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Baby Henry should receive his quilt today.

While I usually work with small pieces, the simple, bold look of this quilt pleases me. And it allows larger prints to shine. And I love the unexpected-but-perfect binding.

The print squares started at 6″. The HST as squares of 6-1/2″. The quilt finishes at +-39″.

ps–I am not sure why these pictures are poor, but the quilt is in the mail, and I cannot retake them. I hope you can get the idea anyway. These things sometimes happen.

Seaside Patchwork

I quilted this with a wave pattern in the patchwork and then a loop-the-loop in variegated blue in the seaside print sections. I had a little bit of striped binding left from a previous project and I used it a long the top because it was the perfect colors for this quilt. 

Overall I like this design, but ...

Horse panel quilt top

The next top I am putting together will use lots of scrap strips to frame some western-themed panels. I will be using the same design I used for ...

It doesn’t take much: 16 4-1/2″ squares of the feature fabric, and 2-1/2″ strips for the outer border. The squares are surrounded by 2 2-1/2x 4-1/4″ strips and 2 2-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ strips. Finishes at 36″ square.

And just plain cute!

This one goes to the new baby of a neighbor. She is the younger sister of the Georgia Quick Quilt baby.

Yay for babies! Hope and promise of the future wrapped in love today.

Mom's been gone for over two months now. The new normal has settled around me. I miss her daily phone calls; she would always lead off our chats with "what are you working on?" I find myself talking to her sometimes, reporting on my latest projects. After her eyesight failed through advancing macular degeneration she couldn't sew anymore and, I believe, that she enjoyed just thinking about, and

Mom's been gone for over two months now. The new normal has settled around me. I miss her daily phone calls; she would always lead off our chats with "what are you working on?" I find myself talking to her sometimes, reporting on my latest projects. After her eyesight failed through advancing macular degeneration she couldn't sew anymore and, I believe, that she enjoyed just thinking about, and

      I don't look to make anything other than quilts, but sometimes little projects just sneak up and grab me. I had been rummaging through a box of Kaffe scraps given to me (super!) and a lot of the strips were under 1 1/2". I had tried some Jack's Chain blocks and was using the strips for the nine patches, but I balked on it. More on that another time.
     So, in my internet searches for scraps usage, I found tutorials for twine and rope bowls. I tried both and they are both fun. The Rope bowl Youtube ...

      Exciting title, right? The Fading Charms quilt has been done for, er, a long time. I finally quilted it and I just love the eye spy squares and colors. It was fun to quilt. It is ready to be a comfort quilt. It would be perfect for a child. I have plenty more scrap 2 1/2" kid squares, so I could make another one. I hate square quilts as people are not square, so I would modify the shape somehow.

I finished this so long ago, my buddy, Tugger, was alive and inspected the unquilted top.

Detail on longarm ...

9-patches cut for blocks

I am really liking this pattern. I can see it working really well as a formula for charity quilts. If you have squares of any consistent size (3.5", nickels, etc.) in 2 contrasting colors you sew up nine-patch blocks with the colors placed consistently (in my current one all the corners and centers are black and the other patches are white). 

It doesn ...

…a project that’s not the Tattoo Quilt!

The quilt on the design wall in the Bottoms Up! studio in 2013

I’ve gone as far as I can on getting ready to quilt the Tattoo Quilt. The top, backing, binding and threads are in a bag. The trip to Katrina’s has been rescheduled thanks to a bout with the flu—yes, I always get a flu shot, but I had a reaction to the last one and wonder if that’s why I caught the flu. I haven’t had the flu in decades and was completely caught ...

It was a great sewing weekend, the best I have had in a long time. Two tops are assembled:

The first is for Baby Henry, who recently joined us on this planet. He is the younger brother of the Star Wars baby some of you might remember. This time Mom and Dad asked for “Animals. And green.”

Then the Brightly Quilt–Harry Potter Style. Intended for a fellow teacher and Harry Potter fan (You should see her classroom.)

That makes four tops ready for quilting. Ah…a stretch and a sigh for a productive weekend.

One project finished this weekend–quilted potholders for the music teacher at school.

These are 8″x9″, because that is the size the orphan blocks were when they came to me in a hand-me-down box. I make potholders with a layer of cotton batting, a layer of insulbright, and another layer of cotton batting. Nice and thick and no burnt hands. It is a good way to use up those too-big-to-throw-away-but-what-am-I-going-to-do-with-them scraps.

I hope she likes them.

Last week, the Arkansas Crossroads assembly DIDN’T happen.

There was no stretch of time for layout (without people who are not used to watching out for quilts on the floor, and the dog who likes to dance on the quilts while they are on the floor, being in the area).

But, other things DID happen: Blocks for a Harry Potter themed Brightly Quilt, potholders from leftover string pieced blocks (ready to bind), and some wild potato chip blocks for donation quilts.

Not what I wanted, but not bad. We’ll see what this coming week brings. Meanwhile, stitch on!

I have been working for quite a while on the blocks for an Arkansas Crossroads quilt.

(NOTE: The tutorial link above uses 2-1/2″ squares. I used 2″ squares and 3-1/2″ background pieces. But the idea is the same.)

Finally, all 36 blocks (and sort-of-border pieces) are finished. I hope to lay out and assemble it this weekend, but we shall see…Should be 84″ square when complete.

In a heartfelt journey of transformation, we embraced change, moving closer to our grandchildren, and creating a new dream studio. Through meticulous design and cherished memories, I built a space brimming with intention, comfort, and inspiration. Blessed with love, light, and creativity, it reflects a life dedicated to passion and purpose. Continue reading →

The five strip blocks came as hand-me-downs. I made the four Variable Stars blocks to go with them.

Would a pattern be desirable? It makes a fast and friendly baby quilt.

And a name would be good, too. Suggestions welcome.

Background

Paper mock-up

After that I started pulling scraps and tracing pieces onto fusible for the applique. After I got everything fused I zig-zag stitched around each piece and then put batting pieces behind each of the tentacles (to give them extra proof) and outlined each one with a row of ...

This was one of my 2024 carryover quilts. Now, thanks to a day of watching college football, is a finished quilt.

The blue floral print came in a hand me down bag–maybe leftovers from a quit back? But there was just enough to make patches with alternating pinwheels on the front.

And an interesting back.

A bit of spring spirit as a winter storm rolls in.