ZigZags = great fun!

 I had such fun during yesterday's ZigZag Quilt class. You might think that all of the blocks would look the same with different fabrics, but these quilters were very creative! Here I showed them how you can make a zigzag using the same color all the way across.

 Getting started!

 Diana put her two color blocks on the wall....

 then I turned them around to show them the optical illusion. Now the blocks look like rectangles! She liked this so much, she decided to keep them this way when she sewed it together.

 We were all drooling over Jan's fabric choices...she had lots of strips sewn together by class end!

 Dianne put hers on end, and decided she would alternate them by starting and ending with a half block every other row. I can't wait to see this one finished!

 Diana's first 2 rows sewn together. She is making this for a baby quilt...

 Two sets in Rose's color way.

 We use every available surface to hang our work. It's inspiring to see what everyone's colors look like as the blocks come together.

 Ann's first two colorways look awesome together!

 Rose got some blocks made with all three colorways finished before class ended.

 Kathy is using brights...it's hard to tell in the picture, but her backgrounds both have dots. The blue has very tiny dots.

 Tari used a batik background to showcase her teal and purple fabrics. She got three rows assembled.

 Ruth used combinations of cotton pinks and batik pink/burgandy blends. Simply gorgeous!

 Pat used Civil war repro fabrics for hers, using one background and two zigzag fabrics like Tari did, but decided to mix them up in the blocks. It was a hard decision! We made lefts and rights out of each fabric choice so that she could see it. We quilters are very visual people, aren't we?

Here's mine! It will make a great baby girl quilt! 

I need to finish writing some patterns I've been working on today...but I would like to get the baby quilt on the frame too...the baby is scheduled to be born on 11.12.13. Do you think I'll get it finished?

Happy Sunday!

More about letters...

I have been working on patterns the past few days and nights after work, so haven't done any sewing or quilting to post about. I had some good responses to the free pieced letters class posts, so I thought I would post some info about how you can be inspired and learn to make your own letter project.

I was inspired by Lynne at Patchery Menagerie to try it...I had seen the book, Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci and Lynne's projects, and thought it looked like fun, so I joined in a few summers ago when Lynne hosted the Red Letter Quiltalong. I really enjoyed it and made this alphabet quilt.

 It's a very creative process since you are actually designing your own quilt, just using the book to help with letter construction. The more you try it, the more creative you get and even work out your own letter piecing shortcuts. Plus it's fun to make other items that fit your theme, such as asterisks, stars, and even cats!

If you've been thinking of trying it, go for it! If you've tried it in the past, I'd love to see your project!

It's All in a Name!

I had a great time on Saturday working with some quilters who were getting creative with letters. We made a huge mess, with strips and pieces everywhere! 

But the words started to come together. Kathy wants to make a quilt with all of her grandchildren's names on it. She started with Brace. Bs are tough!

 Julie wants to make a winter sign! Can you guess which letters are missing?

 Barb's granddaughter Abbie will love this one! it will go on the back of the quilt she is making her. She used the quilt leftovers for the letters.

I worked on writing patterns for awhile yesterday....I need to get them finished this week, and start quilting the baby quilt I made for my niece's baby. I have a new design I want to start working on too...not sure when I will have time for that, but hopefully soon.

Baby quilt finished...

It's not the Lotus baby quilt I'm making for my nephew's birth, but the one his grandma made him. My sister asked me to quilt this adorable twister quilt for her soon to be born grandson. Twister quilts are so much fun to make and a good excuse to use as many cute fabrics as possible! This one is no exception. Since he is due to be born on the 12th, it's important Grandma gets it back so she can get the binding sewn on.

I forgot to take a picture of the back, but she used the gray giraffe fabric.

I want to get my Lotus quilt finished before the baby is born as well, but I still have 9 days, right?

Four Patch Petunia...

 Wednesday night I met with four of the five ladies taking the Four Patch Petunia Beginning Quilting class.  They made at least 2 of each of the 4 blocks over the course of the four sessions, some of them made more. We met Wed. night to talk about what they wanted to put together to use during the finishing classes beginning next week. Becky made 4 of these blocks and decided to put them together in a star formation. She added borders to complete it. She started pinning hers that night as she is going to miss the first finishing class.          

 Tara put these 4 blocks together and wants to make some more in these colors so that she can make it a little bigger.She wasn't as happy with some of her other blocks.

 Christine is making more blocks with her original fabrics so that she can make a bed size quilt, so she made different blocks out of fall fabrics to learn how to finish a quilt. It will make a cute topper!

Carolyn made a set of 16 of the bow tie blocks to make a throw size quilt..not sure what she is doing with her other blocks, but this one looks great!

Stay tuned for some great finishes!

StarLuna is finished!

I finished the quilting and binding on my StarLuna Sampler and it's ready to rehang at the store tonight. Quilting really brings a quilt to life, so I'm glad I brought it home and finished it. I will start this Sampler Club on Monday, Nov. 11.

I wasn't sure if the stripe would be too much on the binding, since I had used it as a border, but I really like it.

I know a lot of people worry about using stripes in quilts, but using them on borders and bindings is pretty much worry free.

I'm happy with the way the threads blend with the fabric and don't take away from the quilt itself. Or at least I hope it doesn't.

This floral made a perfect backing for this quilt and the striped binding looks great with it too.

I have a class with the beginners tonight to get their quilt tops ready to finish next week. I'm excited to see what they have accomplished since last week. At some point, I need to do a little prep work for my It's All in a Name class before Saturday, too....tomorrow's another day, right?

Sunday sewing....and letters class!

I love getting ready to quilt a new project...deciding which thread to use, which panto...it's fun to think about how it will look when completed. The quilting takes the quilt so far!

I had this quilt hanging at the store for a couple of weeks unquilted because I just couldn't get to the quilting before it needed to be seen there. But when I had to rehang it on Saturday, I decided to bring it home and try to get it done...they look so much prettier quilted. Since the setting triangles are yellow as well as some of the background, I decided to use this gold variegated thread. I didn't want it to stand out too much in the part of the background that was white either.

Here I am, ready to quilt! I used the Leafage pantograph, which I love!

The thread blended so well in the first rows, that I couldn't see it as I was quilting! Once I got into the body of the quilt, it was much more evident.

The middle! I am always happy to see the middle, especially when I'm on a time crunch...I ended up going to some Open Houses with my daughter for awhile, then came home and got busy again.

Ahhhhh....the end! Love when I see that coming! I will be teaching this sampler quilt as a Sampler Club class beginning in a couple of weeks.

 What do you think about striped binding? I used it as a border and debated whether it would be too much to use it again in the binding, but decided I had to since it would make such a graphic binding. I love strips, especially diagonal stripes!

There are still spots open in Saturday's It's All in a Name free-piecing letters class at Cut Up and Quilt if you have been itching to try something new. There are so many ways to use these letters and learning the technique is just plain fun! I posted about some of the quilts I've made here...from wall quilts to baby quilts. Come and join us for a day of free-piecing creativity!