Under my needle today

 I've been longarming quite a few quilt tops this month, it's the Christmas rush to get quilts finished in time!  Here is the one I had on my frame this morning. I stitched a feather design on this one, the fabric collection is from 3 Sisters by Moda.  I finished it and now have another one I'm loading this afternoon.  It's a great time to be a quilter!

Ode to Sewing Machines #31

  

Many of you follow my "Ode to the Sewing Machine" posts.  We've all seen the ads on craigslist, ebay and elsewhere.  The clueless sellers give those of us who sew a belly laugh, or two!

Can't make up her mind what it is?

Award winning quilt

 I am excited to share my Circa 1880 Nine Patch quilt which won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon in a quilt show given by the Hearts & Hands Quilt Guild in Sanford, NC.  

The quilt was made using a pattern by Pam Buda, which I enlarged to make a queen size quilt.  It has 716 blocks and 7,934 pieces in it.  I started it in January 2020, finished the top in 2021 and longarmed it in August 2021.

2021 New Years Resolution

Applique Class at BWOS

I've been wanting to learn invisible applique so when Bernina World of Sewing had a class that included this technique I signed up!  They have a new class room, located across the street from the main store.  It's huge!  And the tables were wonderful with plenty of room to stretch out the supplies.  Here's my finished applique quilt, using a pattern selected by the teacher.

Short break this weekend

I had some fun over the weekend sewing a new project.  I bought an embroidery machine a few months ago (20 yr old Baby Lock Ellageo) and stitched up some quilt blocks to make a pillow.  The teacup designs were on an embroidery design card that came with the machine so I decided on a tea cup theme.  Front and Back photos are below!

I have already gifted it to a friend of mine.

A useful tool

 

Today I'd like to share a tip that has helped me plan out what I want to stitch on a quilt when it's ruler work or freehand.  I bought a piece of plexiglass from the hardware store and had my husband cut it to the size I wanted.  I put black electricians tape around the edge so I could see it easily.  When I want to test out a design idea I use this!  I don't remember when I learned this tip, but it's not original to me.  

Today I'm working on my Circa 1880 nine patch quilt and I'm trying out a border design that uses a curve ruler that I turn different directions.

After deciding on the design above, I marked my quilt border with the curves and I'm satisfied with the design!

I plan on entering my quilt in a quilt show in October so I need to get busy!

Pumpkin Wallhanging Tutorial

 Lisa E. shared a pumpkin wall hanging she created on one of the facebook groups I am on and I was inspired to make one like it only smaller.  Here is a tutorial on how to make a 7"x22" wallhanging!  Find a FREE pdf download at the end of this tutorial.

Material list:

5 orange fat quarters
1/2 yard of white background
brown scraps for the stems
green scraps for the leaves

Directions:

1. Cut 1-1/2" strips from each of the orange fat quarters.  Sew them together lengthwise using 1/4" seams. Press the seams open.  Cut the strip set into one 7-1/2" piece, one 5-1/2" piece and one 3-1/2" inch piece.
   
   
   
2. Cut four 1-1/2" WOF strips from the white background fabric.  From one of the strips cut a 14" piece and remove 1/2" lengthwise from the strip.  Then sub-cut the remaining 1" strip into twelve 1" squares.