Barn Quilt

 I painted a barn quilt at a class for the front of my house.  My husband hung it for me this afternoon.  It's painted with acrylic exterior paint on top of an aluminum composite board.  It's my 3rd barn quilt.  The others are shown below...

I painted this one at a class held at Cary Quilting Company. It was a one-day class and the teachers, Deanna and Georgia, were outstanding!  Deanna's Delightful Barn Quilt Designs is the company that taught the class. They are located out of Clarkton, NC.  They travel to locations all over the eastern USA and if you have the chance to take a class I highly recommend them.

These are my other 2 barn quilts...

Double Aster Barn Quilt

 I've always wanted to paint a barn quilt.  When we replaced the siding on our house I decided to put a cheater barn quilt above my front door, only because I didn't have the time to paint a barn quilt.  My plan was to replace the cheater when I was able to paint one of my own.  That day came yesterday!  Cary Quilting Company held a class for painting a barn quilt and I signed up right away.

It was a one-day class and the teachers, Deanna and Georgia, were outstanding!  Deanna's Delightful Barn Quilt Designs is the company that taught the class. They are located out of Clarkton, NC.  They travel to locations all over the eastern USA and if you have the chance to take a class I highly recommend them.

Nantucket Mini-Charm Bag

 It's a great weekend for sewing and quilting!  I made another mini-charm bag today.  They go together quickly!  While the fabric collection used in the photo is most likely gone now, you can use any number of mini-charm packs to make this bag.  I recommend this pattern...

There are 3 versions of the bag to choose from in the pattern. 

I chose the scrappy version.

I did make one change as I put the mini-charms together.  I used a product called Bosal 2.5" Watercolor Grid to assemble them.  It is a lightweight fusible that has a grid on it outlining where to place each square. It is a wonderful way to assemble the top for this bag.  Place the squares and you can see at a glance which squares to move for a more pleasing layout.  Then iron them in place.  You will want to lay a piece of cloth on top as you iron to keep the fusible off your iron.  One plus for making the grid this way is all your intersections will match. The package has complete directions for sewing the squares together.  

There is enough in the package to make 4 bags!

Here's the finished bag!

Celebrate Jolly Bar Day

 I joined the Fat Quarter Shop in sewing a Jolly Bar today!  A Jolly Bar is half of a layer cake.  It consists of a complete fabric collection with 42 pieces of fabric each cut 5"x10".  Each Jolly Bar package comes with a free quilt pattern that will work with the fabrics in the package.  My Jolly Bar was the Pastel Prairie fabric collection and I'm using the pattern that came with it to make a crib size quilt for my new granddaughter who will be born within the next few days.

Here's what I have finished so far...the blocks are finished and I have 

them laid out on my design wall. There are 2 borders I need to add yet.

12 inch Treasures

 I started a new project April 4th, a Saturday.  It's a pattern called 12 inch Treasures - Dresden Pattern.  I found it at ConnectingThreads.com.  The pattern is from Bloom Creek.  

It uses 2-1/2" squares so I bought a charm pack and cut it down to that size.  It worked out great doing it that way. Here's what I finished that weekend...

I finished the top today!  May 5th.  I very slowly machine stitched the dresden applique in place.  I think it turned out great!

8 Fun Mini-pincushions

I found a book called Pin Pals by Carrie Nelson and had to have it!  It has patterns for 40 mini pincushions and they are adorable!  The first pin cushion I ever made was over 30 years ago.  It was lopsided but I was proud of it.  I stuffed it with poly-fil.

This book helped me hone my cushion making skills I will say!

        

I decided to use Civil War theme fabrics on the first one. It went together quickly and I'm happy with it!

The second one took 4 hours to sew all the tiny half square triangles.  Each was 1-1/4 in.

Filling for all the pincushions is crushed walnut shells.  TIP:  Buy walnut lizard or bird litter at the pet store instead of the walnut shells sold at fabric stores.  It's much cheaper that way!  This 5 lb. bag was only $8.00!  

I placed all of the pin cushions in a basket and they sit on my desk.

My latest quilt project

 I've been working on a king size quilt for a few months now.  All I need to finish the top is add the borders.  This one will go on my bed when/if I get it finished.  The fabric collection is by Melissa Gilbert, of Little House on the Prairie fame.  

A winning quilt

 I entered my quilt in the Hearts and Hands Guild quilt show this weekend and it won a 3rd place ribbon.  The quilt has 560 HSTs in it.

Flower Girl

I made this quilt top using my Featherweight and had it hanging on my design wall for months waiting for me to find the time to longarm it. It's done now! This was a Jolly Bar quilt kit from the Fat Quarter Shop, the fabric collection is called Flower Girl.

Fly Away Tablerunner

I had the power cord replaced on my foot controller by sending it the Featherweight Shop.  It was worth every penny!  I've been sewing on my Featherweight this week.  I finished this table runner on it.  The pattern is from Villa Rosa and it's called Fly Away.

Triangle Star Ribbon Winner

 I entered my Triangle Star quilt in the Capital Quilters Guild Quilt Show which is open today and tomorrow in Raleigh at the NC State Fairgrounds.  It won an honorable mention ribbon.

This quilt has 560 HSTs and I'm proud to say every point is perfect!

Triangle Star Quilt

 I'm busy working on a quilt top that I made. I'm doing custom stitching on it and I've been working on it for 2 days and I hope to finish it tomorrow night. I have about 7 hours work left on it, not counting breaks. I'll start early tomorrow morning!

The pattern is called Triangle Star and it was created by Edyta Sitar.  

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

 What are you having fun doing this fine Sunday? I am longarming a quilt top that I made a year ago and I’m just now getting around to longarming it. On Monday it's going to be donated to a charity called Sleep in Heavenly Peace - NC, Durham so I better get off the computer and get busy! I finish the longarming today and will do the binding tomorrow.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace builds twin beds and donates them to children who have been sleeping on the floor.  It's a great way to give back to the community.  They have a nationwide building day on Sept. 14th in cooperation with Lowe's, who donates much of the wood used that day.  My quilt will be given to a deserving child on that day.

Flower Girl Quilt

 

I finished a little quilt top over the weekend.  It's a Jolly Bar quilt, from the Fat Quarter Shop. When you buy a Jolly Bar a free pattern comes with the package.  A Jolly Bar contains 40 5"x10" strips of a fabric collection.

Star Block wall hanging

 I have had fun creating a new quilt this week!  I bought Electric Quilt 8 earlier this month and started working on a quilt right away.  I saw a quilt hanging in a quilt shop and I tried to buy the pattern for it only to find out it wasn't being published any longer.  So I set about making one of my own.  This is the result!  

Click here to download a copy of the pattern!  It's a PDF file, a step by step tutorial and it is recommended for intermediate quilters.  The letter Q would be a bit daunting for a beginning quilter.  If you are a confident beginner I say "Go For It!"

Star QUILT Wall Hanging
by Christine Chamberlain

Table runners

 I've finished 2 table runners and they were a breeze to make.  The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company called Friendship Chain.  The shorter one is for my sister.  She asked for a table runner with a sunflower theme and I found the perfect fabrics for it!  The other one is for my dining room table.

Triangle Star top

I took my longarm machine to the shop for servicing and it's going to be 3 weeks before they can get to it. To stave off the withdrawal I'm busy sewing some of my many UFOs.  Today, I finished the main part of my Triangle Star quilt top!  It has 560 HSTs and made with scraps along with a background fabric.  All it needs now is to add the borders, and then the longarming!

Triangle Star

 

My latest quilt is called Triangle Stars.  It has 560 HSTs.  In August, my husband and I spent a week in Williamsburg, Virginia at a resort.  He spent some of his time riding his bike on the bike trails and I spent my time sewing the HSTs.  I put the HSTs together last month and now I'm making the applique blocks. There are appliques that go in each corner and then I can assemble the blocks!

Cottage Stars table runner

The Durham Orange Quilters' Guild has a challenge that will be held at our guild meeting Monday evening.  The challenge was given in March and the topic was to be on houses.  We could make any type, color and size quilt with the theme of houses or neighborhoods.  This is my entry!  

Quilt of Valor

 I made this quilt a few months ago, longarmed it and finally finished the binding this afternoon. It’s being donated to the QOV sewing group I’m in.