A New Bathroom Quilt

I have made a few small quilts to hang in the bathroom at church. I rotate them occasionally. About a year ago one was stolen on a rummage sale day. I should say, it disappeared. In theory, someone could be "borrowing" it for an extended time. But I really don't expect to ever see it again. It was a word quilt with three words: Faith, Hope, Love. (I should have included "honesty.") Anyway, I finally made a replacement quilt. It's not as elaborate as the other one was, but it looks fine in the bathroom. It's about 12" x 16".

-Carol E.

Finished Again.. Added Buttons

Well, I did more quilting on this, but I'm such a lousy machine quilter that I can't do feathers and cool stuff like the rest of you can do. But -- I can only do what I can do. I added the buttons which I kind of like.

Did I say this measures 10" x 13"?

-- Carol E.

Finished My Mini - I Think

Here it is, 10" x 13". I like it, but I think it needs more quilting. I may add some.

--Carol E.

My Mini Start on My Mini

Someone gave me a bag of scraps. I had not even looked in it yet, but I knew there were some super small scraps in there. To work on this challenge, I peeked inside and pulled out some small strips. I now have 4 little squares, 2.5" in size. I posed it with an American quarter and with a Czech 2-crown piece (about a dime) for scale.

Here are all four:

So far I have no idea where I'll go with this challenge. It'll become clear at some point.

--Carol E.

Finished My Ice Palace

I finished my architecture challenge... the St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace. Here it is! Now that it's done, I like it.

--carol e.

My Ice Castle So Far

I finally got a start on the architecture challenge. I found some really cool fabric that works well for the ice. This is what I have so far, for my ice castle:

This is the mess I made while auditioning fabrics and cutting little pieces:

--carol e.

Two Options, One Decision

When the architecture challenge was announced, I immediately had in mind what I'd like to do.. the St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace. They don't make one every year, but when they do, it's always so beautiful. We have a poster of one hanging at work. I took a picture of it.. and I'm pretty sure this will be my inspiration.



I could also have fun with the Milwaukee Museum of Art, but...maybe I'll do that one another day. For this one I decided to go with my gut instinct and use the Ice Palace. Haven't started on it yet. We're getting company, and I need to clean. After the company leaves, I'll start on this project!



--carol e.

More Blocks

I made more blocks using Made Fabric and put them together, now am contemplating the next step. -- carol e.

My Scrappy Block

When I see all the photos of the scraps people are sharing, I am so amazed at how many fabrics are out there. That shouldn't surprise me, but it does. In my package, none of the scraps were fabrics that I have in my stash! I just think that is cool.



Here is the block I made. It is a 15-inch block. I am going to make a few more and make a quilt for a kid. This was loads of fun, and a quick way to do an exchange and a project. Thanks, V. (and thanks again to my partner, Ellen)

from Carol E.

Got My Scraps From Ellen

Look at the cute way Ellen sent me her scraps! And inside was a very cute coin (and other stuff) purse. I love it! Ellen said it's a fun way to start the spring. I'm glad her bright, happy scraps can help me think about spring, because this is what Minnesota is getting today and tomorrow: Thanks for the scraps, Ellen! I love them! I sent your box off this morning. --carol e.

Tea Towel is Coming Along

What I have done so far is a rearranged version of my earlier ideas. I decided I really didn't like the picture printed on my tea towel, so I cut it up and just saved the calendar part and the tree. The tree represents Family Tree, in my mind. i used my machine to write our names and the city, state where we were married (on the right, top). I've been monkeying around with a bunch of ideas for the borders, but everything was too distracting. So far I have this narrow border which hopefully will help set off the center of the quilt, so I can add some wilder second border, and it won't distract so much. At this point I have no idea what that second border might be.

Progress

I had a design somewhat in mind when I bought this tea towel. 1975 is the year we got married, and I knew I wanted to use this quilt as a "photo album" wall hanging. This is what I have been playing with so far. You will see that I actually used the stripey fabric.. I have not yet used the green/blue modern fabric, but I will. It's not going to be much bigger than this when done. So far the photos are just placed there with a tad of masking tape. They will have a more permanent setting when it's a real quilt.

Thanks for your comments on my previous post. What a nice group of supportive quilters! -- carol e.

Glad I Took Pictures

I pulled some fabrics to go with my tea towel. I thought I was ready to go, but decided to take a picture. I'm glad I did, because in the photo I realized that green stripey fabric doesn't look so great with the towel.

I looked around and replaced that green with a couple others. I like these better and love the modern fabric (the blue with green slashes in it) which I didn't think would go at all, but I like it! Off I go to start creating.

