PLAYING CATCH-UP

I am playing catch-up.  Catching up on block of the months and projects in the works.  I completed the third block, which is actually part of a border, for "Town and Country".  A Jan Patek pattern.

Another "Christmas 101" block.  This is the third one.

I am participating in making "Comfort and Joy" along with Anne of "Cottons 'n Wool" and a few others.  We are to do a section of the quilt each month.  The ladies have already completed the first section and I just joined in, so I needed to catch up.  Here is my first section.  I am using some Linda Brannock fabrics with others from stash mixed in.  You can read about the project on Anne's blog post.

I finished stitching the wool appliques down while we had company visiting.  This afternoon, I added borders to the two pieces.

The bunny is a Buttermilk Basin pattern.  I used a Blackbird Designs pattern called "Garden Song" for the bird piece.  That pattern is in the book "When the Cold Wind Blows".  I like the denim blue fabric I used for the border.  I think it brings out the blue used for the bird.

Happy stitching to you!  I am going to be stitching on another applique this evening for the reproduction quilt I am making inspired by the Miami Valley quilts.
Karen

CHRISTMAS 101

I know.  I know.  This is not one of the BOM's that I am supposed to be working on.  But I am actually stitching on one of those blocks.  As soon as I finished the "Love Letters" block 5, I grabbed something easier to stitch.  I finished the star block and most of Mary and Baby Jesus in one evening.  Rewarding to finish two blocks in much, much less time than one of the "Love Letters" blocks.  But the L.L. blocks are much bigger so not a good comparison.

The pattern for "Christmas 101" is by Jan Patek.  I have all the blocks prepped for applique.  It will be easy to grab one and stitch when the mood hits.

Back to a block from the "Town & Country" BOM that I need to finish before month's end.

Karen

LOVE LETTERS BLOCK 5

I felt like quitting more than once on making block 5 of the Love Letters quilt pattern.  But I stuck with it and finally finished it.

I can't get all of the blocks on the design wall at once now.  Here is a picture of the other four blocks.  Of the five blocks, which is your favorite?  Mine is the block on the bottom right.

I have four more blocks to go but I can't start another right now.  I need to catch up on the BOM's that I promised myself I would stick with.

Stop back for a progress report.

Karen

OLD QUILT PICTURES

I was going through some pictures of quilts I made in the 1990's.  I did not have a digital camera so the pictures are what they are.  Some are taken at Show 'n Tell at guild meetings, some on a bed, some laying on the floor and taken from a balcony above.  These are quilts I no longer own.  They were gifts or donated for guild auctions, etc.  My taste has changed over the years.  I scanned the pictures into the computer and will share them with you.  I do not know pattern names or designers for most of the quilts as I did not note them on the pictures.  The patterns and books are long gone out of my library.

The compass and sailboat quilt was made for a quilt store competition.  I didn't win but enjoyed making the quilt.  I sold the piece.  Jinney Beyer border fabrics were used.

A Christmas quilt.  I wonder why I gave it away?

I never did like this quilt.  The blocks were too big to be really interesting and yellow is not my favorite color for sashing.

A friend designed this quilt.  I did the sewing and quilting as she had a hard time sewing well with her vision and arthritis problems..  Water color look quilts were very popular at the time.

I made this quilt in memory of someone who died from Aids.  It was used for a fund raiser.  It is contemporary in design and not something I would make for myself.

A gift for a friend.  A star within a star.  Blue green, black, and rose colors.

My second quilt.  Made with leopard animal print I think.  Browns which I like.  A Twisted Garden design.  The quilt was used so much that it got to be pretty sad looking.  I donated it to a thrift store.

A friend picked the Dresden Plate design for a quilt I said I would make for her as a gift.  Blue and rose colors.  That used to be really popular colors for upholstered furniture and home decor items.

A house quilt that I sold a long time ago.  I saw one on a blog a while back that someone made and it made me remember the one I did and had long forgotten about.

So not me.  A quilt made with Oriental prints and the first time I did any applique.  I don't remember what part of the design is applique but it must be there some where.

I know I made this quilt but I have forgotten every thing about it.  Too stilted looking for my taste now.

