Shirt Quilts Progress

Yesterday I finished up the 40 blocks I need for two more shirt tops.  

They will go with these blocks I finished at the end of February:

I was going to put my design wall up to layout all these blocks and start sewing them together, but I am baby sitting this week and need easy access to the room I sew in and the living room. Since the design wall covers the french doors that connect the two, I decided to wait.

Instead I started the quilting on Shirt Quilt #1. 
 I am almost finished with the stitch in the ditch, I have 1 side of the border and a wee bit left on the other corner. Once that is done I will break out the darning foot for some free motion quilting in the string blocks.


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FQSQA Catch Up

I got my last three blocks done for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along.  

Block #10

Block #11

 Block twelve was posted last Tuesday. Picture deadline is this following Tuesday so I am all caught up.  

Block #12

Next on the list is to put them altogether in a quilt top.  Picture deadline for that is March 26.

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Tote and Matching Quilt

My good friend asked me to make a tote bag for her niece who is turning one soon.  She wanted something simple to take toys in and out of and she wanted it to be soft.  She also told me her neice liked Tigger, so this is what I came up with.  It has pink Polk a Dot flannel inside.

I put the name on the bottom right and then felt like the top needed a little something extra to balance it out. So I made a fabric flower. 

This was the first time I have ever made a flower like this and I am totally in love with it.

When I was done with the tote I had a nice sized piece of fabric leftover. Instead of putting it back on the shelf (and letting it sit for who knows how long till I figured out what to do with it) I decided to add some purple borders and quilt it up. I used the same pink flannel for the back and rolled it around for the binding.

Simple, cute, quick, and usable.

 It is small enough to fold up and put in the tote bag and can be used as a car seat quilt, or a small stroller quilt, or it can even be used as a changing pad if she wants.

This set makes finish #8 for the year.

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Jewel Box Progress

I got all the blocks sewn together for my Jewel Box quilt over the weekend.  Next I need to add borders.  I wanted some of the red fabric for an outer border, but since this fabric line is three years old, I haven't been able to find any.  I shall have to come up with something else.

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Charleston Quilt Show

Today I went down to Charleston SC with my good friend and my daughter and we spent the day at the Cobblestone Quilters 2012 quilt show.  

There were a lot of wonderful quilts and a few vendors, which I avoided since I already spent my fabric allowance this month.  There was also a representative from Nolting Long Arm Quilting Machines at the show and I tried out my very first long arm machine.  And boy was it wonderful.  It puts my Bernina stitch regulator to shame.  I want a long arm even more now.   A couple more weeks and my attic rooms will be finished.  Then I can move some kids up there and take one of their rooms for my own sewing room and a place for a long arm.  I better get saving my money, won't be long now!

This quilt was titled "The Place I love" and is a topographical map of the Charleston and surrounding areas.

It came in third in the Art/Innovative category.

I took a lot of pictures at the show today. Lots of inspiration.

This one was titled "Gone With The Wind" and won First in the Art/Innovative category.

 This one took first for "Wall - Mixed Technique"  It had beads all over it, even on the edging of the binding.
It is one of my favorites.

 There were quite a few Bargellos.  My friend and my daughter liked these a lot.

This one was titled "Ice Crystal" and took first for Wall-Pieced.

For some reason I didn't get the whole quilt on this one, just the quilting. Which is lovely.

This one didn't win anything, but I thought it was quite stunning with all the tiny fused applique pieces. The cutting on each one was very precise.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the cat quilt.

This quilt made good use of huge buttons for fish eyes.

This Kaliedascope quilt took first in the "Duet Wall-Pieced" category.

There were lots of Duet quilts in this show and I like how they give ribbons to both the piecer and the quilter.
In my opinion, the quilting is just as important as the piecing and sometimes it can turn a boring quilt into a stunning one, not that this one is boring.  It is quite spiffy.

There were quite a few 3D elements on this quilt.

This won for "Best of Show-Bed Quilt" and First in the "Duet Bed - Mixed Technique".

It was also the Opportunity quilt for the Cobblestone Quilt guild.

I didn't feel lucky though, so I didn't buy a ticket for a chance to win it.

Close up of some of the machine stitching.

This won "Best of Show-Wall Quilt".  It was all hand appliqued and hand quilted. It was extraordinary.

It also won the ribbon for First in the "Wall-Applique" category.

View of the back of with the hand quilting.

I love the really thin vines done with embroidery on the border.

Some close up shots of the handwork.

While I was zooming on this quilt some guy commented to me, "You are a purist aren't you."  

Not quite sure what he meant by that, but I will take it to mean that I like the traditional quilts best,
which is true.  :)

Best Interpretation of Theme.

Best Hand Quilting.

First in Bed-Applique category.

Best Machine Quilting (Track Machine)

Best Hand Applique

First Place Duet Bed-Applique

Look at those perfect berries!

There were so many beautiful quilts to look at and a lot of them were large ones.

I was really drawn to  the Appliqued quilts.

Particularly the hand turned appliques.

Must be the "purist" in me.  

I voted for this one as my People's Choice.  All the pieces in it are 1/2 an inch big.

It was wonderful to look it.  It was titled "Omigosh!"  It took First in "Bed-Pieced Category".

First place for "Duet Bed - Pieced"

A couple more lovelies.

This one didn't take home a ribbon, but it is another favorite of mine.

The miniatures were wonderfully pieced.

I asked my daughter to pose next to this one so I could have a scale reference.

This quilt wasn't in the judging.  It was on loan from the Charleston Museum.

My daughter vote for this one for her Viewer's choice.

It took the ribbon for Best Use of Color and Second for Landscape/Pictorial.

Seeing all these ribbons makes me want more to go with the two I already have.
This guild allows anyone to enter their show.
Perhaps I will enter some of my quilts next year and try for some more ribbons to hang on my wall.  :)

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