Catching Up - Part 4

This is almost the last installment of catching you up on what I've been up to.  I've got a tiny bit left to finish this afternoon, but wanted to get this part posted.

This is a crazy string quilt made from leftovers of t-shirt quilts.  I made a similar quilt for a friend of mine several years ago.

I had made extra blocks so I could pick which ones I wanted - and always wanted to get those leftovers made into a quilt - and this seemed the perfect time.

I decided to quilt concentric circles.  About half way thru, I wish I hadn't done it. But at that point I was committed. 

It looks pretty good from a distance LOL!!

This quilt can be used either as a wallhanging or as a small table cover.  It's made from blocks using Karla Alexander's book "Stack a New Deck".  I love those books.

I did some straight line quilting - a little wonky.  I wanted an organic feel - not too polished.

As usual, my pictures don't really capture the woodsy, outdoor feel of this quilt but this one is really pretty.

This is made from a jelly roll of the Martinique fabric line.  I added fabrics from my stash (no big surprise) and it's done in the basket pattern from Scrap Basket Sensations.

There's a small piping around the binding that I think ties in all the colors.

Last, but not least, are some I Spy quilts. So fun!!!  I made these a little smaller, kind of like an activity mat or a car seat quilt.

Some are for boys....

Some are for girls. :)

Once I finish this afternoon's chore, I'll summarize all this.

Have a great day,

Karen

Catching Up - Part 3

Here's another peek at what's been keeping me busy the last few weeks.  This quilt started from a jelly roll I bought at JoAnn's last year. I've been wanting to do a gray, yellow and black quilt for a while.  I added quite a few pieces from my stash to give it variety.

This seemed like the perfect time to do it.

This is made from the same technique as my little happy quilt I started last year. Each block has 3 fabrics and each block is different.  There was no set pattern to light/dark, black/yellow, etc.  They just got put on the design wall randomly, as long as there was enough contrast to see the block.

It looks so different than the one below - in my happy colors.

But it is such a fun block to do.  ( And this quilt is almost finished too !!)

I decided to mimic the block and do a pieced back.  Turned out perfect!

This is a quilt based on a small collection of fabric called City Girl that I bought several years ago. 

I added quite a few fabrics from my stash to make it more interesting.  I had yardage to to the border, the back and the binding - so it ties it all together.

I didn't quite have enough for the whole back, so it got a pieced back too.

Here's the little kid's Christmas out of the same pattern.

And here's what it looks like on the front of Kim's book.  It's a super fun and fast pattern.

This quilt is from a selection of 15 fat quarters that has been sitting on my shelf for almost 3 years.  It's a very random collection of designs and colors, but I decided to trust the designer's choices.  I didn't add any fabrics to it.  It looks kind of "manly" to me.

There's all these animal prints, strips, graphic patterns and whatever!This pattern is Beach Cottage from Scrap Basket Surprises - love those books!!

I used a blue print for the back.

So these are getting added to the stack of things I'm hoping to sell.  I'll finish up the rest in my next post and share the details of exactly why I've been sewing and quilting my little head off!!  But I must say I've been having the best time!

Have a great day,

Karen

Catching Up - Part 1

It seems like ages since I've done a post..... and it has been.  I have been very busy these last few weeks, and now that I'm almost finished, I thought I'd start catching you up.

I have two opportunities in the near future to have a venue to sell some of my quilts.  The 3 I'm showing today will all be for sale.  This is a child's quilt from Kim's book "Scrap Basket Surprises".

The little owls are a Michael Miller fabric and the strips are from my stash.  With very few exceptions (a few backings and bindings), I have been able to make these quilts from my stash - yea!!!

This is my "One of a Kind" quilt that I started several years ago. I made the two big pineapple blocks  the wrong size.  Instead of ripping them out, I made an original.  This is a beautiful, bright happy quilt.

There are a lot of Kaffe fabrics in here (including the border), but there are lots of brights from wherever.

There are two tiny 4" paper pieced pineapple blocks - I will probably never do any more.

