Welcome to the Show!

Posted on August 22, 2023 by katyquilts

I finally got to see my own show! Lol!

If you’ve been around recently, you have probably seen all of these pieces. But for my own records, here they are.

Thanks for your virtual visit! 😊

Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments

I think I found it!

Posted on August 21, 2023 by katyquilts

First off, thank you for all of your sweet comments regarding Jack. He will be greatly missed. I’m still sad about it, but life goes on.

This was a purchase I made off the clearance table at a shop in AZ.

I love this, especially the color!

I think it just might work for this quilt.

I’m leaving it on the design wall to ponder it for a few days.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Jack

Posted on August 20, 2023 by katyquilts

Remember this? It was taken in March of 2021. It was the day my friend Cactus Jack came to live with us.

He bloomed that very first season with us.

Jack was a good sport about getting dressed up for Christmas.

We bought old people clothes to pose for a photo with him.

The second year he put on quite the show! My friend Kelly sent me pictures since we weren’t there to see it in person.

E3 fell in love and talked of nothing else for months after he visited.

I even made him a quilt with Jack on it.

Sadly, the extreme heat this summer has taken a toll on many saguaros in the valley. I decided when I was there that Jack needed a cool drink of water.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. It made him heavy. Too heavy.

Last weekend, our dear neighbors sent me a text to say Jack was leaning.

He was. I couldn’t get anyone out to help, so I went in to action mode. Things got worse before they got better.

With the help of wonderful neighbors and my dear SIL, we got him propped up as best we could.

But then the monsoons finally hit, bringing the first measurable rain in nearly 150 days.

I woke up to this picture on my phone from our Blink camera.

It’s silly to cry over a cactus, and yet, I did. He lived over 60 years before he came to live with us. He should have outlived me by at least a hundred years. I hope he knows how much I loved him.

RIP Jack.

Posted in Life, Uncategorized | 13 Comments

A Tale of Two Cabinets

Posted on August 19, 2023 by katyquilts

The day before I left AZ, Daughter #2 sent me a Marketplace ad for this.

This is more of what I really wanted for my dishes and just look at that color! It was very inexpensive. The seller only lives 5 minutes away and agreed to deliver. I am thrilled! my daughter knows me well!

So what happened to my other cabinet?

It got moved to a guest room to hold quilts.

I’m so happy with this bit of rearranging.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Roblox

Posted on August 18, 2023 by katyquilts

I had a little talk with myself and decided it was high time this got finished. And now, it is.

I used pattern boards for my long arm to quilt this and I love the texture it gives.

Yes, I did use several different black solids. I used what I had on hand.

And this is what I had for the backing. I think it’s really fun!

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes 2023, Throw Quilts | 4 Comments

Four Patch Leaders/Enders

Posted on August 17, 2023 by katyquilts

My current leader/ender project in Arizona has been four patches. I started making them with no idea what I would use them for.

I could make an awful lot out of this bit of 2 1/2” squares!

I decided to play around a bit to see what direction I might want to take. The lovely paisley fabric in the plain squares came from a sweet friend.

I like this next one, but I think the light parts of the four patches aren’t consistent enough to make this really work.

Classic alternate set.

I’d use strips instead of squares in this. I do like it a lot.

Hmmm…have to think about this. Since I’m back in Michigan, I’ll have lots of time to do that.

Have a great day!

Posted in Leader/Ender, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Finish It Up Wednesday ~ Tropical Fence Rail

Posted on August 16, 2023 by katyquilts

This was a quick finish!

And while I was initially disappointed in the jelly roll, I quite like the finished result.

This is the pantograph iusecto quilt it.

It ended up looking very tropical.

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes 2023, Throw Quilts, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Ta Daaaa!!!

Posted on August 15, 2023 by katyquilts

My little project is finished! It is still quite rustic.

As a reminder, here is the before:

It was a lot of work in a very hot garage.

I love the paint color on the inside.

And yes, I have been in Arizona for the past few weeks and this project was done out there. As you read this, I’m flying back to Michigan.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Teaching an Old Dog…..

Posted on August 14, 2023 by katyquilts

I mentioned last week, that I was really pleased with my machine binding for a change. You all know I’ve struggled with that. So I thought I’d share what I did this time as it may work for you.

I bought this box of clips a couple years ago on Amazon.

It came with 100 clips. 8 were big, the rest small. They came in the cute tin. I’m not going to lie, a few were broken. But they were cheap.

This is probably not earthshaking to anyone but me. But after machine stitching the binding to the front of the quilt, I pulled to the back and placed clips to hold it in place. I have never been one to pin or clip bindings as I usually stitch the back by hand. I have used glue before, and that worked well, check out that post here.

I had enough clips to go all the way around the edge of the quilt this way. Then stitch in the ditch from the right side.

Here’s a tip I learned by doing it wrong. See the shape of the clip? The colored side should be up and the clear side down. Duh!

Like this.

NOT like this. Probably obvious to all of you, but I can be a bit slow at times!

Also, make sure you have enough table space to support the quilt. It gets even heavier with all those clips.

I had a few stitching wobbles onto the binding.

But I didn’t have any places on the back where I missed, so that’s a win!

Hope this helps someone else. Have a great day!

Posted in Tutorials, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Different Kind of Project

Posted on August 13, 2023 by katyquilts

I found this cabinet at Goodwill. I wanted something with glass doors to display some dishes. I almost left it, because I didn’t really want a project. It had a terrible brown paint job.

For $20, I decided to bring it home. The paint seemed to be chipping off, so I thought a quick sanding was all it needed.

What was I thinking?!?!

Back to work.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments