Four Seasons Quilt Swap

Well, I've gone and done it now. I've enjoyed following along with the Spring swaps in the Four Seasons Quilt Swap and just couldn't resist signing up for the Summer swap. Summer is my favorite season and I am having so much fun making my little quilts that I thought to myself...self, you can do this...and so I did! Well, I did join at least, now I have a little summer quilt to make!

Today I received the email telling me who I'm making a quilt for and I've had a good time reading their blog and getting to know them a little bit. Oh the ideas are swirling around in my head already! This is going to be fun!

And just to share a little bit of summer, here are some quilts I made years ago. The little sunflower is from a "buttons & plaid" challenge from my quilt guild about 11-12 years ago. It hangs in my kitchen now.


The next one is one of my personal favorites, it hangs in my hallway all the time. It is "Bill & Sue's Miracle Gro Garden". Miracle Gro since the flowers are larger than Bill and Sue! For those who don't know "Miracle Gro" is the brand name of a variety of gardening products including plant foods, fertilizers, etc. I've always loved the little Sunbonnet Sue/Dutch Doll quilts. This one was made in 1996.Someday I'll share my very first quilting adventure, a little Dutch Doll pillow top made when I was 9 years old, with the help of my precious Grandma. And along with that I'll share the Dutch Doll quilt she made for me many years later - obviously my most precious treasure.


And last is a basket quilt made in 1993/94. This is made from fabric from the first quilt shop I ever visited. It was a new shop in Chattanooga, the only quilt shop there at the time and while I had been quilting for quite a while, I had always used either scraps from my Grandmother's scrap bag or fabrics from Hancock's (the chain, not the Paducah Hancock's) or other local fabric stores.



Just a touch of my quilting history today. I have more to report on my current little quilts progress and will share that tomorrow I hope!

Thanks for visiting!

I have returned!

First, let me thank you all who sent good wishes for my Dad in his surgery. He is doing well, healing nicely and running my mother ragged! But that is nothing new :-) and she is doing well too.

I didn't get to do as much quilting as I had hoped but I do have one finish to report! Yes, the Little Bow Ties is completely done, quilted, bound, and labeled. Some of the chalk marks are still showing but they will go away. Here it is pictured on the old chair at the park - picture taken this past Saturday.


I'm about 2/3 done quilting Frosty & Fries and hope to finish that one this weekend. I also made a decision about borders on the 1930s Basketweave little quilt - yep, I added the borders and I'm glad I did. It seems to add that finishing touch. It will be the next piece in the little quilting hoop.



And finally, I thought I would share some more pictures from my quilting at the park this past weekend. Sunday I sat in the garden behind the cook house quilting - here is my little set up followed by some pictures of plants in the garden itself. It is such a lovely, peaceful place and I'm finally getting the hang of the macro on my little digital camera!







I can't show you what I was working on at the park this weekend yet. It's for a challenge that is due at the end of the month and I want to finish it completely before I show it off! So stay tuned next week!

More Little Quilts

I'm really getting into a groove with these little quilts. I've been enjoying reading a couple of books recently purchased on Amazon.com, in particular the following book:


There are many lovely quilts in this book covering the generations of one family. This one in particular really leaped off the page at me. I love Depression Era quilts and I thought this was a particulary lovely pattern.


I think I would love to do this as a bed quilt some day but thought I would start small first! This was so much fun to do! Again, all hand pieced, 1.5 inch squares.


I can't decide whether to add the plain border around this little one or not. I think I like the idea of stopping here, quilting it and bringing the back to the front for the binding. This is the way my Grandmother bound all of her quilts and it's the way I learned first.

So, now I have to finish the quilting on my Little Bow Ties, just need to finish the border, and then I have Frosty and Fries to quilt and this one. I'm heading off to my parents this weekend for a few days while my Dad has surgery. I'll have plenty of time waiting around in waiting rooms so I'm taking these to quilt while I'm there. I'll probably take a little piecing as well, it's not like I don't have any to do! Hopefully I'll have three little quilts finished to report when I return.

To all the mothers out there I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day! My furry kids "gave" me a lovely little Vera Bradley Pink Elephant wallet for my present! How sweet of them...tee hee hee...

Frosty and Fries Please...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted! It's been busy, busy, busy here Casa Debbie. I've been busy doing some handpiecing and haven't had time for much of anything else. Why, you ask? Well, a certain sweet little dollie has been longing for a quilt of her own. And how could you resist this face!


I mean really! She seems to like her comfy spot on the bed but it has been getting a bit chilly at night and the big quilts just smother her. So...what to do? Make a little quilt of course! And that's what I've been doing for the last week - it still needs to be quilted but here is the top, entirely hand pieced, measuring about 17 x 19.


She seems to like it, don't you think? She tells me polka dots are her favorite.



Okay, I know what you are thinking. So what does this have to do with a Frosty and Fries??? Well, that's the name of the quilt!

Huh? Okay, to try to make a long story short... For those who have never heard of the chain of fast food restaurants known as Wendy's, they have a dessert that is like a really thick milkshake, called a Frosty. You really do need a spoon to eat it. One of my very favorite guilty pleasures is to have a small Frosty with french fries - you dip the fry in the Frosty and eat them together...yummy! May sound strange I know but it's a great combination of sweet and salty. As for how the quilt came to be so named it is because Sweetie and I were having a conversation one evening about sweet and salty flavors and how well they worked together. He has never enjoyed a Frosty and Fries!!! Poor boy has lived a deprived life. Needless to say we will be enjoying one soon. Anyway, as I was working on this little top during that conversation we began to joke that this quilt would be called "Frosty and Fries" and so it is...

Certifiable?

And now for something different...

Now that the Inklingo hexagons are pieced and the Little Bow Tie is being quilted, are you wondering what is in my little hand stitching tin? Well, maybe not but I couldn't stand for my little tin to be empty so what else to do? Do you remember this picture? Of course you do!


And here it is ... filled with little tiny half inch hexagons on their way to becoming a version of the lovely quilt in the above picture (this is in Australian Patchwork and Quilting, Vol 16, No 6, February 2008 by the way). They call it Insanity but I am sane, truly I am!


I decided to pull from my abundant stash of 1930s reproductions and related prints. I'm using unbleached muslin for the background and either a blue or green solid instead of the salmon pink border in the original. Needless to say, this will be a very long term project. But it's perfect for my little take along tin!


So that's my story and I'm sticking to it...I'm not insane, I'm just a quilter!

A Pieceful Day

For several years now I've demonstrated quilting at a local antebellum plantation one or two days a month during the warmer months (spring/summer/fall). Today was my first day for this season. The weather was perfect and it was not very busy so I was able to spend some nice quiet time just quilting. I was able to get a lot of handquilting done on the Little Bow Ties. It looks a bit wonky in the picture but it's just the angle I was shooting, it really is straight! I thought this old, worn chair made a good backdrop.


And just for more pictures, here is a four patch quilt I made several years ago at the plantation. I liked the way it looked on the chair. The next picture is on the curved steps of the main house.



And finally, here is a shot of my Circles top on the grass. I want to add a couple of borders but I don't know what yet. Perhaps a solid border first then some other pieced blocks. Any suggestions?


And yes, I do dress in antebellum costume (working dress, no hoops!) but I have a great time sitting on the porch, talking to people, and doing my handwork all at the same time!

An Introduction

Please allow me to introduce you to a new member of the family! She arrived this week after a long cross country journey. At first she was a little shy in her traveling cloak but when she learned we have many things in common she was quite ready to come out and play.


Meet Dottie Ann, Dorothy Ann to be more precise but she prefers Dottie. A fine name for a newly arrived Southern Belle.


She comes with her own heart cookie cutter so I predict some cookie baking in the near future.



Isn't she adorable? I've seen many of her friends on different blogs that I visit and knew I had to have one. You can find out more at Raggedy Old Annies and on Nicole's blog.

Only thing is, Dottie Ann needs a quilt of her own! Stay tuned....

Day 2 Quiltathon

I didn't get a chance to post again last night but this where I stand with the hexagon quilt. I've decided to make it a rectangle instead of square and so two corners are now done. Yes, that leaves a lot of "open" space but I have plans! I also plan to add a solid border of one of the reds in the center. The majority of the fabrics in the center are from Judy Rothermel's Civil War Classics line and I really love those reds! So, I just need to finish off the other two corners and then do the border. It has not yet been pressed so it's a bit wrinkly in this picture. It's different but I like it!


Notice I also found a place to hang it up for a picture! This is pinned to a small wall quilt I have hanging in my hallway. It's a narrow space so I won't be able to hang large tops here to photograph but it will work for smaller items. And speaking of smaller items....Ta Da! Here is the little bow tie with my final border choice. Yes, I went with my first instinct of choice number one. This is also a Jo Morton fabric. Now I just need to baste and quilt it!



In case you are wondering, yes, that is a mirror below the hexagon quilt above. It is a very heavy antique mirror that I've had for years but it's too heavy to hang here so it sits against the wall in the hall. I would show more of it but I just realized it really needs a good cleaning....oops!

Well, Sweetie has a pot of chili cooking and I think I'll take a break and have a late lunch, early supper before getting back to the next project!

Thanks for stopping by and a big thanks to those who commented and helped me decide how to complete these quilts!