KatyQuilts

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!

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

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!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

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.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

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!

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

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.

If you would like to know how you can help cover our veterans with Quilts of Valor, click here.

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

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor | 11 Comments

Throwback Thursday

Posted on December 3, 2015 by katyquilts

I really haven’t made a lot of seasonal quilts. I’m just not that into most Christmas fabrics. A few years back, Mr. Wonderful bought me a fat quarter bundle of Christmas fabrics that did not scream Christmas and I used up every little bit in this lap quilt.

This is a Christmas fabric I can love. Aren’t those toiles fabulous?

The pattern is called Colorbrick and there is a tutorial here. Rachel from Stitched in Color kindly provided all the info as a quilt along. It is a fabulous pattern for using fat quarters.

This was one of my very early long arm quilted quilts done back in 2012 on my first machine, a Nolting Hobby Quilter. I tried to come up with a different pattern for each brick.
It looks horrible on the back! But thankfully, the stitching doesn’t show much on the front. It is a great quilt for dragging around. It has been on the winter ground for picture taking and I am fine with that.
It’s just that kind of quilt. And it is fun to look back and see that my quilting HAS improved.

Linking up with A Quarter Inch from the Edge for the Christmas Edition of Throwback Thursday.

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

November/December Goals

Posted on December 2, 2015 by katyquilts

Time again to see what I have accomplished this last month! Here are the goals I listed at the end of last month:

I want to finish the shirting quilt I started for Baby E. Done and delivered!
I would like to get the pink and green top shown below quilted and finished. Not Done.
Quilt any QOV tops that come in. Ten tops were dropped off at my house last week. So far, I have 6 of them done.
Make new Christmas stockings for Baby L and Baby E. Done!
Get my Brinton Hall Medallion together! The Medallions are all in one piece and I have begun adding the scrappy hexies that will square this off.

What else did I get done this month?

I have also finished my project for the Intrepid Thread Challenge. I have to wait until January to show it to you though.

And I finished this baby quilt.

And this little UFO.

And I finished those curtains!

Here are my goals for December.

Dear Jane…. No, I am not making a Dear Jane quilt this month! But I do have a stack of blocks from the Dear Jane book that I made a number of years ago. Recently I was looking through the Temecula Quilt Company Blog, and was quite enchanted by their summer sampler quilt from last summer. You can see it here. I do not need to start making more blocks of any kind but I thought I could set these Dear Jane blocks into a setting like this. I would like to get this top together this month.
Quilt the last 4 QOV tops that I have here.
Border and quilt a panel that I purchased last summer.
Make one more baby quilt. It seems that there are new babies everywhere you look at church!
And I really do want to get that pink and green one done! It won’t even take that long once I decide how to quilt it.

There is that major holiday coming up as well. So it isn’t a quilting goal but I sure would like to get my shopping done, my house cleaned, and food prepped for Christmas!

Linking up with See Fresh Quilts, Freshly Pieced

Posted in Finishes, Goals, Uncategorized | 3 Comments