The Quilting Bugg

Happy Jacks

Fall is my most favorite season of all...although spring is a close second.  I love the warm days, the cool crisp nights.  This weekend I worked on a couple of Happy Jacks.  They were fun to piece together, quick and simple (which, occasionally is exactly the therapy I need!)  I think I am about done with "fall-ish" projects, I need to be working on Christmas gifts, it is going to be a very quilty/homemade Christmas this year.

Boggled with Creative Ideas.

Today I went with a "loves to quilt" friend to Quilt-A-Fair in Longmont, via Lyons, Colorado.  We missed a turn, and took a very beautiful, scenic "detour" which was included the foothills, golden to red trees turning and lots of laughs about our sense of direction.  We finally happened upon the our destination...Quilt-A-Fair.  Ohmygoodness!  Euphoria exists after all.  The creative energy aura was heaven.  Booth to booth, the quilts displayed, the fabrics to touch, oh it was a beautiful thing.  All the ideas, all the patterns, all the possibilities absolutely got my mind in gear...and when we had walked the whole thing, taking in all the quilts displayed, we went back to our favorites to buy, or in my case, absorb the details of the ideas and quilts  So...how does a blond, who already has thousand of unrealized quilts just waiting to be designed and released out of the folds of her mind take in a bazillion more creative quilt ideas?  I dunno.  My mind is blissfully boggled with quilt ideas.  And so, I blog, I doodle, I read, I absorb, I dream quilts...and occasionally I finish an idea. 

Espresso (not espresso to make though)

Continously trying to find my niche...and how I love Mc Kenna Ryan quilting designs.  They may look easy, if one is not obsessed by placement color, about perfectly even stitches, and can sew without going cross-eyed make perfectly straight outlining stitches.  This piece really stetched and stressed my abilities.  I even put it aside for awhile and worked on different quilts.  This isn't a "hurry and do" quilt project, or even a "zone-out-cuz it was a stressful day" quilt project.  This is a "take your time, do NOT hurry" project.  I think I want to do more McKenna Ryan.  You won't find this in my Etsy store, it isn't for sale.

Antiqued Stars

The idea of dyeing my fabric to achieve a certain look was NOT at all appealing to me when I began quilting.  Not in the least.  I'd seen it done, beautiful as it was, it was too much for me...I smirked saying to myself "What's next, crazy people, weaving your own fabric?  Who in their right mind has time for such things...and WHY would anyone even want to do this?"  That was years ago (at least two or three, back in my younger, youthful days...I wasn't so wise then!)  Still, it isn't that I am dieing to do dyeing of fabric...but I wanted to achieve a subtle antique look, and I couldn't afford to buy more fabric when I had the fabric pieces I needed at home...just too bright and too new and too white for what I wanted to do.  So, I antiqued the fabric.  I tea-dyed it.  I couldn't reproduce the color even if I tried...some peach tea, some sun tea, raspberry tea and green tea.  I brewed up a great mixture of all kinds of tea, then I set out to soak the fabric.  I got myself a big tub to put in all the fabric, and it soaked for various hours...the dark navy, just enough to take the white out of the stars...the white stayed in over-night for a darker look.  The backing is all tea dyed too!  I love how this quilt turned out!  

Red, Black and White Quilt

Just finished...and it BIGGER than it looks, it is queen sized with extra "tuckage". 

Soon to be listed on Etsy.com   See my quilt pictures that I have added lately.

Praying For A Cure Quilt

Can you tell that I am starting to dip into my stash and use some of my more favored fabrics?  I have made two (very) different quilts from my wide and random collection of Breast Cancer awareness fabrics.  I have a wonderful Mother-in-Law who had breast cancer and has been over 15 years cancer free.  This quilt was started a long time ago, when I wanted to learn log cabin blocks.  The  quilt top sat for a couple of years, not knowing how I wanted to quilt it.  It had served its usefullness for the time with just learning log cabin blocks.  It surfaced again a couple of months ago, and the ideas started coming to me.  It wasn't finished.  I wanted to do some applique to coordinate with the backing of the quilt.  I appliqued on the letters, top stitched those, I appliqued 3 ribbons on the other 3 remaining corners, with fancy-schmacy embroidery stitches and then I quilted it with stitch in the ditch quilting.  Simple.  Wonderful.  Original.  Honest.  I love this quilt.  And sorry, it isn't for sale. 

Butterfly, Butterfly Quilt

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This quilt is really cute!  All Moda fabrics from a couple of lines, from a long-ago time.  Flannels and 100% cotton fabric.  The butterflies are appliqued on with a zig-zag stitch.  The antennas are hand embroidered and the appliqued butterflies are backed with a tea-dyed fabric.  The "weaved" squares are quilted with free hand motion butterflies.  The background of the appliqued butterflies is quilted with a small, tight stipple, the borders surrounding the butterflies are a looser flowing stipple.  Along the borders you will find a free-hand heart loopy-loop design.  The borders also have diamond shape fabric pieces, and around each diamond piece is a small, very tight stipple, popping up the diamonds to stand out.  The backing of this quilt is 100% cotton.  Hand-stitched binding done.  Attention to detail, time and love went into this quilt.  This is a unique, one of a kind quilt, with fabrics that are hard to find now.  Please see my etsy account for more information!

The Quilting Bugg