They belong to all of us…

Posted on January 8, 2020 by katyquilts

I rarely pass along or share memes that I see on Facebook. Most of the time I find them more annoying than anything.

But this hit very close to home. Daughter #2 served at one of the bases hit in Iraq this week back in 2016-17.

It should hit home, no matter which side of the great divide you find yourself on in our country today.

It is time for us to set aside our petty differences. It is time to seek out that which unites us. It is time to respect and honor those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf by coming together and being a nation worth fighting for.

Our national security is threatened when our hatred towards one another is greater than our love for our country.

Our men and women in uniform belong to all of us. Let us support and pray for them.

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Baby Quilts 2019

Posted on January 8, 2020 by katyquilts

Today I’m looking back at the baby quilts I made last year. I love making baby quilts! They are the perfect size for trying out new ideas.

Most of these have been gifted. You can bet I will be making more this year!

Have a great day!

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes, Finishes 2019, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Fixing a Quilt on the Longarm

Posted on January 7, 2020 by katyquilts

Every once in a while, I come across a spot on a quilt that needs to be fixed while it is on the long arm. I thought I’d show you how I do that. I had quilted over half of this quilt when I noticed a whole.

You can see that the border slipped while sewing and a hole was created.

I unpicked the seam on both ends back to where the seam allowance was correct. Then I realigned everything and pinned it in place. I used the long arm to resew the seam.

It isn’t perfectly straight, but much better than it was.

And it looks good from the front.

On the back, you see a straight line of stitching, but it isn’t noticeable from a distance.

I’m glad I found this when I did. If I hadn’t, it is possible that my longarm foot could have gotten caught and torn the fabric.

I hope this helps if you ever end up in this situation. Have a great day!

Posted in Long Arm Quilting, Longarm Quilting, Timesaver Tips, Tutorials, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Library Quilt

Posted on January 6, 2020 by katyquilts

I received this beautiful fabric as a gift from my sweet friend, Donna. I used to work as a reference librarian. I loved that job!

This matching yardage is from Daughter #3.

Inspiration hit and I pulled some more fabrics and got out this Accuquilt die.

It didn’t take long to cut over 200 rectangles. I then divided into two equal piles of roughly lights and darks.

Then I sewed into twosies.

A quick press and I’m ready for the next step.

This will be my first finish of 2020. Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday ~ Still Knitting

Posted on January 5, 2020 by katyquilts

I’m still bumbling my way through some knitting projects. This is a dishcloth I knit. It was very tiny after washing. 😂

I started another with smaller needles. I hope it won’t shrink as much.

And I made a very sad little kitty. I had planned for this to be a gift, but it’s just too sorry looking. I’d give him eyes, but I don’t want him to see himself.

I was asked about patterns for the cowls I knit for Christmas gifts.

The pattern for this scarf (I made mine into a cowl) can be found here.

The following cowl was knit using this pattern from a Noble Knits.

As far as dishcloths, I just find a knitting pattern I want to try and make it into a dish cloth. Real scientific! At some point, I hope to stumble across a pattern to use my “good yarn” on. Until then, I’ll just keep bumbling.

Have a great day!

Posted in Knitting, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Vintage Quilts

Posted on January 4, 2020 by katyquilts

No dollhouse work has happened over the holidays. But Mr. Wonderful and I hit up a few antique places on New Years Day. Here are some lovely quilts I saw.

I’m trying to date this last one. I think this is mid 1800s. It was completely hand done. I loved it.

Such stories they could tell! I didn’t bring any home. But I sure was tempted!

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized, Vintage Quilts | 7 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Square in a Square Doll Quilt

Posted on January 3, 2020 by katyquilts

This is my last finish for 2019! I’m taking part in a doll quilt swap on Instagram and this is the quilt I’ll be sending off. The swap is now closed in case you were wondering.

It is machine pieced and hand quilted. Though I’m not sure why I bothered as the hand quilting hardly shows!

There is a flower quilted into this center block.

It shows a little on the back.

Some of the fabrics are from Judie Rothermel’s Party of Twelve collection. The larger background is from the Downton Abbey line. I have no idea about the rest. The blocks are 4 inches and The quilt measures about 17 inches square.

I was inspired to make this by an antique doll quilt that I found online.

