Back quilting!

It is soooo good to have my family feeling well again.  This cold season hit us hard the past week and a half.  We are pretty much recovered and I am enjoying getting towards the end of quilting my pronghorn antelope.  It has been quite the task.  I have no idea why I save the most complex and time-consuming quilting for my own quilts.  But it has been fun and I think hubby will be pleased with the final product.  Hopefully the quilting will be complete by the end of the week.  Here's a quick look at how the outside blocks are being finished.  You can check prior posts to put it in focus.

I think the rays in the corner blocks will mimic some of the quilting in the top portion of the panel.  Still need to quilt 1/4" inside the yellow as well.  

One reason the antelope is on the block to get done is that I just received another client quilt to complete so this will be up next for quilting.  Oooooh, what fun!

And, I needed some new creativity and sooooo wanted to do some sewing on Nina, so I started these this morning.

I believe this line is called Rebecca by Windham Fabrics.  I had a jelly roll and some left over strips from my Shadow Box Quilt.  So if I can do two or three a day, it shouldn't take long.  I absolutely LOVE this fabric.  My colors to the "T".  

Oh it is so good to be back blogging again.  The best news received since my respite is that we are going to have a new little girl added to our extended family.  That means I get to make baby girl quilts!!!  THAT is exciting!

Have a most blessed week!  As we approach the end of February, consider how quickly time passes (even more quickly for some). We never know when our last breath will be taken.  As we rush about this week in all our busy-ness, consider where you might spend eternity.

Quilt Club gifts

I spent the last day making eighteen of these extension cord wraps for the ladies attending quilt club this afternoon over at Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing.  We will be celebrating the gift of love today and I LOVE to make ladies feel special.  It is God's gift of service he has given me.  So we will have all sorts of surprises, demonstrations and show and tells.  I hope they like them

Have a most blessed weekend!

Mug Rugs

I am facilitating quilt club this Friday afternoon over at Blakeman Vacuum & Sewing, where I teach free motion quilting classes, and I wanted to come up with some little goodies for winners of some "quilty" games.  I love these little mug rugsl they are SOOOOO cute!  The only problem is, I didn't keep one for me!  But I will.  These are sooooo incredibly easy.  I used my new handy dandy Sizzix Big Shot  again for the bird and flower.

Thanks to Scissortailstudio.com for the heart mug rug pattern that got me started on making these cuties.  :)

Dresden Heart

All this finishing up and nothing new was really becoming difficult so I had to stop and create!  I saw this dresden heart on Quilters Club of America finished as a wall hanging with borders.  It was gorgeous and had two little bears below the heart.  I changed it up just a bit and used my brand new, handy, dandy Sizzix Big Shot and put birds in place of the bears.  You can find the pattern for the dresden heart on Quilting Up A Creek; it is inspired by an out-of-print pattern by Linda Brannock.  I just love this.

Garden Party Quilt

My first quilt finished in 2015!  This is the Garden Party Quilt taken from the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial.  This was a very simple, no thought quilt as it primarily used charm packs.  However, I think the quilting just totally makes this quilt and it is super snuggly.  I simply love it!  One of my favorites.  This quilt measures approximately 50" x 60"; one of my smaller quits, and for that I am thankful!  Hope you enjoy.

Free Motion Quilting Fantastic Feathers!

I shared recently about the basic free motion quilting class I teach.  I also offer a class called Fantastic Feathers.  It seems like although many students learn feathers, they are afraid to use them on a quilt; that bothered me.  So this class is super intensive on practicing several types of feathering and then using a couple of those styles in a final class project.

We start by reviewing the basic free form feather from the beginning class.  Then we learn some backwards feathers and combine the two to use on as an all-over design

The we take a look at the hook feather (this is actually a very easy feather):

And we "jazz" it up and maybe add a little Zen Tangling:

And no feathers class can be complete without heirloom feathers!  After a bit of practice, we pull out a sandwich and try our hand at a feathered wreath, followed by an heirloom feathered border.  Here is my sample:

All in all, we probably quilt at least 500 feather plumes during the one day class.  What a blessing to be able to share my love of free motion quilting with other ladies.  After this class, most ladies are ready to complete feathers on a border!

