I SPY

I made this for my 3-year old great nephew for Christmas.  I've always wanted to do one of these, and had a lot of fun finding 36 fun fabrics to put into the Mason Jars.  It's 52 x 62.

I quilted lines in the lids, and a circle in the center of each jar to look like the design on a Mason Jar.

I found fabric that looks like wood, and used that for the shelves.  I quilted a simple grain in it.

I got a great little boy fabric for the backing, and fussy cut one dump truck to use on the front too.

Quilt of Valor Panels

A lot of panels were donated to my guild and Ginger challenged us to take a bunch a create a quilt.  This is what I came up with.  Many of the panels were not square, so they look a little wonky.  I used the gold as a back drop to make the panels stand out.  It's 60 x 72

2 flag panels

center section

I quilted a simple meander in the gold and the border, with some simple highlights in the flags

The backing is my favorite patriotic print

STEPHEN'S MEMORIES

Stephen sent me a bunch of shirts and some sweaters so I could create a memory for him.  It's 50 x 60

There are t-shirts, sweaters, and his high school athletic letters:

I quilted it using a grey thread with a pantograph named Shades of  Anasazi.  

Lots of swirls and great graphics.

He also sent me a fleece throw with pictures of his grandkids to use as the back.  I added some grey fabric around the sides to get to size I needed:

Dresden Flower

Susan's grandmother pieced this by hand.  She thinks it was some time in the early 60's.  It had been stored since then.  Susan was moving and found it while packing.  She wanted it done so she could use it.  It's 72 x 93.

This is a classic - using up what was on hand.  Some of the blocks are the traditional alternating colors, but many have an odd piece put in just so it could be finished.  There is no border.  We don't know if she ran out of the green sashing fabric, or jut ran out of time.  Susan thinks this is the last quilt that Grandma made.

I tried to keep the quilting traditional.  I did outlining, and put a small daisy in each corner.  

I  put ribbon candy in the sashings, and X in the cornerstones, and a more modern daisy in the centers

I used an off white for the backing, and a green binding that matches the sashings and centers,

 to try to pull it all together.

TREE SKIRT

I made this Christmas tree skirt for my niece.  (my nephew's wife) She likes darker colors, and I had a hard time finding dark enough reds. 

I cut 2.5" strips, and sewed them at different angles on newspapers I had made to the size I wanted.  It's 60" across, to fit an 9' tree.  I quilted wiggly lines along each seam.

She wanted burlap, and this was the closest I could find to use on the back and for the binding.  It's a little more brown than this, and really does look like burlap.

QUILT OF VALOR

This is the second one I did of this pattern.  It's so simple, and I found some jelly rolls on sale, it was too easy to do this second one.  Here is the first:   This one is 61 x 80.

The quilting is different on this one - I used white thread, and quilted a pointed meander.

There is a navy stripe up the middle of the flag fabric I found for the backing and binding

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QUILT OF VALOR

This is a fun easy pattern that I made.  It goes together really fast.  It's 62 x 83.

I used a variegated tread and quilted patriotic words across each row,

 putting a star in between each word.

I found this great patriotic fabric for the backing and binding:

Gloria's Hankies

Gloria loves vintage things and has saved many different items from her Mom and grandmother.  The first quilt I did for her was from wedding dresses, and the second was Girl Scout uniforms.

But this one tops them all.  She sent me 36 vintage hankies and told me to have fun.  And, boy, did I ever.  This is 63 x 68, and I used white thread throughout for the quilting.

I did a lot of research first to learn how to handle the hankies, and did a test run on one of my own first.  This one I have framed and hanging in the house.

I joined a Facebook Page called Quilting Vintage where I learned a lot, and from there got the idea for the butterflies in the center.

But first - here are 2 pictures showing the whole top in 2 sections:

I quilted a feathered wreath in the middle of the 4 butterflies in the center of the quilt:

Echo quilting around each butterfly took a long time:

This hanky was embroidered with the word "mother", so I made it one of the center hankies:

I fused each hanky onto white cotton to give it some stability, before I cut the size I wanted.  Then used a pastel solid that matches the hanky to put in the corners.  

Those that have lace or a scalloped edge have extra cotton at the outside so I could maintain that image:

I quilted feathers in each corner, and a stitch-in-the-ditch to get from corner to corner.  This also helped to make the hankies pop.  They are really puffy.

I quilted a tight ribbon candy in the one inch sashings:

and a butterfly in the larger white sections used to balance the hankies

Feathers in the outer border add to the whole vintage theme:

The backing is a floral print that carries the colors from the front: