Deana: I finished Dad's Horse quilt!

Yay!  I can cross another UFO off of my list.  My mom made this quilt for Dad but she doesn't do machine applique'.  I traded her some hand quilting for all the silhouettes on this quilt.  It may look simple but it did involve a lot of time finding pictures of family, cutting them out, sizing them to fit the border, tracing them onto fusible webbing, and stitching around all those legs and tiny places.  I also had to hand applique' the center circle onto the borders at the sides and finish some of the horse applique' in the center - mainly the mane and face.

Sorry, it really needs pressed!

Below is a photo of the quilt I made for my son on the wall, and Mom's quilt to Dad on the floor.  It is fun for me to see them together.

I have also been machine quilting for Mom.  She really liked the way I did the red quilt for Joann so I am trying to duplicate the idea the best I can.  I hope to go visit her soon and take her the horse quilt (she is going to hand quilt it) and this pinwheel quilt finished.

Here is the back.

I am linking up with Free Motion Maveriks, Design Wall Monday, Freemotion by the River, and Show Off Saturday.

Deana: Horse silhouettes updated

I now have three sides of the silhouettes complete and the top and bottom rows are attached.  One more to go which I should have completed by the end of the day.  Sorry about the sunlight coming through the window.

Below is a closeup of my brother's family all holding hands.  I just love how it looks.  Next to it is my niece Bailey when she was small feeding a horse from a bucket.

Below shows Mom and Dad together and my Dad's horse drawn limo.  Those wheels were so tedious but look great!  

I managed to get all of Dad's grandchildren onto the quilt along with his brother, father, sons, and father-in-law - well sort of.  Grandpa Winkler is in the back of the wagon on the way to the cemetary to lay his body to rest.  It might sound strange to you, but it was a very special day for us as my Dad was able to make his final wish come true by doing this last service for him.

Every silhouette on the quilt is an actual picture of someone loved by Dad.  I enlarged them to the size I wanted, cut them out, and flipped them over to see if they made a good silhouette or not.  It takes time but is so rewarding.  

 I keep a large quilt hanging on the wall at my house.  I like to change it with the seasons and my mood.  Currently I have my sons quilt on the wall and my Dad's quilt (made by mom except the silhouettes) on the floor.  It is fun to see them together and make comparisons to their individual silhouettes.

The center horse is not my design.  I purchased it and enlarged it considerably.  It has 3D mane sticking up on the ends and makes it look very real and windblown.  The circle around the horse is my design and the idea to use real silhouettes of people we love was my husband's brilliant idea.

Here is a close up of my son't quilt on the wall.

I am nearly finished basting this pinwill quilt for Mom and hope to start quilting today or Monday.  We made it for her in a round robin a few years back.  Mom had purchased fat quarter bundles for all of us for Christmas.  We decided to draw names and send them off to each other to plan a quilt with the fabric.  Next, we passed them around each month round robin style and had a fun surprise at the end when we all received out fat quarter bundles back in the form of a finished quilt top.  It is so much fun!  We do it every year.

I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Show Off Saturday, Podunk Pretties, Whoomp!  There it is, and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Deana: Silhouettes

Today I have been tracing, fusing and cutting out silhouettes for Dad's Horse Quilt.  It is time consuming but fun to see them after they are cut out.  I have cut enough for three sides of the border, so I am getting close.

Here are my Tuesday Linkies:  Freemotion by the River, Esther's WOW, and Sew Cute Tuesday.

Deana & Lyn: Dad's Horse Quilt

Mom and I got together a couple of years ago and each made a horse quilt.  Mine was given to my son and has silhouettes of him in the border.  Mom's is for Dad and I am helping her with the silhouettes.  It is pretty full because Dad has a long life involving horses. 

Below are pictures of Dad's quilt in progress.  The white figurines are paper patterns and will be black fabric when the quilt is finished.