Have a most blessed weekend!  And be sure to fellowship with the body of Christ!  I will be spending Saturday with my husband.  He will be goose hunting but I plan to stay in the car and hand stitch the binding on my Garden Party quilt!  

Pronghorn Antelope Quilt

The fabric to complete the binding on my Garden Party quilt has arrived!  It is pressed and cut into binding strips.  Hopefully it will be sewn and attached tomorrow.  I have another basic free motion quilting class starting this afternoon over at Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing so the remainder of today will be taken up.

I also received word from Nikki on what kind of wording she would like on her memory quilt so that will probably get done soon as well.

Now!  The meat of this post.  I am busily quilting on Mr. Pronghorn.  It is slow go as I am doing heavy quilt work in the panel.  But it is awesome (at least I think so).  You can see the complete quilt top in a prior post.  Here is the back first because the front does not photograph as well.  Still have a ways to go.

And bits of the front:

Hope you enjoyed a pic of my work in progress as much as I am enjoying quilting it!

Have an awesome day!

Free Motion Quilting

Today, while I am busy cleaning my home and then quilting my unfinished projects, I thought I would share a little more about the craft with which God has blessed me.  I have been teaching free motion quilting classes down at our local sewing store for over one year now and love it every time I start a new class.  I developed a four part beginning class where students come for two hours once a week for four weeks and go home and practice between each class.  It has been very successful and I have seen a lot of ladies becoming thrilled with their abilities.  That is joy to me.  I also teach an advanced class and what we call Fantastic Feathers class.  Both are complete one day classes.

In the first class of my basic class, I teach introductory information about free motion quilting and then we go in to simple loops with some fun and simple designs (these are samples I made for the store):

The next class goes in to flowers and leaves and we take out the loops.  I also show a poinsettia and some other specific designs.  To those designs we add some hyperquilting and echoing.  Fun!

The third class is the most desired:  feathers.  We do a very basic free form feather and show ways to make it look good.  We also show a pansy type of feather and a leafy feather.

We end the series with some fun and quick overall quilting designs, writing our names and a little free motion embroidery.  

So when I am not tending to my family or home, you will probably find me quilting in my sewing room or teaching classes at Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing!  And I love every moment of all it.  My life is a blessing from God and I so desire to bless him and those around me with the life giving Spirit He gives.

Have a super day.  May God bless you richly today and cause you to ponder who He is and how He chooses to use you to touch the lives of those around you.  

Pronghorn Antelope Quilt

I love this quilt!  We live in Wyoming where these pronghorn antelope abound.  My husband loves the Wyoming wildlife so I made this quilt for him as I he wanted his OWN quilt.

It has been sandwiched for months but I have not gotten to the quilting.  SOOOOOOOO, while I await information from Nikki to complete her Memory Quilt, and while I await the binding fabric for my Garden Party, and while I am finishing the piecing of the backing for the Shadow Box Quilt, I am ready to sit down on occasion and quilt the pronghorns.

I started last night and did some outlining and texturing on the antelope.  I also completed one side of the wood grain with a tree bark design.  I think this will turn out gorgeous.

As I try to get all these unfinished projects complete, I think of some words of wisdom shared yesterday during a prayer time with the women in our fellowship.  The words had to do with our prayer life needing to be like paper bags versus plastic.  Just like we are asked such small and simple questions like: "Would you like paper or plastic?", so we should have that type of fellowship with our Lord Jesus, seeking His direction in every area of our life.  And that's why I am working soooo hard to get these projects complete.  Quilt bloggers have inspired me greatly this new year and I have been greatly convicted to get with it and enjoy finishing my gorgeous accomplishments.  So I can start new ones!!  :)

A verse of encouragement for today regarding the mighty awesome God who created this world and everything in it:

Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name):

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Have an awesome week and enjoy the presence of the Lord!