Cute quilt finish from Sew paint it...

Darling finish from Marianne of Sew Paint It. Marianne does a little bit of everything, sewing, decorating, renovating, painting, you name it. Our kind of lady! We got this submission, and Megan and I both have a soft spot for Sarah Jane fabric. Just looking at this quilt makes me want to go play with my stash. Anyhow, Marianne did a little bit of everything on this quilt, applique, hand stitching, machine quilting etc. We love it all! 

I finished a quilt!  It is my boys quilt using children at play fabric by Sarah Jane and I am really, really, really pleased with it!

I finished it today.

The backing was a sheet I found and I love it.  It is so soft and lovely.  Love the design for my little boy too.

Diggers and tractors - just what little boys like!

I did machine quilting on this quilt and then hand quilted around the stars.

I love hand quilting because it is so soft and specially for someone.  It shows you care.

The machine quilting is 0.25" from each seam.

The binding is also a sheet, a plain blue one which was worn out in areas.  It is really soft.  I hate doing the corners!  I must find some tutorials on doing that better because there is definitely room for improvement there!

AMAZING paper pieced quilt from Selfsewn life...

AMAZING  quilt from my selfsewn life by Summerfete, she paper pieced the entire thing! Each block took an hour, and there are 68 blocks! This girl does not have ADD! I think this would take me years! She has a wonderful hand piecing tutorial, and a great fussy cutting tutorial.  Here is some more details about the quilt, you must check them out...

Summer of Love Quilt

 I'm entering Amy's

bloggers' quilt festival.

If like me you have never heard of it go take a look

there are some amazing quilts to swoon over.

I'm sharing my hand sewn English paper pieced summer of love quilt

that I finished this June.

I suppose you would call it a scrap quilt,

as no two stars are the same

and the majority of the fabric came from my stash.
Some are from friends and some are from France
and one is from my childhood!

 My inspiration was a vintage hexagon patchwork cushion.

So the fabrics are a mix of vintage and new,

with an addition of solids to break up the busyness.

 I backed it with an old duvet,

as I'm all about using what you have.

When I found the scrap for the binding

I couldn't believe how well it matched the scheme.

 As I'm not the worlds greatest quilter I did simple machine diagonals,

also I didn't want to add to the fussiness,

though I'm probably regretting that decision now!

 It took me at least 6 months to complete,

though I really motored on during winter/spring

 I learnt about fussy cutting through this quilt,
it's a real joy to see how the patterns form.
 Well for those of you have seen it all before

hope you enjoyed the re-run!

And to those that are new to me

welcome

I hope it has brightened your day!

Erica from Crafty blossom, cross my heart quilt...

Todays feature is of Erica of Crafty Blossom. Erica's blog is almost entirely quilting, sewing, crafting, fabric etc. She is full of cute projects and ideas. You will definitely want to be visiting her blog. She also has a cute etsy shop here. This story is really sweet, and Erica is really sweet to make this quilt....

This is my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival 2010. This quilt, although very simple, is near and dear to my heart. Back in November, a loved one was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder,Langerhan's Histiocytosis. Swift medical attention was a must considering the severity of the disease.

 Unfortunately, my girlfriend is one of many uninsured Americans, making an extremely difficult situation all the worse. A fundraiser was organized to gather the necessary funds for treatment and a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Among the many donations that came in, one anonymous donor stepped up and provided the remainder of the money needed for the medical testing and visit to the Mayo clinic. This warmed my heart so much and I thought a thank-you quilt was in order for this person. I suppose it's the least I could do. This quilt represents love, solidarity, faith, hope and positivity.

Thanks Erica, I hope your friend is well. Keep on crafting and sharing your projects with us.

Quilted by Dawn, Family circle quilt

Here is a darling quilt done by Dawn of "Quilted by Dawn." We LOVE this quilt, so when Dawn submitted her quilt to us, we were so happy. I am a big fan of wedding ring quilts, this looks like a more modern take. Make sure to check out her blog, Dawn is fairly new to the blogging world, so give her a big welcome. Thanks Dawn!

This is a Denyse Schmidt quilt pattern (Single Girl), but since I made it for our happily married bed, 'Single Girl' didn't seem like quite the name I wanted for it, so we call it 'Family Circle.' I had been wanting to make this design for a long time, trying to get Katie Jump Rope fabrics to make is, but alas - I came into the game too late to scoop up that fabric line. When the Hope Valley line came out, I quickly bought some fat quarters, then added and subtracted fabrics from my stash until I came up with an acceptable balance.

I brought this quilt everywhere, dragging it around on a cookie sheet to keep the peices flat, while our kids went to soccer games and dance practice. I actually really hated the colors as I was making it - in little pieces it just didn't seem to flow, but now that it's together, I like it again.

I love tags - stuck this one on included into the binding, and love that idea. I think I'll do it again sometime.

Anyway - it's done!!! That was a lot of work, and sure is nice to snuggle up with at night - all the stippling just makes it drape so nicely. Well done, me!

Love birds wedding quilt from Pickledish...

Okay I am in LOVE with this quilt and I wish Lesly was my friend and she could have made it for me as a wedding present, or just for my birthday! I am not normally drawn to these vivid colors, I am normally a muted tones type of girl...not neutrals, just soft colors...in my fabric choices, and on my walls. Anyhow, I saw this post and asked Lesly of Pickledish if we could pretty please feature it, and she kindly said yes. Lesly is one of those girls with eleventy billion finished quilts on her sidebar. (Oh how I wish to be one of those girls) go check her out for some great quilts!

This one went down to the wire, friends! I stayed up very late to finish the quilting and sew the binding to the quilt sandwich.

