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

Brown Bear--Fully Interlocking

This quilt is named in part for the way it was quilted--fully interlocking puzzle pieces.

Planning the quilt and in an intermediate stage

Last year, when I saw this panel and fabric on sale on the fabric.com web site I had to buy it.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear by  Eric Carle was one of Hannah's favorite books when she was a little girl.  I gave it to Ravinder's girls when they were small and they loved it, too. I picked this project as the next most challenging as I gear up after my long absence from quilting whilst I hand quilted the Many Steps quilt.

This is the first quilt I've made whose name reflects the way it was quilted. Ann asked for this quilt for her church's auction in the fall; she promises to bundle it together with the book.  

Size: 47" x 56" Crib Size
Quilting: Quilted horizontally to look like bumps and indents on child-sized jigsaw puzzle pieces.  Remounted the quilt 90 deg and quilted horizontally again in the same manner.  I had to figure how big to make the pieces so it would work out correctly for the quilt dimensions (Turned out to be 5"). I quilted a wavy line around all the edges to look like the cardboard frame that a lot of children's puzzles use. Used brown polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Milk Chocolate"). Free form quilting. 3 bobbins. 
Backing: Brown Bear print from a fabric.com sale. Also used some of the striped matching fabric from the same sale.
Batting: 50/50 Cotton/Poly (Warm Blend)
Binding:  Brown cotton tonal print from my stash to match the "Brown Bear" theme.
Pattern: Inspired by "sew-easy" Baby Quilt in the book fresh from the clothesline by Darlene Zimmerman. Because I had the coordinating striped fabric I did not need to make a piano keys border; I used the striped fabric instead. The blocks used a Brown Bear panel for their centers.  Panel came from the same fabric.com sale. Borders of the blocks were bright colored fabrics from my stash.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame June 25, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter June 25-27, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

Orange dog, orange dog, what do you see?

I see a quilt for my QC!

Location:County Line Quilts

Strippy Flannel

This is a "strippy" quilt, as in fabric strips were used to make it.

QC is exhausting work!

This is the second of Mother's scrappy flannel quilts. Mother designed this quilt to use up strips of flannel we have left from the edges of long armed quilts and bindings and other sources. I tried quilting feathers, but I failed.  However, I do not give up! I will continue my conquest of feather quilting if it's the last thing I do!

Size: 65" x 85" Single Bed Size
Quilting: Attempted feathers, but miserably failed.  My feathers look more like the tracks egg beaters make when whipping cream or egg whites. Big sigh!  Used yellow polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Mellow Yellow"). Free form quilting. 10 bobbins. 
Backing: Plain yellow flannel from my stash
Batting: 100% Cotton (Warm And White)
Binding: Gray flannel from Mother's stash
Pattern: Mother's own design

Piecing by Mother.

Pinned into frame June 13, 2014. Quilting on long arm quilter June 13-20, 2014. (Patty). 

Binding by Mother. 

QC by Spencer.

Location:County Line Quilts