A cute bunny quilt with floppy ears that were loose on the quilt.  I hope some child has it.

This is very contemporary looking for me.  I gave it to my son.  Jinney Beyer style with fractured piecing where you take parts of a quilt block and subdivide it into more parts.  The stars were like separate quilts added on.  Sort of like little potholders.  I would not do the potholder thing again.  It was supposed to add dimension to a quilt.

A house quilt from a pattern that was called something like "The Way To A Friend's House".  I gave it to a friend and got it back a couple years ago (a long story).  I gave it to another friend who likes house quilts.

A log cabin quilt that I think was a Judy Martin pattern.  Peach and green color combination which was still popular at the time.  A friend received this as a gift.

A table runner that was for a Christmas gift exchange.

I think this was a quilt ready for the binding.  It was made by my guild in South Carolina for a donation quilt raffle.  I was in charge of the quilt making that year.

I never did like this quilt.  Way too busy looking.  I don't know who has it but it is not in my collection.

The Snail's Trail quilt has Elvis fabric on the border.  Too contemporary for my taste.

The first quilt class I ever took was for making a Mariner's Compass.  Certainly not a beginner class but I came out with a good wall hanging.  I sold this quilt.  Jinney Beyer style again.

The sheep wall hanging was from a Debbie Mumm pattern.

I made a few of these basket pillowcases for donation or a gift.  I never made one for myself.

I had participated in some block exchanges.  I chose a Tumbling Block setting for them and a Flying Geese border.  The quilt top was huge when I finished it.  I donated the top to a guild auction.

A quilt I made for my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary.  I sent family pictures to some place in North Dakota and had them transferred to fabric. A method of sun printing was used (I think).  It was expensive to have done and I had to do it a few pictures at a time.  This was before  the computer fabric sheets were available.  The pictures are surrounded by a narrow lace ruffle.  They used the quilt for a backdrop for their two anniversary parties.  My daughter has it hanging on her bedroom wall now that my in-law's have passed away.  She requested that it be hers at some time.  Below is another picture of the quilt taken at a Bob Evan's Quilt Show where it won a ribbon of some sort.  My mother-in-law entered it in the show.

I gave this log cabin quilt to a friend.  I think the pattern is from a Jan Patek quilt book.

A friend has this wall hanging.  I have intended to make another for myself but never have.  The pattern is by Cindy Taylor Clark and is still available here.  Maybe some day I will get around to making another.

Lots of pictures.  If you stuck it out to the end, I thank you and hope you enjoyed the view of older quilts that I made.
Karen

MY SPECIAL QUILT

Lori of "Humble Quilts" suggested that I join in on the Jubilee project several bloggers are participating in even though I am long past my 50th birthday.  I told her that I had already made my "ME" quilt quite some time ago. She asked me to share it with pictures on my blog.  I actually have shown it on my blog before but in a single picture that would not enlarge.  I waited for our friends to be here so they could hold the quilt up for a full picture as it is a large quilt.  Even with them holding the quilt, the bottom is not a straight on view. 

The first two pictures were taken outside on the lanai which is all screened.  The sun cast a shadow of one of the screen enclosure bars across the quilt.  We then tried taking pictures inside.  So four pictures trying to show the whole quilt.

The quilt was made in 1999 and represents things that I like and people that mean a lot to me.  It is not the only scenic quilt that I made with buildings on them.  They also represent other people in my life too.  I was inspired by a quilt shown in the book "Round Robin Quilts".  The quilt that inspired me was made by Gayle Noyes and is titled "All My Quilting Friends Are Stars".  Her quilt had a scenic border with sky, mountains, forest, and on the bottom, water and a sailboat.  The quilt center features a feathered star design.  I had seen a quilt in Quilters Newsletter magazine that was a Lone Star quilt using the bird fabric for the background.  I am not sure if my bird fabric is the very same but it sure looked like it.

I decided to create buildings on my borders.  I started with the covered bridge.  I have had an interest in covered bridges ever since I was young and went for rides in the country with my family.  I loved seeing the bridges, walking across them or driving in the car.  There are so many different types of construction used in making them.  They represent a slower pace of life.

