The First Noel

 Dear Readers,

I finished another one of the Sew Kind of Wonderful nativity quilts.  This is the medium sized quilt, that they offer called Noel and is around 60 inches square.  I really struggled with the color choices in this one as the medium dark blue made most dark colors disappear.  They had to be pretty saturated to work.  It was fun too, so you need to try them if you get a chance.  

Here is how I quilted each element.  

And of course you need to see the back and the label.  I love the nativity fabric I found for this one.  

Sew on,

Terry

Prophesy Fullfilled

 Dear Readers,

Last year after I made the "The Gift" a group of my quilting besties asked me to lead a sew a long to make a nativity quilt.  So two of the ladies decided to do other sizes.   This size makes a quilt that is about 82 x 82 and it is called Starry Night.  The medium size is called Noel and makes one about 52 x 57.  The small one is call O Little Town and makes a quilt 42 x 42.  So I decided to do all three quilts.  I did Starry Night  this time with a black background.  The other two tops are done and I will post about them once I get them quilted.  My SIL claimed this one.  So it will go to her. 

I wish I had been a bit bolder in choosing my quilting thread on the background.  I quilted it with black thread and made clouds and stars but none of it shows.  You have to look at it super close and even then it is hard to see.  I am going to post pictures of the individual elements and maybe if you zoom in you can see some of the quilting I did.  

And of course we need a picture of the back and the label...

Sew on, 

Terry

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