My #1 UCONN Fan - Bloggers Quilt Festival

I realized several months ago, that I forgot to share the quilt I made my husband for Christmas.  Since it was so late, I decided to wait for Amy's  Bloggers Quilt Festival.  My husband and I met in Storrs, CT at the University of Connecticut in 1971.  We married and moved to Florida in 1973.  Over the years my husband has become a very dedicated Uconn fan. 

When I decided I wanted to make him a quilt, there really was only one choice.  I found the logo of the Husky online and enlarged it until it was the size I wanted.  The color scheme was simple, blue and white.  I used mostly fabric from my stash.

I'm kind of new to machine applique but that didn't stop me from trying.  I traced the Husky onto fusible web and started cutting.  It completely started coming apart - the little spikey things were just too flimsy.  So I ended up cutting it, adding little dabs of glue and pressing with a hot iron. Worked just fine.  I then just machine quilted the design (raw edge).

The letters I took off one of his shirts, enlarged them and hand appliqued them down.

Each area of the quilt has different quilting designs.  This white part is my favorite.

So go on over to Amy's to see all the other wonderful quilts.

He loves his Uconn quilt, now if only the basketball team had done well.  I guess there's always next year......

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen

And Then There Were Four

The center is done!!  My portable design wall is not quite big enough for the whole thing, but you can get the idea.  I used 2 different fabrics for the 4 blocks and then one fabric for the setting triangles.  They "read" as one fabric but I really like the subtle difference.  I also used a variety of reds and greens that achieve the same thing - they look like one fabric until you get up close.

This picture was taken when just the units were done before anything was stitched down. It gave me my first glimpse of what this might look like - and I was pretty sure I was smitten :).  (The lights make it look more yellow than it really is.  The other pictures are natural light.)  When developing an original idea, the hardest part for me is knowing if it will look good after going thru all the work!!

Just a reminder of what the early stages looked like as I was appliquing the blocks.  There were times that I didn't know if I could stick with it.  Between all the little curved leaves and stems and the reverse applique, it was slow going.

So now that the 4 block are together, the next stage is adding the vines and leaves.  This is always hard for me to get a natural looking flow to the vines, but it's also so fun and creative.  This is really when I wish I had more artsy talent.  But in the end, I'm the one that has to like it. So I just kept fiddling, pinning and re-pinning lots of little leaves until it looked right to me.  My favorite thing in the world to applique is leaves and vines - so I'm a happy camper as I work on this next part.

Until next time,

-Karen

A Successful Border

So after a little fiddling, the border is on.  And it works I think.  I'm glad I didn't try and bring the green into the border, I think it frames it perfectly and make the red triangles pop.

Here it is on my kitchen table. This is where I'm planning on using it next Christmas.  And I'm promising myself that it will be quilted by Christmas!

Until next time,

-Karen

Building a Border

Building a border is much more difficult than choosing a piece of fabric to match.  You would think using random lengths of 2 1/2" strips that it would be pretty easy to create a border.  I struggled just a bit.  I raided my red stash to find pieces that are remotely close to this line of Grace by 3 Sisters.  Many of the red pieces from that line didn't work as they had too much floral pattern and color to read as red.  I thougt about doing the border red and green, but there was so much green I thought it needed the red to balance it out.

I finally got the center part pieced and down off the design wall.  I will finish the border soon as I need to send it to a friend to show as a sample. 

This is going to be so pretty!!

Until next time,

Karen

A New Project (not for me)

A week ago our backyard looked like this.  My DH had spent several days transplanting the grass from this 12 x 24 ft space.  He claimed his new bionic knee worked great!!

He has been talking about this new workshop for several years now.  We finally decided it was time.

He found a local company that would come and build it on site.  It's very difficult to get to our backyard so we couldn't have something delivered that was already assembled.

Within hours the floor, the walls and the siding were up.

This husband and wife team built this all by themselves.

By lunchtime of the second day, it looked like this.

They finished putting on shingles, windows and doors and by lunchtime of the third day they were finished.

It makes our old shed look like a doll house!

There is a 4 ft. loft on each end.  My DH is in the process of putting in insulation.

It will have electricity and A/C.

He's a happy camper and will have lots of projects to keep him busy for a looooong time :).

Until next time,

Karen

Jubilee has a finished block and a new name

My first block is finally finished with all its little parts. I took this picture outside so the colors are pretty true. The contrast of the pink and red is so pretty and the balance of the green and cheddar is perfect to me.

Here's the book that started it all.

And here's the picture of the block that jumped out at me and said "Make me!".  I don't know much about the maker except that she made this quilt in 1860.  Imagine if she was my age when she made this, she would have been born in 1800!!  I feel such a connection to this woman and her quilt that I have named my quilt Jubilee Tribute.

To think I started from this just a few weeks ago, and I've ended up with this is so satisfying.

There are more blocks coming.  I am trying to spend these weeks while I'm looking for work to get as much done as I can.  Having time to spend on this hand applique has been therapy for me.  I will always look back on this quilt and remember this time.

Have a great day.

Karen

Templates and berries and leaves

Here's an update on my Jubilee quilt progress.  These are the templates that I have drafted so far.  Trying to create a quilt just by looking at a picture  isn't always the easist thing to do.  So far they seem to be working.   The "tree" looking one I made to help me position the leaves on the block. It worked like a charm.

Here are some of my berries.  You can see the size of them compared to the dime.  My DH only had one 1/2" washer so I called my friend's husband to see if he had any.  Sure enough, he had a whole bag!!!  Don't you ever wonder why guys have such random things in their workshop?  I guess the same reason we have the things we do stashed away in our studios **wink**.  Anyway, the washers are working perfectly for my little berries.

And here are some of my leaves.  They are finishing at 1 3/4" long, I think they'll look perfect.  I am still having so much fun!!  I've been looking for jobs for the past 2 hours and my hands are worn out from using the computer. Filling out some of these applications borders on being ridiculous!!

But a cup of coffee should do the trick.

Hope you're having a great day,

Karen