Have a great day!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts ,

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted in Doll Quilts, Finishes, Small Quilts, Swaps, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Exciting News from FQS and Some Blog Changes

Posted on January 2, 2020 by katyquilts

Two posts in one day? Sometimes news can’t wait!

I received an e-mail as I’m an affiliate for the Fat Quarter Shop with this news:

We have changed our daily Flash Sale time from 10 AM CST to 8 AM CST. Our Tuesday night Flash Sale time will also move up two hours to 8 PM CST. In addition to the time change, on some days we will put several items on sale

More sales? I’m in!

Wow! Cool news! Here are the sales for today to give you an idea.

Having several flash sales at one time means it is worth the low shipping fee just to take advantage of these deals. Dangerous, I know! And yes, I receive a small commission on any purchases made after clicking through the links on my page. It doesn’t cost you any more, but helps support the costs of the blog. I appreciate your support!

And that brings me to another change you’ll be seeing here soon. I’ve always resisted ads on my blog, I find them annoying. But the reality is that because of the amount of blogging that I do, I have to have a “business” account from WordPress. I am an affiliate for Fat Quarter Shop , Urban Elementz, and Accuquilt and the small income from that helps. But since I don’t work outside the home and quilting is not a business for me, I need to make this blog self sufficient financially. So, I’m going to try the ad route for a month and see how it goes. I don’t have control over the ads posted. I will get paid based on the number of ad views (so you don’t have to click on anything) and if I understand correctly, I get paid a bit more if you do click and purchase.

As I said, I’m going to do a trial period and then reevaluate whether or not to continue. I hope you will hang in there with me and I’ll be asking for honest feedback on this down the road a piece. I really do appreciate each and every one of you!

And here’s a quilt photo to make this post complete.

This is a vintage top that Mr. Wonderful gave me for Christmas a few years back. I quilted and bound it.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

2019 in Review ~ Quilts of Valor

Posted on January 2, 2020 by katyquilts

In January of each year, I like to look back on my accomplishments from the previous year as I set new goals. This year, I quilted 47 quilt tops for Quilts of Valor that were stitched by others. I also quilted three tops for the local VA hospital. And I quilted and pieced these two.

And this is why….

Worth it all. If you would like to help out by piecing a top, quilting a top, or even making a single block, check out the Quilts of Valor Foundation web site by clicking here.

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

UFO Parade 2019 Results

Posted on January 1, 2020 by katyquilts

Happy New Year!

Every year in January, I write a post listing all my current UFOs. This is my follow up post to see how much progress I made toward finishing those UFOs.

1. These blocks are from a swap hosted by Barb at Fun with Barb.  No progress. But a blog reader gave me the great idea to combine these with the next set of swap blocks so I’m going to try that.

2. These blocks were eliminated from my original Dear Betty quilt. They will make a good size lap quilt once they are done. Done!

3. I cut these hexies out of my tiny, precious stash of Liberty of London fabrics. I should do something with them. No progress.

4. My four patch leader/ender project. Not done. However, lots of progress has been made!

5. The QOV Mosaic Mystery. The blocks are done. This needs to be assembled and quilted. Done! In fact, I made two quilts out of these blocks with the addition of some panels and yardage! And I have four blocks leftover. It’s like sourdough starter. Lol!

6. This dreadful thistle applique. Done!

7. This was going to be the start of a throw quilt. It might end up a baby quilt. Done!

8. These blocks have stalled out again. Done!

9. This UFO is probably 25 years old. I think it would be fun to quilt once I decide how to finish the edges. Done! And this is one of my favorite finishes this year!

10. These are also very old. I just found them again. This is worth finishing. No progress.

11. Yet another Denise Schmidt fabric project. I started this two years ago. No progress.

12. I have a pile of these blocks now. I need to figure out where this is headed. Done!

13. Yep, these are still here.

14. And this. The eternal UFO. Done! I took it apart and pieced it back together and finished it 20 years after I started it. Here is the before.

And the after!

15. Finish these little Bow ties. Done!

16. Finish the vintage top that I’m hand quilting. Done!

17. Finish my Snowball quilt. Progress!

18. Civil War tumbler quilt. No progress.

I feel pretty good about my UFO progress this year. I finished 10 out of 18 projects and made significant progress on 2 others. Making a list of all my unfinished projects at the beginning of the year really helps keep me on track. My UFO Parade for 2020 will be coming soon!

Have a great day!

Posted in UFOs, Uncategorized | 15 Comments