The Top is Done

Diego and I had to go to the quilt shop in South Lyon to get a little more "blue". Fortunately, there was still some of it at the shop. Now I had plenty for the final border. The squares are 6 inches; the first border is 3", the second border is 4", and the final one is 6". I like how the red sets everything off. I bought backing in a coordinating fabric, so that will be the next step.

Mario Quilt Top

Here's the top of the Mario quilt for Diego. I'll work on the borders when I quilt at Sandy's this Saturday. Hopefully the quilt will be done before the cold weather gets here. I'd better hurry!

Beginning a New Quilt

Today I pressed and began to cut out fabric for Diego's quilt. However, I actually started working on it weeks ago. First I had to find Mario. After an exhaustive internet search, Dave and I found some Mario iron-on patches. Then came the design. After trying out a number of patterns on paper, I settled on a checker board with Mario on light squares alternating with dark squares. It took two trips to the fabric store in South Lyon to find just the right fabric - a light one for Mario, blue for the alternate squares, and red for an accent border. I think this one will be fun to work on.
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New Quilt Designs

Mark and Elise came to visit last weekend. During the long car ride they amused themselves by drawing pictures for the people they would be seeing. Since they know I love to make quilts, they made quilt pictures for me. Elise's picture is on the left and Mark's on the right. Beautiful designs, don't you think? Mark even suggested that I use the designs to make some quilts. These pictures will certainly go into my file for future reference!

Potholders for Me

After making potholders for a number of family members, I decided to make some for myself. I selected scraps in some of my favorite colors and sewed them in the "rail fence" pattern. Before I sewed the tops to the backing, I had to make sure the squares were square. For this I used my rotary cutter and square rule.

Next I sewed tops and backs together, leaving a small opening, laid the heat-resilient batting on top, and turned it all inside out. I blind-stitched the opening. Finally, I machine quilted on top, stitching "in the ditch" along the seam lines. All done!

A Blue Ribbon

Big news. Here's a note we Main Street Quilters just received:

Howdy Quilters! Before driving to MI, I took my Round Robin quilt 60 mi west to the town of Ault, CO, for their Fall Days celebration. This includes a quilt display, quilt judging, tractor pull, and very popular engine show of old farm equipment. I decided to go for the judging option. I included a write-up which was pinned to the entry. WE WON THE BLUE RIBBON!!!!!!!! The prize, donated by C&W Sugar, was a 2 lb bag of refined sugar made from sugar beets grown locally. Attached was a note acknowledging their generous donation and request that a thank you note be sent (address included). Too funny!!! I will save the sugar to bake something for your June journey to CO. Thanks to all for contributing to the winning entry. Love, Berte

Look at this prize winning quilt. Berte made the inside square. Carol did the first border; then Judy, Sue, and Wanda.

Something From Nothing

Here's my latest project. I took some scraps and made them into potholders for Charlene. This is a new quilt block called "Chimneys and Cornerstones". It is difficult to see the cornerstones because the two light fabrics are so similar. Lesson learned: get more contrast in the fabric if you want the pattern to show up.

Scraps

When my friends and I start a new quilt, we go to the guilt shop, buy yards of fabric at $10 a yard, take it home, cut it in little pieces, and then sew it together. That's not how our mothers and grandmother quilted. The fabric they purchased was for clothes for their families. When the sewing was done, they took the scraps and made them into beautiful but functional covers for their beds.
Today I went to my scrap tubs - fabric left over from other quilt projects - to find just the right material for some potholders. I enjoyed making something from "nothing", just like my mother.

All Done!

Finally! I started this quilt almost a year ago. Of course, I've worked on other projects in the mean time. However, many hours have been spent cutting and sewing strips into squares, squares to rows, and rows together. Last Saturday I made the final four top-stitched seams around the edges.

I'll tell you a little about quilting day last Saturday. I was the hostess this month. On Friday night I made all the preparations, cooked some food, made the ice tea, and got the tables set up (with help from Alan). Just as all this work finished up, a terrible storm went through our area. Really scary! The lights went out and some large tree branches fell in our front yard. No power for 45 hours! Quilting day got moved to Carol's (Thank you, Carol), and I got my quilt finished.

Top Stitching

I'm nearing the end now - just a few more trips to the sewing machine and the quilt will be done. Today I am sewing rows 7, 8, and 9 to rows 10, 11 and 12. First pin and sew the seam; press open the seam, and top stitch on each side. That's what you see in this picture. The next step will be difficult - sewing the first 6 rows to the last 6 rows. The hard part is not the sewing, it's just handling all that fabric. I'll have to call in backup support for that!

Row Upon Row

After all the squares are made, they get sewn into rows. When the rows are complete, they are sewn together to make the quilt. I have to be so careful to sew the squares and rows in just the right order to make the pattern. I always spot the light blue piece on the square. Put it on the left; next row, put it on the bottom; then on the left again. When the quilt is complete, you'll see pinwheels of the light blue and the yellow dancing around the quilt. To make sure I keep everything in order, I put a safety pin in the top left corner of each row until it is sewn to the next row.

Sewing the Blocks Together

Each time I got ten blocks made, I sewed them into a long row. First I had to make sure they were in the right order to make the pattern. As you can see I alternated the directions of the blocks. To sew them together I matched them up, back to back, making sure the edges were just right. After sewing the blocks together I pressed the seams open on the right side and top stitched on each side of the original seam - three rows of stitching for each seam!

Building the Block

This is how the quilt begins - as one square. Each block consists of a backing piece, batting, and the top which is made of six small pieces. I'll need 120 of these squares to make a twin quilt (and I only have 7 left to do!) First the batting is centered on the "wrong" side of the backing. Then each of the smaller pieces in added one at a time. The first piece is placed 2 1/2 inches from the edge. The next pieced is placed on top - right sides together. This is stitched down and flipped over so that the "right" side shows. Then the next and so on. Because I am stitching through all three layers at once I won't have to do any quilting. When the squares are all stitched together, the quilt will be done.

Round Robin Quilt

Welcome to my blog. I started quilting a few years ago and decided to record my progress as I quilt. First I'd like to show you the round-robin quilt I just finished with four of my friends.
I made the inside square which extends to the ends of the green cross using 1" strips and 2" squares.
Sue did the first border. The small red squares set on point are called a Seminole border. Sue sent the top on to Wanda who did the wide beige border. She used the machine to add the green vine. She must have cut the narrow strips on the bias to get them to curve so easily.
Wanda send the quilt top to Berte who did the next border. She did very fine paper piecing in the corners. Carol finished the piece by adding the three borders of complementing colors.
When I got the quilt back, I cut out the little flowers from fabric, fused them onto the top, and sewed a zig-zag stitch all around the edges.
I sent the quilt out to be machine quilted. When I got it back, I sewed on the binding. The finished quilt now hangs over a quilt rack in our new guest room.