--carol e.

Fabric Challenge Done, Finally

Well, this is not 100% done, but it will be, soon. I did this somewhat in desperation, as described at my blog, Giraffe Dreams. (I can't seem to get the link to work; sorry.) Mainly I wanted to get it done so I can work on the Tea Towel and other more compelling projects.

I'm almost done quilting this and will get it bound and then packed off to sell at our guild's small quilt auction. (I hope it sells.) -Carol E.

My Tea Towel - 1975

I have a tea towel in my possession, but it's not one I want to use for this challenge, so I bought this one on eBay. 1975 is the year we were married... I'm thinking of what to do with this challenge, but first I want to finish my previous challenge.. the pretty plaid brownish fabric with the cool flowers on it. Have to catch up a little and am hoping this week will provide me with more sewing time than the previous week. Uffda! I hate those busy weeks with no play time! Carol E.

Carol's Challenge Project

I really loved the colors in the challenge fabric and hated to cut it up. I just cut it into strips and started sewing. I ended up not being very creative.

I pulled some fabrics (oops.. had the challenge fabric wrong side out)

the first square.. then I sat and wondered, 'well now what?'

decided to make 4 of these.. thought I'd make a pillow, but in the end, I didn't want it to be a pillow. I think after Christmas I will work with it more and probably do a Gwen Marston style medallion something. I have her medallion book and have been gazing at it for inspiration. I am excited and can hardly wait 'til I have time to continue working with this! I love the soft brownish/pinkish colors! -Carol E.

Note on the Vintage Fabs

I have received several people's $5 - thanks. As I get the $5 I send out the package. I've already sent several.. have about 4 left to send. You'll notice that I am living in the Dark Ages when it comes to estimating postage costs. So I have donated a bit to each package (they are ranging from $6 to nearly $10). Just pay it forward in some way with someone else when you get a chance. I'm willing to make that donation in postage this time. Here's a Christmas block that I made using some Christmas fabric that was in the vintage pile. A few of you will get some of this. Sorry I didn't have enough for everyone to get some. I sent this block to Victoria! :-)

--carol e.

Vintage Fabric Sorted

4 hours later: Sorry, I can't help everyone. I spent the evening dividing it up and have no more to share. The people I am sending to are: Cheri S., Liz F., Jane B., Beth S., Carol C., Charlotte K., LeeAnn D., Renee F., Willa, and Nancy. If you're not listed here, I can't send you any. It's all been claimed. Sorry! thanks for all the interest. ------------ Carol here... I sorted through all the vintage fabrics and divided it into ten piles. (11, counting my own pile). I had 8 people ask me for the fabrics, so I still have piles for two more people. No one wanted the wool, so I think I'll offer it to a shop owner here who does wonderful wool applique. Just shoot me an e-mail if you'd like to get some of this vintage fabric (read my previous post for details.) My biggest challenge is going to be finding appropriate size boxes. Please be patient while I go on a box search. P.S. Why is blogger not showing paragraphs? Anyway, i just read the comments and will have to check my lists of who e-mailed me and who commented. I may have enough to claim the ten piles. Will report back soon.

Vintage Fabrics Up for Grabs

A friend of mine gave me a huge bin and a box full of fabric from her mother's estate. There is a LOT of vintage fabric here. I am going to use some of it, but I can never use it all. Does anyone want some? I am happy to share. I know I could put together at least 5 packets of vintage stuff to mail out.. I'd prefer to keep the mail going to the USA or Canada just for my own ease of shipping.

Here are a couple of pictures of fabric piles. I would be dividing these up and splitting into five (or more) packs. Are you willing to send me $5 for shipping? I'll stuff as much as I can into those small video-sized Priority boxes which ship for around $5. Or, since I have so much, maybe I'll stuff it into shoe boxes. I'll have to see. First five people to speak up can have a packet of vintage fun. Send me an email: merryhands(at)gmail(dot)com. There may be lots more to share later; I already got overwhelmed going through the first box and have not even opened the second one yet. Bonus: I did not photograph the wool. If you like to do wool applique, specify wool and I'll send you that instead of the cotton-ish fabs.

Intuition Quilts Challenge Done

Remember Victoria's Intuition Challenge? I didn't really follow the rules (don't use any pattern), but at least this one got me started, and it resulted in this lovely quilt. It is a wonky log cabin. Yesterday I rented space on a long-arm and quilted this, then went home and got the binding on right away. Today I took a nap under it! I used wool batting, which is sooo homey and comfy and wonderful. I am planning to give this quilt away, but I must say, it is going to be hard to part with it. -- carol e.