T-shirt quilt or t-shirt tent

(Sorry the picture on the bed is sideways.) This is positively the largest t-shirt quilt I have ever done. My shoulders will need several recovery days! It was, however a labor of love as the t-shirt collection belonged to my son-in-law. One Christmas present is done! If you see him, don't tell him that these pictures are here!

It looks as though this is just about the largest quilt that I can do on my HQ16 frame! I do have to admit that the quilt was placed on the frame sideways so that I only had to deal with the seam in the backing on one pass instead of making the adjustments for every pass.

Most of the time, when I make t-shirt quilts I use the method taught by Andrea at Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts . I highly recommend that you purchase her book if you are interested in making a quilt from t-shirts. I love the fact that you do not use any stabilizer on the backs of the shirts, so the quilt stays soft.

Another Finish from my scrap bag!

A wise old quilter once said that even the fabric SCRAPS cost $10 a yard! Keep them and figure out how to use them! I have scrap baskets that must be 15 years old! I keep TRYING to use them up but they seem to multiply. Each and every time I finish a scrap bag quilt, I love it. I love my scrappy quilts more than any of the quilts that I make! This quilt uses up some of the "crumb blocks" that I made last winter. Alternated with a burgundy solid made a really pretty quilt. Even the batting was an old bat that I had laying around in a big garbage bag waiting for the perfect top. And, horrors! I even pieced a backing for this instead of cutting new wide back fabric from the bolt.

Mountain Lodge quilt finished

Last night while watching TV, I finished sewing the binding on my latest quilt. The quilt is "Mountain Lodge" by Janet Page Kessler for Bernatex. The fabric is from Bernatex' fabric line called Montana Modern. Here is where you can find the pattern.
http://www.benartex.com/uploads/Image/quilt-gallery/54H/montldg.pdf

The quilt, except for the center panel and the outermost wide border were cut with my accuquilt GO! The precise cuts made the quilt top go together very nicely. The quilting is edge to edge - bears, deer and pine trees. This is the first time that I have used Quilters Dream batting for one of my own quilts. This stuff feels great and quilts up "like a dream". I may not be buying any more huge rolls of my old stand-by cotton batting. This batting has certainly won me over! The quilt was made for one of my sisters as a "thank you" for using some of her vacation days to drive to Florida with me last winter. I hope she likes it!

Quilts For Kids

This is the quilt that I made today for the Children's Miracle Network. Tomorrow I'll get it quilted and sent off.

Each year in the United States, children account for more than six million hospital stays and must confront the challenges of overcoming illness while staying in unfamiliar hospital environments. In January 2009, Quilts for Kids, Inc. kicked off a partnership with Downy fabric softener to launch the Downy Touch of Comfort program - bringing a "touch of comfort" to hospitalized children in Children's Miracle Network hospitals nationwide along with "Grey's Anatomy" star and mother of three, Chandra Wilson. Now, Downy has developed a special documentary to raise awareness about the cause and Quilts for Kids' mission. The documentary shows the heartfelt effort that numerous people have put into helping these children feel close to home; from our quilters to the Downy Touch of Comfort spokeswoman, Chandra Wilson, many people have made a difference in the lives of children such as those seen in this film.

We encourage you to view the film and share it with others by sending them the links or by sharing this on your FaceBook page.

Link to Quilts for Kids: www.quiltsforkids.org

Link to Downy.com: www.downy.com/helpingkids

Link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igraIvlADEs

As mentioned in the film, each purchase of a specially marked bottle of Downy will go back to Quilts for Kids to help us create more quilts for the millions of children that are hospitalized each year. The new specially marked bottle design features a "quilted" label and the Downy Touch of Comfort logo on the front, and five cents from each of these specially marked bottles will help Quilts for Kids, Inc. and Downy reach our goal to deliver 10,000 more quilts to these children this year.

TA DAA! It's done!

The "Long Weekend Bag" is done. It wasn't nearly as difficult as some I have done. It turned out really nice. The outside front of the bag has two large pockets, the back another pocket and there are pockets on each end. The inside has a large open pocket and a zippered pocket. The bag has both corded (padded) short handles and a longer, detachable shoulder strap. Now that the prototype is done, I can move on to some smaller "Sleep-Over" bags for the grands.

Starlight-Starbright Block A-13

Jane - You were a better woman than I ! I have tried piecing this block by machine, paper piecing and applique. I am not having a lot of luck. Enough for today. Tomorrow I may try this block my making little tiny freezer paper templates, ironing them to the fabric, adding 1/4 inch seam allowances and then hand piecing.

I'm off to make an apron! I really need to work with some larger pieces of fabric for the rest of today!

My Journey With Jane

This picture is of "THE" Dear Jane Quilt.
This is not a picture of my quilt.

“In War Time 1863 - Pieces 5602 - Jane M. Stickle” is painstakingly embroidered on the lower right hand corner of the quilt. This quilt masterpiece is now housed in the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont. It comprises 225 pieced squares, triangles, and corner "kites." Many of the blocks contain pieces no larger than 1/4-inch square. Jane's completed quilt measures 80 1/4" x 80 1/4" and contains 5,602 individual pieces.

The Stickle quilt was made famous by Brenda Papadakis, who lovingly studied the quilt and drafted patterns for each of the intricate blocks. The patterns were made into a book and thousands of quilters across the world have re-created (or attempted to re-create) this quilt.

Given the fact that the quilt was finished in 1863, I would assume that Jane completely hand-pieced her quilt, no doubt without the very tools that today’s quilter deems necessary. In addition, today’s piecing methods do not always work for the blocks in this quilt. The journey becomes a learning experience in hand piecing, foundation piecing, miniature machine piecing, applique, etc. In fact, I soon learned that a combination of all of these methods and “what ever works” is the mind-set that is needed to complete each block!

It also becomes necessary to SLOW DOWN, enjoy the PROCESS instead of the RESULT and to become very good friends with your seam ripper!

My journey with Jane’s quilt started in 2005. I completed about 20 of the little 4 ½ in blocks, became frustrated and threw the whole mess in a box.

I came across these litle blocks the other day and decided that there was absolutely no reason why I couldn’t do just ONE little block a day - or even a week - but I did need to give this project another try! I also hope my piecing has improved enough in the last few years that I will be more successful and less frustrated!


In reviewing some of the hundreds of blogs and websites devoted to this quilt and the methods most likely to be successful in recreating the block, I see a LOT of applique. I HATE applique. I actually think I hate applique because I'm not good at it. So, I shall learn!

Another bag finish

Another bag is finished.

The bag is pretty, bigger than I expected to be and most of all DONE!

This was the bag from #$%^ The pattern itself - not for the faint of heart - and definitely not a "first bag" had no pictures or diagrams, only text to explain what needed to be done for each step.

Now, I've been sewing for 40 years, quilting for 20 and making bags for a couple of years and this one was awful! The company really needs to do something about the directions for this pattern!

Also - the pattern specifically called for each piece to be basted to lightweight cotton batting. I used the lightest bat they make and there were times I was sewing thru 8 thicknesses of "stuff".

Before I make this one again, (and I'm sure I will) I'll be rewritting the directions and deciding what does and does not have to be padded! Whew! My shoulders, wrists and hands will need a day or two to recover.

Have a great day

Beth (in rainy Michigan)

Mr. Sunshine is out!

Mr. Sunshine, as one of my beautiful grandsons calls it, is out! What a pretty site!

I also received notification that the Paperdolls fabric line by Windham fabrics will be shipping in late March. I received one bolt today, a beautiful gingham check. Fons and Porrter featured the fabric in their January 2009 magazine. Doesn't this look like fun! If you fussy cut the dolls, put a little stabilizer on the back of the clothes before you cut them out, and then add a dot of velcro or a snap to the dolls, a little one could be entertained for hours!

Be sure to get your copy of this magazine so that you have the pattern and instructions when the fabric gets in!

I also finished the Flowering Orchard quilt top. That thing is HUGE! It finished out at 92" x 114". I will need to let it hang on my quilt frame for a few days while it tells me how it wants to be quilted!

Yep - it's snowing again!

I know that the little groundhog saw his shadow and forecasts 6 more weeks of winter........ but, can't it just be cold and stop snowing?

I've been working very hard on my niece's wedding quilt. It is pretty, but not my style. The quilt is not so very tedious, but the way it is put together is really "outside the box" for me, so I'm having to take this one step at a time. I am really trying to do this the way the pattern says to in hopes that I will learn a new technique or two, instead of relying on what I know works for me. So far, the sawtooth star blocks are turning out quite nicely.

I've also been spending a bit of time with my new Nintendo Wii Fit. I was introduced to the Wii Fit by my Physical Therapist and have decided to try and continue at home. Since my last couple of orthopedic surgeries, I have had some balance issues. So, spending some time every day bouncing soccer balls off my head and walking a tight rope is supposed to help! Bowling and golf are more fun but I don't think they are as good for my balance issues.

Strips and more strips

A handful of 2 1/2" squares and a bin full of 2 1/2" strips and you get a pretty, fun, queen size quilt top. Then, if you add in a perfectly behaving HQ16 quilting machine and the newest update for Pro-Stitcher and you get this quilt! I must admit that I loaded this quilt on the frame yesterday. But today, I quilted it from start to finish in less than 3 1/2 hours. And this is a huge quilt! I couldn't be happier! Tomorrow it will get a binding and it will be a finish! Then I'll be off to cut more squares and strips with my Accuquilt GO! This is such fun.

Accuquilt GO!

Love to quilt - hate to cut quilt pieces? My problem wasn't that I didn't like to cut, or even that I have problems sometimes being really, really accurate with my cutting...... my biggest problem is that cutting quilts really makes my shoulders and arms hurt, so this is my new toy!
I did purchase a number of the available dies for this machine and I have been having a ball, cutting the fabric in my scrap bins into usable tumblers, nickel squares, 2 1/2 inch strips, etc. The accuracy of these die cut pieces is amazing and I'm hoping will make things easier for me when putting together a quilt top. Just this morning I started cutting out the pieces for my next quilt. Actually, it's not for me, it's for my niece as a wedding gift. The quilt will be very pretty, but it has about a bazillion half-square triangles. I am going to put this Accuquilt GO! to the test with this project! I'll be sure and post pictures when I get it done! Here is the link to the Accuquilt website

Heritage Collection from Moda

This is what Moda has to say about the "Collection for a Cause - Heritage"....

"Heritage is a gorgeous collection of Civil War Era parlor prints ~ the first in a series of "Collection for a Cause" prints. Moda is donating the proceeds from the entire series to the Gildas Club ~ a charity that assists those suffering from ovarian cancer, and their families. This first in the series ~ "Heritage" perfectly depicts the parlor prints of that era. Muted tones of popular colors of the day ranging from tan to gold, to blues, burgandy & brown are artfully blended."

The last few days, I had the delightful opportunity to work with a jelly roll and a layer cake from this collections! A Jelly Cake! I did add a couple of yards of fabric from the bolt of this collection.

The first thing that I completed was a quilt top, inspired by the pattern "Candy Bar Road" from SuzGuz Designs. With a little bit of luck, I'll be able to get this top on the frame in the morning. I can dream all night about what kind of quilting to do!










Then, with the left over jelly roll strips I made a neat bag. I used the pattern "Purse-onality Plus" from The Teacher's Pet
The bag has oodles of pockets inside and out and a nifty draw-string closure. Having no hardware, it kind of reminds me of a "prairie bag". And, just a nice size for all of your "stuff".

Snowing Again....

Can you believe it's snowing again? Sheesh! I did finish the binding on that huge quilt and it is so pretty. It was brought to my attention that the quilt clashes horribly with the walls in the spare bedroom. Uck! Good thing this particular quilt is not for the bed in that room!

I've received another whole shipment of fat quarter bundles from Moda this week. I'm just dying to make something out of the new "Love Is In The Air" bundle. I need to keep repeating to myself..... "This is NOT your own personal stash......this is NOT your own personal stash!"

I have about half a top finished out of Moda's Heritage Collection. A portion of the sales of all of this fabric is being donated to Ovarian Cancer research. It's a good cause and I am having a ball working with this top quality fabric. This is also the first time I have done anything myself with a "jelly roll". It's such fun to have perfectly cut fabric strips. It makes me really want to invest in one of the new Accuquilt machines for my shop.