Deck of Cards Challenge

 

The Nimble Thimbles Quilt Guild that I attend in Gilbert Plains hosted its Christmas gathering last week.  Part of the day included the reveal of the projects we created for our Deck of Cards Challenge. A few months ago you drew one card from a standard deck and were tasked with making a quilt that in some way related to that card.  The example we were given was the 9 of clubs with a quilt portraying a golf bag with a nine iron sticking out.  Here are the quilts that were created.  I will reveal the Cards later in the post so you can enjoy guessing.

1. Cheri made this one.

 

2. Velma's

 

3. Donelda's- I love the thread painted basket!

 

4. Dorothy's

5.  Gail's

 

6. Eleanor's

 

7. Debbie's

 

8. Pat's

 

9. Brenda's

 

10. Janice's

 

11. Sherry's

 

12. Mine - the classiest?

Have you figured it all out?  Here are the answers:

1. 10 of spades
2. 3 of clubs
3. 4 of hearts
4. 5 of hearts
5. Ace of clubs
6. King of hearts
7. 8 of clubs
8. 6 of clubs
9. 6 of spades
10. Queen of diamonds
11. Jack of spades
12. 7 of clubs

At this gathering we also exchange gifts with our secret friend.  Brenda gave me this amazing cross stitch and patchwork picture.  I love it!  A great group of ladies and a fun day indeed!

 

Tagged

I just love this quilt made by Cheri.  I had a smile on my face the whole time I was quilting it.

Cheri had a really good idea of what she wanted when she brought this quilt over.  She wanted to see the Bauhaus Baby panto, and we didn't need to look any further.  Perfect choice!  We ended up using So Fine # 510 in a color called Grotto.  

I think everyone knows by now that I personally am not a huge fan of Cuddle/Minkee fabrics.  I think they feel slippery, but kids and adult seem to love cuddling under them.  I have to admit that the grey Cuddle on the back does look fabulous!  

Cheri made this quilt to keep at her house for her grandson to use when he is there.  She did make it a little bigger than the pattern so that there is room for Grandma to cuddle under it too!Cheri is always great at remembering the names of patterns, designers and fabric collections - this pattern is called "Tagged" from the book Growing Up Modern by Allison Harris.  The fabric is Moda's "Mixed Bag."

Happy Holidays Tree Skirt - #4

This tree skirt was made by Cheri using the Happy Holidays pattern from Atkinson Designs.  Cheri made this tree skirt for her niece from fabric from her sister's collection.  Cheri's sister can no longer sew because of early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Cheri shared with me that it was her sister who got hooked on quilting.  It is sad that they can no longer share this passion together.  This tree skirt turned out beautifully and will definitely be treasured by the recipient because of the love her mom and aunt put into it.

Cheri left the quilting up to me.  This is actually the 4th tree skirt of this pattern that I have quilted for Cheri, so I tried to make it a little different than the others that you can see below.  I like a mix a straight lines and free motion.  I used a tan Magnifico thread with a bit of a sheen over all of the fabrics.

Here you can see the skirt complete with binding all ready to give away.

And here are the 4 versions Cheri has made over the last few years for her daughters and niece.

Ukulele Case

Daughter #2 recently purchased a tenor ukulele for herself and the store did not have any cases to fit so she had been carrying it around in the cardboard box it came in.  I had to fix that!  This was one of those "make it up as you go along" projects, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

This fabric has been sitting in my stash for a long time.  I'm not sure why I purchased it originally.  It might have been a super deal when a local quilt store was closing down.  At any rate, it felt perfect for my hippe girl. I popped the fabric on the longarm and instead of regular batting I used a product called "Annie's Soft and Stable" between my lining and top fabrics.   It really does not require quilting, but I wanted to accent the flowers in the fabric.

I cut out a front and back about half and inch bigger than the ukulele.  I made a few of the curves a little more gradual.

 

I decided that the zipper just needed to be at the bottom of the case, instead of all the way around, so I made the zipper section of the side panel first.  After if was complete I cut more side sections and experimented until I had just the right length to fit the case back.  

Wonder clips were perfect to hold the sections together and take them to the sewing machine without stabbing myself.

A little test fit to make sure I was on the right track before adding the second side.

Here you can see the case inside out.  To make the inside neat and tidy I bound the edges just like I would for a quilt.  I cut 2 1/4" strips of binding and folded and sewed one edge down and flipped it over and sewed it down by machine.  I'm glad I decided to have the binding on the inside of the case instead of the outside, (and that I didn't use a contrasting fabric) as it was tricky to keep it totally neat with the bulk in the binding and the firmness of the case fighting me.  I am more than happy for the lining, but it would take a little more practise for the outside of a project.

This was the first time I used Annie's Soft and Stable, but I will use it for any quilted bags that I make.  It is easy to work with a has a great amount of body.  Happy customer.

I added a handle and ta da!  Ukulele case done!

A few small but fun projects

I am trying to catch up posting some of the things that I have been working on.

My local guild was donating place mats to  a local organization and although I couldn't go to the sewing day, I wanted to contribute, so I made this first one from a Simply Color mini charm pack and 1 Fat quarter of fabric for the border and binding.

This one used up some scraps from another project and I used it to test drive a new thread.  I used Superior's new Micro Quilter, that is 100 wt.  I went fast and wanted to see if it would break.  Nope!  it is a fine but strong thread and I can see it will come in handy for certain applications where I don't want heavy thread build up or just want the thread to disappear.

This is a little fleece throw that I quilted for Sandra.  This is a new panto called Monkey Jungle and I think it turned out really cute.  Sandra took this one to give away on her recent trip to China and had asked if I had a monkey panto to coincide with the Year of the Monkey.

You can tell I am behind in posting photos as the ground is now white not leaf covered!

Now I saved the best for last.  I don't really knit, but when I saw the pattern for this hat I couldn't stop thinking about it.  Sandra is a talented knitter and we traded skills and she made me the most awesome hat ever!  Could there me a most perfect had for me??

Debbie's Disappearing Nine Patch

Debbie made this really lovely Disappearing Nine Patch quilt with fabrics that she originally purchased to include in her wonderful Leaf Row quilt that you can see here. Debbie ended up with a bit of a different palette for that quilt, but really ended up with a lovely (and large) secondary project. I tease Debbie that she only knows how to make big quilts - this one is 114" long!

Debbie wanted simple quilting and we decided that the Fascination panto was just right.

I love the rich backing fabric she provided.

A beautiful quilt that we will be well received by the lucky recipient.