Blogger's Quilt Festival

Well it's here. The first day of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. If you aren't familiar with this festival, please click on the link on the sidebar and it will give you all the details - and you can get links to some of the other participants' quilts.

The short story is that you are to post a picture of a special quilt and tell a little bit about it.

So here's mine:



Sunbonnet Sue is the reason I learned to quilt. I so wanted to make this quilt. But when I learned to quilt, I learned that I did not have a gift for applique. So the idea went back on the shelf. Over a period of five or so years I made lots of quilts. Once I got to feeling comfortable I decided it was time to try again. But this time I had an ace in the hole. Fusible web!! Fusible web is my answer to needle turn applique. I did a few small applique projects - mainly centers for round robin quilts. And when I felt comfortable I did this quilt. The fun thing was using the different fabrics. I can get easily bored doing the same block over and over.

I love naming my quilts. Not long after I started quilting I learned that some people name their quilts and I thought it was a great idea. Coming up with an appropriate name isn't always easy. But this one was - I named it Dreams Do Come True.

Hugs and Stitches, Jody

A Project Finished

Here it is - hot off the sewing machine:



This baby quilt is for my niece Kathlene's baby boy who is due this December.

I just love the print on this fabric. Such a fun print for a boy - and I'm lucky she's having a boy because I actually had the top done before I found out. lol.

Hugs and stitches, Jody

Tagged

This months tag for The Charming Girls was to pick a name for our quilt-a-long and to use the letters of our names to list characteristics about ourselves.

So here is my suggestion and my answers:

I'd like to suggest A Little Bit of the Past. Seems perfect for something so little made of repros.

Now for the name thing:

J - Jolly
O - Ornery
D - Delightful
Y - Young at heart

If you'd like to join the Charming Girls or get more information you can click on the button the right hand side of my blog.

Hugs and stitches, Jody

A New Adventure

Well I jumped right in and joined the local quilt guild Monday evening.

So now I have some goals! Just what I need. lol.

The first thing is a baby quilt. We will be having a visit from a representative for Project Linus in February and they would like to have some quilts to give so I'm going to go through my stash and pull out some baby fabric. Two of my nieces have had or are going to have babies this year (Rebekkah was born in January and Logan is due in December) so I have some baby fabric leftovers to use.

And then there is the biannual quilt show. They like for each guild member to put at least one project in the show. I don't have anything ready or close enough to ready that I want to put in so I'll be looking at patterns to find a project and getting started on it soon - the show is in April. I'm thinking I'll do a wallhanging with some decorative quilting.

My machine quilting is limited to stitch in the ditch or grids so this will be done by hand. And my hand quilting is normally stitch in the ditch or echo so I'm going to need some time. lol. I have done decorative quilting and really love the way it looks so I'm hoping I can find something not too difficult but really, really pretty.

And I need to make a nametag. A Sunbonnet Sue nametag. Yes I am thrilled that Sue is our "mascot" since she is one of my favorite blocks to make.

Okay enough playing - off to work.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Epic Quilt - Part Three (with a peek at Four) and More

Let's start with the more. lol.

CJ over at A Stitch and A Prayer wanted to see my snowman blocks. I didn't want to post them because they are part of a swap and I hadn't mailed them yet. However, they have been mailed and received so here they are.

Some of us decided to do two sets so I did two different blocks. This is the one everyone who played along got:



The picture is a bit cattywhompus but the block is square. lol.

Then for the girls who did two blocks, I made this one:



And because I'm going to need some extra blocks to make the quilt big enough for my bed, I also made this one for myself:



I haven't received all the blocks from the other girls but Joyce in CO sent this one:



And Joyce in NC, who got a bit carried away (she was supposed to make two), sent these four:



This is going to be one awesome quilt. And best of all, since these ladies are my very best friends, every time I cuddle up in this quilt it will be like getting a big hug from them.

Now on to the Epic quilt. Part Three was, to put it simply, a huge pain in the booty. I did this from a picture with no directions and I had such a hard time with it. It wouldn't surprise me if this was supposed to be paper pieced. Paper piecing is not my friend. lol. But I am not only happy with the results, I'm pleased as punch.



And now for the peek. I did this block last night:



The plan (subject to change at any point before I sew it on to the center) is for three more of these blocks and eight other blocks that I know what they will be but I have not started yet.

Due to problems with a computer virus, a back up computer and camera software that only works when it feels like it, Thunder has not made an appearance lately. But through sheer determination and pigheadedness, I did get a few pictures up, including this one:



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Epic Quilt - parts one and two

I looked up Epic in the dictionary and it means majestic, surpassing the usual or ordinary. Exactly what I wanted for my newest quilt project.

I've worked very hard this year at reducing my list of WIPs. I abandoned some, reworked some and finished some. I have it narrowed down to under six quilts that I'm piecing - or in some cases planning to piece.

One day while trying to decide which of these few projects to work on, I found I really didn't want to work on any of them. sigh. But I wanted to quilt. So I starting surfing the net looking at what other folks had been making.

What I came up with was the desire to make something really special. Something that would stretch my abilities. Something that would fit my bed. lol. I think I've probably made about 50 quilts - none really big enough for my bed. There is one that's actually big enough but it's very simply made - backed with a sheet, birthed and tied.

So I started with these blocks:



Which I formed into this single block:



That was part one.

For part two I decided on some applique. Applique is not my strong suit, and I'm not big on ripping things out so I generally take what I produce on the first try. But this is, after all, my epic quilt. So I ripped. I'm much happier with this version than the first try:



I'm working on the third part and it's giving me fits. I did say I wanted something that would stretch me but I'm doing most of this from pictures I saw online - no directions - so it's really stretching me.

Hopefully I'll be able to post the next part soon.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

A New Project - and A New Goal

The new project is another of the totes similar to the one I made last week.



I like this one better because I made a few changes to it. I added some stabilizer. The other one is okay with just the batting but I wanted something a little firmer. I also added a pocket to the inside of this one and made the bow a bit bigger. And I made this one with some gorgeous Kona Bay fabric I've had for a couple of years. Kona Bay is my absolute favorite fabric - I'd use it for everything if I could afford it!

The new goal will be used for this month's Charming Girls' Quilt Club. I'm having trouble getting the link for this in the body of the post so if you click on the title of the post or the link on my side bar you can go to the Charming Girls' Quilt Club and see all the details and how you can join and participate too.





The goal is to make another one of these bags for my daughter using this fabric:



I've also been working on some things I can't show. Swap blocks for a snowman swap and I'm working on some Christmas presents too. Business at work has really dropped off and so I'm not working as much so I'm trying to be productive here with my time.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody