What I'm Thankful For Today...

...I'm thankful that this pile of 72 album blocks, is finally a quilt top!

This is another huge quilt top at approx 90" x 101" ~ I've been making a lot of big ones lately!  There was an excessive amount of piecing in it too...and with not a bit of applique which was really strange for me.  Each of the 72 blocks has 27 pieces, plus 161 sashing rectangles, plus 90 sashing squares = 2195 pieces!

The pattern is called Friendship Album designed by Jo Morton and was published in American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine the October 2009 issue.  I pieced it for a customer, but my husband and I have really taken a shine to it (doesn't it look great on my bed?), so I think there are some more album blocks at some point in my future :)

Now I can take a little break from the sewing machine and start baking and getting the house ready for the family coming for the holiday weekend, and I'm thankful for that too! 

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend and Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Quick Break to Share Some Reproduction Love

This is what's been keeping me off the streets this week. I'm making this queen size quilt for a customer from mostly Jo Morton fabrics that she picked out.  Each album block is made from a different fabric.  I have a total of 72 blocks to make, and I think it's going to be just stunning when it's finished.  I'll show you more of it later ;) 

I did take time out to attend the Baltimore Applique Society meeting last night and was treated to a lovely show and tell and a lecture from Pat and Arlan Christ from Berks County PA.  The lecture was titled "100 Years of Quilting" and presented about 30 quilts representational of the style and format changes of the period.  I loved the "Folk-Artiness" of this small appliqued Baltimore style quilt.  

This one was an example of the trend seen in the end of the 1800s to make quilts of many tiny scraps.  These pinwheels are small, and then it's topped off with that cute pieced border!

 I love the border on this beauty.  I didn't catch the date on it, but it's really my style, I always gravitate to this  kind of Red/Green block type. 

Last, but not least is the Captain James Andrew quilt.  How about that Stairstep border!  It was made in 1849 by Elizabeth Andrews in honor of her marriage to the Captain.  The quilt was in the care of Cora Spensor of St Michaels Maryland for years after the deaths of the Andrews, and now it's in Pat and Arlan's private collection and care.  There's nothing like seeing it in person ~ Arlan indicated that this quilt will be on display at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey PA next July :)  

Now, my break's over, I have to get back to the sewing machine... 

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn 

Christmas Quilt Show 2010

 

There's a Christmas Quilt Show going on in blog land, so of course I wanted to jump in on the fun!  This is my Winterberry Wreaths quilt that appeared in Quilt Almanac Magazine this past year. 

It's now available as a pattern through Quiltwoman.com

**And Quiltwoman is having a Holiday Special of free shipping on retail orders of $20 & over through November 18th!

This quilt is surprisingly easy to make.  It's made up of only this one block, then the holly wreaths are appliqued to the light area that is created when the blocks are sewn together.  Simple :)

Maria Ohaver machine quilted this quilt for me with these fun reindeer and holly motifs all over (you can see them better in the photo on the back of the quilt). 

And just for fun I made a coordinating throw pillow that is also included as a little extra bonus in the pattern.

If you want to get in the Christmas Spirit and see some fabulous Holiday quilts on other blogs, pour a cup of tea, get comfortable, and hop on over to SewCalGal's blog for the links to this wonderful online Quilt Show. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Something Old is New Again

I like old things...Don't get me wrong, I like to buy nice new things too, but there's just something about an old piece of furniture that makes me feel good.  This piece was un-earthed from my father-in-law's garage after he had passed away a few years ago.  It's a record cabinet, and belonged to my husband's grandmother, who as he remembers, kept old 78 rpm records in it. 

It was in pretty bad shape covered with scratches and paint splatters, and almost went to the dump.  But I kept looking at it, and when no one else wanted it, I decided it would come home with me.  First I gave it a through cleaning to get rid of everything that was growing on it and living in it, and then I put it in my basement to maybe refinish one day.  Well the more I looked at it, I decided I kind of like the scratches that were from the everyday use of Grandma Stewart and her kids, and the little paint splatters that I'm sure are from my father-in-law working on and around it in his workshop ~ which he loved to do.

