Sunday Morning

"Satisfy us in the morning

with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy

and be glad all our days."

Psalm 90:14

Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival-Personal QR Code

It is always fun to sit awhile with my feet up and a cup of coffee in my hand as I peruse the pretty quilt entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. If you are here for the show, let me say "Welcome" and I hope that you enjoy my quilt!

Having been fascinated for quite some time by the quilt-like look of those cute little QR Codes used to provide product information via a smart phone or tablet, I finally decided to try my hand at producing one in quilt form!

Using a pellon grid,  it was fairly simple to graph out a personal Quick Response Code. I looked at a sample to count out the squares and to design a pattern that even includes my blog name! There are online sources that will create a code for you, but I just made up my own.

The 36 inch square quilt is backed with a favorite red and white graphic print from Anilee Hoey's Sherbet Pips line by by Moda. The binding is a grey text print from my stash. 

I used a pink variegated Aurifill no.28 thread and white Bottom Line in the bobbin to do the circular quilting on my Bernina 1630.

The red, pink, white, and a single orange Kona squares are a bunch more fun than black and white would be, don't you think! 

Quilt Festival Stats:

Quilt size: 36 in. x 36 in.

Quilted by: me-Carla Timberlake on my home machine

Special technique used: Pellon Grid

Best favorite categories: 

Two Color Quilts; Quilted on Home Machine Quilts; Wall Hangings

Now, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and join me in experiencing more festival quilts here. 
You won't be sorry....I promise!

Wordless Wednesday-One Quilt, Two Ways

Sunday Morning

Then He said to them, "Watch Out!

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;

a man's life does not consist in the 

abundance of his possessions."
Luke 12:15

Quilt Sleeves: My Shortcut Method

Everywhere I look, the splendor of autumn surrounds me as drive to and fro each day. I always am amazed at how gorgeous fall can be, making me almost forget that winter comes next! October is my second favorite month, falling only slight behind June with it's equally brilliant display of flowers.

 Autumn also means that it's quilt show time around these parts! Yep, it is time to drag out my handiwork and attach those dreaded hanging sleeves to the tops of each quilt that I'm entering in the show. This year, that would mean 8 sleeves. Ugh...

 Being lazy, I decided to use my sewing machine to baste the sleeves onto the quilts. After all, it's only a temporary addition that I will be removing from most of them, so why not make it as painless as possible! So, last night, while listening with one ear to the presidential debates, I got most of the dreaded deed accomplished! Here's my method:
Make a strip of fabric 8.5 inches wide X the width of your quilt by sewing sections of muslin or any inexpensive fabric together. I used some white-on-white stuff that I found in my stash. Fold back about an inch on each end and sew down.

 After pressing the fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, sew along the cut edge making about a quarter of an inch seam.

 This next part is where I took the liberty of doing a shortcut method: I used a long basting stitch on my sewing machine to attach the cut edge of the sleeve to the top of the quilt as shown below. Use pins to position it about an inch from either side of the quilt. You will baste stitch right on top of the seam you just sewed in the step above. Back stitch carefully at each end to make sure it is secure.

 The sleeve will be folded down after it is sewn...

 ...to create a 4 inch sleeve on the back of the quilt so that it can be hung from a rod.

 Now, I'm not advocating that you do this for a quilt you are entering in, say, the International Quilt Festival or anything like that. But for my local quilt show, those tell tale basting stitches on the front will be at the top where no one but a 9 foot giant is going to see them! (Normally, you would attach this part with a blind stitch or, even better, along with the binding when it is sewn on.)

 I quickly hand sewed the folded edge of the sleeve to the back with large stitches. Nothing fancy. I got three quilt sleeves hand sewn while watching the news last night, so it goes pretty fast. Be sure that your thread is buried into the batting and doesn't show through to the front.

 By the time I've sat through the weather and sports tonight, I should have all of these guys ready to go. 

 But, right now, I think Ginger and I will go for a walk and enjoy the show outdoors before the wind blows away God's handiwork!

Nothing can compete with that!

Sunday Morning

"We live by faith, not by sight."

2 Corinthians 5:7

Random Blocks

Using selected squares from my stash as leaders and enders is a habit that I've developed....can hardly sew a seam without them, actually. Here are all 82 blocks, finished and pressed, for the Mazed Quilt by Kristy Daum. Making them as leaders/enders, while sewing on other things, was a painless way to create the parts to another quilt! I'm looking forward to sitting down and putting them all together to assemble a quilt like the one on the pattern cover. The prints are all Bohemian Rhapsody by Moda, cut from a layer cake.

 When I get toward the end of one leader/ender project, I almost always have another waiting on the sideline. Next up, I'll be putting together this pattern by someone many of you know, Cindy from Live a Colorful Life! Cindy gifted me with the pattern sometime back and I've been wanting to try it. The pattern calls for 5 inch squares...got that! I'll use a charm pack called Trade Winds that I've horded in my stash for about a year. I also need 2.5 inch squares and some rectangles. I decided to use some Amy Butler fabrics for those. Looks like a wild quilt, doesn't it....just my type!!

 The deadline for mailing out swap blocks to the lovely ladies in my 3 X 6 Sampler Bee is quickly approaching. It was fun to pull fabrics in 6 different color combos to create Great Granny Squares for (l. to r.) Paige, Deb, Alison, Leona, Cille, and Staci. I hope they like them! I'll be making one for myself in orange and aqua. (Yes, I know that I still haven't finished my Patriotic Granny Square quilt...but have a plan in place to geterdone!...really.)

 On the subject of quilt blocks....this is a great book, checked out from my public library. I may have to look for this one to add to my personal bookshelf!

I'm linking up with Live A Colorful Life Really Random Thursday.

Ice Cream Bars

I shocked even myself by completing my low volume quilt without it ever becoming a UFO!

 The fabrics are all strips from my scrap boxes, so it was easy to pull low contrast lights, with a few 'zingers' thrown in to keep your eye moving.

 The quilting is simple: just an all-over loopy design with cream colored  thread.

 For the backing, I used a cute red and white toille that has been languishing in my stash for years. I was so excited to find just the right quilt to use in on!

 The quilt measures 70" x 80" and fits on my daybed perfectly. Directions for making this fun and easy quilt can be found in Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. The subtitle says it all: Sort, Store, and Use Every Last Bit of Your Treasured Fabrics. You'll enjoy this book, if you love scraps!

Somehow, I always think of ice cream (my favorite dessert) when I look at this quilt, so I named it Ice Cream Bars!

Really Random Fall Stuff

October is one of my favorite months.

Pumpkins are so cute, don't you think...and look at those mums!

 The trees are beginning to show their colorful finery...

 But wait! What's this I see?

 A magnolia tree thinks it's April? There are quite a few mixed up trees around.

Apparently, the extreme summer drought caused dormancy,

 then, rain and a drop in temperature, tricked them into blooming like it is spring!

Cooler weather and quilts go together! I took this stack to my quilt guild on Tuesday

for a presentation on quilting and the internet.

 With 2012 winding down, I want to finish up some UFO's...

What's autumn without banana and zuchinni bread?

Do you have these all over your yard like I do? If you don't recognize them,

they are Hedge Apples...the squirrels love them to eat and I like them for decoration!

My sister and her husband lives in suburban Colorado Springs, not far from where the fires were this summer. Their wildlife camera caught this unwanted visitor helping himself to the apples on their tree right outside the front door! They had put up a squirrel guard and net to keep the birds off till harvest but Teddy just reached right over with no problem at all!

Hopefully, he left a few for an apple pie!

I'm linking up with Cindy for Really Random Thursday. 

Click over and see other fun randomness!