Cousins #2

After quilting one whole cloth quilt, Janet and Kathy wanted to refine their long arm techniques with a second one. So, they looked through Mother's stash and found a couple of pieces to make another whole cloth, practice quilt. Mother says they thoroughly enjoyed going through her boxes of fabrics. I hope so, as I find it to be a big chore! The fabrics selected were one bright flannel piece that Sally had purchased and gladly donated to the cause and a red coordinating piece, not flannel but with texture. The back of this quilt was 2 flannel pieces from Mother's stash; gray and dark green.

Size: 62 1/2" x 81 1/2" Single bed size

Quilting: Various styles the cousins explored during their practice with Mother's longarm. Used gray polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Silver"). Free form quilting. 5 bobbins. Quilting by Janet, Kathy, and Patty--the Cousins.
Backing: Gray and green flannels from Mother's stash.

Batting: 100% cotton, Warm and White.

Binding:  Black cotton from my stash (left over from the Patches quilt)

Pattern: Whole cloth, 3 pieces sewed together lengthwise.

Piecing by Kathy.

Pinned into frame February 9, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter February 9, 2015. (Cousins). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Janet and Kathy.

Picking Out Rocks for Max

Quilting Concentration--In the Zone!

A Dog and a Saguaro Cactus

Location:County Line Quilts

Cousins #1

Cousins Sally, Kathy, and Janet Discussing Quilting Strategy

Our cousins came to visit in February. One of the things they wanted to do was use the long arm. So, I looked at my stash and found a couple of pieces to make a whole cloth, practice quilt. The fabrics I selected were the leftovers from the Brown Bear quilt made last year. This quilt also exceeds the 2015 goal of using my stash before buying more fabric.  However, I did recently buy some pre-cuts; some for a quilt to help a friend's daughter learn quilting and some for a teenage girl quilt that is percolating in my brain. The back of this quilt was 2 flannel pieces from Mother's stash; one a pretty, bright flower print and the other a nice spring green color.

The cousins arrived on Saturday and when they left on Tuesday morning they had quilted 2 whole cloth blankets. I'd say they are "goal exceeded" for this leg of their vacation. Janet will give the quilts to her grandchildren, Evie and Adin. For her third grandchild, Max, she picked out some rocks from Papa's collection, as Max is really into rocks right now.

Size: 60" x 80" Single bed size
Quilting: Various styles the cousins explored during their practice with Mother's longarm. Used blue polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Ocean Blue"). Free form quilting. 5 bobbins. Quilting by Janet, Kathy, and Patty--the Cousins.
Backing: Flower print flannel and green flannel from Mother's stash.

Batting: 100% cotton, Warm and Natural.

Binding:  Purple print from my stash (left over from the Side-by-Side Dog and Cat quilt)

Pattern: Whole cloth, 2 pieces sewed together lengthwise.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame February 8, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter February 8, 2015. (Cousins). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

2015 Quiltathon--#5 Oranges and Lemons and Limes, Oh My!

This is the fifth and last of the neonatal quilts I made for the quiltathon. I cut out this one and the previous one and took them as "kits" to work on during the quilt-a-thon. The citrus colored fabrics came from a fat eighth roll that Ravinder and the girls gave me for Christmas. Each fat eighth made rectangles for 2 quilts. The other fabrics in the quilt, including the cute print I used on the back, came from my stash. Therefore, this quilt exceeds my 2015 goal of using my "inventory" before buying more fabric.  

The pattern was a simple one suggested by members of the guild and posted on the guild's web site. The differences between this quilt and the previous one are the placement of the colored fabrics, the batting used, and the quilting style. Before I quilted this one I saw a loopy quilting pattern on the Internet. Some of the loops made hearts. I thought this would be a cute pattern for a baby quilt, so I tried it out. It was easy and I liked the look. 

Quilts #4 and #5 were delivered to the March quilt guild meeting.

Size: 32" x 32" Neo-natal Size (guideline is between 30" and 45")
Quilting: Quilted in a loopy meandering design where some of the loops were hearts. Used bright yellow polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Mellow Yellow"). Free form quilting. 3 bobbins. 
Backing: A really cute nursery print that I got on a Joann's Red Tag table.

Batting: 100% cotton.

