"And the beat goes on..."

I don't know if you recall the old song by Sonny and Cher? I think I'm letting this free-piecing get away from me! I have to promise myself to make a different kind of quilt next. Anyhow, I saw a photo of a free-pieced quilt over on the http://quilts4leukaemia.blogspot.com/ and I was inspired to make a quilt similar to the one in the photo, made by Carol E. That quilt was made for a leukaemia patient. Clare does a deed of loving kindness by making quilts for patients. I invite you to visit her blog. You might wish to contribute--she needs quilt squares for this project. I'm planning to donate this quilt, when completed, to a person in my neighborhood (as yet unknown--but I'll find them.)

Shoo Fly quilt

Good news on the quilting front--I've completed quilting and binding this Shoo Fly quilt. I hope to be sending it off for donation this weekend. I free-motion quilted it on my sewing machine. And today I did sew the border on that Hodge Podge quilt. I sewed on 4 inches of a mottled gold fabric. Now I have to dig through my stash (it's in a big storage box at the bottom of my closet) to try to find a backing for it. I've been enjoying my sewing lately. And oh yes, my daughter liked her shortie PJ pants that I sewed for her. The fabric was printed with helicopters and I managed to not have any of them flying upside down.
It seems to me that I ought to be counting my blessings lately--I'm grateful for my wonderful family and friends. I have to be grateful that I live in a nice place and go to bed each night in comfort. And I have to stop complaining so much!
By the way, a message to the East Coast from the folks in California--welcome to earthquake country!

Shoo fly quilt

As per usual--I'm leaping ahead as it were--and although I haven't finished sewing the borders on the Hodge Podge Quilt in the previous post (can't decide what add on next,) I've sewn another quilt top. This one is also for a donation, because the string quilt that I sewed the other day for a donation already has a destination.
Well, thanks so much Gwen Marston for your great quilting books (I own several of them) I'm making a liberated quilt. Here I've used some of my collection of solid colors. I began collecting solid fabrics a couple of years ago, and I'm so glad that I did. I feel like an artist who has a big collection of paint tubes.
This quilt is made with 12 inch squares, and the sashes are cut 2 1/2 inches wide. I added a 3 1/2 inch mottled blue border. The border does not show up very well in the photo, but the mottled color really gives a finishing touch to the quilt. The result is a lap quilt approximately 36 by 50 inches. Now on to the pin basting!

Next quilt--a Hodge Podge

So, I had such fun making that quilt with all solids--which I called my "Art Quilt," that I decided to try making the same type of free-pieced quilt, but with prints this time. I guess that you might call it the Hodge-Podge Quilt. I like it so far, but not as much as the solid one. I need to add borders to it, and that should improve the appearance somewhat. But it's such fun to just sew like crazy and see what it looks like afterwards.
As you can see by the second photo, I also sewed a pair of shortie pajama pants. That's what happens when my daughter takes me to the fabric store--she always seems to find something that she wants me to sew for her! I haven't sewn a garment (except for an apron) in years. I used to make nearly all my own clothes at one time, but fabrics got so expensive that it was no longer economical to sew clothing.
Anyhow, when my two oldest kids were little, the pajamas I bought for them at the store would wear out very quickly. So I decided to make some pajamas for them myself. The kids picked out a flannel fabric that was printed with cowboys. I sewed the pj's with flat-fell seams and those things lasted long enough to become hand-me-downs. My daughter remembered those pj's and she found this cute fabric printed with helicopters--and I had to sew pajama pants again! This time I made French seams. Flannel ravels and if you are sewing flannel clothing, you need to make an enclosed seam. She came over today for a "fitting" and I need to hem these pants and sew the elastic.

String quilt

Here I am again--it's been so long since my last post! I was having a wonderful time with visiting family! And there was a big birthday party for my daughter and her husband's 50th birthdays. They have their birthday in the same week, and are the same age. So it's good news all around. And at last I have completed this string quilt. It's intended for a gift for a sick person. My head is spinning with ideas for my next two quilts. I do have some blocks started for one of those.
Meanwhile, I finished knitting a sweater for a small cousin. I couldn't decide which sweater to knit--a pullover or a hoodie--so I'm knitting both. The hoodie needs a lot more knitting, but sweaters are not really needed much until October or November. By the way, the wrist warmers that I made previously were a big hit as soon as the girls figured out what in the world they were. Also not needed until the Autumn.

Art Quilt

Here's a picture of my Art Quilt. And I'm really proud of it. I machine quilted it with a meandering stitch, using a shiny rayon thread on the top, and ordinary black thread in the bobbin.
I hope to use this method of piecing to make another quilt soon, using printed fabric instead of all solid. I made the background a dark brown color. I rarely use much black in my quilts. Although I wear a lot of black clothing, I still have a funny feeling about black. I guess that goes all the way back to my childhood. My father had a superstition about children wearing black. He wouldn't permit it. I think that he thought it might be bad luck because black was a color of mourning. The other day I presented the quilt pictured below to a dear lady who is having chemo therapy. She said, "This is my lucky day." I certainly hope so. As you can see, the quilt is composed of free-pieced stars (that I learned how to make from Gwen Marston's books) along with some free-pieced log cabin blocks.

O happy day!

Do you remember that old song, "The sun is shining, Oh happy day..."? At last I'm feeling well enough today to pin baste this quilt. And this photo gives a better close up of the quilt's construction. The second photo is a cover that I designed for my daughter's I Pad. She wanted a sock monkey on it. I should have written down what I was doing at the time--but I didn't, so there's no pattern for this. I simply measured the I Pad and crocheted a large rectangle to fit it.