Did you know that you can do a lot more with a walking foot than straight line quilting?
















Petit Design Co has done a 31 day series on quilting with a walking foot.........think it is just straight lines? NOPE - she includes curves. There are some great ideas applicable to quilting on a longarm as well.

 Click here to visit the landing page with links to the 31 days......

Stitch In the Ditch Foot you probably already own.......

Do you own a blind hem foot? If so, then you own a perfectly respectable, multi-tasking, stitch in the ditch presser foot. Of course we quilters and don't do any hemming - if we can help it!

Mine looks like this:

 It has a vertical metal piece that runs through the middle down to the fabric like this:

To use it - guide the little vertical metal piece along your seam line (or in the ditch) and voila! Stitch-in-the-ditch simplified! No tugging on your fabric necessary, because that little curved piece right in the middle of where your needle goes through pushes the fabric over for you.






It almost looks like a piece of wire running through the middle in this picture:

Chemo Quilt - Start to Finish

A friend of mine's wife was recently diagnosed with Cancer. Stay tuned to see how her story and this quilt turn out - all in one post!















She is an oncology nurse, so she sees this kind of thing every day.....only now she has to experience it first hand.

I decided to make a quilt for her, to keep her warm at the hospital during her treatments. 

The quilt starts simply - rows of squares - each row with 3 squares of the same size and lots of white space around them.

I asked her husband (my friend) what he thought she would like in colors. He said he thought she would enjoy bright colors and a more modern style.

I used bright, cheery batiks.

The next step was to cut wonky squares, with plenty of white around the edges. It was helpful to have a 9.5" square and to move it around, until I got the "tilt" I wanted. 

Then it was a matter of deciding the placement of the squares, being careful to balance the sizes, values and colors.

Next, sew the squares together. The smallest squares are raw edge applique.

I added sashing and border and a flimsy was born!

Now onto Millie for quilting. I chose a swirly pantograph, because I wanted to soften the straight edges and give it a definitive feminine side.

A few close-ups.

I used a black/white tiny polka dot on the back. The photo makes me a little cross-eyed to look at, but it looks good in real life.












The full quilt, hanging on the Millie frame.

So I gave the quilt to my friend (the husband) who cried when I gave it to him. He couldn't believe it. He carried it around the office and I am told showed it to everyone. He was very happy.

His wife - just as happy!

He brought back stories of how all the nurses and other patients in the treatment rooms were SO jealous!

This quilt is a happy quilt, that deserves a happy ending - don't you think?

Well, it got it's happy ending. A few months after she started, she was given a clean bill of health! YAY!!!!!!!

I like to think the quilt helped her a little. :-)

Ladybug gave her seal of approval and added an extra prayer, before it was delivered.

Something a little different

I have been working on a little crochet project. It is called Sophie's Universe, which was a crochet-a-long that was finished quite some time ago, by those who actually did it as a crochet-a-long.







I don't like surprises, so I tend to wait until I can see the full product, before I start something.








I do the same thing with "mystery" quilts......collect the patterns, to make sure I like it.









I have to say this has been fun though, the many different stitches and varying colors make me want to skip a night or two of sleep, just to see what is coming next!

What about you - have you ever truly participated in a mystery - dove in, not knowing what it would become? Did you like the process?

A finish full of sunshine

 This sunflower quilt was pieced by a friend. I just quilted it for her.

The back is just an nice!

Looks like a great one to wrap up in this winter. I hope you enjoy it enjoy it Susie!

On the frame

This quilt top has been finished for a while, waiting on me to decide how to quilt it. Finally, I decided to do an allover pattern on it.

I think the Stars and Swirls add to the patriotic feel of this quilt.

A finish............

Several months ago, I started experimenting with the disappearing pinwheel blocks. I used all sizes and turned them in multiple directions. My only "rule" was that they be blue and yellow.

 

This was also and experiment in quilting motifs. My goal was to practice a lot of different motifs - not just fillers.

The small pinwheels on this block are only about an inch!

I REALLY like the way these look when set on point. I can't believe how different they look! I will probably make a whole quilt this way.

 I will get a photo of the whole quilt loaded soon.