Throwback Thursday ~ Art Quilts

Posted on June 30, 2016 by katyquilts

Some more quilts from the closet! These were both juried in to a local art show a few years back.

The first one is called Latitude. As I was making this, I was thinking about how much latitude or freedom we give to others, how far we allow them into our personal space mentally and emotionally.

I hand dyed all the fabrics in this one.

I was into the funky grid even then! Here is a look at the back.

This next one is called Une Semaine, which means a week in French. This one actually won an award in the show with a cash prize, kaching!

I love the quilting on this. I need to do this again.

Hope you enjoyed this look back. Have a great day.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

 

 

Posted in Art Quilts, Throwback Thursday, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

One Lovely Blog Award!

Posted on June 28, 2016 by katyquilts

I received the nicest little surprise yesterday! Melanie from 1000 Needles nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award! Thank you, Melanie!

I have pasted the award photo and the rules directly from Melanie’s post.  Here they are:

The Rules:

*Thank the person who nominated you, and give a link to his/her blog.

*List the rules.

*Display  the image of the award on your post.

*List seven facts about yourself.

*Nominate (up to) 15 bloggers for this award, and notify them to let them know you have nominated them.

Seven Facts About Me:

  1. My husband taught me to use a sewing machine, lay out a pattern and make my first garment. He took me to a quilt show and made me talk to the ladies there. So this quilting obsession? It’s his fault. Totally.
  2. I started quilting 28 years ago. As a stay at home mom, it became my mental therapy. It still is.  Apparently, I need a lot of it. The world can be thankful that I found quilting and didn’t become a psychopath.
  3. I play librarian for 20 hours each week. I get to spend thousands of dollars every year buying books (including quilt books!). It is the best job I have ever had.
  4. My favorite color is red.
  5. I love coffee.
  6. I adore silence. I like at least an hour of it each day before I talk to anyone, except Jesus. He likes silence with his coffee too.
  7. I believe that any creativity I possess, comes from Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. I pray the work of my hands will bring honor to Him.

Here are my nominees in no particular order.

  1. Barb at Fun with Barb
  2. Anja at Anja Quilts
  3. Lori at Humble Quilts
  4. Jayne at Twiggy and Opal
  5. Elaine at Muddling Through
  6. Cecile at Patchwork Inspirations
  7. Abigail at Cut & Alter
  8. Wanda at Exuberant Color
  9. Kathy at Empty Nest But Full Heart
  10. Em at Em’s Scrapbag

I enjoy MANY blogs and could have nominated hundreds. I decided to limit myself to 10. You aren’t obligated to accept and play along, but I hope you will! I enjoy your blogs and know others will as well!

Have a great day!

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Twist

Posted on June 28, 2016 by katyquilts

I know, I said I wouldn’t start sewing this. But I had to try a few blocks! I’m not sure what this block should be called but I have decided to call it Twist.


A few of you said this was the Garlic Knot that Bonnie Hunter is doing. It is similar but not the same. Garlic Knot has a couple contrasting squares in the middle. I’m not sure how I will set these yet, but there are lots of possibilities here.

Have a great day!

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

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Design Wall Monday ~ Mixology

Posted on June 27, 2016 by katyquilts

Daughter #3 gave me this beautiful Mixology jelly roll for Mother’s Day. I just love it! And I have admired it all rolled up long enough, It was time to break that baby open!

When I open a jelly roll, I press the strips and then lay them on my 2 1/2 inch strip cutter and run them through the studio cutter.

I don’t know about you, but the one thing I don’t like about precuts, is trying to decide where the edge really is! Do you line things up with the peaks of the pinked edge or the valleys? If I trim them, then I know that the outer edge is the outer edge! As you can see, there isn’t much that gets trimmed off, but that little bit is enough to confuse me.

It is a bit of a messy process, but I run a hand held vacuum over my die and it cleans up pretty easily. And here they are all cut and ready to sew!


This is the block I plan to use as I drafted it in EQ7.

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I’m not sure I will start stitching this right away. I like to spend time cutting and kitting things up so I have them ready to go when I have time to stitch.

Have a great day!

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

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Jelly Rolls, Modern Quilts, Precuts, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Fast and Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on June 26, 2016 by katyquilts

Guess what is finally on the frame?

 I got started quilting it and I’m at the “I hate it!” stage. Here is a peek at the center.


I think I might need to double the quilting here. I’m hoping to finish this after church. Then maybe I will start liking it again! I usually do.

And here is the state of my current slow stitching EPP project:


I have 13 more units to piece and then I will begin putting them together. I hope to do at least a couple tonight.

Linking up with Podunk Pretties, Kathy’s Quilts

Posted in Brinton Hall, EPP, Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Military Mystery Progress Clue #2

Posted on June 25, 2016 by katyquilts

Remember when I said I used the navy polka dot that I had planned to use for the mystery quilt for the binding of the scrappy quilt? This shows what I decided to replace it with. I really like this one so much better so it all worked out well.

