As The Feathers Fly

Raffle Tickets

2011-12-26T11:22:00.000-06:00

Raffle Tickets for Isla's Quilt are officially on sale......there is even a chance to get a free ticket. Hop on over to Bren's blog to find out how.

Thank you for stopping bye and happy quilting.

Raffle Quilt

2011-12-23T22:37:00.001-06:00

As promised here is the link to purchase tickets for the quilt to benefit Isla http://www.quiltforisla.blogspot.com/.
I hope we'll be able to raise a lot of money to help this family.

Thanks for visiting!

New Quilts to Share

2011-12-21T23:45:00.000-06:00

A few months ago I got a new machine......A Prodigy. I love this machine, did I say I LOVE, LOVE my new machine. I've been quilting up a storm since I got her.She has a 14ft. table so I can now quilt any size quilt that I want. The stitch regulation is perfect and she handles wonderfully.

My husband says that she looks like a spider. What do you think? I think she's beautiful!!

The first quilt to get on the new machine was made by my customer, Alice, for her son and daughter-in-law. I did a pantograph on it called Surfs Up. She loved it. I love the texture that the panto gave to this quilt.

Here's the back.....

Next one is Ruth's Quilt. She is a self taught piecer and she's done a very good job. The panto that she chose for this one is Variegated Shells. She hasn't seen it yet so I hope she'll like it.

Now that my friend Bren has posted about it, I can share the one that I'm the most happy about. This quilt will be raffled to help with the medical bills for a darling little girl who has Cystic Fibrosis. I was so happy to be able to be a part of this worthy cause. This quilt is custom quilted. It took me three weeks to finish it. A lot of ruler work and feathers but I had fun doing it. I'm just so grateful that it turned out well.

I matched the bobbin thread to the top so that the back looks sort of like a whole cloth quilt.

When Bren gets the information out about how to purchase tickets I'll share the link on my blog so stay tuned.

Thanks so much for visiting and please come back again,

Root Beer and Cotton Candy

2011-09-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

I got to quilt another Root Beer and Cotton Candy quilt.

Here's a close up of some of the blocks. This picture is more true to the color of the quilt.

I did freehand feathers in the border, ribbons and diamonds in some of the pinwheels and diagonal lines in the others. In the square in the square blocks, I did Terry Twists and I did continues curves in all the small squares surrounding the blocks.I love doing the design in the sashing. I think it adds softness to the overall feel of the quilting.

Thanks for looking and please come back!

Where has a year gone?

2011-09-04T21:04:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe but it's gone. I spent most of it going to school.....It's official. I have an Associates Degree! Since jobs are still not plentiful in the Rockford area I'm working at a quilt shop. Not what I went to school for but it's a great job and I'm having fun. Next week I get to go and work at the 2011 Quilt Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. It's a large show put on by Nancy Zieman of Nancy's Notions. Should be lost of fun.

I did manage to get a customer's quilt finished

I used a Pantograph for the center of the quilt and did freemotion quilting in the border. I was pleased with the way it turned out and the customer liked it too.

I'm still working on the Wool Applique but I'll save that for another post.

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment!

Customer Quilt

2010-08-25T00:03:00.000-05:00

This may well be a record, I don't remember ever posting twice in one day but I have a customer quilt that I wanted to share. I delivered it today and the customer was pleased with it. Delivering it is always the scary part for me. I'm never sure if it's good enough.

I enjoyed working on this one because of the color contrast.

I used a HandyQuilter design board on it.

Close up of the design

I used this board on a baby quilt a few months ago and I still love the look. This one has more puffiness than the baby quilt because of the polyester batting in it.

Thanks for visiting and happy quilting!

A Look Back At Summer

2010-08-24T23:36:00.000-05:00

I took these pictures about a month ago when the garden was in full bloom and I'm just getting around to sharing them with you.....I hope you enjoy them.

I don't know the name of these flowers but the butterflies were wild about them.

My Limelight put on quite a show this summer.It's still in bloom.

Niko Blue, a Hydrangea wasn't about to be out done. (Actually, Limelight is also a Hydrangea)

Poor Annabelle is so full of flowers that she's dragging the ground.

The hummingbirds are enjoying the honeysuckle now along with the trumpet vine.

Thanks for taking a look back at some of my garden with me.

