Quick gift- dump truck pillow

Sharing with you a picture of a pillow I made for a new baby.  Some scraps of denim + some scraps of homespuns + a little fusible interfacing = a cute pillow.  I started with a square of denim, and added some outer pieces like a big, chunky log cabin block.  Just made a quick sketch of a dump truck, and some lettering for the name.  Ironed them on & did a satin stitch around the outside, so it's washable.  I have a case of 16" pillow forms that I got a long time ago, so I used one of those.  The denim part has a zipper in the back, so the cover can be taken off & washed.  I think it turned out cute for a boy.

Two more quilts

Here's a patriotic quilt that I pieced... quilted with crosshatching through all the squares in the body of the quilt, and a star/wave pattern in the borders.  Also echoed the triangle border.

And, here's a cute panel quilt, with Minkee on the back.  It's quilted with the "Here Comes the Sun" pattern- which is a cute pattern for kids quilts- clouds & sun.  

Patriotic quilt

This patriotic quilt received some custom quilting.  I had a star/wave pattern that worked well to surround some blocks, and cross-hatching in the panel with words.  Also outlined the stars & added some meandering in the red areas after echoing the embroidered stars.  

Embroidered quilt

This quilt was made as a reproduction of an old quilt.  The piecer had a quilt made by her mother (I think!), but it was wearing out, so she traced the embroidery pattern & made a new quilt to match the old one.  I thought this was a neat way to preserve the quilt.  I put a block design in the pink areas, and some corner patterns to surround the wreath embroidery.  

Snowball quilt

Here's a pretty snowball quilt that I quilted in August.  I put a block design in the snowball blocks, and some diagonal straight lines in the 4-patch blocks, and a coordinating border design.  Quilter's Dream cotton was used in this quilt.  

 This fun sampler quilt top was quilted using the "Alex" pattern.  It's a nice swirly pattern that helps offset the sharp points of the piecing.

And this quilt top was quilted using the Carpet Scrolls pattern.  It's also a swirly type pattern that has a large repeat.  It's ornate looking & goes well on large quilts.  This quilt top was a king-size top, and so it really worked out well on this one.

 A view of the back, where the quilting shows up better:

freehand paisley pattern

This "Starburst" quilt was done hand-guided doing an echoed paisley pattern.  My hand-guided quilting is usually more dense than the computerized quilting.  It was just what the customer requested- it's very similar to how the pattern quilt was done.  Here's a link to the pattern if you'd like to make one too:

http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/2012/09/introducing-starburst-tutorial-and.html

This two-color top was quilted using the "Growing Things" pattern, using white thread.  

I enjoy looking at two-color quilts, with the high contrast between the pieces- visually they are very striking.  But, I am not sure I would have enough patience to acutally piece one.  I fear I would get bored halfway through piecing the same block with the same fabrics & I would never finish it.  Maybe some day I will attempt one.

A quilt for me

A quilt for me!  I made this from scraps & leftovers from other projects.  It's hanging on the wall in our house now.  I quilted it with baptist fans, and really like how that turned out. I added the braided border to the outside, and like the effect of that.

Quilter's Dream Wool

Quilter's Dream Wool batting is now available.  I have a 25-yard roll available & I'm offering this at a low price of $11.00/yard until it's gone.  If you've ever been interested in trying wool in a quilt, it's now available.

I haven't used wool very often, but when I have I've found that it makes for a very soft quilt.  It has a bit more loft that the Quilter's Dream cotton, but it's not super thick.  If you'd like to see a sample of it, just let me know & I will stick a sample piece in the mail & send it your way.

Here's some information about the QD wool batting, from their website:

http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/dream-wool.htm

Dream Wool is made with a Scoured and Super Washed Domestic & Fine Merino Wool that has been blended, carded, crosslapped & thermally bonded.*  The wool is scoured and super-washed for superior cleanliness and to eliminate shrinkage.  Quilters Dream's unique processing creates wool batting with exceptionally soft drape, uniformity and strength.   Dream Wool is a beautifully consistent batting that is truly a 'cut above'.  

• May be Machine Washed and Dried without Shrinkage.
• Confidently stitch up to 8 inches apart.  Dreamy to Quilt.  No Scrim or Resins to Resist Your Needles.
• Light, Luxurious and Wonderfully Warm with a Lovely Soft Loft that Beautifully Accentuates your Quilting.
• Resistant to Creases and and Naturally Resilient Dream Wool Springs Back to its Original Loft.
• Quilters Dream Wool is Exceptionally Durable, Rich and Resilient Ensuring that Your Quilts will be Treasured for Generations.
• Dreamy for Hand and Machine Quilting.  Also Excellent for Tied Quilts.
• Ideal Mid Loft for all Your Quilted 

machine applique quilt

This is a beatiful machine embroidery/applique quilt.  It has such vibrant colors, and the black fabric really sets those off & make the colors stand out.
I outlined & echoed all the embroidery- this was done freehand, as was the continuous curve quilting in the small triangle border.  I also added the double leaf shapes with the Intelliquilter.

two embroidered quilts

Customers often bring in hand-embroidered quilts... seems like each one is different & I haven't seen the same set of blocks yet.  There must be alot of cute patterns out there- you know, the pre-printed ones that have the blue ink that washes out when you are done?  

Here are two of them that I worked on lately.  The first one I did an all-over pattern on, called Double Bubble.  

And, this one I did a more custom treatment on... I outlined the boys, and added a frame around each one to fill in the white area.  Also designed a simple fish pattern to go around the outside in the blue border.

New patterns

Some new all-over patterns available to use on your quilts:

a few recent finishes

This boy's sports quilt was done using the square spiral pattern.  Then I quilted in his name on a solid block.  

Here is a bright cheery quilt that was quilted with a new pattern called "Honeycomb".   I thought continuing on with the hexagon theme/feel of the quilt would be good, so I used this hexagon shaped quilting pattern.  Alot of the patterns I have are swirly or flowers, and these didn't seem to fit, so when I came across the Honeycomb pattern, I knew I'd found the right one.

Craigslist find...

Here's the newest machine to add to my collection.  Not that I really have a collection... maybe this is the start of one.  Yesterday I went to look at a treadle machine that was posted on Craigslist, and it came home with me.  I am looking forward to learning how to use it.  I've been getting it cleaned up & oiled.  The leather belt that goes from the foot treadle to the wheel on the machine is old & brittle, so it will have to be replaced before I can sew with it.  The hand wheel turns freely, and it looks like everything is in order & will hopefuly work after some more cleaning & lubing.

It's a Singer model 15-30 manufactured in 1916, judging by the serial number stamped on the machine.  This style decal is called "Tiffany" decals.  There is a bit of wear on the decals, but not bad.  I think with some TLC, it will really be a nice looking machine.  

It didn't come with a manual or accessories, so I'll be doing some Google searches & see what I can come up with .  

The funny part of this story is yesterday, the same day I bought this machine, we had a power outage.  I was really thinking this was an interesting coincidence, since that is why I wanted to get one- the novelty of being able to sew even when the power was out.  We are having an ice- storm yesterday & today, but thankfully the power is back on for now.