I watched many episodes of The Jewel in the Crown while I was doing the FMQ - I had forgotten what a good series that was! It was a pleasure to see it again. I couldn't finish off the binding - I was seeing double by the time it was sewn to the quilt top, and it was 3am before I found my bed. I forced myself out of bed at 7 to baste the binding and then sew it on. I don't know how people manage to machine-sew binding on when it is held in place with pins - my hat is off to them!

I would have hand-stitched the binding in place, since it was for a wedding present, but there was no time. As it was, I packed my overnight case while the quilt was in the wash, and took my shower while it was in the dryer. I whisked it outdoors for some quick photos while my husband was tapping his foot and looking pointedly at his watch.

We raced down the 401 to Toronto and checked into the wedding hotel - which, as it happens, was the same hotel where we spent our wedding night, 24 years ago!

I was very happy with the label for this quilt. I printed it on one of those Printed Treasures sheets, and then pieced it into the back, with a piece of the linen showing the two lovebirds. I've used these printing cotton sheets before, but this is the first time I've pieced in into the back. I like it!

The groom has been a friend of ours for many years. This was his second marriage, and his son and daughter were the only attendants. I had never met the bride, and I hoped she liked purple. While I felt fairly sure that Denys would like it, I had certainly been second guessing myself as I put this together - what on earth was I thinking, making such a hugely and utterly purple quilt for a woman I had never met! Purple isn't everyone's cup of tea - maybe she would be a purple-hater! Imagine my relief to see that the underslip to her elegant lace gown was a beautiful soft purple!

Thank you much Lesly, I am sure you have inspired many with this beautiful quilt. I hope they all loved it , and I hope you got alot of ooohhhs and ahhhssss...  make sure to visit pickledish.

And we still have our amazing fabric giveaway courtesy of Ladybug Quilt shop going on here, so make sure you've entered!

Yours Truly

This quilt is brought to you from Megan of Fresh Poppy Design :)  Okay okay, if you don't know Heather and I (Megan) we do our multi-crafty things on our Fresh Poppy Design blog (also the name of our quilt patterns) and we share quilt stories here! 

Heather and I have sewn for many years, for me personally I think it all started with some pj pants, but we first learned to quilt 3 years ago when we were expecting babies only 1 week apart.  (And they ended up 2 days apart.)  We made our first quilt for our babies, the quilt I am sharing today is the 2nd quilt I ever made.

I used Chocolate Lollipop fabric by the fabulous Anna Maria Horner for Freespirit.  (I think there are some other odds and ends thrown in there.)  We did use a purchased pattern but I cannot find it to credit it for the life of me!

I think this is my favorite block.  The funny thing is that Heather always goes for pinks, and I go for blues...in our fabric choices, decorating, etc..  So we decided that for these quilts we would pick outside our normal ranges...so you guessed it, Heather's (same quilt) is blue.  And we both in the end admitted we liked each others better...and have planned for some time to switch them when we can.

So wouldn't you know it that my favorite block is blue and green :)

Our amazing aunt Wendy who is a fabulous crafter taught us many of our quilting tricks.  Bless her heart she had to put up with some ridiculous questions.  She is also an amazing machine quilter, and she does all of our quilts.

(If you're in the Utah area send us an email and we'll get you her info!)

Here is one thing I learned.  Don't do polka dot binding unless it's very small.  I didn't know to look at it on the bias, which on the bias it is straight dots, and thus doesn't look too great.  My favorite bindings are stripes and ginghams. I also like a bright color for the binding that just pops.

I only ever have two choices for my backing.  I can either pick my very favorite fabric (which I did here) because then I can flip it over and enjoy the solid backing just as much.  And I don't really pay to much attention to how it may relate to the front (although of course I have it match.)  My other backing choice is minky...it is just so much more snuggly and thus more used!

There you have it!  A quilt by yours truly :)  We may throw these ones in here and there...hope you enjoy them!  Linking with AmyLouWho.

ALSO on MONDAY we are premiering a

BRAND NEW BOY QUILT PATTERN

that is so amazingly cute and having a

 QUILT PATTERN GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!! 

Check back first thing Monday morning for many many chances to win.

Kristie from OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder...

This is a sweet quilt from Kristie from OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder. Finally, I have found a name for my condition! I have OCD too!  Anyhow, her blog is super cute full of tons of cute tutorials. She is very talented. She is a little new to the blog world, so go on over and give her a big welcome! This is actually a sweet story...

I am so pleased with how this quilt came out, I seriously considered changing the name of one of my girls to Mckinley so that I can keep it. But, in the end, I can't think of a better home for this one. Mckinley was recently adopted by long term patients who I consider friends, after a long struggle with infertility. It is such a happy ending, and I am thrilled to do something for this beautiful new family!

I made the quilt using a Moda Hunky Dory charm pack, then framed each square in white to make it pop. The back is a solid of my favorite pattern from this series- the flowers are so vibrant and retro looking. I then bound it in the pink polka dot from the series. I also put in a white bar on which I hand embroidered Mckinley's name. To do so I printed a font and size on my computer, held it up to a window, and traced it onto the white sash. I then used 3 embroidery threads to stitch it up. Thanks to Amy at NanaCo for the advice! I extended the name stash to the edges, beyond the borders of the blocks, to add interest. I really like how it breaks up the quilt.

Next, I added a few shabby fabric flowers, with mismatched button centers, to add more texture and interest to the quilt. I love it! This idea was from Kathy at Magnolia Designs- she even lent me her Big Shot to cut the fabrics :-) They look even better all wrinkled up, once washed.

For quilting, I machine stitched 1/4 inch from all the borders. It really brings it all together!

I hope Mckinley and her family enjoy the quilt!

LINKING AT AMYLOUWHO