Binding:  Bright green print from my stash. 
Pattern: Suggested by quilt guild and found on their web site.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame February 4, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter February 4, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

2015 Quiltathon--#4 Citrus Bars

Thread Choices, used the bright yellow

This is the fourth of the neonatal quilts I made for the quiltathon. I cut out this one and the next one and took them as "kits" to work on during the quilt-a-thon. The citrus colored fabrics came from a fat eighth roll that Ravinder and the girls gave me for Christmas. Each fat eighth made rectangles for 2 quilts. The other fabrics in the quilt, including the cute print I used on the back, came from my stash. Therefore, this quilt completes my 2015 goal of using my "inventory" before buying more fabric.  I can now invest in more inventory! Yay!

The pattern was a simple one suggested by members of the guild and posted on the guild's web site. 

Size: 32" x 32" Neo-natal Size (guideline is between 30" and 45")
Quilting: Quilted in a swirly, flowery, meandering design similar to the one used for Peace by Piece quilt in 2013. Used bright yellow polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Mellow Yellow"). Free form quilting. 3 bobbins. 
Backing: A really cute nursery print that I got on a Joann's Red Tag table.

Batting: 100% bamboo.

Binding:  Bright green print from my stash. 
Pattern: Suggested by quilt guild and found on their web site.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame January 30, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter January 30, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Example Quilt from Guild's Web Site

Location:County Line Quilts

Leo's Quilt

 

Narinder's friend is ill and is having treatments. Mother and I decided to make him a quilt to rest under while he recovers from his therapy sessions. We wanted it to look masculine and be easy enough to finish quickly. The magazine with the pattern came about the same time we were discussing what to make. And it was just the ticket--manly, simple, and easy to make. Mother said she had the right fabric for the quilt in her stash and she did! The fabrics for the quilt, binding, and backing all came from Mother's stash. Mother did all of the cutting, piecing, and binding; I did the quilting.

The quilt was delivered by Narinder and Spencer and was well received. Leo sent a bouquet of lilies to us. 

Size: 68" x 80" Throw size
Quilting: Quilted in a meandering loose stipple. Used gray polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Dark Gray"). Free form quilting. 7 bobbins. The thread matched so well, the quilt was very difficult to quilt. I couldn't see where I'd quilted and where I still needed to go. Quilting by Patty.
Backing: Blue print from Mother's stash.

Batting: 100% bamboo.

Binding:  Blue print from Mother's stash. 
Pattern: "Chain Reaction" by Liz Porter from the Winter 2014 magazine Easy Quilts.  

Piecing by Mother.

Pinned into frame January 23, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter January 23-28, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Mother. 

QC by Spencer.

 

 

Location:County Line Quilts

2015 Quiltathon--#3 Star Bright

This is the third of the neonatal quilts I made for the quiltathon. This one uses some leftover pre-cut Jellyroll strips that I had in my stash. Also the gray fabric used for the band , the orange used for the star and binding, and the backing came from my stash. Therefore, this quilt counts towards my 2015 goal of using my "inventory" before buying more fabric.  

The quilt design was inspired by one I saw in the Quilty magazine, though I added the Prairie Star block in the middle of the band.  The quilt was basted on the long arm and a rabbit was quilted in the middle of the star. The rest of the quilting was done by stitching lines on my "domestic" using a walking foot. 

Size: 37 1/2" x 42 1/2" Neo-natal Size (guideline is between 30" and 45")
Quilting: On January 12, 2015 basted using the long arm and also quilted a rabbit in the star. On January 20, 2015 quilted the strips in the ditch and quilted lines in the band and around the star on my sewing machine. Used gray 100% cotton thread for machine quilting. 
Backing: A blue cotton print from my stash. The backing was left from the backing of the Thinking About the Box quilt that I made last year.

Batting: 100% bamboo.

Binding: Orange cotton from my stash, also used for the star. 

Pattern: Inspired by Jelly Roll Redux by Joy McKeon in the September/October 2014 Quilty magazine.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame and basted January 12, 2015. Quilting on my domestic machine January 20, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

  

Location:County Line Quilts

2015 Quiltathon--#2 Garden Stroll

This is the second of the neonatal quilts I made for the quiltathon. This one uses a Layer Cake pre-cut that I bought a couple of years ago from the Missouri Star Quilting site. Therefore, this quilt counts towards my 2015 goal of using my "inventory" before buying more fabric.  The name of the Layer Cake is "City Weekend". 

Size: 41" x 41" Neo-natal Size (guideline is between 30" and 45")
Quilting: Quilted in a hooky, spirally, meandering design. Used off-white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Cream"). Free form quilting. 3 bobbins. 
Backing: Built a back using 2 pieces from my stash. One piece was the background used for the appliqué blocks for the Side-by-Side Dog and Cat quilt I made in 2013.

Batting: 100% bamboo.

Binding:  Blue print from my stash. 
Pattern: "Penny Lane" from the book Quilts from Sweet Jane by Sue Pfau.  I also used this book for the Socky quilt I made last year.  See the information for that quilt for a picture of the book.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame January 19, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter January 19, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

 

Location:County Line Quilts

2015 Quiltathon--#1 Sock Monkey Fun

The Quilt Guild decided to hold a quilt-a-thon to raise some money and make neonatal quilts for the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. I contributed quilts and attended the event, though I didn't raise much money. The quilt-a-thon was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed sewing and chatting with the women who were there at the same time I was. I recognized most of my quilting aunts in the crowd--the women who worked hard and brought humor to the event.  Their stories were golden. I hope they hold a similar event next year. 

I made 3 neonatal quilts for the event and started 2 more while I was there. The first was a simple block quilt to use up the leftover squares from the Socky Quilt I made last year. This quilt counts towards my 2015 goal of using my "inventory" before buying more fabric.

Size: 32" x 41" Neo-natal Size (guideline is between 30" and 45")
Quilting: Quilted in a loose meandering stipple design. Used brown polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Milk Chocolate"). Free form quilting. 2 bobbins. 
Backing: Brown print used for Socky in 2014. The print looks like the knitted brown socks used to make Sock Monkeys.
Batting: 100% bamboo.
Binding:  The same brown print used for the backing.
Pattern: Traditional square blocks sewed together in rows. The blocks came from a Missouri Star Charm pack that I used for the Socky quilt last year. A few blocks were cut from the brown print fabric.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame January 16, 2015. Quilting on long arm quilter January 16, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts

Follow the Puck

Enjoying his Quilt

This quilt was made to replace a much worn couch quilt that Narinder bought 7 or 8 years ago at a Bloomingdale's sale. Hopefully this quilt will last as long. The blocks were designed to look like the blue maple leaf logo on the jersey (also called "sweater") of Narinder's hometown hockey team. The pattern was from Quilt in a Day.  It may be a "day" quilt if you make just 4 blocks as the pattern shows, but if you make 48 blocks it takes some time. I started sewing in September 2014 and finished the quilt at the first part of March 2015. Following Eleanor Burn's instructions the blocks went together smoothly and the points turned out okay. This was the first time I used the square method to make 4 "geese" blocks.  It was a good way to mass produce the "geese" blocks. The instructions to cut the big center point were a bit concerning--made by cutting up a large square--but they worked well. I used the 46 best leaf blocks; one block was made by appliquing the Toronto Maple Leaf logo from Narinder's old jersey and another block was the appliqued shoulder patches from the jersey. The blocks were arranged to look good stretched across the couch; hence, the width is longer than the length. To me a row of the quilt looks like the players on the bench waiting to go onto the ice.

It took a long time to quilt this one because the first thread, blue varigated, shredded in the long arm. It took a while to rip out the first attempt. For the second try I went back to my tried and true Omni. Lessons learned!

The blocks were made from fabrics from my stash, so this quilt qualifies towards 2015 goals. The sashing and back were bought at my LQS, The Laurel Leaf, in downtown San Carlos.

Size: 106 1/2" x 82" Couch Size
Quilting: Quilted in a loopy meandering design. Used white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Bright White"). Free form quilting. 17 bobbins. 
Backing: Blue and white print from The Laurel Leaf.
Batting: 100% cotton, Warm and Natural
Binding:  Navy blue cotton used for sashing.
Pattern: Autumn Leaves from Quilt in a Day. 

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame December 8, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter December 31, 2014-January 9, 2015. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. The second sewing of the binding was done by hand. Only for my boys would I do that much hand sewing.

QC by Spencer.

Narinder's Initials

Location:County Line Quilts