"TEA TIME"

This table runner has been on my wish list for a long time. I found a quilt book Cups and Saucers by Maaike Bakker, on the SALE rack and immediately knew I wanted to use this idea. Unlike the book, I chose to applique the images rather than paper piece. I added some other images that a friend shared with me.

My husband and I travel a lot, many times on a cruise. This last trip lasted for 35 days with more days at sea than in port. I planned to take this project for those restful days. Unable to bring an iron nor wanting to use that technique, I used a glue stick to tack the edges under (Tutorial). This has been a very successful and easy way to prep my applique in the past. I was able to complete both turning the edges and hand applique before disembarking. The hand quilting was done during the last month while waiting for our newest granddaughter.

POSTAGE STAMP Wedding Quilt #8

I finished hand quilting this wedding quilt for my grand nephew, Jack. He is only 10 but my goal is to make a queen or king quilt for each of my 4 grandchildren and my sister's 7. They range in age from 13 to 2 weeks. I have 3 more to make. 

The white spaces were quilted with a traditional motif. 

For the rest of the quilt, I followed the diagonal points of the squares, quilting every other row. I thought I would quilt every row but I soon realized that I didn't have the stamina nor did I think it was necessary.

 It's fun to look at the fussy cut squares and

 find the prints pictured.

I read online when storing quilts, they should be folded on the basis to avoid permanent creases. They are also stored in fabric bags (never plastic). I use large complementary laundry bags from hotels. 

Ready for Hand Quilting

I was amazed that this quilt top went together so fast. With careful directional pressing, the seams locked together and lined up perfectly. I can now take my time hand quilting a grid diagonally across squares and add a motif in the open white spaces.

"HEXAGON JEWELS" Wedding Quilt #7

This quilt will be set aside for Lauren's wedding day, age 10, my sister's granddaughter.

On my bucket list was to make a kaleidoscope quilt. I found this book, Precision Patchwork for Scrap Quilts by Jeannette Muir, in a used book store with 8 different hexagon designs.

 I had already purchased (on sale) these coordinating fabrics with stripes, repetitive prints and large focus designs. It took larger amounts of fabric because they needed to be fussy cut. The finishing touch that tied it all together were the triangles, an idea that came from Eleanor Burns. 

My goal is to make all of these wedding quilts queen or king size and to hand quilt them. So far so good. 

There was only 6 yards of the perfect backing fabric so "killed 2 birds with one stone";  I was able to use up left overs and add to the width of the backing. 

"IRORI" Wedding Quilt #6

"IRORI", Japanese for the recessed hearth in traditional homes. These open fire pits are surrounded by tatami mats, arranged in auspicious pattern. This modified Log Cabin pattern came from one of my favorite books EAST QUILTS WEST, by Kumiko Sudo. I was able to use the last of my vintage and modern fabrics from Japan mixed with US fabrics that resemble Japanese style prints.

This wedding quilt is for my grandnephew, Adam, age 10. 

I am working on quilts for my sister's 7 and my 3 grandchildren. I've been making them now while my health is good and my hands still work. They are stored in breathable bags and marked with each child's name. Each one is meant to be an heirloom therefore I have chosen traditional designs. I know they will be appreciated because each of these children have received multiple quilts from me and they are used, loved and new ones requested as they have grown into their next stage of childhood.

Like the others, this quilt is King size, machine pieced and hand quilted. The border is quilted with pearl cotton in Sashiko style and designs.

Finished "AROUND THE WORLD"

I embroidered the names of 87 nations we have traveled to and 

we still have more countries we want to visit!

"LEGOLAND"

Adam, my niece Sarah's middle child, loved his quilt (I made for his 2nd birthday) so much that it is now in tatters. "Aunt Janet, can you fix it?" It was beyond repair and it was time for a new quilt for a 9 year old. I asked him what theme he'd like and he chose Legos.

I wasn't inspired by rectangles of plain colors but when I googled Legos, I saw these heads and I was off and running.

 I hand quilted the peg circles on sea days on our last cruise. 

 You can see that he was delighted with the result. It's great to be loved and appreciated by my nieces and nephews. He can wear this one out too then I know it was used and loved! 

Quilting My Travels

 I am currently enjoying hand quilting my "AROUND THE WORLD" quilt, featuring the fabrics and representations from the 90 countries we have visited. 

Each fabric calls for a different quilting motif. Sometimes shadowing the images within, while others work best with traditional patterns. I'm using a combination of hand quilting thread and pearl cotton for more plain areas. 

 The quilting on this king size quilt has gone much faster than I thought and should be done within a month.

 In the meantime I continue to work on piecing several other quilts: 2 for retirees from my former school, my 6th wedding quilt for my grandnephew and a undesignated quilt from a B&W swap.

 Watch for those being posted.

 Happy Quilting!

DOLL BLANKET for BABY

I like to take hand sewing quilt projects on our many travels. On this trip to Antarctica, I pieced a doll blanket for my two & half year old granddaughter. 

With cutting the pieces ahead, I was able to finish the top, hand quilt it to a flannel back and bind it. Grace knew right away what it was for.

DRUNKARD'S PATH from Scraps, WEDDING QUILT #5

Autumn, my grandniece, will be the recipient of this quilt. She is only 12, so it is stored in a cloth bag for now with a label telling her that it was made with love by her Aunt Janet.

This had been on my to do list for years. I found this different adaptation using multiple prints of light and dark instead of the traditional 2 color design. The original quilt size is 54" x 66" but I added extra blocks to make it king size. I started by collecting scraps from various sources, cutting no more than 12 of each shape from both light and dark prints. Part way into the cutting I realized that the pattern called for more light scraps than dark. I wasn't going to discard the extras so I made the outer squares the reverse of light and dark. You may notice the difference or not. 

I chose to hand piece the curves because of their size but also because I was laid up with foot surgery. The blocks were machine pieced.

In planning the layout, I used 12'x12' scrapbook paper to arrange the small squares. I rolled masking tape and fixed them in place on the paper until ready to sew each block. By laying out all the squares first I achieved a balanced design. 

The repeat of the border fit perfectly at the corners even with increasing the size. I finished by hand quilting circles that outlined the curves.

Here's the pattern if you'd like to try this. Just click on the pictures to print the actual size.