Friday, August 2, 2013

Ho Ho Ho . . . It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Welcome to the 52 Quilts edition of the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop.



What a great way to get a jump-start on the Winter holidays -- commit to a holiday blog hop in August! My blog hop project is also the December Jelly Roll Party sample, so I'm ahead of the game there also.

The pattern is "Tea Party," from Cluck Cluck Sew. My friend Jeannie always invites me to a holiday tea in December, so I thought this pattern was particularly appropriate for December.

Image of Tea Party Pattern #131, Paper Pattern


 I used a new line from Moda, "Winter Lanes." I like this collection because it's wintery, but not specifically "Christmas."

 (Image from United Notions)

I made my quilt longer than the pattern, it's an extra-long twin size. Just right to take to quilt camp next summer!

So long it had to hang over the deck to get a photo of the whole quilt!

Of course, I bound it using Susie's Magic Binding. If you haven't tried this technique yet for binding, here is the tutorial. If you like the look of the contrasting flange, or if you just don't like hand-stitching down bindings, Susie's Magic Binding is the technique for you!


And of course, I had to add a "My Aunt Martha Made It" label.


My sister made this Teddy Bear from one of my Daddy's Pendleton shirts. Doesn't he look comfy?


Here is the best shot I have to show the true colors. I quilted it with "random squares" using Superior Threads "Omni Thread" in Fountain Mist. Because it's a winter quilt, I used a thicker cotton batting than usual.


Today's other blog hoppers are:

August 2
I hope you'll drop by and see what they made!


"Tea Party" is such a fun quilt, I think I should give away a PDF copy of the pattern! It's a NEW copy (see comment #71) not my paper copy with my notes scribbled over it!

If you would like to make you own Tea Party quilt:
  1. comment on this post and tell me if you've started your holiday quilting for this year
  2. if you're a no-reply commenter, please include your email
  3. international entries welcome!
  4. giveaway ends the last day of the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop, August 9 at midnight MDT

From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Thursday, August 1, 2013

July UFO Challenge Parade


If you're new to 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks, you might wonder what the "UFO Challenge" is. Go to this post to learn how to play along. There are still five months left in 2013, that's five UFOs you could finish before the end of the year!


Are you ready for the August UFO challenge? Here it is, it's:


Go ahead, run and check on what is your #11 project. Then come back and see what everyone finished during July.

July is a tough month for quilters. What with school vacations, family commitments, quilt camp . . . . But our intrepid UFO Challenge contestants stepped up to the plate and finished some wonderful UFOs this month!

I don't have the excuse of school kids or family vacation, but I did spend a week in Wyoming attending Quilt Wyoming and visiting nine shops on the Southeast Wyoming Quilt Shop Hop. I also had to finish two Jelly Roll Party samples, two Scrap Squad quilts and my #8 UFO.

Details are in this blog post, but here's a photo in case you missed it:



The first UFO completion came early in the month from Carol in Idaho. Aren't the colors gorgeous?


Sandi has another "K" quilt. This one is called "Kubicles," and she blogged it here. Not only is it a UFO, it's a scrap project. She says it should make a great baby quilt -- I agree, don't you?


Irene submitted two finishes this month. Here's what she says about the top one:

The red border one is from the 2007 Quilting page-a-day calender and my first try at paper piecing. I had planned to have this in my library office when I was working, but now it can hang in the living room.
Don't you just love being retired, Irene?  The second one is from a pattern she bought while on a cruise to Alaska in 2012. She says "quilting it can be the UFO project for 2012!"


Irene detailed both quilts on her blog here.

Gill in the UK is my sister-of-the-heart, 'cuz she doesn't like Flying Geese either! Read what she says about this (incredible) quilt:

My finish is one from 2005 - pre-children! It was on my UFO list despite me reaching a point of not liking anything about it anymore - but with 400 flying geese units made I was past the point of no return! I like it a bit more now it's actually together and I will quilt it when we get back from France.

These quilters who complete one of Bonnie Hunter's scrappy quilts always impress me. Look at this stunner Karen completed (she confesses it was actually her June finish, but I say she still gets extra credit!):

Karen says she's been knitting rather than quilting. Karen, we'd love to see some of your knitting finishes, also!

Oh, hey, look at this! Karen did get her July (#8) UFO finished!

