Sallie's Quilt is finished!

Hello Everyone,

I love football season! It gives me a good excuse to sit down during the day and do some applique, work on bindings or apply a hanging sleeve to the back of a quilt. Today I finally finished up all of the hand work on Sallie's quilt......it feels so good to put a completed check mark by this project on my list.

I've just got to share with you a fabulous new "tool"....or better yet a very convenient way to effortlessly finish up your hanging sleeve so you can hang up your quilt, and step back to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Check out the Quilters Hangup. I went all through school in Paradise, California with the inventor of this wonderful product which doesn't make me too biased, but it's fun to say you know the inventor, Terri. She sent me a Quilters Hangup and I'm hooked on the Hangup!I put every table leaf I own in the kitchen table and spread out the quilt. (So much easier than working on the floor.)

You lay out the Quilters Hangup, cut it to the desired length, follow the clear and concise directions and you are ready to display your quilt. (After you sew it on during the 49er pre-season football game!) The Hangup has a patented design that allows the quilt to hang flat. Other than the fact the quilt is too big to hang up in my entry hall and bunches up on the stairs, I love the way it hangs.

Once Sallie's quilt is finished hanging up in the shop, I plan on removing the sleeve to use again on another quilt.....while Sallie retires to grace the bed at the cabin. The Quilters Hangup comes in a 3 yards length, so you have lots to work with and it also comes in black.

Thank you for sending me the sample Terri. You made my day so much easier and I really appreciate it.

As always,

Lynn

Go To The Head of the Class Photos

Hello Everyone,

How do you approach a new quilting project? Do you buy the pattern first, then select the fabric at the store or do you shop in your own stash? Or do you have just the perfect fabric in the hope of finding the perfect pattern?

The ladies that signed up for my Sallie's Quilt class all approached the project in about the same manner. They brought in baskets and tubs of fabric from home.

A couple of the ladies bought the kit of fabric that I chose for the project from the wonderful fabric selection at In Between Stitches. Each block needs five different fabrics.

After the five different fabrics were selected for each block, some of the ladies put them in plastic baggies.

....and others rolled them into perfect little bundles.

I was lusting over Jean's basket of reproduction fabrics!

Then the girls got right to work making their blocks. Some of them did their homework....I'm not going to mention any names here!

Janice stopped by to show us her doggie quilt that she was making. This got me to thinking this would be a fun "I-Spy" quilt.

She's been buying fabric with doggy prints on it for as long as she can remember.
Kay's blocks have a "hint" of Autumn in them. The black sashing adds a dramatic touch and makes the blocks just pop off the wall. Kay's daughter liked this quilt soooo much, that Kaye will be making two, yes two of them!
By the end of the second class, Jenny finished all of her 32 blocks! She is one speedy quilter.
Carole used a mix of reproduction fabric with a sprinkle of other fabrics from her stash.

Ladies, your quilts are going to be fabulous and I can't wait to see them. Thank you all for the two evenings of fun.

Sallie's Quilt pattern, available here: http://www.inbetweenstitches.com/shopping/patterns/page_3.aspx is a great "stash-buster" quilt. The largest piece of fabric you need for the blocks in only 4-1/2". It's a fun block to make and you will become addicted to selecting your fabrics for the blocks.

My quilt is done and now I'm down to the binding....oh my....wish me luck!

As always,

Lynn

Lotta' Quiltn' Goin' On

Hello Everyone,

Between my granddaughters quilting, the two classes I'm teaching next week, and almost finishing up the quilting on Sallie's quilt.....I'm pooped! I wanted to get the majority of Sallie quilted and get it off the machine before we left for the cabin for a couple of days. I still have to turn her and get the long borders quilted.

I can quilt feathers left and then right, but I don't do so well going up and down the quilt. So in most cases, I quilt from top to bottom, take the quilt off the machine and turn it. I took the quilt off the machine to let it rest (not to mention letting me rest) so the sides won't get their "knickers in a twist" before I get back to it in a couple of days.

I'm still planning to have it completely quilted by Monday night for the second part of the class. The binding is a whole 'nother story! I usually work on binding in the car.....but not on Sallie. She is so big, she would act like a permanent air bag and I'd be safe, yet I wouldn't have any room to move.....nor could the both of us fit in the front seat at the same time.

This is a shot of the back of the quilt. I'm liking the intricate design on the back. It is such a pleasant surprise when you turn the whole quilt over and view the secondary design on the back. Just one of those quilting "treats" that come along once in awhile that are completely unanticipated.

Well my friends, some yard work needs to be done up here at the cabin. My Toyland Tree quilt is taking on a new and improved look. Pictures will be arriving on your computer in the near future!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

As always,

Lynn

Quilting Sallie's Quilt

Hello Everyone,

I promised the girls that took my Sallie's quilt class last week that I would have it quilted by the next class meeting on the 26th of July. This is the largest quilt that I've put on my quilting machine. In fact, it is the largest quilt that I've made. If any of you are wondering what batting I use, I've totally switched to Dream Wool batting. I love it so much that I purchased a 20 yard roll of it. I love the way it quilts, I love the way it drapes on a bed or hangs on a wall. When you think of wool, you think of "heavy".....this batting is light and airy and washes well too.

I have some very pretty pantographs but I just couldn't bring myself to quilt an all over pattern on Sallie. She is special and deserves to have each block quilted individually. This is going to take me days and days to quilt.

I'm definitely guilty of "over-engineering" a quilting project. I have to think about what I'm going to quilt for a long time. In fact, the entire time I'm making the quilt, I think about how I'm going to quilt it.

When one of our fabulous machine quilter's come into the shop, I ask them how they would quilt a quilt like this. It is my process of information gathering before I start off on my own. I was going to quilt cross-hatching on the border. I even marked one side then I changed my mind to long, flowing feathers. There is a small geometric pattern in the red border, and the cross-hatching and design in the material were competing for attention. Trying to decide what to quilt is the hardest part of machine quilting for me.

It is just so hard to tell how the quilt is going to look, when you can only see 16" of the quilt at a time on your machine. I'll try to get a few more rows quilted today....then off to the shop tomorrow to see all the wonderful customers with their fabulous creations.

I can't change my mind anymore.....I'm totally committed to the direction and style this quilting is taking me.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week quilting to your heart's content.

As always,
Lynn

Borders on Sallie

Hello Everyone,

I really haven't been dragging my feet too much on finishing up Sallie's quilt. I've been waiting for the super queen wool batting to arrive at the shop. The batting arrived yesterday, so today I put the borders on before our company arrives. I'm teaching this class down at the shop next month, so I have to get this done and soon.

First she looked like this without her border...... ....then the black border was added.

Last but not least, another 6 inch red border was added and the quilt top is ready for the quilt machine when we get home. I love just about every phase of quilting....except for adding borders. It's the measuring and crawling around on the floor that I'm not too crazy about. Zinny always thinks it is time to play and jumps all around and over me while I'm trying to measure. I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to quilt this. I'm hoping for some inspiration in the next couple of days.

I had my drop-in Party in the Garden class on Monday night. Look how Evelyn made her flowers. She is going to stuff the flowers with fleece then quilt around the petals to achieve a 3-dimensional look.

Carol added some cute little brown center and yellow french knots on her trellis.

I love the little flowers on the garden gate too.

During class, we concentrated on making the hexagon flowers. Mary added little birds to her flowers. There was lots of creativity in the classroom!

Take care everyone and have a great week.

As always,

Lynn

Sallie's Quilt is almost done!

Good Morning Everyone,

I just have to add the 7-1/2" borders, a strip of black and 6-1/2" of red and Sallie's quilt is ready to go on the quilting machine. I stuck with her yesterday.....all day. We had a later dinner than usual since I had the dining room table covered with fabric. We could have eaten on TV trays, but Zinny has a nasty habit toppling them over! She's so big now she can put her nose right on your plate if you're not paying attention.


This quilt is big and will be getting even bigger. I'll put the borders on when we get home and I have my large acrylic table that slides onto my Bernina. It makes life easier when you are trying to wrestle around with so much "bulkyness."
Here's a link to the pattern that has a blue border. http://www.inbetweenstitches.com/shopping/patterns/page_1.aspx I like the blue border also, but the red border fits my decorating style such as it is. Up here at the cabin, I call my decorating style "Early Salvation Army." Just like a quilt made out of scraps, the contents at the cabin are throwaways and previously loved items we've collected through the years. Somehow it all works....not quite sure how.....but it works.

I'll be teaching Sallie's quilt at the shop on Monday July 12th and the 26th in the evening from 6-9pm. It's going to be a long day for me since that is my normal workday. So, if you sign up for the class, you have to bring me chocolate to keep me energized!

Zinny and I are headed outside to rake those pesky pine needles. Mother Nature dumped tons of them on us this winter along with branches and general forest debris.

I hope all of you have a wonderful day.

As always,
Lynn

More on Sallie's Quilt

Good Morning Friends,

I only have a few minutes for a post. Joe and I have to dash off to the Livermore Wine Festival and set the booth up again. It was wonderful seeing so many quilting friends yesterday! Thank you all for stopping by to say hello....it was a treat for us to get a few minutes to chat with all of you.

Here are some new pictures of Sallie's quilt which is coming together rather nicely.

Every block is unique and I've used over 100 fabrics different fabrics.
I decided to use red for the border and I'm loving it! I've outgrown my design wall and moved to the floor. More pictures later....gotta scoot for now.
Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

As always,

Lynn

Sallie's Quilt

Hello Everyone,

It's been a long time between posts for me. As usual, it's been busy around our house. We are going to have a booth at the Livermore Wine Festival this weekend. Joe has been busy working on his creations that he designs out of wine barrels all winter long. No matter how prepared we are, there is always something more that needs to be completed.

Our booth will be right in front of the quilt shop, so stop on by and say hello. While you are there, go in the shop a pick up the new Quilt Sampler magazine.....featuring In Between Stitches! We are all so excited and proud to be one of the featured shops.

I'm going to be teaching this pattern at In Between Stitches this summer.....so I thought I should make the quilt first. (Isn't that a good idea!) Sallie's quilt is inspired by a Civil War dog.....not a person.

So how do you approach a new project? I go to my fabric "mail box" and start pulling out every possible fabric that I think I'm going to use. I look in every plastic bin, drawer, cupboard and closet and then the fun begins. I sort by color and line everything up so I can get a good view of what I have on hand. Each 9-1/2" block requires five different fabrics. I start with my center fabric and pull colors that will compliment the center block. I've used every color I can think of, hot pink, purple, teal, cheddar cheese, red, blue, green and it works!

Here are most of the blocks up on the design wall. I'm always checking to see what colors I need to add or subtract to create a balanced look. I know that all of the blocks will have a black sashing next to them, so I'm not putting really dark fabric in the corners. At this point I'm thinking nice but.........

What a difference a sashing makes! The hodgepodge of color and chaos suddenly becomes radiant! This quilt is going to be fabulous. My t0-do list today includes working on the two remaining blocks and the posts and sashing. I've not yet decided if I'm going to make a blue or a red border. Joe likes the red and he has a good eye for color.

This is going to be a big quilt and soon I'll be moving from the design wall to the floor. Zinny will just love having all of this color right under her little doggie nose.

Time for me to get back to work in my little sewing nook while listening to my favorite music. Have a wonderful day everyone.

As always,

Lynn