Orca Bay finished

I'm finally posting some photos of the Orca Bay mystery quilt I completed this spring using Bonnie Hunter's pattern. I'm really pleased with how it came together.

The photo above shows the quilting, which I had done by Wilma at  

Christian Lane Quilters. She suggested that I have the quilting done in blue thread, and that I use a blue back for the quilt, rather than the yellowish one I had provided. I'm so glad I went with her advice, as I love the quilting and feel that the back is a much better match for the quilt.

The photo above shows the blue quilt back that Wilma suggested, as well as gives you a better look at the quilting.

I'm hooked on string piecing now, and am trying to figure out another project to make where I can use that technique.  I put together the block above, using a pattern called weathervane, but I'm not sure I'll make any more of these. I'm not sure there is enough contrast between the pieces. And maybe there's too much contrast in the blues I chose for the string pieces. Anyway, it's fun to fool around with it.

House block

This is the single red-and-white house block I have managed to get finished for the June drawing of block lotto. I love this block! I love this block so much that I plan to make 8 more of these, and then perhaps use this pattern for a group baby quilt I need to organize. I am thinking about suggesting that the quilting friends of the mom-to-be make the block using white for the background and then 3 shades of a single baby-friendly pastel. So far she doesn't know the sex of the baby, but I bet she'll find out and so I'm holding off on starting the quilt. Also, the baby is not due until the early fall, so I've got time.

One fun aspect of using this block for a baby quilt is that I could throw in an "eye spy" option, and suggest that quilters could add a fussy-cut baby-friendly image in the window or doorway, just to add some fun. Let me know what you think,

Ginny

African Violets lap quilt

I just finished binding this lap quilt I made with African Violet blocks I won earlier this year in a
Block Lotto drawing.
 I was really happy to win the blocks, but hadn't figured out what I wanted to do with them until recently, when I realized they'd make a perfect quilt for someone who's very dear to me who's currently undergoing treatments for cancer. (I don't want to giver her name here in case she reads my blog!)

Here's the back of the quilt. I included some of the blocks I'd won that were left over---many of them were about 1/2 too small and were difficult to use on the front. I trimmed some of the other extra blocks to match the small ones, and put them together to brighten up the back. In the end, I was happy with the way the back came out!

Two finished quilts in their new homes

I've posted photos of these two quilts before, while they were in process, but I thought you might enjoy seeing where they've ended up.
I've turned the small square pants quilt into a table runner for my dining room table:

And the quilted and bound scrappy trip around the world has found a home on a guest bed/eldest son's room in our weekend house upstate:

I've come to realize that I enjoy making the quilts more than I enjoy having them, so over the years I've given away most of the quilts I've made. That said, I really do enjoy having them too, and I'm celebrating that with these photos.

I'm hard at work on finishing two other projects: a double-sided lap quilt made from African Violet blocks I won in the Block Lotto block drawing earlier in the year, and the Orca Bay quilt from Bonnie Hunter's blog. I just got back from the machine quilter,  who did an amazing job. I'll post photos of those soon, I hope

Square-Pants wallhanging finished

I've just finished this small quilt from 4 blocks I first made about a year ago from a great pattern I found on line in a blog called Lily's Quilts. If you click the link, it will take you to the pattern, which the blog author invented and called the "Lynne Bob Square Pants" block.

Isn't it a great block? I totally fell in love with it when I saw it, and was determined to make an entire quilt of these blocks, but as usual I got sidetracked and went on to another project, leaving these blocks as a UFO in a drawer.
          I sewed them together a couple of weeks ago thinking that I'd make them into a small quilt that I could contribute to the silent auction that my Guild was sponsoring in coordination with our bi-annual quilt show. But I wasn't able to finish it, so the silent auction came and went without my little quilt.
          With time pressure off, I decided to have so fun with this little quilt and really machine quilt it myself. (My idea of quilting is usually to sew a top and then send it to someone else to quilt for me.)

I used my recently repaired Bernina to do echo quilting in the white areas of the quilt. It was a lot of fun, and didn't take long at all, since it's only 2 ft. by 2 ft.

For the back, I used a charming giraffe print that I'd bought years ago for a baby quilt that never materialized, and I bound it with a royal blue fabric with white polka dots I also had in my stash. 

Block lotto hot-crossed-9-patch blocks

Here are the 9 blocks I made for the drawing at the end of April. I hope I win! I love these blocks.

My First Award!

I was pleased to open my email this morning and learn that I'd be chosen to receive a Sunshine Award by my fellow blogger and super-talented quilter Rhianon, also known as The Nifty Stitcher.

It's a wonderful thing, to learn that someone enjoys your blog enough to want to give you an award---I am smiling my "I-found-a-great-new-fabric-store" smile!

I am supposed to tell you more about myself, so here goes: I've been quilting for about 20 years, more or less. I'm trying to remember how old my kids were when I started so I can pin it down....but I'm not sure. My middle son is turning 18 this weekend, and I was quilting when he was born, so at least that long. I can remember taking him to the monthly meetings of my guild, The Quilter's Guild of Brooklyn, and dragging him along to quilting bees and a number of quilt shows. He made a beautiful quilt himself when he was young. I hope to make him a new quilt in the next few months that he can take to college with him in the fall.

I would like to nominate two people whose blogs and work I admire to get the Sunshine Award as well.

*  Julie, the author of joe tulips quilts. Julie makes fantastic quilts and often includes words in her designs. She also makes wonderful postcards, and her blog usually makes me smile.

* Barbara, the author of Piece and Quilt. Barbara creates stunning quilts, often using fabric that she hand dyed herself. She has an amazing sense of color and design, so I check her blog frequently to see what she has been up to.

Have a great day everyone, and happy quilting! ...Ginny