Coleen

Block 5 of the Wool Quilt

2010-07-24T22:12:00.007-05:00

I just finished block #5 of the wool quilt. This is going faster than I thought. However, once I start the Fall Session at school......Well, you know!

I traced all the templates for block #6 but because I was at school all day today nothing was done on it. I think that I'm going to start doing the triangles that connect the blocks so I won't have them all left for the end. I feel that if I start putting them together then they won't end up a UFO like so many of my other projects end up being. The goal is to have this finished and quilted for my guild's quilt show in 2013. Think I'll make it?

My customer sent pictures of the Winnie the Pooh quilt that I did for her and forgot to take pictures of. It actually has the binding on it. I don't usually get to see them bound so I was quite pleased. As I said before, I love doing her quilts. She dropped a cute lap quilt off for me to do (yeah!). I'm starting to get a few steady customers.

I love Winnie the Pooh!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and let me know you were here!

Patchwork Times

2010-07-14T23:34:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite blogs "Patchwork Times" is doing a makeover. If you've never read Judy Laquidara's blog, you're missing out. It's one that you'll surely want to add to your list. Judy is an author of quilt books, a longarm quilter and a chicken raiser. Besides all that she designs quilts with EQ and shares her designs. Her posts are always informative. So click the chicken on my sidebar and head on over to Patchwork Times.

Thanks for stopping bye and happy quilting

Sun Bonnet Sue

2010-07-13T14:50:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share a quick look at the back of the Sun Bonnet Sue........You can see the quilting much better.

Thanks for looking!

The other Sunbonnet Sue

2010-07-09T17:36:00.002-05:00

I just finished this cute Sunbonnet Sue for a customer. It belongs to the same customer as the Sunbonnet Sue that I showed in my last post. They are gifts for two of her great granddaughters.

Here's a closer view of the border....

I discovered a new to me blog last night. Starting on July 20th there will be a free block of the month. If you like Raggedy Andy and you like redwork, check it out. Just click on the cute Raggedy Friends pic on the right.

I've been having issues with Internet Explorer so I've started using Foxfire and it doesn't act much better. Has anyone downloaded Explorer 8?The last time I tried it really did awful things to my blog and I've been afraid to try again.

Thanks for visiting and happy quilting!

Well It's Getting There

2010-06-25T12:16:00.007-05:00

Like I said......I have a little time off of school so I'm putting it to good use. I'm still working on the wool and here's what I just finished.

The Crows are on the wire........

This is the progress so far......

Only ten more to go! I can't decide which block to start on next, any suggestions. I'm kind of leaning toward the gardening gloves.

Have a happy day and thanks for visiting!

School's Out

2010-06-17T22:04:00.007-05:00

Well, school is out for a few weeks so I've had some time to do a few other things. I love school, but I'm so ready for a break.

I've been able to get a couple of customer quilts finished so I thought I'd share them with you.

Here's a cute baby quilt

I love the colors, they are so bright and cheerful. My customer was very pleased with it and so was I. The lady who pieced this little quilt does a wonderful job and her quilts are always fun to work on.

I had a great time working on this one also. I did quite a lot of ruler work and used my Circle Lord to outline the blocks. I did Piano Keys in the outer border. The print is just too busy to be able to see any quilting so this seemed like the best choice.

Here's a closer look.....

I got my EQ7 earlier this week and I've been playing and learning how to use this great program. I have both EQ5 and EQ6 but I never really learned to use them. I designed a couple of cute baby quilts and I'm trying to design a quilt for my granddaughter. I'll share that with you all as soon as I get something that I like. EQ is really addicting, I stayed up until 2 this morning playing. Need to spend less time on the computer and more time quilting (LOL)

Thanks for visiting with me. I hope to have more to show you soon!

EQ 7 is comming

2010-04-29T20:21:00.006-05:00

The Electric Quilt Company is comming out with the new EQ 7 in June. I'm so excited, I love playing with EQ6 and now there's going to be more really cool features to use. They are taking pre-orders and the information is on their website.

Go to http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/EQ7/EQ7.asp and read about all the new features it has......it sounds so exciting! I can't wait to get mine!

Happy Quilting

Coleen

Just Checking In

2010-04-12T17:08:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to take a minute to pop in and let everyone know that I'm still alive......though just barely LOL. School is keeping me quite busy so I don't have much time for blogging or quilting,I'm sorry to say.

