Gnarly

 Dear Readers,

Had another finish this week.  It was another quilt I had kitted up to go to the retreat that I missed since I was sick that week.  This was a Missouri Star Quilt Company quilt pattern called Skateboard.  Most of their patterns make up pretty quick.  I made this for my nephew who asked me to make him a skateboard quilt as I had made him a disappearing nine patch quilt when he was younger and had put skateboard fabric on the back.  I knew I had some of that fabric left, but didn't think there was much of it.  So I went looking for a pattern and found one and then went looking for some more skateboard fabric to go on the back.   The pattern only uses 1/2 of each 10 inch square suggesting that you save the other half for another project.  I decided instead to trim them down to 4 inches and use them on the border.  Really happy with how that came out. 

                          

I put the new skateboard fabric on the top and the bottom, as this quilt finishes at 88 x 60.  So that meant if you are using 42 inch wide fabric, two pieces would not be enough to cover the length.  So I put a strip of the original skateboard fabric in the middle.  

and the label.

My nephew is getting ready to be going through a major life change on the first of December, so keep him in your prayers.

Sew on,

Terry

Clanga Clanga

 Hey Readers,

Just finished another quilt.  This is another one that I had prepped for the retreat that I didn't get to go to.  This is for Charlie and Nancy Parkerson's second grandson.  I taught both of the parents and loved them both!  Being big State fans I thought I would deviate from my normal eye spy for boys that I make and make small cowbell quilt.  

So about six months ago I saw a different State fabric that had 6 inch blocks of MSU fabrics.  That gave me a bunch of different other State fabrics to include.  So I hope the newest Parkerson really enjoys his quilt.  

I used the Missouri Star template to cut the cowbells and I have made a chart to help you figure out how many cowbells you need to make the size quilt you want.  Plus a sheet to help you figure out how it goes together.  

Sew on,

Terry

Parables at the Shore

 Dear Readers,

I finished a quilt that I have had planned for a while.  It is for my first cousin's first grandchild.  His parents love to go sailing so when I saw the pattern at Missouri Stars Friday tutorial about a year ago, I thought that if Peter and Emily had a baby I would make it for them.  Well they had a baby in July, Waylon Lee Hammond.  So I go started on the quilt.   It took some time, because I wanted each house to be different and I wanted to put a different character in each home.. 

Here are some close ups of who is in the houses.

Here is the back and label.  

Sew on,

Terry

Window Shopping

 Hey readers, 

This past year the Mississippi Quilt Association (MQA)  president Susan Rademacher issued a challenge to make a quilt in honor of our 35th Anniversary.   The challenge was to make a quilt 35 x 35 or smaller out of jade and coral colors.  Jade and coral are the traditional colors of a 35th anniversary.   Also this year, I got to check a big one off of my bucket list - to go to Sisters, OR to go to the outdoor quilt show.  I also took a couple of classes there.  I took a class by Sijata Shah and before I went I decided to use the challenge colors for the class.  Her class was called architecture.  She did her sample quilt in solid moody colors.  she was hoping to evoke a city street.  So I bought a range of solids in the two colors before I left for Oregon.

This is Sujata's sample

So I attempted to do something similar for my challenge quilt.  Once I got it close, I realized it was not to size so I added some random blocks on one side.  I told my friend Cynthia that I didn't think I would finish it as I was so unhappy with how it was turning out.  She encouraged me to finish it so it would not become another UFO.  

 When I finished it, I didn't like that look, so I turned it 90 degrees.  Then that would give me horizontal lines I could quilt in words about MQA.  So I put it on the quilter and started on it.  So here is my finished project.  

If you zoom in on it you can see that I quilted a lot of different objects and words in the quilt.  

The back and the label. 

Sew on, 

Terry

Zoom Zoom

 Dear Readers,

It was time for another eye spy.  Rochelle had another grandson.  So I wanted to make him a quilt, and my go-to quilt for little guys is an eye spy quilt.  So Rochelle came over one day and we picked out the eye spy blocks and I had picked a dark green that reminded me of a dark army green.  

Rochelle and I picked a transportation theme.  I used some blocks that were left over from the quilt I made for my brother and his wife on the back.  I had discarded them, as a corner was going to be lost and I just remade them, but thought they were good enough and looked cool on the back of this baby quilt.  

