Reproduction Block Quilt!

Recently I saw a posting on Barbara Brackman's blog about dogs in quilts. I loved one of the blocks with the polka dot dog and bird and had to try one for myself. Of course I wanted to make it into a mini quilt, so I added my own touches. My brain was off this week, so things didn't all come out as planned, but it was fun to make and gave me some practice with hand quilting.

The piece measures 20" x 16".

My bunny buddy has been visiting me every day and night, he knows a good thing when he sees it;)

Finished Quilt Top!

I can't believe I actually finished something, lol. I am starting to get back my motivation and working on finishing what I start and it is a good feeling. Of course the idea of quilting it, is overwhelming, but I have decided to look at it, as a section at a time, starting with the middle and working out. That way I can decide on the design I want to use for each part and fit the design to the patterns and shapes. At least that is the plan, I may get crazy and make a mess;)

I hope those who are in the paths of the storms and fires, stay safe and my prayers are with you all.

I went with a hit and miss border, then a dark red cloth, that my friend Kelley gave me for amish quilts. It is a nice weight but softer to the touch, so nice for a border and my binding. The main fabrics are from the 1862 Battle Hymn collection, by Barbara Brackman.

This makes it look like the border is thin, but I couldn't wait till it got darker, since I would have had to use a flash and I wanted to try an outdoor shot. I am not sure if I like the brighter white shirtings, I might have to soak it in tea after I quilt it?

My bad editing made the red look more purple, but is a really dark red, so goes nicely against the other red shades.

Civil War Quilt Progress!

I worked some more on my quilt and I like how it came out.
I wanted to use the blocks that I cut out, but in a unique way, so I played around and came up with this design. I added the red border, without thought to size, so of course the blocks wouldn't fit evenly around it, so I added an extra blue piece, in-between. Once I got that on, I added another row of blue, with red in the corners. This is the result.

This is how it looks and fits on my bed. Now I have to decide on the outer borders, using the jelly roll. Maybe some keys going around, will think on it. I may add some appliqué in the center and I may do some free motion designs, will think on it;) The fabric is from Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn line. The shirting is from Judy Rothermel fabrics.

Civil War Quilt!

I decided I needed to start my summer quilt since it is summer and I need one.
I wanted to keep it simple, so I used the technique found at Jennifer's Blog.
I was gifted a layer cake and a jelly roll from Barbara Brackman, for her 1862 Battle Hymn Fabric. I used some as the dresses in my Davis girls and the rest is going into this quilt.

Here is some of the blocks, I was playing with them and nothing was coming to me, it just wasn't working in a way I liked.


The colors are reds, blues and browns, with shirtings as the contrasting color.

So, I gave up and then went back later and started playing again. I wanted to get an idea of what I was going to do, so I can decide what other fabrics I might need for a full design. And this is what I came up with, I love how this looks. This gave me another idea from an antique quilt I saw and liked, so I will incorporate some of that quilt into this one, so this is the start and will be the middle section.

Here is the base of my quilt, I will be working around this piece and adding a few surprises;)

Fabric choices and Giveaway Prizes!

Last week I went to the quilt stores to find something that matched the blue and white that would match what is in the Jefferson Davis's Daughter quilt, by Barbara Brackman, that I am working on. Of course there was nothing like it or in the shades I wanted, so this is what I found. The darker blue will be the sashing, it seems a lot brighter in the photo. The reproduction border fabric is from the abe lincoln collection, that is all I remember.

What do you think of these fabrics? I am finishing up the second tree and then I can sew the middle section together and add the rest of the appliqués.

I also won a few wonderful giveaways this month. Deborah O'Hare has a wonderful blog, actually two and I have been following her for over a year, her pieces inspire me to create my own art pieces. I won the book, Seaside Home, and I love it. It has a lot of patterns to make things for the home, or summer cottage.

This is Deborah's pattern, I plan on making it and changing it a little by adding inspirational words to the stones. Deborah has done that in one of her patterns and she said it was ok, if I used her idea in my piece.

I also participated in the 100 blocks, blog hop and I did win a copy from Nancy at One Stitch at a Time, I also won a free pattern from Cyndi of Carter Creek Quilts. It is a wonderful pattern and will look beautiful in a lot of different colors and fabrics. 

I was finally able to get out for a paddle, a nice way to spend Mother's Day. It was a beautify day and there were so many wonderful birds out, and I didn't have my good camera with the zoom. I had to use my waterproof camera, so this is the best I could get from the photos I took. I need to find a larger, waterproof case for my  new camera.

This is my bow, as usual, it got windy and I had to paddle against the wind, most of the day. I also had a tetanus shot friday, so you could say, it wasn't an easy paddle, but well worth it;)

Davis' Daughter Block Two!

I finished another block, only 4 more lady blocks and one for the middle section, guess I better work faster;) I am staying with the red and blue, mixed with tans and creams, so the dresses will be red, blue and brown shades. The next one will be in the brown family and I am using Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn for the dresses and plan on using it for the border, if i can find some in the stores. I do like the look of the original pattern with blue and tans for the sashing and border prints.

I gave this lady, lighter hair and the green is a lighter shade. I am trying to keep them similar with a little bit of change, to mix it  up. I added an eye to this one, which I will do with all of them and I am thinking of adding laces to the boots.

Narragansett Bay Quilter's Show: Part One!

