McCall's Quick Quilts February/March 2012 - My Winter Quilt

My seasonal mat patterns are being published by McCall's Quick Quilts starting wiht the Feb/March 2012 issue. I love the way it looks in the magazine.

You can see more here:

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/quickquilts/articles/Through_the_Seasons__Winter

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/quickquilts/issues/February_March_2012

Quilt for Doris

This is the quilt I made for my sister, Doris. I didn't have a pattern, but had seen a picture on the web, so made up my own pattern. I used a light and a dark of complimentary fabrics. I made a positive (dark center) and a negative (light center) from each pair of fabrics. Some fabric selections, I had enough to make two pair of blocks. The quilting is simple stitch in the ditch and the centers of all the blocks have an orange peal pattern. I think it turned out really good, and she loved it.

A close up of some of the squares.

I'm still here

I havn't posted for a while now because I am having computer problems. I am still working on patterns. I have the first version of the "Lucky Elephant" pattern put together. I also have an owl quilt I am working on. As soon as I get the computer thing worked out, and can post from my own computer, I will post pictures here and on suelynndesigns.blogspot.com.

I spent two weeks working on a quilt for my sister, Doris. She had to have some tests done on her heart. It was like an obsession for me. I couldn't work on anything else. I was up till midnight the night before her tests, finishing the binding. It was not a full size quilt, 50 x 80 inches. Just big enough to use for extra warmth. I know I was cold when I was in the hospital last year, until I had my family bring a quilt from home.

When we went to the hospital the day she was scheduled for tests, we walked into her room and I had the quilt in a pillowcase. I asked her how she was, and she said she was cold. I said, "I think this will help", and pulled the quilt out of the case. She was thrilled.

When I am back on my own computer I will share a picture. She is fine, the Doctor said her heart looked good (for her age) except for a small valve leak they already knew about.

Until next time.

Update

I have been busy trying to get a design business going without much money or success. I am putting all the info on another blog
http://suelynndesigns.blogspot.com/. If you are interested go there to see my quilts and tests on new patterns.

Around here the weather was very good, for fall, until this week. We had one out of season snowstorm in October, that caught us unprepaired. We hadn't taken the cover off the metal frame that shaded the patio, and the weight collapsed the frame and rippen the cover. We weren't expecting the snow so early. Two days later, it was gone, but so was the patio cover.

I think it will be winter for the next few months, now.

I Can't Believe It's September!!!

Where did the summer go!.

I spent some time remaking a set of small quilted wallhangings and sent them off to a publisher. I will post pictures when I know more.

I got a virus and spent a little more than a week in bed, fever, chills, the whole thing. But I survived without going to the hospital this time.

I also created a new quilt, Winter Geese, and sent the pattern to Quiltwoman.com. I hope it is published soon. I'll let you know.

The garden is not doing well. We did get a fair crop of peas. The tomatoes are slow and the corn is.... well, lets just say, it would be a joke if we showed it to you. Short, short, short, no ears. I haven't checked the potato plants for little ones yet. The greenhouse is not much better. It sort of piddled off about mid July and we sort of neglected it after that.

I was working on a new pattern last week, when my sewing machine stopped working. Had to take it in, but because the place I go to for repairs is a big vendor at the fair, I won't know the damage until at least next week.
I tried mom's old machine, but it wouldn't work. I may have to get Nyda's machine out to the workroom if I get sewing withdrawal too bad.

I am getting some other things done since I can't sew. Like vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, mopping the kitchen floor. Cleaning my room. I culled a lot of books and magazines out of my shelves. I was able to sell some to the used books store. Not much money: $25. and $12 credit at Hastings. I told Nyda she could use the credit towards more video games. She is working customer service for Sony Playstation now and gets a playstation to use at home.
I put some craft stuff and the magazines on freecycle, and they were picked up fast. I still have too much stuff.

