Donna's Lone Star Quilt

Donna sent me one of her tops to quilt. I felt honored that she trusted me. It is a Lone Star pattern by Nancy Zieman. To help me decide how to quilt it, I found the pattern on Nancy's website and studied how hers was quilted. I also happened to watch a Love of Quilting program featuring long arm quilter Angela Huffman. She talked about how she decided which quilting pattern to use, by breaking the quilt into sections and thinking about how each section made her feel about the quilt as a whole. Donna's quilt is quite large and it breaks easily into sections that can support their own quilting style. So, using pictures of how Nancy's Lone Star was quilted and advice from Angela Huffman, I decided how to quilt each part of Donna's top. I used thread that matched each section, and luckily my thread collection contained the colors needed, so no new purchase was required. The quilt had to be quilted one direction and then turned and re-mounted to quilt the borders in the selected styles. I don't remount often, but sometimes to do a better job with the borders, it's required. Because of the quilting style there were a lot of thread ends to tie and bury. It took a couple of weeks to make the quilt "unhairy".

And lucky me! Donna sent me the pattern and templates so I can make my own Lone Star quilt. I plan to do so very soon. I've always wanted to make a quilt with a center star and this one is pretty and also do-able! I can hardly wait to start it!

Size: 86" x 96" Queen size
Quilting: Quilted the outer purple border  in straight lines. Used purple polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Purple Jewel").  Quilted the stars in the corner in a design following the star pattern. Used white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Bright White"). Quilted the pink middle border in cursive "l's". Used bright pink polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Petunia"). Quilted the navy inner border in free form spiral designs. Used navy blue polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Navy Blue"). Quilted the white background in a free form, meandering loop-d-loop design (to tie in the loops in the pink border). Used the white polyester thread again. Quilted the designs in the center, star and "leaves" in the corners I. Straight lines that turned 90 degree corners (to tie in the straight lines in the outer border). Used the navy blue thread again. 11 bobbins total.  Quilting by Patty.

Backing: Plain navy blue fabric--wide for quilt backings. 

Batting: 100% cotton--Warm and White, because of the white background.

Binding:  To be done by Donna
Pattern: "Lone Star" by Nancy Zieman from her book.  

Piecing by Donna. Binding by Donna. 

The time frame:

May 23 ironed top and backing

May 25 pinned in bottom and batting

May 27 pinned in top

May 30 basted in top and measured to plan quilting

May 31 planned quilting

June 1 made 2 bobbins of white and 2 purple. Quilted top 2 corner stars with white and top border with purple

June 3 made 2 pink bobbins

June 8 made 2 navy blue bobbins. Quilted pink middle border (top portion). Quilted navy inner border (top portion). Quilted 2 leaf motifs in the corners of the center design. Quilted half of the star. Quilted part of the white background.

June 10 made 2 more white bobbins and continued quilting the center design.

June 20 made 1 more white bobbin. Finished quilting this direction

June 22 unpinned quilt, turned it, repinned to complete the side borders.

June 24 finished the quilting. And then all the time to tie thread ends and bury them.

This took quite a while. Thank goodness Donna was very understanding about the time frame.

Picture I studied from Nancy's web site

Tying and burying the thread ends

The top

The back

Location:County Line Quilts

I Spy, With My Eye . . .

There are several baby quilts to complete this year. This one is for baby Madeline, Cousin Amy's baby due in June. I was also invited to the baby shower but since it was in Wisconsin, I declined. The quilt was completed in time to be shipped to the shower. Cousin Julie, the grandmother, reported that everyone liked the quilt, especially the back. I thought the back was perfect for Amy and would complement her interest in scrap booking and other crafts. This is a quilt and an "I Spy With My Little Eye" game. The various fabrics came from my inventory and a couple of Layer Cakes from the Missouri Star Quilting Company that are sold especially for I Spy quilts. The jar pattern was inspired by a MSQC video, too.

Size: 42" x 57" Baby size Quilting: Quilted in a loose meandering stipple, free form quilting. Used off-white polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Pearl White"). Free form quilting. Made 6 bobbins, used 5 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.

Backing: Doodle print from a JoAnn's sale. Very cute fabric!

Batting: 100% Cotton, Warm and Natural

Binding:  A gray print from my inventory, also from a JoAnn's sale. Pattern: Jars from a Missouri Star Quilting Company video.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame April 20, 2016.  Quilting on long arm quilter April 20, 2016. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

 

 

Madeline playing I Spy

Location:County Line Quilts

Bunnies Visit the Aquarium

Mother had a heart attack on February 14, 2016. She had a pace maker implanted and later developed a blood clot in her arm. All the extra doctor visits and recovery time severely affected our quilting. We may not meet our quilting goals this year. However, an invitation to Sara's baby shower was the motivation I needed to get back to quilting, in a small way. I bought jelly fish themed fabric because Sara likes such things. She and Vince were married in Monterrey near the famous aquarium, so it seemed like a good choice. I matched the pattern in the border by miterring the corners. The baby was assigned female sex by ultrasound, so I chose a pink binding. And indeed it was a girl!

Size: 47" x 47" Baby size
Quilting: Quilted in a meandering, loose stipple with spiral designs in the border to match waves in the fabric print. Used aqua polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Treasure Isle"). Free form quilting. Made 5 bobbins, used 3 bobbins. Quilting by Patty.
Backing: Aqua print of jelly fish that was used on the front. All fabrics except the binding were from fabric.com.