So the other day, after it sitting in my basement for the last five years, I had my son carry it up to my sewing wing.  I did a little re-arranging, and now it sits in a place of honor right next to my cutting table with a new use.

It's a great storage cabinet for all of my Accuquilt Go! Dies and mats!  I think I've pretty much decided to put off the refinishing, and for now I'll use it in my "workshop" doing what I love to do, and probably add some more little scratches and dings to pass along to my kids and grandkids :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Some More Retreat Goodies

All of the ladies on the Quilt Retreat last weekend worked on a lot of different projects and got many more finished than I was able to snap pictures of, but here is a sampling of some of the other progress that was made on our little weekend away.  My friend Mary of Keep Me In Quilts made this little Tree of Life block from left over half square triangles from another project.  Mary is the queen of making something great out of nothing!  She even had to size down the pattern to accommodate her smaller hst snipets. 

Along with many other projects, Mary has been playing with wool a lot lately, and finished this cute little wool sheep top on the retreat. 

Starlyn whipped up this wonderfully colorful quilt top from some blocks that she had already pieced,

Then she cut some fabric and made this entire quilt top from scratc ~ and it's Queen size!  She also pieced two Christmas tree skirts.  I was in awe :)

Teresa, among other things made about ten of these beautiful Christmas stockings that she makes out of upholstery fabrics.  I love how she trims them out.  She also worked on a bunch of hand pieced and embellished wool ornaments. 

Tara whipped up these happy and bright placemats and table runner.  

And last but not least, Cappy made more progress on this beauty (my picture does not do it justice).  She has pieced the top and is doing hand and machine applique and thread painting on it.  Although she still has a crab or two to add, she made a lot of progress on it this weekend.  This is going to be the raffle quilt for the Southern Comforters Guild quilt show coming up on March 27,  2011 ~ so keep an eye out for it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Retreat Progress

Well I've been doing some unpacking ~ and a lot of laundry today, so here it is...my production from the weekend's Quilting Retreat.  Along with blanket stitching some things off of my huge "Blanket Stitching Pile" (I'll show you those later once they are quilted),  I string pieced some Christmas Stockings.  These two are for Elsie and Abby, and I have more of the same style available in my etsy shop.   

And I made this little tree stocking just for fun.  I love prairie points, so I wanted to see if I could use them along the top.  On this one, I just string pieced the tree and appliqued it on with a blanket stitch. 

I had this Thimbleberries table runner pieced already (I actually made the top several years ago), but I got it quilted and bound this weekend.  It's going to be another Christmas gift :)  Let me tell you, it feels so good to see some old time UFOs coming to completion!

And I finally got the binding on my Jo Morton Somerset quilt.  I had pieced it a Jo Morton Club or two ago, and Sheri Thompson had quilted beautiful feathers all over it for me, and I finally used this weekend to make and apply the binding.  Now it's all finished and I've been curling up and enjoying it as a perfect little lap quilt.  This one is for me!

I even made myself make a quickie label and put that on while I was on the Retreat, because I knew I wouldn't do it once I got home. 

We had a blast, staying at the Blue Mountain Retreat Center in Knoxville MD right outside of Harper's Ferry WV.  The weather was beautiful, and made for the perfect scenery to quilt by :)  It was awesome the amount of stuff we were all able to get finished.  Tomorrow I'll show and tell a few of the beautiful things that the other ladies made while we were there. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Show and Tell & A Winner!

Just popping in with a quick show and tell ~ While traveling to and from Quilt Market last week, I was able to get some knitting done in the airports and planes.  Here is a pair of socks that I got finished (well I did have one of them done before the trip).   One more Christmas gift checked off the list!

 

And my other business of the day is to announce the winner of my Market Goodies Giveaway!  I ran the number of posts through Random.org and the lucky number is #21

Andee!

I'm sending you an email for your address to get your package out to you :)

I'll be back in the next couple of days with some show and tell from a quilt retreat I went on this past weekend with my quilting buddies ~ first I have to un-pack.  Two trips away in the course of two weeks is really a lot for me and I'm still recovering :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn