Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013

    Welcome to the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

When I saw that the date for the Festival was so near, I got really motivated to finish this quilt up.

 

    I love simple....easy blocks that let the fabric do the work. And secondly, I love braid patterns.  So  this little design fit the bill on both counts.  The block is a simple quarter log cabin block that creates a faux braid design.    When set side by side, the design emerges as a diagonal braid.
  I first saw this layout at Vrooman's Quilts, and fell in love with it. I have a huge stash of floral fabrics so stash shopping was easy.  I used primarily medium value fabrics  to contrast with all the very light values.

  For a great tutorial on this block, visit Vrooman's Quilt.   Sharon did a super job with the tutorial.  

   

   When choosing the color for the narrow insert border, I  auditioned several colors before selecting the periwinkle color.  I loved how it made the blue colors in the floral prints pop.  

   I filled the light area with free motion feather quilting.  And wavy plumes of feathers were used in the border.  

  

 Once finished, it needed a name.  The first thing that popped into my head was that it reminded me of  scattered potpourri.. 

    So Potpourri  it is!

Potpourri  finished at 45" by 60".

Category is  Throw Quilt.  

  Enjoy the Festival, visit lots of bloggers,  and find tons of inspiration.

   Thanks to Amy and all the sponsors for making this happen.

And thanks for stopping by.

Happy stitching.

Motivation

  I got motivated to finish up the floral quilt of quarter log cabin blocks when I realized that the Bloggers' Quilt Festival  was so close.  The Festival begins tomorrow.....and nominations for favorites in each category begin.
    I jumped on it and got the quilting done.  I  am still taking photos for tomorrow's post.   So come back then to see the full quilt.

  Here's a peek at the border quilting I used.  I borrowed a page from LuAnn's sketchbook of borders for the outer border.  I modified it to fit my style of free motion feathers.  The "waves" of feathers in the border have different numbers of plumes....some 3, or 4, or 5.  And I threw in a few extra curls to fill in things.

   Now if I can just find a shady enough spot to finish up the photos.  We had our first frost last night and lots of trees are leafless already, and it is windy!
Till tomorrow....happy stitching.  

Scrappy Pinwheels quilt

   Done!  A finish.....finally.
    The center section has been hanging around for about a year.  Nine blocks made using the "5 minute block" that I talked about last August. Click here for that post.
   Since it was square, I added a row of those leftover pinwheels from one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns to the top and bottom.  They sure have come in handy for finishing off quilts.  I probably have another 20 of them, so I am sure they will pop up again.
  I finished it off with a piano key border.  And the binding is whatever was in the binding bin!  I love mixing it all together.

   Swirly quilting around the pinwheels, which are the dimensional geese that are stitched down with a curved edge.

 Size finished is 48" by 65"....a small lap quilt that I am donating to Habitat for Humanity.

   And just a little more quilting going on.  This is the quarter log cabin that has the diagonal bands.  Right now I am quilting the light area with feathers.  I will use a large stipple thru the print fabric bands as little stitching will show.  Yikes, I could actually get this one finished this month, too!

   Guess you can tell the back is much better, even with the long ride last week. I am so glad to be stitching again.....I need the therapy of it.  :D

Happy stitching.

Home again

  We left last week to deliver and install the rebuilt screen doors to Michigan.  A beautiful drive and trip up...with no mishaps.  Friday was to be a full workday of sewing and installing doors....but it was a disaster instead.  Luckily I had had my first cup of coffee before Deana discovered the basement was in 2 inches of water!  Sir Old Man to the rescue.  Trusty hammer in hand, he unstuck the valve in the water heater and stopped the gushing flow of water.  Then the reality set in.  Water everywhere........

  Let me digress here in this tale......Sir Old Man and I had lunched with friends before leaving and heard their saga of coming home from a 2 month trip to discover a similar mess from a leaking toilet.  They have been living with the clean up and repairs for over 6 weeks now.  So when we planned this trip, I insisted we have someone in the house daily.   Little did I know, my fears were to be faced in Michigan!   Exactly what is it with this de ja vu I have been having lately?
   So a few dozen calls, and the insurance company got Serve Pro out within a couple of hours to begin the clean up.  While Sir Old Man  and Trey moving mountains of boxes and things to the living room, to the dining room, to the upstairs bedroom, to the garage.....you get the idea......I got to corral the furkins.   These three are a handful!   I also spent the time making some "comfort food" at Trey's request.  In our home that means Country Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans, with cherry Crunch for dessert.  We survived the day, all were exhausted, and progress was made for the clean up.
 



On Saturday, we did get some planned work in.  The beautiful re-built screen doors were installed.  This is the front....isn't it beautiful.  And I love the new blue color.  It just pops.

   I spent the day doing a bit more cooking to get through the weekend, so I did not get to sewing on the roman shades.  I brought them home to do.  That's my project for this next week.

  Once I get my household routine back, I have some binding to add to a finished quilt.....Finally!!







And to finish up.... I ran across this  cute pin cushion that just fits the season.  I put it on my Pinterest page for the link.   I love the wonky eyes.....kind of like I still feel after the long trip!  

  Happy to be home.....happy stitching.

Sharing quilt show pix

  I am making progress....I got one quilt for Habitat for Humanity quilted.   And a couple of rows of quilting on the diagonal floral....it is looking good!    No photos of my work yet.  Instead I thought I would share a couple of things I saw at our guild quilt show yesterday.
 

   This is a string quilt from men's shirting....a la Bonnie Hunter pattern...made by Margaret.  I thought she did a great job with the value selection and usage.   A simple pattern that makes a really striking design.....just a perfect cuddle up with me quilt.

  This is Edna's Lemonade Challenge quilt......the tan fabric is the "ugly" fabric she got.  I love the changes she made from the original design that she worked from.  The coxcomb block spirals and enlarges to met the wonderful applique.  I was excited by her offset layout with the opposing features.   Lots of good inspiration here!

  I was using my phone for the photos, so they are not so great this time......but this one was so intriguing.  Love the play of color, and neat design elements that got thrown into this one.  It was from a design class Janet took....I have got to get some details on this one.  I see flying geese blocks, tiny pinwheels, strips and rectangles.....lots of things going on.  She said it was "outside her box", but I think it is great!









   And my sentimental favorite was made by Ilse.  A seven sisters block quilt with a wonderful applique design border.   This is from a class she took from our guild's founder, Mary, who died last year.  It caused me to pause and just remember.  And then I was so thankful for Mary's guidance and teaching.  Her influence is still strong in our quilting family around here.   I am glad the tradition continues.



   We are prepping for a few travel days to deliver those rebuilt and refinished screen doors to daughter and son-in-law.  So don't panic if  it is quiet around here for a while..... I will get rolling again when we return.  Until then happy stitching!