I also used number fabric on the back, but messed up and loaded it upside down so all the numbers are upside down.  Ugh.  

I have given the quilt to Rochelle, but I don't know if she is going to send it now, or save it to go in her Christmas box.  

Sew on, 

Terry

Tiger Strong

 Dear Readers,

In 2022 I started and completed a quilt top, Violet Craft's Tiger Abstraction Quilt.  When I finished it I didn't think there was enough contrast between the whiskers and the background so I decided to use a darker grey thread and put some pretty dense quilting to hopefully give it more contrast.   I started quilting it on my sit down long arm.  It did help but it was soooo tedious.  I got discouraged and lost interest, so I just let it sit there, and every once in a while I would sit down and quilt a tiny bit more, but would quickly give up and go do something else.  Meanwhile I bought a true long arm quilting machine and started quilting all my quilts on it.   It is a different skill set to a sit down.  I wanted to move the tiger to the other long arm, but I had not left the right amount of backing fabric to be able to do the borders on the long arm machine.  

Recently I had to have a melanoma cut out of my leg and they wanted me to stay off it, so I decided I should try to finish the background and border, while I was not standing as much.  Once I did that I decided since I had quilted up to the edge, I could put it on the stand up long arm.   I was able to stand again, and I am much more proficient on the stand up long arm machine.   I would need to quilt the eyes, nose, ears, tiger face and red flowers.  I had quilted the background and the black areas as a way to stabilize the center of the quilt already.  I needed to order the red and the orange thread.  Luckily, Linda's ships really fast!  

I love the way the thread colors changes make a shadow of a tiger on the back.  I decided to give the quilt to Becky Dees to raffle off to benefit St. Judes hospital and the scholarship fund they started in honor of their son who died of leukemia the year I moved to Winona.  Greg, who would be just a little younger than my kiddos, was an avid sports enthusiast and coach.  Becky and  Johnnie established iFight TeamDees Scholarship Fund in his honor.   So when we get the raffle tickets ready the proceeds will be split 75% to St Jude and 25% to Team Dees Scholarship.  So if you get the chance check Becky Dees FB page it has her cash app or Venmo options and what to put in the comments so it gets counted as a raffle ticket.  

I went to the FB page and copied this photo with the information on the raffle so you don't have to go anywhere.  

Sew on,

Terry

Serving Plates

 Dear Readers,

This year I am on the program committee for the Jackson Quilters.  So this month we were doing the history of quilt blocks and I was going to do the Irish Chain.  About 3 weeks before the meeting, Linda, also on the committee, texted and said she wasn't going to make it as her family was coming into town and would only be there a day and she could not make it.  She was going to do the Dresden Plate.  So I said I would do hers and thought, oh my I don't have a Dresden plate quilt.  

I knew I had a stack of 8 Dresden Plates that were done by some quilter that Lauren had picked up and asked me if I wanted them, and I said yes!  So I was trying to come up with a layout for eight blocks and decided I would put each one on a different neutral and offset the center row so that it would be big enough but it would be square, so I added a 2.5 in strip on top and bottom and made the top and bottom borders a bit wider so it would be rectangular and a bit more usable for a throw.   

The backing was some fabric I bought on a whim from the sale table at Delta Threadz in Cleveland, MS.  It turned out to be just exactly the amount I needed.  I quilted it with a modern take on the Baptist Fan and bound it with some binding I had made for a different quilt, but decided it did not look good with that quilt after all.  It was a bit off with the backing but it was great with the front.  

Sew on,

Terry

Handiwork and Refuge

 Dear Readers,

I have still been quilting, but I have neglected my blog.  I have finished two quilts I haven't blogged about.  This will be about both of these, as these two are not super creative.  I used the Kimberly blocks that I used to make the quilt for Julie at Christmas time.  The pattern is in the Stripology Mixology 3 book.  I had made too many for that quilt, as I decided that they needed sashing.  So I ordered more of the sashing fabric and made two quilts.  The first one I finished is called Handiwork and is for Rochelle Armstrongs new granddaughter.  Her mom is an artist and I thought she would enjoy the Tula Pink fabrics as Tula is a wonderful illustrator.  

Saw this fabric on sale at Main Street Fabrics in Ackerman so I picked it up for the back.

And the label....

