Author: quiltinggail

Lets Get Scrappy!

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I LOVE Scrappy Quilts!!!

It was fun to go through my box of Island Batik fabrics and make a scrappy quilt.  I wanted one that would cover my embroidery machine.  I ended up making 2.  The first one, I used my Accuquilt cutter and cut a zillion half-square triangles.  I love that the triangles were cut perfectly and were SEW easy to so and made for perfect HSTs.  However, I was not happy with the end result.  With the great variety of  scrappy pinwheels, it just ended up looking disjointed.  Not something to make me smile when I walk into my sewing room … so it became a bag to keep my Accuquilt Go cutter in.  You can read about it HERE.

The 2nd quilt is one that I’m VERY happy with and will enjoy seeing it covering my embroidery machine!  I used fall colours, many left-over from the “Soil and Seeds” collection that I used in a blog-hop quilt.  (See HERE)  And, I used other co-ordinating fabrics from Island Batik foundations, basics and stash buster bundles.  The background fabric is “Coconut,” an Island Batik foundations neutral.  I LOVE this neutral!

The 4 patch blocks are made with 2″ squares and end up being 3 ½” finished in the quilt. The batting is Hobbs 80/20.  The binding is 2″ scraps, left over from making the blocks.

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Continue reading →

Jan. 15 PHD in 2020 Progress Report

/ quiltinggail / 8 Comments

Hi Everyone,

Here is the link up for the mid January Progress on you PHD in 2020.   You don’t need to have a finished project, just show us progress.  Hopefully you have some!  If you don’t, show us what you plan to work on!

If you have a finished project, that’s fantastic!  Show us that!

Remember, it’s not only the UFOs you need to complete, but all of your NEW starts in 2020!

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1.  Analysisanalysis

On January 1, I discussed analysing your UFO to discover why it became a UFO in the first place.  Did that help?  You can see the post HERE.

2.  Track your Progress

Screen Shot 2020-01-11 at 11.20.40 AMTracking your progress is a great way to see encourage yourself and to know that you are getting a project done.  Which is our goal, right?  Enter the Link Party to help you track your progress!  Also, using the Excel sheet  PHD-Tally-with-formulas 2020  will also help.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My progress?

UFO Status:

#1  Summer Solstice – one set of blocks are completed …

#2  Ode to 30s … quilting has begun …

2020 Starts:

I completed a small tote bag to hold my Accuquilt Go machine.   You can read about it HERE.

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One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Monday … and I’m off to a retreat!

/ quiltinggail / 15 Comments

YEAH, I LOVE retreats!!!  They are always lots of fun!  Lots of chatting and laughing and eating and sewing and laughing and eating and … oh ya, lots of fun!

I hope to work on a few UFOs … we’ll see how that goes!

Design Wall

Piecing:

Summer Solstice:  This section of 8 is done!  Spending 15 min / day worked!  Often it turned out to be closer to an hour … it takes a LOT of time when you need to take out the little tiny stitches that you can barely see!IMG_5960

Frolic: Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery:   All caught up .. and everything fits in this container. I suspect that the reveal may come soon … either this week or next … and I’ll be ready! Continue reading →

Sometimes mistakes happen

/ quiltinggail / 31 Comments

Oh yes, they do!

Most of you know that I absolutely LOVE scrappy quilts.  Occasionally, I do sew a quilt with only a couple of fabrics, but for the most part, I love scrappy.  A few years ago, I made a series of quilts with my Grandmother’s fabric.  You can see them HERE.  I used pretty much all of the fabrics, without much consideration to colour.  The only rule was that 2 squares of the same colour couldn’t go next to each other.  There was every colour in the rainbow, shades, tints and tones and they all got mixed up together.  In my opinion, all of the quilts turned out just fine.

Then came the Island Batik January’s challenge to make something scrappy!  I smiled and smiled.  I knew I wanted to make a cover for my embroidery machine and it would just be a small quilt, not shaped or anything.  I have scraps from all the Island Batik projects that I made last year.   I decided to make pinwheels.  I used my Accuquilt Go to cut the pinwheels (talk about accurate!) and was mostly happy with each pinwheel.  Individually, they looked pretty good.  They all went well with the Island Batik grey solid.  Then, when I put them together, it was blah.  Like yuck! gross …  ULK!!!   Not something I’d like to look at every time I walked into my studio!

I quilted it with blue thread (Aurifil 1128), hoping that would add some cohesiveness.  It helped … a little … but … Not doing it for me.  ULK!!!

When I compared this to some of the quilts I made with Grandma’s fabric, I realize that in each of the blocks (some were the same size as the pinwheels in this piece) that the colours were all mixed up together.  In this piece, there isn’t the mixed variety … each pinwheel is only 2 colours.  My conclusions are that:  1.  If I’m going to do scrappy pinwheels, I need to stick to a certain theme or colour.  2. Scrappy quilts work best with lots of variation and a solid, or calm piece, to pull it all together.

It’s LEARNING … and I’m just fine with that!

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When I was looking at this quilt, I was wondering what I could make with it.  I had said on the blog that I had started Secret Project #1 – so, I couldn’t just ignore it and hope that it would disappear.  It was a project started in 2020, and therefore, needed to be finished in 2020.  And, I couldn’t wimp out on my PHD in 2020!  Especially this early in the year!!!

I have always fought with the bag that the Accuquilt cutter came in because it just fits and there isn’t a lot of wiggle room.  AND, to top it off, the bag ripped when I pulled it out to use it to cut the pinwheels.  An AH-HA moment happened.  This piece would be come a bag for the cutter.  A perfect solution, don’t ya think?

Here it is … and I’m thinking that it doesn’t look too bad as a bag.  And the Accuquilt Go fits in it with ease!

This is NOT my official Island Batik scrappy project for January but it is a completed project.  It did use Island Batik fabrics, cut with the HST Cube 8″ Accuquilt die, Aurifil thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.    I had labelled this Secret Project #1.

There is still time

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 11.47.00 AMto join in PHD in 2020!

If you want to decrease your UFOs … and not make your UFO list any bigger, Join me for your PHD in 2020!  Check out this blog post for details … and scroll WAY down for the linky party so that you can join in!  You can join in on the PHD in 2020 until Jan. 14.  Then on the 1st and 15th of each month, there will be a linky party for you to show your progress.

Now, you don’t have to have a blog to join … you can use Pinterest (start a separate board) or Instagram … post the direct URL in the linky party and you’re IN!  Come and join us!

I was Featured

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By Jeniffer at Inquiring Quilter with This POST about 2 works in progress.  Thank you to Jennifer for hosting the Wednesday Wait Loss.  By the way … it’s worth going to her blog to see all the wonderful works that are featured this week.

Disclaimer: The products featured in this Blog post were given to me by Island Batik, and their co-sponsers Aurifil, Hobbs Batting & AccuQuilt!  

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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First Monday of the Roaring 20s

/ quiltinggail / 21 Comments

OK … so things are NOT roaring around here … they are plodding along … slowly …

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 11.47.00 AMIf you want to decrease your UFOs … and not make your UFO list any bigger, Join me for your PHD in 2020!  Check out this blog post for details … and scroll WAY down for the linky party so that you can join in!  You can join in on the PHD in 2020 until Jan. 14.  Then on the 1st and 15th of each month, there will be a linky party for you to show your progress. Continue reading →

First Friday of the Roaring 20’s

/ quiltinggail / 26 Comments

No finishes … yet ….  But, I’m off to a roaring start for this year!

I have been working on a couple of UFOs.

Ode to 30s

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The picture on the right was the state it was in before Christmas … I made a few more blocks and added sashing and it is now sandwiched … the quilting can begin!  Oh … and I need to decide HOW to quilt it … it will definitely be a decision I’ll need to make with each block!IMG_5939.JPG

Summer Solstice

IMG_5864This picture, taken before Christmas, showed the only sewing I had done on this project.  One block …  However, all the pieces were cut and had been placed in numbered bags!  Whew … at least I didn’t have to figure out what fabric goes where.

To tackle this UFO, I decided I would work on it for ½ hour each day that I sat at the machine.  Well,  the first day, it took me about an hour to figure out what I was doing and got started.  Today, I have 8 blocks to the stage below.  IMG_5938.jpeg

PHD in 2020

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Have you joined in the PHD in 2020?  There is still time!  You can go to THIS POST for details and to add your link … you have until Jan. 14 to join!

The first part in tackling your UFOs to acheive your PHD in 2020 is making your list.  Many of you have already done that!

The next step in tackling UFOs is to do an analysis of each project.  You can read about that HERE.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Linking to:

PHD in 2020 – Jan. 1

/ quiltinggail / 18 Comments

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I know that today, some of you will be sewing … others will be busy doing other things … at any rate, sewing will likely be in your plans in the next couple of days!

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Have you joined in the PHD in 2020?  You can go to THIS POST for details and to add your link … you have until Jan. 14 to join!

The first part in tackling your UFOs to acheive your PHD in 2020 is making your list.  Many of you have already done that!

Now, let’s look at analysising how you can best tackle your UFOs.

#1 Analysis

The next part is to take out the first project you are going to work on.  Ask yourself, “Why did this become a UFO?”  If you can honestly answer that question, you are on the way to avoiding the same pitfall and letting that project languish as a UFO for more time.  If you can’t answer that question, here’s a few hints as to why it happened:

  • did you get bored with the project?
  • is it too repetative?
  • did too many squirrels (other projects that took priority) interfer?
  • is there a technique you dislike doing?  or is too hard to do?
  • did you get too busy to even make it?

#2 Analysis

The next question to ask is, “Is there something that will make the finishing of this project easier?”   A few solutions that I have used are:

  • treat it as a leader & ender … do small parts while working on another project
  • work on it for a limited time (set a timer if you need to) each time you have the opportunity to sew

#3 Analysis
You’ve already analyed the potential problems with your project … now, to quote Nike, “Just Do It.”     Now Go and SEW …

The UFO I’m going to work on  …

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Summer Solstice.  I have chosen this project because I think that it has the most road-blocks for me and I’d like to get ‘er done!

As I Analysed it … the answer to “Why did this become a UFO?” was hard to answer.  I think part of it is that it is a paper-pieced pattern and I can’t do Leaders and Enders while working on it.

As to “What can make it easier?”  I’ve decided that I will spend at least 15 minutes a day working on this project.

Link up and show us the project that you are working on!  Remember, you can link to an Instagram post, Pinterest post or a blog post … it’s totally up to you!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

 

Last Monday of 2019! Plans for 2020!

/ quiltinggail / 19 Comments

Plans for 2020

I don’t make resolutions … they never work for me.  However, I do make PLANS.  Plans can be changed … in my mind, resolutions are sort-of set in stone and unchangeable.

My plans for 2020 include:

  • Obtaining my PHD in 2020 (obviously, eh?)
  • Learn how to sew curves!!! I’ve signed up for a class in January!  I want to master, or at least feel more comfortable sewing curves!
  • Use up my stash!!!  Dare I aim for using at least 100 yards?  Can I avoid purchasing fabric???  Lofty plans … but I’ll try!
  • Having a Baby Quilt Marathon on the blog … likely in July – but subject to change.  And, same as last year, if participants want to work on specific projects and not baby quilts- that’s fine!  All that is required is a concentrated effort to work on a project for 26 hours during the time from ?? date to ?? date.   See HERE, HERE and HERE for some posts about the 2019 Baby Quilt Marathon.
  • Have a Baby Quilt Sew-a-long … the EQ picture is done, just need to write out the pattern and figure out the details.  This may happen during the marathon, I haven’t decided yet.

OK … OK … I know you’re wondering, why so many Baby Quilts?  The quilt guild I belong to makes baby quilts for several different charities.  I have TONS of fabric and it’s fun to make small quilts.  Usually they are pretty quick to make.  Occasionally, I practice a different free motion motif on them, sometimes it’s just straight stitching.  Anything goes.

PHD in 2019: Quilting UFOs and Finishing New Projects

YES!!!  I have completed my PHD in 2019!!!!

Emily, from The Darling Dogwood, also completed her PHD in 2019.  YAY, Emily!!!

I haven’t heard from the others, so am not sure if anyone else has completed their PHD in 2019. Continue reading →

My Best of 2019

/ quiltinggail / 33 Comments

Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is having a Best of 2019 Linky Party!

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It’s HARD to choose just one quilt that is my favourite for this year!  SEW … as you can see, I chose 8 of them.  I finished many many more, but these 8 are my favourite!  Well, there’s probably a few more that are also my favourite … but I figured I needed to limit the number!

You can see the original posts for the quilts by clicking on the quilt name.  All but the first quilt, Good Fortune, used Island Batik Fabrics (you can see all the Island Batik quilts HERE.)  Good Fortune was made from my stash and was a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  All of the quilts used Hobbs batting … 80/20 or wool … Aurifil thread was used in each project.  Each quilt was quilted on my domestic sewing machine – Janome 8900.

Friday Finish or Not

I have no finishes this Friday, but the quilt below is ready to be quilted.  I used the left-over fabric from a baby quilt I started in November.  I was able to cut most of the 5″ squares from the left-overs … I was a few squares shor … mostly because I cut some at 4.5″ instead of 5″ 😦 …  sew … I took the pieces that were too small and pieced a bunch of them together and then cut those pieces 5″ square.   It will work.  This is a pattern where you sew the blocks straight, do a few big cuts, rearrange the big cuts and you have a quilt that is on point.  Missouri Star has a YouTube Video that shows basically how to make this.   It’s pretty easy!

This quilt will also be donated to the guild.

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fullsizeoutput_c18This is the quilt that had the left-overs that I used for the above quilt.  There were 2 fat quarters that I did not use in the original quilt … one was a mini panel with the blocks of animals and the other was the white /with leaves that is on the outside of the quilt … it was a perfect place to use these fabrics up!

 

 

 

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Merry Christmas!

/ quiltinggail / 8 Comments

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I’m not sure when I made this stained glass quilt … sometime between 2008 and 2012 is my guess.  I just went and had a look … there is NO LABEL on it!!!  What was I thinking?  I made it after taking a class at Wineberry Fabrics when they had a brick and mortar store.  They’ve been gone for quite a few years now.

Anyhow … I wish you all a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PHD in 2019! DONE!!!

/ quiltinggail / 17 Comments

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These are the 3 baby quilts that were started this fall.  They were all donated to the guild.  And they were fun to do.  The one in the middle and the one on the right had flannel on both sides.  I learned that it is difficult to FMQ a 2-sided flannel quilt.   When I tackled the pink one, I just did straight lines with my walking foot.  The quilt didn’t stretch as much and it was way easier to do!  The one on the left had quilting cotton on the top with flannel on the back.  It was very easy to free-motion quilt the wavy lines. Continue reading →

Island Batik Projects – 2019 Review

/ quiltinggail / 22 Comments

What a YEAR!!!

This has been a year of growth for me as a quilter.  Becoming an Island Batik Ambassador has been a highlight of my year! Thanks to the monthly challenges, I stepped outside my comfort zone and made things that I NEVER would have.   As well, a short photography class helped me go beyond my “quilt on a clothesline” photos!

Island Batik provided all of the fabrics for the quilts and projects this year.  My heart is over-filled with gratefullness for their generousity and that of the co-sponsers (Aurifil, Hobbs batting & Accuquilt).  I was totally spoiled this year by being an Island Batik Ambassador!

I am also grateful to my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors!  They offered a ton of support and encouragement.  Not to mention the plethora of ideas that flowed … it’s been a fun year!

February: Magnificent Mini

The first challenge for the year was to make a mini.  I wasn’t sure what to do … My love of fall colours and the desire to make something I would use, lead me to make this Suduko mini quilt.  For more details, go HERE.

Magnificent Mini

On the huge boulders on the side of our yard.

March:  Vintage Re-Imagined

What happens when you have beautiful fabric, an idea and EQ7?  Stars on Ice became the reality of that dream. See HERE.

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April: Accuquilt Baby Quilt

All ambassadors received an Accuquilt cutter and dies.  I used the 8″ cube dies to make this beautiful baby quilt.  See HERE.

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May: Make it Modern

Me? Make a modern quilt???  Find out more about how it came about HERE.

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Christmas RAPPing

This table runner was made for a Blog Hop celebrating the book “Christmas RAPPing” by Margaret Brewster Willingham and Nan Baker.  You can see the blog post HERE.

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June:  Try It

We were challenged to try a new technique … sew, I used one of Angela Walters quilting tutorial series and this table runner was born.  See HERE.

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A Zipper Pouch

This little zipper pouch was made with my embroidery machine, using an AnitaGoodesign pattern.  For more details see this POST.

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July: Artsy Fartsy

I do not do Artsy-Fartsy … I’m a more traditional quilter.  However, this project was enlightening.  I remembered how to do some simple embroidery stitches … and with it being “Artsy-Fartsy” I didn’t need to worry about it being exact.  You can read about it HERE.  This bag was made for travelling and I used it on my month long trip to Europe & Africa.

Quilt of Valour

One of my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors organized a group of us to make Quilts of Valour out of a wonderful line of fabric called “Freedom.”  It had lots of red, white & blue fabric.  Since I was making one for a Canadian veteran, I just wanted to use the red and white.  I did have to dip into the blue fabric for a few squares (scattered randomly) and the binding.  It is my own pattern.  Read more about it HERE.

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August: Beat the Heat

This was made for a blog hop.  The line is “Soil & Seeds.”  I loved the line and wanted to be able to showcase each fabric.  This quilt was perfect for that.  For more details, see HERE.

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September: Child’s Play

This quilt used the Accuquilt Die “Cleopatra’s Fan.”  It was an intimidating block for me to make: it had CURVED piecing.  However, I did learn that with the die, the pieces are cut perfectly and sewing the curves was not all that difficult.  It was fun to design the butterfly. Except for the antenna, the butterfly was cut with the Accuquilt 8 ” Cube dies.  You can read about the post HERE.

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Biscournu Pin Cushions

These little pin cushions were made with the “mistake” blocks from making the Christmas Rapping table runner (May). I think they are so stinking cute! And a fantastic way to use up those orphan blocks.  For more details see HERE.

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October:  Top it Off – using Applique!

Nothing says “October” to me more than pumpkins.  I had some great orange fabric, a great background fabric, my embroidery machine and this table runner fell into place.  For more details, see HERE.

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Island Batik Rayon

I needed new clothes … I had an ancient T-shirt pattern, I had this beautiful rayon fabric … SEW this top, which fits me perfectly, was made!  Check it out HERE.

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November: Tool Time

We needed to use our favourite tool.  My favourite is the Tri-rec ruler … and the Shape-cut ruler … and … a zillion other tools that are necessary for my quilt making … Visit THIS BLOG POST to see a video on how I used these tools.

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The Tool Time Mistake

I forgot to take pictures as I was making this quilt.  And it can easily be made with the Accuquilt Go, 8″ Cube dies. See HEREand HEREI love how this quilt used the same fabrics as the quilt above, but with a white background instead of black.  It certainly gives the quilts a very different look!

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Randy the Rhino

Many fellow Ambassadors made various “Funky Friends” for quilt market.  After my trip to Africa, I just HAD to make the Rhino!  See this POST for more details.

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December: 3D Challenge

This quilt pattern has always spoken “3D” to me. It was the obvious choice for a quilt!  See HERE  for more details!

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Sewing Machine Cover:  3D Challenge #2

I needed to make sewing machine covers for all of my machines.  I used the extra fabric from the 3D quilt to make this serger cover.  To find out how I did it, go HERE.

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Snowman Table Runner

You can call it a squirrel, you can call it a DrEAMI, but I’m calling it DONE.  Check out the details HERE.

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Alice Alpaca: 3D Challenge #3

Alice was fun to make!  See this POST for more details!

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Disclaimer: The products featured in this Blog post were given to me by Island Batik, and their co-sponsers Aurifil, Hobbs Batting & AccuQuilt!  And the Patterns for the Stuffed Animals were from Funky Friends.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Do you have too many UFOs?

/ quiltinggail / 30 Comments

If you do – Join me to achieve your PHD in 2020!

Some of you ask, “what is a PHD?” … you know it’s got to have something to do with quilting, but usually a PHD refers to an academic degree.

PHD, in quilting terms, stands for Project Half Done.  Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to be HALF done … it can be started and then put aside.  Many quilters know these as UFOs:  UnFinished Objects.

Do you have a zillion UFOs hanging over your head?  All those projects that you want to get done, but they don’t get done?

And do you start a zillion projects each year, that adds to your ever growing UFO list?

Then you need to join me for PHD in 2020!

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 11.47.00 AM Continue reading →

Smith Mountain Morning is DONE, done, DONE!!!

/ quiltinggail / 35 Comments

I started this quilt while at a workshop with Bonnie Hunter at Camp Arnold in 2015.  I’ve been working on it pretty steady for the last few months.  I made it bigger than the pattern … it is 89″ x 89″

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IMG_5775I did graffiti quilting, using Aurifil #2000 and just over 9 bobbins!  It took me quite a while to quilt it!  I used Hobbs 80/20 for batting!  I’m almost through the roll that I bought  a year ago!

This is my 13th UFO for this year!  Now, as soon as I get 3 little baby quilts completed, I will have acheived my PHD in 2019!

PHD in  2020?

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I’ve been asked if I’m going to do the PHD in 2020 … The answer is YES YES YES!!!

I have a ton of UFOs still left to do –  so, I’m going to continue doing this.  It certainly helps me to complete old UFOs and with finishing all the new starts, I don’t add to my UFO list.  Win-win, wouldn’t you say?  I’ll be posting more about this in the near future!  In the meantime, gather up your UFOs and be ready to join in the fun!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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A Squirrel, a DrEAMI … it’s done

/ quiltinggail / 24 Comments

I’ve been dreaming, drooling, admiring and wanting to make this cute table topper from Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting!

IMG_5591And I needed a new table runner for my coffee table … it was time for the pumpkins to be retired for the year.  What’s a gal to do … it was obvious … it started easily with pulling fabric … and then it sat for a day … and then I started to make the first cut … and then the second cut … and before I knew it, it was almost done … SEW then I had to finish!  And finish I did!

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Continue reading →