Irish Chain

Oh, I love an Irish Chain. This was fun to make but a challenge to quilt. It measures 98 x 98--a lot of quilt to work with. I made this for my son and his wife as a wedding gift. I told him I only took three years to decide how to quilt it. He reminded me it was five years. I have lots of quilts to get finished and do not have too many more 5 years in my lifetime. So I am going to try to do something about that. This week--cooking and cleaning will need to wait. VBS is over and Peru Mission trip is in three weeks. I have a little time to work on a couple of quilts.

Here is my Irish Chain. I bought the material in Shipshewanna, IN with the help of two Mennonite ladies--a mother and teenage daughter.  That was fun!! I quilted the white blocks with a free motion circle feather design. The circles in border have free motion flowers. The squares have half circles from corner to corner.

I am also working on a Bloom quilt from Bee in my Bonnet website. I have five squares completed. I fell in love with this pattern when she introduced it back in February. I was burned out from so many activities and this fresh new quilt caught my eye. I just had to give it a try. It is a fun quilt and makes me smile when I look at it.

I am also working on a Kaffe Fassett quilt. I will post the quilt top tomorrow.

Finally Finished and Delivered

This is a quilt that is finally finished and delivered. It was fun to quilt. Mary Claire was married 1 1/2 years ago on December 27. This is her Christmas quilt--Sweet Scandinavian.

It is February 4, 2016

Today is the fourth day of February. Oh! My! 2016 will pass us by as quickly as 2015. The weather is beautiful and the sky very blue. 

Love this Bible verse I read in that fabulous chapter of Isaiah 55.

"...so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."  Isaiah 55:11 What a great promise to dwell.

Today I will try to finish the binding on the quilt below. I will share photos and more information of the completed quilt. I had so much fun quilting it freehand. I am and will always be a novice at this, but quilting is so much fun.

This is just a photo of a finished quilt that is on my bed all year. I saw a quote "a bed without a quilt is like the sky without stars". I love sleeping under a quilt, especially one I made, and then add the stars given to all by the Lord--what more could we ask. This was a Bonnie Hunter "quilt along" quilt. Oh, I took the photo to show off my new Lands End cranberry sheets. 

Christmas Decorating

I like a minimum of Christmas decorations. Even simple takes time. My decorating is a work in progress.

So far I have tired something different with the stairs and balcony. Think I may add another Christmas tree to the balcony, but will wait until rest is cleaned and ready to go.

Here are a some photos. My lighting is poor so photos are a little dark. Actually these photos were taken with my computer. 




















I set these candles in a drawer from my grandmother's dresser. She used the drawer for her sewing supplies. I have been using it in my quilt studio but saw a post on Quiltville's Instagram and she had been given a similar arrangement, so I thought I would use mine.

Baby Quilt

The latest quilt--I have not finished many quilts this year, but I plan to change that beginning tomorrow. I have some works in progress.

This quilt was for my new great nephew. I have not met him yet but his photos are adorable. He and his sister and parents live close to the beach--thus the nautical fabric. The pictures definitely do not do this quilt justice--but what's new about that?

New Quilt Studio

Want to tour my new quilt studio. Oh, I love it! My wonderful husband helped me pick out a building and then he finished the inside with help from our oldest, Jeff. They did a splendid job and I could never thank them enough. I am blessed beyond measure.

First is a photo of the quilt shack.

Sonny and Jeff painting a calm yellow. I love the yellow color!!

My outside view--see the horses and horse barn.

Looking from front door. My cutting table is on the left, then ironing board, then back counter for puppet making. To the right is longarm quilting setup.

My sewing corner

A better look at longarm quilting setup. The yellow frame is for lighting. Sonny made it for me.

I love the peg boards above the cutting table and also one further down with all my rulers.

 Here is my design wall.

This view is looking from the back to the front.

I am looking forward to spending lots of time. My quilt studio is truly a "happy" place. Come join me.

Quilt for Nora Jane

Wanted to share a sweet quilt for a sweet baby. Her old fashioned name, Nora Jane, called for a 30's quilt. I used the fabric line Aunt Grace and really had fun with the quilt. Isn't she absolutely precious!!! The quilt is 40 by 40. 

Baby Quilt for Gracie

This is my latest baby quilt and it is for little Miss Grace who will soon be here. The quilt colors were chosen to match her precious bedroom.

See the quilt already in place. Her aunt and uncle are so thrilled awaiting her arrival.

I love the disappearing nine patch and like to try different versions of this pattern. I am always finishing the baby quilts the night before an event or the day quilt is to go to recipient. Getting good photos is a challenge at night and rainy days--oh, and even sunny days. :-)

Barn Quilts

As a child I traveled to Gatlinburg and was so excited looking for the first barn sign that said "See Rock City". So I guess that lead me to a love of barn quilts. We traveled recently in Michigan and followed a Barn Quilt Trail in Vicksburg, Michigan. We saw much of the county following the trail. We even ended on a gravel/dirt road. Oh, what fun!!!

So here is my own journey with creating our first barn quilt. At one time we had two barns near the road but no more. So I decided to put up two barn quilt signs on my short fence near the road. I choose the designs with the help of a dear friend. We choose to do a bear claw pattern. Our county has lots of history and claims when Grant marched through during the Civil War that he said, "The town too beautiful to burn." You will find this block in Civil War quilts. Stories say the bear claw was a block used in the Underground Railroad. This makes a wonderful tale of how the Bear Paw quilt signaled escaping slaves that they needed to follow the tracks, perhaps to find water or shelter. Also, a bear has visited a deer feeder during the month of July for two years straight. Several bears have been spotted in our area. We also have some bear wooden cutouts near the quilt signs.

The star block is my patriotic block. Lots of my quilts have stars. I love star blocks.

My sweet husband constructed the signs and hung them. My talented daughter-in-law painted the signs. I had a great time watching the progress.

The sign is 4 x 4. Jaime first measured and measured and then used painters tape to section it off. I chose simple patterns for our first signs. As a side note--it was windy and chilly on the day we were painting.

 Here she is painting in the blue sections with the help of our grandson, Jase.

Here is the bear claw

Our setup as she would work on one and then the other waiting for each to dry.

I have placed them at the bottom of my hill near the road--Spring and Winter photo.

Here the star--Spring and Winter photo

 and the bear claw -- Spring and Winter 

Thank you Sonny and Jaime!