The Tie Challenge

At the Orange County Fair our Guild was asked to demonstrate quilting. Many people come up and ask about the quilting displays and what we are doing. These two guys came up and were really interested in us and they went on to offer our Guild a bunch of men's silk ties. Apparently, they manufacture ties and wanted to recycle some of their seconds. Our Guild ended up with boxes upon boxes of men's ties. We promised they would not end up on EBay or being sold in their original format. 

Here is the ties I ended up with.

 This is the first purse I made - shown here with the button I think I will use as a closure

The inside has a zipper compartment, a couple of separators and a place for credit cards.

My second one with the button choice

My third one with 2 button choices..... I think the triangle is the one I will use.

This has been a fun way to use the ties. I hope to make a bunch of these for Christmas presents.

#ElephantsOnParade

Elephants on Parade

Got To Make It

Here are the first few blocks lining up for the cutest baby quilt ever. The design is so simple, these blocks are fun to make. Sew Fresh Quilts offered this free on their website and I must say that I really enjoyed the way the instructions were written especially the cutting part. In the beginning Lorna gave complete cutting instructions along with sub cutting information. Cutting is probably for me a tedious part of making a quilt and having these instructions was a blessing.

I pulled all the fabric from my stash and the quilt went together quickly. 

#ElephantsOnParade

I haven't done the side sashings yet. The boarders are pretty plain and I am thinking of adding colorful pinwheels in the corners to brighten it up.
I have already reserved a long arm at Bear's Quilt Shop  - Can not wait to get this one loaded on the longarm!

Kits and Long Arm Quilting

It had been along time and I am going to try to get caught up with all I have been doing.For one thing I have been takeing long arm quilting classes on Mondays lately at Bear's Quilting Store. Sometime I will go into detail about Bears - it is not your normal quilt store experience..... BY ALL MEANS!!

This colorful quilt (46" x 63") was a quilt I bought as a kit. I usually do not buy kits. My friend Ann and I went on a quilt run and this kit was in the greatest sale stuff. I (under duress) broke down and purchased it. The quilt looked easy with its' large panel look pieces - I thought it would be an excellent way to practice my newly acquired long arm quilting skills.

The quilt went together quickly. I loved all the beautiful colors. 

There was so much fabric left I decided to piece the back.

Here is a close up of the front quilting.

Here is a view of the back. The quilting is obviously a beginners work, but I am proud of it. No computer programs, only a pantograph to follow. I think my skills are improving.

 The quilt is not bound yet... who knows if it will become a UFO?