KatyQuilts

No Stitching

Posted on December 13, 2015 by katyquilts

Too busy with two of my favorite little men.

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday as well!

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Before and After

Posted on December 12, 2015 by katyquilts

Thursday I showed you this quilt that I planned to tea dye because I didn’t like the way the red print had faded over the years.

Here is the offensive red print:

I prepared my tea and let the quilt soak in it for a couple hours.

And here is the after.

The tea didn’t really do much of anything to change the red print which disappointed me. I do like the tan background. It was suggested on Instagram that I try dyeing with tan RIT dye. I may try that. But I will look at it like this for a while first.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Quilt Shop Gal

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Finish It Up Friday – Last QOVs of 2015

Posted on December 11, 2015 by katyquilts

These are the last QOVs that I will have worked on for 2015. All tops were made by members of the Stitching Sisters QOV group. I love this first scrappy top! This pattern has been on my bucket list for years.
I used the Elongated Meander pantograph from Urban Elementz on this one.

The back is actually navy blue, not this washed out color in the next picture!
The pantograph on this next one is called Any Which Way by Jessica Schick and it is available from Digi-Tech

I love backings like this one! I showed some closeups of this next one the other day. It is the only one from this batch that I custom quilted. I wish I had time to do more of that.

Again, this backing is navy but it sure doesn’t look like it here! Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts, A Quilted Passion, Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Desperate Times….

Posted on December 10, 2015 by katyquilts

Have you heard the saying, desperate times call for desperate measures? I was looking at some older quilts yesterday that I often pull out at Christmas time. This is one.

I made this over 15 years ago. I love appliqué quilts, but I have never taken the time to get good at it. This is machine appliquéd. It is a pretty crude version of the traditional Princess Feather. I could only get myself to make one block. I still love it except for one thing. See that red print? I hate the way it has faded.

It used to match the inner border and the print was very subtle. I appliquéd and quilted this on my 1955 Singer 201. I should have done a bit more quilting in that border! LOL

Anyway, I while I love this raggedy thing, I cannot abide that faded print. So today, I am going to try this.

I plan to make some very strong tea to tea dye the whole thing. I haven’t anything to lose because I won’t hang it as faded as it is now.

Stay tuned for updates!

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WIP Wednesday

Posted on December 9, 2015 by katyquilts

I been working to finish the last of the QOV tops that I have here. This lovely top was pieced by one of the members of the Stitching Sisters QOV group. It took me quite a while to decide how to quilt this one. I hate to do a pantograph with a medallion type of quilt. I thought it might be interesting to explain how I decided to quilt this.

I knew that I would be doing some simple outlining of the center medallion using Superior Mono-poly thread. It is”invisible” and blend well with any fabric. In any quilt, it is very important that the density of the quilting be as consistent as possible across the quilt. This medallion area dictated how closely the rest of the quilt would be quilted.

The small medallions in the corner blocks were appliqued. I came up with this design for the corner blocks as it didn’t require more than one stop and start.

I used one of my swag border templates turned upside down for the red borders. I really debated about those blue strips. I finally decided quilting them would mean the quilting here would be too dense compared to the center so I just stitched in the ditch on either side.

The star blocks were quilted just like the corner blocks. I try to use repeated motifs in a quilt so it all “makes sense” as a whole.

The log cabin blocks were quilted in a spiral fashion with a line of stitching from corner to corner of each log. I then did the centers in continuous curve so they would match the center of the star blocks.
The colors are very off in the next few pictures. This is the back side of the eagle medallion>

The back of one of the star blocks.

And the back of a log cabin block.

I also stitched in the ditch around each of the blocks in the center.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced, Sew Fresh Quilts

Posted in Free Motion Quilting, HQ Avante, Quilt of Valor, Quilting Designs, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Tuesday

Posted on December 8, 2015 by katyquilts

Yesterday was bonus round Yahtzee mail day here! My Black Friday purchase from Stately Tees came.

