Two more quilts bound and Irish Twist progress

I've gotten two more quilts bound! Woo Hoo!

First up is my Potluck quilt.  I asked my aunt to quilt it with an orange peel design and she did an AMAZING job.  It is perfection.  Exactly as I had pictured in my head.  I added a black and white striped binding that is just the icing on the cake.  Here it is all washed and crinkly.

Next is my Lucy's Crab Shack quilt.  It is quilted with whimsical little loops.  So cute.

And here is this week's assignment from Melissa over at Happy Quilting...

My Twists on Tradition Units:

3 Donation Quilts

I've got the binding done on the first 3 quilts from last week.  I started with 3 donation quilts because they were small and scrappy so I knew that I could get them done pretty quickly.  Plus, I usually machine bind my donation quilts so that they are a little bit sturdier.

I'm super happy with how they turned out.

And the bindings are 100% scrappy!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Family quilt retreat

Once a year I try to head down south to the Mississippi coast to visit with family and have a mini quilting retreat.  Much of my mom's family lives there and many of them quilt.  I try to go down when I won't be too missed at home - put the kids on the bus Monday morning and return home Friday afternoon to get them off the bus.  A couple of afternoons hanging with friends until Daddy gets home isn't too bad right?  Well, I could not have picked a worse week.  We were snowed in on Monday and the kids ended up being out of school the entire week!  Daddy had to work from home all 5 days.  And my plan to get home on Friday didn't work either.  As I neared the Tennessee border, the roads were completely iced over.  Cars were all on the side of the highway and my brakes kept locking up on the ice.  I had to stop and get a hotel just 70 miles from home.  But, the good new is that I had a Great time visiting relatives and my Aunt Charlotte had invested in a long arm and just went to town on all the quilts I brought down for show and tell.  We were able to quilt 12 quilts in just 3 days!!  Take a look at some of what we did...

 My mom and grandmother hand quilting my big star quilt.

This is how my Aunt Charlotte spent most of the 3 days.  Her work was amazing, especially since she just got her machine in September!

 

We quilted from about 8 in the morning until 10 at night.  And loved every second!

We just piled the quilts on the bed as they came off the frame.  We had quite the bed turning when it was all said and done!

Grandma showing off her latest finish!

My Aunt Jo an I with the quilt I made for her.

A lot of fun and a lot of hard work!
Now, I've got some serious binding to do.  I'll post pictures of the quilts as I get them bound.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Irish Chain Twist QAL

I'm twisting along, are you?

Have you heard about Melissa's Irish Chain Twist Quilt Along over at Happy Quilting?  If not head over and check it out, it is not to late to join in!



There are many size and style options. I've decided to go big!  I'm doing the Multi 4-color layout in queen.

Here is my fabric pull, I am so in love with these colors!

Here are all my pieces cut and ready to go.

And here is the first set of sewing done.  Woo Hoo!

That was A LOT of chain piecing!  Relaxing and fun.  :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Tracy

More Stashbusting!!

I'm on a roll!

I was so excited about the scrappy log cabin quilt I finished a couple of days ago that I decided to keep going.  That quilt didn't seem to make even the smallest dent in my stash, so I decided to try another scrap quilt that has been on my list.

Have you seen Soul Searching by Kathy Doughty?  It is a quilt from her book Making Quilts.  It has been on my mind for a while.

I figured since I already had my 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips out I'd just go ahead and start.  New year motivation!!!

So here it is:

It was such a simple quilt to put together.  I spent way more time playing with the fabrics and picking out my scraps than I did acually piecing it.

 Aren't scrappy quilts just the best?

 

Two quilts in one week all from stash feels great!

I can't believe that I could make two entire quilts and see not even a little dent in my stash.  It makes me wonder just how many potential quilts are living in there.  :)

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Another Accidental Quilt...

Sometimes I "accidentally" start and finish a quilt that was not on my list.  That is just what happened this weekend.  Oops!

It started when I saw this quilt on Pinterest.

I loved it immediately.  I am always looking for ways to use up my 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips, so I printed out the directions for LATER.  You know, when I wasn't already working on like 5 different quilts.  But, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

At first I thought, I'd just pull out my scraps and organize them by color to see what I have.  Then, I'll just try a sample block to see how it works.  Then, let me just sort my white scraps and see if I will have enough.

Before I knew it, I had finished the whole thing.

And I LOVE it!

A happy accident for sure!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Big Stitches

In the hoop:

I am working on some big stitch quilting.  This WIP is at least ten years old.  Yes, I said ten.  I pieced it up pretty quickly a LONG time ago and then it sat.  I just had no idea how I wanted to quilt it, especially in those long columns of frogs.  I finally decided to mix up some hand and machine stitching.  So, a friend of mine sewed the cute figure 8s all the way down the columns last summer and now I am finally trying my hand at big stitch quilting.

I just love how it is turning out!  The colors are so fun!  And since I don't have to worry too much about stitch length, it is going pretty fast too.

All the pretty colors I am using.  Happiness.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Quilting Along and Block of the Months

There is something about a quilt-along or a block of the month club that I just can't resist.  I always bite off more than I can chew, but somehow I always seem to get it done.  I think I love the challenge. And I know that I love the final product. :)

Here is what I've got going on this year.

First up, Lori Holt's "Have Yourself  a Quilty Little Christmas".  Have you seen this?  She had the cutest little quilt along during the holidays.  I just couldn't squeeze it in with all of the gifts I was trying to finish up, but couldn't wait to get started.  I have decided to change it up a little bit and make the quilt bigger by making some of the blocks into rows like her row along from a few years ago.  My goal is to finish a block or row every month and have a finished to by Christmas.  So far I have trees and gifts.  Aren't they so cute?

Next up, the Snapshots quilt along, hosted by The Fat Quarter Shop.  This looks so cute!  I decided to use up some 30's fabric that has been gathering dust in my stash for an embarrassingly long time.  My first block is done.  Such a cute cake.

Next is this star block of the month.  #starbotm
I am really excited about this one because I just love the fabrics that I have pulled!  I already can't wait until February's block comes out.

Next is a quilt along that I am doing on my own.  This is a kit that our LQS hosted about 2 years ago.  Somehow I missed it.  I've got the whole kit, and my goal is to finish a block a month.  So far, I've got  2 months done.  Woo hoo!

Finally, I am going to join in on the Twisted Irish Chain Quilt  Along.
I'm working on the fabric pull now.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Tracy