Celebrating my Grandma

my Uncle Rick, myself and my Grandma this past Christmas

My fabulous Grandmother turns 78 today.  She is one of the most important people in my life and one of my main inspirations for starting to quilt.  She is a fabulous quilter herself and her passion for her craft has been instrumental in my own love of quilting.  I only wish I lived close enough to her to give her the gigantic birthday hug she deserves today.  I made her a special gift for her birthday that I am so excited to share.  She loves applique and I love Dresden Plates- so I combined both of our loves in a mini quilt especially for her.  This quilt measures 35x35 inches and is designed to be a wall hanger.  She has her beautiful quilts hanging all over her house and I am excited to have my quilt hanging amongst her fabulous works.  I quilted feathers in the dresden petals, pebbles in the center and and a meandering stipple in the edges.  I also hand sewed on the binding - which is something I would only ever do for my beloved Grandma.  I don't enjoy hand sewing at all, but she always hand sews her bindings on, so I went the extra mile just for her.  I wanted her gift to be perfect.  I hope you all enjoy seeing her gift and Grandma if you are reading this, it is on it's way to you and Happy Birthday.  I love you always. 

WIP Wednesday #4 Quilting Quilting Quilting...

This week has been a busy one for me, unfortunately not with sewing but with other obligations- so I don't have too much to show.  I spent the better part of the week dreaming about quilting the Amy Butler quilt I am working on but finding the time to actually baste and quilt it seemed almost impossible.  I did finally get some time to do so yesterday and made a little progress.  I will say that basting this quilt was no fun at all- all the edges are on a bias and it didn't want to lay flat.  I would recommend to anyone else trying this quilt or one with the same tube technique to make sure they are using a 1/4 inch quilting foot and are very very careful with their seams, and also you probably want to spray starch like crazy before cutting the fabric.  This will help you immensely in the basting and quilting process... I wish I had that advice before doing this myself, but lesson learned.  Despite my challenges the quilting is coming along and I have some progress shots to show.  I have no other WIP's and no finishes, for now I am just quilting quilting quilting.

I am linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Amy Butler LOVE quilt- how I put it together

So I promised a rundown of how I put my most recent quilt together- made with a Jelly Roll of Amy Butlers LOVE collection.  This collection is over a year old now and may be hard to come by- but any bright and fun Jelly Roll would work for this quilt.  I also cut 2.5 inch strips of gray yardage for the solid parts.  This quilt was made by sewing tubes- and was seriously so easy to do.  I love fast piecing techniques that look harder then they are and get me to the quilting part faster... which is what I am about to do with this quilt.  Sigh... I love quilting.  Okay so here are the details- if you are not yet familiar with the Missouri Star Quilt Company and their glorious YouTube video tutorials then I strongly suggest you treat yourself to some computer time and check them out.  The videos are excellent and really great for the quilter who loves pre-cuts.  All of them take advantage of pre cut fabric and are all generally easy and fun to make.  I have done several of these projects over the last two years and have had much success with them all.  These videos are especially great for the beginning quilter as Jenny and her daughters take much of the mystery and fear out of quilting and approach everything with a can do attitude.  It is infectious.  You will soon find yourself with a long list of projects that you are dying to try.  This quilt is made just like the summer in the park  quilt except of course instead of using 2 jelly rolls I just opted to use just one print jelly roll and cut my own strips out of solids.  I have included a few pics of the process as well as the finished quilt top.  Now off to go quilt this beauty and my face won't let me stop smiling at the sheer joy it brings me- I will share pictures as soon as it is done.