Another Quilt Is Home . . . .

Virginia's Star, Lifetime Quilt Number 70, is back home from the quilter.

I'm very happy with this quilt, the quilting style perfectly matches the feel of this quilt. And I had nothing to do with it! Connie Lancaster, at Quilts Plus in Indianapolis, quilted this top for me.

Here's a nice closeup of the border designs, I think the crosshatching in the black checkerboards is perfect, so is that leaf design.

Connie wasn't happy with my choice of this plain muslin fabric for the backing, I thought it was a good match for the front but she thought her stitches showed too much on the back. They sure look good to me and I like being able to see them. But I did promise to start sending backing with a floral print in the future.

Here's the obligatory red couch photo . . .

another winner.

Every time I blog about another quilt being home from the quilter, at least one person asks, "where do you keep all those quilts". Well I don't keep them all, but here's a peek at one of the rooms in my house and the quilts I have out.

So in addition to Virginia's Star on the red couch,

I currently have Father's Fancy on the love seat,

Monique's quilt is in the TV stand,

and this quilt rack which is holding, from top to bottom, Mocha Trails, Myths of Avalon, James River Blues and Jake.

Simon's quilt which Cooper uses as his "place" is on the floor.

That's a total of 8 quilts in that room. I move them around and replace them every month, that room gets a lot of sun and I don't want any fading going on.

Cooper's "place" is where Cooper goes when we say, "Cooper, go place". He has to stay on the quilt until we say "free dog". It comes in handy when the UPS man or company stops by. We also make Cooper place before he can eat his dinner or while we eat our dinner. He's so used to placing now, that when the doorbell rings he just runs to his quilt. It's his best trick, and yes, he gets a treat every time he places! And no, he doesn't always wear a tie, we do have business casual days here too!

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Even More French Vintage . . . .

Here's a little more of my French Vintage project, the pattern by ThimbleCreek Quilt Shop.

The last border of blocks has an even darker background fabric than the first two sets of blocks.

All that's left is to piece the sashing and connect those blocks.

After my last post I got several questions about this project, the most popular question was how do I get such a neat block and would I post a picture of the back of one of my blocks.

As you can see, I press all my seams open. I think it makes the blocks lay flatter and helps me see all the seams to get everything properly aligned before I sew my seam.

Another thing I always do is make my half square triangle units larger then square them up. I think if you start with wonky hsts you end up with a wonky block. I still use the Easy Angler 2, but I just make them about 1/4" larger.

The most important thing about my blocks is my accurate 1/4" seam allowance. I can't take credit for it, my machine has a 1/4" foot that never lets me down. Additionally, my machine feeds the fabric through the machine from the top and the bottom, some machines only feed from the bottom. I think the dual feed machines help the fabric flow through straight, creating a perfect seam.

As to the fabric, the only French General fabric that I'm using is the background fabric for the last round of blocks. It is from the Panier de Fleurs line and the number is 13593.

The background fabric for the center four blocks is from Lily & Will by Bunny Hill Designs, #2807.

The background fabric for the second round of blocks is Puzzle Pieces by Moda,

#1008.

The majority of my grays came from Lily & Will and Putting on the Ritz, both by Bunny Hill Designs. My reds are an assortment of scraps and bits and pieces, I couldn't begin to guess their lines or numbers.

Thanks so much for all your comments, feedback, and interest in this project. Out of all the projects I've ever blogged about, this has been one of the most popular. I hope to see French Vintage quilts on your blogs soon, and if you don't have a blog, send me a picture, I'll put it on mine!

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More French Vintage . . . .

So the last time I blogged about French Vintage, the ThimbleCreek Pattern by Joe Wood,

you saw this.

Now it looks like this!

I'm very happy with my background choices so far, the center four blocks, with the slightly lighter background fabric, just ever so slightly out sparkle the surrounding stars.

The next border of stars are darker still,

they look like this . . . . .

One day it looks and feels like spring around here then the next day we wake up to snow on the ground, regardless of the weather, it's time to pack up the snowmen that hang out around my house through the winter months and break out some color! As much as I love that red and green star quilt in my living room I'm ready for a change, guess I'll haul out the big ladder and hang a new quilt this weekend. I'm not sure which one, but that will be the fun part, picking a new quilt, stop back by for an update!