 

It's hard to see the quilting, but it's one of my favorites, an all over meandering feather vine with swirls every so often.

It's a happy bright yellow polka dot.

This is from Kim's 2nd book "Scrap Basket Sensations". It's actually the quilt on the cover - but looks so different. I used a small jelly roll of children's Christmas fabrics.

It turned out really cute.

The back was a small scrap of Christmas lights fabrics - not enough for the whole back, so it got a center.

Some exciting news I have to share is about this new calendar.  Twelve authors were selected to have a quilt featured each month along with the instructions.

Kim was one of the authors selected and look who is Miss April?!!  "Flowers for Nana Girl" from her second book.  I am so honored and thrilled!!!  It's kind of a wierd feeling knowing that come next April people all over the country will be looking at my quilt all month!!

It's actually home with me for awhile, it's been travelling quite a bit.  I tried to capture the colors out on my porch this afternoon, but my camera doesn't do it justice - it's really so pretty.

Kim surprised me by naming this quilt after me and telling the story of how I came to be called Nana Girl.  It's a very special quilt to me.

Stay tuned, there are lots more quilts to share.

-Karen

Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog Tour - Day 8

I am so excited, my day is finally here. I hope you are enjoying the blog book tour as much as I am. Hop on over to Kim's blog and say hi!! I've been thinking about what to say. I don't have any interviews or clever questions so I thought I'd just tell you about my friend. Kim and I have been friends since 1996 when she moved to Pensacola and started working at the law firm where I worked. It didn't take us long to find out we were both quilters, and that we both had a serious fascination - okay obsession - with fabric LOL!! Isn't it so much more fun to go fabric shopping with a friend?? Anyway, I couldn't even begin to count the hours we've spent talking and stitching. I wish all of you could know her the way I do. She is funny, generous , a little shy, loves to cut fabric, is a very accomplished quilter and now she's a two-time best selling author!!! This book, just like the first one, is made to be used - a lot! These patterns are fun, have a fresh originality and if you use your scraps, they really are great stash busters. I thought it would be fun to see how these quilts look in different ways around my house.
This is a picture I took last spring before the quilts got shipped off. I was finishing the binding on "Twinkle" and thought how pretty the quilts looked all spread out in my living room.

It's been fun to see the response to "Flowers for Nana Girl". This is such a sentimental quilt for me. Kim really surprised my when she told me what she had named the quilt. I had been using the working title of "Pretty in Pink". But telling my story of how I came to be called Nana Girl by my granddaughter and then naming the quilt after me (and my blog), has been such an honor! This quilt has not come home yet - after going to Houston last fall, it's still out at Martingale's offices.

These pictures will kind of show you some of the fabrics in the blocks. I started with the border fabric, and then picked scraps to make the flowers.

I mixed all types of fabric, prints, stripes and batiks.

Here's a picture of some of the left over scraps. It's a happy quilt!!

Next is Flower Boxes. I've already said that it was love at first sight when I saw this quilt. Watching this pattern emerge as each block goes up on the design wall is the most amazing thing. This quilt has a charm all its own.

Here is Flower Boxes in my living room in my favorite chair.

It looks pretty good on the couch too!!

I've decided this is going to go on the quilt hanger soon, as my spring quilt!!

Blues crossing is a sweet quilt.

It looks so good folded over a little rocker in the guest room.

It also looks good on the wicker settee. Darlene, see my bunny??

Northern Comfort is a cuddle quilt.

Here it is still hanging in the living room.

Please leave a comment for your chance to win a signed copy of Scrap-Basket Sensations. Tell me which quilt in the book you think you'll make first. Here's the rest of the schedule. You still have a few more days and chances to win your own copy. Be sure to check out yesterday's post about my latest quilt from Scrap-Basket Sensations - a variation of Tipsy Baskets.

Tomorrow's it's Sue's turn and then Carol will end the tour.
Sue at Quilt Times - February 18th
Carol at Brown Quilts - February 19th

Good luck - I will pick a winner Saturday night Feb. 19th.

-Karen

This Giveaway has now ended. Thanks for participating. The winner will be announced soon.