Wedding Dress Quilt for Terre

Terre had a pretty wedding dress with narrow lace on the skirt and lace motifs.  I made a wreath design in the center, with a diamond outline. The inner panel was edged with the narrow lace.  The quilting was a feather design.

Terre #1

Her grandmother made these Sunbonnet Sue blocks in 1959, and Terre wanted them made into a quilted wall hanging.  I added blue sashing and border, quilted in a feather design, and quilted a circle or diamond design in the white areas around each Sue.

Terre #2 

Terre #2 Detail

Quilt, Pillow and Ringbearer's Pillow for Ruby

Ruby had a beautiful wedding dress with a double train, one layer satin and one lace. She wanted her  dress made into a quilt, a pillow and a ringbearer's pillow for her daughter. 

Ruby Pillow Front

I used satin from the dress for the pillow, with the beaded front bodice and strands of  bead "pearls". The back of the pillow was made from the lace train.

Ruby Pillow Back

The ringbearer's pillow was satin with beaded embellishments from the dress.

Ruby Pillow and Ringbearer's Pillow

Ruby's quilt was made from the skirt of her dress.  The satin and lace panels were joined in the center, and machine quilted in a feather design.  This showed off the lace, embellishments, and the lace on the bottom edge of the quilt

Ruby

Wedding Dress Quilt for Coti

Coti's beautiful wedding dress was chiffon with a lot of lace, lined with satin.  She wanted a quilt that showed off the beautiful lace.  The satin was used as the top of the quilt, then individual pieces of the lace finished the design, with lots of machine quilting.

In the center, I divided the space.  The bride and groom's names and wedding date were embroidered in the center, with a lace design around the embroidery.  I did a diamond shaped feather swirl pattern next, similar to the inner border.  Then a row of lace, and a feather design in the corners.

The lace was in long pieces going down the skirt of the dress.  I put the lace strips in the corners of the outside border, and quilted a background fill rather than my usual feathers.  This made the lace stand out, and be the focal point of the border.  The inner border was a pretty feather swirl design.

2013 Recap

This  has been a busy year!  I'm so lucky to be able to quilt full time, I've been able to get lots of quilts made this year!  Here's a recap of my quilts, the dates are the months when the quilts were finished:

January - April - Five quilts for my uncle's log cabin in the mountains.

Christmas Table Toppers

Two similar table toppers, two different looks!  I finished the Snowman table topper last Christmas, but never blogged about it.

The snowmen were appliqued, and the quilt was machine quilted on my mid-arm.  The blue area was a feather design, and the snowmen were a x'd spiral pattern.

The second one was finished this week, I may still do some more detail on the trees, but it's on the table. When I compare the two, I can see how my quilting has progressed, from feathers to more detailed designs.

Trees were appliqued using fabric from my Christmas stash, the background was quilted in a feather circle design, with cross hatching, dots, and stippling in between the trees.

Lots of fun to make! Merry Christmas!

Mary

Tessellating Star Instructions

Tessellating patterns are interlocking patterns that repeat.  There are a lot of different patterns, but I was really intrigued by the tessellating star, so thought I'd make one.

I wrote these instructions for myself for future quilts, but thought I'd share them.  This is my first attempt at instructions, so any feedback would be appreciated!

Glamour Shots for Quilts

Lately I've seen a lot of quilts in "non-traditional" pictures, and it's really interesting.  So I got out my digital camera and thought I'd give it a try.  This seems like a great idea when I want to show a quilt on my blog, and don't want just the straight on picture.

Which do you like better?  Or both together?  They are both just beginner shots, but this may be interesting!

By the way, this is my Colorways quilt, patchwork with machine quilting, made in 2012.  It's alternating Nine Patch and Churn Dash blocks.

Mary

Double Wedding Ring Quilt - Here Goes!

A Double Wedding Ring quilt has been on my list of quilt patterns I'd like to try for a long time.  Spring seemed like a perfect time to use my new fabrics, too!

I'm in a bright pastel phase, as you can see, love these fabrics, a combination of Joann's, Connecting Threads and Fat Quarter Shop.

So, off I went -- first I went to my scrap stash, and pulled out everything I could use -- I got tough, and if it was too small for this quilt pattern, it got thrown out.

The pattern I used came from Quilt Inspiration Blog - Wedding Ring Quilts Part 1, I love the River City Quilt Guild's quilt, but it will have to wait until I master the technique. Part 2 has some beautiful quilts too!

