Figgy Pudding Runner

Sew and learn, right?  This project started as an attempt to make two placemats out of my Figgy Pudding scraps.  I found a pattern that I wanted to try, so I thought it would be fun to try it on placemats before attempting a full quilt.  I cut out all the pieces and layed them out in the floor.  I measured and felt confident that I had enough for the perfect sized placement.  After I sewed everything together, I started to square them off, when suddenly I realized that I was wrong... WAY wrong.  Instead of trying to figure out how to fix it, I just decided to make a table runner.  I think it turned out well!  I like the pattern, but I don't think I have the patience to make an entire quilt this way. 

Most of the fabric is Moda Figgy Pudding, and the backing is an adorable reindeer pattern from JoAnn's. 

Merry Christmas!

Figgy Pudding Christmas Quilt

It's finished before Christmas!  I've been working on this quilt for about 3 months, and I did not think I'd have it finished before Christmas.  After a suggestion from a reader, I decided to hand quilt snowflakes in the blocks; I thought that was going to take forever!  I machine quilted around the trees which was a challenge, but I think it motivated me to try machine quilting for my next project. It's so much faster!

For the back, I used ideas from the blogs I read and found an inexpensive brown sheet that was almost the perfect size.  I really like how the scrappy stripes turned out too.  I cannot remember whose blog gave me that idea, but I noticed that most people were piecing their quilt backs in some way and I wanted to try it!

I've said this before, but I absolutely love this Figgy Pudding fabric.  Now, I'm off to make some Figgy Pudding Christmas placemats with the scraps.

Merry Christmas!

Free Motion Quilting

Here is my first attempt at free motion quilting.  I attached the foot with no problem, but I'm not sure that I ever got the tension right...I was inspired to try free motion quilting from other blogs. They make it look so easy!  How long am I suppose to practice before it looks right??  At this point, I cannot imagine putting a whole quilt through my machine with free motion...

Please give me your suggestions!!

P.S.  I cannot remember what my settings were on for straight stitching, so now I'm having problems there to!  I think I need a sewing mentor.  ha

Charm Pack!

I bought my first Charm Pack this week and just got it in the mail today!  I'm very excited about this fabric even thought I do not know what I'm going to make with it yet.  I've seen some cute designs using circles or hexagons.... idk..  I hope one charm pack was enough!  I'm definitely making a smaller quilt to be interchangable as a wall hanging or lap quilt.. 48x48 ish.

Big Pinwheel Quilt

So, I like pinwheels.  This is another pattern from a quilt calendar and the largest quilt I've ever made!  I had to use several templates to cut out all the pieces, but it was pretty easy to put together.  Then, I hand quilted an outline around all the pinwheels.  I'm starting to think that I don't quilt enough. I suppose I pick out pretty layouts and don't want to overshadow them with quilitng.

Here's the backing with a cute pinwheel tag.

Reproduction Ragtime

A quick and easy ragtime quilt made from reproduction fabrics.  Of course, I don't remember what year the originals were produced!  haha. 

You can't have a quilt without a sleepy cat laying on it, right?  This is Sweetie.  She's 17 years old and quite happy with her lazy cat life.

Mardi Gras Ragtime

I made this quilt for my Aunt Penny.  She loved New Orleans and Mardi Gras, so we decided a Mardi Gras themed quilt would be perfect for her.  We found 3 "Mardi Gras Lady" t-shirts to use in the design.  The flannel fabrics make this a heavy, warm quilt.

Aunt Penny (left) and myself about five years ago.  She passed away September 2008.  :(

Pinwheels

I made this quilt from a pattern in a quilt calendar.  It took a while to cut each piece using a template, but assembly was easy because all the pieces fit into squares.  I had a good time deciding how to arrange all these bright colors.  I think this was my first attempt at hand quilting.  It was simple to just quilt in the ditch around each pinwheel.

Ragtime

The Ragtime quilt started it all!  I made this quilt in a class at Designing Memories in West Memphis, AR.  It was quick and easy.. great for a beginner.  It took as much time to cut the raw edges as it did to assemble the quilt!  After this quilt, I invested in some spring loaded scissors.

Royal Cats Quilt

I call this one Royal Cats because of the colors of the kitties.  They are bold colors with gold accents.  This was the first traditional quilt that I made.  Basically, I knew how to cut out pieces and sew straight. The blocks look great but the quilting is horrible!  Oh well, I have to learn somehow!  I love the paw prints backing.  I'm a cat lover if you can't tell :)

Falling Leaves Placemats

I found this pattern for a Falling Leaves "candle mat".   I didn't know what I would do with a candle mat, so I just added a 3rd row and made it a placemat!  I still need to attach the back and quilt them, but I wanted to share my project.  The pattern says to sew stems for the leaves in the neutral squares. Then, I'll probably outline the leaves and be done.

Figgy Pudding Layout Decisions

I finally picked a layout and sewed it together!

Also, I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it. I always hand quilt, in the ditch or outline, but I think I'm ready to branch out of that. I'd love your suggestions!

P.S. I'm completely in love with Moda
Download this Pattern

Blogger's Quilt Festival

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Blooming Nine Patch

This quilt was my first very detailed quilt with lots of cutting and small piecing. My mom and I picked out the fabric at Designing Memories in West Memphis, AR. We went back and forth between blues, purples and turquoises, and I think it turned out great! It reminds me of the bottom of a swimming pool. The back is a blue and orange pebble pattern. I have a tendency to use crazy backing that doesn't exactly match the front.

Pinwheel Baby Quilt

I made this quilt is 2004 for my best friend's daughter, Makenzi. It's the perfect girlie quilt with a traditional pinwheel pattern.

Flowery Scrap Quilt

This quilt started as a mission to use some of my scraps. Turns out, I bought just as much fabric as I used! I chose white sashing that has tiny white flowers on it... then the off white backing with tinywhite flowers... then if that wasn't enough flowers, I used a stencil to quilt a flower in the middle of each square.

Hello!

I'm thinking about posting the quilts that I've made over the years. I enjoy looking at quilt blogs, so I wonder if other people will enjoy my quilts? I started quilting in the summer of 2003. There was a new quilting and scrapbooking shop in West Memphis and the shop owner, Jean, encouraged me to try her Ragtime quilt class. Immediately, I had to find a sewing machine to borrow. The class was a blast and I've been quilting ever since.