A Baltimore Christmas

For all you applique'rs out there, 

A Baltimore Christmas Quilt

I know it's only March, but as a quilter, I receive Christmas quilts all year long, and I just had to share this one! Since this is a Baltimore, you know there is lots of detail with lots of little pieces, and I commend anyone who actually finishes one of these quilts.  

On most appliques, I try not to quilt on the applique itself, but the Santa center block in the one was too large not to. This client also did not mind a little quilting on her work, so I did quilt veins in the border and holly leave, and just a few areas where I felt it was needed in the actual blocks themselves. 

This quilt is mainly a lot of background work, and I have included a few of the blocks for you to check out. It was indeed a privilege to have been given the opportunity to quilt this one!

Border 

Christmas Boot block

Wreath block

Gingerbread wreath block

Partridge in a pear tree

The large center Santa block

10 Minute Block Quilt

Fall Greetings!

It's always good to take some time to be thankful, and this time of year reminds us to do so. I am especially thankful to have been born in a country that allows such freedoms, and for those who fight to protect those freedoms! ( A hardy thank you to all our veterans!!!!)

Although I have experienced poverty, I have always had a roof over my head; although sometimes there was little food for all of us, I have never gone hungry; families have issues, but when times have been tough, our family has always been there for each other. This is just a few things on my thankful list - I am very aware I am greatly blessed - but just wanted to get you thinking. No matter what difficulties we face in life, we can always find something to be thankful for!

 I am also thankful to those of you that entrust your quilts to me and allow me to get creative with them. I have quilted 10 minute quilts before, but I really had some fun with this one. It could be because I just loved the colors, or the owls, bunnies, and hedgehogs, or perhaps I just saw this one in a different light. At any rate, here is the result.

The colors have a contemporary feel to them, so the quilting needed to continue this.To keep with the arc pattern of the cathedral window portion, a melon or orange peel pattern was used, with various fill patterns within. This left a sort of compass pattern down the middle, so to counter all those curvy lines, a crosshatch pattern was placed in these areas.

Within the "window" areas, a continuous curve pattern was placed in the center, with a small circles as a fill in the centers. This kept the 3D effect, as well and nailed down that bulky area that is caused by all the layers underneath the center.

Well, I have to get on to my next quilt (it is the holiday season after all). May each of you enjoy a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
(And, until next time, happy quilting!!)

Cathy

Verse for the day: "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2)

Embroidered Snowmen Christmas

The Holidays are Coming Quickly!!

We have enjoyed such a beautiful and warm fall that it is hard to believe that Christmas will be here in less than 2 months - Scary, isn't it?! I certainly have several projects that are in need of completion, and I am sure you do too.

This embroidered alphabet snowmen quilt kind of gets me in the mood - not only do I love snowmen, but this one is so cute, I really did not want to return it to its owner! But then, I am not into lawsuits, so off it went.

Snowflakes, swirls, feathers, loops, and needle pines were all incorporated around the embroidery. The snowmen were large, so did require a little quilting, but a 3D look was maintained. Snowflakes seemed perfect for their tummies, and, of course we had to put some snowmen in the border!


November is only a few days away, so I hope you are getting those holiday projects completed. Until next time, happy quilting!

Cathy

Verse for the day: "See that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

Carol's Stars

Before quilting

When this blue and yellow quilt was brought to me, Carol told me the pattern was supposed to form circles, but neither of us could see them. The top of the quilt is shown at right as it was draped over my machine (with a few sticky notes attached to remind me of what I planned once the quilt is loaded.) The pink contrasting stars are a "cancer awareness" reminder.

colored pencil sketch to help me think

Often,  I draw the quilts out on graph paper so that I can play a bit and get my creative juices going. When I drew this one out, the circles really popped out at me, so I sketched them in and started playing with some possible patterns.


This really looked like a wedding ring quilt in my drawing, and I had to stare at the actual quilt for a while to allow the pattern to set into my mind.

finished quilt

Once I had the pattern fixed in my head with a few ideas going, I loaded the quilt and got to work. I did the circles first, since the remainder of the patterns would depend on them. These were very large circles - I think 26" - so I had to do them as 1/2 circles to fit into my throat space.












When all the large circles were complete, patterns were placed into the shapes formed by the overlapping circles.

circular pattern detail

My quilts usually evolve as I work, since they seldom end up like I thought they would when I began. Line patterns were designed to fit into the outlined areas, and, in this case, I felt some background fill was needed around the star areas, so I used a pebble pattern.

"Pillow" area

star detail

back of quilt

"Chain of Fools" on my design wall

This quilt took me a while to complete, but I really like the finished look, and I hope you do too.



On another note, my "Chain of Fools" quilt is coming along. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have had to take things apart because I got the triangles turned the wrong direction, but I think I am about two thirds of the way done!




That's it for now. Until next time, happy quilting!!!

Cathy

Verse for the day: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware." (Heb 13:2)

Appliqued Farm Animals

Creativity!

This wonderful grandmother did all she could to document what was important to her granddaughter as a wedding gift. She grew up in Colorado, is marrying a your man from Arkansas, was raised on a farm, and has won many 4H blue ribbons.

She told me some of these animals she had no idea how to find patterns for, so she found pictures and created appliques from them. I think she did a wonderful job, don't you?



Basic stippling was done around the appliques, continuous curve in the triangular areas, and a border/sashing to fit the theme.

Thank you, Linda for sharing this with us!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

A Feathered Forget Me Not and Some Edge to Edge

Quilts from the Heart of the Giver

I thought I would get this out sooner, but, alas, one thing after another it seems - recovering from the flue, catching up with all those undone things that I put off until after Christmas, getting the decorations down and put away, and then, just to add to the fun, car issues! Life is always an adventure, and all the downs help us to be so much more appreciative of the ups!

It is always such a joy to me to see what some of you put so much time, money, and effort into, and then give to a loved one. This type of gift says so much about the heart of the giver, and you all have such generous and giving hearts!

The last of my "must be done for Christmas" quilts was this Pam Bono design, called "Forget Me Not". If you like feathers, this one has just a few. I knew I would have to break down those large while areas somehow, and decided to curl the feathers around the bow and ribbon. I first drew semi-circles where I wanted the curls to be, then worked out how I wanted to connect them. I included some swirls to add a little interest and fill in some of the odd
spaces.

I continued this theme in the large periwinkle and white center triangles, using a feather curved to the triangle, with some ribbons and swirls. For the dark green and navy triangles, a crosshatch pattern was used to create a trellis look.

The pansies, ribbons, and leaves were simply given their natural character. The narrow borders received a ribbon look, and the navy area around the pansies were also feathered.

A couple of other gifts from the heart included some edge to edge quilts. This first one is called "Evening Mist," and is quilted with an all over feather pattern.

This cute and colorful children's quilt has a teddy bear all over pattern.

And this wild, colorful block quilt has and all over star pattern. This one is a two-sided quilt, with bold colors on one side and more pastel blocks on the other.

That concludes the last of the December quilts. I am now working on a traditional wedding ring quilt, which I hope to show you soon! I wish each of you a blessed New Year. Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." (Psalm 103:2-3)

Winter Snow Friends

Merry Christmas!

I am happy to say that my last "must be done for Christmas" quilt went out the door last week - I definitely breathed a sigh of relief! However, since then, my husband and I have had a visit from that nasty flu virus that is being passed around - would have preferred he did not share this one with me! Oh well, we are on the mend, and are thankful that our bodies are so wonderfully made that they have the ability to fight such awful stuff!

I have a number of quilts that need to get put on this blog, but for now, I will settle on this cute little winter appliqued wall hanging called "Winter Snow Friends".

The many 1/2 sq. triangles were quilted with continuous curve and holly leaves. The appliqued portions were mainly stitched around, but a few of the figures required additional stitching to make them lay flat.

I used a variety of backgrounds -  feathers, swirls, snowflakes, loops, and stipple - to add interest and to flow with the pattern. This is just a happy quilt, and it brings a smile to my face!

That's it for today - I just wanted to make sure you had a Christmas quilt to check out. (If  you want to check out another Christmas applique, Dec. 2013 has AJ's stunning Merry Christmas quilt.) I will be adding more quilts very shortly, but company is coming - I must get some baking done!

May each of you enjoy a very blessed Christmas, and may you enjoy, blessed, and be challenged by all He has in store for you in the coming year!

Cathy

Verse for the day: "Your adornment must not be merely external - braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Blackford's Beauty & a Red/ Black Bandana Quilt

Crunch Time!

With the Christmas holiday quickly approaching, I am becoming more and more aware of the many quilts there are still hanging in my closet awaiting their completion!

Some quilts just seem to take me a lot longer than I anticipate once I get going on them, and that certainly did apply to this quilt, called Blackford's Beauty in Plaids, but I love the way it came out.

This was one of those with a lot of white space, so I had to use the "divide and conquer" method, quilting a diamond pattern to separate different quilting spaces. Since feathers were used in the  border, the plaid stars, and the pinwheels, they were also put into the diamond area for continuity. A flame fill pattern was used in the center, and a more dense clam-shell fill used in the remainder of the space.

That's it for now - have to get back to quilting! Hope you all enjoyed a very blessed Thanksgiving - we have so much to be thankful for.

Until next time, Happy Quilting!

Cathy

Verse for the day: "Daniel said, "Let the Name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to h\Him." (Daniel 2:20)

Woodland Christmas Applique

outer border

Fall Greetings!

It is hard to believe that summer is over and our busiest season about to approach, but yes, it is coming quickly! Already, my schedule is quickly filling with holiday requests, and I love seeing them - it sets my anticipation for all the season has to offer.



Regretfully, I somehow did not manage to take a picture of the whole quilt for you -  I am so sorry, for it really was a wonderful detailed applique and you will miss the full appreciation for the work that went into it. The woodland creatures included bears, foxes, raccoon, hedgehogs, bunnies, and birds among a mix of houses, trees, and stars, which allowed opportunity for a variety of fills and detail work. It has a winter-y looking swirled outer border, leafy corner blocks,  and a holly leaf  pattern for the inner.

One of the house blocks - hmm,
 bears protecting the town hall?

corner detail

Bunnies, fox, and bear admiring
the tree decorations.

All the woodland animals
pitching in to help.

Santa has a new helper!

Hedgehogs preparing for the celebration.

Somehow, these raccoons look
a bit mischievous.

And Merry Christmas to all!

As you can see, this is just a fun quilt and I really enjoyed working on it - thank you, Barb! If you were able to attend Quilt-a-Fair in Longmont, you may have seen it hanging at the Laughing Ladies booth. We have been in New Mexico, so were unable to attend, but hope you were able to enjoy all the variety offered there!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy
Verse for the day: "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness." (Psalm 30:4)