Easy Street Mystery Quilt

I'm addicted to Mystery Quilts ... and this one by Bonnie K. Hunter is to-die-for!

Easy Street with Bonnie K. Hunter

Let's just pretend that September was yesterday ...

I've been blogging in my head for a couple of weeks now ... trying to figure out how to span an empty space of 4 months.  Do I try to catch up and fill in with everything that has happened?  Crikey!  No way!  Too much has happened and there is no chance in H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS that I can stay focused enough to fill you in.  Shoot, I can barely relate what has happened in the past hour ...

Ok, so here's the plan.  Let's just pretend that yesterday was September and that today just happens to be the Day After September ... or some day that resembles the Day After September.

So here's a picture for you.  I worked my fingers to the bone quilting customer quilts right before Christmas and then gave myself permission to spend some time on doing some sewing/piecing for me.  So I love mystery quilts ... I've had some good ones and some OH MY GOD WHAT WAS I THINKING ones ... but I fell into the Bonnie K. Hunter Easy Street mystery right at Thanksgiving and I have had a ball with it.  This pic is of the top without borders.  I plan to add a 2" black border and then a wider something-something border.  Sounds like I need a trip to a quilt store, doesn't it?  And I have a plan for the backing, but that's for later.  How fun can this be????

The famous Ms. Hunter used Lime Green, Turquoise, and Purple in her quilt.  Well, I came across a tangerine piece of fabric that had fushia (or is it magenta?) and a blue-green in it and I went for those colors.  I love the black/white pieces.   So tomorrow I'll see if I can find an outer border piece.  Any suggestions?

And today I finished up this wall-hanging for Patsy Ruth.  It is so beautiful.  The colors are so soft but the way she put them together makes a statement.

This is BEFORE Santa arrived ...

This is AFTER Santa arrived:

Oh oh oh!!!!  Can you see the white wire baskets to the right and to the left of Patsy's wall-hanging?   I added the two pics above, the BEFORE and the AFTER.  I am a brave soul, aren't I?  Santa bought me these beautiful storage units for Christmas!  I've given up the jewelry-as-a-present thing ... now I want (and dare I say NEED) things that make my quilting life productive!  And these units are just too great.  Everything is put up ... most of my fabric (at least fabric in this room) is folded, measured, and put in its proper place.  I finally know what it means to feel a 'lightness of being'.  When I walk into this room, I automatically relax knowing that I can work without stress, worrying about the mess that litters my area.  It's all GOOD!

You know it's happened ...

Second post for the day ....

So you've quilted some quilts, they get delivered to their owners and then what?  Have you ever wondered where those beautiful quilts are and how they are doing? 

I'm lucky to have customers who don't mind sending me some pictures of their quilts 'at home' ... or wherever they are.

Anne sent me a picture of her Monkey Baby Quilt.  This is just the cutest quilt in America and I love the pieced backing.  I'm getting to where I really really like a pieced backing!  Those little monkeys are too too cute!

This is Carrie's Blue and Yellow quilt.  I think the story is that this quilt was suppose to go to a family member (I won't mention who...) but Carrie saw the finished products (quilt plus 2 shams) and decided .... nah, this is MINE!  LOL!  I think she said that this quilt is now on the guest bedroom bed.  Yummy!  Isn't that a great picture?

She did a great job piecing these and it was so nice to quilt.  Love those projects that turn out wonderfully!

Again, with the Catch-Up ...

Again, with the catching-up.  Time just gets away from me.  I'm getting ready for a trip North and decided to take Max in for his "Spa" treatment at the factory.  Good timing since we're going up that way anyway.  I figure after 3 years he probably needs to be tuned up a bit.  We have been able to recalibrate the stitches as needed but a good tune-up can only be a good thing.  

So in preparation for that I've been working like mad, getting quilts done.  Some I don't have pictures for ... sigh ...

So here goes ...

First up is Janis and her Lonestar.  Our small church quilting group took on this project individually and we have about 7 of these Lonestars out there ... Janis actually got hers done!  Woo Woo!  Mine, of course, is "almost" finished ... hey, the cobbler's children had no shoes!  (The quilter has no quilted quilts ...)

Her Lonestar turned out beautiful.  I used a circle with star template on the quilting with a soft blue/grey Magna-Glide thread.

Next up is Barbara's Yellow Brick Road.  Barbara took a Beginning Piecing class that I taught at Cottontail Quilts and she finished up her YBR.    Barbara chose only a few different fabrics for her YBR and it turned out great!   The quilting is a feather meander and again, the thread is the Magna-Glide in a soft gold.  

 REMEMBER TO CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO GET A CLOSER LOOK!

Next is Carrie's HUGE pink and green floral quilt.  I say HUGE because getting a full picture of this quilt is almost impossible.  But here are some pics.

This is one of the matching pillow shams.  On both I used Feather Meander and of course, Magna-Glide thread.  HOWEVER, I played with the thread on this one and ran two threads through the needle ... a pink and a green.  It gives a different feel to the stitching, not quite a variagated feel but a soft pink/green.  I have done this on one of my own quilts (that big bad Kaffe Fassett quilt I did last year) and I just love the texture look of the stitching.  It's fun to play!

Did you think I'd fallen off the ends of the earth?

