All Decked Out

Finding Homes

Monday, October 10, 2011 6 Comments »

I love when quilts finally find their homes. Two little ones did just that on Saturday. We went to visit my son and his wife in Sinking Spring, PA, taking along a couple of small quilts that began this summer.

The first is a Schnibble pattern, and will go on the wall in my granddaughter Maddie's room. Maddie is 19 months old, very much her own person, and loves bright colors. I name all of my quilts, so this one is "Maddie's Picnic". I'm sorry that part of the quilt is washed out in the bright sun, but this is where my official quilt holders wanted to stand.

That's Annabelle (she'll be 6 in February), and Ian (he'll be 5 in March),
showing off their baby little sister's quilt.

The second is a flag I made using Civil War repro fabrics. The blocks are little tumblers cut with the Accuquilt Go! cutter. I thought son Andy would put it in his office, but he decided it's going above the fireplace in his family room. It's called "O'er the Land of the Free" in honor of the fact that Andy is pursuing the American dream by starting his own company.

And here is Miss Madeline herself, kissing her daddy. There is no quilt in the picture, but it was too darned cute not to post.

The next project is a flannel baby quilt and a bunch of burpers for #4 -- a baby brother, due December 4th. My daughter-in-law is a saint!

More Jelly

Sunday, October 09, 2011 7 Comments »

I'm not shy about admitting that I have ADQD (Attention Deficit Quilting Disorder), and those darned jelly rolls make it sooooo easy to start a new project at the flick of a rotary cutter. Here's the latest little project that called to me from the cover of the November-December issue of McCall's Quilting. One jelly roll, plus the extra yardage for the background, sashing and border, would make two tops. I betcha you could make the quilt more of a table-topper size by just doing away with that wide outside border. Looks like a couple of quick holiday presents to me!

Thanks so much to all of you who put your name in the hat for my Jellyroll Quilt Magic giveaway. I'm not having much luck training the cat, but have made great progress teaching my hubby. He's been practicing & will be ready to pull a name on Thursday night : )

FREE BEER!

Thursday, October 06, 2011 100 Comments »

OK, it's not free beer, but it is a giveaway! Lots of the bloggers I follow have hosted giveaways, but this is my very first. I’m giving up my giveaway virginity!!

In my last post, I told you about my friend Kimberly, who has written her second jelly roll book. Her first, Jelly Roll Quilts and More, was wonderful; I’ve made many quilts from her patterns, all of which went together easily, finished beautifully, and were quite satisfying to do. Her new book, Jelly Roll Quilt Magic, continues where the first book left off – and it is a doozie. It takes jelly roll creativity to a whole ‘nother level. The patterns are more challenging, but oh the quilts you can create!

Just to let you know how good this book is, thinking about it kept me up most of last night. Yep, I was tossing and turning because all kinds of ideas for fabric combinations kept running through my head. First there was the Amish-ish Lone Star quilt using solid brights on black to go over the fire place in my son’s new house. Then there was the Autumn Leaves quilt in batiks, and that really pretty Christmas quilt.......

I have a copy of Kimbery’s book to give away!! As it turns out, I was sooooo anxious to get it, I pre-ordered it twice from Amazon. My mistake is your good fortune! I am making the deal even sweeter by including two companion rulers created by Kimberly. They make using jelly rolls and pre-cuts so much easier: the Easy Star and Geese Ruler, and the Simpli-EZ Jelly Roll Ruler.

So what do you have to do to be eligible for this fabulous jelly package? Just post a comment on my blog telling me why you like working with jelly rolls, or why you would like to try working with them. If you want an extra chance at winning, post about my giveaway on your blog and include that info in your comment to me. How easy can it get? You have until Thursday night, October 13th, to enter. I will be spending the rest of the week training my cat to pull a name out of a hat.

DISCLAIMER: For those who might be wondering, although Kimberly is a friend, she is not in any way sponsoring this giveaway. This is strictly my deal. When I run across something I like and think will make life easier for my fellow quilters, I am not shy about promoting it.

Magic!!!

Friday, September 30, 2011 3 Comments »

My friend Kimberly is a gifted teacher, a talented quilter, a very funny lady and one of the sweetest people I know. She's also the author of a new book, Jellyroll Quilt Magic. I've made quite a few quilts from her other book focusing on precuts -- Jellyroll Quilts and More -- and have been looking forward to this new baby for quite a while.

Go check out Kimberly's website, learn a little more about her book, and sign up for a chance to win your very own copy of Jellyroll Quilt Magic.

While you are there, watch her video on the Easy Stars Wall Hanging. It's a super easy project & makes a very fast holiday table topper gift when done up in Christmas prints.

Runnerish

Sunday, September 11, 2011 3 Comments »

Phillies fans certainly remember Whitey Ashburn's term for when a baserunner looked he was going to steal a base -- he's turn to Harry Kalas and say: "Harry, he looks runnerish."

Well, I've been runnerish lately myself. Not because I'm stealing bases, but because I've been making table runners. They are a nice diversion because give me the satisfaction of seeing a finished product quickly and can be quilted on my Bernina easily. In addition, they sit right out there on the table, ready to be admired, 24/7.

The first runner was the one I made while I was on vacation. You can see it here. The second was a much smaller one that I forgot to photgraph (duh, bang head on table & groan), but which was lots of fun. It used a tool called Lil' Twister. Jackie, at Canton Village Quilt Works, has a very nice tutorial here. It was constructed with a charm pack of Awesome (Sandy Gervais, Moda). Very Fall-ish, and it now graces my DIL's dining room table. Maybe she will take a picture of it for me.

Last of the current runner crop is a version of one that I've made a number of times, each time in Christmas fabrics. It's not a super easy pattern, rather it requires some focus and attention, but the results are worth it. I used a pattern by Terry Atkinsion called Hollywood Boulevard. Atkinson Designs produces a whole bunch of great patterns, with excellent instructions. You might remember the famous Zippy Strippy bags -- those are from one of her patterns as well. Anyway, here is the pattern:

And here is my latest version:

I'm not usually one for fabrics with metalic accents, but really like them for these Christmas table runners. This particular runner is for my daughter, who was bemoaning the fact that "Mom, everyone has one but me"; hers is the 4th I've done so far. I have one more to make, a present for my nephew's up-coming engagement party. Betcha that one won't be the last, though.