KatyQuilts

MidWinter Blues QAL!

Posted on January 26, 2014 by katyquilts

Lori at Humble Quilts is at it again! She just started another Quilt-a-Long that she is calling MidWinter Blues. She posted the first step yesterday. Here are my blocks for step one.
I really love this block pattern. Lori’s blocks finish at 5 inches but I bumped mine up to 6. I did this so I could use dies that I already have for my accuquilt studio die cutter. In case anyone is interested, I used dies 50035 and 50771.

I also worked on the blocks I made Friday.

I bought these fabrics from Connecting Threads during their Black Friday sale. I am not in love with this yet. Maybe I will like it more when it is quilted. It will be another Quilt of Valor.

Check out the QAL over at Lori’s by clicking here.

Happy Sunday!

You, Lord, are my shepherd. I will never be in need. You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh my life. You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths. I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won’t be afraid. You are with me, and your shepherd’s rod makes me feel safe. You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows. Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, Lord. (Psalms 23:1-6 CEVDCUS06)

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Civil War Repro Quilts, Doll Quilts, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Baby, it’s cold outside and a FAL 2014 Finish

Posted on January 25, 2014 by katyquilts

So what is a girl to do but stay in and sew? I also did a bit of a cleanup in the sewing room and gave my oft used featherweight a bit of regularly scheduled maintenance.

See that pile of blocks? They will become anther QOV. I did a bit of rearranging to accommodate another person in the sewing room. My friend, Sarah, came over for a sewing lesson. She did such a great job! I cleaned and oiled this machine so she could use it.

These Singer 301s are such great machines! I have two, maybe three….

Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments on my signature swap quilt finishes this week. I so appreciate every person that stops by. I found a great place to hang my second swap quilt. This is in our upstairs hall. This was another project on my list for the FAL 2014 hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle. My original FAL post for this quarter can be found here.

We are having company for lunch today so i need to get to work. Happy Saturday!

Posted in FAL 2014, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Friday Finishes!

Posted on January 24, 2014 by katyquilts

This week I finished both quilts from my SQT signature swaps. Here is the first one hanging in my foyer. These were both on my list for the FAL 2014, original post here.

I can’t get a straight on shot where it is hanging. This fits perfectly on the place I wanted to hang it. Here is a detail of the border quilting.

This snowball quilt has 4.5 inch finished blocks.

I really struggled with the thread on this one. I used the Premosoft from Fil-Tec with matching bobbins. It kept wanting to break and shred when quilting right to left. Very frustrating. My crosshatching looks okay in pictures but up close, it is not good. I learned a lot doing this one and that is always good. After washing and shrinking, I am happy with it. However, I am still not showing the back!

Today I am working with a friend who wants to learn to quilt. I can’t wait!

I am linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Sew Can She, and Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Happy Friday!

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Finishes, Small Quilt Talk Group, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

In the Frame

Posted on January 23, 2014 by katyquilts

I managed to piece together my second set of signature blocks last night and get it in the frame.

Now the quandary is how to quilt the blocks. I have a border design I want to try.

I may try cross hatching. I always seem to feel brain dead and out of ideas at this point.

I am linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday.

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Small Quilt Talk Group, Swaps, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Work in Progress Wednesday

Posted on January 22, 2014 by katyquilts

I have blocks from yet another signature block swap sitting here just waiting for inspiration. I put them up on the design wall as is and I think I like it!

Sometimes simple is best. I am going to try out a few ideas on EQ but I may well come back to this. I even had a perfect border fabric already out.

I pulled this as a possible binding fabric for the last signature quilt I made.

I have two other fabric tacks at the idea stage.

I bought this stack of Kaffe fabrics a while back on sale and think it looks very springlike! I want to find a solid to go with them but I think I want something other than white.

I also have this stack of patriotic FQs from Connecting Threads.

No doubt this will become another QOV, I just need to decide on a pattern.