Batting: 100% cotton, Warm and Natural

Binding: Pink print from my inventory.
Pattern: Same pattern as Megha's Quilt that I made in Dec. 2014. This one was resized to make it a baby quilt.

Piecing by Patty.

Pinned into frame April 13, 2016  Quilting on long arm quilter April 13, 2016. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty. 

QC by Spencer.

The Bunnies Midst the Sea Anemones 

Location:County Line Quilts

Cerrito Strip

First Empty Cone from the Large Spools of Longarm Thread

 

Mother made this quilt to use up scrappy strips. I used it to practice quilting feathers. My feather quilting is improving. This quilt looks bright and pretty. It really pops. Who knew this many scraps would make such an outstanding quilt! 

Given to Aida to give to her workers or church friends.

Size: 65" x 84" Twin-bed size Quilting: Feather quilting, free form quilting. Used cream polyester thread (Omni from Superior Threads-named "Cream"). Finished a cone of quilting thread! Free form quilting. Made 14 bobbins, used all 14 bobbins. Quilting by Patty. Backing: Bright fall leaf print from a Connecting Threads sale

Batting: 100% cotton Warm and Natural

Binding:  Bright green print from Patty's stash. Pattern: Strips

Piecing by Mother

Pinned into frame January 8, 2016.  Quilting on long arm quilter January 8-22, 2016. (Patty). 

Binding by Patty

QC by Spencer.

 

 

Location:County Line Quilts

2016 Tote and Shopping Bags

  

Bag for Keith's Ukulele with a Fly Appliqué. February 2016

Grocery Tote. Made from a kit purchased at vendor fair at San Mateo County Fairground. February 2016. Uses vinyl mesh. Given to Miriam.

Grocery Tote. Made for Miff to take to her Farmer's Market. February 2016.

Grocery Tote. Made for Monika's birthday. March 2016.

Grocery tote. Made for Cynthia. March 2016.

Grocery tote. Made for Cindy. March 2016.

Tote bag made for Cousin Cindy's 60th birthday party. August

Lunch bag for Sally's birthday. Used a Nancy Video for instructions. Used Insulbrite batting for insulation. August

Shopping bag made for Narinder's mother. August.

Location:County Line Quilts

2016 Table Toppers

Table Runner Meeting with Hedge Hog

 

 

Tata TV Trays

From fabric at The Laurel Leaf going out of business sale. Rosalee selected this one. Fabric looks like TV tables Tata had when we were kids.  14" x 43". January.

 

Provence!

From fabric at The Laurel Leaf going out of business sale. Used primary colored variegated thread to quilt. 21 1/2" x 39". January. Given to Aunt Lucy.

 

Vienna

From fabric at The Laurel Leaf going out of business sale. Used blue toned variegated thread to quilt. 19" x 24". January.

 

This is not a table topper, it's a mat to go under your yoga mat to provide more cushion for old knees. This is definately a prototype and has so many issues where to begin? I couldn't even bring myself to remove the red basting thread in the binding. I used a high loft batting and it didn't look cushy enough so I doubled it. Big mistake because the longer the batting was out of the package the more it fluffed and the more difficult it was to quilt. The gripper things (Slipper Grippers made for the feet of little kids pajamas) on the bottom are okay, but it probably needs more and a few on the top to grip the mat better. I've looked for stickier fabric that can still be easily needled and will be lasting to no avail. In the meantime I will "table" this project while I do more testing in my yoga class. Fabric from a fabric.com sale. September. Approximate dimensions 25"x71" but because of the batting fluff X Y area was lost to cover the fluff of the Z axis and the dimensions are smaller than planned. The ties are a nice touch. That's about the only good feature of the mat. 

Location:County Line Quilts

2016 Zipper Bags

 

First zippered bag, lined, from a video I watched on you-tube and all the tools it took to make it. January.

Made from an M&M bag and iron-on vinyl. Instructions from MSQC Block magazine. January. Sent to Aunt Janet.

Dove Candy Bag. January

M&M Candy Bag. Rosalee selected this one. January.

 

Blue Zippered Pouch and Lining. Sent to Miff for her birthday. January.

Yellow M&M's. For Sally. January.

 

Gummy Bears. For Monika. January.

 

Charlotte's Web. From a shopping bag Mother saved for many years. January.

 

Wild Bird Food Sack. January.

 

Lucky Money for Cindy's (manicurist) Birthday and Tet. January.

Lucky Money for Elora. Chinese New Year. January.

Plaid. For Aunt Janet. Made from fabric she sent. January.

Zipper pouch made for Hannah's birthday present. From a Crafty Gemini video. Zipper was very difficult.  July

Zipper pouch made for Donna. July

Pouch made for Cousin Cindy's 60th birthday party. Used the Crafty Gemini pattern again. Pouch looks like a piece of toast, so I made a tote bag to go with it. August.

I made 7 pouches for Narinder to take to his nieces and family when he visited in August. All pouches made in August.

 

 

 

I made 7 zippered pouches out of candy bags and mailed them to Aunt Lucy to distribute. All pouches were made in September.

 

 

I made this bag out of a bookstore shopping bag that Miff gave me. The books pictured are Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn. It's an odd size (11" square), so I'm not sure who will want it and for what purpose. But, the quilting on it is very interesting. I put it in the donation box. September 

Leslie visited for her birthday. I made this zippered pouch for her. September

Location:County Line Quilts