Jolene Irving Creations

Quilt Raffle

2011-11-06T18:47:00.000-06:00

Here is an updated picture of the Raffle quilt. I put the boarders on, just have the binding to do now. What started out as an over sized lap quilt has turned into a twin size quilt 62 x 80 (which some think is a perfect over sized lap quilt).

Remember, YOU can get tickets to win this quilt ---each diaper is a chance to win. Bring the diapers by the house, give to Jolene at work, contact me over email (for those out of town) or them to the shower. Drawing will be on Tuesday evening - Nov 8, 2011.

Perfect for yourself or to use as a Christmas Gift.

Alison's Baby Shower Diaper/Quilt Raffle

2011-10-29T23:32:00.000-05:00

This is the quilt that will be raffled for diapers for Alison Hunter's baby shower. It is not fully completed yet, but will be at the shower. It will have two more boarders on it and will be fully quilted. It will measure about 55" X 78" - an over-sized personal quilt, slightly smaller than a twin bed quilt.

Valued at about $200.00

Perfect for yourself or as a Christmas gift.

If you want to participate in the raffle here is how it works:

For each diaper (# in a package of diapers) you bring your name will be entered that many times into a drawing for the quilt.

Just before Alison opens any gifts, she will draw for the winner of the quilt. You do not have to be present to win (though Alison hopes you will be).

If you cannot come but would like to participate, give Jolene a call: 281 770-5837 or leave a message on this blog.

Halloween Applique

2010-10-11T09:03:00.001-05:00

All machine applique, this makes a great wall hanging or add to it for a full quilt. Teri completed this on her new embrodoriy machine.

Random Pieced

2010-07-26T08:38:00.001-05:00

I did this one. My sister had been collecting "cow" material for a long time. I took and just started sewing pieces together. No pattern, no set design, I just started sewing peices together. I love how it finished up!

Tori's Sample Blocks

2010-07-19T09:11:00.001-05:00

There are still a few in the group working on their sampler quilt. Tori is doing her's in black and white with a touch of red. It is coming along nicely!

Here are some close-ups of the blocks...

My Dads' Shirts

2010-07-12T09:20:00.011-05:00

My dad passed away 3 years ago. As my mom went through his clothes, there were some shirts that she just didn't want to get rid of! When she came to visit me, she brought them along and we started makeing a quilt for her and all of my siblings out of the shirts. We added pictures of dad with each of us, his Forest Service patches and even the pockets with a copy of the last 3x5 card with his list of 'things to do'. I am adding sayings that both mom and dad used to tell me like "Build Memories","True happiness is living the gospel", "Leave it cleaner than you find it" "Happiness is not always doing what you like, but liking what you do".

Now Mom is hand quilting each of them for us. this will be something that will be treasured forever. I will post mine when it is completed.

Below - This is the first one she completed, with pictues of her and Dad.

Fisrt Quilt

2010-07-05T08:32:00.001-05:00

I love to watch as the rising generation gets a tast of creating their own quilts. This is my niece with her first quilt she did with her mom.

Boarder make a difference

2010-06-28T09:01:00.001-05:00

Teri made these beautiful quilts in an attempt to use up some of her excess material. One of the things she used these to point out to the rest of us is how just the boarder can make a different to the overall look of the quilt. The base quilt is exactly the seam, the only difference is the boarders.

American Quilts

2010-06-28T08:23:00.001-05:00

With the great success of the Texas Quilt, Teri added these to the quilts she is selling.

Blind Tie Demo

2010-06-14T09:20:00.001-05:00

I love it when my mom comes to visit. On this particular trip she agreed to teach the quilting group how to do the blind tie she does on all the quilts that she makes for the grandkids. Dave is helping her get everything set up.

The following week the ladies asked Mom to teach them how to crochet around baby bibs. We couldn't get the hemstitch done, so instead she showed them how to crochet a kitchen hand towel. They loved the project and almost everyone completed one. I didn't get to be there becasue of work, so Mom made sure to take pictures for me to post.

Nifty fabric/quilted containers

2010-06-07T09:40:00.001-05:00

When Teri and I went to the International Quilt Show Market, I found this great pattern to make handy decorative baskets from 2 square pieces of material. They make up fast and are soooo cool and useful. I have shared it with several ladies...here are a few that they have done.

The last picture is of me and my sister.

'Life Story' Quilt

2010-05-31T08:36:00.001-05:00

While working at the Hobby Lobby in Tomball an older couple came in with this quilt, I was amazed! Each block represents event in their life. The husband started telling us about their adventures from each block. They let me take this picture to share with you here. This is quite a keepsake; they said each of their children wants one of their own.

Texas Quilt

2010-05-24T08:14:00.001-05:00

The Missionaries in Teri's ward asked her to make them a Texas quilt...this is what she came up with. I absolutely LOVE what she did and the Missionaries were thrilled! With just a little encouragement, she is now making these for sell.

China Trip

2010-05-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

Last year Dave and I took a trip to visit my sister who lives in China. This is the book I put together about that incredible experience. I use heritage makers to put it together.

Graduation Quilt Tradition

2010-05-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

As each child graduates from High School, my Mom makes them a quilt. Here is Sarah with her quilt. It is a large gingham square with cross stitch to make the design.

This is a pictre of my mom with the quilt hanging up so you can see the work better.

This quilt was tied by the young women of our Ward. Amy desined it, I sewed it and the gilrs tied it for her. They do a quilt each year for the girls graduating.

Heritage Makers

2010-05-13T08:35:00.001-05:00

I enjoy creating books with Heritage Makers. I have completed a family year book for 2005 and one about by childhood. If you would like to see them here's a link:

Irving's 2005 - Year book for the year 2005

Jolene's Childhood - Pictures from my growing-up years

Check out Heritage Makers about making your own book.http://www.heritagemakers.com/

Roosters

2010-05-10T07:32:00.001-05:00

This Rooster quilt is all hand appliqued! Teri did it just to learn and master the blanket stitch. She ended up giving it to a friend of her sisters. If you click on the picture, I think you can see all the stitched that were put into creating each rooster.

Burnt Edge Roses

2010-05-09T22:37:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy working at Hobby Lobby? I love meeting the people and hearing about new ideas. Every day I work someone comes in to buy some poly-satin material to make flowers for their girls hair. I finally learned how they are done and have gone wild making them. Here are pictures of some I have done. If you are interested, I can make a demo of how to do them...and internet class :)

More of Grandma's Blankets

2010-05-03T22:26:00.001-05:00

I just couldn't resist posting these pictures of some of my Grandsons' enjoying the blankets my mom made for them! Don't they just make you smile!!!!

Never a Better Hero

2010-05-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hope you enjoy this one. Do you have one to share with me?

Quilt Block Holder

2010-04-26T10:22:00.001-05:00

One of the greatest things about the quilt group is sharing ideas! Tori brought this to class and we all wanted to make one! It is a simple holder for blocks being worked on. It holds them out straight so you don't have to keep ironing them as you want to see them all laied out together.

So we figured out a pattern and we spent a day make our own. Here is some pictures of some completed in class. Most didn't decorate theirs on the front, but it serves the same purpose.

No Ordinary Man

2010-04-25T07:18:00.001-05:00

Hope you enjoy this one. I love to listen to it over and over....

Quilt As You Go

2010-04-22T09:31:00.001-05:00

With the Quilting Group starting up again for the new 2010 year, Teri came up with a great new project that several are doing. We will post their pictures as we have them completed. This is the one that Teri did so everyone could see a completed project. it is a quilt as you go project. As you sew the strips together, you sew through the batting and the back. Some great color choices have been selected - can't wait to see some finished projects!

Cathy's Rag Quilt

2010-04-19T07:18:00.001-05:00

Last fall Cathy and I were at a Family Camp where all of your children were content and happy playing in the beautiful hill country while several of us Mom's got to take some time to sew. Cathy has been collecting this material for some time and we finally had a few hours to put it together. I left the brown boarder at home, but we got the center part done that week. Cathy even did most of the sewing on this project!!!! She wasn't looking forward to it, but ended up feeling extremely accomplished!

His Hands

2010-04-18T07:12:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share another of my favorite song/videos with you...

Touch of the Masters Hand

2010-04-16T20:53:00.002-05:00

ust found this and wanted to share it. It is one of my favorites! The first is in story form the second is in song. Let me know what one you like best.

'I Spy'

2010-04-11T19:08:00.002-05:00

I have shown pictures of 'I Spy' quilts that my sister, mom and I have done int the past. I like putting picture of things we have all done to inspire other to make quilts of their own. That is what happened with this on! :) We got a new member for our quilt group when she came over to learn how to do the 'I Spy' with the folded corners. A fun technique but it takes a lot of time.

Below is a quilt this quilter completed using sashing between each of the pictures.

Hobby Lobby Transfer

2010-04-03T07:10:00.001-05:00

I started working for Hobby Lobby, the Tomball location, November 2009. I have loved working there and have been able to associate with some way cool people! I love working in the fabric department to see and hear all the great projects people are doing.

In February, life took an unexpected turn and I found myself heading to Utah. My managers at Hobby Lobby contacted the store in South Jordan to see if I could transfer to their store. I was fortunate that the transfer did happen and I have once again found myself working with some great people at Hobby Lobby. I am only working part time because of my other responsibilities here but I am greatly enjoying the experience.

I had pictures myself at 50 (which I turned this month) playing with grandchildren every day and quilting, instead I found it is a season of working in 'the real world'. I have surprised myself - finding I am enjoying the work experience.

I am grateful for good employment in a time when unemployment is so high.

Family Week - Artistic Expression

2010-04-02T22:50:00.001-05:00

One of the sessions during family week was Art Therapy. Alison and 4 family members were there with her. They gave us clay and asked us to each do 3 sculptures to represent:

Our loved ones eating disorder
Our loved ones true self
Our loved ones higher power

I didn't know if anything to do!!!! So I just started playing around with the clay and something did develop.

I will share mine (pictured above), but haven't asked permission from the others to share their sculptures yet. They all did a great job!

The red box is the eating disorder, representing how it is confining and restricting. The red stained my hand, just like the eating disorder tries to leave its mark wherever it can.

The bulb with a bud starting to grow is the untapped treasures inside Alison that has always been there, at times going dormant, but waiting to thrive again.

The ladder is the higher power, representing the way is possible for our return to God. The steps on the ladder are all different colors representing the many experiences that help us in the climb we all make in life. Notice one of the steps in red, like the eating disorder. Even or maybe especially, the hard times in our lives brings us the greatest growth in our quest.

Eating disorder

2010-04-01T00:50:00.000-05:00

My youngest daughter has been struggling with anorexia (eating disorder) since she was 11 years old. She was fist hospitalized for a month with a dangerously low weight at 12.

She is now 17 and we have finally found a place that we feel like is giving her the help she needs.

It has taken a drastic move on our part! The treatment center we have put her in, Center for Change, is located in Orem, Utah. I couldn't imagine sending her here by herself and wanted to be a part of her recovery. I also wanted to be here where there is substantial help after she is done with the program before taking her back to Houston.

So another daughter and I moved to Orem, Utah. We signed a lease on an apartment and started work.

Though we have had some stumbling blocks with the insurance, I have felt great confidence in being here and have had A LOT of support from family and friends!

Our family has been learning a lot about this condition and will share some of that with you. I think this is an issue that many face but few talk about it and feel very alone. For those, I want to say there is hope!

I encourage you to look at the Center for Change website and find out a little more about eating disorders. Another one I really feel like has good information is Rader Programs.

Family Week - Breathing through a coffee straw

2010-03-31T22:49:00.000-05:00

During family week we attended many classes as they tried to help us understand what the girls are going through and the process the eating disorder goes through.

One of the classes was on Intuitive Eating. The thing that struck me the most in this class was when the instructor gave all of us a small straw that you stir coffee with, she had us plug our nose and just breathe out of the straw. After several seconds of doing this we were all gasping for breath. She asked us "What was the first thing you did when you stopped useing the straw to breathe from?" We said "Took a huge intake of air!" She explained that is how dieting is to our body, when we deprive our body from the things it needs, as soon as it can it seeks for greater supply of what it was deprived of.

As you can see, and what we all know in our heart is that dieting doesn't, well, the work but only for the time you are staying on the diet, when you do back to 'normal' eating the majority of people gain the weight be plus a few pounds.

At the Center for Change, and what I agree with, is the idea of Intuitive Eating that in simple terms teaches:

All food had nutritional value
Listen to your body it will tell you what it wants
Listen to your hunger

Of course it goes deeper than that but you will have to read about that on your own if you are interested :)

So next time you decide to try a diet, think about breathing through a coffee straw.

Family Week - Music Therapy

2010-03-18T23:07:00.006-05:00

I haven't written for a very long time because life has taken a very different direction that I had not planned. As many of you know, my youngest daughter, Alison, has entered the Center for Change for treatment for her eating disorder that she has been struggling with for almost 6 years now. Amy and I have moved here to be with her during this time.

I will write more about eating disorders and the things we have been learning and experiencing at a later time, but tonight I wanted to write a little about today. Once a month they have Family Week where we go to many group sessions and classes and see what they are doing in the Center. My mom is here with me for today and tomorrow, Amy joins in when she is not at work.

Anyway, tonight there was music therapy... didn't have much to do about music but very interesting. First the leader put on ocean music then had us start throwing 2 balls of string to each other while holding on to the string that was thrown to us. It created a spider web that 'represented' the ocean :) after we let it wave like a storm and then calm down, we laid it on the floor. Then we were given some clay and asked to make something we would find in the ocean and put it in our ocean on the floor. After we all did this she had us go around the room and tell what we made and what it might mean to us. She said that using the ocean in an exercise like this was an insightful way of expressing feelings of where you are at with life at this time.

There was a whole variety of things made and lots of insight given, like:

Electric eel and crab = possibily representing protection
A gold fish = a fish not common in the sea, but in a glass bowl being watched all the time
A skool of gold fish = common fish but seeking the support of others
Exotic fish = enjoying the vairety of life
Whale = seeking to be in control of their environment
Star fish = seems lifeless when out of water, but comes alive when put back in the water. Also have the unique ability to grow back a limb when it is cut off.
Jelly fish = beautiful, but almost transparent with a mean sting if you get too close
Fish poop = 'it's always there...part of life'

I SOOOOO wish I had kept our figures and taken pictures of them for you!!!!!!

Here is what we came up with; I will let you analyze it if you want...

Mom went first...she did a shipwrecked boat with a person surviving inside (with a smile).
Amy did a sandy floor with seaweed growing and a rainbow fish swimming among the seaweed (actually Amy and Alison worked on that together).
Alison did a mushroom.
I did a piece of driftwood with barnacles on it sitting on some seaweed.

I'd love to hear what you might come up with if you were to do this same exercise.

This might be an interesting experience for a family night or family reunion or something.

Homecoming Mum

2010-02-08T22:03:00.006-06:00

Homecoming Mums seem to be a Texas 'thing', a tradition of sorts.

A young friend of mine (more like a son) was asked to Homecoming and told he needed to put together a fabulous Mum for her Sr. year. Taylor didn't really know what she was thinking about so I took him out to look for the things she said she wanted in her Mum.

Then we went to work. Taylor either did or helped with every part of putting it together. It really turned out nice! I think he was proud of it, I know I was! I was more proud of him for taking the time to be a part of putting the whole thing together.

Paula's Baby quilt

2010-02-02T01:00:00.001-06:00

My sister, Paula made this quilt. She enjoys reading in her free time, but on occassion has tryed her hand at the sewing machine. This is one she put together awhile ago and I have recently quilted it for her on the long arm.

Personality Quilt

2010-01-28T03:55:00.001-06:00

This was a fun project! It is made from the "Sweet Sixteen" pattern, similar to the "Turning 20". I told Alison that when she was any material that represented her personality for some reason, that she was to get it (about 30 fat quarters). We had fun shopping for the pieces. We got enough that both sides of the quilt are full of the variety's of material. It has done a nice job to capture her personality for this time of life.

"Strip" Quilts

2010-01-24T04:07:00.000-06:00

I like this style of quilts. I hadn't thought of it before seeing my first one this past year. They are varying widths of 45 inch strips. I really like the variety in them.

More Rails

2010-01-07T08:31:00.001-06:00

A strip quilt, Rail, is one of the eaisiest tops to put together. My 2 youngest girls made one, each put together a little differently. First is Alison, she did this in her early teens. Amy sewed this one as a laurel project and completed it for graduation. My mom hand quilted it for her and added a soft boarder.

See other Fence Rails here...

Working

2009-12-27T19:28:00.002-06:00

I have started working. Many reasons have gone into this decision, the result is that I am now working at Hobby Lobby. Having not been in the work world for over 20 years, I was a little nervous at this change in life. I have been fortunate to find a great group of people to work with and never have to worry about working on Sundays :)

This has brought many changes in our home, but everyone is adjusting well. I am still pursuing my quilting business. So any referrals there are always welcome.

The Quilting Group that has been meeting every Thursday is going to continue, Tori is taking charge of the group. I will attend as often as I possibly can. More details about the time and place will come soon.

Crazy Christmas Quilts

2009-12-08T13:14:00.001-06:00

Crazy Quilts are a lot of fun because of the varity of fabrics you can use. This first one is a stack and wack. I was able to use a large stash of Christmas material I had collected over the years, there was enough to make 2 twin size quilts. The quilting is poinsetta's, it shows up really nicely on the back, but doesn't show too well in the pictures. Maybe you will want to come by and visit me and I will show you how prety the quilting really is :)
This one is from my collections of "Snowmen" fabric. I didn't use a pattern, I just started to sew whatever size scraps I had until they made a big enough square, then sewed all the big squares together. For the back, I used lage pieces of the snowman fabric, it gave it a nice look. You can't see it but the quilting is snowflakes.

Snowmen Quilt

2009-12-01T01:05:00.002-06:00

This pattern is a 'Block by the Month' project. Tori and I found it over 15 years ago at the International Quilt Festival. We both began work on the hand applique blocks, taking a brake to make some into pillows as Christmas gifts one year. Then life took over and our blocks were set on the back burner for many years! During that time, my 2 sisters saw the pattern and wanted to make one as well. Both Paula and Merlene finished theirs before Tori and I, but we are back on schedule to have ours completed this year. :)

Remember, all 4 pictures are of the same pattern, everyone just chose their own colors - you can see what a difference the colors make, really shows personality.

The one is mine, I mainly used scraps I had from other projects. I just want to add one more boarder...

My oldest sister, Paula, did this one. I love the natural tones she chose! Merlene did this one, my mom is hand quilting it for her (as well as Paula's, she will do mine when it is completed). The natural tones with the red are very warm and inviting.

Tori still needs a boarder or two... I love the darker red boarders pulling this one together.
Now that the ladies in the quilting group have seen these quilts, there are a few who are wanting to do their own. It is a great pattern!

Dee's Sample Quilt Finished

2009-11-21T00:10:00.001-06:00

Dee finished her 'sample quilt'. Started years ago, she finished it with us as we all worked on our sample quilt. Here is a link to her individual blocks as she was working on them.

Every Grand Child

2009-11-17T01:45:00.000-06:00

My Mom has made one of these quilts for everyone of her Grand Children and Great-Grand Children. Every one of them has been loved and treasured! This shows some of the Great-Grand kids with their quilts.

Above, Cameron his showing his quilt. This is the best one that shows the whole quilt. Mom does a blind tie and then sometimes adds some hearts or bears, all hand quilted.

Below, Neal is wrapped in his quilt. It may not be the one Great Grandma made but he claims ALL the blankets (when he can get away with it)!

The next 2 blankets are for the newest grandsons (great grandsons). They were born 2 weeks apart. Wesley and Zander.

Keegan takes his blanket everywhere he goes! Here he is at his Dad's commission as an officer and still has his blanket along.
Dave, yes my husband, wanted a blanket like everyone else...so, Mom made him one too. Thing is, Amy kinda took it over and has claimed it as hers.

I Love Lucy

2009-11-16T06:52:00.001-06:00

Susie is one of our "long distance" Quilt Group members. A few times a year, she makes her way over for some sewing time. This time she came over for the International Quilt Show. In between visits to the quilt show, we finished some projects. Here is one she put together with I Love Lucy prints. We even had time to get it quilted on Teri's new computer long arm.

At the bottome is a picture of the back to see the quilt stitches.

Teri's Show and Tell

2009-11-10T06:56:00.001-06:00

Teri has been wanting to use up all her scrap material so she has been looking for patterns to do just that. This in one of the block we did in class for the sampler quilt. She bought some extra cream background fabric but other than that this was scraps she had laying around. There was enough to make 2 oversized throw quilts. The angle quilt below is one Teri chose to do to practic her hand applique on. The original pattern I think only had 6 angels on it but Teir didn't think that was big enough so she doubled the size.

Flannel Baby Blanket

2009-11-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

While at a Family Camp, a few of us brought our sewing machines... :) While kids were having fun playing, we were able to get a few projects accomplished. Here Sandy is with her new project, a double sided flannel baby blanket. A little bigger than a receiving blanket which is nice.

My mom and I found this cool pattern while we were in Logan visiting. The front is a few inches smaller that the back so when it is sewed the back folds over to the front creating a mitered corner and boarder.

I make a lot of these for all the baby's in our Ward.

My First Rag Quilt

2009-11-03T01:03:00.003-06:00

This is the quilt that in on my bed right now. It was one of the very first quilts I made and it is all from scraps I had. At the time I was making dressed from a great line of fabric from Mission Valley. I had lots of scraps (which I hate to throw away) and a whole lot of samples from the distributor...so I decided to make use of them and put them into a king size rag quilt.

Mary's Show and Tell

2009-11-02T01:59:00.000-06:00

Mary brought a few project to share with us. The first is a table runner that both she and her husband put together. Aprons are SO 'IN' right now. Mary's son made this one for his dad.

This is a new apron Mary made, you can't see it here but it is reversible.

Lisa's finished Sample Quilt

2009-11-01T06:40:00.000-06:00

Lisa has finished her Sample Block quilt!!!!

We have pictures of her starting earlier this year, not sure she could really do a project like this but REALLY wanting to. Each block she made increased her confidence and she steadily worked over the months and now look...she completed the top!!!!

Good Job Lisa!!!!

See posts of when she started and as she was working...

First block

Progress

Her write-up

Depression Paper Piecing

2009-10-30T01:47:00.000-05:00

We have enjoyed learning several varying styles of Paper Piecing. Here is another one Mary showed us. Using 4 x 9 strips of newspaper and all your scraps (all sizes) of material, fill up several newspaper strip and then sew all the strips together. Use the finished piece for a quilt, hand bag, place mat or anything else you can think of. Mary shows how she used hers as a quilt and a project bag.

Tori's Quilts

2009-10-27T08:28:00.003-05:00

Tori has been taking a class on hand applique. In class they work on a block each month. This is Tori's main project during the quilting group. I thought all would like to see what she is doing. It is fun to see the progression!

This is a quilt Tori's completed before we started our Quilting Group and brought to show us.

Maribella's Dress

2009-10-24T01:24:00.001-05:00

Michael commissioned as an Officer in the Texas National Guard this summer. There was a formal ball held that we got to attend. I wanted to make Maribella a perfect dress for the occasion. I failed to get a picture of just her in the dress to really show it off, but here is the best I got of the dress. She was very stunning!!! Sarah did her hair.

Fence Rail Quilt

2009-10-21T01:59:00.000-05:00

This is one of my early quilts. It is a 'strip quilt'. Very easy to construct. This one was done with scraps from material I used in making some vests for a music group.

This is the same quilt, the strips and blocks were just placed in a random order.

Teri's Show and Tell - leaves, stars

2009-10-13T01:21:00.001-05:00

When Teri and I first got into quilting, we took a 'quilting vacation' to Branson, MO. We stayed for about a week and spent our time sewing, eating and going to the wonderful shows in Branson. Here are 2 of the quilts Teir sewed while we were there.

The first one is her first attempt at machine applique. The whole thing is done in just 2 fabrics. She drew the leaves and the boarder is in the same material as the leaves. Very simple but extreamly striking.
This one is a patter she found on the internet. She hadn't yet gotten comfortable with using bold colors, now days she said she would have use bold, bright colors. This has always been one of my favorites!

Hand Print Quilt

2009-10-07T00:10:00.000-05:00

I have decided to try my hand at starting a quilting business. Combining a skill I enjoy with helping our family income. I will be doing "Memory Quilts" in the form of pictures, t-shirts and hand prints. Here is a pictures of the hand print quilt I designed. You can see more at http://www.jolenescreations.com/

Sheri's Quilt

2009-10-01T01:07:00.001-05:00

Sheri is on her second quilt, starting a great tradition for her family. This one if for her son that just left for BYU this fall. My Mom made a quilt for me and each of my siblings as we graduated and headed away for college. It brought me more than physical warmth as I snuggled under it when I was away from home.

Following are some pictures as Sheri is working on her quilt...

Here is Sam with his finished quilt to take with him on his new adventure!

Doing Business

2009-09-30T06:22:00.002-05:00

I have decided to try my hand at starting a quilting business. Combining a skill I enjoy with helping our family income. I will be doing "Memory Quilts" in the form of pictures, t-shirts and hand prints. Here are a few pictures of pictures quilts I designed. You can see more at http://www.jolenescreations.com/

Sibling Quilts

2009-09-28T21:03:00.000-05:00

A few years ago when I was visiting family, my sisters and I decided to start a project, which we decided to include our brothers in. That is 5 of us. Each picked out several different fall prints and sent them to me. I used all the pieces in varying patterns to make 5 coordinating quilts. Mom came over and helped me get them quilted with a lot of help from Teri. Merlene helped bind as well. I'm showing them here to keep the memory. It was a fun project, and it's fun to think that each of them have one like mine in their home as well. It even ended up that my mom got one as well, which mades this whole quilt adventure even more satisfying. This first picture is of me with all the quilts, Mom wanted this picture.

I love this one! With the suggestion of a daughter, I just took strips of all the fabric and sewed them together in different sizes, added the boarder and it's done.

It's easy to see this is a Crazy Quilt. I used a 'stack and wack' pattern. Makes it fun and easy.

I did 2 of these using the "Sweet 16" pattern, it is a lot like the "Turning Twenty" patterns. The boarders make the quilts look so different even though they are the same main pattern.

This one is mine. Probably the most simple one, but I love it. It was done mainly using the scraps from the other quilts that were too big to throw away.

This last one I did before any of these others and is more involved, but it fits this theme we were going with.

Picture Quilt

2009-09-01T01:25:00.003-05:00

For my parents 50th wedding anniversary I made this quilt filled with pictures of my mom and dad and then each of their 5 children and their families. We presented it while celebrating with them in Branson, MO. Mom and Dad's picture are in red, then each child has their own color scheme.

Mom and Dad have it displayed on their wall in the front entry of their home.

Baptism Pillow Case

2009-08-25T05:52:00.002-05:00

This pillow case was made for Janice's grandson's baptism. It has his name and baptism date printed with his picture. At his baptism there will be bright color markers for everyone to sign the pillow case. What a treasure he will have to remind him of this special day.

Almost done!

2009-08-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

Lisa joined us to make a sampler quilt, her first! Here she is with her last block, she said it was probably the funnest one of all. Now working on the sashing, it is fast on its way to completion. I asked her to write up something about her experience. This is what she had to say...
"I am happy to have the opportunity to join this quilting group, still very unsure of myself. I had not sewn in several year and had never made a quilt. Each seek learning a new sill and being around enthusiastic women helped me as I looked forward to going to quilting.

The first block I completed I was shaking just trying to do it, with much help I completed it and was thrilled. I couldn't wait to learn more skills and techniques, thus completing each block (with much help). I unpicked many wrong seams, laid the blocks wrong, but someone was always willing to help me. These women are wonderful to be around.

With my last block completed and laid all out I couldn't believe all I had completed. Then the sashing is made and put into place it looked like a QUILT! I was jumping up and down, I was so excited. I had really made a quilt top.

I love this quilting group. All the help they have given me, the skills I have learned and the wonderful women to be with.

Can't wait to see what's next????"

---Lisa

Merlene's Sampler Quilt

2009-08-21T08:54:00.000-05:00

My sister, Merlene, lives in Colorado. She enjoys quilting and has made many beautiful quilts! She has been joining us through this blog and as you see below, made her sample quilt. This was started with a local teacher who moved. She decided to finish it with some of the blocks we have been using in our sampler quilts. I'm sure you will recognize some of them. I love what she did in the boarders!

Class Demonstration

2009-08-20T20:36:00.005-05:00

Teri gave a great demonstration on Picture piecing today! We saw examples of her work in the last post. Today we made butterflies, well, most of us watched in awe. You can see Amy above admiring her work, she did a great job completing her piece during class.

Below I finally got Teri to pose in a picture here with Amy. Thanks Teri for showing us this today. I plan on making a few!

Picture Piecing

2009-08-19T09:38:00.003-05:00

Teri recently took a class on Cynthia England's 'Picture Piecing'. This first picture is what they worked on in class. It almost looks like it was painted, well, I guess it was 'painted' with material.

This week Teri is going to go a demonstration for us on the process. It is a lot like paper piecing with a few tricks, one is using freezer paper. This is the kit she is offering us to do after her demostration. She will also have some of these strawberrys ready if anyone is interested. It is just a little more challenging than the butterfly.

Teri's Fish Kalidascope

2009-08-18T06:31:00.003-05:00

Since our field trip where we learned how to do the Kalidascope, Teri has been on the look out for material to do striking quilts with the Kalidascope. This is her latest find. Check it out, this is the material she started out with:These are just a few pictures of the different block it made.

Here is the whole thing put together! It has been on display at the local quilt store.

T-shirt dress

2009-08-12T06:17:00.001-05:00

My daughter, Melissa, has a daughter of her own now. She is taking a new interest in taking up sewing. So a few weeks ago when we went to visit her, we went material shopping, what fun!!!! To start with, we decided to try our hand at a t-shirt dress. The t-shirt was a little big for her, but after we cut and added and sewed, it fits her just great! Enjoy the pictures of Melissa's finished product. Check out Melissa's blog about her sewing project and to see Zoey in her new dress.

Still Working

2009-08-11T10:31:00.000-05:00

Everyone has had a fun summer of travel and sun! The Quilting Group kept going through it all, we are still working on our sampler quilts, they are coming along nicely! Many have their next projects planned already, ok some have their next 6 projects planned...

Dee's Quilt

2009-08-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dee started these blocks about 20 - 30 years ago when taking a quilting class. The teacher wasn't able to complete the class, leaving the students with all the pieces cut out wondering what to do. Dee has pulled them out with new excitment to complete the quilt. She's almost done, here are the blocks I have pictures of. It's fun to see things come together and know it is never too late to complete a project.

See the T-Shirt quilt Dee has completed here.

Amy's Quilts

2009-08-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

Amy's is working on paper piecing an animal quilt. Accomplishing one each week during the quilt group, she is fast on her way to completing a great quilt.This is Amy's first quilt she brought to show us. Her mother helped her cross stitch the frogs for Amy's daughter, then embrodried at the bottom are their 3 names and the date. It has been in her cedar chest waiting the birth of her first child. Thanks Amy for sharing this treasure.

Winnie the Poo Kalidascope

2009-07-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here is another sample of a Kalidascope. First is the material started with, the second picture shows one completed block. It is fun to see how the different materials turn out.

Rag Quilt Pictures

2009-07-26T11:59:00.001-05:00

Love seeing the variety of Rag Quilts!

This first one I completed for a friend of mine to take to a Family Reunion Auction. She plans to bid on it herself.

Susie completed this one for her daughter. It is being well worn and loved!

YW Value Quilt

2009-07-24T20:48:00.000-05:00

Mary and her daughter created this quilt as part of a Young Women's Value Project. Listed around the torch are all the values, highlighted with the value colors around the quilt.

Janice's Apron

2009-07-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

The Quilting Group is just the name we call ourselves, we do a whole lot more than quilting. Talking would be among the most of what we do, we love the eating part and sometimes we vary from quilting to other projects like Janice did this time. She wanted an apron for her Home Enrichment Night. She brought some material she had sitting around her home and I had a pattern, so before the Thursday afternoon was done, her apron was almost complete, when she came back the next week, this is what she had.

Spiderman Quilt

2009-07-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

The adventures of Spiderman are loved by young and old!

My daughter married a man that is one of the avid Marvil fans. I decided to make him a quilt with spiderman. Here it is! Once my other kids saw it it was a fight for who wanted it most. They gave up the fight when I informed them it was made for Clay, they knew they couldn't win over that.

It did turn out prety awesome!!!! I didn't use a pattern, just added as I went with what material I could find.

Memory quilt

2009-07-17T10:21:00.003-05:00

I was asked to do this quilt for this lady who took it to her aged grandmother over sees. She designed the quilt with bright colors and big pictures for the nursing home her Grandmother stays in.

Susie teach Chenille

2009-07-16T11:53:00.003-05:00

Susie joined the Quilting Group from San Antonio. Recently she learned how to construct a Chenille baby blanket. She took the time to give us a last minute demonstration of how to do this.

It has been so much fun to learn so many different things from those who join us in the Quilting Group. We all have more ideas of what we would like it do than time to do them. :)

It was also fun to have you join us here in Houston, Susie, hope you can come again.

Memory Quilt

2009-07-16T10:08:00.001-05:00

When I was working on a 50th Anniversary Quilt for me parents, I used the scraps from the paper I printed the pictures on to print small pictures of the first 25 years Dave and I have been married. this is the quilt I came up with for us. It is really considered a scrap quilt because the material I used is from material scraps I have used over the last 20 + years. It is a fun quilt to recall and share memories. The Grandkids enjoy finding their parents when they were young as well.

This is just a close up of the quilt blocks. As you can see it is a very simple quilt to put together.

Friendship Quilt

2009-07-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

Tammy and I have been friends since the 6th grade. I was thrilled to hear she was coming to Houston last month to finish a quilt with a friend. I got to go and visit with them and was impressed with what they had done. Tammy's friend got 12 mutual friends (once lived in the same town, many have moved) and each took a month or season to do a block for everyone else in the group. By the end, eveyone had enough blocks from friends to complete a quilt. Each picked how they wanted it put together and what finishing colors to use, then Jan invited them all to Houston to machine quilt their finished project. This is a picture of Tammy's completed quilt.

Wasn't that a great idea. Many who participated are not 'quilters' but it was an easy enough project that all could participate and feel accomplished.

China - Forbidden City

2009-07-14T00:15:00.000-05:00

If you have never heard of the Forbidden City, it is something that you will enjoy researching. Those who were brought to live in the Forbidden City stayed their for life. It is a huge city inside Beijing. We got a tour guide and after 4 hours we barley saw 1/3 of it. There are 999 rooms throughout the city. '9' is a royal number. You will see it symbolized in many areas, on doors, roof tops etc. Only royalty can have 9 of anything. That is the most perfect.

There is a movie called "The Last Emperor" which does a great job telling about the ending of the Forbidden City starting a huge change to the China we know today.

Some of the customs from China's history are extremely interesting! The one that fascinated my a lot was the binding of girls feet. It was a mark of beauty to have a 3 1/2 inch foot, the size and shape of a lotus flower. It was extremely painful but a sign of great beauty. For her wedding, the young girl was judged on the shoes she made for her small feet. This was done for 1,000 years. No one really knows how it began, but it did start with royalty. It only ended in the early 1900's.

Another custom that is seem a lot is raised door steps. Some are just an inch or two, others several inched tall. It is meant to keep the evil spirits out. You must step over, not on top of the door step.

I'd love to put more pictures here, but there are too many to chose from. I am working on a book with LOTS of pictures. I will post it when it is complete.

China - Hu Tongs

2009-07-13T00:18:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of my mom sitting with a couple outside their home. Everyone was really great about having their pictures taken.
The Hu Tongs are a part of China I have never heard of before. It is where a large part of the people live, kinda like villages. You find them everywhere if you know how to look for them. You can be going down all the main roads for years and not realize the villages hidden off the main streets. It is like going down an alley that opens up into its own world. Families live down walkways with doors that open off the walkway into their courtyard where 1 - 3 families might live. It is really hard to explain in words! It's like nothing I have ever experienced here.
During the Olympics, hundreds of them were destroyed. People protested and not all of them were lost.
In these villages, they even share bathrooms. Have I mentioned that their toilets are just holes in the ground? I couldn't bring myself to use any of them. I could manage a whole day until I got back to Paula's. I got some pictures of them if you want to see them.

China - Our Adventure Begins

2009-07-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

My oldest sister, Paula, lives in Beijing, China. This year I got to go to China to visit her and her husband, Carl. I met my Mom, Merlene (sister) and Tim (brother-in-law) over there for a two week visit. Dave joined us for a week as well. We had so much fun! Paula and Carl have lived in China for 4 ½ years, so they knew all the best places to take us to give us an in-depth feel of China. We got to see the tourist sites like ‘The Nest’, the Great Wall, several markets, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven etc. but more fascinating to me was the places tourist don’t normally go like the local markets, farming communities, the Taylor shop and then how the x-pacts live, with maids, drivers, American toilets even being able to attend the LDS Church, American branch. They have 3 branches in Beijing; two American one Chinese. The American and Chinese Branches by law are not allowed to mix, even in social situations. I will talk more about this a little later. We also ate at a lot of Chinese restaurants that were GREAT!
I have broken our adventures into sections, instead of waiting until I have the whole thing written up, I will post it in sections. Hope you will enjoy reading about our adventure in China.

China - Great Wall

2009-07-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

The Great Wall of China was our first tourist stop. Paula decided to take us to this part of the wall that is a little less visited than other parts where they built it up for the Olympics. This part of the wall was awesome! We were there at an off season, so it wasn’t ‘wall to wall’ people which was nice. From the parking lot we walked through the market at the base of the mountain, Paula told us to just look forward and not stop and talk, we would do that when we came back down. Two years ago my mom and dad came to visit here, my dad was so sick and week that it took every bit of energy for him to walk and at times be carried just to the foot of where you could enter the Great Wall. He wanted to so much to be on the Great Wall of China. He died less than a year later.
The wall was quite amazing. Some of the things I thought were interesting in the construction are the steps. There was NO consistency in them. Some steps were over a foot high others were just and inch or two high. The view was spectacular even at this time of year before all the trees have gotten their new leaves. It would be easy to spend an entire day walking along this part of the Wall, since Paula has been here before she showed us the view but had us walk the easier part. We were all thankful for that!
As we were stopping and taking pictures along the way we had the privilege of meeting a nice young couple from Switzerland. He took some picture of our group, which was nice to have some of us all together. We crossed path with them a few times.
On the way home we stopped at a potter shop. The owner met us as we drove up, remembering Paula she knew Paula liked to see the workshop (not open to the public) so that is where she took us first. It was a relatively small building with 12 or so painters working. It was interesting to walk around and get a close look at what they were doing. None of them spoke to us J I’m sure we seemed weird to them. Then we went into their warehouse, so to speak. Each of us bought something and we were on our way.

Quilts for China

2009-07-01T23:41:00.003-05:00

My mom told me about a great project she made some quilts for. I asked her to send me a picture so I could show you and tell you about it. Here is what the flyer she got said:

"The Dixie Quilt Guild in St. George has been making quilts for about 400 girls in an orphanage in China. These are handicapped girls, ages 8 -18 who sleep on 2 foot wide boards, with no bedding of any kind and it gets very cold in China. They have been wearing several layers of clothing trying to stay warm. A company from St. George is making foam mattresses for these girls, but the children need quilts. Any kind, tied, machine quilted, fun, colorful! They need to be about 45x72. Right now they have 250 quilts, but are in need of 150 more and are asking for our help. Bill, from St. George, is going to China the end of July and wants to take each of these girls a quilt."

Mom said: " I don't know who is going all of this, but I just wanted to add to the quilts and Claudia is taking the ones from here to Salt Lake when she goes on Thursday."

So she made up these 3 quilts to send. I think the girls in China will love them!

Teri's Kalidascope

2009-07-01T23:37:00.005-05:00

Teri said she wasn't going to start a new project for awhile, but... she just couldn't help herself. She found some great material for a Kalidascope and went to work. Isn't this great! It isn't all sewn together, but here are the pieces laid out. They look like snowflakes which is the look she was going for.

This is the material she started with. It has the mirrow up so you can kinda see what look you are going to end up with.

Here it is completed. Isn't it striking!!!!

Sample Quilt - Jolene

2009-06-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

I have completed my top of the Sample Quilt we have been working on in class. Becasue I have been making extra squares for display as I teach the different blocks, I have ended up with 24 instead of the 12 blocks the Quilting Group is doing. I decided to go ahead and finish sewing it becasue is is easier to display this way to show the different blocks.

I can't wait to see how everyone's turns out. Click here to see the 2 Teri completed.

Melanie's Quilts

2009-06-24T18:48:00.008-05:00

Melanie has completed her first quilt top!!!!! She has her next 6 already planned :)
She also completed her trial quilt on the long arm. Both are pictured below.

'I Spy' Quilts

2009-06-24T18:31:00.005-05:00

Several years ago I started collecting material for an 'I Spy' quilt. I found a lot of really fun material to use! Since I didn't wanted any two pieces the same, I ended up with enough material to share and trade. I wanted to try something different, so I sewed the blocks with a fold to make the black squares, like origami. It is way cool, but takes time.

My sister made one too. like mine.

span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">>>Mom dedided to put some of the squares together, but instead of the folded squares, she used sashing. It looks great too. I made one like this for my oldest daughters graduation as well.

If anyone is interested in giving this a try, I still have squares to trade :)

Friends, Food and Quilting

2009-06-24T18:13:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago Janice organized a Food Storage / Breadmaking class. It was very informative and inspiring. We decided to make a few of the meals from Karen's website to try out while we quilt. Here are the first two we tried. The idea is to buy enough to make a meal 12 times then rotate it through your food storage. This first one was a variation of what is on Karen's website, this is from Janice:

Easy Tortilla Soup

Cook:2 chirchen breast (boneless skinless)

Cool chicken and cut into very small pieces in soup pot.

2-3 (12 1/2 oz cans white chicken meat) placed in soup pot

Add:

2 Cans French Onion soup

1 can Tomato juice

1 can chicken broth

3/4 cup water

1 cup Salsa

2 Cans corn (or frozen mexicorm)

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans black beans

2-3 medium potatoes, washed and cubed

3 medium to large carrots, washed and cut

Heat on Med/High then simmer for about 1 to 2 hours, just long enough for potatoes and carrots to cook.

Serve with grated cheese and chopped green onions on top as well as tortilla chips, if desired.

Creamy Chicken Enchilada

On Karen's website

T-Shirt Quilts

2009-06-04T08:21:00.001-05:00

When I first did a demo on t-shirt quilts, I did it becasue there were many who were interested in creating on from their own shirts. I had no desire to do one, but after preparing for the demo I decided to do one for myself, yes, for me. I don't wear t-shirts much, except when I actually work out :) but found I had a decent collection from family reunions, and a few other activities I had participated in during my children's teenage years. I didn't realize I had so many memories tied up in these t-shirts. Here is what I came up with...

I had so much fun creating my own, I decided to do one for my daughter Sarah who had a huge collection she wanted in her quilt. I we were laying it out, it was fun to have her share with me some of her memories from each of the shirts. This is what I put together for her... I wanted to add this one to the post today. A friend from my Ward sewed this for her husband, then they had me quilt and bind it. I think she did such a fantastic job, I wanted you to see it. I'm sure you can see why I have been getting excited about t-shirt quilts. They hold a lot of memories, and it's a way to share them with others. I have two more in progress for some friends.
You may want to check back at earlier post with more pictures of t-shirt quilts that have been done.

If you know someone who wants a t-shirt quilt done with their t-sirts, they are welcome to come to our quilt group on Thursdays, or I am now taking orders to do them for people, just email me for pricing.

Quilting Field Trip

2009-05-28T21:33:00.002-05:00

Today was SOOOO much fun! Instead of sewing this afternoon, the Quilting Group took a field trip to Richmonds quilt shop, The Quilting Cottage. Jan gave us a great demo on Kalidascope Quilts, then we all did some looking around deciding on new projects and then Jan took us to a great place for lunch. The food and company were so good!

I was so inspired with the Kalidascope demonstration that I had to try a square out when I got home.

This is the material I had that I wanted to try it out with....

These are the two different squares it made. Don't they look great!!!!! I can't wait to do more.

Blocks from Class

2009-05-26T20:34:00.001-05:00

Over the past 2 months many in the Quilting Group have been working on a sampler quilt. I thought it would be fun to follow their progress as the blocks are starting to come together. I love seeing all the color combinations and how personalities are coming out in each quilt. We are half way through this 12 block project.

The post on March 9th "Sampler Quilt" has pictures of two completed quilts that Teri did with these blocks.

Starflower

Color Wheel & Card Trick

Eight Pointed Star

Cube Lattice

Block 8 - 13

2009-05-13T16:29:00.001-05:00

Block 8
We learned the log cabin earlier this year, we should include on in the sample quilt. It uses a lot of colors, so if you don’t think it fits what you have going on in your quilt, again go over the list of the first 6 blocks and pick one you haven’t done the first time round OR go to the website and find a new one we haven’t presented yet. The ‘Noon and Light’ fits nicely in the sampler quilt and is a good review of the things we have been working on.

Block 9
Here are a few block’s Teri highly recommends for your quilts, some a little more challenging.. or go over the list of the first 6 blocks and pick one you haven’t done the first time round

Block 10
These are some that are really striking to me; several are now on my list to make into full size quilts. Again, these are not the only ones you have to choose from. We have provided quite a list in the first 6 blocks that you may want to use in your quilt instead. These quilts are yours and are now taking on their own personalities; it is fun to see them develop!

Block 11
Here is just a few more variety that would look good in the sampler quilt. Just one more to go!

Block 12
For your last block, pick one from all the previous suggestions that you have not already used, or go to the website and chose one of your own.
Finish the quilt:

Here is the link to finish the quilt

http://www.quilterscache.com/S/ScrapSamplerQuilt_Page5.html

Block 7

2009-05-06T16:56:00.001-05:00

Starting this week we will be meeting back at my house. We are on block #7. This is a review block week – either pick from these three that many showed interest in at the beginning or go over the list of the first 6 blocks and pick one you haven’t done the first time round.

While I have been gone, the quilting group kept meeting and got a lot accomplished. Teri opened her home for everyone to meet. Here are a few pictures of projects that have been worked on over the past 7 weeks.

(Above left) Lisa completed her first practice quilt on the long arm. - (Above center) Janice has completed her first full pieced quilt. She used the pattern "Sweet 16". - (Above right) Shauna almost has this rag quilt completed, she has been working on this with her daughters. What a fun project to work on with your girls.

(Below) Tori is making tshirt quilts for the 8 kids that have been playing Harp with her daughter that is graduating this year. It is a big undertaking! Here you can see that she is making some headway. Teri is helping her on the long arm.

Teri has been very busy with projects of her own.

Block Choices 1 - 6

2009-03-17T23:59:00.001-05:00

Remember, you will be meeting at Teri's starting this week through mid April. See you all then.

Block #1 = This is the group of blocks we chose from for the first block.

Block #2 = We will be working with all diagonal cuts. Pick one of the following pattern blocks and print it out for class.

Block #3 = Here are a few patterns working with a double diagonal. Chose one, print it and bring it with you.

Block #4 = This block is learning about "flying geese" that is what these are commonly called and used often as boarders on quilts. Here are a few to chose from:

Block #5 = The purpose fo this block is to learn how to do an inset and use a template. Chose one and print it off.

http://www.quilterscache.com/T/TexasRoseBlock.html
I know there is another one, I will post it as soon as I find my notes. :)

Block #6 = We should have a paper piece block in our quilt...You could chose one of your animals to do here with a log cabin around it or use this one you chose at the beginning at this adventure.

http://www.quilterscache.com/E/EightPointedStarVariation2Block.html

Hot off the Long Arm

2009-03-16T01:15:00.002-05:00

As part of the 'class', while working on a quilt top, everyone is suppose to take 4 yards of material to Teri's and practice quilting on her Long Arm. Here are the latest accomplishments:

Working on projects

2009-03-16T00:39:00.003-05:00

Everyone is working HARD on their projects! Lisa was the first one to complete the first block of the sample quilt!!!! Here she did Jacob's Ladder. Doesn't it look great!

I love this colorful quilt Sherri is working on! It's a stack and wack pattern, the colors really make it exciting.

Tori is working on a project she is taking a year long class in. All hand appliqued. Now that takes patience.

Connie has completed 2 practice quilts that she has made into 'quillows'. For the pocket on front, she has paper pieced beautiful designs, that make these a work of art!

T-shirt Quilt Projects

2009-03-10T00:10:00.001-05:00

There is a lot of interest in making t-shirts into keepsake, memory quilts. We had a demonstration and new projects took flight.

Connie made a pillow out of a t-shirt her 29 year old son wore in kindergarden. Didn't it turn out great!

Dee finished one that she started awhile ago for one of her kids. I love the way she included his scoutt banner and High School Letter.

Sample Block Quilt

2009-03-09T23:44:00.001-05:00

We are now starting a new project by request of many in the group. It is a Sampler Quilt consisting of 12 blocks which we will be completing over the next few months. I’ll show you how things develop over this blog along with links to where we are getting the patterns for each block.

For those following along on this project, here is the material list (substitute your colors):

1 yard Red
1 yard Blue
1 yard Green
1 ½ yard Gold
1 ½ yard white or cream

I would also recommend that you get:

Notebook to keep your patterns in
A project box to keep all your materials together in one place

Here is the model we will be working from, the individual blocks will vary. Teri sewed these up so we could see what we are working toward.

For March 12, 2009 -We will be working with squares and a few large diagonal cuts. Many of the block selections are ones you chose with a few Teri and I added that we liked as well. Please print off the block(s) you decide to do. The * indicate the ones Teri and I recommend.

Pick from one of the following pattern blocks:

*http://www.quilterscache.com/J/JacobsLadderBlock.html

*http://www.quilterscache.com/H/HoveringHawksBlock.html

http://www.quilterscache.com/W/WaterwheelVariationBlock.html

http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BuckeyeBeautyBlock.html

Foundation Piecing

2009-03-09T23:17:00.002-05:00

One of the first techniques we tried out is foundation piecing. Everyone had so much fun with it that we have ended up doing a new one every week.

Janice is showing two pieces she completed. She took hers a step ahead and put two of her paper pieced animals into a ‘quillow’.

It was quite a hit! We all loved it and want to do one of our own.

It also inspired Teri and I to finish our foundation pieced quilts we started many years ago.

Starting a Quilting Group

2009-03-09T21:14:00.001-05:00

I’m closing in on having lived a half a century. After many years of homeschooling, spending all my free time planning the next lesson or adventure our family would undertake, I decided I would like to take some time to reconnect with friends and expand that association to meet new people. As I thought of the many ways I might be able to do this I rested on the idea of starting a Quilting Group. I put the idea out there and had a most wonderful, fulfilling response.

We are now meeting once a week, working on individual projects, learning a new technique each week and sometimes working on a common quilt. This group is open to any who might want to join us. We are having a great time!

Here are a few pictures as ladies are working…