Quilt As You Go

I am so excited to be a part of this quilt along. I have done BOM's before but this is different. Also, I think since I've done the quilting the whole thing and quilting it block by block, I think I prefer the block by block. I was thinking about that today as I have two quilts I'm working on, block by block and really, if you are going to put sashing in between the blocks, then really it's just as easy to have the block completely FMQ'd and then connect them, bind it and it's done. It is so much easier to handle smaller pieces, and I can take my time and do things at my pace.

If at first...

If at first, you don't succeed, try...try again. So...here I am with my blog and am gonna try and write or post some pictures. It IS all about quilting and I love to quilt.

I got a new sewing machine for our ministry and for my Christmas gift from my brother.

Also, I am going to be doing the quilt along thing with Leah Day and I want to be able to post the pictures. Actually, mom and I are doing it together. I'm trying to get my other gal to take it too. We'll see.

The quilts that I do that are not for the church, I am going to start an Etsy account, but I want more than one quilt on there. LOL It just takes so long for me to make a quilt that doesn't get given away.

On my list now, is one prayer quilt and one military quilt. I have lots of UFO's and hope to get to them this year.

I'm with Leah...let's quilt. :D

Second Place

Well, my challenge quilt won 2nd place :) now to make three more and stitch them together for a king sized quilt for my bed.

I entered another contest on line for some fabric and WON!

Proper Cutting

Okay...I touched on this already, but want to keep going. If you have the right tools and take the time...surprisingly, squares and triangles can actually match up! 

Quilting is a process, it's not just sewing. It is finding the right materials, cutting to proper sized and making the squares or shapes you want. THEN,  you have to recheck the size or of the blocks turned out wobbly, change the size. I started a puzzle quilt for my nephew for Christmas. It is a fun block to make but the size changed from 9.5 to 9 inches just so I could make sure all blocks are the same size. It is so nice to have everything line up and match! The sewing was the easy part after getting all the blocks correct.

I have several rulers and tools to help me achieve the right cut. I use:

Half-Square & Quarter-Square Triangles Ruler

Shape Cut™ Ruler

These rulers are probably my favorite! Try them and see what you think. There are videos on youtube that shows you how to use them.

Have fun and remember...it's all about quilting!

Military Quilt Finished

Wow! Life has sure been busy. I got several quilts sewed, but the more important one is I got Michael's marine quilt finished and sent.

This was quite a project but well worth it.

One of the things I learned doing this quilt was to make sure everything was cut and re-cut to size. Proper measurement and the right tools made piecing this quilt a breeze. I don't know why I never really did much trimming. I just sewed the ragged edges and made it fit and then be disappointed.

Practice makes perfect, but really none is perfect but Jesus, right? LOL...so all we can do is learn and do our very best.

To FMQ or Not is the Question

I have been pretty steady working on my Marine quilt. Seems like I can't do much for ministry without a whole bunch of distractions. But all of those aside, it is pinned and ready to quilt. Now i have to decide how I want to do it. Do I...just do fancy stitches or FMQ? I'm thinking doesn't every quilt need to be FMQ'd? I don't know...I'm still such a rookie.

I really want it done by church Sunday but we'll see.

this is a weird picture and I'll post a finished picture when it is complete.

Duty Calls

Well...it's time to put play away and focus on why I quilt. I got an email from an online friend requesting a quilt for her brother. He was wounded this Memorial Day Weekend in Iraq/Afganistan and lost both if his legs. Thank you Micheal for taking care of us here in the great USA! Yes I will make you a healing quilt and NO I will not charge for it. It is the least I can do for you. I am honored to make this for you.

Micheal is in the Marines and will be stateside hopefully in the next week. Please pray for him and his family as they adjust to having him home and for healing in his body and mind.