Dove quilt

This is the Dove quilt completed. Now I have to do the application process at http://www.alzquilts.org/index.html because this quilt is to be donated to the great cause of medical research to find help for those suffering with Alzheimer's Disease. It took six hours to make. It's an original design of mine. And I hand appliqued, embroidered and quilted it. But it's quite tiny, under 9 by 12 inches. The embroidery stitches are blanket stitch and fly stitch. Now on to the exciting topic of Tonya Ricucci's book Word Play Quilts. I'm the proud owner of a copy. It's so well written. And the illustrations are excellent. Tonya, it's a triumph! I'm sure that it will be a popular book with quilters, and words will be sprouting up on all sorts of quilts. Furthermore, the book has a great deal of humor, and it's entertaining. That's a big achievement for a technical book. For anyone who has been in the Antarctic for the past few months, Tonya's blog is http://lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/

Star baby quilt--the beginning

Well, I was a bit under the weather for a few days, in more ways than one!  Besides my not feeling well, we went from having comparatively cool type weather all summer to having the hottest day ever recorded.  It was as if all that summer heat that we had avoided decided to hit us in only one day!  Lucky me, I had my AC repaired recently, and it was up and running for that blast of heat.  And people say that we have no weather to speak about in Southern California.

I have begun sewing a baby quilt, which was the next thing on my sewing list.  I turn under the edges of the stars by sewing them to fusible interfacing. Placing right side of  fabric to sticky side of interfacing, I sew all around the edges, then I cut a little hole in the interfacing and turn the star right side out.  Presto, all the edges are turned under.  I then press the stars to the quilt square and machine sew the edges.  I plan to make alternate squares in a free-pieced crazy square.  I have a lot of scraps of kid-type fabric left over from that I Spy quilt that I made. So now is the perfect time to get some of them sewn up.    

Utility Quilting

Because of all the interest, I have made a quick sampler of utility stitches. I learned these stitches from the book "Rotary Riot" by Judy Hopkins and Nancy J. Martin.
The stitches are from left to right: Crow footing (I call it fly stitch), Cross stitch, Buttonhole stitch, Mennonite Tack, and Methodist Knot. The principle of these stitches is that a small stitch of about 1/4 inch long is taken through all layers. The next step is to slide the needle through the batting to the position for the next stitch. I used a darning needle. I made the stitches in the sample with quilting thread. However, pearl cotton or crochet cotton can be used. The thread can be any color. Please pardon my messy stitches--except for the fly stitch, they're new to me.
1. Crow footing or fly stitch: Slide the needle into the first position, go through all layers from the other corner to the point. Tack in place by sliding the needle into position and through to the spot for the next stitch.
2. Cross stitch: The needle goes through all layers to form the top of the "X", then crosses and slides through and goes to the next spot.
3. Buttonhole stitch is just like the crow footing, only the thread is at right angles.
4. Mennonite tack: Take a back stitch through all layers, about 1/4 inch long. Slide the needle to just before the starting point, and take a tiny stitch, over the end of the back stitch. It forms a little "t," sliding the needle forward to the next spot.
5. Methodist Knot: Start with a back stitch through all layers, and follow by a smaller back stitch in the front, through the top layer only. Slide the needle through the batt to the next spot.
I have only tried the last two stitches just now, and I found them to be additive.