Batting Storage

I make a lot of quilts. Enough that I decided I'd like to purchase batting by the roll rather than as I go. This has also come in handy since my LQS closed and I can't just run downtown to get some when I need it. However, storing a large roll of batting has been a challenge in a small house. Cutting off what I need is also a challenge, especially with a full roll. The rolls aren't heavy, but they are big and unwieldy.

My husband came up with a simple solution recently.

He purchased a long handle and a couple of U clips then installed this underneath one of the basting tables he made for me several years ago. The link will take you to the post where I showed the details about the basting tables he made.

Now when I need batting I pull up however much I need, cut it, and then roll the excess back up. It's kind of like a big paper towel dispenser. I love it! It's so easy to cut batting now and it's stored underneath the table and out of the way.

A Wool Project and Winner Announced

First, the winner of my Eleven Eleven giveaway is Rose! She responded to my email quickly and her prize is already in the mail on it's way to her. Thank you to all who entered and left such kind comments! I don't do giveaways often because that is not my focus for this blog, but it is fun occasionally.

My next guild retreat is coming up. We are doing a pin cushion exchange. I've been wanting to make another bunny pin cushion and thought this was a good excuse. I've made two previously, first one and second one.

I haven't decided what I will put on the back and I don't think I am quite done embellishing it yet. The pattern calls for some beads which I haven't dug out yet and I think I may do a little more stitching around the leaves and flower. I am going to use crushed walnut shells inside this. I've never used them before. I have a pin cushion that I won at a past guild retreat that is filled with crushed walnut shells. It is nice so I thought I would give it a try on this one.

Modern Monday :: A Finish

The first finish of 2015.

It was a long process to make the blocks, but so much fun especially since I was doing them with my friend Caroll who blogs for her LQS, Attic Window Quilt Shop. It was hard for me to stick with such a limited color palette but I'm glad I resisted the urges to introduce another color.

The quilting took quite a while but it was good practice. I'm pretty confident with this new-to-me design. Here are some closeups of a couple blocks so you can see the quilting better.

I purchased the backing last year and got the binding over a year ago.

I don't have a real plan for this quilt other than I plan to keep it. The finished size is 64" by 64". I'm not usually a fan of square quilts, but I am very please with this one. I'll leave you with one more full shot, minus the cat.

And if you are interested and haven't entered yet, I am having a little giveaway. Click this link to go that post. It will remain open for a few more days and is open to everyone.

Eleven Eleven Giveaway

This is my 1111th post! And since January is also my birthday month, I'm celebrating with a little giveaway.

When I came home with the wool last month, I also picked out this fabric kit with pattern thinking that it would make a nice giveaway.

There is a tag that says the fabric kit includes fabric for the front, binding and backing for the wall hanging (the dancing snowman on the bottom right of the pattern). The pattern says the finished size of the wall quilt is 24.5" by 32.5". The pattern includes the full directions and full size applique pattern pieces for tracing to make the wall quilt as well as the table runner and the three tea towels, even though the fabric kit is only for the wall quilt.

The fabric kit looks complete to me, but I can't guarantee that the original owner of the kit didn't pull out a piece for something else at some point.

How to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You can tell me something about yourself, such as how long you have been quilting, or who taught you how to quilt, or anything else you care to divulge in a comment.
2. If you are a follower, old or new, leave a comment telling me how you follow my blog (through a reader, or email, or Blogger, or some other way) because I'm curious to know how other people follow blogs as I have only used Blogger.

Please be sure that I have a way to contact you if you are the winner! If you are a "no-reply" blogger then please include a way for me to contact you in your comment.

That's it! I will let Mr. Random Number Generator choose a winner on Monday Jan 12th and will edit this post once the winner is drawn letting everyone know that the giveaway is closed. I'll contact the winner on Monday and announce the winner in my Tuesday blog post.

Edited to add: the giveaway is now closed. The winner has been notified via email.

Thank you for following along with my quilting adventures!

P.S. If you don't know whether you are a "no-reply" blogger or not, google "no reply blogger." Or simply click the link in the previous sentence to view the various hits that came up when I googled it. I know that blogger does not play nice with with every type of blog account so this can't be fixed for everyone, but usually those folks already know that blogger lists them as "no reply". If you don't know what a "no reply blogger" is or don't know if you are or not, I suggest you do some research about it.

Christmas Quilt Finished (Photo Heavy)

I finished this quilt days ago, but wanted to wait to post pictures until after the recipient received it in the mail. They received it last Friday.

I did not have enough of a single fabric for the back so I added a little interest to the back since it needed to be pieced anyway. I also included a sleeve for hanging.

Here are the blocks, in no particular order.

I quilted it simply because the applique should be the focus, not the quilting. The finished size of the quilt is about 48" by 48".

The name of the pattern is Yuletide Joy. The pattern is by Susan H. Garman and was a block of the month from 1998. I was asked to finish the quilt by a friend. Her sister purchased all the fabric kits and block patterns, probably in 1998. She did the first four blocks and then quit. I completed the remaining 8 blocks using hand applique and machine piecing and finished the quilt for my friend.

This project was quite the learning experience for me. I learned that hand applique is extremely time consuming, at least for me. Each block took me an average of 8 hours of work to complete. I also gained valuable hand applique experience. In particular I learned that good quality fabric is much easier to hand applique than lesser quality fabric. This was also the first applique quilt I quilted. Trying to quilt it evenly was a challenge.

Despite the fabrics not being my style, I do like the finished quilt. It is not a pattern I would have chosen to do, but it is an adorable finished quilt. I particularly like how the blocks are set together. They are not laid out in a strict grid pattern and the pieced stars, squares and half square triangles are used to fill in the spaces in between the applique. There is just enough piecing in between the applique to set off the applique without overwhelming it. Even more of a surprise was the fact that everything went together very easily despite being made by two people over 16 years!

It was hard to send it off to its forever home after spending so much time with it. Knowing it will be well loved and looked after is a comfort.

Selfish Sewing Month

Last year I decided that in January I would only sew projects for myself. It worked out so well, I'm going to do it again. I find that a lot of my sewing time at the end of the year is spent sewing for others so January seems like a good time to focus on myself. In addition, January is my birthday month so this is my gift to myself.

The first project I am going to tackle is to finish my Modern Monday quilt. The link will take you to the post in which I showed the completed top. That was on April 8, 2013! Quilting has already begun.

During Craftsy's end of the year class sale, I purchased the class The Secrets of Free-Motion Quilting. The design I'm doing on my Modern Monday quilt is one of the designs covered in the class.

I've only watched the first two sessions of this course. Despite not even finishing the course yet, I feel I can safely say that I love this class and am so glad I purchased it. The class is not a basics of free-motion quilting type course. There is no information about basting your quilt, stopping and starting, batting, needles or thread. The course covers free-motion quilting designs, which is exactly what I need. The lessons are organized by design type. Within the first two lessons the instructor, Christina Cameli, covers several designs, how to mix and match them to create more designs and how to look at a finished quilt and deconstruct the design so that you can figure out how it was stitched. When I finish the class I'll try to do a more thorough review, but if you are looking for free-motion quilting design ideas with instructions on how to stitch them, I recommend you check out this class on Craftsy.

The instructor, Christina Cameli, has a blog too, called A Few Scraps.

Show and Tell :: Quilts for Oncology (Part 3)

These are the last four quilts I received this month for our local oncology department.

This first one was made by Linda.

I don't remember who made this one.

And these last two were made by Janet.

Some of these quilts have already been taken to the hospital. I've been taking about 10 quilts once a month for the past couple of months.