Busy Getting Ready for Christmas

To quilt or to blog?  That's the question -- not enough hours in the day!

Went to the Quilting in the Pines quilt show in Pinehurst.  The beautiful quilts inspired me to finish this Christmas Poinsettia quilt with machine quilted poinsettias, ferns and feathers.

My Mary Manson Quilts business is moving along -- I've made several custom quilts, tee shirt quilts and purses in the last couple of months.  This week I'm showing my quilts to a group in Fayetteville, NC.

Holmes Fine Gifts (Holmes Electric)  has invited me to be their guest artist at the 4th Friday celebration in downtown Fayetteville on November 23. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come visit!

Here are a few of the items -- quilts, bed runners, placemats, gift/bottle tags, coasters, coffee cup cozies, purses, and much more!!

Back to work!

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!

Bed Runners

If you can't make a commitment to a big quilt, why not a Bed Runner?  These narrow quilts just cover the foot of the bed, and add color and extra warmth to your bed, without all of the fuss of a big quilt.   They can also be made with pockets on the ends to hold the remote, or toys for the kids.  If you sit on the end of the bed to put on your shoes, a bed runner can protect the quilt or bedspread that it covers, and they are easier to wash than a big quilt.  They can be custom made to fit any bed or decor, and make great gifts.

Pillow shams can also be made from the same fabric to match the bed runner.

The dimensions are typically 24" wide and the length is 25"-30" longer than the width of the mattress, so that there is a 12"-15" drop on each side of the bed.

I'm going to be making these, including Christmas ones, and putting them on my website at www.marymansonquilts.com

Mary

Modern Feathers

Here is my new favorite machine quilting pattern -- "modern" feathers?  I drew the pattern on paper first, until I got it down, then had a great time doing this practice quilt.  The possibilities are endless :)

Here is the YouTube video -- YouTube - Feathers of a New Generation