Catherine Elena's Quilt Finished and Delivered!!

Yesterday I completed the quilt for Cathernine Elena (due Jan 5, 2013). Here are a few more in-process shots along with the finished product.

 

Beginning of the piecing

Fussy cut some of the dresses

Finished size 46 1/2" wide by 51" long

quilted around the whole dresses

detailed quilting in the green and
pink rectangles

the back

An outdoor shot where the colors are a little more true

Anna and I delivered the quilt yesterday. It's going to look great on the pink wall. I'll add a photo once it is hung.

Jan 19, 2013 ...and here it is hanging in Cate's pink room

Catherine Elena's Baby Quilt - In process, November 2012

Alexandra's baby sister is coming in January 2013 so it's time for another quilt. Niece Ellen invited me over to see the newly painted room - pink! Now I have to say I am not a pink person. But it is good for me to work outside of my usual palette of colors, right?

The timing coincided with Fabric Depot's montly 35% off sale so away I went on the hunt for pink. I was walking up and down the aisles and spotted this fabric and thought - this is it! (Okay. For those of you who know me you can see that I did manage to find fabric that works in colors that seem to find their way in to many of my pieces. But I do have pink too!)

Robert Kaufman - "Dress Up" - #13063

My journal page of the palette
(somehow this came out upside down)

The design I am doing is a wonky log cabin inspired by a quilt photo I saw in Angela Walters' book, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters (1979, pp.86-87). The quilt, entitled "Housing Project", was designed and pieced by Scott Hansen and quilted by Angela Walters.





Here is what is up on my design wall so far. The small squares are the centers for the wonky log cabin blocks. The finished size will be roughly 48" x 53". 

I can hardly wait to get further along but it will have to wait until my afternoon tutoring sessions are over today. I feel a long night coming on in what Mark refers to as "The Sweat Shop". Too much fun.

Molly's iPad Satchel - August 2012

Molly modeling her new satchel

A joint effort by my niece Molly and me. I was so proud of her work on her first-ever sewing project. She was such an apt pupil (and achieved excellence).

The back

It slides in so easily

The front

Baskinette Cover - October 2012

A quick fix for Gil's old baby basinette. Now it's ready for Clare & Gil's next two granddaughters due in January and March of 2013.

The inside view

  

Velcro closure for easy removal

Thanksgiving Napkins - October 2012

Thanksgiving dinner for 22 family members - a new napkin for everyone!

After rearranging the living room and borrowing a table from my sewing room we were able to make one long table. Here it is all set and ready.

Room for all 22 adults and one baby!

Nicola made place markers from beach stones

Gloria Loughman's Class - September 2012

My Canadian quilting buddy, Janet, and I took Gloria Loughman's two-day workshop "Quilted Symphony" this past September at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. We arrived a few days early to get in some fabric shopping and do a bit of sewing. 

There were about 15 of us in the class, one from as far away as the East Coast. Gloria was a wonderful instructor - encouraging each of us as we worked on our designs, periodically stopping the group to share another technique or design element and interjecting suggestions. She also brought some of her fabulous quilts (I wish I had taken some photos).



Here is the photo I brought to the workshop and used as inspiration for my piece. 

Rearranged space with the new design
wall mounted in the background.

I got a start on the piece at the workshop but it was obvious that I would need more time to finish. Once I got home I decided I needed to rearrange my workspace, make a new shelf for organizing my thread and put up a bigger design wall before I could start another quilt.

The new thread organizer based on a design
I found online. Where woud I be without "google?"

Time to get back to my project. 

Here is my quilt at one point in time. I kept this on the design wall while I was working on some other small projects, occasionally removing or adding bits of fabric.

I traveled out-of-town for a few weeks. When I returned I concentrated on completing the design and sewing the pieces to the tear away pattern backing. Here is where I am at so far.

The full piece will be about 20"x 26" when finished

detail of lower right corner

detail of right middle

detail of upper left corner

The next stage will be to make the sandwich, do a bit of quilting in some areas, and finish the edges. This will have to wait until I finish two baby quilts and one more table runner.

Clare's Table Runner - September 2012

I made a table runner for my sister-in-law Clare but got so excited to give it to her that I forgot to photograph it. I will add photos later. 

Just got some photographs of the runner so here it is.

13" wide x 82" long

I used a quilting design from Angela Walters' book

In its new home after Thanksgiving brunch