Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches update

This is the 9^th and final block in Barbara’s Hospital Sketches sew-a-long. I loved every one of these. Star of the East. 

It will come as no surprise that I have decided to make mine in the “potholder” method.

I hesitated at first as they are large blocks (18”) and I wasn’t sure how I would make my borders. I’m still ironing out the details, but I think I will use a “Barbara Brackman” print for a simple border and add separate appliqued corner blocks. Guess you’ll just have to stay tuned – wink!

Humble Quilts Sting-a-long

Better late than never seems to be my motto lately. However, I am happy to say I have finished my HumbleQuilts string-a-long in just 9 short (ha,ha) months.

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This was a big experiment for me. I’ve made over 20 quilts in the potholder method, but this was the first one that is 100% machine made.

The binding was a challenge for me, but I like the overall outcome and it will make a great comfort quilt for the grandkids. Visit Lori's Humble Quilts (here) to see all the great sting flings! Thanks Lori or another fun sew-a-long!

A wonderful visit and Pam Buda's Vintage Patchwork - October

Vintage Patchwork (by PamBuda) project #10, Gody’s Lady’s Pin Keep. 

This little gem practically made itself! So simple, yet so sweet. I have some great pin cushions from friends that I love. I love this one too, but I am running out of space so I donated it to my group and it was part of the “Quilter’s Walk” raffle at our show. Get your copy of Pam's book 

 (here). 

And, on another note… I had a fantastic day on Saturday with my friend Gladi (Gladi Quilts) shopping and talking quilts at Busy Thimble. Much to my surprise, another friend, Sue Watters was visiting all the way from England!

What a treat to see her! And, she gave me a copy of her new pattern book to make the day even more special.

You can get a copy of Sue’s pattern from Quiltmania (here).

Gladi and I were having so much fun I neglected to take any photos. That is often what happens when I get so wrapped up in the fun! We returned to my house to find that our husband’s (who just met that day) had a great time together too. What a win win day! 

September Mini(s)

A while ago a few of the “7 Sistahs” had a day of retail therapy. My friend Kathy spied this wild and crazy border fabric (Jason Yenter). I fell in love right away. Now, Kathy can make a silk purse out of any old fabric. Give her something unusual and she will turn it into a gem! I am much more regimented and find it hard to venture out of my reproduction fabric comfort zone. Since we both loved the fabric, we decided to challenge ourselves to make something each in our own style. I was going to keep mine a surprise until Kathy made hers, but… it has been a busy summer for all of us! Since I entered it in this year’s show it is no longer a secret. Here is what I came up with. 

 My friend Ann machine quilted it for me, leaving the center open for me to hand quilt. I am not a longarm quilter, but I understand that this was not an easy task! I appreciate it Ann!! 

I had a few scraps leftover from this giant so, I made them into my September mini. 

So cute! I am NOT a precision piecer but, they are close enough for me! I like to think that what I lack in precision, I make up for in spirit! 

And, since these scraps just wouldn't go away on their own, I whipped up this little mug rug with the leftover half squares! 

I think I may be over my "neon" phase for now. I will have to get back to it someday as I still have a lot of these repros! 

Take a little time to visit my partners in crime to see what gems they have come up with.

Quilting Babcia - AmityQuilter

Janet - Rogue Quilter
Kyle - Timeless Reflections 
Barbara - Quilts, Gravestones and Other Elusive Ancestors

Janet - Mrs. Sew n'Sew
Sandy - My Material Creations

Cynthia - Wabi-Sabi Quilts

These 2 fabulous faithful friends have had a busy summer as well and may not get to post a mini this month. I am linking them up so you can catch up on what they have been doing! Happy quilting!
Randy - Barrister’s Block
Barb - Fun With Barb 

Puzzling!

This summer flew by with little time for quilting or posting. So, I will show you this puzzle quilt that members of the Pine Tree Quilter’s Guild made back in 1998. It would be considered a potholder quilt except for the fact that the blocks are not sew together, but rather travel together basted on a backing. I made the one with the appliqued tree in the center and drunkard’s path blocks around the outside. I remember stitching on this during the ice storm of 1998 with a snake light wrapped around my neck as we had no power for quite a while. 

The best reason for the shortage of quilting time was this: 

We are so fortunate to have this one once a week (and more if we are lucky). 

playing in Nana's scraps

But we were so happy to have a visit from this one who moved to Florida almost two years ago. We go to visit whenever we can, but I am so much happier when he is here!!

Pure joy! Oh how he loves the water!

I love this shot looking through the screen door on the front porch!

I hated letting go!

But, we will be flying down to visit again in 3 weeks. 

I hope you all had special family time this summer too! 

Back to quilty postings next week!!!

Pam Buda - Vintage Patchwork September project

Vintage Patchwork (by PamBuda) project #9, “War and Peace”.

 

You may find this hard to believe, but in my 50 plus years of quilting, this is my first log cabin quilt! I have made a few blocks here and there for other projects, but this is the first truly log cabin quilt.

I had fun making this one and I may even make a few more in the future. My friend Cyndi (Busy Thimble) is a true log cabin lover. Her piecing is impeccable. The header quilt on her blog (here) is sensational. I think the logs measure ¼”. She is amazing! 

It's never too late to get Pam's book and give one of these little quilts a try! You can get it on Pam's site (here). 

Humble Quilts - String a Long

It isn’t often I post twice in one day, but I completely forgot about my Humble Quilts String blocks update. I have made some progress this summer. I am making this one in the potholder method.

I know – nothing new there – but I am experimenting with this one by making it entirely on the machine. Not easy in the hot summer months, but I have had a few cool mornings to get some blocks stitched together. 

Not sure I will ever do another completely on machine again. One of the things I like about the potholder method is the hand work. I did enjoy piecing these guys. I used a strip of orphan pieces in the center of each one.

My friend Meliss gave me a bunch of half square blocks which helped the cause nicely. I might even get this one done this year! Check out Lori's blog (here) to see how everyone else is doing on their string flings!