Red Hot Mamas

I'm making progress on my little Lone Star quilt. I've added borders and am now auditioning fabric from my stash for the binding and backing.

The borders were a challenge in that I didn't have enough of either the blue stars or the red chile peppers to avoid piecing the borders. I had enough of the blue inner border, however, to accomodate the width of the quilt center plus one border width.

I decided to add corner pieces fussy cut from the focus fabric and extend the inner border out to the edge by adding another small blue border to one side of each cowgirl corner.

(I know, you're probably scratching your head at this point, so click on either picture for a closeup.)

I assembled the borders for each side and then added them to the quilt center in clockwise fashion. Lucky me, it all worked out. The seams match and everything is lying flat!

Celebrating (A) Life

In 2005 I lost my one and only quilting buddy to cancer shortly after she asked me to handquilt her best quilt ever. For a long time the sight of her last quilt overwhelmed me with grief.

Ironically, losing Tria propelled me to new adventures in quilting. I discovered that quilting helped me process my grief. Finding a position at Glad Creations surrounded me with many passionate quilters who are now my friends.

I can finally work on Tria's quilt with true joy. Here's my friend, Amy, helping me with the hard work of thread-basting while other quilting buddies stopped by to admire Tria's quilt. Isn't it beautiful?

I'm a lucky gal. My life is full. It's true that time is a healer. So much more so are friends and quilting. Working on Tria's quilt now feels like a celebration.

I can't wait to start stitching!

More Cowgirls

I seem to be on a cowgirl roll.

We got new pin-up cowgirls at Glad Creations, and I just had to make a new pillowcase. The cowgirls look great with a lasso fabric Glad's also has on hand.

For the accent strip I added a zippy bit of red. It brings out the red in the cowgirl's outfits.

I am keeping this pillowcase. I may even need to add a matching Lone Star quilt to my list!

Two Birds. One Stone.

I have had a yard of fabric just begging to be the background for a Lone Star quilt. It features pin-up cowgirls, ala 1940's. This little quilt finally worked it's way to the top of my list this week.

I found great prints in my stash for the star points, but next to the cowgirls, the effect was way too busy. So I dove deep in my closet and found a partially completed Lone Star destined to never be finished. The star points were all done, and when I laid them out on my focus fabric . . . wow!

Not only do the colors work, the star points are just the right size. Stored with the star points are fabrics that will work great for borders and maybe even backing.

I lucked out! I'm making good progress on my to do list by killing two birds with one stone.

It Pays to Whine

I'm good at whining. In fact I'm such an expert that I give lessons: Whine Your Way to Success in Four Easy Steps.

So when I fell in love with the Kaffe Fassett fabrics that Nathan picked out for a new quilt, I felt a whine coming on. At each stage in the construction I whined more. I frequently referred to the emerging quilt as mine. I became a pest.

On Valentine's Day Nathan stopped by to sew with me. Before we got started though, he placed in my hands a package that contained . . . you guessed it - my new quilt! I'm still reeling from his generosity.

Doesn't it look terrific on my bed? The name fits perfectly, too. It's called Forever Friends and is one of the latest mystery quilts from Glad Creations.

Now it's Nathan's turn to whine. (Hey, Nathan, need any lessons?)

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates . . .

and so is my sister's new quilt. It reminds me of chocolate covered cherries, so that's what we decided to name it.

I took a picture of the new quilt. My sister is lounging on it with the lower half of her body closest to the camera. I rediscovered that objects in the foreground appear larger than they actually are, so that particular view will not appear here.

We'll have to settle for a picture of the label. Or you can find a picture on the cover of the August 2008 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.

I have pictures of the quilt in progress in previous postings. (See "My Sister Rocks", "When Life Hands You Limes", and "I've Joined a Cult".) Enjoy your new quilt, Linda and Clay!

Hubba Hubba

After finishing those fun pillowcases with guys and babes, I got a little jealous. I wanted my own hunky guys.

I'm partial to tool belts. Where two or three tool belts are gathered together, I come a little unglued. Construction sites are a road hazard for me. I have the urge to pull over and hurl a few cat calls in their direction.

So imagine how thrilled I was to receive this tote bag from my friend, Nathan. Now I have a whole construction crew to carry my things around for me.

You, too, can have a tote bag like mine. The fabric is available at Glad Creations, and Nathan shows you how he made my tote on his blog site. His step-by-step instructions are easy to follow and well-illustrated.

Thanks, Nathan!

Going To Pieces

Scrap Basket, a pattern from Glad Creations, is a quilt I've been chomping at the bit to make for some time. I collected fabrics over the last two years - mostly Japanese taupes in shades of plum, pink, and brown. They are gorgeous fabrics and lovely to work with.

This quilt has been inching its way to the top of my massive list.

I probably wouldn't have started it for another year without a push from my friend, Nathan. He wants us to have companion Scrap Baskets in the June '09 Minnesota Quilters Show in Duluth.

Nathan is using 30's repros in his Tisket Tasket Scrap Basket. His top is done, and I've been struggling to catch up. At this point my Scrap Basket is in pieces, but they're all there.

It feels great to have finally gone to pieces!