Dragon Fly

This is Dazzle by Colourwerx.  I first saw this at a quilt fair and had to return to the booth several times because this quilt kept calling me.  I saved the pattern until I found the perfect jelly roll of peacock fabric.  The pattern calls for a slash and sew design which was new to me. I also had to learn to sew curves.  The pattern provides great directions and tips on this. 

The quilting was all done on my domestic machine.  This was a real labor of love. I worked on it in small sections because it was hard to maneuver through the tiny arm hole of my singer machine.  Also the batting I used was very thick (which I won't be using again) and it was so hot to have this quilt laying on my during the hot weather we have had.  I used a walking foot technique I learned in my Jacquie Gering craftsy class.  And my son took the photos with his new phone which look much better then photos on my phone.  This is going up on my wall in the house.



Halloween haberdashery

My new favorite obsession is newsprint fabric.  And of course I love Halloween.  So this pattern by Melissa Mortenson at Polkadotchair was perfect for me.  It is called Halloween Haberdashery.  It went together very easily once I got the hang of the hats.  I also got to use my other new favorite obsession piping.  I used piping around the edges of the pillows.  I am so in love with these pillows I think I will make some for each season.  Changing pillow covers is such an easy way to make over the house for the different seasons.  Now to just keep these away from the dog!

Happy Camper Bag

I am obsessed with campers. I want one, I want to camp in one, I want to travel around the states in one.  For now I will just have to settle for this adorable quilted camper bag.  I saw this pattern at the Santa Barbara Quilt Fair and fell in love - Happy Camper by Jennifer Jangles.  They had a sample and I thought for sure I can make this.

I made it but it was hard.  I learned so many new things.  First off - piping.  I had never heard of it or used it. I love it.  What a nice finish to the outside of the bag.  Second - following directions. I missed a step but was able to recover.  Third - measure everything.  I did measure but was still off and had to add some extra fabric. I still haven't figured out where the error was.  Fourth - It's okay to skip steps. I skipped the binding for the inside step.  Since I was making this for myself I gave myself an okay to skip a step that I just couldn't manage.  Raw edges can be seen if you look inside the bag.

This camper is a cutie and I will definitely be using it to take sewing supplies to class. I am not sure I will be making another one though.  



Jelly Roll Bag

I have been  quilting for over twenty years but have never taken a class.  Crazy, right.  I learned from my mom, and then books and the internet.  I recently joined the Valley Modern Quilt Guild and they host classes. I took my first class and made this jelly roll bag. I absolutely love it and the class was a lot of fun.  Just being with other quilters, seeing how they quilt and their supplies, and getting to try out another machine (when mine quit) was so much fun. I am already signed up for my next class.  And I will be using my jelly roll bag to tote my items to class.

New Quilting Techniques

This pattern was seen in a quilting magazine my hubby got me for my birthday. I loved the idea of trying out new quilting techniques that I learned from a recent on line machine quilting class.  I never took much care in the finishing of a quilt.  By the time I got to the sandwiching part I just wanted to be done.  But recently I have been focusing on the quilting part and this small table runner was a great way to get started.  I like how the lines give the quilt a 3-D effect.  And I love the wavy lines I made on the houses.  Unfortunately I mixed up some of the squares when piecing and didn't notice until I was done. Of course no one will notice but me.  I am proud of my work on this and that I took my time to really quilt it. 

Baby Quilt

This is a row by row baby quilt I made for a dear family friend who just had a baby girl.  I wanted to try many different patterns that I had seen on the internet.  This was originally a part of a much larger quilt but was then taken apart and made into this pattern.

After taking an on line quilting class about machine stitching I used a decorative stitch to make small linear curves to quilt this.

 I love how the curves gave the quilt a bumpy texture that none of my other quilts have ever had.

I hand stitched the binding because I was trying out a new technique I had seen at a recent quilt fair.  Hand binding is not for me and I had a very trying time of it due to the ongoing tendonitis I suffer from. But the end result was a very lovely quilt with a nice neat binding.