I'm doing the Double Wedding Ring Quilt by Marsha Evans Moore at Free Spirit Fabric for a collection by Jennifer Paganelli at Sis Boom.  Click on the link for a free pattern.

So  away I went!  I like paper piecing for this pattern, it's more precise for me.

One of my goals with quilting is to enjoy the process, and to SLOW DOWN!  This quilt is definitely going to be a process :)  Here's what I have so far.

I can't decide between making a bed runner or quilt, we'll see how it goes.  Now I better get off this blog and get quilting!

Mary

Organizing My Studio -- Making Progress!

Is this organizing ever finished?  I'm pretty sure the answer is "No!"  I really enjoy organizing my studio, it looks so nice after, and I get to use my creative organizing ideas!

My first project was organizing my shelving where I keep my stash.  I still have some labeling to do, but so far --

• Refolded ALL of my stash, using 6" ruler folding technique
• Sorted the fabric by color and value, and put the smaller pieces (fat quarters) in clear plastic shoe boxes  
• Fabrics that I wanted to stay in a group were put together in the green basket
• Scraps are sorted by color on the upper right side of the shelves, again in plastic shoe boxes
• Fleece and flannel are on the top shelf, with some of my quilts and craft supplies
• Strips are hung on the end of the shelves
• Bolts of white and off-white are stored on the bottom shelf, with smaller pieces of batting
• Rolls of batting are in the corner

Here's a really simple explanation of how I did the folding --

Snow Quilts - This is Amazing!

Somehow I received an email about this guy, and I'm glad I did, the pictures are unbelievable! I looked Simon Beck up and he is legit - he really did these amazing snow quilts.

Artist Simon Beck must really love the cold weather! Along the frozen lakes of Savoie , France, he spends days plodding through the snow in raquettes (snowshoes), creating these sensational patterns of snow art. Working for 5-9 hours a day, each final piece is typically the size of three soccer fields! The geometric forms range in mathematical patterns and shapes that create stunning, sometimes 3D, designs when viewed from

higher levels. How long these magnificent geometric forms survive is completely dependent on the weather. Beck designs and redesigns the patterns as new snow falls, sometimes unable to finish a piece due to significant overnight accumulations.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Pincushion Rings

These pincushion rings are so cute -- and easy to make! They're a great help to us quilters. Thanks Two Peas in a Pod!

Directions - 

• Put 2 holes in a plastic bottle cap (soda, milk, etc.)
• Thread elastic  through the holes, tie on inside of cap (I used a hair elastic)
• Cut fabric at least 1" bigger around than cap
• Sew around edge and gather
• Stuff with batting scraps
• Gather and hot glue to inside of cap
• Glue trim/ribbon around outside of cap - trim if you want

Easy!

Mary

Patchwork Quilt Using Scraps

I finished and delivered this queen sized gift quilt in time for Christmas!  It is made from the recipient's mother's quilt tops and niece and nephew's clothing -- a great remembrance quilt.

Using an all-over Rose and Leaf machine quilting worked well with the patchwork design. Here's a picture of the back so you can see the pattern.

Mary

Tee Shirt Quilts and Tee Shirt Purses

Tee shirts or T-shirts, most of us have a collection and don't know what to do with them.  So they sit on a shelf. 

A customer gave me her 5 year old grandson's old tee shirts, and I decided to try my first tee shirt quilt.  It was fun and easy!

I cut the tee shirts out and fused interfacing to the back of the squares.  I bordered them with red or white, then put blue sashing.  It was quite large, almost queen size.  Did lots of machine quilting, and there it is!

The customer I made it for was thrilled, and can't wait to give it to her grandson.

I also made 2 purses for her out of left-over tee shirt fabric.  Again, used fusible interfacing to keep it from stretching, and I braided strips of fabric for the straps.

This is a very popular type of quilt, hope I get to make some more!

I love to try new ideas and techniques!

Hi Everyone!

Hi Everyone,

How exciting to have a blog!  I’m planning to post lots of quilt information, tips, patterns, great links, and other fun and helpful stuff.  Hope you enjoy it!

In addition to making quilts for gifts, and to sell, I also make quilts for charity, which I donate to Quilts For Kids.  They have a central location, an also have many local chapters.  I belong to the McGee's Crossroads Chapter in Willow Spring, NC.  Our chapter's quilts are donated to sick children in local hospitals.  I think that's such a nice idea and the kids and their parents seem to really appreciate them.

Looking forward to posting and your comments!