Lettering...

A few years ago I joined in on a free pieced letter quiltalong with Lynne of Patchery Managerie fame. She has done many quilts using this method from the book Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci, and I had wanted to try it. The quiltalong was fun and I made all the letters of the alphabet, then made some cutesy things to go with and fill in blank spaces. I love it! It's fun and challenging and I like the uneven look of the letters not always being the same size or "font". 

I made this sign for my quilt room, but right now it's hanging at one of the shops I teach at. Don't want anyone to forget where I am!

I made this baby quilt for my great-nephew's birth....you can make any name or word for a baby quilt...or just use the ABCs!

I have taught several classes teaching the techniques to students using Tonya's book and plan on teaching it again in November.  I made a mounted name sign for a child's room. Mounting on canvas is an option if you don't want to quilt it and it's very light and easy to hang.

Finally I made this sign for my friends at Cut Up and Quilt, where I will be teaching the class in Nov. I wanted to keep it simple, but every time I look at it, I wish I would've added scissors, or a spool of thread or maybe both. Do you keep critiquing your work even after it's finished? I guess it's part of the creative process!

Happy Friday!

Alphabet Quilt quilted!

I did a little shopping today...for clothes, not fabric. I did find a couple of good buys...then back home to finish quilting the Alphabet Quilt. This quilt was fun to make and I have another "Letter" project in mind. I will share when I get it started. It may be  a little while...I need to get the puzzle baby quilt finished too.  I put a little surprise on the back of this quilt...

I really wanted my initials on it somewhere! I have the binding ready to put on, so shouldn't take long to finish it!

Blue letter quilt quilting

It's been a busy week. I had a Sampler class Wednesday night. Then my daughters helped us celebrate our anniversary Thursday night. We grilled and gabbed! Yesterday I didn't have a class, so went out to breakfast with a friend, then shopped with my sister's family for awhile. I also got the back ready for the Letter Quilt. It has a little surprise on it, which, of course, I forgot to take a picture of before I loaded it, but you will see after it is finished. I got it partially quilted as well. I am excited to get this one finished and bound. Then I will have to think of a name for it...can't keep calling it the Red Letter Quilt! Some thoughts:
Alphabet Quilt
ABC's and More
Blue Letter Quilt

If you have any ideas, let me know!

I have an idea for another letter quilt....hopefully will get it started soon.

Red Letter Quiltalong top finished!

 I was having trouble figuring out what to do with that pesky last row of the Letter Quilt. I tried several different arrangements of asterisks, the little girl (she HAD to be in that quilt!) and even added my initials. I just wasn't happy with what I had tried. I like the idea of the initials, but didn't like how they looked. I didn't like the 2 asterisks, looked too arranged. So I made another asterisk (they are fun and cute, after all) and added it to the row.

 I think they add some fun to this quilt.

 I auditioned borders. I just wanted a small border to frame and finish the quilt. Since the main idea of the quilt was to use one color (blue for me) for the letters, and a POP color for my first initial, I wanted a blue border to finish it off. I like these two because they have other colors, but are basically blue.

 They are so similar, that it probably wouldn't make much difference, but I went with the busier one.

 Originally, Lynne had told us that it would take approximately 2 - 3 yd. for the background.  I think I had about 2 1/2 yd. of this when I started. This is how much is left! I was saving all the leftover pieces, and using them when I could. The plastic bag holds more of those bits and pieces, but the biggest piece in there is about 3 1/2" sq. So I was being very careful how I used the background towards the end.

 The lighting isn't the greatest in this pic, but here it is, a finished top! It is about 35" x 53".

  I am going to use the same fabric for the binding that I used in the border, so I got it ready too.

Now to get it quilted. Thanks Lynne for a great quiltalong!

Sewing those letters together...

I met with friends to quilt on Friday, since I didn't have to work. I thought that would be a great time to figure out the layout for my letters and get some free advice! I tried lots of layouts, but unfortunately I didn't take pix of all of them. I started out with longer rows, so it would've turned out more square, be decided I liked it rectangular better. I left some of the letters bigger/smaller than others, others I evened up. I wanted to use my cat, star, house, girl and some of the asterisks, so they had to fit in too. I was finally happy with this layout, but can't decide on the bottom row.