I did manage to get a baby quilt done for a new customer but I forgot to get pictures before I gave it back. Drat! It was a really cute Winny The Pooh. She was very happy with it and has brought me another to quilt so that's what really counts. Isn't it?

I am still popping in to check on all my favorite blogs almost every day. I so enjoy keeping up with all that you wonderful people are up to.

Take care everyone, I hope to be back soon!

Good Intentions

2010-02-20T23:41:00.005-06:00

Well the intention for the Friday Night Sew In was to work on the wool applique but, that's not what ended up happening. I did work on a quilting project however. I have two Quilt of Valor quilts that need to be finished before the end of the month and one is finished.

I practised free motion from the front of the machine on this one.

I think the swirls add movement and softness to the quilt.

One down and one to go......It does feel good to finish something!

Quilts of Valor are for a very worthy cause. I'm glad to be able to show my appreciation to the men and women of the armed forces in any way I can.

I haven't quit on the wool........

Thanks for visiting!

Friday Night Sew-in

2010-01-26T21:55:00.008-06:00

I'm joining the Friday night sew in at Handmade by Heidi. It will be Friday, February 19th. The next day we'll all post and show our progress. Check it out and join the fun. Just click on the badge and sign up. I'm hoping that it will keep me on target with my wool applique quilt. I know I won't finish that night but at least I'll be working on it. Because I'm back in school again, I haven't made time for it. Another byproduct is that it will force me to blog the next day. Something else that I haven't been very good at since I started this blog.

Wish me luck!

Block #3

2010-01-05T22:53:00.005-06:00

Just a quick post to show you block #3 in the Primitive Garden Quilt. This one finished so quickly......The rest won't be finished so fast.

Next week it's back to school with an 18 credit load so don't know how much time I'll have for quilting.

Thanks for stopping by and.........

Happy Quilting!

Coleen

As Promised

2009-12-26T18:05:00.010-06:00

I finally finished block #2 of my Primitive Garden wool applique. As I promised, here is the picture of my second finished block......

Next it's on to the Geranium in a pot. Since that block is only 8 1/2 by 10 1/2, I hope it doesn't take as long as the last one. It was worth it, I think. My goal is to have the top finished by this time next year. Think I'll make it? Oh well, goals are good aren't they? I've never been much of a goal maker.....that's next year's New Years resolution, to make and try to keep goals. I've heard that's a good thing to do. We'll see............

I also finished the last quilt that I had on the frame. I really have to stop making every quilt into a custom job. And I wonder why it takes me so long to finish them, a simple panto would have been much faster. Would a panto have been as nice? The minute I saw the border, it turned into a custom job.

See what I mean?

Sorry about this picture, it's not so good, I hope you can see the star in the blue block.

I did have fun playing with my Circle Lord templates......I used them to do the border and the stars. There's also a design in the flag blocks done with the Circle Lord but it doesn't show up in the pictures.

Since I'm off from school for a couple of weeks I hope to have more to show you in the very near future.

For now, I hope everyone has a Happy and prosperous New Year.

Happy Quilting!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T21:23:00.010-06:00

We had the kids and their kids over for Thanksgiving. This is the first year in a long time that I can remember all three of them being here. I thought that I'd take this time to share some photos of them.

This is my daughter, Heather.....

Her husband, Kevin ........

Their daughter, Haley with her cousin, Dillon......

Their son, Kevin James.......

Dillon's parents, my son Wayne and his girlfriend, Jessi.......

And last but not least, my son Ryan with Haley.......

As usual the day went by way too quickly. It was so much fun to have them all together at our house for the holiday, to share all the conversation, laughter and good food.

I know this post is a bit late, but I had to work Black Friday and today at JoAnn's. The store was so busy, you would think that they were giving things away. I'm not complaining because that means job security. With the economy the way it is more people are making their gifts this year.

I hope everyone had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Happy Quilting!

Coleen

A Boring Life

2009-11-10T19:52:00.006-06:00

After reading a lot of your blogs............

I've come to the conclusion that I must lead a really boring life. I daily read every one's blogs and for the life of me, I can't think of a single thing to say very often. The only time I seem to have anything to post is when I'm working on a project, which isn't too often lately. I went back to school which doesn't leave much time between homework and studying for tests. The teachers make sure that you never run out of tests to take but I'm really not complaining. The one regret that I've always had was not having gone to college and now I am. I consider myself to be very lucky to be going now even at my age.

I do keep checking in on all of your wonderful blogs as often as I can.

So now that I'm done whining, I'll share a couple of pics of the latest quilt that I've been working on. It's a Quilt of Valor that I'm doing for a lady who's been paying a LongArmer to quilt these for her. Some how I can't see charging someone to quilt something that she's donating to charity. I won't however presume to pass judgement on someone else. If this is her livelihood, she needs to make money and probably can't afford to quilt for free. I'm sure I couldn't afford to do too many of these myself.

I did the crosshatching with one of my new Circle Lord templates. I had a lot of fun playing with it. I'm also using my CL to put stars in all the solid blue patches.

I'm hoping to have it off the frame in a few days and I'll post a picture of the finished quilt.

Here's a picture of my current wool applique block. I'm not quite finished with it yet but I'm making progress.

That's all I have for now. Thanks so much for visiting.

Happy Quilting!

The journey to the birth of a block

2009-08-11T22:08:00.009-05:00

I started working on the second block of my wool applique quilt. I thought I'd share some pictures of the process......

It all starts with the wool.

All the pieces are traced on to freezer paper and ironed on the wool.
So many pieces...........

Next, I stapled the pieces to the background. I learned that staples are so much earier to work with. Your thread doesn't get caught on the staples and they are very easy to remove.

A little more progress ............

We're all set to start stitching..........
I'll post more pictures when it's a finished block. Thanks for visiting.

Happy Quilting!

Cooties on her quilt

2009-08-07T18:58:00.008-05:00

My friend Bren ,the most wonderful hand quilter that I know, asked me to help her baste her beautiful Basket quilt the other day. In order to save both of our backs, I suggested she let me baste it on my machine. She said that putting her quilt on my machine was going to give it "COOTIES"(REMEMBER, SHE'S A HAND QUILTER). After a bit of convincing, I got to take it home so I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of her basket quilt on my machine.

(Close your eyes and scroll fast Bren)

I dropped it off at her house today. She probably has it in the hoop and is quilting it. Go to her blog http://piecesfromme.blogspot.com/ and see a picture of the entire top. It is just gorgeous, I can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Quilting!

A short rant

2009-08-05T20:16:00.008-05:00

I don't know which I hate worse, thistle or Japanese beetles. Thistle is trying to choke out my flowers and the beetles are trying to eat it away.

Today I pulled three carts full of this stuff out of my flowers.

I haven't been very good to my flowers this year. I've been in school and working for the past couple of months so everything has been neglected. If it weren't for my DH the whole yard would have been lost to creeping charlie.

I should have taken a picture of the garden before I started but I didn't so here's a couple of the after.

At least now, you can see what's left of the mulch. I'll try very hard to be much better to the garden for the rest of the summer. However, I start school again in another two weeks......we'll see.

I took a picture of a Japanese Beetle on my Trumpet Vine but you can hardly see it. It's the blurry thing at the top of the flower. I wish I could blur them all out of existence forever.

Thanks for reading my little rant.

Happy Quilting!

Something new to spend my money on

2009-08-03T22:01:00.014-05:00

My newest love is wool applique. I swore that I wouldn't do it but then I went to a quilt show and fell in love with a pattern so here I go again.

This of course, requires wool.........

A whole suitcase full and then some.......

Then there's the thread.......

Lots and lots of threads...........

Here's the first block of many.........

It will be so worth it when it's done! My new obsession!!!

Here are some pictures of a quilt that I just finished for one of the local quilt shops.

Here's a picture of the back. I love the fabrics.

That's all I have to share for now. Thanks for looking!

Happy Quilting!

More of what I've been up to lately!

2009-04-04T10:27:00.007-05:00

I tried to include this in my last post but either Google or I am having issues.

Here are some pictures of the ways that I've been putting some of the fabric from one of my previous posts to use.

I'm pretty sure that I won't be doing the large block in the center of this one. One of my friends suggested that I put my favorite block, Mariner's Compass in the center instead. I'm still thinking about that one.........Any suggestions or opinions welcome!

This is the only block that I have finished so far...........

This is the $5 quilt that I'm in once a month at a local shop........
I was trying to post a picture of the complete pattern but Google and I still seem to be having issues and I can't drag my pictures once I've uploaded them. (Is anyone else having that problem?) These are a few of the blocks in the quilt.

I used to have a horrible time with a square in a square but, thank goodness, I've overcome that and they go together quite well for me now.

Besides this I'm working on my Jo Morton quilt and really trying to get the Feathered Star finished for the show.

That's all I have to share for now. Thank you very much for visiting!

Happy Quilting!

What I've been up to lately

2009-04-02T22:45:00.010-05:00

On my header is a picture of my unquilted Feathered Star. It's still not 100% finished but it's well on it's way. I entered it in our local quilt show with the goal of finishing it. It has been in the works for 13 years or more (I've lost track of the time).

Here's my progress so far...........

The quilt has to be finished by the 28th. I've been working on it every day this week. I procrastinated as usual and now I'm under the gun. WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Happy Quilting!

This one is for you Bren

2009-02-24T22:27:00.026-06:00

The other day, or was it last week, I got a comment from my friend Bren admonishing me because I had neglected to post pictures of the fabrics that I had purchased recently. So on that note, Bren here are the pictures.

The first pictures are of the fabrics that I purchased to make a block of the month at one of the local stores called J Rose. I purchased them from a lovely quilt shop in Belvidere called All My Stitches Quilt Shop. Cyndie, the owner must think that I'm quite insane. I bought two kits because there was not enough of the line left on the bolts to make my quilt. I then went back to purchase the backing (what could a self respecting quilter do, it was on sale for 50% off?). The next day Bren and I went back so I could purchase more to make pillowcases and the dust ruffle.

The pink plaid is for the backing and the green to the left is the dust ruffle.

Aren't they yummy?

This is my new favorite tool. These are actually scrap booking cases but they are the perfect size to carry your fabrics or to house 12 1/2" blocks. The quilt shops sell these for around $30 but you can get them at JoAnn's for about $15 and if you have a 40% off coupon.....well you see where I'm going.

Here is a picture of the pattern for the BOM. I'm not sure that I'm going to do the large block in the center. If anyone has any suggestions please share them.

I'm going to be very busy for the next 6 months. I'm involved in 2 BOMs and a Jo Morton club. Here are some pictures of fabrics that I've purchased for the Jo club.
One of the membership conditions was that you had to purchase 5 bundles of fat quarters to use in the quilts. We will be making 3 Jo Morton little quilts over a 6 month period.
This is a picture of the quilts that we will be making.

Here are more of the fat quarters.....

The Jo Morton collection is my favorite. The first collection that I showed is from Henry Glass for Buggy Barn called Sherbet. I loved the fabrics when I first saw them but I must say that they are not my usual choices. I am stepping way out of my box in using them. I usually do not prefer pastells. I prefer Jewel tones but not all the quilts in my collection can be red and green. This time I'm going for pinks, blues, browns and light green.

I will show some pictures of the fabrics for the other BOM and the pattern in my next post. Until then........

Happy Quilting!

Another one bites the dust!

2009-02-17T21:47:00.001-06:00

I finally finished the quilt from H***! It wasn't the quilt's fault, it was my fault. It's my very first customer quilt. When the customer and I discussed the quilting it was to be an allover meander. Well........when I got it on the frame I got a bunch of neat ideas so off I went. She hasn't seen it yet so I don't know if she'll like it or not, I'm hoping so. What do you think?

Here's close ups of a few of the blocks.......

This quilt took me forever because I spent a lot of time ripping stitches out. Sometimes I spent more time ripping than stitching. But it's finished now and I'm so happy. I'll be even happier if the customer likes it.

Happy Quilting!

2009-01-18T21:50:00.005-06:00

Lani is having a cool Valentine giveaway. She is calling it the Blogintine giveaway. She has some really neat stuff to giveaway. The rules to play aren't hard and they sound like fun so go to her blog and check it out. I've added the link to my sidebar. Just click on the Valentine picture to the right.

Good luck and Happy Quilting!

And the new owner is.......

2009-01-15T11:42:00.003-06:00

The winner of the Whirl Into Winter Give Away is Lani. Congratulations , I hope she will enjoy the book and find lots of uses for it. It was so much fun reading all the resolutions and I wish everyone good luck in their keeping of them.

Happy Quilting!

Whirl Into Winter Giveaway

2009-01-01T23:41:00.004-06:00

For this giveaway, I'm giving another book. This one is called "Contempory Quilting Techniques". It has a little bit of everything from designing to finishing your quilt.

To win it please post a comment telling me your New Year's resolution. Don't forget to include your e-mail address, without it I can't contact you if you win.

Good Luck Everyone!

Happy Quilting!

Falling way behind

2008-12-14T09:57:00.005-06:00

I've finished one of the UFOs that I signed up for on Finn's blog. I signed up to finish 5 however, so far I've only managed 2. I don't know where the time goes.

Here are a few pictures of the latest finished project.

This is another quilt that will be presented to a wounded soldier.

Happy Quilting!

Whirl Into Winter Giveaway

2008-12-01T21:03:00.003-06:00

Debi is hosting a winter giveaway and I will be participating. I haven't decided on the prize yet so stay tuned. The Fall Into Fall Giveaway was so much fun that I wanted to play again. It's a lot of fun to visit other sites and learn so many different things about my fellow bloggers. Every site has such a variety of talent, they are all so inspiring.

If I'm quoting the rules correctly, the giveaway will be on January 1st. I'm sure there will be some lovely prizes so be sure to visit all the blogs. Just click on the snowflake at the right to view the details.

Happy Quilting!

The Joy of Finishing

2008-11-30T01:06:00.011-06:00

Have you ever experienced the pure joy of finishing something?

I joined a block exchange with a group on the internet last year. The blocks were supposed to be finished and in their new homes by the end of June. To say the least, I didn't make it. It took me until last week to finish the last three. I make no excuses for myself. I've somehow developed this habit of not finishing quilty things over the years. It's always fun to start new things and take new classes. Someone once told me that I loose intrest in things when I find out how they are done. I am also a person of my word so I had to finish.

Here's the pictures to prove it.........

They have been mailed and should all have arrived at their new homes by now.

I've also joined another internet block swap. This one is in 30's fabrics. They are not my favorites but I'm in now. I intend to keep up with this one and send them out in the alloted time.

I also took another class. This one was with Jo Morton, I'll post pictures of the top as soon as I finish it (Yes, I did say finish).

I hope you'll all check back for new info. Untill then........

Happy Quilting!

And The Winner Is......

2008-10-15T23:30:00.004-05:00

The winner of my Fall Into Fall Giveaway is.....Michele from Quilting Gallery. Congratulations Michele, I hope you enjoy the book.

Thank you Debi for organizing the giveaway. I can't wait to participate in your winter giveaway.

It has been so much fun reading all the nice comments left on my blog. I hope you are all frequent visitors.

Happy Quilting!

One Down Four To Go

2008-10-12T22:06:00.013-05:00

I'm feeling quite proud of myself today. I finished one of my UFO's since joining Finn's challenge.

It isn't bound yet but my part is finished. I've owned my HQ16 for about three years and I'm finally getting the confidence in myself to use it.

Here's a close-up of the quilting.

My friend Bren who doesn't like machine quilting gave me a very nice compliment today.

She said that if she were ever to have a quilt machine quilted she would have me do it. Coming from her that is quite a compliment.

This wall hanging isn't on my list of UFO's and it isn't even finished but I wanted to show another project that I've been working on. I started this one years ago when I taught this as a beginning quilting class. I've been working on it off and on (mostly off) for years. I picked it up again after I took the Thimblelady hand quilting class last Saturday. I'm using it as my hand quilting practice.

Even though I've started machine quilting, there are still quilts that should be done by hand and I want to keep in practice.

The center blocks are quilted and I still have the borders to go. I'll show it again when it's finished. After I finish it, I'm going back to the finish the log cabin that's in my banner. It just needs the border and one or two blocks finished. I should have practiced enough by then to do a nice job on it.

That's all that I have to share for now.

Happy Quilting!

Quilt Class Junkie

2008-10-08T00:16:00.021-05:00

I'll be the first one to admit it..........I Love taking quilting classes.

This last Saturday, I took a repeat of a class that I had taken 3 years ago. "Quilting the Thimblelady Way" This is a hand quilting class. It's a method of hand quilting without pain.

Liuxin Newman is the Australian lady who started it.

In this method, you fold the fabric on to the needle instead of using the traditional rocking stitch.

There is a book with a DVD included so if you can't take a class on the method, you can still learn.

By quilting this way, you can quilt for hours and your underside finger is not being pricked. In my book, anything that doesn't cause me pain is the way to go.

The next class that I'm signed up for is for a quilt called "Suffragette". The first thing that drew me to it are the colors. It's a scrap quilt in reds, creams and blues.

I'm still working on my UFO's and I'm almost finished with one. I'll post pictures as soon as it's finished.

The Fall Into Fall Giveaway has been so much fun. I love visiting all the new found blogs and reading all the kind messages that you ladies are leaving on my blog. Thank You!

Happy Quilting!!!

Coleen

Fall Into Fall Quilt Giveaway

2008-09-30T12:23:00.025-05:00

My giveaway for the Fall Into Fall Giveaway is "Beautiful Foundation-Pieced Quilt Blocks" by Mary Jo Hiney.

This book is filled with 4" foundation pieced blocks. I hope whoever wins it will enjoy the blocks and the ideas for their uses.

The rules to win it are simple......... Just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on October 15th. You do not need to be a quilter to enter, nor do you have to have a blog. If you do not have a blog, please leave your e-mail address. ALL international readers are welcome to enter. My comments are set to Google account holders only...no anonymous comments, but a google account is free and easy to get. Just click on the "Sign Up Here" link at the end of the comments.
Now here is the bonus.....Click on the scarecrow and you will find a list of 40 other quilting bloggers doing a giveaway. They will be posted by Oct. 1st and all will be drawn on Oct. 15th. I can not say they will not have different rules to their drawings. Be sure to check out all the great giveaways....after you leave your comment here.

Fall Into Fall Quilt Giveaway

I've just spent the last two days frogging all the quilting that I put into this three year UFO.

The thread kept breaking and so I decided to frog it and start over, oh well it's good practice.

I'm working on my UFO's. Wish me luck!

Coleen

New Years Eve Challenge

2008-09-22T23:01:00.014-05:00

My friend Bren joined the New Years Eve Challenge on Finn's blog. Bren pointed out to me that I had some UFOs and I should join in the challenge too.......So I did! I went on Finn's blog and signed up a few of my UFOs.

The first thing I need to finish is this quilt. It needs to be quilted and bound. It is a wedding present for my friend's daughter. I've shown it on a previous post but here it is again.

This top has to be finished next. It is a quilt for the American Hero Quilts organization. I will do the quilting but it will be sent to someone else to be bound. When it is finished, it will be presented to a wounded soldier.

Next I would just like to get this top pieced. It needs setting triangles added and the blocks put together. Quilting will probably not be finished on this one yet.

This top was loaned to me by a friend of mine 3yrs. ago to practice machine quilting. Think maybe I should finish it?

Last but not least (for now)...... This is an applique that I started in a class years ago. For now I would like to finish the trellis border. I love to do hand applique.

I'm going to try, No, I am going to accomplish all of this by the end of the year. If I don't go into this with a positive attitude I'll never succeed. In my first blog, I showed my hand quilting project which is still not finished but it is going to have to wait awhile.

While I was at joining neat things, I joined the Fall Into Fall Giveaway. I will post my giveaway before October 1st and draw a winner on October 15th so please sign up. You don't have to be a quilter to enter. Make sure you make the rounds to get your name in on this giveaway. Your can find the participants at the link above.

Happy Quilting

Coleen

New Sewing Space

2008-09-20T22:34:00.012-05:00

I wanted to share my new larger sewing/quilting space. My DH has enlarged it. While we're not quite finished with it, I wanted to show some pictures.

Here's one of my new cabinet. It's great for housing my machine bags and hanging tops waiting to be quilted.

The wire bins next to it house pieces of fabric that are less than a yard.

I have cubes to hold my larger pieces of fabric. I have them stored by color. It took me hours to fold the fabrics so they would fit in the space.

Here's the bottom half.......

I have shelves to hold batting or a bolt of muslin and other large things.

My sewing machines....

Some of the walls have foam board so that I can use them as design walls.....

These are blocks from a Christmas exchange that I'm doing.

We still have some peg board to add to one of the other walls.

This is the most amount of space that I have ever had to devote to sewing and I'm so excited and blessed to have it. Now I don't have any excuse for not getting things done.

Thanks for looking!

Coleen

A Lot Happy, A Little Sad

2008-09-19T00:17:00.010-05:00

This time of year is always a mixed bag for me. As anyone that knows me will tell you, I love Hummingbirds. Right now they are buzzing all over my yard which makes me very happy. For some reason my yard seems to be the gathering place for the little boys and girls at this time of the year. All summer long we're lucky if we see two or three a week. They are gathering to make their long trip down south to South America.

My DH managed to snap a few pictures......

They are so cute, I wish I could spend all day just watching them. The last two days I have hardly been home so I've only been able to see a few. DH said they were all over the yard today.

Soon they will be gone and I'll have to wait until next April to see them again.

Coleen

Dillon

2008-09-16T23:17:00.006-05:00

I don't have any new quilt pictures to post today but I do have two new pictures. They are of my almost new grandson Dillon. Dillon was born on July 30th. Dillons mother just sent these today....

He's such a good baby. I don't get to see him or my other grandchildren as often as I would love to. I would love to be like my friend Bren who lives so close to her grandchildren.

I spent almost my entire day trying to come up with quilting designs for the top that I posted yesterday. I think I have a few ideas.

Coleen

I'm Back!!

2008-09-16T00:01:00.015-05:00

Well it's been a long time since my last post but I'm back.

On my last post I told you of a class that I was going to take in order to help a friend of mine make a quilt. It's taken an entire year to finish this top but here it is....

Here's another one.......

One more closer view.......

I found out after fighting with the square in a square blocks that there was a mistake in the pattern. This quilt top taught me a few valuable lessons. I will never cut out an entire quilt without making one of each block in scrap fabric. I am known to my friends as the "Golden Seamripper" and I sure lived up to the name on this one. I'm going to put this top on my HQ16 and get it quilted in the next week.
I have finished one quilt for a group called "American Hero Quilts". If you've never heard of them, they provide quilts for our soldiers. The tops are pieced and sent to others to be quilted and then sent on to be bound. It's a very worthy organization and I would encourage all of my quilting friends to get envolved in this cause. That seems to be the least that we can do for the men and women fighting this war. The website for American Hero Quilts is http://www.americanheroquilts.com/.

Here are a few picts of that quilt....

This is the back, a beautiful piece of blue batik.

I hope to have many more quilts finished to share with you in the future.

Coleen

Another First Ever

2008-01-24T19:28:00.002-06:00

I've spent the last three Wednesday nights driving to Madison, Wisconsin taking a class to learn to knit socks. Madison is a 1 hour and 30 minute drive from my house. I guess I'm a bit possessed but when I want to learn something, I'll go just about anywhere to take the class.
I learned how to knit socks on a circular needle instead of on double pointed needles. It's actually a pretty cool method called the "Magic Loop". Here's a picture of my first ever sock.

It was actually a practice sock to learn the method. The pink yarn was used in the toe to learn a method of invisible seaming. In the real thing, you would use matching yarn.

This is the sock that I'm making that will (I hope) fit me. This shows the sock on the circular needle. I'll post a picture of the pair when I finish them.

Next week, I'm taking a class to learn a quilt that has been driving me crazy. I've been trying to help a friend make a quilt called "Rootbeer & Cotton Candy". I have never had so much trouble with one quilt in my life. It's a double square in a square and for the life of me, I can't get it to come out right. The lady who wrote the pattern is teaching it so hopefully I'll get it to come out correctly.

Thank you to all who commented on my first blog. I really enjoyed reading your comments.

Thanks for visiting,

Coleen

My First Ever Blog Post

2008-01-12T18:15:00.000-06:00

My name is Coleen. I have been quilting for over 25 years. I both hand and machine quilt. The above picture, also in my header, is a quilt I have been hand quilting for over 10 years!! I am taking my time!! I have an HQ16 mid-arm quilting machine which I have been learning to use recently. I practiced free hand feathers this past week.

I still need more practice, however, for the first time out, it's not too bad! I am still working on getting the machine at the correct height for my 4'9" self.

Here is a flimsy that will be the first actual quilt to be quilted on the mid-arm. I plan to put feathers in the borders and flowers in the sashing. The blocks will be outlined...maybe.My full time retail job limits my practice time.

My friend Bren is helping me to set up this blog. We have been friends for 14 years. She helped me baste the feathered log cabin quilt at the top of this post. Speaking of that, here is a picture of the corners of that quilt.

Thanks for visiting,

Coleen