Deana: Machine quilting and sewing on scout patches

The very best part about yesterday was receiving this wonderful sewing machine in the mail from Cathy!  Thanks Cathy.  The colors are vibrant and the fabrics are beautiful.  The workmanship is superior.  I can tell that love went into this block so I plan to love it right along side my others.

Get the pattern here.

Or

Join the group here.

My progress yesterday was slow.  I need to have this one quilted by Friday nigh,t and I am getting a little too close to the deadline.  I mostly have filler work and borders left.  I did not make this quilt but rather am quilting it for someone.

Why is it that we love to sew quilts but we don't like mending and such?  Well, last night when I had to change thread color a bazillion times, I remembered why.  I had to sew patches on my husband's scout shirt in preparation for a couple of leadership camps he is headed to.  I also updated my son's Scout shoulder banner.  He has earned his EAGLE SCOUT - yay!  I am getting it ready for his Eagle Court of Honor which is coming up soon.  He is most pleased with his horsemanship merit badge (top left).

Linking up today with Needle and Thread Thursday and I Quilt.

Deana: Setting Oct Goals

Hello Blogland.  It is a little late, but below is a list of my October goals. 

My list is larger than normal this month because I plan on slacking next month.  My daughter comes home from Russia in November!  I have not seen her for 18 months and want to spend every minute with her.  She is currently serving a mission there for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I miss her SO MUCH!  Missionaries are not allowed to call home but they can Skype twice a year - Christmas and Mother's Day.  This helps them to stay focused on the work they do.  She did not choose Russia, she was called there.  Missionaries submit their papers to the church offices and they decide, through prayer and fasting, where each missionary needs to serve.  She did not know the Russian language when she left, but she is fluent now.  It is such a great experience!

I will spend today and tomorrow watching our church's semi-annual conference on the internet.  It is my favorite time of year and so spiritually uplifting.  I invite you to check it out at this link.  It will later be available in many languages.  It will take a week for my daughter and the Russian people to get it in their language.


1.  Finish quilting and bind the Windmill Quilt.  
I actually finished the quilting this morning - Yay!  I still need to bind it.  There is a pattern available for this quilt    
In My Etsy Shop
Or in my Craftsy Shop

 

2.  Complete the entire top of this horse quilt

 This is the direction this horse is headed.  I still need to piece the last ring and then make it rectangular.  You can see partial paper pieced units.  The borders will be hand applique' silhouettes of cowboys and horses.  I have much to do to get this done in time for Christmas.

 
3.  Design, make, and pattern the November Quilter's Garden row block.  
This is the October row we are making.
 
 FREE PATTERN IF YOU JOIN!  Details here!

Here is a single October block.  The rotaries in bloom pattern will be available for non participants to purchase at the end of the month.  You get it for free if you join and swap a block. 

 The sewing machine blocks were the September swap.  This pattern can be purchased here, at Etsy.  It includes patterns for three sewing machines.

You can also get it at Craftsy.

4.  Baste Jessi's Medallion to prepare it for quilting. The pattern is available  Etsy shop.  There are two parts in the Craftsy shop because the file was too big, so make sure you purchase them both or you will be missing some.  Etsy has the full pattern in one download.

5. Sew my monthly family round robin.
We all had to design a quilt for a sister or mom, but we all started with the same fabric (below).  As they pass around each month we do not know whose we are working on - it could even be our own quilt.  I have not received mine yet for this month.

6. Make a small quilt top for my Priceless Quilter Christmas swap.

I will be using sewing machine blocks as well as the "mystery" blocks I am designing for November's Quilter's Garden.  A pattern is currently available for the sewing machines at Etsy and Craftsy.  Once the November block is revealed I will release the pattern for this small quilt.  

7. Baste and quilt this top made by Sandra

8. 10 Dear Jane blocks

Yes, I plan to be in the sewing room every second I am home.  My house will be a little ruffled up and my son and husband will wish I would cook; however, there will be a very clean home with nice meals, and special family moments when she gets home. 

I am linking up with:

Show off Saturday  - go check out her wonderful blog and linky party!

Deana: I was featured!!!! Yay!

I was so excited to discover my Halloween quilt was featured at Richard and Tonya Quilts!!  They do a linky every Friday that I try to participate in.  Go check out their wonderful blog!

Also, a big "THANK YOU" to all of my friends, family, and blogger buddies who swapped a block with me to provide all of the wonderful Halloween blocks in this quilt!  I would not have this wonderful quilt without you!

In case you did not see it last week, here is my Halloween quilt they featured.

Deana: Tuesday Archives - A little late

I was thrilled to see that the Tuesday Archives linky over at Val's Quilting Studio is still open for a few hours.  This week is it about Ghastlies and Ghosts.  I was excited to link up because I made a Halloween quilt for every person in the house a few years ago.

This one is mine.  I added some close ups of a couple of my favorite blocks.

This quilt began as a friend group swap.  I asked everyone to make me a Halloween block of any size and kind.  The blocks that came back to me from that swap were the Jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins, dracula, "Pumpkin Patch" words, spiders, candy corn, little witch on the top left, trick-or-treaters, and the haunted house.  I loved them but needed more for a good sized quilt, so I joined an on-line Halloween block swap where I received the striped witch legs, two ghost blocks, the bats, and the skeleton.  Those blocks were supposed to finish at 12" square which made quilt assembly easier.  In that swap I made the witches on the brooms with the dangly legs.  It is a Buggy Barn pattern that I just LOVE!  The long and tall witch in the center as well as the cats were partially fused quilt blocks a friend was getting rid of.  I finished and dolled them up a bit.  

The Candy Corn Border is my design.  I used the Super60 30 degree ruler to cut strips that were sewn together.  I think it really adds to the quilt.

Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt!

I made the Jack-o-Lanterns for my son.  This is also a Buggy Barn Pattern. 

I made several Buggy Barn witches and cats and then put them into two quilts, one for each daughter.  One daughter took her to college to put on her bed next month so I could not get a current photo but here is a blurry one.

 

I put witches brooms for the border on the last one.

I found an after Halloween sale on all of this Halloween fabric.  I think the sale really is what got me going on all of these quilts in the first place.  This is a panel I bought for the back.

I am linking up with Val's Quilting Studio - Tuesday Archives.  She has two linkies today, one is called "Ghastlies" and the other is "Ghosts".  Below are my ghost blocks that are in the first quilt.  These two blocks were received from quilters in an on-line Halloween block swap.  I was not actually in the swap, but I emailed a few participants and asked if they would make one for me if I made them a Buggy Barn witch in exchange.  I am SO GLAD they accepted.

One more thing...

I am letting blogland know that my Windmill Quilt Pattern is finally finished.  If you are interested, you can find it in my Craftsy shop here or my Etsy shop here.

Thanks you for all your wonderful comments and support regarding this quilt!

Also linking up today with:

CrazyMom Quilts

Patchouli Moon

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Link a Finish Friday

Deana: Swap Questions?

I have had some questions about how the Mystery Row Swap (see more details at this link)  part will work, so I thought I would address it in this post.  I will update the same information to the original swap post.

Here is how the swap will work:

As quilters post their completed blocks I will number each block in the order they are blogged.  So when it is time to  decide which blocks go to Jane Doe, and if Jane made 3 blocks, I will draw out three numbers to determine which ones she gets.  If Deana made 6 blocks I will draw the next 6 numbers for her.  Basically, it will be random.  I will doctor up the randomness if needed such as:

• If you choose to make three identical swap blocks in the same fabrics, I will have you send them to three different people so one person will not have identical blocks in a row.  It is faster and easier to strip sew identical blocks so I anticipate most swappers will do this.
• If you choose to make three blocks that are not identical in fabric then I may have you send them to only one/maybe 2 people ,as needed, to save on postage.

Basically, you could get some blocks from the same person but most likely you will receive blocks from different people.  On the first of each month I will determine as randomly as possible where each block is sent and email everyone a list with addresses.


On the first of the month I will blog about a "maximum" number of blocks you can make.  It will probably be the number of blocks in the row (likely not more then 8).   

Participants will be required to use high quality fabric (no Walmart)  and to match the color scheme.  You can tell the quality by how good it feels and by the price.  Most good quality fabric is around $10 a yard.  I hope participants will purchase enough fabric so they can put bits of the same fabric in each row to blend it all together. 

I hope this post has provided you with some clarification.

Last of the Block Lotto finished -- by Deana

Here are my last two blocks for the Lotto this month.  I think they are kind of cute and kind of human looking too.

Below is a picture with all five of the sets.  I hope I win but with 123 entries out there, I will likely be shipping them off to some luckier quilter.

Halloween swap finally quilted and bound

I am adding this to the Blogger's Quilt Festival at amyscreativeside. This is my third time to play along with this festival.  You can see my fall 2009 entry here and my 2008 entry here.

I hope you like the quilt and its story.

In 2005 I was involved with a friends and family round robin.  Each of us chose a theme or quilt pattern we wanted which were passed around each month for a person to make a block.  I chose a Halloween theme.  I never assembled them because I just didn't have enough blocks to do anything. 

A year ago I located a Halloween "Spooktacular" round robin online at Jane's fabrics.  I was too late to join, but some of the ladies agreed to swap a block with me on the side.  I guess you could say that this lovely quilt is a culmination of friends old and new.  THANK YOU ALL!

I completed the quilting and binding on this baby 10-15-10.

It sort of all began with a little mystery class at Utah's Annual Quilt Meeting in Provo.  Our good friend, Charlene Richens, prepared a mystery for us in our hotel room.  This darling witch was the result of that mystery.  I have fond memories of much laughter and fun.

-"Pumpkin Patch" words: Mary Israel (friend)

-dracula: Linda Johnson (friend)

-pumpkins from left to right:  Mariella Potter, me, Karen Truman, 

     and Theresa Terry (friends)

-ghost block: mailed to me from Summer Sadie in Cordova, TN

-candy corns: Felicity (sister-in-law)

-wild hair witch: my mom

-witch on a broom: mailed to me from Kris in Rochester, NY

-haunted house: hand appliqued by Marie Pugsley (family)

-Trick or Treaters:  Felicity (sister-in-law)

-Boo block:  mailed to me from Belinda in Petersburg, TX

-cats: Deb and I made at the mystery class

-spiders: Deb Butler (friend)

-skull:  in the mail from Jennifer in Arlington, TX

-Buggy Barn witch: me

-Little witch:  Faye Torgerson (friend)

-bats: mailed to me by Cathy in Lakebay, WA

-witch legs: mailed to me by Nedra in St. G., Utah

Cactus Needle Quilts: Spooktacular Swap Finished

Here is Nedra's finished Halloween quilt. I made the Buggy Barn witch.

The Sun Is Finally Back… « Halloween quilt done

The Sun Is Finally Back… « SummerSadie

Summersadie finished her Halloween Quilt from our swap. I made the witch in the second row. Wow, now I need to get on top of my quilt now.

Sliced Quilt Challenge

This was probably the most challenging and yet, the most fun project I've ever worked on!! I truly want to do it again someday. Even though I linked to this project in an older post, let me recap. Six ladies decided to try our hands at a "sliced quilt". The rules were to find a picture to be recreated as a quilt, blow it up to the actual finished size, slice it into six pieces, and mail them out to each other. We all lived in various parts of the state and were not able to see each other's work until the unveiling.

Bev chose an underwater ocean scene. Sidney - holding the piece - really shined in her ability to paint fabric. I believe she did some beautiful painting mixed with other quilting techniques on every piece. I truly feel like she was the most talented and most inspiring. Sidney did this section of Bev's quilt.

This is my section. Because my slice was rather uneventful, I chose to do it in the storm at sea pattern to show the shadows in the water.

Another slice in Bev's quilt..


and another...
This shows her quilt entirely finished a few months later -- the bottom half only. You can now see where my section fit into the whole picture.



This was the entire quilt -- it is AMAZING!! Good job everyone!



This was my quilt. Sorry it is sideways but I wasn't able to attend the "swap" because I unexpectedly ended up going to Texas to haul cars with Jim. My slice and Loretta's wasn't done at the time of the swap. I have since made Loretta's section for her and have mine left to do. I'll post a more current, upright photo in the future.

These are the official "slice" ladies -- except me ofcourse. Back row is Sandra and DeAnn. Front row is Bev, Loretta, and Sidney.

This is Loretta's quilt. It is to DIE for!!! The section with the china and sugar bowl were done by none other than Amazing Sidney -- again.

Here is some more of Loretta's quilt. This section was done by Sandra. She did a method called "foiling" for the lettering on the book ends. I didn't get Loretta's done nor did she get mine done -- still a WIP.

This was Sidney's quilt. It was a photo of an old gas station. I made the section with the Pepsi logo and the "E R E" letters on the brick wall. I had fun innovating this piece. I took some really "ugly" striped fabric and bleached out some of the color to give it an "old" look. I wish I would have come up with something better on the Pepsi sign. There were letters on it that I could not read from the photo possibly because they were in the inside of the store window and reversed. If you look closely you'll notice that a shadow cuts across the quilt at a diagonal from left to right. It cut right across my bricks. ?To achieve this look, I purchased a brick fabric and bleached out (with q-tips) the lightened side. I painted the yellow letters on the bricks.

This photo shows the far left side of the quilt.

This quilt was DeAnn's. I made the slice on the very left end with the pink. It is hard to tell without the photo, but it is the outside of an old building. I used puff paint on the bottom flowers and made 3-D leaves by fusing fabric to itself and stitching them on with thread work.

This was Sandra's quilt. It is an arch scene from Moab. The missing block is mine -- sorry. I had it all but done and then had to leave unexpectedly for Texas. I mailed it to her when I got back. The saddest part is that I have no photo of it and I had the main arch -- the meat of the picture.