This quilt has been fun as my dad, son, and husband have all given their opinion.  I was receiving emails and texts from my sisters and sisters-in-law just yesterday as I gathered photos of all Dad's grandchildren.  All 21 of them are featured somewhere on the quilt.

I love the cut out of my son when he was very young looking up at his pony, Scout.  Now he is nearly 19 and off to Germany this summer for a two year church mission.  I am going to miss him so much!

Here is a photo of my son's finished horse quilt.

Mom does not like to do machine applique' so I am doing that for her.  In trade, she  finished the hand quilting on my Dorinda quilt.  I had it close to done but took it off the frames and replaced it with a quilt that had a deadline.  It sat for many years and she really wanted me to finish it.  Hence, we traded work.

Below is a photo of my Dorinda Quilt that Mom finished for me.  This quilt has an extensive story and history and led to the birth of this blog.

I am linking up with:

Main Crush Monday

Fabric Tuesday

Monday Making

Design Board Monday

Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday

Sew Cute Tuesday

Freemotion by the River

Deana: Americana House and Horse

I got a lot of hours of sewing in on Monday and Tuesday while at Mom's cabin, but not much since.  I did get some time today, however to make this cute little house.  I need 7 more blocks to complete a Buggy Barn Americana quilt so I thought I would make up some random blocks out of Americana fabric.  This block is from my Spring Row quilt.

I also spent quite a bit of time computer sketching patterns for these blocks in my Americana Row Quilt.  

Please ignore the machine quilting.  This was probably the first or second quilt I ever attempted to machine quilt.  My work is much improved now.  I would LOVE to pick out TONS of the quilting on this quilt and redo it, but it shows my progress as a quilter so I'm leaving it.

I also found time this afternoon to complete the machine blanket stitch on the horse's mane.  Silhouettes will come next.  This quilt is Mom but I am doing the blanket stitch for her in trade for some work she did for me.

I am linking up this evening with:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

TGIF

Link a Finish Friday

Fabric Frenzy
Scraphappy Saturday
FNSI

Deana: QUILTING FINISHED!

Yes, I some how got it all quilted after an hour here and an hour there and then an all day Saturday.  I am SO HAPPY!!  It still needs bound which I do by hand, but I love to sit with a blanket and relax as I stitch it down.

Linking up with Patchwork Times

and 

Anything Goes Mondays

Deana: almost done outline quilting

I only have the silhouettes in the outside border left to outline and then I will begin my "filler" quilting.  Yes, I still have much to do but I am getting there.  I wish I had more to show for today.

You really can't see the outline quilting on the front - just ugly basting threads.

Here is the back, but the lighting isn't really sufficient to really show what I've done either.

Linking up today with:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Fort Worth Studio

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

Deana: Quilting and my design wall

Hello blogland.  I have been quilting the horse quilt.  I can only get in an hour here and an hour there, so progress is slow.  You can see she is basted in the photo below. 

Here is a photo of the outline quilting I have completed so far.

Also, I received all of my beautiful blocks for my Quilter's Garden Swap.  I made only one of them below.  The others are from Linda, Phyllis, and Betty.  All three of these women are very intricate sewers.  I LOVE the blocks!

Here is my design wall with all of my BOM blocks for the Quilter's Garden.  This month was the flower blocks and you can see that I made several.

Linking up today with:

WOW Wednesday

WIP Wednesday

Let's Bee Social

BOM's away

Deana: Horse quilt ready to baste!

Yay!  The horse quilt made it to the quilt frames for basting.  I plan to get started quilting it tonight.

Below is a photo of where I put the border strips on the back.  I chose to just add two because it was long enough but not wide enough.  You can see my basting stitches in white on the back as well.

Linking up today with:

Patchwork Times

and

Anything Goes Mondays
Freemotion by the River
Fabric Tuesday
Show N Tell Tuesday
Sew Cute Tuesday

Deana: Top done!

I finally got  the top done!  I decided I did not like how the borders took away from the middle so I will be putting them on the back of the quilt.

Linking up with:

Crazy Mom Quilt

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Link a Finish Friday