QUILT CHICK

TWO FINISHED!!!!

2009-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished the baby quilt I was making for my first great-nephew (OMG that makes me sound old; FYI he was the first born in his generation to my much older brother.) Anyhoo, it was great to get it finished as I will be making the trek up north and give it to him this weekend. It is 42.5" x 47.5".
Here is the front:

The back:

A close up. It is hard to read but I embroidered Jeffrey Thomas on the front:

And it folded with the binding:

Then today I finished my SIL's retirement quilt, good sized lap quilt at 55" x 68". It is the Disappearing Nine Patch.
The front:

And a close up:

I am including with her quilt a good mystery novel, some tea and a teacup, which is how I plan to spend my retirement when not quilting.

Also, my current yarn project, inspired by the gorgeous crocheted items on Attic24, the primo blog if you want to get inspired to crochet.

Tomorrow I am driving 300+ miles for the retirement party, so will not be blogging for a few days. I will however, be visiting all the quilt, yarn, stitchery and fabric shops I can find up there.......this is going to be expensive!
Have a great week and weekend,
QuiltChick

2009-06-21T08:43:00.001-07:00

2009-06-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

Patchy Friends

2009-06-19T03:24:00.000-07:00

As previously promised, here are some more patchy friends that I love....a kitty, a flour sack bear, and another old quilted bear......I love recycled items, and these are especially pleasant as they are soft and squishy....

Here it is a heat index of 100'F, and humid as all get out. When you go outside it sucks the wind right out of your lungs. I plan to stay inside as much as possible. Hmmmm, sounds like a good excuse to sew and quilt!

Have a fun day!

Quiltchick

Candy Store Flimsy

2009-06-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

I hate to say I got distracted while working on the quilt tops for my nieces and nephews........I saw some of the pretty happy, bright prints I had cut and decided to put some of them together for a lap quilt for me.....

I always end up making lap quilt too big. This one seems to be just right. (I feel like Goldilocks) But I like the combination of prints. It reminds me of all the colors in a gumball machine, hence the name.
I am getting a really ridiculous amount of flimsies needing quilting. I have been waiting for batting to go on sale, and it is, but my local JoAnn's is moving so they are liquidating, not following the sales fliers, and not getting new stock in. Oh the crosses I must bear......

2009-06-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Selvage applique

2009-06-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday while garage saling I found wooden embroidery hoops at a church sale, for the amazing price of 8/$1.00. So of course I snapped them right up. When I got home I decided to make another selvage project:

My house.....

A little closer....

And again....

It was so fun I had to make another....

And another.....

And just one more.....

Sorry for the bad pic on the last one......

Hope you like them! The periwinkle background is from a yard sale linen/rayon shift I bought a few weeks back...for 50c.......

Group photo:

It is rainy here, but at least I don't have to water the garden! Have a lovely day!
QuiltChick

2009-06-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

2009-06-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Thifty find and a small quilted purse

2009-06-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday while garage saling I found this cute Liberty card wallet....... I just love it so. Reminds me of England.

And it is by a small quilted bag I made. This is the bag I carry while walking or bike riding; with it's long strap it goes across the body, and it just fits my wallet, keys and cell phone.
Gotta love the simple things in life. :)
Hope you are out garage saling, or working in the garden, or riding your bike......the weather is beautiful here.
QuiltChick

2009-06-12T07:12:00.001-07:00

2009-06-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

2009-06-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Quilted Purse

2009-06-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers! I completed a purse and I wanted to share it with you. It is of my own design. I love to look at all the purses on all the blogs. Most have an open top or a magnetic closure. I am not comfortable with either so I either add a zipper or a flap. This one has a flap. And I made a fabric flower with button center to dress it up a bit.

Selvage Stash

2009-06-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is my meager selvage stash. Occasionally I go stalk my fabric stash and gather selvages. I do like the Whole Foods bag, and it's message on the side. We are all about recycling. I am contemplating another selvage item.......

2009-06-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Mini Quilt Monday

2009-06-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my Mini Quilt Monday Quilt: Another selvage item. Using selvages creatively reminds me of using feed sacks in the 1930s; the use-what-you-have-and-make-it-pretty-mentality. I don't know why but I like making scrap quilts more than planned buy it special quilts. I guess it is because I am the youngest of 5 kids and I grew up on hand-me-downs.
I love polka dots! I am also collected polka dot material to make a "dots only" quilt. It's on the list of future projects.
Does anyone else keep a notebook with projects to work on, future projects, quotes, etc.? I keep mine with me and am constantly writing stuff down. I draw so much inspiration from the quilting/sewing/crafting blogs and am constantly amazed and surprised at the things people come up with, and their willingness to share instructions and photos. It makes it easier to get motivated!
TTYL,
QuiltChick

Sides of Lake Michigan

2009-06-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Southwestern Michigan, about 45 miles from the Big Lake (that's what we called Lake Michigan.) When I was a kid it was a real treat to go there in the summer, and we went often. When I was in college and we were into Road Trips, we would jump in the car and head to the Lake in any season, so I got to see it's beauty in the winter also. This is from the pier at South Haven from last summer.
This is the light house.

And my favorite pose:

My daughter Em was in Chicago in April for Spring break. So here is the Chicago side of the Big Lake:
And also this:
I can look at these photos and feel the wind on my face, the coldness of the water on my feet and I walk along the beach, and be back to a place where I don't worry about bills, cleaning the house, letting the dog out, and getting to work on time.
I love the beach.

Quilt Top

2009-06-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I am working on 8 (yes eight) quilts, to give my nieces and nephews at the family reunion this summer. Here is one top:
I like making strip quilts. I want them all to be similar. Unfortunately my two nieces who live out in the northwest will not be attending the reunion, so I will have to give them to their dad. So far I have 3 of the quilt tops done. I am backing and binding with each of their favorite colors.
QuiltChick

Zip Bags

2009-06-06T19:56:00.003-07:00

This is my second post! Here are some zip bags I made to go with my bag: First is a pastel one. The back is patchwork/strips. The next is one with selvages both vertical and horizontal.

This is a zip bag for my daughter Em:

Again the embroidered chick.
And here are the backs:

I really had fun making them, and they are quick too!
TTYL,
QuiltChick

Hello!

2009-06-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!! Is anyone reading this?

Hello! This is my first post! I have been reading quilting/sewing/crafting blogs for a few months now....guess it's time to jump in! I have been very inspired by the blogs I have read. They are just amazing. It will probably take me a while to get a hang of all of this though. Here are some projects I have been working on:
A selvage/scrap purse- all done! It also has my embroidered chick on it, and an outside cell phone pocket (what did we do before cell phones?) and pockets inside also. I put a purse zipper on top, an interesting item that zips both ways. First photo is the front, and the second is the side.

(And the date is wrong on the camera and we can't seem to fix it, these were taken recently.)
I also made a few 'in the purse zip bags' to go with it. I will add them to the next blog as I am having trouble getting the photos to download.
Thanks for reading!
QuiltChick