Adventures in Quilting July 2010

Well, the past month has definitely been an adventure!  If you had told me even six months ago that I could make a quilt in one week.... two quilts in less than two weeks I would have looked at you like you had tentacles coming out of your head.  But, that is exactly what I did!

PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING


I wanted to make something for a friend for her birthday and was going to do something simple, like a table runner.. nice gift, right?  Well, after praying about it I felt impressed that God wanted me to make her a prayer quilt.  So... I found the perfect pattern.  Just happened to have all the fabric in my stash (just happened to?  there are certainly no coincidences with God!!) and ended up with this lovely quilt.  It is called "Prayer Without Ceasing."  Did she love it?  Oh, yeah!  It is a treasure and such a blessing.....



Where the Home Fires Burn


Well, God wasn't finished with me, I was contemplating what to give my dear husband for his birthday.  Once again, God had some serious plans for me.  Make him a quilt!  What?  I have less than a week!!.  However,  I was thinking about what to do with all these lovely, super organized strips I have, and found a great pattern on Quiltville for a scrappy bargello.  Well, total scrappy is very hard for me to do - but between my stash & the 2.5" strip bin I had everything I needed to create the quilt.  A friends stash (challenge - don't spend any $$) turned up the perfect backing and voila - a fabulous quilt. I amazed myself that I was able to literally complete this quilt in 4 days of sewing.  Ok, I was seriously challenged, but found out I CAN do this!  And, my stash is a little lighter.  Oh, and my husband was absolutely ecstatic that I made a quilt FOR HIM!  He travels a lot & this was just right for him to have a little "comfort" from home.


BABY CAMO??

On to the next challenge:  A baby camo quilt!  Well, my colorful, creative mind had a very difficult time wrapping baby and camo in the same sentence, let alone in a baby blankie.... Can anyone say S-T-R-E-T-C-H?  So, I found a shop with lots of landscape and camo fabrics - but finding something suitable for baby.. well, I did find some nice fabrics & with the help of some creative friend's input was able to create this cute "Fence Rail Camo" quilt.  It's not exactly camo, but it had the outdoors look & feel.  The backing however, a great camo looking batik, was just perfect.  So, the parents to be (and most importantly, the granparent's, a.k.a. the customer) were just delighted!  Phew! Another challenge done!

Along with that, I did get to make something that just was a delight to make.... such a happy baby quilt!  I fell in love with the Butterfly Fling panel & fabric collection the first time I saw it.  It just sang out "little girl" and QUILT ME!  I could just see those butterflies dancing on the fabric.  When a customer asked me to make then a little girl "blankie" I practically jumped for joy!  Not question what I was going to do - my stash had been waiting for the day....

Baby Butterfly Fling was born! Oh, this was an absolute delight & joy to make!  It is definitely a happy quilt.  The new mom seemed delighted as well! Truly, quilting is a labor of love!  Even the challenges bring joy & delight!


STUDIO TOUR


Last, but certainly not least!  The studio!  It's finished and my new HQ Avante on the Professional Frame is setup and is seeing plenty of action!  Would you like a quick tour?  

Welcome to Aunt Mag's Quilting Studio!


Come with me to take a peek inside...


You can see my beautiful new machine.  She doesn't have a name yet.... 

and she sews beautifully!  This is a Quilt of Valor that is finally finished and ready to ship back so that it can be given to a wounded soldier.  Such a blessing to give something to someone who has laid his life down for our country!

I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of my studio.  I've got a ways to go making "personal" but that will come with time.   As you can see there is ample room for storage & other machines.  I have a desk, and tables for my serger & embroidery machine also.  Lots of creativity happening in the studio.

On to more "Adventures in Quilting!"