Word Play Quilts, Zaren's Quilt

This book by Tonya Ricucci is one book I am so glad I purchased.  It has so many wonderful ways to add words to your quilt.  It is so easy, I have started making quilts for grandkids with their names on them.  The good part about it is the easy to follow directions for each letter that are in the back of the book.  I have enjoyed reading the book from cover to cover and trying the many ways to make numbers and letters in a quilt.  If you, like myself, are more of an art quilter or have never made a quilt and would like to.  Then this is the book for you.  Also this is the latest quilt top that I am making for my grandson.  It is just a small cuddle quilt, but I think that kids like having a small quilt to drag around.

Now it's your turn to go and make your own.

Cathedral Windows Quilt

The Cathedral Window Quilt pattern is gorgeous. The Origami-like folding of fabric, the jewel like tones of the "windows", the layers of fabric and stitching - all combine to create an amazing, complex looking quilt. The reality is that the process is not that hard, and with a little learning and patience, you can do it quite easily.
Well this blog post is not a tutorial. It is a story about my experience with the pattern.  I taught myself to make the block when I got a little card in the mail with the instructions on it I learned to make the block very quickly and before I knew it, I had completed 4 panels. It is a very addictive block to make.  It is done by hand and you quilt as you go, so as you finish a block , you are also finishing your quilt.
This is my story about the Cathedral Windows quilt and my experience.  I started teaching a group of women from my church to make the block a few years ago, but right in the middle of learning the block, I moved away and I did not get a chance to see any of the finished quilts in that group.
Well back in June 2011 I was in Cedar Rapids and visiting the church when Lois, one of the ladies in that group came to me and said, "I would like for you to see my quilt" she said that after I left she continued to work on her quilt and it took her about 5 years to complete the quilt. She was so proud of her quilt and I was too.  She let me take pictures of her quilt and said that she did not mind if I put the pictures on my blog.  I just want to say that this is a very fun easy quilt to make.  I looks hard. But when you finish a quilt you will be so happy you made it. There are so many tutorials on the internet to show you how to make one, and so many ideas.  I made mine and while making it I got the big idea to add photos in the windows. So some of my CW quilt has photos of my family and friends.
Here are pictures of Lois and her quilt.

Now I know that this makes you want to get started on your own Cathedral Windows quilt.

Neck Tie Quilt

I am finally creating at a good pace and it feels good.  Good enough to write a blog post about it.
A few years ago, my cousin presented me with a tote full of neckties (thank you CeCe) and through the years I have added to that collection by going to the thrift store and buying more, and by taking any and every tie that was donated to my collection. I ended up with a barrel of ties.  My darling husband was so kind to take three days and make ready all my ties by cutting them open and taking all the filling out.  Thank you Bobby.
I decided that I would make a quilt out of the ties first, then what is left will go into a jacket.  I did not realize all the beautiful ties I had collected, my husband even traded a couple of his ties for the ones he found in my barrel.  There are silk, satin,cotton,wool, and also some polyester.
I have started on the quilt first, I decided to use the foundation piecing method since I have all different kinds of fabric and textures. It is hard to use some of the ties because they are so beautiful, I keep putting different ones back for the coat.  So now I am closing my eyes and whatever tie I pull out, I have to use.  That makes it a lot easier.  I am going to put the quilt together row by row as I go along.  I am not going to worry about what colors or textures should go next to what, it is an art quilt that when it is done, won't win any contests(?) but will be beautiful in it's right.  I will continue to post about this quilt and when it is done you will see.  My husband said "if you don't do anything with these ties after I have done all this work, I will not do anything like this again" So that is another instinctive reason for me to get this quilt done.

As you can see, there are many nice ties going into this quilt.

Here is a picture of my first block. 

Here is a sneak preview of the cuddle quilt I just finished for the quilt guild that I belong to. Go over and take a look at that blog also.

Ojore' Gets His Quilt

I have to say that I feel so good today. Finally finishing the quilt that I made for my grandson and also getting it sent to him. He received the quilt on March 24, 2 weeks before his birthday! I told his mom to go ahead and let him open the package because Granmommy could not wait to see him with it. Thank God for modern technology! Being able to see the pictures right away is truly a blessing. He said "I can lay on it and look up at the clouds" He also recognized all the trucks he told his mom "I think I see a excavator" to tell you the truth I did not know that I put one one the quilt. I thought they were all trucks. LOL He is so smart. It took about a year to make this quilt and to think with 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grands, Granmommy has a lot of work to do.

A Good Start In January

It is a shame to invite folks to your blog (through Entrecard,Facebook,or Twitter) and not have been there that much myself. I vow to post more. The thing is, I just don't have a lot to say. But I want to thank all that have visited and left a comment. It helps.

I was reading someone's blog the other day and she was talking about that very thing and I realized that I am guilty of that same thing. It is like inviting someone to your house and not being home.

