KatyQuilts

TBT ~ Little Hexies Edition

Posted on October 13, 2016 by katyquilts

I think my favorite shape in quilting must be the hexagon. I know, having a favorite shape is a bit odd, but there you have it. I fit the profile! I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the hexie quilts I have made over the years. I have made so many that I am going to break this up into two posts. Today I am sharing some of the small quilts I have made with hexies.

The hexies in this first one are a mere 1/2 inch across.

These are a bit bigger at one inch. This was hand quilted every 3/8 inch. These fabrics were from the very first Smithsonian collection. Remember that?

Back to the teeny tiny half inchers, this time in vintage fabrics.

This one also has tiny hexies, I copied the center of an antique quilt I used to own.

Liberty of London hexies!

Okay, these are honeycombs, but technically, they are still hexies!

More Liberty hexies.

I know this one is old because I hand pieced it when Daughter #2 was in dance class. She was 4 or 5 at the time.

This one appeared in Quilt Almanac in the late 1990s.

Okay, not a quilt, but a pincushion I made from a quilt shop giveaway kit.

Machine pieced sometime in the last year!

A mug rug.

Whew! That’s a bunch of littles! Next time I will share come of my bigger hexie finishes.

Have a great day!

Posted in Doll Quilts, Hexagons, Throwback Thursday | 11 Comments

WIP Wednesday ~ Quilting Gee’s Geese

Posted on October 12, 2016 by katyquilts

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to quilt this top with a close “organic” grid. I have done this on a number of other quilts and really love the overall effect. It gives lots of texture without taking away from the design.

I’ve had lots of questions on this technique in the past, so I thought I would show you how I do this. I do not use rulers or channel locks. I really don’t mark. I look at my pieced top and figure out a starting place that will give me a guideline to star. In this case, I lined up the edge of my foot with the bottom seam of the blocks and started quilting one line in each row within my current quilting area. Like this:

I did make a few tick marks when I first started, just to get an idea of the spacing I wanted. Mostly, I am looking to decide how many rows of lines I want per block. I decided on 5 rows.

Once I had the first lines at the bottom of the geese done, I went back and did one line in the middle of each block and one line just below the bottom seam of the geese.

Then I filled in one row between each line. Working in this fashion, continually dividing the areas up, results in even texture across the surface. When I got to the point shown in the next photo, it was time to advance the quilt and start the process over again.

Of course, when I got to the end, I was really only half done! I took the quilt off the frame, turned it 90 degrees, and reloaded it so I could quilt the lines in the opposite direction.

This isn’t a fast way to quilt, but that glorious texture makes it worth it! I’ll share this as a finish on Friday.

I also finished step one of the Military Mystery. My die cutter sure came in handy for slicing up those strip sets!

Have a great day!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication

Posted in Long Arm Quilting, Longarm Quilting, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

And the last of the QOVs…

Posted on October 11, 2016 by katyquilts

Here are the last two QOVs that I have quilted for the Stitching Sisters group. I will miss working on these while I am gone to AZ! I am sure they will have a pile of tops for me when I get back though. What a wonderful group to be a part of!

Here is Terri’s top.

I used a panto called Twister on it.

I love this backing fabric!

This one by Karen is just lovely as well.

For this one, I used a new panto called Malachite.

Have a great day!

Linking up with The Quilting Room with Mel, Free Motion by the River

Posted in Pantographs, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Gee’s Geese

Posted on October 10, 2016 by katyquilts

I’m back to working on this project. I would like to get this one finished before I leave. I have been rearranging bits and pieces. I am still not 100% happy, but one way or another, it is going to get sewn together today! My geese units will finish at 3 by 6 inches.

There are only 5 different shades of blue to work with so it is a bit of a trick to not have any like colors touching anywhere! I know, it could be a design element, but it isn’t what I am looking for. Out of the Gee’s Bend kit, these are all the pieces I have left over.

Not too bad! I already know how I want to quilt this, so I am quite anxious to get it in the frame.

Have a great day!

Linking up with Em’s Scrap Bag, Love Laugh Quilt, Cooking Up Quilts, Patchwork Times

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Cutting, cutting, cutting…and a bit of piecing….

Posted on October 9, 2016 by katyquilts

I finished the second step of the Quilt Madders QAL when I got home from Ikea yesterday.

Then I was able to start cutting for the Military Mystery.

I’ll start the sewing for this tomorrow. I finished cutting strips for a project I’m taking to AZ as well.

That’s a lot of strips! I wonder how long this project will keep me busy.

Time for church! Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Quilt Alongs

Posted on October 8, 2016 by katyquilts

There are a couple QALs going on right now that I wanted to let you all know about. The first is being hosted by Lori over at Humble Quilts called Quilts Madder. It will be a small quilt and though part two came out yesterday, it would only take an hour or so to get caught up. This is what I have done so far.

I need to sew my HSTs together and then I will be ready for step three which comes out next Friday.

There is also another QAL starting over on the Yahoo group, Mystery Quilts 4 Military. Alycia from Alycia Quilts is running this one. She always does a great job as well. One option for this one was to do a two color quilt. I’ve decided to do mine in red and white. I’m headed down to Ikea today to pick up these:

I’ve been using these for a while now and love them. And you can’t beat the price for a decent quality 100% cotton! I buy the white by the bolt. It is very similar in color to Kona Snow.

Join in and sew along with us!

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Lemoyne Star

Posted on October 7, 2016 by katyquilts

Well this finish has certainly been a long time coming! I think I started making these blocks at the end of the last century! That would be 1999. LOL They are all hand pieced using 1930s reproduction fabrics. I made these 25 blocks and then they sat in a bag all these years.

Once I decided how to quilt this, the quilting went fairly fast.

Here’s a look at the back.

I didn’t have enough of the green so I added a piece of this yellow Denyse Schmidt print. I used the same yellow print for the binding.

Here are some pics after washing. I love that it truly looks like a vintage quilt!

I love that texture!

Have a great day!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom Quilts, Fort Worth Fabric Studio, Sew Can She, Busy Hands, Georgia Girl Quilts

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes, UFOs, Uncategorized | 30 Comments

TBThursday ~ Solids

Posted on October 6, 2016 by katyquilts

I have another TBT post for you today, this time, I am showing quilts I have made with solid fabrics. Not a print to be found here today! I love that solids are so versatile and at times, I think I could work with them forever and never get bored!

First is my calendar quilt, finished last year but started in May of 2010.

I made these two baby quilts last summer and they have been gifted..

This is another oldie, dating back to 2005 or so. It reminds me of cinnamon rolls.

I still love this vintage cheddar top that I finished a couple years ago.

I made this one ages ago to hang in our school room when we were still home schooling. My baby just graduated from college so you KNOW that was a long time ago!

This one still lives here at home with me. Apparently, I never get tired of 16 patches either!

This Tree Everlasting quilt was made as a Quilt of Valor.

I liked it so much, that I made a miniature version for myself!

I’ve made many others with solids and I am sure there are many more to come.

Have a great day!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Solids, Throwback Thursday | 9 Comments

QOV Week Continues…

Posted on October 5, 2016 by katyquilts

I am moving right along with these tops for our Stitching Sisters QOV group. I love this Hunter’s Star top that Joan made!

I quilted it with a pantograph called Loop the Loop.

Here’s a look at the back.

This lovely top was made by Jane.

I used a panto called Fern Gulley on it. I thought it looked like wind which seemed to go with her lovely airplane blocks.

Three done, two to go! I will share the last two on Saturday.

Have a good day!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication

Posted in Finishes, Pantographs, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

QOV Week!

Posted on October 4, 2016 by katyquilts

Last Saturday, I picked up 5 tops to get quilted for the Stitching Sisters group. My goal is to get them done by Friday. One of the members of the group meets me to exchange tops and quilted quilts. I will be meeting her Friday night so she can take them to the meeting Saturday morning. Here is the first one I finished.