 I have to use the little girl...she is the cutest thing! I'm just not sure how to do it. I had an extra J and K, my initials, so I thought about using them in the last row. I put a hat on the J, so it fit with the K better.

I have it all sewn together except the last row.  Any ideas?

***If you want to make your own letters, go to Patchery Menagerie!

Asterisks for the Red Letter Quiltalong

I made some asterisks for my Red Letter Quiltalong alphabet quilt. There was a slight problem with 2 of them....can you find it?I have also made a girl, house, wonky star and kitty, so I think I am ready to try to lay it out.

I have been sneezing and coughing again this week...thought I got rid of this crud a couple weeks ago. I am back on the musinex!

Letter 26....a line-up....a cat and a star....

 Zeeelightful, Zeeelicious Z. The Z was fun to make and is the last letter! Now let's get on with the finishing!

Here are all my letters, along with my little girl and house. Not sure about the sizing on some of them, the Q especially bothers me. The U, V and W need to be trimmed down a bit.

St Marks quilt class was fun yesterday. When I got home I made a crooked star and a free pieced kitty.

A lot of funny seams and a tail that looks sort of like a hockey stick, but I still like her.

Y me?

Because I love making these letters and I am excited to be finished with them so I can put it together. 

X marks the spot and other beauties....

The X was fun to make. If you haven't ever tried free-piecing letters, you should give it a whirl.

During Sampler class Wed. night, Jane shared her Windmill swap quilt top. She used different bright colors to set her blocks on point.

 Kim is setting hers on point with green....can never go wrong with green!

Jane also finished her Sunbonnet Sue Sampler. Jane added lots of appliqued blocks of her own design to the original pattern. The apron is my favorite!

Wide, wonderful W

It's gorgeous, right? I love, love, love it! I haven't hung the flannel wall and put them all on it yet, but I will soon. Can't wait to see them all together.

Last night I made this little house to go with the letters. If it fits. 

Vivacious V

I really like my V! I need to start thinking about what else I will add to the quilt. I have the little girl I made a while back. If you go to Lynne's blog, you will see one that she made as well as 2 that Katrin made. I think a house might be in order, maybe a flower?

Playing Red Letter Quiltalong catch-up and back to Saturday...

 After I finished working on the round robin block Sunday, I made this unbelievably blue U. Only a few letters left now!!!! Can't wait to put it together.

 When I got to the store Saturday before class, Betty showed me her finished Windmill Swap quilt. She decided to set her blocks on point, using white for the setting triangles. Another name for this block is the Double Pinwheel. Notice how pinwheels show up when the blocks are put together.  

 Saturday's class was the St. Mark's quilt...here are a couple of Dianne's finished diamonds.

 She had these finished before she left.

 Eileen is making hers in blacks,grays, whites and pink...should be stunning in those colors.

Betty is using batiks, and using the same fabric for the light in each block, so that should add an interesting touch.  I have a feeling these ladies will have lots more done by next Saturday's class. 

Busy day and fun in the mail!

Tomorrow is my first day back at school, so I have felt a lot of pressure the past few weeks to get all the things finished that I haven't done yet this summer. Of course, it never completely happens, but I have been working to get everything ready for my fall quilt class schedule at least.

 I did get some of my models hung today. They had taken down the hangers during a remodel, so they had to be rehung....and it took longer than usual.  I sewed the binding on the St. Marks quilt before I hung it...wish I would've taken my camera for a pic, but didn't. I will get a decent pic of that quilt...I will...I will....

On my way home I stopped and got ink so I ran the rest of the lists when I got home. I had a nice little surprise in my mailbox too, 2 new books! I love making the letters and ordered Tonya's book so I would have the BIBLE of letter piecing.  Plus I am dying to try this kaleidoscope quilt in the newest Ricky Tims book. Looks like fun!

Penny helped me figure out how to open my Works files in Word yesterday, so a big THANK YOU went out to her. I was doing the happy dance....did you feel the earth move?

