Megha's Quilt

I see a lot of bones on this quilt. Where's mine?

There was a long hiatus from the longarm whilst Mother and I worked on piecing tops. I was working on the Blue Maple Leafs for Narinder and Spencer to use on the couch. Mother was working on a couple of disappearing 9-patches. In the meantime Narinder got a message from his sister Ravinder about their Dec visit saying that Simran wants drawing supplies and Megha wouldn't say what she wanted. It's traditional to give guests presents in their family.  Megha would like to have a pet, but that doesn't fit into their schedule right now. So, Narinder will take Simran shopping for drawing supplies when she gets here and I got busy making a pet-substitute quilt for Megha.  This one was nearly quilt in a day.  I would have finished all the cutting and piecing in one day, if I hadn't stopped to watch a TV movie.  Because Ravinder and girls are due to visit Dec 17, this quilt was the first one after the hiatus to go on the machine, bumping the Maple Leafs and the 2 Mother finished.

I believe all the fabrics in this quilt came from a JoAnn's sale.

Size: 59" x 59" Lap Blanket Size
Quilting: Quilted in a loose stipple meandering design, with some "bones" added. I made a bone template on Dec 1, 2014 by enlarging a design in a book.  I used a Chaco marker to mark the bones on the quilt. 

The Template

On the Quilt (a bit difficult to see)

I used red polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Rosella". I looked up Rosella on the internet and they are beautiful Australian parrots with some bright red feathers. So, quilting is at times educational!) Free form quilting. 5 bobbins. 

A Rosella

Selecting the Thread for Quilting
Backing: Red dog print and the black, white, and gray bone print. I made a stupid mistake figuring out how wide to make the bone print, so I had to unpin the quilt just before the quilting was finished and sew on another piece. I lost a whole day correcting that error. Sometimes I worry about my brain functions!

The Back
Batting: 100% bamboo
Binding:  A red print. The binding was "crowd sourced". I asked Keith, Ann, and Sally if I should use brown or black and Keith to be funny said "red".  Sally and Ann agreed, so I had to find a suitable red. I'll learn to crowd source!  I did ask only Sally about which color thread to use for the quilting and she said red, which is what Mother had said first.

Crowd-Sourced Binding Basted
Pattern: Traditional  block inspired by a baby quilt kit I saw on the Internet. I expanded the block sizes to better feature the red dog print and to make a better size for a lap blanket. I added a couple more borders also. 

The idea

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame December 1, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter December 1-5, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

The Result

The Label

Location:County Line Quilts

Patches

Narinder's friends collected embroidered patches on their travels over several years. They asked me to put them on a quilt for them. I designed a block to feature the patches. It was not easy to arrange patches ranging from a classy one from to Paris to one that proclaimed, "I had a ball at the Testicle Festival!" I used a white snowball block with black corners and appliqued the patches to the centers. The blocks were sashed with a black and gray tonal fabric with black cornerstones. This is the first quilt I took to show and tell at the Quilt Guild. It was well received. The friends liked it and gave me a gift certificate to a restaurant in Menlo Park. 

The black fabrics I used came from the Laurel Leaf in San Carlos. The fabrics washed well and bled very little. The plain white was from my stash.

Size: 59" x 74" Lap Blanket Size
Quilting: Quilted in a swirly meandering design. Used gray polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver"). Free form quilting. 11 bobbins. 
Backing: Black and white stripe from The Laurel Leaf.
Batting: 100% bamboo
Binding:  Black and gray tonal cotton used for sashing.
Pattern: Traditional snowball block used to feature the patches. 

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame September 3, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter September 3-8, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

Many Steps to the Sewing Machine 2

Selecting the thread for quilting. 

Used the gray on the lower left.

See "Many Steps to the Sewing Machine" for information about the making of this quilt. It is interesting to compare the first hand-quilted one with this one quilted on the longarm.  Between the two, I prefer the look of the one quilted on the long arm. Mother worked hard to find a blue colored fabric that would be acceptable to Sally, that's what I remember about the making of the quilt--finding the perfect blue!

Size: 86" x 84" Queen-Bed Size
Quilting: Quilted like "Peace by Piece." Used gray polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver"). Free form quilting. 10 bobbins. 
Backing: Blue print cotton from a JoAnn's sale.  The fabric is printed to look like wrinkled denim.
Batting: 100% Bamboo. Bamboo batting is as easy to machine quilt as it is to hand quilt.
Binding: A piece from Penny's stash. Also used for Leo's quilt.
Pattern: Antique "Many Trips Around the World"
Piecing by Mother 12 years ago. Pinned into frame August 15, 2014. Quilted August 20-29, 2014 (Patty).  

Binding by Mother

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

Strippy Flannel 2

This is the another of Mother's scrappy flannel quilts. This is the second quilt she made to use up strips of flannel we have left from the edges of long armed quilts and bindings and other sources. I tried again to quilt feathers, but I need more practice. I will persevere! 

Size: 56" x 80" Single Bed Size
Quilting: Another practice with feathers.  Used blue polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Ocean Blue"). Free form quilting. 6 bobbins. 
Backing: Plain light blue flannel from Mother's stash. To make the backing long enough, Mother inserted a pieced strip; aka a "pieced back."
Batting: 100% Cotton (Warm And White)
Binding: Blue flannel from Mother's stash of fabric left from making pajamas.  I remember having pajamas made from this fabric.
Pattern: Mother's own design

Piecing by Mother.

Pinned into frame August  8, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter August 11-13, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Mother. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

Thinking About the Box

Can you see the rabbit?

This quilt was cut out last year, shortly after I finished the County Fair quilt.  Therefore, it qualifies towards my UFO yearly goal. The title comes from the idea that you should think outside the box to solve a problem.  Sometimes you need to think about the box and not inside or outside of it.

Size: 65" x 81" Single Bed Size
Quilting: Quilted in a whirly, hooky, spirally pattern. Used medium blue polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Ocean Blue"). Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. 
Backing: Wishful Bluebird from the Hope Chest fabric line at Connecting Threads. Purchased from an internet sale.
Batting: 50/50 Cotton/Poly (Warm Blend)
Binding:  Same plain blue cotton as used for the background color.
Pattern: Inspired by a quilt I saw on the internet--Boxes of Colour by Andrea Harris. The blocks used a couple of Kaffe Fasset jelly rolls from a fabric.com sale. The blue background came from a JoAnn's sale.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame July 30, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter July 28-August 1, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

The Rabbit

Location:County Line Quilts

Potter's Neighbourhood

Size: 49" x 59" Crib Size
Quilting: Quilted like "Peace by Piece." Used off-white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Pearl White"). Free form quilting. 6 bobbins. 
Backing: Green and pink, floral cotton print. Bought the same fabric from JoAnn's that was used for the back of "Baby Quilt Made by Hannah" (see October, 2012). I remembered the fabric and thought it would be perfect. I also used it for the border after much discussion with Ann, Mother, and Sally.
Batting: 100% bamboo
Binding:  Green cotton tonal print from Mother's stash
Pattern: Inspired by something I saw in a magazine ad. Quilt by Susan Martha. Star points for the blocks were fabrics from my stash. Also the sashing and cornerstones came from my stash. Panel for the centers of the stars came from a fabric.com sale. I used pinks, greens, blues, and tans for the points.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame July 25, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter July 25-28, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Border Choices

The Rabbit in the Border

Location:County Line Quilts

Marley's Quilt

Papa QC'ing the quilt

Mother QC'ing Papa's QC

After Aunt Lucy and Uncle Bruce left, I quilted the 3rd practice quilt that Aunt Linda sent. It is a Sunbonnet Sue/Overall Sam that Aunt Linda appliqued and pieced for her great-granddaughter Marley.  I quilted the background very densely with a tight stipple, so the Girls and Boys would stand out (puff out?) from the quilt.  I quilted spirals in the sashing and a meandering stipple in the borders. I also quilted brims for the bonnets and hats and around other features in the quilt.  

Spencer had gone to the beach and was too dirty to QC, so Papa and Mother got the job.

Cousin Leslie showed up unexpectedly because she was attending a symposium at Stanford, so I was able to send the completed quilt to Aunt Linda via the Cousin Express! Marley is Leslie's granddaughter. Reports from Aunt Linda and Cousin Leslie are that Marley loves her quilt and sleeps with it every night. Marley is 5.

Size: 55" x 69" Nap Size
Quilting: Quilted a dense stipple in the background, spirals in the sashing, and a looser stipple in the border. Quilted brims in the hats and bonnets.  Quilted around the girls and boys and other features in the quilt.  That made a lot of tread ends to hide! Used off-white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Cream"). Free form quilting. 10 bobbins. 
Backing: A beautiful rose print on a striped background
Batting: 100% Cotton (Warm and White)
Binding:  Will be done by Aunt Linda.
Pattern: Traditional

Piecing and Appliqué by Aunt Linda.

Pinned into frame July 4, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter July 7-9, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Aunt Linda. 

QC by Papa and Mother.

Marley loving her quilt

Marley admiring her finished quilt

Location:County Line Quilts

Quilt Guild Winnings

This is the second quilt for Aunt Lucy's long arming practice.  Aunt Linda won the Block of the Month blocks at her quilt guild and this is what she made with them.  The challenge was to piece the pattern using purple and turquoise fabrics.  Some of the ladies had a funny idea of purple and turquoise, but the quilt turned out very pretty anyway. Because Spencer was at home with Narinder, Uncle Bruce and his beer growler had to QC the quilt. Aunt Lucy took this quilt back to Aunt Linda to finish along with the First Attempts one (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds).

Size: 61" x 76" Lap or Single Bed Size
Quilting: Quilted in a loose meandering stipple. Used white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Bright White"). Free form quilting. 6 bobbins. 
Backing: White on white cotton print 
Batting: 100% Cotton (Warm and White)
Binding:  Will be done by Aunt Linda
Pattern: Traditional

Piecing by Aunt Linda and members of her guild.

Pinned into frame July 1, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter July 1, 2014. (Aunt Lucy). 

Binding by Aunt Linda. 

QC by Uncle Bruce.

Location:County Line Quilts

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Uncle Bruce and Aunt Lucy came to visit end of June/ first of July. Aunt Linda sent 3 practice quilts with them because Aunt Lucy wanted to try her hand at long arming. This is Aunt Lucy's first long arm experience. She called the quilt "First Attempts" because it was her first attempt at long arming and Victoria's (Aunt Linda's granddaughter) first attempt at piecing a quilt top.  Victoria did not take to quilting at all, so Aunt Linda had to finish the top.  But, Aunt Lucy was a natural at long arming.  I think she must be related to Mario Andretti because she could really make the long arm buzz! If you see Aunt Lucy in a race car, watch out!

I call the quilt Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, because Aunt Lucy signed her name with quilting in a blue square and the quilt has stars and diamonds in the blue night "sky".

Aunt Lucy took this quilt back to Aunt Linda to finish.

Size: 48" x 65" Lap Size
Quilting: Quilted in a spiral design. Used golden colored polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Goldenrod"). Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. 
Backing: Plain navy blue which showed the goldenrod thread beautifully!
Batting: 100% Cotton (Warm and White)
Binding:  Will be done by Aunt Linda
Pattern: Traditional

Piecing by Aunt Linda

Pinned into frame June 30, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter June 30, 2014. (Aunt Lucy). 

Binding by Aunt Linda. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts