up and given to charity. At least 2 years plus later, I finally got it finished! So, if you gave fabric to the Heart to Hand Quilt Shop, or you recognize this quilt, thank you! The Portland Police are grateful to you as well.
One of my many quilting magazines did a series of crib sized quilts in a similar idea. This is the first that I have made. It was so much fun to make and to quilt, and now to give to the Portland Police. I hope that some one will love it as much as I did making it.
Paper pieced medallion
I am starting to think that Michael has a book of paper pieced quilts and is going through each one. I've just finished a Christmas Tree skirt for him, no photo yet, and have another similar quilt to load. They are gorgeous, but the time involved for the piecing! When does he sleep?
Who knew you could have so much fun with glow in the dark thread? I couldn't really see it when I had the quilt here, but Michael says that the thread really glowed after having been in the sun all day. And a Halloween panto for the quilting design with witches, bats, jacko'lanterns, and ghosts.
What else do you do when your friend goes to a different job? Make them a quilt of course! I used Wendy's "Fascinated by Monet" pattern, and water fabrics in blues and purples. Something warm to snuggle under.
I love sampler quilts. I feel I must explain the chalk line down the center of the quilt. Diana wanted me to use 2 different colors of thread, and one was to go on one side of the quilt, and other other on the opposite. The chalk line was to remind me to not get carried away.
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