Strings Strings Strings!

Strings Strings Strings

I loved my Jamestown Landing(shown below) from Bonnie Hunter's String Fling book so much, that I decided to start another one.

Only this time instead of the blues, I think I will use greens. Green is my favorite color and I have not made a quilt for myself in a long long time. The decision to do this had a lot to do with the neutral strings that seem to multiply overnight.

I need 168 4.5 inch neutral string blocks. I already have a good start of 50, but my string bin does not look emptier.  I swear, the more you use, the more there is in that bin.

I started trimming them but have not made good headway with that.  I am in no hurry for this quilt. It is just something to work on in between other things that I am working on. 

With string blocks, you cover paper, in this case I used old telephone book pages. Then trim down to size.

After trimming the block, you can remove the paper.

It may take months to get this one done as it takes a gazillion half square triangles!  Actually it just takes 420, but it might as well be a gazillion. Since you work with scrappy, it does take a while to cut those half square triangle pairs.  

I also have several other projects going on:

Allietare 

Bricks and Stepping Stones

Scrappy colored string blocks...

and the list goes on.

Another Sporadic Post LOL

It has been a while, again, since I have posted, but lots of quilting has been going on.  My husband's best friend has been going through chemo in the past 2 months and is a huge superman fan, so my cousin, whom I am teaching to piece and quilt, and I made him a superman quilt. Please ignore the vacant house in the background. :) It is a disappearing nine-patch. He loves the quilt and says he is under it most of the time.

 

Another friend of my husband's has been wanting a quilt for a while, so I gave him my Jamestown Landing, a Bonnie Hunter pattern. It was a long time in the making as I did it as a leader/ender quilt. It is made entirely from my scraps except for the backing. My husband's friend and his wife did not have a family heirloom quilt to pass down to their son. They wanted one. This will be their heirloom.

 

I also completed the top for Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery in January. It is not quilted yet.

I had a bunch of half square triangles left over from several quilts that I have put together into a baby quilt. It has not been quilted yet either.

Currently, I am working on a disappearing nine-patch made of a bunch of Batik samples that I have had for years. Here are 2 blocks complete.

 

I am also working on Bonnie Hunter's Wild Child quilt from her book String Fling. Below are the 80 4.5 inch string blocks required for the quilt.  It seems the more strings that I use, the more I have. I swear the things multiply in their containers. I made these 80 blocks and cannot tell that I have used any from the container.

Our GardenWeb online group has finalized our plans for our yearly retreat!  We had to change locations this year but the place looks nice. It is going to be at the Holston Center in Banner Elk, NC this year. Closer to home for me and in a familiar area. I am already looking forward to it, even though it is not until Labor Day weekend.

Grand Illusion

 

I have not posted in quite a while! Thought I would add my latest finish. This is Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery Quilt. It is called Grand Illusion, named after the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I have not quilted it yet. I am working on a quilt for a friend right now.

Lately I have been teaching my cousin how to quilt. She has already finished a disappearing 9-patch and even quilted it on my longarm!  She is working on a couple more of them now for her twin granddaughters.

Finally Posting Again!

 

I have not posted in a while, but it is not because I have not been busy quilting. I made this quilt, Happily Scrappily Irish (a Bonnie Hunter Pattern) out of 2 inch scrap squares. The background is the only yardage I used on the top. I have been cutting up all my scraps into usable sizes lately. I probably have enough scraps to keep my going for quite a while. :)

On the frame right now, I have this butterfly top. It was found in a box I purchased from an estate sale. I am going to quilt it and then find someone to gift it to. 

 

I have several tops that I got at that same estate sale. They were stuck down in a box of fabric that I purchased. None of them are my style, but I might can find someone who will love them. 

I recently finished my challenge quilt for retreat this year. I cannot show a photo of it until after retreat is over. 

My husband and I are currently in the process of building a screened patio on the back of the house. So lots of weekend time has been spent working out there with him. I don't mind the work, but listening to the cuss fits gets on my nerves. LOL

It is only about 6 weeks until Retreat! I can't wait. 

Finally finished my Celtic Solstice!

 

I finally got this quilt complete. As I was loading it onto the frame, my cousin came by. Her eyes lit up when she saw the quilt. So after it was complete and I had washed it, I called her and asked her to come over. I gifted the quilt to her. I hope she enjoys it for many years to come!

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Progress

Each year at Thanksgiving, Bonnie Hunter generously offers up a mystery to her followers. Last year's was Easy Street, which I did and loved. This year it is called Celtic Solstice. A month or so ago, she posted the fabric requirements (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/10/2013-mystery-time-introducing-celtic.html). She gives these early in order for us to get our fabrics together. I was fortunate to have all these in my stash, so I went with her color scheme which is: Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Neutrals. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, she gave the first clue/part (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/11/celtic-solstice-mystery-part-1.html). This part entailed making quite a few Peaky and Spike parts.

I am making the smaller (75" x 75") version, so I made 96 of the parts with the neutral centers and 92 of the ones with the orange centers. Each Friday for the next couple of months or so, Bonnie will release a clue. At the end, we will have a beautiful quilt top. If it is anything like last year's Easy Street, it will be a real beauty!  I am posting another photo of my Easy Street below. My husband claimed this one before it was even done. It now resides on our bed.

This photo is before borders. It is an extra big King size.

2013 GardenWeb Quilters Retreat at Camp Cheerio

 

I just returned from a fabulous retreat at Camp Cheerio, which is a YMCA camp in NW North Carolina. I belong to an online forum called GardenWeb. We get together at Camp Cheerio for retreat every year. The photo above is our Saturday Quilt Show. The camp provides us with motel-type rooms, all meals and the upstairs space in this building which is the Sloan Center. 

 

This year there were only 10 of us, but we had a wonderful time.

 

The photo above is just a taste of what the meals are like. The food is like no camp food that I ever had as a child!  I got lots completed at retreat. Will show more photos later.

Easy Street

I finished this Easy Street top. The pattern is by Bonnie Hunter. It was this year's mystery. I still need to put borders on it. I am going to go with a solid border then a pieced border. This one is going on my bed! 

Pink and Green Pinwheels

This quilt top is made from some more Gardenweb Birthday Blocks. It is not quilted in this photo, but I did take it off the frame today. I quilted it with a pantograph called tear drops. This was originally intended for a friend of mine, but I ended up giving her something else. So I guess this one also will go into the 'future gift' pile. The photo actually does not do this one justice as the backgrounds of the blocks are white on white and just make this little quilt glow! 

I went to an estate sale today and really lucked out. I got a 50 lb box of scraps and yardage for $20!  I have already sorted the scraps into my scrap bin and plan to use them in some Bonnie Hunter quilts.

Tennessee Baby Quilt

 

I just finished binding this baby sized quilt. I love baby quilts that are not the traditional blue/pink/green/yellow. The quilt blocks came from my online GardenWeb Birthday Blocks group from a couple years ago. The binding is scrap binding from several other quilts. The block is called "Tennessee." Since I live in Tennessee I thought this was a suitable block. I quilted it on my longarm using a pantograph that is feathery/leafy looking. 

A New Bag

 

I took a break from quilting today to make this bag for my cousin. She was here the other day and mentioned that she needed a new bag. She also oohed and ahhed over some batiks that I had laying out on my cutting table. So, I decided to make her a new bag. She uses the bags that I make her to carry her bottled water and snacks to work.  Hope she likes this one!

Rocky the Hungry Raccoon!

 

As we were fishing on the TN River today, we had our boat pretty close to the bank. This raccoon comes down the rocky hill and as close as he can get to us.

 

At first we were concerned that he was rabid, as he was aggressively trying to get to our boat.

 

We were eating sandwiches at the time, so my husband throws a piece of sandwich his way. He was starving!  He evidently knew to go toward fisherman and they would feel sorry for him. :)

 

He ended up eating several bites of sandwich and even some chicken livers we were using for bait before he left.  The funny thing was about 15 minutes later another smaller raccoon came down the rocks with the same antics. I really think they have a racket going on to see how many fishermen they can sucker into giving them food.

 

This one is on the frame!

  

This is a round robin quilt done by my Gardenweb Quilters group last year. I did the barn center, then a group of 6 or so quilters passed it around. They each added their own interpretation to it. I think it turned out great! I loaded it onto the frame today and will take my time and custom quilt it. It is a child's size quilt. Another one for me to put up for a grandchild?  Or maybe even for when I need a quick gift...  Hey I might even put it on my couch!  I really like this quilt. 

Eagle in Flight

My husband is an avid Eagle fan. I found this pattern several years ago and eventually completed it for him. It is raw edged applique. All the fabrics are Batiks. It is micro-quilted all over except the Eagle and limb. The eagle is quilted to simulate actual feathers. The limb and Eagle are also done in trapunto. It belongs to my husband, but hangs in my quilting/sewing room. :)

The New Toy

 

Last month I bit the bullet and bought my first longarm. It is a Baby Lock Crown Jewel. I am still learning how to use it but I have quilted 3 small quilts on it already. I have been practicing using pantographs until I feel confident to do free-motion on it.  The photo is a bit blurry, I apologize. 

Chinese Dragon

This is not a very good photo but this is my Chinese Dragon wall quilt. A couple years ago, this was my challenge entry in the Pigeon Forge, TN Quiltfest Challenge. Each year at the show, they sell packets of fat quarters with the proceeds going to charity. A quilter must use the fabrics in a quilt utilizing them as 30 percent of the top. These fabrics just spoke Chinese Dragon to me. There are around a thousand pieces in just the dragon's body. Each little scale is a different piece of fabric. You cannot tell from the photo but it is quilted in a miniscule filler and metallic threads are used throughout. Crystals are also strategically placed in the quilt. This quilt won 2nd place at the Heritage Quilt Show in Athens, TN. It placed in the special category "All that glitters."

Blues from the Past

A couple years ago, I made quilts as Christmas gifts for most of my close family. This "Shakespeare in the Park" (Pattern by Judy Martin) was a gift for my first cousin Patti. Before giving it to her, I put it in a local show and it won a ribbon! Patti uses this quilt on her bed as it should be used. She didn't want to, but as I told her, I can make another one if that one wears out.

Granny's Bow Ties

Several years ago, as my grandmother was going into a nursing home, I found these blocks in her house and put them away. Recently I decided to put them together into a baby-sized quilt. I will keep the quilt for my first grandchild. The blocks were made by his/her great great grandmother. It is the first quilt that I quilted on my new Baby Lock Crown Jewel.

A Huge Wedding Quilt!

This is one of my latest quilts. It was a wedding gift for my nephew and his wife. It is an over-sized king since my nephew is a very tall boy!  It took over six months to just piece and applique this quilt. My friend Pat Phillips from Dayton, TN did the quilting for me.

Another view that shows Pat's wonderful feathers!

More about the North Carolina Quilt Symposium

Last week was my first time attending the North Carolina Quilt Symposium. I have to say out of all the quilt events that I have attended, this was the greatest. The Symposium was held at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC. I took 3 days of classes with Ellen Anne Eddy. I learned so much! They also had a wonderful quilt show. This Symposium travels around North Carolina. Next year it will be in Raleigh. Check it out!