I want to share a great video by Bonnie Browning on how to make a sleeve for hanging your quilt.  Its a great quick video worth watching!

How to make a quilt sleeve

This is another older mystery quilt I’ve finally finished & need to bind. It’s from a mystery night class I took back in 2006. The pattern is called Lakeside Dreams by Debbie Caffrey. It calls for 3 high contrasting fabrics & I had no idea what I was making when I choose the fabrics but love the final outcome!   All it needs now is a little solid black binding. Doesn’t it remind you of Good & Plenty’s?

Sew on friends!

I quilted another of my older quilt tops that was getting dusty in the closet. I hate to admit but I have several sadly ignored quilt tops in my own quilt closet not getting their rightful attention. I’m making the commitment to put one on and quilt monthly or when I can squeeze it in. The latest is pretty bright so you may need to put on your sunglasses before looking. I pieced this top over 5 years ago when I was part of the Quaint Quilters Guild. Its a Thimbleberries pattern. I loved the border fabric & choose brights to go with it (a little out of my comfort zone). Most of the others in guild were not using bright fabrics at the time so I thought I would for comparison sake.  I wanted to do Custom quilting but knew that nothing would show up in that deep border so I found a nice allover design & I’m pretty happy with the results. I used Hobbs 80/20 batting & a bright green thread.

My quilt with Tracery quilting design by Keryn Emmerson. (Click to see larger)

We welcomed in spring with a little snow today. At least the sun is out & if I’m going to be shut in thank goodness I’m shut in with a stash of fabric!

Spring is a great time to refresh.  I thought I would share some tips from the pros at Missouri Star Quilts.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/craft-advice-from-the-pros-10-tips-for-sewing-and-quilting-missouri-star-quilt-company-201448

Happy Sewing!

I finished another of my own quilts yesterday. I pieced this at retreat several years ago & it’s been patiently waiting in my closet to be quilted.  The pattern is County Lines & I’ve actually quilted several of these for the shop owner Carolyn Vagts of The Village Quilt Shoppe in Lake Orion & for other customers. It’s a lot of fun to see all the different fabric choices. I choose dark blue brown combinations with a dark brown sashing. It makes a pretty good sized quilt. This one is 82 x 104. I hope to make another using all Asian prints.

I try not to work on Sundays but today I will be putting together a couple of quilt backs getting ready to load them for Monday.

It’s cold but sunny today in Mich. I got out to the quilt shop today to pick up a couple additional pieces of fabric for borders & binding. The potholes are out of control! I think I might have to stay in as long as I can this week & hope they get some filled in before I hit the roads again.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Keeping up with my out of the closet series, I just finished another of my own quilts this week. This is a 2011 Debbie Caffrey Mystery Quilt called Undercover in Cincinnati. Her mysterys’ usually require 3 to 4 different fabrics with high contrast. I choose a Laurel Burch Horses print & then choose a dark, med & light batik to go with it. I was pretty happy with the end result. The star & churn dash show up pretty well. The batting is Hobbs Wool. I quilted it with Janet-Lee Santuesanios’ Curly Bubbles design and taupe Isacord thread.

Ye-haw, I like it! One more done & out of the closet.

Looking for ideas for a new quilt?  Missouri Star Quilt Company  has video tutorials on some fun fast quilts. I have to admit, I didn’t think there was a different way to make a 9 patch but I was wrong.  I learned a few new things and the videos are short enough that I didn’t lose interest. If you need some ideas or just some mojo check it out!

Stay warm & quilt on!

I’ve added a link on the right to my Pinterest boards. I’ve tried to save some fun links to tutorials & other fun ideas. Most of my pins are quilt related & many are others quilts that I wanted to look back on for design ideas or just to enjoy. There are so many sources out there now. It’s hard to keep up with it all. If you are looking for something new to make or just want to browse you will need to become a member of Pinterest first. I have pinned some tutorials on binding, how to make a disappearing 9 patch, book covers, hexes & even ideas on storage & studio set ups. Feel free to follow my boards. Its a great way to organize some of the many ideas for future projects or just keep some eye candy for inspiration.

Happy Quilting!

We had a couple days without snow this week & temps above 20 degrees. Like so many other states, it’s been a record Michigan snowfall this year. A hard winter will make spring ever so sweet. Yesterday it actually felt like spring, the sun was shining & we could see the driveway & parts of the street without snow. Today we are back to winter wonderland with overcast skys’ and snow falling. These snowy days makes it easier to stay inside & do what I love.  There are less temptations to draw me away from the fabric.

There was one temptation though…..yesterday I went to the Grand Opening of The Village Quilt Shoppe. They recently moved to a new location. It will be a nice new beginning for them. The shop is bright, has a nice private classroom & is full of quilty goodness!  Congrats to Carole and Carolyn Vagt’s on the new location! While there I saw a few customers & picked up some wide quilt backing for a couple of my own quilts. It was nice to see Carolyn, she stays busy being editor of Quilters World Magazine so not at the shop daily anymore.  It’s a treat to see her when she’s in town.

On this snowy Sunday I think I’m going to start a pot of soup, turn on the Jessie Stone marathon & get busy quilting!

Hugs!

I’ve added a few new colors of thread for the new year. I’ve had a lot of recent requests for blue thread so you’ll see some additional shades of blue & a couple new colors from Glide, Tango & Robins Egg. Aren’t they pretty?