Progress . . .

I would love to say that I am almost finished with the "Three Generation" quilt that I have been working on but sadly to say, now that I have learned more about quilting, I think the hardest part is yet to come.

I have pieced together all the squares that my Grandmother, Hailey and I have put together. I have finished the top, added the batting and the backing and have created the all popular Quilt Sandwich.
Now what is left is actually doing the quilting design - this is going to be the most time consuming. I am actually in the process of basting the three layers together and that is a work in itself. The only "out of the way" place I could find that would fit this process was my bathroom floor!
I put a few lines of basting in but have many more to go but had to put it up because life got in the way :) .

I hope I will be able to finish it before Hailey is in college!

The colors on it are so beautiful. I just love it. But I am sure when I am finished NO ONE is going to touch it!!!!! I have really developed a deep respect for the women who quilt and it makes me think about the pioneer women who had to make these for their families in the midst of all their other daily work. Wow!

Quilting - Progress!

Well, here we are! In the final stages of the top of the quilt! I am pretty excited about this.
These are the rows of blocks, sewn together in rows of three. The pieces off to the left are what are going to be put around the outside of these blocks and then there are some green strips to follow those and the top will be done.

I am really looking forward to seeing this done. I almost can't wait to get started on another one!

As of right now I am finishing up on sewing all of the block rows together! I think I might make the last installment of this with the finished product.

Quilting - pieces parts!

Well, have had some opportunities lately to get started back up working on our quilt!
I have to admit it is getting pretty exciting since you can now see it start to come together. We are finally completed with all of the individual blocks! I think they look great!


No one could have prepared me for how time consuming it is to cut out pieces. Since this was a "Quilt Block of the Month" quilt - all of the blocks pieces were already cut out - you just had to sew them together. But, to start piecing your quilt together you have to cut out all that yourself. All I can say is that if I didn't have a rotary cutter and cutting board I wouldn't be here typing this post, I would be in a funny farm somewhere. . . bald!!!
Unbelievable - it took me almost two separate days to cut out the pieces needed to just piece together the front of the quilt. I had to take a picture of them but I want to say another shocking thing . . . this isn't ALL of the pieces I had to cut. I wouldn't be able to fit them in the picture!

So, now I am slowly joining all of these pieces with the blocks and creating rows. Will get some more pictures when I progress.

I can't wait to finish this. I think it is going to look great!

Quilting 101, Take 2 . . .

The work on the quilt has slowed down quite a bit. With the parties and such that needed planning, Hailey and I hadn't had a lot of time to work on our quilt blocks. I have to admit the ones we have completed turned out pretty good, for being first-timers and all!

There are three blocks left, I just finished one of the three last night and it isn't in this picture. I have another one left but it has some applique on it and I am going to have to do a little more "research" on this one to get it right. Hailey also has one to finish but she has had almost NO time with homework lately.


Here are the fabrics that are going to be used in piecing the whole thing together. The green one will also be the whole back of the quilt. The original plan called for a light blue and bright red and I have to honestly say it wasn't colors that I was too excited about so I decided to pick a few colors out of the blocks I liked that matched my favorite colors and ones found in my home and went with them instead. My sister Pat had taken Tyler out for lunch one Saturday when Hayden was really sick and actually picked these out for me. They are beautiful. I had sent her with the blocks with my favorite colors and gave her some description of what I was thinking of and I think she did a fantastic job!

If you remember back to my last post on quilting you will remember that I had mentioned some books I had read that really inspired me to want to quilt. Well, from those books the Author had gotten together with another quilter and they created this full color book of the quilts that were written about in the books. I absolutely fell in love with this one because of the leaves all around the border. I decided I would get creative and try to make one of these leaves. . .

Well, sadly to say, it didn't go too well! It was MUCH harder than I thought. I couldn't believe how many pieces it took to create! I thought I would do it in reverse by making the background dark instead, maybe be more stunning - this is some old fabric I had in the house. Hmmmmm. I had to measure it to make sure my eyes weren't fooling me but one end of my block is actually one inch BIGGER than the other end (not stunning)!!!!! How horrible is that! Can you tell which side?

Here are all the templates for the leaf block. Some of these you needed several of the same size. Needless to say it took me about 2 1/2 DAYS to go from fabric to block. The seam ripper was involved in this project too. I have now stepped back from my plans on making that quilt in the book for the time being. I have also learned many valuable lessons. DON'T use paper as templates, DON'T use Tailor's chalk to do the tracing, it's too thickand not very accurate, Pencils DON'T mark too good on black material, Seam size IS important, DON'T underestimate rotary cutters(I used scissors), Needles do draw blood when you are tired, Somethings are smarter to just buy than to make!

(kidding on the last one, maybe)!

So, I have stepped back on trying to make a whole entire quilt from scratch from a book of professional quilters! I might actually opt to get another kit for my second quilt before venturing out on my own. There also is a big difference between fabric you get at Jo-Ann fabrics and a specialty quilt store! Quality and by far price!

Also, what is great about doing things like this is that it really teaches you to appreciate things! I sure stare a lot at my quilt on my bed that I ordered from JCPenney's many years ago! And the quilts that Grammy has sent in the past all have a higher place than even before. They were always loved and special to us because they were from her but now that I know all the work involved they are even more incredible to me now! Thanks for all your hard work Grammy! These are treasures for us!

Quilting 101 !

A few years back I read a book my sister Debra had lent me (that my Grandmother had sent her). It was called "The Quilter's Apprentice". I LOVED it! I enjoyed it so much that I read all five of the rest of the books in the series (Elm Creek Quilters Series). After that I had the strongest desire to learn to quilt. I figured I had done cross-stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, sewing, crocheting, some knitting, painting, latch-hook . . . . why not quilt too!
ANYWAY - Grammy was kind enough last March to send me a project she had - it is called "The Quilt Block of the Month". Each month you get a different style of quilt block design with pre-cut material and instructions. She had completed a few of the twelve and started on a few others but the rest were still untouched. This is a project me and Hailey have talked about but hadn't gotten to. Today was our lucky day!


I reassured her that the only REAL way to quilt is by hand! That's the way it's been done for centuries (plus my sewing machine is acting up)! I thought it would be fun to chat like they do in movies but you could have heard a pin drop (no pun intended) - way too much concentration going on!

I think one of the most important tools with quilting is the ol' seam ripper! It became handy to both Hailey and I much to our grumbling. All I can say is it is easier than it looks and no matter how many times you arrange the pieces you are bound to match up the wrong sides!!!!

I am happy to say that after a few hours we almost completed a 12 x 12 quilt block apiece (mind you, these are ones that Grammy had already done a little work on)! Hailey's is on the left and she just needs to sew the four sections together and mine is on the right and I just have to hook the two sides together. I really enjoyed it! Can't wait until we get the whole thing done. Three generations will have worked on this quilt. Almost brings a tear to my eye!

Before I end this post I want to put out a special "I LOVE YOU" to my Grandmother, Grammy! I believe without her influence I may not have ventured into the craft world. Even though I only saw her about every 3-5 years when I was a child she took the time to teach me how to crochet and I believe cross-stitch when she visited. And I have enjoyed crafting since then and love it so much that I am teaching it to my kids (boys and girls alike). XOXOXOXO Thanks Grammy!