Today we went to the quilt show and I made a video of the show, but the quality is horrid and the photos are too small to really see the quilts, so I will show a set at a time. I wasn't as impressed with this show, as I was with previous ones, but there were a lot of beautiful quilts and inspiration. I didn't buy anything, but Bill bought a bunch of tickets for the Basket raffles. He filled them out, then gave them to me, to put in the ones that I liked the most, so heres hoping I win one, though I won't count on it, lol. I hope you enjoy the quilts.

I loved the use of shirting in this one.

This one is a basic nine patch, but made special, by the fussy cutting of the squares.

A fun quilt with a lot of piecing and wonderful use of fabrics.

Beautiful colors and designs

An interesting take on americana and nine patch

This is just fun

I really like this, unique piece of art in fabric

Truly gores, beautiful appliqué and quilting

A nice folk piece

What is so wonderful about this piece? It is a mini quilt, so much detail in such small spaces.

And the last one for tonight. This is a unique piece, love the idea of using a seed package as a design

Homeward Bound Quilt!

I am planning on a quilt for my bed and I want it to be simple, but nice. Someday I will make something more detailed, but for now, I want something I like and something I can make quickly. So, I went through all of my old quilt magazines and found one I like in a 1997 Quilt magazine. It is called Homeward bound and I like how they used shirting in the blocks. I want to do mine with darker colors and mix up the shirtings with homespuns, I have a few with stripes and in all types of colors.

I was thinking of using my blacks in place of the orange blocks and darker white or cream for the light whites, they mixing up the triangle blocks with hit and miss fabrics from my stash.

Here are some of the fabrics I am playing with, I love the blacks and some of the homespuns, some might be too light. Would love suggestions on colors and layouts, it is getting warmer, so want to get this one done first, so I can use it. I definitely want to use the blue and tan striped on the bottom left and the blue stripes on the top of the pile.

Friends Stitchery!

I was so happy to finish this piece and love how it came out. Then I decided to give it a light antiquing, big mistake. I used hand dyed threads that I won from Laura of ArtFabrik and I love how the larger thread looked in the flowers and the beautiful variations in the shades. But... I wasn't thinking, they are hand dyed and red shades in there and yes, I did it again, ruined another piece.

I made this for a friend for a friend and spring piece, so wanted spring colors, now if I can figure out how to fix it. The design is a free design by Elin's Kreative Side. If you scroll down the page a bit, you will find a label column with freebies.

I also went shopping this weekend, and while trying to find the quilt store, that moved, I found a new one, lol. They have lots of wonderful civil war and Judy Rothermel prints. I couldn't resist the civil war squares, fun fabric to quilt and use for stuffed kitties and things. The red print was just too pretty, not to get for a future project;)

Then I stopped at the pfaff store to get some needles, that is all I wanted and walked out with a new book. I wasn't going to get it, but my husband made me buy it;) It is Bonnie's Garden by Bonnie Sullivan and it is well worth the price. A lot of beautiful projects and rug hooking and a punched piece, so it will not be sitting on the shelf. A few kitty patterns too, of course I will be doing those.

I am thinking of making this piece first, nice for spring and I need some new decorations.

And I really love this one, I will make that later when I get better at piecing and my brain is working better, I am making too many dumb mistakes lately and forgetting, do not get dyed reds, wet!

Future projects!

 I am still working on my hexagons. I finished the stitching, but I decided to add a feather stitch along the outside border edge, so half way done on that. So, I thought I would show you some wonderful things that I received this week.

First of all I received a wonderful surprise today, from Barbara Brackman. She wanted to send me some "Stuff", lol. Well I think this is more than a few pieces of fabrics, it is enough to make a bed sized quilt for me. This is the new fabric, 1862 Battle Hymn by Barbara Brackman and Moda fabrics. I love this fabric, love the colors and love the prints. It is exactly what I was thinking of, when I envisioned a quilt for my bed. So now I need to decide on a pattern and I plan on taking my time and doing a nice job on this quilt. I have loved blues and tans, so with this color scheme, time to change my bedroom;)

If you have never been to Barbara's blog, please do visit, you won't be disappointed. She always has such wonderful quilts on her blog, with histories about the quilts and fabrics. A wonderful way to learn more about dating your quilts. She also has a blog with a block of the week for Civil War quilts, which also has history and stories of the era.  And if that is not enough, she has a new blog about Quilts from the war of 1812. You can view this fabric line at the Moda Website, it is truly perfect for those who love prim and civil war era quilting. They also have wonderful free patterns from the designers.

I folded some of the fabric over, on the layer cake, so you could see more of the patterns in the line.

A second surprise I got last week, was that I won the book, "Welcome to the North Pole ," by Piece of Cake Designs. I won the book from Kay Mackenzie, who has written several wonderful books on applique, herself. Kay has a wonderful blog for the applique lover, full of inspiration and tutorials, so visit Kay's blog to say hello, check out her great tutorials or be inspired by her quilting.

This is the cover of the book, it has a wonderful quilt with all types of Christmas buildings and appliques that you can use in different ways, to make the quilt your own.

I love the smaller pieces on the back of the cover, something I should be able to do before Christmas and I know my daughter would love one of these. I can even customize them, just for her. I had wanted this book and our library copy disappeared. But the great news is you can get it from Martingale & Company, if you would like your own copy.