Today I thought I would post the latest quilt I have been working on. To start,the members of our quilt guild are required to make at least 4 cuddle quilts a year (these we donate to the Le Bonhuer) So anyway this is my first one for the year.
This was such a simple and fun quilt to make. I got the pattern from the Quiltville blog. If you ever want to learn how to do a certain block you can find it there with very easy instructions. Anyway once I made the first block, I could not stop until the quilt was finished. It is a small quilt only 48"X 48".
This is what one square looks like. I made 16 squares.

My quilting sister Mildred Puckett came over and showed me how to tie the quilt. Boy that saved a lot of time for me and I like the way it looks. I tied it with pink cotton crochet thread.

Now I know you will love this chenile pillow also. It will be listed for sale in my Etsy shop very soon. I will tell you that it is nice and big and fluffy. It is one of those pillows that you will want to hug when your (significant other) is not around.

I am trying to figure out what to do with this bag I made, I had some of the chenille leftover from the pillow so I decided to make this bag. This is as far as I got and now I don't know how I will do the handles. The ends are finished so I don't know what I am going to do with it so I am going to put it aside and do something else. Any suggestions?


This is one of the blocks for the quilt I am making for my granddaughter, it is a wonderful quilt that will look like a four story house when (whenever) I get done with it. But you can enjoy some of it now.



If you recognize what rooms these are, let me know then I will know that I am on the right track. Ha Ha.
Until next time, happy blogging!

Round Robin

A round robin is a great way for a group of quilters to challenge each other creatively. In its simplest form a round robin is an ongoing exchange of quilt projects where each person takes a turn adding to the project. You will not be able to see your block again until the all the blocks are finished. Oh what a surprise that is going to be. Beyond that, it can become quite elaborate depending on the rules agreed upon by the group. That being said, our quilt guild just finished a round robin and I was so impressed with the beautiful quilt tops that came out of it. There are some very creative folks in our guild. I am very excited about being in the next round robin that is coming up soon. We are starting with a 12 to 16 inch block. At our next meeting we will each share our block, then they go into a bag and we will not see them again until the round robin is done.
Here are some of the photos from the last round robin

The Yo Yo Ladies of Paducah, Kentucky

At our last Quilt Guild meeting we had as our guests, the Yo Yo Ladies of Paducah, Ky. This is a group of quilting ladies that make yo yo's and quilted items that they sell for different charities. What a great time we had, they shared some of their quilts with us and with each quilt there was a wonderful and interesting story. They have also been featured every year in a Japanese quilt magazine. One of the members showed her beautiful spider quilt, I fell in love with it and decided to give it a try. Here is the one that I made.

Well I thought I had taken a picture of the on she made but I couldn't find it. I did take some pictures of some of the quilts that they brought. Although I can't remember any of the stories that was told about the quilts. They brought so many beautiful quilts and we felt very blessed to have been able to see them. I was inspired to get to my studio and get to quilting.



This last quilt is a yo yo quilt. They said that it has 1700 exceptional yo yos, they said that they was not perfect yo yos because only God is perfect.


If you click on the photo, you will get a better idea of what a yo yo is.

More from the Q.U.I.L.T Guild

We had our monthly Q.U.I.L.T (Quilters United In Lasting Tradition)It was a good meeting. We worked on the quilt that we are making for one of the members. I helped to cut some of the strips. I did learn how to get my pieces cut very straight. That is the one thing that I love about this group and that is everyone is very generous with information. I brought a cuddle quilt for show and tell and for donation to the children's hospital the only thing is I got a couple of places underneath that buckled and one of the members gave me a hint on how to keep that from happening. Then I learned how to join my binding on the bias that is a wonderful hint that I have been using in a lot of my garment sewing. This is the quilt that I made for the children's hospital.

Also in the guild we all wear name tags and we made our own tags. At this meeting I decided to take some photos of some of the name tags because they are so interesting the different ideas that each person had for the name tag.







Also last weekend I had the opportunity to watch my friend Mary make this beautiful wedding cake for her son that got married. Mary makes delicious cakes and this cake was sooo good. I have so many talented friends.

The Q.U.I.L.T Guild (Quilters United In Lasting Tradition)

I joined this group of quilters last December. After the first meeting I was hooked. Not only on the group but also hooked on the idea of quilting. I say "idea" of quilting only because I have not really dug in made a quilt yet. But I have helped with a couple of the projects that the group has done. One of the on-going projects that the guild has is the Cuddle Quilt Project, the guild donates about 100 quilts a year to Labana and St. Judes Childrens Hospitals for children with cancer. Some of the quilts that are made by the members are also donated to the hospital here in Paris, Tn.

We have some other fun events also, like our May birthday party, where we celebrate the quilds' anniversary and all the members' birthdays. On May 7th we celebrated by drawing names and each of the members bought the person whose name was drawn $15 worth of fabric. We each wrote down the colors we wanted and the person we drew was supposed to get the color they wanted. There was a lot of wonderful color combinations given.

Also at this same meeting we ooooed and ahhhhed the beautiful batik fabrics and quilts that Diane of Batiks by Design brought in to show. She had totes and totes of fabric and quilts that were delightful and inspiring. You can go to her website for more information and to see her beautiful fabrics and quilts.