Tomorrow I get to begin the process of unpacking all those boxes (330 or so) ...that I packed up in May. You might remember my post about that. To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I packed in order, and marked the boxes as I went, so once I get things arranged, it should go pretty fast. I hope! It took 2 weeks to pack it, how long do you think it will take to unpack it?

A little craziness in my life.....but I have the letters caught up!

I have spent the past few days quilting as well as trying to figure out what is going on with my computer. My computer "died" the other night. I took it in and it was determined it wouldn't be worth fixing. So I bought a computer Thursday, but took it back last night because it started to repair itself...on it's own. Now I think that computer is too smart for me! Actually I guess it bogged down while trying to do an update, that is what the guy at the store told me. So it tried to fix the problem. But I don't want a computer that has problems the first day I own it. So I took it back and got a different one. We'll see how this goes.

 I got my letters all caught up for the Red Letter Quiltalong (aren't ya proud, Lynne?) in between quilting yesterday. Love the P... if it looks like it will be too squat after the seam allowance, I can move the left "leg" over to the right a bit. I hope it works like this, though.

I like the quirkiness of the Q, though the hole in the center turned out smaller than I wanted. I still like it, though.

 Love the R!

 Not so sure about the S. Lynne hasn't shown us the S yet, but I was on a roll so I looked back at some of her Ses and gave it a whirl.

 An easy peasy T. What could be easier?

 Here are all of my letters so far. I forgot to put the lil girl up with them. Only 6 left, though I may redo my S after I see Lynne's tutorial.

Here is the St. Marks quilt. I went up this morning and did a few rows, shouldn't take long to finish it now. This panto is pretty intense, so I have to take breaks every few rows or my back starts complaining.  I love the thread I am using, it really blends well. I am pretty excited to see it finished. I have the binding made, so it will just be a matter of getting it sewn on.

A cute little girl and the Obvious O

 A few weeks ago, I saw this cute little pieced girl that Crazy Mom Quilts made. I knew I wanted to try it too, maybe even find a way to use it with my letters. Making her was sort of like making letters...a little bit of dress, a little bit of skin...til you have her finished. I like her a lot.

The O was obviously easy and fun to make. Can't believe we are on letter 15 already. Over half way finished with the alphabet.

I won't be posting for a few days while I am at my retreat....there should be plenty to show and tell when I get back.

Nifty N, Tuesday Sew-In and Quilt Retreat...

The N was fun to make...this alphabet is going fast! I am ogling my O right now....just finished making it while my pix loaded for this post.

 Lots of quilting went on yesterday. These Tuesday sew-ins have been great for all of us....lots of sewing accomplished! You might remember this quilt when she worked on the top a few weeks ago.

 Diana made a pillowcase dress for a friend's daughter.

 Dianne finished this top she started quite awhile ago.  Her daughter will be happy as she was making it for her!

 Diana brought this finished top, she worked on it here.

Jane's quilt is the same sampler as the one above, just in pastel batiks.

 Eileen got this sampler top finished.

Here are the final blocks for the quilt she was working on here. Look for the quilt with the missing pieces...these fit in. Now it is just a matter of putting it all together!  Dianne and Laura also worked on their Windmill/Pinwheel swap blocks, but I didn't get any pictures of those.

I started working on the new sampler yesterday. Spending time working on the fabric needs and patterns Monday paid off as I got one set of blocks finished and another one started. This sampler is a little different as I am using all solids and a black background for an amish look. If you knew me, you would know that I never use solids. It's not that I don't like them,  there are just so many pretty prints to choose from! The only solids I have used in the past few years are black and white. No pics yet, but I hope to get a lot done on it in the next few days.

Tomorrow we leave to go on our quilt retreat. We are going back to the Harrisdale Homestead near Atlantic, Ia. (this pic was taken at the retreat last Feb.) We have the whole house to ourselves and plan on sewing all day and night long. This is the 3rd retreat the 7 of us have gone on, so it is becoming a biannual event. We all take our own projects to work on and take breaks every so often to eat and gamble with fat quarters playing the LCR dice game. It is great fun and a great group of ladies. I will have pix when we come back.