So Many Quilts!

As our quilt show quickly approaches at the end of October, it seems like I am spending every moment working on quilts. After this past weekend, I feel like the pile of quilt tops have shrunk significantly. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! Now I just can't see my couch with all of the finished quilts on it!

I tend to do quite a bit of repeat patterns, especially if it is a easy pattern or one I like. I like to use different colored backgrounds or sashing to get a different look. 

 This sawtooth star quilt is my favorite one of this bunch. When I was making it, I was afraid there was going to be too much green in it. Once I put the blue sashing on, it was fine.

This quilt goes by a couple of different names. I found that it can be named either stoplight or keyhole quilt. It is a simple pattern that uses 2 1/2 inch squares and strips. I like easy patterns that don't produce a lot of waste!

 This sampler quilt was fun to do. The yellow binding isn't as bright as the picture shows. I blame it on the lighting!

This fretwork quilt was fun to do. I have another one that needs finished. Hopefully I can get to it soon. 

Another cowboy boot quilt. I didn't really want to use orange cornerstones, but that is all I had when I was overseas. Sometimes you have to work with what you have. 

Two Patriotic Quilts Complete

Today I went over to the quilt shop to talk with the ladies and realized I never got a picture of the Moda Love Quilt of Valor I made a while back. I made the top and Cindy quilted and bound it. It will be presented this October. I had another quilt there but she couldn't find it. It is missing in action. I think she gave it to one of our quilt guild members to bind and it just isn't back yet. No worries! It will show up eventually! 

I managed to finish my patriotic string quilt that I was working on this past weekend at the retreat. I was frustrated with the longarm again. More skipped stitches and it didn't seem to matter what I did. One of these days I will get it figured out!

Bookcase and Double Knit Polyester Quilts Complete

Yesterday after the quilt retreat was over, I quilted these two quilts on the longarm  and put the binding on them tonight. I didn't plan on quilting the double knot polyester quilt but after loading the backing fabric on, I realized the quilt that I originally planned to quilt was too wide for the backing. It wasn't cut straight. This was the only quilt that was narrow enough. It was very challenging to quilt. If I were to do it again, I would press the seams open to reduce bulk. I had issues quilting over the seams. 

This is the third bookcase quilt that I have completed. I was thinking about doing a tutorial on how I make them. Once I get all of the quilts done for the quilt show, I may put a free tutorial together. Right now my focus is on getting the rest of the quilts completed for the quilt show. There just not enough hours in the day!

Quilt Retreat Recap

It always seems like at every quilt retreat I think I am going to get a lot more done than I actually do. The only other thing I accomplished this weekend was getting all of the blocks done for my patriotic string quilt. I was originally planning on making 80 blocks but decided to make 48 and plan to add borders on. I think it will look better that way. 

I forgot to take a picture of the only top I finished this weekend. Quite a few people at the retreat liked my scrappy Irish chain quilt. This is the fourth one I have made. It is an easy quilt that consists of two different blocks. It is also a good quilt to use up 2 inch squares. 

Finally, I thought this was a great quilt retreat. It was at the fairgrounds this time and since it was close to home, I was able to go home and sleep in my own bed. I was also able to run home really quick a couple of time to get a couple of things I needed. It was nice to be able to pack just a few projects knowing that home was just a few minutes away. I didn't have to pack the entire quilt room like I normally do!

Patriotic Flag Quilt Complete

It's always nice to start out a quilt retreat with getting a project done on the first day. I finished quilting my patriotic flag quilt before I left and finished the binding at the retreat. In addition to this finish, I managed to finish up an Irish chain quilt that I had been working on. I had the blocks done. I just had to sew the rows together. Finally, I started sewing the rows together on a half square triangle quilt. I didn't get all of the rows done, but I made pretty good progress. It will be interesting to see what I get accomplished the rest of the weekend.

Four More Finishes

Today was another busy day with getting four more quilts finished. I got my 1930's Hop Scotch Revival, Simple Square, Crumb #3 and 1930's Churn Dash quilts all done. I think I am slowly figuring out my longarm. The stitches are better and I'm having less issues with thread breaking. I really need to take a class. It is on my list of things to do. In the mean time, I will just do the best I can! Happy Quilting!

Random Ohio Star and Crumb Quilt Complete

I was able to get these two quilts finished today. I spent part of the morning 

getting about a dozen quilts ready by getting the batting and quilt backing cut for them. I ended up using an entire 20 yard roll of batting! I ordered more along with more thread for the longarm since I am almost out. I decided it was time to change it up and get something besides white thread. I got six different colors and figured I will buy a few at time to get a decent variety to have on hand. Time to get back to quilting!

On a Mission

My plan for tonight was to get the 1930's Chunky Churn Dash Quilt done tonight. After I finished quilting it, I decided to load the Halloween Cat Quilt on the longarm so it was ready to go for tomorrow. I ended up quilting that as well and put the binding on both of them. 

I'm not sure what got into me but I'm not going to complain! The pile is slowly dwindling down! Hopefully I can get a few more done this weekend.

Scrappy Christmas Quilt Complete

I'm sure about every quilter has a collection of holiday fabrics. I never buy them, but somehow I seem to accumulate quite a collection. I have added them in my scrap quilts in the hope that I will slowly get rid of them. I ended up with quite a stash of Christmas fabric so I decided to make this quilt. This reduced my Christmas fabric stash substantially. It is good to use things up! I also pieced together some scrap batting for this quilt as well. It also reduces costs! It's like using free batting. The biggest thing is the time that it takes to piece it together. This one wasn't too bad since it was a smaller quilt. 

String Quilt Complete

Do you have certain fabric that should be thrown away but you just cant seem to do it? I know I do! This quilt is the result of not wanting to throw anything away. I found this fabric years ago on the side of the road during a city clean up day. I told myself after I made this quilt I was going to throw the rest out because it was thin and not very good fabric. Guess what? I never did. The tote is back in the basement waiting patiently for the day that I get it back out for another project. 

Cat Quilt Complete

I was happy to finally getting this one finished. I had this top done for over a year now. The pile of quilt tops are slowly dwindling down but it will still take some time to get them all finished. I just have to take one quilt at a time! Easier said than done!

Two More Finishes

Well, its been another busy day. I spent a couple of hours this morning working on crumb blocks until I switched over to get these two quilts finished up. I really like how the scrappy bear paw quilt turned out. I may just keep it! It seems like I either donate or give away most of the quilts I make. That's ok though. I enjoy the look on people's faces when they receive a quilt. It makes me happy! I have kept very few compared to what I have made.

This brick quilt started out as a hexagon quilt. I was frustrated on how my Y seams were turning out, so I made a design change. I ended up cutting all of the hexagons into bricks. This is what I ended up with! I may try hexagons again, but it wont be anytime soon!

Economy Block Quilt #2 Complete

I didn't think I was going to get this one done this afternoon, but after completing the other economy block quilt earlier, I figured why not. I assumed both of these quilts were the same size but this one is a bit larger with one more row across and down, I ended up using some of the quilt backing that I found this week that was 75 percent off. It ended up being 4.49 a yard! You can't beat quilt backing at that price. I ended up getting a total of 12 yards but I probably should have got the rest of the bolts. Live and learn!

Economy Block Quilt Complete

So many quilt tops, so little time! It seems like I am never going to get all of these quilts finished. It probably doesn't help that I am still making tops when I have about forty that are waiting patiently to be quilted. Today I decided to work on this economy block quilt. There are some ugly fabrics in this one but it seems to work for some reason. I have another economy block quilt top to finish as well. That one has a lot more white in it and has a different look to it. It will be fun to compare them when I get the other one done!

Another Crumb Quilt Complete

It has been a pretty productive day. I had finished a quilt earlier in the day and figured that would be it. I at least wanted to load this one on the longarm and ended up working on it this all afternoon to finish it up. I love making these quilts. It is nice to have a project that you don't have to put much thought into! I also like using every little scrap in my stash. I have three more crumb quilt tops to finish yet and each one has a different color for the sashing. I still have to figure out what backing fabric I will use for those. In the mean time, I still have plenty of other projects to do!

Cowboy Boot Quilt Complete

This is the first of two cowboy boot quilts that I had worked on while overseas. This is the smaller of the two. For some reason, I thought I had cut up more fabric for blocks out of my scrap dive fabric but I was wrong. I still made it work by using wider sashing and larger cornerstones. I thought about adding a border but decided not to after finding backing fabric that was the perfect size. Sometimes you just gotta go with what you have! 

Quilting and Camping

I finished this quilt up while camping this week. All I had left to do was the binding, so it was an easy project. The most challenging thing about it was just taking a decent picture. It rained the first two days and it seemed like when it wasn't raining, it was overcast. I spent the rest of my free time working on a crumb quilt. I thought it would be a good project for the camper since the blocks I make are 4 1/2 inches and I knew that I had a lot of blocks left to complete. I also thought that I could just take my time and do a few here and there and I wouldn't have to worry about picking up where I left off on some complicated pattern. Overall, I was very happy with what I was able to do in a few days of camping, quilting and relaxing. 

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt Complete

This quilt was a fun one! Last year at a retreat, we all took turns grabbing as many scraps out of a bin within 10 seconds. I spied these blocks and attempted to get as many as I could. I think we each went up two or three times. I know a few of my fellow quilters gave me a couple of blocks they pulled from the bin. When I got home with them, I was about short about six blocks and there were a few that weren't even complete. I ended up adding some scraps that looked like it would belong in the quilt. Luckily I have a wide selection of older fabrics! I also ended up taking apart some of the blocks since the seam allowance was way off and they weren't big enough for a block. Once I sewed them with a quarter inch seam, they were much better. Even though this quilt is far from perfect, I like it. I feel like I saved it from the scrap bin!

Amanda's Latest Quilt Complete

I finally got this quilt done. I had to take a row off due to the quilt backing shrinking just a little too much when I washed it. It will still easily cover her bed though. This project started when the batting in a comforter that my daughter had started to bunch up. When they made it, they did not secure the batting very well. It would all go to one end when washed. I ended up taking apart the comforter and then took my daughter shopping to add more fabrics. I still have enough leftover for another project. I may make a throw sized quilt for her. You can never have too many quilts! It was nice to be able to reuse the fabric from the comforter instead of just throwing it away.