Design Wall Monday

Today my design wall looks like this...

Not much on it.
The stars are for a bed runner that my mom bought and asked me to put together for her. No hurry, she said. I have 3 more stars to make. I think it is turning out very nicely.

The reason there is nothing else on my wall is because I just completed the piecing for the deer quilt for my son.

The backing a soft fleece and is sewn together and it is ready to go on the frame as soon as this one comes off. I just have to tuck in a few thread tales. I find that easier to do when it is still on the frame. I used a spiral groovy board from R & S Designs.

In the picture below you can see more of the quilt. The center star is at the top of the picture. I will be losing about 3 inches of the borders. This quilt was so big that I couldn't quilt the borders to the edges. I am ok with that since the outside border was pretty big.

I was thinking of quilting this one next, but I just can't get inspired. I like the quilt, but I just do not know how to quilt it. I am not good at lines or feathers yet. And, I am afraid I will 'ruin' a quilt if my quilting isn't as good as I think it should be :)

To see what others are doing, visit this Judy L's page here.

Design Wall Monday

You can see what everyone else is working on here.

On my wall this week is something I am working on for my son. He is going away to school this fall and I thought he needed something for his bed. He picked this fabric several years ago and I just have not gotten around to doing anything with it until now. It is actually meant to be pillow panels, but with some sashing I think it makes a nice quilt. I plan to enter this in our local county fair.

I have been busy with other things, too. I got this baby quilt finished, except for the label on the back. This one will be at the fair, as well. I used my feather groovy board for the white outside borders and a wavy line border with small hearts in the corners or the inside border - had to turn the quilt 3 times to do that. I was nervous about doing that, but it worked out great. I used a small meander in the blocks. I then took it off the frame and hand quilted in the ditch around the sashing and outlined around the Sues, bonnets and arms. I am just not that confident yet to do that part on the frame.

My niece had a baby recently, a girl. I made a couple of burp cloths with the baby's initial on them. Another niece with a baby visited recently and showed me hers. She loves them. She says people know who the cloths belong to, you know, in case she forgets them somewhere. :)

Also, on my frame is another quilt for the fair. It is bigger than I usually do . . . 99 x 109. I am quilting a spiral design on it. I am sure I will have to turn it part way through because of the size.

Fair starts July 17 . . . so I better get busy!

Design Wall Monday

Wow - can't believe it has been so long since I posted.

I HAVE been busy!

On my wall right now is ...

Well, actually there isn't anything on my wall right now because this top is put together and on the frame.

This is a baby quilt for the granddaughter of a person I used to work with. She's a retired teacher but still subs occasionally in my building. I had made a quilt for her grandson a few years ago. The family wants to stay with the same colors since they will be using the same room for both children.

Others quilts I have finished recently - well since February - are:

Me, Mrs. T. and Levi on his last day of work.

Big Zig for a good friend. She started out as my son's first grade teacher, has tutored him all these years (he graduated high school in May) and has been his employer for the last 2 years through the school work program. She is a Dr. Seuss and Minkee fan so on the back I used a Dr. Seuss panel and fabrics in Minkee. For the front I used some fabrics that she had given me as gifts and some from my stash. The white is left from a HUGE quilt I had made for her several years ago.

Mrs. T's HUGE quilt. It measures 110 inches square.

I finished a quilt for the bus drive. She has driven my son since he started school. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it finished before giving it to the bus driver.

Levi and Miss Donna on the last day of school.

 Here is the best picture I have of it before being finished. I chose the light blue for the inner border.

In other news, my son went to prom. He didn't have a date. Several of his friends hung out together at prom. He had a good time and won some nice headphones at the after prom party. This is the only picture I was allowed to take :( He looked quite handsome in his tux. The jacket is a cowboy style and the red tie really set it off.

He also graduated from High School. There were 60 students in his class. 

Everyone expected me to be sad and cry. I cannot tell you how many people asked me if I would cry when my son graduated! I am not sad. I teared up a little when the played the slide show. There were pictures of the students as babies, then as seniors with their plans for after graduation. But, I did not cry. I am happy and proud of him. I am ready for him to take the next step in his life journey. 

At his party there was cake! He says his favorite color is camo. So, camo cake and camo cupcakes. Yummy!

So, now the busy times of the school year have ended and summer has begun. I will have time to quilt and add more posts to this blog.

Design Wall Monday

On my wall today is this quilt....

Super Zig, a free pattern by Monica Solorio-Snow at the Happy Zombie. You can find the link to the free pattern, and others, by going to Happy Zombie, then click Blog, then Projects, then scroll down until you find the link for the Super Zig pattern.

I chose different fabrics, some of which were given to me by the friend I am making this quilt for. The person receiving this quilt? She came into our lives when my son was in 1st grade. When he was in 2nd grade and it became apparent that my son had some learning issues she offered her tutoring services. She has tutored him since, sometimes even during the summer. She provided his home based tutoring following surgery and a lengthy at home recovery during middle school. She has been his employer the last 2 years through the school's work program. And, she has become a friend. My son is a senior this year. I feel that she deserves a quilt! He will give it to her at the end of the school year.

This has been a fun quilt to work on. She and I have the same taste in fabrics. We like bright colors.
I haven't figured out what design to quilt it with yet, though.



Other things I am finishing up are....

this baby quilt for a great niece. This was a pattern from Keepsake Quilting. I don't think it is available anymore since I couldn't find it on their site. I used the Funky Feathers design board from R&S Design and Petal Pink thread from Connecting Threads.
They baby has been born and the quilt is almost finished. I am wanting to print a poem on fabric to applique to the back, but I have not done that before. I have read several tutorials for printing on fabric, but I am nervous about doing this. I don't want to ruin my printer. I am not sure the ink will not fade. I am thinking I will use my standard labeling method of counted cross-stitch using waste canvas that is removed after the stitching is finished. It just takes time and I really want to be finished with this so I can get it in the mail.

I also finished up hand quilting this quilt for another friend. Her grandmother pieced the top. It is hand pieced. I had to replace some of the large white squares. There were holes; there are stains, too.

I was able to finish it to give her on Valentine's Day which is also her birthday. I think she was pretty happy with it.


Lastly, I finished the donation quilt for the FFA auction.I used the Funky Feathers design board and Sulky 30 wt. variegated thread in Brick. It brought $175. My husband liked it so much he had the winning bid. I am glad for the money to go the the FFA, but was disappointed when a quilt similar in size brought $275 dollars. Again, happy the money goes the FFA, but that quilt was a John Deere panel on the front and one piece of John Deere fabric on the back with straight line stitching. My husband says it brought more because of the John Deere theme. I am only thinking of the amount of work that went into each quilt. But, glad the FFA raised some money.

A new addition to my frame is a wonderful lighting system from Nolting.

The room my frame is in is dark at night. There is a large picture window on the opposite wall, but there is only 1 light fixture in the room and it is at one end of the room. Nolting will make the light bar the size you need to fit your frame. It took both my husband and myself to put it together. It is heavy and sturdy. I love it!

I realize my photos are not placed in the best arrangement with the text, but I just cannot seem to figure out how to place them better.