The Unicorn Quilt - The Last Quilt For 2019

I worked right up until Christmas and finished this quilt which is a Christmas gift for a 3 1/2 year old:

Here are pillow cases to match this quilt and the 2 previous quilts.  All 3 are going to siblings.

Here are the 2 previous quilts.

We will celebrate Christmas with these three children tomorrow, the day after Christmas.

I am so glad to have these quilts done and am ready to move on to something else...... or maybe just take a break from quilting for a while!

Merry Christmas!

A Quilt Finish - Blue and Green Many Trips around the World

This "Many Trips Around The World" quilt is for one of my Grandsons.  The pattern is from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website. 

I love the Fall background in these pictures.

On to the next quilt!  Pink, turquoise and lavender unicorns.   I'm planning to finish it by Christmas, Lord willing!

I am linking this post to Monday Making at the "Love Laugh Quilt" blog; to TGIF Friday at Alycia Quilts.

A Quilt Finish - Kindergarten Art Quilt

I am happy to say I am finished with this quilt, except for a label!  Its different than any quilt I've ever made.  I would describe it as bright, bold, and striking.  It looks like basket weaves.

Here's the original art work.  The quilt looks a lot like it! I should have turned the quilt the other way when taking the picture so it would match, but then it would have dragged on the ground. 

This picture shows the backing fabric.  It was the only fabric I could find that would work and it turned out to be perfect.  It has the same pattern as the front of the quilt, just no purple and red.

Now on to the next grandchild's quilt.  Here's a sneak peek.

I am linking this post to Monday Making at the "Love Laugh Quilt" blog; to TGIF Friday at Alycia Quilts. and Finished or not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts

Slow Sunday Stitching - Binding!

Today I am slow stitching the binding on the back of the "Kindergarten Art Quilt".  I am so excited to be so close to finishing it!  Can you believe these colors?  Its not my normal kind of quilt, but I love it!  It will be so bright and cheerful for a 6 year old.... the 6 year old who designed it with a blue ribbon winning art project!  

This was a simple pattern.   Not sure if it should be classified as a "Rail Fence" or a "Basket Weave".  I'll be posting pictures of the finished quilt in a few days.  


I should have been finished with it weeks ago, but just couldn't get motivated to work on it.  But later today it'll be done.  The quilting motivation bug has bitten me pretty hard.  I've already made progress on the next grandchild's quilt!  And dreaming of all the projects I want to work on.  Its been a while since I laid awake at night with quilting on my mind, but like I said the quilting bug has bitten me.

I'm linking this post to Kathy's Quilts "Slow Stitching Sunday."

Weekend Quilt Activity - The Kid Quilts

I finished pin basting the Kindergarten Art Quilt and began the machine quilting.

I also worked on pulling fabric choices for the next two quilts. One for our 3 year old granddaughter:

 

And one for our 5 year old grandson:




I bought a few pieces of the fabrics and then pulled matching pieces from my stash.

There's a whole lot of quilt activity going on around here!!!

A Quilted Pumpkin Table Runner in July!

What's a girl to do when its July and its awhile until Fall is here?

 Sew some pumpkins!

I already had everything I needed to make this runner.  I have been working on a quilt that has a lot of orange in it, so I was able to pull fabrics from that project and I also found some in my fall fabrics that I store in a plastic tote. A while back I found some orange remnants in the remnant bin at Joann's Fabrics, so that came in handy for this project.   I love going through that bin! 

Its a perfect project for using up some scraps.

I always have scraps of quilt batting left over from other projects and found a piece that was just the right size.

The backing fabric is a calico print that I'm pretty sure is from the 80s or 90s.  I'm not sure, but that small orange flower made it perfect for the backing.

I love the orange dotted fabric I used for the binding and one of the pumpkins on the front.  That fabric came from Walmart and is probably still available.

Here is a link to the pattern.  (click here)

I did not use the printable sheets.  I just did regular fusible applique.

Kindergarten Quilt Art!

Our six year old grandson won first place in the art exhibit for the whole county for his age group.   When I saw it, I immediately said "That's a Rail Fence Quilt!"

I have been thinking about what kind of quilt to make this child and I think its going to look a lot like this!

What do you think?

Grandbaby on a Quilt

She's 9 months old and going places! This is the quilt that I always use for outside pictures. I've taken pictures of the last three grandbabies on it, as well as part of a photo shoot of my daughter and her family standing in a cotton field with the quilt around their shoulders.

Its probably the scrappiest quilt I've made.  The pattern is Jewel Box and the finished quilt can be seen HERE.

Have a great day!

Scrappy Rainbow Double Irish Chain Quilt Progress

I got started on this quilt about a year ago as part of Scrap Happy Saturday on the So Scrappy Blog HERE.   Each month there is a different color of scraps to focus on.  The color for April is Aqua.  So if you have lots of scraps, this might be a good way for you to use them.

These blocks are just laid out on the bed so that I can check the progress.  I always love how a pattern comes to life once you lay the blocks out together.

I would love to quilt some kind of special design in each of the white areas, maybe like THIS or THIS

Here are some of the different colored blocks.

Sometimes I have worked on the quilt as a leaders and enders project.  Other times it has been the main project.  I only need to make six more blocks in lavender.  I have already sewn some of the blocks together in rows, so it won't be too long before it will be a completed quilt top.

I'm playing around with ideas for quilts for three of my grandchildren.  They are 2 brothers and their sister, who lost their quilts in the house fire.  I'm planning to do similar, but in different colors, twin size quilts for them.

A good part of the enjoyment in quilting is in the planning!

A Quilt Story

I normally would only post pictures of quilts if I was working on a new quilt or had finished one and had pictures of the completed quilt.  But, life happens and sometimes there is a sad quilt story.  Thankfully, this is rare!

Two weeks ago the house my stepdaughter, her husband and three children (ages 2, 4 and 6)  were living in caught fire and they lost almost everything.  The wonderful thing about this tragic event is that they all got out safely without having a hair on their head hurt.  Thanks be to God!  They were renting this house while waiting for a new house to be built.  Thankfully they bought a smoke detector since there was not one there.  The smoke detector woke them from a deep sleep, each parent grabbed a child or two and ran outside.  They put the children in their van.  The fire was spreading so quickly they could not even go back in to get the keys to the van!!!  They only were wearing what ever they were sleeping in.  No shoes.  No coats (and it was a cold night).  I don't have to say any more about how close a call this was!  Sadly, two dogs didn't survive.

We are so thankful that they got out and also for another wonderful thing that came out of this situation.  The family and community have been absolutely amazing!  They were offered a fully furnished house to stay in at no cost.  By the second day after the fire they were living in this generously offered home.   They have been given so many things, including cash and replacement clothes, toys, etc.  They are overwhelmed with the kindness of people they have never even met!  Honestly, they have more clothes than they have ever had.   It will be a long time before everything is replaced.  You don't think about all the "things" we need and use everyday.  The list goes on and on, from driver's licenses to a basic screwdriver.  But they are doing just fine!  In a few months they will be able to move into their new "forever" home.

As we all know, "things" can be replaced!

My stepson-inlaw brought me these quilts that I had made, to see if they could be saved.  I tried very hard, but for most of them, it just wasn't meant to be.  The chemicals in the smoke or soot on them acted as some type of acid which ate holes in the fabric, dissolved quilting threads and quilt batting.  It was also impossible to get the stains out and I'm not sure if the smoke smell could have been removed.

Only one of the quilts is salvageable.  It is the quilt I made back in  early 2011 shown HERE and the name of it is "Farmhouse Magic":  It was stored in a closet that was at the opposite end of the house from where the fire started and only had a couple of small spots on it.  I think it will be just fine.  I aired it out on the clothesline for several hours and then washed and dried it as normal.


THIS sailboat baby quilt that I named "Blue Skies From Now On" was at the daycare, so it was safe! There were three more baby quilts that couldn't even be found.


Here are before and after pictures of the ones I tried to save: 

I already had in my mind (on that never ending quilt dream list) a plan to make each of the children a new twin size quilt.  So I'm going to get on that ASAP.  It takes me a while to make a quilt, but maybe you'll see some progress on that soon.

Have a great day and check those smoke detectors!