New tote bag

I needed a new tote bag, the old one I have been using is just a simple canvas bag that I got in a craft store for a few dollars. I had some drapery fabric samples that would do. I pulled some muslin to go with it and made a new tote bag.

Here are pictures of the front and back. Two different samples, but the same colors.



Here it is with the old bag. Much better, I think. I added pockets on the inside and longer handles.

Cool Kats Quilt

I just finished this lap quilt. I received a remnant in a grab bag that had these 6 cool cats prints. I used some colorful remnants to add size to the cheater blocks and then a stripe for the border. Back is yellow. I had fun quilting around each cat and choosing a different quilting pattern for each block. I hope you like it.

An old Fower Garden Quilt UFO

I put these hexagons together in the 70's. I sewed them togeter by hand using a blanket stitch. I've had the gold for the edge for a long time. Yesterday I decided to work on it. If I get the borders basted on, I can work on it in the evenings.
It's made of heavy cottons and corderoy fabrics.




I also got the backing for my "Dear Jane" quilt. I plan on layering it tonight or tomorrow so I can start quilting it. That one will be by hand! I've spent too much time putting all those little squares together.

Greenhouse and Garden

We finally got the garden planted. We also harvested two cucumbers from the greenhouse.

This is melons in the front, and corn in the back. Nyda started corn in the greenhouse. When she planted it, she also put some seeds in a couple of small rows. We'll see which one is better.

The tomatoes and peppers were also started in the greenhouse. The tomatoes look terrible. The last two days the rain and almost hail have tried to kill them. There were some that said there was a small tornado south of us on Wednesday.

It's almost July and the peas are just getting started. There are onions and potatoes in the other side.

Nyda uses a vibrating tooth brush to polinate the tomatoes.

Here are the first cucumbers. There are cucumbers in the raised bed with the tomatoes, and in some hanging pots.

Just yesterday Nyda started to plant the pots and planters on the patio and around the front. We couldn't afford to plant so many flowers if she didn't start them from seed in the GH.


We also got the pond pump running in both the big pond and the one outside my studio.

Look at the gold fish!


These Alum were in full bloom just outside the door last week.


We had flowers all spring, despite the weeds! Dafodills, tulips. Then lilacs and the flowering trees. Now the poppies and iris. I just didn't get pictures. The BEES have been swarming around the flowers. It's been a slow spring for them, too.

Owl quilt finished

I have had 12 owl quilt blocks in my UFO pile since the 1980's. The pattern is from an old Quilters Newsletter Magazine, I don't know which one. I did a close button hole stitch around the pieces that looks like a satin stitch, by hand. I would pull one out and work on it from time to time, until I got them all embroidered.
Earlier this month, I pulled out a colorful leaf print on black and made up each block in a quilt as you go manner. It took a few days to quilt and then sew the blocks together. Each block is a different design. I was trying out some of Leah Day's designs and few of my own. The borders were quilted seperately and attached just like the blocks.

Here are closeups of two of the blocks.




Here is the quilt. It is 44 x 66 inches.



Here are closeups of the back of two blocks.




Her is a picture of the back joining between two blocks.

I finished a boys quilt.

I finished this quilt in May. Last fall, I was going through my fabrics and found a bunch of fabrics that would work for a boy or a girl. I put them together to make a toddlers quilt. Lined in flannel in a monkey print. I had it ready to quilt when I got sick and spent time in the hospital. This spring I was feeling well enough to get back to my studio.

Summer?

We have had the worst weather this spring. We don't get tornados or hurricanes here in South East Idaho, but it has been a long winter. Spring has been cold. Since April we have had snow, rain, snow, rain, sunshine(one day), and on and on. About 1 good day to 10 days of yuck.

Last week it froze, rained, rained, and talk about wind! Three to four days of 35 - 40 mph winds with gusts up to 50-60 mph. We put the top on our patio cover and then took it down again. I was afraid if we didn't we would find it in Wyoming!

We finally got enough good weather to plant tomato and cabbages out side.

My sister's hobby greenhouse is doing good. This spring she added a long low raised bed for salad plants. She was using large pots for greenhouse tomatoes. She built a raised bed in the center for the tomatoes instead. Lots and lots of 5 gallon bucket loads of rocks(for dranage) and even more of bedding soil.

All the tomatoes have blossoms.


This is the long bed with radishes, lettuces and onions.


These are the fuchsias she bought as tiny seedlings a couple of months ago. They will go on the patio soon.


The last three years we got almost as many tomatoes from the greenhouse as from the outside garden. Last year it froze the tomatoes on June 17! We will see what happens this year.

Finishsed UFO

Last weekend I worked on a UFO from my stack of quilt tops. It's a wallhanging I made out of some leftover flying geese blocks and some other scraps. Some quilters call the little pieces "crumbs". I had the backing and the batting alread to go and had sketched a lady blowing the "wind" in the sky. Then it got buried in the pile. I found it and decided I should finish it.

I have been following Leah Day's blog: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/
for about a year. Lots of interesting designs on Leah's blog. Very inspiring. I went back to the beginning and practiced some of the designs on squares for potholders.

When I found this UFO, I decided to practice on it.



This is a closeup of the "Wind". Click on the picture to see it larger.


A bit of detail of the trees and ground.

Work room mess

I have been working on some four season wall hangings lately. My workroom is a mess. I have had the company of our two dogs off and on. Dizzy the doberman and Lily the Lhasa. I keep two small dishes so they can get water and a snack when they come out to visit me. It is finally warm enough that I don't feel guilty running the heat enough to be warm as I work.

Someday I am going to redo the chair cover. It's held on with safety pins now. And the seat cover keeps coming off.

A look at quilt tops I had in storage

I spent some time yesterday taking pictures of the quilt tops I have made in the last few years. I don't have any of them quilted. I wanted a record of what I have so I can put them in by "brag book". I decided to post them here also.

This is the oldest. I made it during the 70's, but never got it quilted. The fabric is cotton/poly, which is what we mostly had then. I'm thinking of selling it as a "vintage" top.


Several years ago I bought 3 pieces of fabric that were related. I put them together in this quilt along with a light sage green:



Its one of those things that you look at after a while and you wonder "What was I thinking?" I don' really like it now. I think I will use it as a practice piece for machine quilting.

I used the leftovers for this quilt:



For several years I bought "space" themed fabrics when I found them with the idea of a space window quilt. This is what I came up with. It's perfect for a young astronaut:


This is a wall quilt to go with it:

Here is another quilt I made with the leftovers from the space windows quilt. Another good quilt for a future astronaut.


This was a fun quilt. I had several remnants: a native american inspired watercolor pattern, a tie-dye type with four main colors, red, blue, green, and yellow, A piece of orange and a piece of grey. They all went well together laying on the table. The pattern is called jewel box. I fussy cut the centers of the blocks. After cutting the tie-dye fabric into squares, I sorted it into stacks by predominant color: red, green, yellow and blue. I used up all of the fabrics. I didnt have more than a hadfull of scraps left.


This is my fractal quilt. I used an illustration on the cover of Scientific American as my guide. It was finished during the winter of 2005. It just kept growing. after finishing the center, it needed a border, Then another. It turned out about 100 by 110 inches. I can't get a good picture because it is WAY larger than my design curtain. I wrote to SA about permission to publish my pattern, but they say I have to contact the Mendelbrot estate. We will see. I want to redraft the pattern smaller or just use the center area for another quilt at some time.




Last summer I put together this tree quilt. I am thinking about putting a solid green border on it to make it larger. I still have some of the green fabrics, I could applique a vine around the outside using those scraps. Maybe.


Most of these have been stash buster quilts. I have been trying to come up with quilts where I only had to buy one piece of fabric to complete the quilt. The only quilt I bought the fabric for spacifically was the fractal quilt.