Last Two Blocks

These were the last 2 blocks left in Carrie Hall's Sampler Quilt. I finished them yesterday and just have the borders left to quilt! These 2 blocks are quite small and didn't take long to quilt them. 

I'll be continuing the borders as previously posted. I'll finish the bottom border before I finish quilting the side borders. This quilt got quilted faster than I had thought. I always look forward to a finish. Always a good feeling!!

Border Crosshatching

 

I wasn't sure what to quilt in the border of Carrie Hall's Sampler Quilt. I didn't want anything that looked too modern. I've never done crosshatching in a border before on the longarm. I've done it by hand quilting but never on the machine. I watched a video by Jamie Wallen that gave me the courage to try it! I didn't want to mark anything. So, this picture shows the crosshatching completed in one direction on the top border. 

I completed the crosshatching using this 90 degree ruler. I think it came out pretty good especially for my first time!

This is how the top border looks with a completed crosshatching. I'm working on the sides of the quilt as I advance. I can only quilt in one direction. When I'm done the whole quilt, I have to go back and quilt the crosshatching in the other direction so it will be complete. It really doesn't take long since I'm not marking any lines. I just have to be careful and line up the ruler at the correct line. I think this design fits the quilt very nicely.

More FMQ and Ruler Work

I'm slowly quilting my applique quilt, Carrie Hall's Sampler Quilt. I had this little strip of squares and triangles used to offset some of blocks. I made arcs in the squares to make flowers as well as arcs in the triangles. I like how it came out. My curved rulers do all the work for me! I don't mark anything. I use the markings on the rulers as the guides.

I free motion quilted flames in the background. I used ribbon candy on the yellow portion of the pomegranate. 

This is just another view of the same block.  There aren't many blocks yet but still decisions to be made as I start each block. I'm looking forward to see how it looks when it's all done. Getting there!!

 

I Like Thursday #220

It's time for Thursday Likes! A bunch of us bloggers post happy content on a weekly basis. Our fearless leader, LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color, is our hostess. You can find links to more bloggers on her blog. I'm finished this block last week on my Carrie Hall's Sampler Quilt. I'm not great at pebbles but I do like how they look here. It's harder than I thought to free motion quilt on applique blocks. Each quilt becomes a learning experience for me. 

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There are so many fun sew along and Blocks of the Month starting up.  I didn't find anything that inspired me. So, I decided to work on one of the many projects I have sitting in my sewing room just waiting for me to start them. I decided to start making the Alaska quilt from Laundry Basket Quilts. This is block 1. It measures 9.5" square. 

Each block is made 4 times. I cut out the 4 blocks and will make them when I can. Each block is a kaleidoscope block where the 4 points meet in the middle. I hope I get better at that! The quilt finishes about 71" square but I may add a border. I'm not sure yet.

This week's prompt asks us about anything that happened in the last year that impacted you and if you learned anything. My husband was putting away the deck furniture back in October. He fell trying to put the table in the shed. One of the table legs pierced his lower leg. That's not even the bad part. He's on a blood thinner and the bleeding wouldn't stop. Once he calmed that down, he developed a large blood blister that would constantly bleed. He ended up having to go to the would clinic. His blister became an ulcer that just wouldn't heal. He's finally at the end of treatment. I think I learned we're more resilient than I thought. He stayed home a few days but otherwise did everything as usual. I helped him with his dressing as well as his medications. So glad that's over. This is not a picture of his leg but a photo I found of an Unna Boot dressing that ultimately got the ulcer to heal. 

 

More Applique & Quilting

It's another snow day in my area. It's a great day to stay in. I just finished echo quilting this applique block. It's the first time I've tried just echoing the applique. I probably didn't do it all correctly but I like the way it came out. I felt there wasn't enough background to try a quilting motif. I decided echoing was the way to go!

 I quilted swirls in the background of this block. I thought a few feathers would look good in that middle area. These blocks are wider than the opening of my longarm so I've had to do each block in sections. It's working out okay. I work my way across the quilt and then work in the other direction. So far, so good! I'm a little more than halfway done. Quilting slowly, but surely!

I Like Thursday #219

It's time for I Like Thursday. It's been quite a week. We got close to 19 inches of snow Saturday night and then all day Sunday. It didn't last long however. We received over 2 inches of rain and temperatures close to 50 degrees Tuesday night into Wednesday. Such crazy weather! I believe climate change is a real thing although I know some people don't agree. The weather has been very different lately in my area. 

I've been working on these socks for my husband very slowly. I finally turned the heel which means the end is near! The JoAnn's near me doesn't seem to have any sock yarn so I ordered some online. Sock yarn is one of my favorites. You can make shawls, booties, and of course, socks! It's my favorite weight of yarn.

Since Christmas is over, we got a new house for the cats. It's the Love Chariot just in time for Valentine's Day! As you can see, each cat seems to be enjoying sitting in the chariot. It's two levels with scratch pads at both locations. We got it from Chewy. We always try to get 2 levels so each cat can use it at the same time.

 I just finished this book and it was excellent. The Red Cross had female volunteers during WWII that drove little vans where they would make coffee and doughnuts for the troops. They were located right in the thick of the fighting. I had never hear of the Donut Dollies as they were called. The author wrote this book based on his mother's experiences as a Dolly. The characters are fictional but much is based on what happened to his mother during the war. It's a real tearjerker! 

Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to find more bloggers with positive posts. We're expecting more rain tomorrow night. It just never ends! Have a great weekend!

Tulip Quilting

I've been trying to get some quilting done in between these storms! We had 19 inches of snow this past Sunday. We lost power for a very short time but was afraid to get the longarm going during a storm. We're expecting rain and high wind tonight so I'm not sure I can use it tomorrow. I plan on making some progress this afternoon. I thought I would just share what I've done with the center square. This was one difficult block to put together. There were Y-seams as well as applique. I wasn't sure how to quilt it. I was going to go in one direction, but got inspired before I started! 

I quilted a loop meander in the outer background. I made arcs in the pink diamond.

 I echoed the outer part of the tulip and quilted straight lines in the background triangles. The part between the tulips was such an odd shape. This came to mind and I did it! I outlined and then made wishbones in that odd area. So glad it came out this good! I'm still trying to decide what to do in the next block. Too many decisions but I love quilting!

I Like Thursday #218

Welcome to I Like Thursday! It's time to post happy and positive topics. If you visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color, you'll be able to link up to more bloggers with similar content. I got this great picture from my college roommate. It's already hanging proudly in my sewing room. It fits in quite nicely with my other sewing inspired wall hangings. It's the perfect gift for me!

The prompt this week is about appetizers. I actually love appetizers but rarely eat them because if I start eating them, I'll never get to the main course. I found this picture on line but my future daughter-in-law made this recipe for Christmas Eve dinner. They were so good! She used mini-bagels with cheese, cucumber and lox. I could have eaten them all night! I like appetizers too much! We've had meals made up of appetizers which I love! Too bad most of this stuff is jam packed with calories. 

My husband received a cast iron pan with recipe book for Christmas.  He made this skillet corn bread. It is the best! I use it as a side dish to my meal. So good! I could make a whole meal out of one thick slice!!

Look how cute my kitties look sleeping so close to each other! This is rare to see with these two. I thought it was a Christmas miracle! They fight and play but never snuggle together. This is the closest I've seen them.

Have a wonderful weekend! They're predicting about a foot of snow for Sunday. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to that!

Longarm Quilting on New Year's

Happy  New Year 2024! We had Chinese food New Year's Eve and enjoyed a quiet first day of 2024. We took down the Christmas decorations the morning of New Year's Eve so we didn't have to worry about that yesterday.

I quilted clamshells on this one. This is one of my favorites. I've used it many times and feel really comfortable with it. I outlined the stem and flower but also did a few loops in the larger applique pieces.

I quilted stacked swirls in this one. It's so hard to have to quilt around these large applique pieces. Practicing on plain fabric is so much easier!

This pattern is a swirl with a curly circle around it. I have to go back and quilt the inside of the applique. I can only do part of the block since my machine opening is only 18 inches.

I loved being able to use curved crosshatching somewhere on this quilt! These triangles were perfect for this pattern. I love using my boomerang ruler. It's quick and easy. You just have to line it up on the proper line.

That's it so far. I'm going in the other direction now so I can finish quilting these large applique blocks.