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)

A Cowboy Quilt

Howdy!

This one was really a fun quilt to work on. I definitely had to doodle a bit to figure out what to do for these hats and boots, but it finally clicked for me.

One note I would like to make on this one is that the rope in the border was put on prior to quilting - this is NOT the way to do this. It was very difficult to work with, and also caused the quilt itself to be distorted, especially in the corners. Any embellishments should always be added AFTER quilting. (In case you are wondering, she made the "rope" by braiding two colored rick-racks together.)




The hats were actually a bigger challenge for me to do than the boots, and after looking at many pictures of cowboy hats, I opted to simply decorate the band a bit, and add in what I hoped looked like natural creases. Since the hats also had an additional white space below, a complimentary boot/hat border added a little extra charm here.






Some creases were also added to the boots, as well as continuous curve in the square blocks of the boot top, and they definitely needed some spurs!

Since the hats and boots did not have a lot of quilting actually in them, the background area around them was stippled for some extra texture.








The black border/sashing areas were stitched with loops and stars. To work with the "rope", a simple wavy pattern was used to compliment, and for the red corner blocks, a simple continuous curve.









Well quilting pardners, that's all for now. Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

Skyrocket

Colorful and Scrappy!

This quilt uses batik scraps to make the "Skyrocket" pattern. My husband thought it was a bit too colorful, but I think it's wonderful.
The bright colors just give it such a cheerful look.















The blocks were connected through the white space, so I created a line pattern to fit, and incorporated the same design used in the sashing.
















Because the "Skyrocket" areas were so colorful, I thought simple would be best for these, so I incorporated straight lines and curves to fit the pattern.










The colorful border - picked to try to incorporated the many colors in the quilt - needed something to tone it down a bit, so  a detailed star pattern was used with a dark blue (toning down) thread.

The back of the quilt shows up all the designs quite nicely.











Until next time, Happy Quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the week: "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel." (Ezra 7:10)

A Mansion and a Bear Claw Cabin Quilt

Summer's Finally Here!

I am just returning from a visit with my Aunt in New York. My sister comes up from the Phoenix area, and then we travel on together to Rochester. Our Aunt lives in Bath, which we both affectionately call the town that time forgot. We always plan on doing whatever she needs - she is in her 80's and does not get around very well - as well as getting her out to do some exploring. Bath is in the Finger Lakes region of NY, and is an incredibly beautiful area with rolling hills, lots of gardens, old Victorian homes, and scenic winding roads.

The Sonnenberg Mansion

This year, we made it up to the Sonnenberg Gardens, where you can enjoy a garden and home tour for only $10! The original mansion was built by New York City bank financier Frederick Ferris Thompson and his wife, Mary Clark Thompson, the daughter of New York State governor Myron Holley Clark. We spent a whole day visiting, and because our Aunt was in a wheel chair, received a royal tour which included lots of history and tidbits. There are a variety of gardens, all worth exploring. The many and various trees on the property are attributed to the fact that Mrs. Thompson had every visiting dignitary plant one! (Well, to me this was a fascinating fact.) Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit, even if we didn't get to plant a tree.

So, my little vacation is over and I am back to work. Here is one of my latest quilts - which will reside at the owners cabin once she gets the binding on- the perfect place for this quilt.

A view of the whole quilt.

The Bear  Claw blocks with a maple leaf quilted pattern.

The inner border with squiggles in the log cabin blocks
and oak leaf motifs in the triangles.

Outer border with appliques details,some oak leaves quilted in, and
all echoed around.

Quilted detail in the flying geese with leafy
bracketing borders.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so until next time - Happy Quilting!

Cathy

Verse for the week: "Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths." (Ps. 4:2)

A Funky Autumn Sampler

Quilting Fun!

This sampler had blocks that I have not seen before, some of them really funky looking. It also had some very plain blocks which needed to fit in with those funky looking ones - I had to get my creative juices going! I had this quilt hanging on my design wall for a while, wondering what I was going to do with it. It was not until I loaded it and started working on it that it all came together.













I started with one of the more unusual blocks, adding design elements (curves and zigzags) that were consistent with the shapes in the  block. Adding in the "peas in a pod" circles made a statement, which I continued with for the remaining sampler blocks. Figure 8's and continuous curves were added as needed for some of the block shapes.

The design elements were added to the more  more simple looking blocks to give them the same character as the more complex ones.

The setting triangles were completed with a curved crosshatch pattern for additional texture, which I have shown on the back of the quilt, since it is hard to see here with the busyness of the fabric.The sashings and parts of the border patterns can also be seen here.

Well, that's it for today. I am now working on some embroidered roses, which I hope to show you soon!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!!!

Cathy

Getting Bulk Out of Those Pinwheels

A Piecing Tip for my Lovable Quilting Friends:

One of the things that I deal with often is bulky seams (to the point where I sometimes break a needle during the quilting!), and one of the culprits are pinwheels. The reason for this is the centers all come together at the middle of the wheel, and this can create a very bulky center. This is the technique I use to eliminate that bulk so that the completed block will look more professional, and definitely less lumpy! I use this technique on other blocks also, like stack and whack, where the centers come together in such a way that there is a big clump of fabric on the back, which can show up as a pucker on the front.

Press the seams  towards
the dark.

For a pinwheel block, the first thing we usually make is 4 half square triangle blocks - make sure that you press your seams in the same direction on all four - I usually press towards the dark fabric.

Lay out the 4 triangle blocks in
a pinwheel pattern.

Once we have four of these, we arrange them in a pinwheel shape and then sew two sets of the squares together.

Again, press the seams towards
to dark.

Once the two sets are sewn, it is important to press the seams again. I continue to press them towards the dark. This will allow me to "nitch" the seams together when they are sewn, with the seams pressed opposite each other. ("Nitch" is basically is placing the two sets right sides together such that the seams fit together perfectly when the seams are pressed opposite each other. You can feel with your fingers when there is a gap, or if there is overlapping of the seams. If either of these is the case, you are not properly "nitched", and your seams will not line up after sewing.)

Snipping seam at center.

The next step is to sew these two pieces together, making sure the seams nitch together. This will ensure that the seams of your completed block will line up perfectly in a pinwheel shape. Once these are sewn, flip your block to the back side. You will need to snip right along the center seams, close to the sewn line. Flip your block to the other side and repeat for the seam on that side.

Press one side up, and
the other side down.

Now press one side of the seam up and the other side down, ignoring the center area.


You're almost done! Open up the center area, fanning it out so it looks like a checkerboard, and press it open.

Center of block pressed into
a checkerboard pattern.

Finished pinwheel.

Now flip it over and iron it - you should have a nice pinwheel without that huge lump in the center. It's time to admire your beautiful workmanship!




I hope you found this technique helpful. One of my goals is to help you be as professional looking as possible, and always proud of your finished work!

This week's verse:
"Remember the former things long past, for I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying 'My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.' " (Is. 46: 9-10)

May your Easter be blessed from above, and may you recognize all He has done in His love for you!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

A Card Trick Quilt

Happy Spring!

I am so ready for it! It seems like it has been a long, cold and snowy winter, and I am looking forward to working in my garden again and enjoying some warmer weather. I have seen some daffodils and hyacinths blooming, a sure harbinger of spring, and also a few trees beginning to leaf out! I am sure you are as anxious as I am.





The card trick block is an old favorite. This quilt was made for a special granddaughter who is into those pink and brown colors. I have this child in my Awana's group, and she is definitely a modern girly girl, so I tried to design the quilting to match her personality.

Even though the block is traditional, the quilting does not have to be, so I ended up with a bit of a mix in my quilting patterns. I combined all 3 borders and used a more modern feather pattern.

Feathered border

Card Trick block

I thought the blocks themselves needed a more contemporary pattern, so I got out my sketchbook and started doodling. I played with hearts, swirls, feathers, curls, etc., but was not really getting what I wanted, then I ran across this pattern by Quilter's Niche, and thought it was perfect.






For the sashings, I chose a simple feather pattern, adding in a sashiko corner for a different look. I have included a photo of the back of the quilt so you can get a different view and see how the patterns work together.

Back of quilt

Well, I have to get my exercise in and then get to work, but I think the pink backing on this quilt leaves me in the pink with happy thoughts, and inspires me for the blocks on my next quilt. Though it is a little cooler today (with predictions of snow even!) spring is in the air, and I hope we will all be able to enjoy it soon.

Until next time, happy quilting!

Cathy