Homestead Mini-Quilt

I finished the Homestead mini-quilt.  Just in time for breakfast on Wednesday.  I'm very pleased with this little mini.  Each block is time consuming with all the cutting of applique pieces but the result is stunning.  The blocks are 7" finished.

Now to put the binding on a tablerunner that I completed while in Kentucky.  Pics later this week.  Great to be back in the studio. 

Sunbonnet Sue

I completed my project for the week this morning.  It is a Sunbonnet Sue mini quilt.  It can be used as a tabletopper, wallhanging, or ?????  All the squares are machine embroidery.  Designs are  from Anita Goodesigns.  The fabric is 30s reproductions from my stash. 

I'm making these little quilts as gifts for friends.  They are small and a great way to experiment with my embroidery designs.  Next up, I'm planning to try redwork blocks.  I have a Redwork Quilt pack from Martha Pullen that I would like to use.  That will be my next week project. 

I'm so glad I am able to use my stash for these projects.  It's like they cost me nothing!!! (I do realize that I spent lots of $$$$$ on the design packs and fabric but I'm not spending anything now.) 

Mini Bookshelf Quilt

My goal is to complete at least one project each week.  This is my project for the past week.  I found the tutorial on Craftsy by Elizabeth Dackson.  I have to admit that I found some of the instructions confusing but in the end I am quiet pleased with the results.  It is a birthday present for a friend who is a librarian and quilter.  When I saw the little quilted wall hanging, I knew I had to make one for her.

I thought using the selvages from fabric was a very creative use of something we would otherwise discard.  The original pattern didn't include the stippling of the background but I thought it would help to highlight the books.   This was a great way to use some of the fabric in my stash.

Next week I hope to begin working on three table-toppers for my lunch group ladies. 

"C" is for Cowgirl Quiltie

This is my quiltie for the August swap on Fabrics in Altered Arts 2. We are doing an alphabet quiltie swap with a new letter each month. This month's letter is "C". I had a hard time deciding what "C" theme to use and finally decided to do Cowgirl. I used two different western print fabrics and added metal and leather embellishments. I decided to finish the edges of the quiltie with pinking shears.

School Days Quiltie

This is my September School Days Quiltie for Fabric in Altered Arts. The background fabric is one that has been in my stash just waiting for the perfect project. I attached a page from Language Lessons Part One with a copyright date of 1894. I picked the book up at the thrift store. The signature is also from the first page of the book. The photo is a copy of a picture from my collection. My grandmother is in the photo and a great-uncle is the teacher. I have always loved the picture and decided to share it on this quiltie.

August Quiltie -Recycled

The theme for quilties on the Fabric in Altered Group for August is "Recycled". This is my recycled quiltie. The front "fabric" is the interior of a Frito bag. I painted it with copper Adirondack paint. I hand stitched two butterflies cut from fabric on the recycled "fabric" and made beads from a recycled FedEx mailer painted with the same paint. The painted mailer was then cut into long triangles and rolled around a toothpick. The piece was then heated with a heat gun. The result was these beautiful beads. I stitched the word FLY and added the word recycle with a sharpie. The back is a recycled bubble mailer with a flower from the same fabric as butterflies. The flower was stitched onto the mailer. As I sewed the flower, I noticed that the bubbles would flated when poked with needle. "Idea" - why not leave air in the bubbles behind the flower and poke all other bubbles? The flower is now puffed and the remainer is flattened. The front and back were attached with a blanket stitch. The entire piece has a rustic look.

Fabric in Altered Arts Wallhanging

I just received this lovely wallhanging in the mail. It is from a swap on Fabric in Altered Arts and was made by the very talented Cathy. I couldn't believe that I received such a lovely piece in pink because my studio is pink and green and the wallhanging looks lovely on the pink wall. Here is a link to the wallhanging that I made for the swap.

July Patriotic Quiltie

The theme for July Quiltie in Fabric in Altered Arts is patriotic. This is my quiltie. The image is from Dover and the fabric from Granny's Attic in Kentucky. I decided to give it a rustic binding with red binding and machine zig zags. Both July quilties will go in the mail today.

I have enjoyed participating in these monthly quiltie swaps and have received a number of wonderful little quilts by return mail. Always fun to open the packages and see the great things fellow fabric artists create.

Thrift Store Treasure

This patchwork piece was one of my found TREASURES yesterday at the thrift store. It measures about 14" x 80". I assume someone began a quilt and didn't finish. "Their loss is my gain!" All the little pieces in such lovely colors. Wonderful vintage piece. This will be a great addition to my stash.

Once home I washed the piece and put it in the dryer. This morning I was searching for inspiration for a mini quilt for a Light Blue Themed swap. As I was ironing the patchwork, I saw the light blue star. Perfect for the background of the Light Blue Quiltie! The results are shown in the photo. An image from Dover and a little vintage rick rack (also thrift store) and my quiltie was on its way to completion. I embellished the image with Stickles and added backing and binding. I'm pleased with the little piece of art!

Out of the Blue Mystery Trade

I joined a new yahoo group recently, Fiber Art Traders (F.A.T.) and this is my first swap in their group. The Trade is called "Out of the Blue Mystery Trade". We were to use the following items: fabric in some form of blue, recycled piece of plastic, thread or yarn, something from nature, and a circle.

I called this art piece "ONE FISH, BLUE FISH". The fabric is shades of blue wool that I found in a bundle at the thrift store. The bubble is both my circle and recycled plastic. The seaweed and waves are made from various yarns. The twigs are from the orange tree in the backyard.

I cut the wool fabric into strips. I then used a weave pattern and attached to a piece of canvas with my felting machine. I then added the yarn waves and seaweed with the felting machine. The fish pin was added and circles were cut from plastic packaging. I embellished the circles with Stickles and attached with Diamond Glaze. I also used stickles on the twigs and glued them to the piece with Ultimate Glue. I then added a backing and binding. I'm quite pleased with this "little work of art". Hope the group likes it.

Art Quilt -Mixed Media

This is an art quilt I made for a swap on Fabric in Altered Arts yahoo group. The background quilt was a demo piece I used over a year ago. I gave a short demo on Scrapbook Quilts at the grand opening of Granny's Attic in Campbellsville, Kentucky in 2007. I decided it was time to put the cute little quilt to use. Quilt fabric is reproduction fabric from Granny's. The photo is a mistake. I decided to try photo transfer using a transparency and it didn't work. Maybe for a variety of reasons (one being, I had no idea what I was doing!) At any rate when the transparency didn't transfer, I just left the transparency and sewed it onto the quilt. The background is distorted because of the failed transfer but I liked the look. The photo is from one of the free image sites on the internet. The embellishments are from my stash. All purchased at my favorite thrift stores.

Jo Morton Quilt

I've set this week aside for UFOs. This is a quilt from the Jo Morton "Jo's Little Women Club". I joined the club at a local quilt store this spring. However, with our travel schedule, I have been unable to attend most of the meetings. This quilt pattern is from the first meeting - Patriotic Broken Dishes. The fabric is also Jo Morton. As usual, I made adjustments to the pattern. The mini-quilt measures about 17" x 20" and is machine pieced and quilted with stitch-in-the ditch.

I haven't done alot with traditional quilting recently. I completed the quilt top while at our vacation home in Kentucky in April and just today added the binding. Now I'm adding the backing and binding to another mini quilt made of Civil War fabric.