I have always liked the looks of log cabins and would like to live in one.  That is why I named my blog "Log Cabin Quilter".  So I created a log cabin on my quilt.  I had the perfect fabric for the log section of the house and for the rock chimney.

I like apples and visiting an apple orchard in the fall for some real apple cider.  Something we can't do in Florida.  I used fabric with apples and leaves printed on it to create my apple orchard.

I also like to see old barns so I created a farm scene on the left border.  A farmhouse, barn, and an out building.  I used novelty prints to get my chickens and cow.  And I found a print that would be suitable for a haystack.

In addition to covered bridges, I have always liked grist mills.  We have traveled many side roads to see the bridges and mills.  I also like willow trees.  As a child, we had one in our front yard.  And a neighbor had a huge one in their yard.  The kids would play house under the branches.

I then began to create the village scene across the bottom.  The post office represents my friend Cathy whose husband was a mailman.  I like the little mailbox in front of the building.  The Travel Agency represents our good friends who have been visiting the last several days.  They used to plan a lot of trips for their friends (including us).  They never owned a travel agency but John has always been good at researching  the areas and planning what to see.  We have vacationed together many times.

"Dombek's Country Sausage" is named for my friend Pat.  Her heritage is Polish and it made me think of Polish sausage.

Next comes "Davies Country Produce".  My friend Lucy always liked to garden though I think it was mainly flowers.

The red brick building is called "Lynda's Dairy Bar" for my friend who worked for a dairy doing office work.  The sign on the window says "Shakes, Malts, Burgers, and Hand-Dipped Cones".  The white wood looking building with the flag is called "Liberty Books".  A fictional book store.  I like to read and that represents this.  The tan brick building is called "Hayworth's Apothecary" for my good pharmacist friend Margo.  I worked as a pharmacy technician with her for several years.

The red brick building in the next photo is a quilt shop.  I am sure you can guess why I included that.  There are quilt blocks in the window and a quilt by the front door on the outside of the building.  Those are from a printed fabric.  The tan building with the blue roof is "Beigh's Bakery".  I used to bake often to share with  my co-workers.  The darker red building with the flag is called "Goddess Chocolates" just because a town should have a candy shop.  I am not big on eating chocolate and I much prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate when I do eat some.  Several friends have called me "Goddess" for a long time.  A joke that started at work and is all in fun.  

 I did not get the whole blue building in the picture.  It is called "Burke's Buttons and Lace, Fine Silks" as those are the things she collects and drools over.

The white building with the red door is an antique shop.  I had to have one of those as I like to browse in antique shops.

I had to create a golf course for my husband.  That is his only hobby.  The building says "McGregor Country Golf".  There are two tombstones below the building and close to the antique shop.  One has my husband's name on it and says "Darrell Beigh. Died on the 18th hole.  Scored 72."  And I put a future date that would give him a long life.  He has never had a 72 score so I figure that would be his accomplishment.  My tombstone says, "Karen Beigh.  Died with needle in hand and quilt on her lap."  And again a future date for a long life.

I forgot to have our friends hold the back of the quilt up for a photo so I draped it over a footstool so you can see part of it.  I used a fabric for the center that is an apple orchard print.  The lighter border is sliced apples.  There is also a border that is a farm scene print.

I made the quilt in 2 1/2 weeks from start to finish.  I spent many hours per day working on it.  Once I knew where I was going with the design, I couldn't wait to have the finished product.  The applique is fused and machine stitched.  I did the applique with the donut method where the fabric remains soft.  The fence below the grist mill was created to cover a seam line when I made the bottom border and did not have fabric to blend the side border with it.  On the right side of the quilt, I used a stone print to make a stone wall to blend the orchard  in with the bottom border.  The sky is stripped pieced from many different fabrics that had an appropriate look.

I displayed the quilt at a show one time.  After I brought the quilt home from the show and unfolded it, I found a note tucked into it.  It was from someone wanting to purchase the quilt.  I could not part with it.  My husband said it would be like selling one of the family and that is true.

Lots of pictures in this post.  Hope you enjoyed looking.

Karen