The second clue came out yesterday and I got right on it! It was a great way to avoid the things I should be doing. I bet you never do that!


It took longer than it should have because I didn’t read the directions carefully! I could have strip pieced these units.  Anyway, here are my finished parts so far.


Not sure I will get much sewing in today. I am working this morning, home for  a couple hours, and babysitting the rest of the day. Depending on when the kids go to bed, I might get a bit of hand stitching in. We shall see!

There is still time to join this mystery QAL, just look for the Yahoo group, Mystery Quilts 4 Military. Just a couple hours and how I’ll be ready for the next clue that comes out  Friday.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Scrappy Rectangles!

Posted on June 24, 2016 by katyquilts

This is a big finish today! I wouldn’t have gotten it done except that hubby is out of town on business. My house is a mess, but my quilt is done! The first two pics show the quilting before washing.


I got that backing at JoAnn’s with a coupon. It is really quite a nice fabric.

If you remember, I was toying with the idea of adding a border of some sort. I ended up not doing that, but thought I would try a wider binding instead. I cut my strips 3 1/2 inches wide instead of my normal 2 1/2 inches for binding. Does this fabric look familiar?

I pulled it to use in my Military Mystery quilt, but I saw it when looking for a binding fabric and grabbed it for this instead! I found another navy to use for the mystery quilt that I like better anyway.

I rarely prewash anything any more, but I do have some prewashed pieces in my stash. This blue polka dot was one. The rest of the quilt was unwashed fabric. So I decided to wash the quilt before binding so the quilt wouldn’t shrink more than the binding, leaving a ruffled edge. I have done this before with decent results. I have also skipped this step and was not happy! So here are the finish pictures. Tadaaaa!!!



The only scraps I didn’t use were civil war repros. Everything else went in:






Here’s a shot of that wide binding:


The scraps finish at 1 1/2 by 3 inches. I just love the texture this panto gives!

It’s living on the guest bed for now.


And that’s a wrap! Have a great day!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom Quilts, Whims and Fancies, Sew Can She, A Quilting Reader’s Garden

Posted in Bed Quilts, Finishes, Leader/Ender, Scraps, Uncategorized | 53 Comments

Moving Along

Posted on June 23, 2016 by katyquilts

I got the top all together! Yay! I got it loaded up on the frame.

And I even got a row of quilting started. This one is getting a pantograph.

And here is the panto I have chosen:

I have a long day ahead at work so I am not sure how far I will get.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Leader/Ender, Pantographs, Scraps, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

WIP Wednesday!

Posted on June 22, 2016 by katyquilts

I am still  undecided about how to set the 4 patch diamonds, so I decided to give that project a rest. Having my leader/ender blocks done really made me want to dive into that project anyway. There are 64 blocks total to be set 8 by 8. I started piecing the top into quarters since I hate sewing those long seams. Here is one quarter section.

I can’t remember if I shared this machine with you all or not. I picked it up at a yard sale a few weeks ago for just $5! A bit of cleaning and she runs like a charm!

My new cart came in handy for this project too. This top is VERY heavy with all of those seams and I am using the cart to support the weight of the top while sewing it together.

That’s a lot of seams!

It feels like this has come together very quickly, but in fact, I started cutting scraps for this way back in February. It won’t take long to get the hour glass blocks that I am currently using for leaders/enders done so I need to start thinking about the next one.

Have a great day!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication, A Quilting Chick

Posted in Leader/Ender, Scraps, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Mystery Quilts 4 Military!

Posted on June 21, 2016 by katyquilts

There is a Yahoo group by this title that is exactly what it sounds like. Clues are posts weekly to create a quilt with the intention that the quilt will be given to a member of our military via Quilts of Valor or another such group. The current mystery as well as the last few have been designed and run by Alycia of Alycia Quilts aka Quilty Girl. I love the previous mystery quilts she designed and decided to jump on this bandwagon! Here are my fabric choices. I will also use white as my background.


And here are the results of Clue #1!

I thought I would show you how I pieced those squares. I pulled out this tool called the Angler by Pam Bono Designs and lined up that center line with the needle on my machine.

Then I placed the blue square on the corner of the larger white square.

I began sewing right at the corner of the blue square while keeping the other corner lined up with the kind on the easy angler.

I’ve had this thing in the drawer for ages but think I have only used it once before. It was a bit fiddle to get it taped in exactly the right spot. But it sure beat drawing lines across all the squares. This is what I ended up with.

Then I just had to trim and press.

We got back late Sunday night and hubby had to leave early yesterday for a business trip to Asia. That meant I was on lawn mowing/watering duty. With all of the laundry, unpacking etc., it was really nice to work on this clue and not have to make any decisions or think too hard!

It isn’t too late to join in, just search for Mystery Quilts 4 Military on Yahoo Groups.

Have a great day!

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

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments