"Tree House"

Missy, the middle child of my sister's 3 girls, finally decided what quilt she wanted Aunt Janet to make. She chose the pattern from The Modern Quilt Workshop by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. Her choice of colors are my favorites too so I found all the fabrics in my stash. The pattern is easy (stack & slash) but the selection and placement of colors are key for success.

She only wanted a throw for her sofa so I was able to machine quilt it myself. I marked the angles and a variety of widths with masking tape, sewing from long edge to long edge. I went back and sewed 1/2" next to each of the angles echoing the brown sashing widths.


The backing is a cozy flannel with the insertion of the left over blocks (7"x12").

Sarah's Quilt

I've been busy working on several quilts at once: Hand quilting my Mary Mannakee, piecing "Surf's Up" for my grandnephew to be finished after Christmas, doing the prep for a bed runner for my good friend in Arizona, to be appliqued on our next trip and finishing the king quilt for Sarah. By the way, I received a grateful thank you from Japan for the American Heritage wall hanging I mailed off 2 weeks ago.
I've finished Sarah (Niece) and Mark's quilt in time for Christmas. It was taken to the quilter in October for a special deal. My favorite quilter has been training a new person so she offered to do any size for $30! She did a terrific job. The binding is done and ready for my Sister and I to give to this special couple.

Strips 'n Curves, final step

I finished the top, 80x88. It's ready for a 10" border and quilting. My goal is to have it completed by Christmas as a present for my niece and husband from my sister. I've made this pattern once before but I needed a refresher. I will be teaching this quilt at the Fabric Patch, Montclair, CA in September. There are some tricks and trouble shooting that my students will welcome.

This photo doesn't show the true colors, the "browns" are really green.

Strips 'n Curves, stage 2

Only the first 18 of 110 squares but I like what's happening.
We are watching the grandsons this week so no quilting will be done. There is a reason children are born to the young but they are a blessing and fun.

Cutting It Up

The pattern my niece chose for her king quilt comes from . . .

After all the sewing of the strips, it's hard to cut into the "fabric" you worked so hard to create.

Here's my plan. I like to map out on graph paper.
I've moved all my sewing to our guest bedroom, as Jack has moved his desk to the front living room. I hung my flannel-backed tablecloth over the closet door as my portable design wall.
Each cut has to be planned to line up with the next. I traced around my template with chalk and added the 1/4" seam before cutting.

New projects in the works . . .

The young man who was hired to teach Art when I retired, is also one of my former students. He is doing a terrific job and I am so pleased to see what I started 20 years ago continue. He and his wife are expecting their first child in March. A teacher colleague and I are making a baby quilt for them.










I found this flannel backing, scanned the images and enlarged them for applique.




Marsha is making the pinwheels to fill in the other 5 squares. We'll join them next week and I show you the finished product.


The second project is for my oldest Niece, Sarah. Its her turn for a king size quilt for their bedroom. She looked through my books and spotted an idea in Louise L. Smith's A New Twist on Strips 'n Curves (Not a simple pattern). "Can you do this Aunt Janet?" "Of course Sarah, I love challenges." I put together these fabrics from my stash and got the go ahead.
Here are the strips I've sewn so far, ready to cut and put together. I hope the orange doesn't take over.

I did this technique before for my sister. Look here to see what I'm talking about.