Finished the nephew's wedding quilt still need to mail it to him...
I'll put the photo of that one on the side...
then was inspired by autumn in British Columbia (Canada)
to make a quilt for my son and his girlfriend for Christmas.
I chose 3 types of leaves from the book pictured...
Made simple outline drawings...
actually folded the paper in half and cut out the side I liked the best for symetrical leaves.
I went through my stash of fabric, scraps, FQ's, etc.selecting all sorts of autumn colors...
I didn't use any color more than once.
Pinned the leaves to the background fabric,
I used a white on white print
mostly because I had a bunch of it-
and I thought the multiple colors would all go with it
without any problems.
I used a straight stitch in a matching threadto baste the leaves to the background fabric
and then selected a zig zag to finish the sewing.
this is not the only way to machine applique
it is the method I used for this project...
the basting allows you to get rid of all the pins
so they're out of the way when zig zagging.
on curves...
I leave the needle down on the outside of the curve
and pivot the fabric a few stitches at a time...it makes a smoother curved edge.
on a corner...
I have yet to find a better way than
stitching right to the edge,
leaving the needle down in the outside corner of the edge...
pivoting the fabric and continue zig zagging over the stitches.
I have seen other quilters narrow the zigzag going into the corner,
and widden it coming out of the corner.
But I haven't the patience for that on the quilts I make as gifts
for family members who don't really care about that stuff.
Maybe I'd try that method if I were going to enter a quilt show?
who knows?
I also found the cutest fabric in a remnant bin,
it was a bright green with pink and orange butterflies...
I just screamed at me to take it home and make a little girls quilt.
So I also picked up some pink and orange, and lighter greens for relief...
and then found a great flannel piece for the backing (mostly pink)
I just played around,
making several 9-patch blocks,
sewed a small 1" finished border around each square,
pink on some-orange on the others. used the butterfly print as the outside border...
fussy cut a few butterflies out of the small left over pieces,
and machine appliqued them down (same method as above)...
and wallah...
had a second quilt as a Christmas gift for Christmas.
It went to the same house as the autumn leaf quilt...
my sons girlfriend has a 3 1/2 year old daughter...
sooooooooooooooo,
watch the side for the photo's of the completed quilts...
1) the nephew's wedding quilt
2) the son's autumn leaf quilt
3) the little girls quilt
I'm ashamed to report,
that I didn't do very well on my quilty new years resolutions I set last year.
Too many things kept me sidetracked...
However the one I did follow through on,
was not buying lots of new fabric for my stash...
I only purchased fabric to complete projects.
Or rescued things from the thrift store/yard sales...
but I did try to keep that to a minimum.
the only thing I bought at a frabric shop without anything in mind...
Happened to be those pieces that called to me-
and were immediately made into that butterfly quilt for the little girl.
So I think I did pretty well there.
I think I'll roll those resolutions right on over for the new year...
now that my daughter is back at University (BYU-Provo)
1) back to my sewing room, yeah! and a bit of organizing there
2) get one of those kits I picked up in the past done and finished
-fortunately one is a small wall hanging- I think that's the one I'll do first
3) keep working on my traveling applique quilt
4) start that farmer's wife quilt I have been wanting to do
-I have finally decided that I really want to do it in 30's reproduction fabrics
5) I need to make a quilt for another son and his wife as a Christmas gift next year
6) keep working on using my stash, only making purchases to finish stuff
7) get one of my UFO's done
I think that's quite enough... we'll see if I do better this year than last
(Oh, and I still have to do the winter block for my calendar wall hanging cover...LOL)
FYI
FQ -means fat quarter's
UFO -means unfinished objects
LOL -means laugh out loud (when I put that in, I really am laughing at myself)
FYI -means for your information