And my favorite quilt magazine.

If that weren’t enough, I got a lovely package bursting full of goodies for a blog giveaway I had won! This is all from Janet who blogs at Mrs. Sew N Sew.

So many lovely things here! Thank you, Janet!

I got one QOV quilted yesterday.

I have one more to do before Thursday morning. I work most of the day so I better get to work. Have a great day!

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Design Wall Monday ~ Noteworthy

Posted on December 7, 2015 by katyquilts

Way back when hubby and I visited Paducah, I bought this FQ bundle of Noteworthy by Sweetwater.

I used some of it to make this throw quilt for a friend.

And I used some of it to make this throw quilt that I ended up selling recently.

I still had some left and decided to use it up in quilts for baby girls. So I cut up these to make a quilt similar to the baby boy quilt I finished in November.

I may or may not stick to that plan.

I also cut pieces for a second baby quilt.

It will end up looking something like this.

In the box with the leftovers, I found these four blocks. I started thinking I might be able to use these in a baby quilt as well. They finish at only 9 inches square so I will need to add something to them. Maybe lots of negative space to the top and left and a little bit to the right and bottom like I did with this star quilt in this post.

Or maybe a line of them with lots of space for quilting around them like I did on the flying geese quilt in the post mentioned above.

Hmmm…. I really want to use these and I think I can make them work. After that, I am left with only very small scraps that I can put in my scrap bucket.

It is very satisfying to use all of a fat quarter bundle!

Linking up with Patchwork Times, Cooking Up Quilts

Posted in Baby Quilts, Design Wall Monday, Fabric, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Slow Down Sunday

Posted on December 6, 2015 by katyquilts

Thank you all for the lovely well wishes on the birth of Baby E! He is an absolute delight!

Mama and Baby get to go home from the hospital today. Little E has spent the weekend here with Papa and me and we will miss him so when he goes home today too.

Due to toddler chasing, snuggles on the run, visits to little brother etc. I’ve only managed to hand stitch a single length of thread on the binding of this little quilt that I finished on Thursday.

I will finish this today after life settles down a wee bit.

Such a wonderful few days it has been! We are so thankful. God is so good.

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Welcome to the World!

Posted on December 5, 2015 by katyquilts

My sweet new grandson was born yesterday, weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

I’m spending this weekend being Nana. Have a great Saturday!

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Finish It Up Friday ~ Quilts of Valor!

Posted on December 4, 2015 by katyquilts

I have been working on QOVs over the last few weeks. My pictures are not the best, that time of year again! Too nasty to take pictures outside and the light inside is not good either. The tops shown here were all made by members of the Stitching Sisters QOV group.

I love this giant star quilt! The pantograph is called Yodel and is available from Urban Elementz.

I’ve had this panto for a while but this is the first quilt that it seemed to fit. The top has to be well pieced and square or this pattern will emphasize wonkiness in a way you don’t want.

I love the way the quilting looks on the back!

I love these Carpenter’s Star quilts! The panto used here is called Plumbago.

Here is a look at the backing:

This next one is made up of simple blocks but the design is so dynamic!

The panto on this one is called Twister. It is the first time I used it and found that I loved it! You really can’t tell until you’ve actually used them on a quilt. This is also available from Urban Elementz.

And a detail of the back:

This last one was quilted with a pantograph called Elongated Meander from Digi-Tech Designs.

You may wonder why I would use a pantograph for a meander that I could possible do free hand. The answer is that often I work on these a few minutes here and there as I have time. If I use a pantograph, I can pick up where I left off and not worry about keeping the density of the quilting even throughout the entire quilt.

If I had all day to do a quilt, I could do a freehand all over pattern faster. I really do like how this turned out though. It was worth the extra time.
APQS staged a Flash Mob at the AQS show in Des Moines earlier this year to promote Quilts of Valor. You can see it here.