Linen and Lattice

" 

A cute little quilt made with a charm pack of  "Linen and Lawn".  

Showing off our new little tree and our blooming clematis.

Here it looks much larger than it really is.

Hand quilted with pearl cotton.   My first time using this lovely thread, and I am in love with it.  I love the vintage look of the thicker, larger stitches.... 

I've already started quilting my next one with pearl cotton!

Fabric: Linen and Lawn (Sue Dailey) and various scraps/stash

Inspiration:  missourri star quilt co video

Quilting: Hand quilted with pearl cotton

Size: 37.5 x 32.5

Timeline: ???? May - June 2018

Linking up with: 

- Lorna of "Sew Fresh Quilts" at "Let's Bee Social" HERE

-"Can I Get  a Whoop Whoop" HERE

"MY SISTER'S HOUSE"

(updated from 2015)
I had been searching for cute house blocks to inspire me with a quilt I wanted to make for my sister.

She had done a long overdue facelift to her kitchen.   Dark cabinets were painted, wallpaper was peeled, walls were painted, red bricks were painted ....  This lovely, fresh country kitchen was the perfect spot for a little quilt!

 When I first saw Lori Holt's "Farm Girl Vintage" book, I knew I'd found the inspiration I needed! 

It did take me a while to figure out exactly which blocks to use, so many choices.

Finally, figured out a group I liked

And the final quilt:

... In it's new home at "My Sister's House".... one of my favourite places !!!

"Great Little Grand"

As you may have guessed from the title, this one's for my great-grandchild, the first of the greats... and yes, it's a boy, due the beginning of  September.

I blogged more about this quilt  a while ago .

Backed with a fun Minky print.

My little helper,

warming up to the job.

Hand quilted.

Backed with Minky.

48 x 60

2016 BOM FINISH

Finally, quilted and bound ....  and gifted.

Another one for my sister, I'm sure her sweet grandkids will put it to good use.

It took 2 years, this is the 2106 Block of the Month from Stitcherdickorydock, but it's done!  Figuring out what to do with the 12 original blocks was the most time consuming part of the whole process.  Most of this one is stash and scraps.  The backing is a lovely paisley flannel sheet rescued from a thrift store.

I did all the quilting by hand, it kept my restless foot syndrome somewhat at bay during the long evenings of this past winter....  the joys of aging:)

Crib Quilt from 2" strips and squares 

  

The finished quilt before washing.   39 x 57 inches

Perfect size for a crib quilt.

After washing and being sent to the dryer it's down to 36" x 53.5".

This is what I started out with, but those lighter blocks were not looking so good in the mix.  

I pulled them out and went with just the darker royal blues, purples and bright greens.  A few black ones made the cut too.

I backed it with the blue in the picture above, and chose a variegated thread which I've had for a long time .... waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.  Away I went fmq'ing with a loose, loopy meander with a few hearts thrown in.

I really enjoyed making this one; my favourite colours and no triangles to worry about.

A final note to self:  Always take the time to measure in the centre of your quilt's width and height for your border strips. it really does make a huge difference in avoiding those irritating wavy borders.

I'm super happy with these borders, flat as a pancake :))

Linking up with:

 Crazy Mom Quilts

Second Leaders and Enders Quilt

My second quilt with 3" 9-patches from my stash of  1.5" squares.  A baby quilt finishing at 36" x 48" after shrinkage.

I really like the the first one first one much better.  This one will be a charity quilt, hopefully I'll have 3 or 4 to donate to Project Linus this year. 

This was a true struggle to use only what I had on hand, even the white background is from quite a mixture in my stash and scraps.  

The quilting was all done by hand except for where the background meets the border.   

 For batting I made some "FrankenBatting" from large batting scraps, but instead of zigzagging them together I used the fusible batting tape.  This was much quicker than zigzagging and the end result was great.  The only drawback I found with the fusible tape is that it's hard to push the needle through when hand quilting.

On the design wall:

I'm hooked on Amanda's scrappy log cabins

as well as her cute scrappy churn dashes:

I should be basting my latest finish,

 but those scrappy blocks are much more fun!

 2 Finished Tops

Churndash Family and Leaders and Enders #2

Before anything else, I want to give two thumbs up to two amazing local quilts shops here is South Western  Ontario.  Yestderday was a beautiful sunny day , and best of all a day off work, so what better to do than check out some quilt shops. 

The Quilt Corner in Simcoe was the first, one of my favourites.  Lots of selection, precuts, patterns ...you name it they have it!  And ....the prices and service will have you planning your next trip back as you head home. 

Next up was Quilt Junction in Waterford,  aptly named as it's located in an old train station.  Also a wonderful find, lots of eye candy to tempt and inspire you!  An added attraction to get you to make the drive to Waterford is the large Antique Market across the street.

Back to the Finishes:The first block for this one was a 12'  orphan block made about a year ago, white and light blue.  It wasn't inspiring me to make any more... until browsing through Lori Holt's "Farmgirl Vintage".

I was following her picnic setting in which she uses 6 and 12 " blocks for a 66 x 66" quilt.  A rectangular quilt closer to 50 x 70 was what I really preferred so I changed it up a bit and also mixed in 2-18" blocks and 2 elongated 6x12 churndash blocks.     

This next one was actually my first finish of the year, and the churndash, the second.  Here she is hiding behind the Churndash Family.

A leaders and enders project that started out like this:

and this:

but ended up as:

I have lots more of these little 9-patches from my 1.5 inch scraps ...but now I've also started making plus squares from my 2 inch scraps .