Knit One Quilt Too

Posies is Done!

Collaborative Chicks #4:: Posies is done!  I love this one so much.  The colors are just right and the pots were fun to make.  I even enjoyed what seemed like many hours of yo-yo making (while listening to my new sci fi audio series- The Ender Saga).  

 

The buttons were some that I just happened to have in my button stash.  They are hand-dyed and were perfect for this quilt.   I'm so glad I checked, because I was thinking I'd have to go out looking for buttons.  I got the last posies put on earlier today while the sun blazed and the temps got up to the mid 50's.  It's been a gorgeous weekend and we just really needed to get out in it, so we took a long afternoon walk in the neighborhood.  

 

I just realized that the colors in this photo echo the colors in the quilt.  I've got two more bindings to finish and two tops to complete before Thursday.  I think I can do it, but it'll be a push.  Better get back to work!

Liberated Amish

I've joined the Liberated Amish get together that Tonya started.  It's been fun, but I haven't had as much time for this project as I would have liked.  I chose to do some roman stripes.  With the incredibly busy week ahead of me, I may not get as much done on this as I would like.  On the other hand, I could get a lot done if I bring this to my solids class with Gwen Marston next week!  Now there's an idea.  My Gwen and Freddy retreat starts on Thursday and then the solids with Gwen is right after that.  Can you see why I'm so busy!  I also still have some of those Collaborative Chicks quilt tops to get done.  I plan to sew tomorrow so I'll report back on my progress.

Collaborative Chicks # 6:: Our Garden

My guild mini retreat last weekend was a great success.  I missed my official Collaborative Chicks class, which was also that day, but since I worked on that quilt anyway, it was all good.  This is based on a quilt in Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again called Our Garden.  I decided to use mostly floral prints, but didn't go with the black and white background.  All this fabric was in my stash and it's mostly Kaffe Fassett and similar style prints.  

 

Lots of people walking by my spot liked this block. 

 
Here's an idea of the layout.  I have all the blocks done (64 in total) and sewn into rows.  I just need to sew the rows together.  There will be no border.   I must admit this was my least favorite quilt in the book, but I like the end result.  I didn't so much like the process though- not liberated enough for me.  I definitely have lots of points that won't match up.  I intend to offer this one for sale at the Sisters Quilt Show. 

We've got a couple of busy days coming up, including Chloe's appearance on the local news tomorrow morning and then a spot on the radio.  It's all to promote the Make-A-Wish Foundation which is having a radiothon here.  Wish us luck!

Little Quilts

Just in case you were wondering what the winners received, these two little mini quilts were the prizes.   I also sent a skein of sock yarn with the second one.  The first you might remember from way back a couple of years ago when I took a class with Jean Wells, of the Stitchin' Post.  That piece was sitting in my drawer ready for something to happen to it.  I layered and machine quilted it in no time.  The second was was made from some leftover fungly blocks.  Both were fun to do and I got to try out some new machine quilting skills I learned a couple of weeks ago.   

It's been warm here (50's warm, not 70's warm), so I've had some chances to walk in the gorgeous sunshine.  We've also had another birthday (Mark's) and some very busy regular days.  This Saturday is my quilt guild's board retreat.  It's just a one day thing, but I'm really looking forward to sewing with my new guild friends.  Should be fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you have a wonderful day with those you love!

Ryan's Quilt

I'm still not happy with the photos.  This low winter light makes it hard to show the true colors, but at least you can see the quilting.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I really love everything about this quilt.  It's free machine pieced and free hand quilted, with inspiration by Gwen Marston and Lazy Gal Tonya Ricucci.  Though you can't see it in these photos, I used three different colors of quilt thread~ red, turquoise and lime green.  I mixed it up depending on the color of the patches I was sewing on.  I used to try to hide the quilting by using a thread color that was the same as the fabric.  I don't bother with that now.  If I'm going to go through all the work to hand quilt, I want the stitches to show!  Even though my stitches aren't perfect, and after 18 years of doing it aren't likely to get any better, I think they should stand out.  This quilt will be hanging in the Sisters Quilt Show this year, so look for it if you make it here for that!

The Winners

Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous post!  I had such fun reading your thoughts.  I decided to choose two winners because it's a celebration, so why not?

The first winner is Tracy Lee because hers was the 2000th comment.  Tracy said: Congratulations! You always have a great mix of crafty posts with a personal touch - no surprise about the number of comments!

The second winner is Kim who was chosen out of the basket by my hubby.  Kim said:  I love your blog! I have been a knitter for years, but started a liberated quilting class in January. I have never quilted before and it's so fun! I love looking at your quilts for inspiration. In my dreams, I'd like to make quilts as beautiful as yours.  Kim has started her quilting adventure with the liberated style, way to go!

I was overwhelmed by all the kind words.  Prizes will be sent out later this week, as I have a bit more work to do to finish them!  See the sneak peek above.  Meanwhile, Happy Quilting!  XOXO

Time to Celebrate!

I was checking out my stats today and realized that I am almost to 2000 comments.  It seems the perfect time to have a drawing to celebrate!  Please post a comment here by midnight tonight (pacific time) and I'll do the drawing tomorrow.  The prize will be of the quilty, scrappy, liberated sort, but if you like yarn, mention that in your comment and I'll include something sweet of the wooly variety.  Good luck!

PS: That's a sneak peek for Ryan's quilt.  I've actually showed this block before, so it's not such a big surprise.  Stay tuned for more.

 

Love Always

Love Always is done! 

 

Let's just say, I'm very, very pleased with this one!

 

It's on the wall now, just by the front door.  For new readers, this quilt was started as a challenge by Lazy Gal Tonya to use these LOVE letters in a quilt.  She sent them to me and I put it all together.  Thanks again Tonya for the inspiration!

 
I do believe this one is perfect for February, but it will probably be up for quite a while.  I can't get enough of the bold shapes.  I'll be sure to bring this one for Gwen Marston to see when I take her classes in March.  Meanwhile, Ryan's quilt is finished too and awaiting a day with good light for photos.

Make-A-Wish Chloe!

Chloe's birthday was a lot of fun.  We had a delicious lunch at her favorite cafe, The Sparrow Bakery.  Then shopping for new Converses (because you know Who wears them) and jeans.  Big news there is that it was her first time buying jeans that were not kids' sizes!  For those who don't know Chloe has suffered from a growth hormone deficiency and two years ago she had stopped growing at 4' 8".  After two years of daily shots she has grown 6", beating our hopes of getting to 5'.  

We finished the evening with a meal at her other favorite restaurant, Zydeco, and the Live in HD cinema showing of Prairie Home Companion.  What a treat that was!  We've seen the show 3 times in person, but the camera work on this made it totally worth going.  You got great up close views of all cast members, musicians and the wonderful sound effects men.  We even sent in a greeting to be read on the show.  It didn't get picked, but is on the PHC website about 3/4 of the way down.  

On another note, way back in December I mentioned our trip to Atlanta, but never did say why we went.  The trip was very special because Chloe was chosen for a Make-A-Wish trip!  Her wish was to see  Alton Brown of the Food Network shows Good Eats and Iron Chef.  She specifically wanted to see the set of Good Eats and to meet Alton. 

 The Make-A-Wish Foundation really does an incredible job on fulfilling wishes.  The official wish day included a limo ride to the studio and 5 hours there with a tour and time to watch filming.  We even got to eat lunch with the staff of the show.  We took lots of photos on the set of Good Eats, but due to the arrangement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation we are not supposed to post them online.  In order to stay in the good graces of the Food Network, I'll just post a link to Chloe's wish story.  I wonder what wish she was making last night as she blew out her birthday candle?