Ho Ho Ho!

However you celebrate the holidays, here's wishing you many sweet moments

with friends and family.  

"Santa and the Orphan Blocks" 50 x 72" Made in 2013

And peace and happiness in the new year!

Today, and every day, I appreciate you, my "blog family."

Here's to more creativity and sharing for all of us in 2017!

Playing with Plaids

I've been having fun with plaids, and finished this quilt top recently. 

"Plaids II" 58" x 76"

It's inspired by a quilt I've long admired, a 1930's quilt in Roberta Horton's collection.

It's shown in her book, "Scrap Quilts, The Art of Making Do."

All the plaids came from my stash, mostly shirts from the thrift store.

I made another quilt out of shirt plaids in 2013.

Earlier this summer, I received these wonderful madras plaids

from Beth in Houston.  

They came along with an adorable little pouch she'd made from a shirt cuff! 

I've also been cutting up my husband's old shirts.

Looks like there are more plaid quilts in my future!

"Housetop" is Finished!

"Housetop," 60" x 60"

I finished hand-quilting this just in time for picnic season!

The top was made in a class with Gwen Marston back in February.

It's called "Housetop" because its inspiration came from the  

Gee's Bend quilt designs that go by the same name.

I quilted it with Barb's big fan stencil and #12 perle cotton.

It includes an old linen napkin and a scrap of polka dots from a friend in New York.

A lovely floral dress,

An old skirt,

An apron from the 60's or 70's,

And two tablecloths from the same era. 

Both were round and had 4" white fringe.  

Remember those out on the patio table?  

This wonderful Jane Sassaman print was perfect for the back. 

I made a wide back to front binding, like the Gee's Bend gals do.

(If anyone wants a tutorial on this, let me know.)

And it's already been launched with the first picnic of summer!

Happy summer--or winter--to you!

Grandma's Peaches

"Grandma's Peaches" 46" x 62"

It started with a peach print blouse and thoughts about 

my grandmother, a Texas farm girl.  

One day she ate a peach while sitting on her front porch.

It was so delicious, she wondered if she could grow a tree of them. 

So she planted the pit in the ground.

A tree did grow, and then another and another.

One was planted in our backyard, 

but it was unhealthy and 

had to be taken down.  

I started the top in 2011 with Stella Pettway in Sisters, Oregon,

And finished it in 2013 with Loretta Bennett in Arlington, Washington.  

They both liked the story about my grandmother.

I finally got around to hand quilting it this year.  

I used Perle 8 cotton and Barb's Baptist fan stencil.  

I had fun working around the shirt pieces that I left in the quilt. 

For binding, I folded the backing fabric around and stitched it,

like the Gee's Bend gals do.  

Maybe the pocket will hold the next delicious peach pit

until it can be planted in the ground.

Three Days with Gwen

"Housetop"  59" x 59"

I've just returned from a lovely three-day retreat on medallion quilts with Gwen Marston. 

While preparing for the retreat, I thought I'd take all my spare blocks 

and work them around this Gee's Bend inspired log cabin.

It might have worked, but I decided to expand on the original design instead.

One old dress, two tablecloths, an apron and a friend's scrap later, 

it began to take shape.  

The corners are one log cabin block that I quartered--

one of Gwen's many brilliant suggestions.

The retreat was in beautiful Port Gamble, Washington, 

offered by the Quilted Strait quit shop.  

This sewing room was right across the street from the quilt shop.

This is the view from my sewing table.  

It's a miracle anyone got anything done!

Some of us ate lunch outside and enjoyed the quiet surroundings.

I caught the sunset on the ferry ride home.

A perfect weekend!

A windy photo shoot.  Good thing Mr. Nifty can perform Photo Shop magic!

Tennessee Lightnin' Strikes Again

Tennessee Lightnin',  54" x 70",  is now quilted!

It started back here, with some old shirts bought with friends on a trip to Tennessee 

and inspiration from the book, Bold Improvisation by Scott Heffley.

It had another border for awhile, but it just wasn't working for me.    

I quilted it with straight lines, using the free motion foot.  

The trick is turning the quilt at each corner, so you're always sewing forward or backward, 

not side to side or diagonally.  At first I tried it with the walking foot, but the fmq was faster.

I kept the diagonal quilting lines going in the border.  

It's hard to see, but it makes a nice overall texture.

Even the binding got to join the diagonal dance!

Now for more play with fans.  Hmm, straight or diagonal?

"Hourglass"

I finally finished this top, after starting it last summer and putting it away for awhile.

"Hourglass"  (aka Courthouse Steps) 64" x  78"

Made from shirt scraps and vintage fabrics.

It's my rendition of this quilt from Roderick Kiracofe's collection.  

Photo courtesy of Roderick Kiracofe

"Housetop, variation" c. 1950-1975, African American

From the book, "Quilts" by Roderick Kiracofe.

  

I'm not sure how I'll quilt it.  I'm thinking about lots of red ties. 

Whatever I do, it'll be awhile before my hands are free.  

They're occupied with this one for the next six weeks.  

It's got a date with the local quilt show in March!

A Couple of Finishes

I've been on a roll with free-motion quilting.  

"Autumn Rose"  70" x 46"

The more I practice, the more I enjoy it.

"Scrappy Coins" 82" x 54"

Using several different designs helps to keep me entertained.

Speaking of entertainment, check out this display of holiday sweaters at the local Value Village!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Flying Plaids is Quilted!

I've been quilting this puppy off and on all summer.

Wish I'd used brown thread for the back.  Oh well.

I got pretty good at this design.

I made the top last summer, all out of thrift store shirt plaids.

Yahoo!

I'm celebrating with a new toy, recommended by Kathy Doughty.

Very fun!