KatyQuilts

Design Wall Monday ~ This and That

Posted on March 21, 2016 by katyquilts

I’m still thinking about my mini for the swap hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts. I went digging throu a box of orphan blocks looking for a certain block and came across these.

No, I won’t use these for the swap! I hadn’t intended to use these blocks together, but maybe…. This is the absolute end of this SweetwaterFQ bundle. It sure would be nice to have this out of the stash. Without a border, it would finish at 33 by 36 inches. I would probably add a white border to make it a little bigger.

I did find the block I was looking for. Hmmm……

More thinking required.

And here is a question for you all. When I made this design wall, I used Warm and White batting. But it is terribly hard to get the lint off.

I do not need another project now, but does anyone have a suggestion for something else easier to clean? If I know what to look for, I will watch for it on sale.

I received the most lovely squishes from a friend last week!

They are so gorgeous! I wish you could feel the FQs on the left, so soft and the weave is beautiful! Thank you, Terri!

Have a great day!

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

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

Scrappy Rectangles ~ Leaders/Enders

Posted on March 20, 2016 by katyquilts

Did you enjoy Worldwide Quilting Day yesterday? I sure did! After work, I quilted a Quilt of Valor quilt. When I finished that, I loaded another! But I will share those later this week. Today I thought I would share an update on my current leader/ender project.

Every now and again, I find more scraps to add. Now my scraps outweigh the solid pieces I am pairing them with! That’s okay. I have ideas for the extras. As I piece pairs together, I am tossing them into this container.

As that gets filled up, I make a block or two. It keeps me from getting bored with the current project. So far, I have these twenty 12 inch blocks done.

I tried out turning every other block.

Which is interesting, but I think I will stick with the first layout. If I set these 8 by 8, I will end up with a top 96 inches square. After quilting and washing, it will be smaller. So I may add borders. I have some time to think about that.

So far, I am loving this. And it has turned out to be the perfect leader/ender project for me. I spend very little time thinking about fabric placement. Because I am alternating with the blue bits, I never worry about two pieces ending up next to each other. My pressing plan is simple and every seam will nest when it is all put together.

Linking up with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Posted in Scraps, Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Yvonne Wells’ Quilts

Posted on March 19, 2016 by katyquilts

I have shared several of the quilts from the recent exhibit of African American quilters from Alabama. The quilts I am sharing today were part of that exhibit. These were all made by Yvonne Wells.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Metro Hoops Runner

Posted on March 18, 2016 by katyquilts

It stopped raining just long enough to to take a few pictures of my finished table runner the other day. I found it very difficult to get pictures showing the true color of the hand dyed fabrics I used. This first one is the closest to being true.
I used the Quick Curve Ruler and Metro Hoops pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

I also used their QCR Curvit template for the machine quilting.

I used Glide Thread and Pellon 80/20 batting.

These pictures taken inside do not show the true colors but I love the way they show off the texture.

I did have a few tension issues as you can see on the back.

Live and learn! Here it is on my kitchen table.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, A Quilted Passion, A Quarter Inch From the Edge, Sew Can She

Posted in Crafty Things, Finishes, Free Motion Quilting, Hand Dyed Fabric, Uncategorized | 21 Comments

From Heart to Hand Exhibition

Posted on March 17, 2016 by katyquilts

I finally went through my photos from the exhibition at the Flint Institue of Art. I took photos of many but certainly not all of the quilts. Info for each quilt is below the photo of the quilt.

This next one is my favorite.

Included in the exhibit, were a number of quilts by Yvonne Wells. I will save those for another post.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Small Quilt Swap!

Posted on March 16, 2016 by katyquilts

Lori over at Humble Quilts is once again hosting a small quilt swap. You can find all the details here. I love an excuse to make a little quilt out of my Civil War scraps, not that I need one! I have been stalking Pinterest and also pulling out some of my pre-cut scraps to see what I might already have on hand to use.

I also played around a bit in EQ7.

Not sure where I am headed with this yet, but I sure love playing in my scraps!

I’m still working on my blocks for the Hands2Help quilt. I should get them finished before work this morning.

These are really simple blocks and I am enjoying putting them together. I want to get the blocks done before I get another bunch of QOV tops to quilt.

Linking up with Quilt Fabrication, Sew Fresh Quilts

Posted in Doll Quilts, Donation Quilts, Swaps, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Hands2Help 2016!

Posted on March 15, 2016 by katyquilts

Have you heard of Hands2Help? It is an initiative hosted by Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict to make quilts for several good causes. You can read all about it (and sign up!) here.

I am taking part this year and wanted to give you all a heads up in case you are interested too! There will be lots of fun link ups with tutorials and prizes, but the greatest part will be the opportunity to use the gifts of our hands to bring a smile to the face of someone going through a hard time.

I am opting to make and send a quilt or two to Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo, which is an ongoing project of Emily from Em’s Scrap Bag. Some of you know that my dad has been through chemo a number of times and is going through yet another round right now so this is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Yesterday, I cut up a FQ bundle of neutrals that I purchased a few years back from Connecting Threads.

I wanted to make a masculine quilt and these seemed just right. I am making Puss in the Corner blocks, alternating the placement of lights and darks. My blocks will finish at 8 inches.

I invite you all to join the fun! Head over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict for all the details.

Linking up with Free Motion by the River, Quilt Story, Blossom Heart Quilts, The Quilting Room with Mel

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

DWMonday

Posted on March 14, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve been working on my blocks made from the Dear Betty FQ bundle that Daughter #1 got me for Christmas last year. I love these fabrics! Yes, I was working on these last week as well. But I have more done now!
I got all the red/yellow/blue fabrics sewn into blocks and then stopped. This is what the rest of the fabrics look like.
I love them, and I thought I liked them all together when they were in the bundle.

But not so much with my red and blue corner triangles.

And this is all I have left of the colors I do like together. Not enough to make another block.

So I decided to do what our quilting ancestors would do. I paired up my leftovers and pieced scraps together to get enough pieces for the rest of the blocks I needed.

I will have 16 blocks when I am done and each block finishes at 18 inches. Now to decide if I want to add sashing and corner stones, or maybe just a wide enough border to get this to work on a queen size bed.

I have nine blocks cut out of the fabrics I have decided not to use, these will make a nice lap size quilt so nothing goes to waste here!

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

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on March 13, 2016 by katyquilts

Did you remember to change your clocks? We have a busy morning at church ahead, but I plan on some slow stitching when I get home! It is time to add the strips of hexies to the center piece of my Brinton Hall quilt.

Actually, I would be quite pleased to get just one side done as I am so very slow at EPP. I am also prepping a few more scrappy hexies to add to the top and bottom.

I did a bit of slow stitching in the car yesterday as well.

My table runner is finished with mixed results. I will share more on that later this week.

Yesterday was such a lovely day! It was warm and sunny. Mr. Wonderful and I enjoyed a day of bumming around. He has been gone so much on business lately so that made it even better to have the day together. We went to some antique shops and then he surprised me by showing up at a quilt exhibition! I will share more of that later this week as it really deserves a post of its own. I will show you the lovely bag he bought for me there.

How awesome is that? To top it off, we went out to dinner with Daughter #1 and our dear SIL. That meant time with Big E and Little E.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Pixie Basket!

Posted on March 12, 2016 by katyquilts

Jayne from Twiggy and Opal shared her little pixie baskets that she made on her blog and on Instagram. I decided I needed to make one too! She said it could be done in 30 minutes. Mine took about 40.