Project Quilting -- Pinwheel

This month its the Pinwheel Block for my Focus Through the Prism challenge. I opted for yellow...no idea why. Seemed like a good idea at the time! I chose gray (vs black)  background because I didn't want my quilt to look like a giant bumblebee!!

Once again, I have to thank EQ7 for my pattern. I did a search for pinwheels hoping for inspiration, when I came across this pattern. It immediately appealed to me because it resembled a  saw blade. Odd only if you don't know me.  My husband used to log with draft horses and he had his own mill on our property in California. We spent many hours feeding logs onto the mill and watching the blades spin as they ran down the logs, cutting them into boards.

Although today is the 31st, I actually finished this in plenty of time--in fact, I was sewing the binding on Friday night during the Seahawks game. I had DAYS to spare--two to be exact!!!

Here's a shot of the back...quilting these is always fun for me.

Think I'll call this one "Saw Wheel" -- so clever, I know!!!! (Quit laughing at me!!)

Dory

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice

Joyce sent this Bonnie Hunter Celtic Solstice to me for quilting all the way from South Carolina!!  Its a well-traveled quilt!!

As you know, Bonnie Hunter does not do "small." This thing is huge--evidenced by the way it hangs in my studio! (Remind me next time to move some stuff out of the way to make the picture look a little better!!)

I did allover quilting on this one. It was either that or super-dense custom as nothing else would show. However, with as large as this quilt is and as much as it has going on, I think my Heatwave allover gave it movement and definition without overpowering it. Also, and this is a big plus, it didn't break the bank!!!

And a shot of the back...because you have to have a shot of the back, right??? (I gave up on hanging and just folded it over my longarm!)

Dory

A Cheery Little Quilt

This is a store sample for Karen's Quilt Shop in Sequim.  If you haven't been there, you need to go. She's recently moved her shop across 7th Street, behind the paint store, where she has tons more room.

Anyway...I tried something new and I think it worked.  Initially, I was thinking a light gray thread, but once I got a good look at the quilt and the fabric, I really wanted to do something brighter.  So I quilted with a pale yellow.  Here's a close-up:

What do you think?  And a shot of the back...the woman who pieced this actually serged all the seams.  Man, is that nice!!!

Karen has this fabric line in her shop! I just love how cheery it is.

Thanks for having a look!

Dory

Bellingham Retreat 2015

Since moving to Washington and meeting my good friend Shirley at (where else?) a retreat, I've been to many retreats. She invited me to join her and 10 other friends at an annual retreat in Poulsbo that then moved to Bellingham.  I'm just home from this lovely week long event where we sewed and watched movies all day long. It was incredible!

Here's what I accomplished:

First up:  Two of these Aiming for Accuracy quilts that I started some time ago. They were BOMs with lots of instruction so that you could work on accuracy with your piecing. Not only did I participate, but I was privileged to quilt one for a lady that won my quilting as a grand prize. (Click here if you want to see that one)

Christmas fabrics here...(colors are much brighter than they appear here)

 

Same quilt; different fabric and border.  I decided it was too busy, so opted for a plain border instead.

 

This is one of those Schnibbles patterns.  I love little houses; I especially love quilting houses!!!

 This is the start of Dennis' Christmas present--his own Seahawks quilt. He really wants a Mariner's Compass quilt; I'm hoping he can't tell the difference!! This one still needs sashing and borders. Another photo coming when its finished.

I started a Winding Ways quilt for my step-daughter and got going on yet another Christmas quilt.  Not enough done on either of those to warrant photos yet.  

Great retreat with a group of great women!

Dory

Ginny's Beautiful Stack-n-Whack

This is the most unique and gorgeous setting I've ever seen for a Stack-n-Whack! In fact, I'm going to steal it for mine. (Shhhhhhh, don't tell!) 

 

I just think that those alternating blocks keep this quilt from being so busy that you can't even see the cool designs made by the S&W fabric.  One of the best part about quilting for others is all the designs I see. They're amazing!

I did my heatwave allover on the majority of this quilt with bamboo in the inner border.

All the S&W blocks and the bamboo inner border were quilted with Military Gold thread to pick up the gold in the S&W blocks. I'm loving how that turned out. Super simple design to not take away from the beauty of the blocks, themselves.

 

The back...such care in piecing it. She basically has a reversible quilt!

 

Center back to try and show some of the quilting. (I think you're going to have to click on the pic if you really want to see it...sorry)

Next up are pics of what I accomplished at my retreat!

Dory