Fat Quarter Star Quilt-A-Long next installment

On the Fat Quarter Star Quilt Along we get a new star pattern every two weeks. I signed up to do this so that it would help push me along into starting some new projects.  Here are the last two blocks I made. I added some blue scrap fabrics to the mix, colors which I pulled out of the apple print that is the inspiration fabric. Block 3 really required a few more colors to get the total effect of the pattern.  Now that I've done this I may rework Block 2 to make it a bit more dynamic. I've never made a quilt project where I didn't have the entire picture at the beginning. It will be an interesting exercise to make it so each block will play well with the others.

Block 2 - "Friendship Twist"  Designed by Carrie Graziano
http://cricketsstudio.blogspot.com

Block 3 - Friendly Winds Designed by Mary Lou Casada
http://www.cheaperthantherapyquilting.blogspot.com/

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Fat Quarter Star Quilt-A-Long

This summer has been amazingly full and busy. But alas, no quilting time at all.  I brought Mr. Seamweaver home from a hip replacement surgery on Monday and was sure I'd have some quiet time at home.  I joined up with the Fat Quarter Quilt A Long,  mostly to prod myself back into a routine of being at the sewing machine- and to use some fabric stash that has been sitting way to long.   Today I finally got the fabric out and made my 1st block.

Fabrics from stash

Block 1 - "Heart of the Matter" Designed by Konda Luckau
http://www.moosequilts.blogspot.com

This is a quilt a long where 12 different people design a block and everyone makes it. It's also a way to get me into a routine of blogging more often.  We'll see how that goes!  I had pulled fabric for at least 3 projects today, which is pretty darn good.  But I am also still working on a few that are mentioned in previous posts.

Fabric Portrait Quilts

Recently I was skimming through some blogs and found this one,  http://sweetleafnotes.blogspot.com/2009/04/fabric-portrait-resources-what-ive.html  - a great resource Michelle gathered on fabric portrait quilting.  I also took the Realistic Fabric Portrait class with Marilyn Belford through Quilt University (online).  This has inspired me to start flipping through some portraits to do another. Its such fun to see it come alive in fabric.  Here is the inspiration snapshot, and the final quilt, the subject was my grandmother who passed away in 2000.



It was my first attempt at anything realistic like this, so I tried to keep it simple.  I did not include the hand or cane, rather focusing on the head. Today I am pulling some fabrics for a simple border on one side and then very simple quilting and binding. There is a lot of top stitching on this type of piece and I personally don't think it needs a lot of quilting too. I started this quilt about 5 or 6 years ago and I think its time to finish it, and maybe start another?

Small Blog Meet

I've linked up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet which gives all us bloggers with less than 50 followers the opportunity to get noticed! If you are stopping by from Lily's Quilts, THANK YOU! and please leave a comments so I can visit your blog too!

Contemplating the Quilting...

I finished the top of this little quilt while in Arizona.  I am contemplating how I'll quilt it.  Most likely using my sewing machine since it is so small.  The pattern is from Lori Smiths book  Fat Quarter Quilting and is 16" x 20". Or I could do it by hand, but then it would probably be a year before it hung on the wall!! VBG!

Wedding Season

It is so exciting to have two weddings in one year!  I made these bags for Marin and her bridesmaids, but couldn't post until after she had given them out at rehearsal dinner.  Marin chose the fabrics to coordinate with her colors of yellow and grey.  We bought the bag pattern on Etsy from Sweet Pea Totes .  The bags were fun and quite easy to make.

Mom's Fantasy

I really find it difficult to name a quilt.  It doesn't come easy to me, and often I just call it by the pattern name. This quilt I made for my mother and asked her what to call it. I believe she replied Mom's Fantasy.  So there you have it.  This is a queen size quilt based on the Cindy Hayes pattern called Vanity Square.  My sister had traveled to India several years ago and surprised me with many yards of indian dyed cottons.  I used these cottons, combined with batiks and printed cottons for an eclectic mix. It is machine pieced and then quilted on my HQ16.  Mom really liked this pattern so I decided it would be the one for her bed.  I'm very happy with how it looks on my guest bed.  It's very rich looking and will probably look even better on her bed with it's unique headboard.

Quilt Shop In A Box

As we were driving north for three days, I carried my little box of quilting supplies in the back seat.  Marlin called it my quilting store in box!  It's a three tier box that snaps together.  The first layer is quilting supplies, the second layer spools of thread, and the last is a handwork project I can do anywhere.  Small, compact and easy to pickup anytime.  These are small 1/2" hexagons that I am paper piecing with silk dupioni and one cotton print fabric. The paper pieces are die cut and come 125 to a package.  I don't really have a design plan yet, I figured it would come along when I'd had enough of the paper pieces! I was inspired by my friend Jovita's silk hex's.

Elisabeths' Garden  Hand sewn by Jovita Goldschmidt