It's been a while, but I'm here.  It's been a busy time around here.  I had my Spanish daughter here visiting for about a week and a half and when she makes it home once a year, I'm all hers!  We didn't plan any big outings ... she mainly just wanted to be at home, chilling out ... but we managed a few shopping sprees ... wheee!!!  She caught the shoe-bug from me ... we both LOVE shoes!   And off point here, but we both believe that the shoe makers have changed their shoe sizes.  Both of us had to go up 1/2 size in ALL shoes that we purchased.  And I purchased the same brand that I've got in my closet and still had to go up that 1/2 size.  What is this all about?!!  And of course the cutest shoes we bought were ... do you remember the late 80's ... JELLIES!  Yes, I'm telling you!  JELLIES!  Cutest little shoe in America!  Maybe I'll get a picture of them and post here soon ... believe me, cute cute cute cute cute!  

I did manage to get a couple of quilts done while she was here, and here's the pictures of Elisa's Memory Wall-Hanging that she made to celebrate a friends 80th birthday.  The woman is gorgeous and the pictures are absolutely charming.  

She wanted feathers incorporated in the wall-hanging and then I added some hearts to carry out the Heart theme she had going on.  

Because this is a wall-hanging I used two layers of batting ... QD 70/30 blend on the bottom and QD Wool on the top.  It really makes those pictures pop and the quilting is accentuated.  I used cream Magna-Glide thread on the light portion and changed to red Magna-Glide on the red squares ... cream in the bobbin on both.  

Happy 80th birthday!

Hand me a fan ... it's done!

Whew ... it's hotter than fried pies down here and I've been feeling the heat ... but I got lucky because I had me a studio full of "fans" ... with a peacock or two thrown in!


It's done it's done it's done!  I'm posting pictures but you need to know that this quilt is 96" x 96" and there is no way I can get a good picture of this big ol' bad boy ... so I'm just posting some shots of the different aspects of this quilt.    This is Robbie's quilt and she told me it's going on her bed.  It's going to be beautiful draped across her bed....

If you click on the peacock picture you might be able to see where I used the light gold thread and outlined or enhanced the flowers, peacock feathers, etc.


The light blue 'sky' area has a floral motif, while the fans with the gold centers has a modified feather in each fan segment.  The smaller peacock squares has a feathered wreath in them.  

Coming attractions! (Sneak peek ...)

It's been a while, but this is why ... 


Here's a sneak peek at a coming attraction ...


Oooohhhhh   ....


Remember you can click on the picture to get an up-close look ...

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!!

Oh, Happy Dance!  I just got word that Bernina University has announced its new 7-series line!  I have sooooooo been waiting for this word!  

I am an old-time Bernina fanatic.  I have the original 830 - totally mechanical - machine and I love it.  I will never trade this one in.  Several years ago I was ready to buy a Bernina that had embroidery functionality, and for reasons I won't go into, I bought the Babylock Ellegante2 which I also love.  I am not heavy into embroidery but I want that capability when I decide I want to embroider.  


So fast forward 2 years, and I realized that I'm still obsessing over a new Bernina.  I really want a SEWING machine without the embroidery stuff, but I want some new technology, like a touch screen.  And guess what!  (Hands to face!!)  The new 710 appears to be my next machine.  Ok Ok ... I'll calm down.  These new machines are expected in the stores in September so I'll actually wait until then and go drive one and see how we mesh.  


Oh, my ... 


http://news.investors.com/newsfeed/article/141345038/201207090930/bernina-introduces-its-new-7-series-line-with-patent-pending-bernina-9-hook-technology.aspx

Click on the above link and you'll read all about the new line!

Happy Belated Birthday ... and Happy Independence Day!

Belated Happy Independence Day!  I barely noticed as it's so hot here (how hot is it?  Hotter than fried pies!)  that I really stayed underground doing what I love.  We heard lots of fireworks but with all the trees around us we couldn't see a one.  


My sweet MIL turned 91 on the 3rd of July.  Sometime ago I met a customer who does wool work and we struck a barter-bargain.  I asked for a red/white/blue wool braided bowl that I could give to MIL on her birthday.  The bowl came and I took it to our local home decor store and had them work up a floral arrangement to fit the bowl.  Here's the result:

Isn't it pretty?  Happy Birthday, Lois!!


So the quilting world continues on and here are a few of the quilts that I've been working on.


This first one is Pam's baby quilt Spot's Favorite Colors and it turned out so sweet.  I used the panto Water World on it.  

The next two quilts are LARGE quilts and because they are so so so big I was unable to get a good overall picture.


Carrie's Blue and Brown Boy's quilt is huge!  And this picture does not come close to doing it justice.  It is a beautiful batik quilt.  I used the pantograph Fossil on it with a Deep Mint Magna-Glide thread and it came out beautifully.  No feathers or florals for these boys, you know...
Remember to click on the picture for a closer view.

This gorgeous Yellow and Blue sampler quilt went home with Susan.  Again, this one is very large.  I used a Feather Meander on it with a yellow Magna-Glide thread.  I absolutely love this thread!  It doesn't go with every single quilt, but for those that call for it - wow!  

Stay cool out there!  We are experiencing near-100 deg weather.  I just feel blessed that I have air conditioning and work that I enjoy doing INSIDE!   I'm real tempted to try that "fry an egg on the sidewalk" thingie ... 


I've got several projects on my design schedule right now so I'm busy busy busy.   There's a One Block Wonder that needs to be finished, a Snail's Trail that's ALMOST done, and two Lone Star projects.  Plus I've done two of those cutie-patootie Iron Caddy bags.  Christmas is coming, you know!