I have this stack that I bought at Hancock’s last summer but I think I need a few more shirting fabrics to go with what is here.

Hop over to Lee’s blog, Freshly Pieced, to see what others have in progress today.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Sewing with Swap Blocks

Posted on January 21, 2014 by katyquilts

I made really good progress on my friendship quilt made with blocks from the Small Quilt Talk group swap. I finished the top and the quilting! Today I want to get the binding done before work.

Have you ever done a block swap? I have done many over the years. They can be a lot of fun. However, I know of many people that were totally disappointed. It is all a matter of expectations really.

I do swaps for fun and friendship, not to make an award winning quilt. You will have some swappers that make perfect blocks and others that struggle to make a block square and even close to the right size. You will likely be swapping with newbies right along with those more experienced than you.

If you expect perfect blocks, don’t swap, make them yourself!

When I put these blocks together, I only tried to match the corners of the blocks. I didn’t even try to match the points at the sides of the blocks. Once in a while, they lined up! But when all is said and done, those mismatched or missing points won’t be that noticeable.

One thing that can cause problems is when the seam allowance was cut too close.

I didn’t see this until I was sewing the blocks together or I probably would not have used this block. This workmanship is really not up to par for a swap. I salvaged this by adding a bit of fusible interfacing to the back to reinforce the area. I am not mad about it, I knew when I signed up I could get anything back.

On the flip side, I do my very best to send out my best work to others. I make a test block to make sure I can so this well or I don’t sign up.

At the end of the day, for me at least, it is about connecting with other quilters. This quilt won’t be perfect but it has been fun to make from beginning to end. And I have a tangible link to my online friends.

I am linking up with Connie at Free Motion by the River.

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Small Quilt Talk Group, Swaps | 15 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Posted on January 20, 2014 by katyquilts

Good Morning! I pieced the last block yesterday afternoon, or so I thought…

Um, yeah…. Apparently I can’t count. I needed to either piece one more block or change the layout and piece three more blocks. I had three 6 inch blocks so I thought I would try them out.

Interesting but not quite right. I pieced three Puss in the Corner blocks and out those in instead.

Much better. Now I need to decide if I want sashing or not.

I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. Click here to se what others are up to.

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Design Wall Monday, Small Quilt Talk Group, Swaps, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on January 19, 2014 by katyquilts

I spent a little time hand sewing the binding on my SQT challenge quilt today.

I used a single fold binding this time. I found a bit of old feedback to use for the back.

It finished up at a tad over 12 inches square.

You can see that some of my HSTs were a bit off. They were already sewn and I used my die cutter to trim them to size. Clearly I didn’t have them on the die just right. I’m okay with that. It is a humble little quilt and that kind of stuff just adds character.

These blocks from a SQT swap last fall are next on my to do list. One person was unable to finish her blocks due to health issues. We all made a block for her anyway and she sent signature squares. I hope to get this block made today and then I will start laying out the quilt.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Posted in Doll Quilts, Small Quilt Talk Group, Uncategorized, Vintage Fabrics | 4 Comments

Bear Paws

Posted on January 19, 2014 by katyquilts

The challenge this month for the Small Quilt Talk group is to make a small bear paw quilt. A few years ago, I made this one.

Since I already had this one, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make another in nearly the same size. The block itself measures 14 inches.

I had already decided that this year, I would make all the SQT challenge quilts from vintage fabric. And I have vintage fabric.

While digging through my vintage stash, I came across these:

I also decided to make my challenge quilt smaller. My block measures 7 inches finished.

The biggest challenge using vintage scraps will be finding pieces big enough for borders. I managed for this one.

I hope to finish this today.

Happy Sunday!

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Vintage Finish!

Posted on January 18, 2014 by katyquilts

Remember the beautiful quilt top that Mr. Wonderful bought me for Christmas?
Well, it is finished!
I am so pleased with how it turned out. It is about 76″ square.
And last night he came home with these: