First 2016 Finish

HAPPY 2016!!!

Seriously, I can't believe that it's been almost 3 years since my last post!  Time flies!  Many things happened and many quilts and projects were done...  Oh, but where to begin...  so why not just jump right back in and start right where I am.

Back in October 2015, my LQS received the new Moda First Crust Valentine's collection, and I fell in love.  I picked up a Jelly Roll, a background, and Heartstrings pattern.  

Started working on the blocks....

This Heartstrings pattern worked up quickly and easily, soon it turned into a top.  In December, I took it to the shop and quilted it.  My LQS (Quilter's Cocoon) has a Handi Quilter for rent there, but since I work there, they let me used it cause I wanted Surfin' Hearts quilting on this quilt.  I love my LQS; they are so good to me.

The quilt sat through the holidays until last week... 

            .... then binding on...

  ...... and finish!  

I make lots of samples for Quilter's Cocoon, so this quilt will get to go to Road to California next week.  I hope this will help them sell all of the collection.

Here is another Heartstrings quilt (shop sample) with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Cute huh?  I didn't make the  top, but I did quilted and bound the quilt.

And this is the pattern.

I have to add this last picture of my cat, Tiger.  He loves to keep me company while I sew.  Perfect place to take a cat nap don't you think?

Ahhh.... it feels good to be back!

See you again soon,

Rhonda

Valentine Apron

 

 

 

Most days you can find me here at my LQS where I teach.  So when the Stonehenge Valentine collection came in a couple days ago, I knew I had to make a sample for the shop.  Just in time for them to take it to the largest quilt show in Southern California.

 

 

The pattern is simple and fast.  It was finished in a few hours today.

 

Happy sewing,

Rhonda 

Quilted!

 Worked on this for the last 2-1/2 days.

Total of 20+ hours of quilting.

Minus 4 to 5 hours of FROG stitching.

Started work on the quilt top back in October 2012.

Finished top in early December.

It sat on the longarm before Christmas waiting for quilting.

Didn't have the courage to until last Sunday.

 

 

 

 

So happy that it's finally quilted!

 

Happy Sewing,

Rhonda

 



Table Toppers

2 finishes earlier in the year

2 table toppers

each 24" finished

1 patriotic

1 summer

samples for my LQS

where I teach and work

Tumbleweeds

This whole blogging thing sure has been taking the back seat lately.

I took this photo on the left on Monday to show you my progress and now just finally got around to posting it. I wanted to share with you that I was done with all the paper piecing on the shop sample WIP, and I was very excited to start putting the units together.

Well, I couldn't contained the excitement of finally getting the top together, so every chance I got was spent on sewing. This is the result...

This pattern is called Tumbleweeds by Judy Niemeyer.

The colors are washed out in the photo. In person, the colors are more vibrant. One thing that I like to change is the background fabric in that swirl in the top left corner. I was concerned that it might be too dark when I was sewing the top together.... I was right..... picture shows all.... that swirl practically jumps out at you. Although, it doesn't show as much in person as in the photo.

Oh well, not much I can do with it now. The top is done! ... was dropped off yesterday at the shop for the quilting. I should be getting it back sometimes next week to put the binding on.

Overall, this quilt was a challenge but doable if you have a few quilts under your belt. It involves lots of foundation piecing, curve piecing, and my least favorite part... partial seams piecing. Don't get me wrong.... I love the partial seams technique when it's done in small sizes like a quilt block. However, putting the whole quilt top together using the partial seams technique was definitely a challenge for me. But I persevered... and happy that I did because the result is a great looking quilt. :o)

July-August WIP

Thought I'll shared my WIP (Work In Progress) for this month and next month. It's that big shop sample that I had mentioned earlier. There are 52 paper pieced New York Beauty blocks done so far.... that's 1/2 of the quilt ... lots more paper piecing to do. Just to give you a clue.... it's a Judy Niemeyer pattern.

+++++++++++++++++++++

This is for Kathi...

Kathi, your comment came in as a "no-reply", so I couldn't answer your question concerning the dollhouse quilt. Please email me at quiltingdoxies(at)gmail(dot)com or change your setting to reply. Thanks for your visit... I love getting new & returning visitors to my blog. :o)

Hidden Stars and Shop Samples

A few weeks before we left for vacation, I started working at Quilter's Cocoon (the quilt shop where I teach) one to two days a week. I truly enjoyed being there wholeheartedly.... from cutting fabrics to helping customers making fabric selections (my fav part).




So I was cutting up some Kaffe Fasset fabrics (luv luv luv these) into charm packs and had to ask for the scraps. These ------------------->
are about 1" strips. What do I want them for?


Well, I blogged about how much I like to make string quilts in this post. These Kaffe Fasset strings will eventually become a string quilt too. But first, I need to get those other string tops quilted.




Hidden Stars was loaded onto Dolly and quilted with simple arcs from corner to corner. My quilting skill is rather limited, so these arcs were quite difficult to quilt evenly. I had thought of taking the stitches out and re-doing it, but then again ... what the heck!... this quilt was made with throwaways (dryer sheets for foundations and little bits of scraps that most people would throw away), and it would ended up on the couch as a snuggle quilt for us. Besides, it would make a great documentation of my quilting journey, right? :)

The quilting will remain as it is!

All Hidden Stars need now is the binding, but that will have to wait as I'm working on a big shop sample

<------------out of these Batiks.

I worked on it before vacation, has picked it back up since I've been back, and now it is keeping me occupied.

Pictures will come once I put the blocks together.

When I went back to work at the shop on Friday, Pagen needed another sample done. Since all the fabrics were selected and cut, this was quickly sewn up. The quilt top was done in a few hours yesterday. It was a nice little break from the other more challenging sample. :>
I am not quilting this top; therefore, I am counting this sample as a finished project! for the One Project a Month Challenge.