The second quilt, I donated to Jackson Quilters for their charity quilt drive.  I used the last of the leftover blocks.  Will and I named it Refuge as it will go to the Claire Batson Children's hospital.  

I used a lot of scraps to make this back the lady bugs were trimmed off a wide back and the narrow strips were left over from the pineapple quilt.  The solid I have had forever so it need to be used too.  

and the label for this quilt.

Both have been given away!

Sew on,

Terry

The Builder

 Dear Readers,

During Christmas time, when Celeste was home, she asked me to make a quilt for a retired man, Victor. Victor swims at the same time she does, and one she mentioned to him she was working on an outdoor fireplace and he said he was a retired contractor and he would help her.  She wanted the quilt as a thank you gift.  

Celeste had found a free pattern on Fat Quarter Shop called Wood Lily that she wanted me to do.  The original pattern had all the starts in the same color.  We decided to do it in blues and greens.  So when she was home, We pulled some fabrics and made a list of a few colors we needed to complete the design.  When we were in Colorado we went to a quilt store name Treelotta.  We found several nice pieces that would be just right for the quilt.  We also found a wide back, so the quilting could go faster.  Luckily I was invited to a quilt retreat in Northern Alabama, so when I got home, I cut and put the fabrics for each block in a a baggie.  These blocks are big.  They are 24" square.  Celeste and I decided to do 9 blocks and put a two inch border in the color of the background to float the blocks.  

The backing was by Northcott fabric company.  It was designed by Deborah Edwards and Melanie Samra.  It is called Cedarcrest Falls.  

And the label: 

If I were to do this again, I believe I would try to find a more efficient cutting method.  Look at all the bonus half square triangles I got out of it.  I will try to come up with another design to do with them.  

That made the quilt about 76 x 76. 

We gave Victor the quilt at swimming and he was so pleased.  

Sew on,

Terry

The Shop Hunt

 Dear Readers,

Last Spring I found out about an All Texas Shop Hop, and convinced my friend Lauren we needed to go.  There were 105 quilt shops in Texas participating.  Each shop gives you a souvenir fabric square to use in a pillow or quilt.   They also offer official shop hop fabric.  I was sure we could get most of two regions and all of one region done.  While on the trip we were planning to stop in College Station, Austin, San Antonio, and Waco and the Area North of Dallas.  We planned to walk the river walk, see the Alamo, The Silo's, the food trucks in Austin, eat good food and go to the shops on the along the way.  Lauren and I hit about 20 something shops and had a great time.  We ended by stopping at Will's and doing a few shops near his place in McKinney.  We had a great time and did find some great food along the way.  We bought fabric and tools.  I had made a list of tools and things I wanted to upgrade or add to my sewing studio.  That way I would buy things I need - kind of.  Need might be too strong of a word.  Early on Lauren and I bought reusable shopping bags at one of the shops.  Then we would put our purchases in our respective bags so not to get them mixed up.   

A couple of weeks after getting home, I decided to go back and finish a couple of more regions.  So I called Lauren to see if she wanted in and Will and asked if I could come back.  Lauren declined but he graciously agreed.  This time I came in via Texarkana and picked up a couple of shops that were in the Dallas region that were near there.  I got there on Wednesday and did the rest of the shops in the North region on Thursday.  The next day Will had the day off so he chauffeured me around Fort Worth region and we just barely finished it by closing time!  That left one region not complete.  So the next morning he took me to Waco and the northern outskirts of Austin and we finished that region!  We stopped at the Texas ranger museum on the way home and had a good time there.   So between what Lauren and I had done, and what Will and I had done, I finished 4 regions.   For each region you finish they send you a souvenier block and I wanted 4 so I could use them in corners of the borders.  I visited 63 quilt shops in total.  I skipped the pan handle region, the far west region, the far south region and the Houston region.  

Many of the shops had a quilt made with the souvenir blocks and I got inspiration for my quilt from one of those.  

I also bought a lot of the Texas fabric with no plan in mind and in looking at it when I got home, it did not seem to go together well.  So I decided to use it on the back, even if they didn't coordinate nicely.  

This year there are 131 shops on the tour.  So it should be epic.  Not sure I am going to do it again, but who knows.  This company does shop hops in other states too.  They did the All Florida Shop Hop, The All Carolina Shop Hop and others.  So maybe one of the others will be in my future.  

Sew on,

Terry