Quincy Crazy Quilters Raffle Quilt 2014

Once again, the Quincy Crazy Quilters asked me to quilt their raffle quilt for 2014. I've been quilting their raffle quilts since I began long-arming, and I love that they keep asking me to do them. There are so many longarm quilters out there that they could choose from, I feel so privileged that they choose me.

This is a selvage quilt. I've done two of them in the past for members of the guild, so I've had a bit of experience with them. This one came with a special twist--a solid black backing. I LOVE solid backings...but first, the front.

The really fun thing about this quilt was recognizing many of the selvages and trying to remember who they belonged to. It was easy to remember the fabric, not so easy to put it with a customer though.

A close-up of the front. I did paisleys in the selvage parts and cc's in the smaller selvage squares. In the black, I stippled. All of these designs were "framed;" I stitched just inside the blocks to make them stand out more and to give the back a very polished look.

And here are the shots of the back. I really, really like how it turned out.

And here are a few more of the back...I just think its so cool (sorry to sound like such a broken record!) They're worth clicking on for a closer view--trust me.

Thanks for stopping by and having a look. 

Sad News....

For those of you that sent in money for the purchase of tickets, you didn't win...

The lady who did win had the audacity to not be home when her name was drawn last Thursday. Some people...she should have been sitting by her phone!!

Quilting Retreat

I was invited to a retreat in Poulsbo...a retreat that lasted for an entire week! Of course, I accepted. I only knew two of the twelve ladies that would be attending, but two was better than none and now I have ten new friends to add to the two original ones. That has been one of the incredible things about moving to Washington. People here QUILT!!

This is the house we had for the week.  Poulsbo is an incredibly cute town. There's a small area downtown that is the main touristy part of town. Its old and cute and right on the water. This house is just a couple of blocks from the water and the downtown area and a really great ice cream shop!!

There were three bedrooms upstairs, one down, the sewing room, plus a full kitchen and dining room. This is a shot of the sewing area.

Shirley, the friend that was responsible for my being there, had won these blocks at a previous retreat. She wasn't sure what to do with them, so she'd just hung them on the design wall. In the morning, she woke to this top--completely constructed by two of the ladies that stayed up til 4 a.m. working on it.

I did four blocks on each of my Aiming for Accuracy quilts to get caught up (the caught up part only lasted for a few days--I'm behind again *sigh*) and then I made two of these Five-yard quilts. Its a really simple and easy pattern if, and I do mean if, you follow the directions.  This one is for a friend of mine who is having a baby in December.

This one is for...I don't know what or who. I just liked the fabric.

I Made a Basket!

Yep....I made a basket from clothesline cord. One thing really cool about living in Washington is the variety of teachers that visit our guild.  Ami Simms was here so I took advantage of that and made this beautiful lime green basket. (Okay, maybe its not "beautiful," but I like it!)

The basket was basically started and finished in one day! You begin with clothesline cord that you unwrap so that it will go smoothly, without twists.

You then cut whatever fabric you're using on the bias, run a bead of glue along the cord and begin wrapping. At the end of each strip you overlap a bit and tuck it in, but it doesn't have to be perfect. This is how it looks as you start wrapping. Ami has this new cool tool (of course, I had to have one) that allows you to wrap the cord more easily. Its called a "powerwrapper." Click HERE to see it in action.

As you begin to sew, using a zig-zag stitch, the base of the basket grows and grows

  

When the base is as big as you want it, you start turning it to create the sides: 

and wala...you have a basket!!

One of the very best things about Ami is her sense of humor. She had us in hysterics when she lectured at the guild. She's a great person--take a class from her if you get the chance. You won't be sorry!