Tangible Love

I often feel like I don't have a lot of gifts that God can use to bless others, but a quite a few years ago a dear woman offered me the chance to use something I love (quilting) to bless others and it changed a lot of things in my life.  It gave me the opportunity to make love & prayer tangible through thread and fabric and a bit of time.
It also taught me that a 'yes' to God is never wasted and even when we think it small, He can transform it into so much more.
So I said another small 'yes' and made this quilt - with more prayer than probably any other one I've made - perhaps because of the size it allowed more time to pray.  There was the piecing of the top, the pressing, the quilting at the frame and approximately 270 inches around by hand for the binding - many hours of prayer poured out at the Throne of Grace on behalf of people I don't know well but that God has put on my heart in a special way.  Time very well spent and fervently offered as service to the One who can touch hearts, minds, bodies & souls in ways we cannot know or imagine.

Scrappy version of a pattern called "Take Five"

The top is machine pieced cottons and the back& binding is flannel.  Machine quilting done on my New Joy Gold Frame w/ the Janome 1600P using King Tut variegated threads -- "Freedom" (blue/cream/red) on top and "Sands of Time" (cream/beige) on bottom -  in an edge-to-edge leaf design. 

As this was my last project for the quilt ministry at our former church, I am praying it will bless the people who will receive it in a very real way.

Quilt Ministry Baby Quilts

**Photo Intensive Post**

Other than the 2 quilts I'd done for the twins born last year, I hadn't had opportunity to get many of the baby quilts finished.  A dear woman I serve with monthly is about to become a great-grandmother and that event (probably happening this week!) was a catalyst to not only quickly create a very special quilt for the soon-to-be-born great-grandson, but also to finish up some of the other projects I've had hanging around.
I do have one more large special project that isn't quite finished yet and that may get it's own post... or not... it's emotionally special for me and I may just keep that private.

First is the newest quilt - for Elijah Robert - who will (Lord willing) arrive safely later this week.

The quilt is an enlarged version of a block I had seen a long while back and I transformed it into a full size quilt pattern - sort of an intertwining ribbon design.  It is made with 100% cotton quilting fabrics for the top in animal/Africa/safari prints that I just love.  The back is an all-over animal print flannel that should be snuggly for a small boy.  It is quilted edge-to-edge on my New Joy Frame with the Janome 1600P, using KingTut "Pharoah's Treasure" variegated thread in shades of green/gold/burgundy in an all-over leaf pattern.  The top is machine pieced and the finish binding is done by hand.

Next are 4 quilts that haven't been made for anyone specific as far as I know, but have been prayed over for whatever precious child God will allow them to be given to in the future.
First up are two 'girlie' quilts.  Both were made when the quilt ministry was in the capable hands of others and I just had opportunity to work on and finish them.

This one was machine pieced and sent out to be quilted by another generous lady with a giving heart.  It is all cotton, pieced front and back with an all-over large meander design.

Here we have a simple design, machine pieced in sweet small print cottons and then hand quilted in double heart designs and some outline work on the chenilled blocks.

The colors in these photos are very off - the closest one is the last one.  This is a full flannel quilt - both front and back.  Simple 4 patch blocks are alternated with solid squares and machine pieced and quilted in a broad line grid. The colors are soft 'baby' greens, yellow and big eyed owls.  So cute!

This was such a fun quilt to make - I adapted a pattern I'd seen in a magazine and built the colors off the backing fabric.  When you are working with mostly donated materials, you sometimes have to wing it.  We had this large piece of John Deere themed fabric and it was great for a back.  I dug through the stash to find fabrics that would coordinate and put this together.  It is in an all-over 'raindrop' pattern (again on my New Joy/Janome set up) using KingTut "Sands of Time" variegated cream/beige thread.  All cotton fabrics, machine pieced and the binding is scrappy and hand-finished.

Special thanks to my very helpful daughter for helping me with all the photos out in the chilly sun-porch.

May God richly bless each little one who will be receiving these gifts of prayer.

Blessings,

Chenille Dishtowel - scrap/stash buster project

A few weeks ago I was visiting a dear friend and she was so excited to show me this very awesome project that one of her sisters had created.  A chenille dishtowel!  So clever and handy and useful - just my idea of a perfect little project to use up odd pieces of leftover fabric (or that random piece of fabric that you really don't know what you were thinking when you acquired it).
When I got home I googled for a 'how-to' and what do you think?  The first link I found was to her sister's blog with the tutorial right there!  So marvelous! She has lots of clever and nifty things on her blog - you should absolutely check it out!  Olive Leaf Journal

So on to my attempt.  I randomly grabbed some fabric and roughly cut a big rectangle for the back then layered the 3 slightly smaller pieces on top.  I used my walking foot and stitched through all the layers in a diagonal row pattern - trying to keep them roughly even without measuring or marking.  The next one I make will absolutely have more real measuring and perhaps some marking. I then used my big shears to slash through the top 3 layers between the stitching lines - being careful to NOT cut the back piece (light purple w/ flowers).  After I had the cutting finished, I folded/pressed and stitched the backing as a binding.

Then I tossed it into the wash with a few times with other laundry to give it the chenille effect.

It came out great and I mailed it off (as a surprise) to my friend for her to use since she was the one who had given me the idea in the first place. :-)

Now I need to make a few for myself.

Happy sewing!

First quilted projects

Since I was blessed with my new quilting set up, I have been practicing as I mentioned and finally decided to try a real project.  First up is a table runner I was making from scraps for myself.  I love the Fall and leaves and have a thing lately about trying to use up what I have for fabric, so I decided to make myself a new table runner.  I managed to get it finished just in time for Thanksgiving and brought it down to my mom's house for dinner and then brought it back home again.
I took these photos after having washed/dried it so the quilting looks slightly different from when I first finished it.

The top is a linen-like center fabric with machine appliqued leaf shapes made from a bunch of different scraps I had on hand.

The border is an all-over leaf pattern fabric and the back and binding is a different all-over leaf fabric.  The quilting is a free-hand meander/stipple using King Tut Superior thread (purchased from Sew Thankful) in a variegated cream/sand color tonal color.

My second project was a challenge and a labor of love for a very special man.... my Dad.  He rarely asks me to make things for him, but he just had a knee replacement done about a month ago and is dealing with feeling cold a lot right now.  He had plenty of crocheted afghans thanks to my amazing mom, but also likes the feel of cuddly fleece sometimes.  At Thanksgiving he asked me if it was possible to make a double layer fleece blanket with batting in between and quilt the entire thing.  I told him I really wasn't sure if it was possible as fleece stretches and if you put in on the frame I wasn't sure how it would work.
The more I thought about it my mind started considering possibilities, so I started doing some web searches to see if I could find any information on quilting fleece on a frame set up.  Surprise!  It can be done!  I found some posts on various quilting sites and after doing some reading, decided to give it a shot.  I figured if nothing else, I'd have something that could be used for one of the dogs or cats to sleep on.

I used 2 lengths of the same pattern fleece - an all over cardinal print that came from some of those tied blanket kits my Mom had bought a few years ago and never used.  I loaded the backing piece of fleece on the frame rails and stitched the top edge of a piece of cotton batting to the top end of the backing.  I then 'floated' the top piece of fleece over the batting.  This just means I didn't pin it or stitch it down but let it rest freely on the top allowing me to smooth it as I quilted.

I used a pantograph of a simple leaf design and using the same variegated thread as above, I quilted edge to edge on the fleece. 

It was a bit challenging to keep things smooth and I did have to adjust the height of my rails toward the end as the the take-up roll was getting large!  Two layers of fleece plus batting is a lot of bulk on a roll.  Thankfully I'd loaded the fleece sideways otherwise I think I'd have had to take the whole thing off half-way and turn it upside down to finish since my quilting area is limited with my machine.  In the end I was pleased with the way it came out and my Dad loved it when I gave it to him this week.  It was exactly what he'd had in mind and I'm sure it'll be warm for him as he rests in his recliner chair.

Practice, practice

My amazing new quilting set up is going to take a lot of practice, but I'm very pleased with how things are starting out.  Now that we've re-arranged and taken care of some leveling issues, my practice pieces are getting better and I've found some fun (free!) pantograph patterns online.  I've been printing, copying and taping into the lengths needed to practice.  A pantograph is a printed pattern that I follow with a laser light as I guide the machine to stitch said pattern onto my quilt.
Below are some photos of my practice work.  Sorry they are dark - it's hard to photograph cream tonal thread on white muslin fabric on an overcast day.  Steve could do it better I'm sure but I was faking it.

Sewing Room Upgrade

Last week my darling husband bought me an amazing gift - a quilting frame and mid-arm machine with a stitch regulator.  It's a New Joy Gold standard frame (fully adjustable from 47" to King size) with a Janome 1600P and Quilter's Cruise Control.  God provided bountifully via a very nice couple from the next town who had purchased the entire set-up and never even used it once!  The machine was still in the box with the styrofoam packaging!  She wasn't going to use it and he wanted it out of the house so they gave us a phenomenal deal.  I was just giddy with excitement and anticipation.
It took a few days to get things set up and running, and then we opted to re-arrange and expand the frame to the 3/4 length that will accommodate pretty much everything and anything I will be making & quilting.

Welcome to my newly upgraded sewing room!

From the doorway - Brother Serger & regular Janome sewing machine

The rack in the corner that is over-flowing with fabric is all for our church quilt ministry and will become baby quilts and other lovely things over time (Lord willing).

New Joy frame with Janome 1600P mid-arm machine

This mess of fabric is all mine and needs some re-organizing (yet again)

I've been busy practicing with the new machine and will post some photos of my practice work soon.  Today I started piecing a baby boy quilt for the church ministry and am looking forward to being able to quilt it myself when it's ready.

Two for Two

A precious family in our church was blessed with the addition of twin boys and I had the opportunity to work on two darling baby quilts as part of our church quilt ministry to bless their family.

This first quilt had no pattern to work from - our ministry group is blessed by donations of fabric and sometimes you just have to make it up as you go.  The animal square print was the inspiration fabric and the quilt was pieced from there - filling in from the church fabric stash to build the quilt around those blocks.

It is backed in a cuddly flannel print and machine quilted using a walking-foot in a criss-cross wave pattern using a variegated thread for both the top & bobbin threads.

The second quilt uses the pattern "yellow brick road" and again is made with prayer of thanksgiving from all donated fabrics.  I especially loved 'fussy-cutting' the alphabet print fabric to anchor the top corner with the last initial of the family.  This quilt also incorporates one of the same fabrics (blue swirl) from the other quilt - brothers sharing a link in even their quilts.  The binding is pieced from all the fabrics used in the quilt top to add a scrappy flair to the finishing.

This one is also backed in a flannel print and is machine quilted in a double line grid pattern.

Baby quilts are so much fun!  They work up fairly quickly and it is a tremendous blessing to be able to pray for the babies and their families as they are stitched together with Christ's love.

It is our prayer that each child will feel the love of Jesus surrounding them.

Blessings,

*Special thanks to my dear daughter for her help in taking these photos.