Karen tells me the fabric is "The Caroler" by Mary Engelbreit. I love that line! Her tablerunner is made from a turnover Karen bought from Missour Star Quilt Co. years ago and "never figure out what to do with."

We agreed it's a good idea to buy some yardage from the same line as precuts, because you never know what you'll want to make with the precuts! Because the precuts usually arrive at my LQS weeks or even months ahead of the yardage, I leave them on the cutting table until the yardage is available at Ruth's Stitchery. The staff at Ruth's is so good about looking up what they have on order, so I know if I need to search further afield for a particular line.

Susan in Australia has a funny story about her July finish. Here is the story, and here is the photo. Pretty, isn't it? We'll look forward to seeing your machine quilting project, when it turns up!

By the way, My Little Sailor (Younger Son, and the blog's co-author) is in Brisbane this week. Wave to him when the ship pulls out, please, Susan!

Sooli "whipped up" this lovely quilt for her Auntie Betty's 88th birthday in October (happy birthday, Aunt Betty! I wonder if our birthdays are on the same day, they 18th?)



Here is the link to Sue's blog post describing the quilt. I want to add this one to my "Scrap Quilt Ideas" folder!

Kerry also has two finishes for July. She got this patriotic tablerunner finishes just in time to use it for summer decorating:


And she also finished this lovely batik quilt:



Debbi had a little trouble getting a good photo of her quilt, because of bad weather. The first one shows the colors most true, and the second shows the whole quilt.


Debbi told me this is a "Hidden Wells" quilt. Searching for the pattern, I found this tutorial from Moose Stash Quilting. Very pretty, Debbi, I'm going to add it to my "Sunday is for Scraps" folder!


I count 12 finishes, plus my own. Wow! That's pretty impressive for a summer month! I'm not counting my own for the giveaway winner, so let's see who the Random Number Generator chooses.



Let's see, the 9th photo is -- Sue! Congratulations, Sue! I found a book I think you'll like from Martingale:



Martingale - Fat-Quarter Quickies (Print version + eBook bundle) 

And the best part is, it's available as an e-book. So I can send it to you right away!










Tomorrow is my day on the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop. I hope you'll come back to see what I "whipped up" for Winter!

From the desk of your 

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Oh, Crap!

Sometimes, one should not try to hurry to finish a quilt block.


Yeah, it's not supposed to look like that!



This is a big week at 52 Quilts -- the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop kicks off today, tomorrow is the July UFO Parade, Friday is Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery, and my own day to post on the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop. And, oh yeah, I have another Scrap Squad quilt due next week!

Plus, I found myself in a "reorganize the stash" mood this week! I will admit, that greatly increased the "giveaway" bag -- I think I'll do a giveaway with my Ho Ho Ho post!

 

I don't have time to un-sew mistakes!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.


GRAB A BUTTON

Come back tomorrow and see the wonderful finishes for the July UFO Parade! 



From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Sunday is for . . . Schnibbles!

Remember last week when I whined that I had to finish five quilts before the end of the month? Here is #4, the July Vintage Schnibbles project. It's Quilt #32 for 2013!

The pattern is "Lincoln," from Another Bite of Schnibbles by Carrie Nelson.


Martingale - Another Bite of Schnibbles (Print version + eBook bundle)

The neat thing about this book of quilt patterns is that each design is made with either 5" charm squares, or 10" layer cakes.

I chose the layer cake size, because I wanted a bed-sized quilt. Of course, I made a few modifications. I'm not a fan of square quilts, so I thought I would make my quilt 5 blocks by 9 blocks. When I got it on the design wall, I decided it was too long. So I cut the two extra rows of rail fence blocks at 4.5" and used them for the outside borders.


The print fabric is Sweetwater's new line, Road 15. When they were designing this fabric, they asked their blog readers to send in their street address, which was used for one of the prints in this fabric line. I don't see "Oz Court" on the fabric, but I've only seen the pre-cuts so far. I hope it will show up on the yardage!  The background is my favorite Moda Bella Solid, Porcelain.


I've submitted this quilt to Sinta at Pink Pincushion for Thursday's "Vintage Schnibbles" parade.

AYOS 


I'll be hosting my own parade on Thursday, the July UFOs. Come back and see what everyone finished this month!


From the desk of your auntmartisignature