Let's all think Spring!!

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"T" Stands for . . . .Winners?

Thanks so much for all the great "T" words!

One of my favorite things about giveaways is how I get to know the folks who drop by even better. For Example, this time I learned that Bea has two daughters that live in Tahiti, Jen's favorite color is orange, hence her "T" word of tangerine, and Amy likes turtles, not the candy kind! I also learned that Melissa built a trebuchet in high school and Wanda meets her quilt group every Tuesday!

Here's a little summary of the "T" words, 26 folks left comments about "T" first names, 6 folks about "T" last names. Time was the most popular "T" word, 16 of those, thanks/thankful came in second with 11 mentions and tea came in third with 8.

Some of the "T" words made me think, some made me smile, some made me hungry. Here they are, something to think about as you make your Schnibbles pattern, "T" Stands for Thelma by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Try

Thimble

Tradition

Together

Textiles

Treehouse

Toothpaste

Think

Talking (as in too much!)

Tribute

Twizzlers

Tremendous

Thickers (only scrapbookers will get this one)

Tantalizing

Terrific

Twinkle

Tornadoes : ((

Turkey (really turkey???)

Tandywine

Tired

Therapeutic

Terracotta

Thread

Tranquility

Twins

Tinsel Town

Tim Tebow Time

Tease

Tiramisu

Tesserae

Toberlone

Tintinnabulation (longest T word submitted!)

True

Timbuktu

Twenty

Tick Tock

Thursday

Tickle

Trouble

Tachycardia

Thoughtful

Toys

Tractors

Treats

Tenderness (good one!)

TA DAH

Trust (another good one!)

Truffles

Tinkerbell

Terrier

Texas

Tessellation

Ta Ta for now

Talbots

Treasure

Tasty

Together

Turquoise

Target

Twilight

Tweak

Tulips

Tewksbury Twp

What an interesting group, thanks again~

I thought this post deserved it's own "T", here's my "T" Stands for Thelma inspiration block.

And the winners of the limited edition patterns are:

Miss Jean (3/1 at 8:48 am)

Melissa (3/1 at 12:33 pm)

Julie in Washington (3/1 at 11:02 am)

Vivian (3/1 at 7:36 am)

PunkiePie Jen (3/1 at 5:56 am)

Karen in PA (3/4 8:00 pm)

Diana (3/4 7:47 am)

Prsd4Tim2 (3/2 at 6:37 pm)

Send me your addresses and I'll get the pattern in the mail to you, THANKS!

Anytime I blog about my grand dog Tucker, I always get a few questions about his heritage and comments about those ears. Well I have an ear update!

His right ear has flopped over, just the right ear, but he can push it back up when he's on high alert! The left ear always stays up. Regarding his breed, this dog was found wondering the streets of Los Angles when he was just a pup, my daughter adopted him from a rescue group. We suspect he may have some rat terrier, dachshund, and chihuahua in him, we have no idea where the ears came from! He's fearless, he'll jump from the top of the couch, to the dinning room table to the kitchen island then down again. But then, if you grew up on the streets on Los Angles you would be fearless too!

Whew, now that all the giveaway hoopla is over, I can blog about how I spent my Leap Day Sewing Day, stop back by!

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Thread Results . . . .

How was your weekend, mine raced by!

I learned so much about thread through all your comments, thanks for all the interesting feedback. For example, your bobbin will hold more of the thinner thread, but that can also impact the width of your seam allowance! Also, if you are having problems with your machine, it may not be the machine, it may be the thread!

Most folks give no thought to their thread and use the brand of thread carried by their local quilt shop. (that's me!)

So here are the results of my oh so unscientific thread test

sewing machine after using one full bobbin, other thread.

Sewing machine after using one full bobbin of Superior Thread's Master Piece thread by Alex Anderson.

I would say there is a difference. Additionally, the bobbin held more of the Superior thread, so more thread was run through the machine.

And now for the winner

Anita from Florida said,

"I usually use Gutterman....but have tried Auriful and lately Essentials."

Congratulations Anita, send me your address and I'll get this thread in the mail to you!

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