A friends quilt…

My friend just gave me this little baby quilt to FMQ for her new grand baby due in a few weeks…  I love the traditional feeling of this one, and really wanted to quilt it as it would have been done hand quilted.

I followed the checkerboard pattern using a feather stitch and filled it in with a grid background.  There has to be an easier way to do it, but I haven’t found it yet!  LOL!  I used strips of tape to mark it with.  (The last grid quilting I did bled when I spritzed out the markings…)  I surrounded the center section with my least favorite motif, meander.  (I’m not terribly comfortable with it!)

I used a pebble stitch in the narrow yellow sashing.  Then I finished it up with a leaf motif along the edges, and a floral along the top and bottom sections.

Here’s a picture of the back…

The whole thing…  I love the use of 30’s fabric in this, and I really enjoyed quilting it!

Thanks for stopping  by!

Utah Quilt Guild Quilt Show 2014

Davis Convention Center where Quilt Fest is being held this year.

Here’s Patsy covering the Magic Nine Patch table for me at the Opening Gala!

I always enjoy getting away for Quilt Retreat and when there’s a quilt show involved, even better!  I thought you all might enjoy seeing some of the quilts at the show.

My battery died during the pictures, and my backup was dead too…  (Sounds like a horror movie!  No!  Don’t look in the camera…)

Anyhoo, here’s a start…

     This was made by Nancy Henderson, and quilted by Jen Alexander.

Made by Marie Haws, quilted by Marie Haws and Denise Hone.

Made by Karen Martin, quilted by Lou Ann Benda.

Made and quilted by Kathy Souba.

Made and quilted by Mary Evans.

Made by Louise Lemon, quilted by Miriam Higginson.

Made by Josephine Keasler, quilted by Connie Atkisson.  The centers of this are old 45’s!

Snuck this one in…  Made and quilted by me!  Woo hoo!

Made by Susan Ford, quilted by Sue McCarty.

Made by Carol Sullivan, quilted by Linda Elkin.

Another one of mine…

Mady by Vivian Blotter, quilted by Me…

Made and quilted by Ruth Ewers.

Made and quilted by Kathy Souba.

Made and quilted by Sheila Stettler.

Made by Louise Lemon, quilted by Miriam Higginson.

Made by Karin Crawford, quilted by LaReesa Baldwin.

Made and quilted by Crystal North.

Made and quilted by Cathie Cee.

Made by Karin Crawford, quilted by Kathi Carter.

Made by Kathy Porter, quilted by Kim Peterson (I could be wrong on the quilter as I didn’t get a close up!)

Made and quilted by Helen Butler.  This is the gal who taught me the block that I used in the center of my “A Passion for Purple” fair challenge quilt…  She is an awesome talent!  Here’s a close up of her quilting:

Close up of Helen Butler’s quilting…  (I’m taking a couple of classes from her at Bryce this year if I get to go.)

Thanks for visiting!!!  I’ll have more battery life tomorrow….

Utah State Fair Challenge Quilts…

The theme this year was “Purplicious”  I thought I’d share how talented the quilters are who entered!  (And this is just a sampling as there were over 50 entrants!)

Made by my friend, Michelle!

Best of Show by my friend Lorri!

And last, but not least, my little quilt that I’ve been keeping under wraps!  With the level of talent here, I was so excited to get a Judges Choice!!!

Thanks for stopping by…  I’ll show close-ups of the quilting within a few days!

Results of Roy Quilt Guild Challenge!

Here are the results of the Roy Quilt Guild Challenge…  They didn’t have to be quilts, and it was really fun to see the variety of entries!

Here is Paulas…  I love this one!  She incorporated a UFO block into the wall hanging.  (The green embroidered piece…)

Here’s mine…  The labels were judged as well.  I took first for both.  (Although there were more creative labels than mine…  I just used an extra block?)

Here’s Midjes…  I love the vase!

Here is Marie’s beautiful bag which features lace she did on her embroidery machine…

I love this one that Rebecca did…  It is so pretty!  And she used one of the pincushion dress forms they sell at craft stores.

Sheri did a 3D piece as well…  It came out great!

Linda made a fashionable set of place mats so she can eat in style…

Sharon’s really made me laugh!  It is an awesome acrylic ruler holder!!!  Each area features a pocket to store her cutting rulers in…  She said she smiled every time she worked

on it!  Way to go everyone!!!  What a fun challenge!  Thanks to Karen for creating it and helping us all step out of our comfort zones!!!

Roy Quilt Guild Challenge…

I belong to 3 quilt guilds.  Two local and one state.  Roy Quilt Guild had a challenge to incorporate fabrics and embellishments into a quilted “item”.

We also had to incorporate something new we used on our items.  I have done a whole bunch of experimenting so I struggled to come up with something new.   Then

I thought, “I’ve never marked a quilt prior to quilting it…”  That was my new technique!

It didn’t have to specifically be a quilt.  This is the wall hanging that I designed.  I used a block technique that I had seen on facebook, and arranged them on-point.The center four star blocks are part of a 9 patch, while the outer 4 star blocks had setting triangles on either side which make up the center square.  Then I added larger triangles to all 4 sides to get that square overlay look…  (Plus a nice big open space to feature the quilting!)

Then I had to add embellishments.I took 2 different silk flowers and cut them in half to make up each flower unit.  Used the gold netting that was a challenge fabric and made it into a center

“poof”, then finishing up with beads.  In the center, I used shells and a button.  This was a fun challenge!  Results of the challenge coming up later…

Thanks for stopping by!

My latest project…

Thought you might like to see what I do with some of those bitty blocks that I swap in the BBC, Bitty Block Committee…I finally got this batch together…  It was actually 2 swap groups, underwater/beach theme done twice due to the popularity!

Thanks to all my awesome friends who contributed the blocks in it!!

It makes me happy looking at it!  I’ve taken close ups so you can see all of the blocks…

These pictures came out a little dark, but you can see the blocks!

I looked online for ocean themed sayings that I liked, and this is what I found…The border is something I saw on FaceBook and had to try…

And it got the ever important kitty seal of approval!

I have to work my threads back into the quilt sandwich still, and figure out how I’m going to bind it…

Thanks for stopping by!

HMQS 2014…

Well, I should have known that I didn’t stand a chance, but it was a great experience nonetheless!  Here I am with my entry:Now for your viewing enjoyment!

“Big Bertha” by Margaret Solomon GunnHere’s the close up of her quilting!  Lovely!

“Green Miles” by Peggy Kragnes.“Kailua Turtle” by Michelle Baker.

This is a close up of a quilt titled, “A Pocket Full of Paisleys” by Lorilynn King.

“Dance to the Music” by Jennifer Day.

“So much Life in a Tiny Seed” by Sharon L. Schlotzhauer.

“Gregs Song” by Cheri Meineke-Johnson, quilted by Linda V. Taylor.

“Waiting” by Betty Jo Tatum.

“The Shell Collector” by Bethanne Nemesh.Here’s a close up on that one!!!  Wowza!

My friend Cynthia with her quilt!

My friend Diane and her quilt!!!

Thanks for joining me in some quilting eye candy!!!

Basket quilt finish!

Here’s the quilt that I quilted this week…  I tried a new motif in the border using a floral I found on FB called “Alfresco”.  Did some shadow quilting

to fill in the empty spaces so the quilting would be balanced from the center to the outer border.  These blocks were made for me in “Quilt Dreams” online bee

on flickr 4 years ago…  Decided to dust the top off and get it quilted!  Here’s a close up on the border and a couple of the baskets.  I like the effects of the scallops.

This is one of my favorites, because it’s a cat!  LOL! You can also see a close-up on the rouched flowers that I added to the applique.  I enjoy this effect…

I love these all!  They were made by Spiced Coffee, Jgmehlin, Nanotchka, Boutiquenutmegdesigns, HartHill, and myself.

I mailed out the fabrics and theme when it was my “month” to pick.  I had a kit that pulled out and sent to the members of the bee.

They each made me 2 blocks and sent them back.  It was fun to figure out how to put them all together as some were set on-point.  I added some applique and ‘voila!

And last but not least, my photobombing kitty had to make an appearance!He definitely approves!  Thanks for stopping by!

Look at what came in the mail yesterday!!!

I have been swapping on flickr since 2009…  There are certain people that I love getting as a partner because their work is awesome…

Mamacjt is one of them.

Yesterday, I received the sweetest little quilt in the world…  That’s right, a pink and green row of houses!

(I’m moving into the one with the striped roof.)

Carol also sent an envelope full of goodies.  She is so generous!

Thanks for swapping Carol~  You are fabulous!

Thanks for visiting!!!

Mini quilt made for Sewgentle…

Mini quilt made for Sewgentle…, a photo by ruthiequilts on Flickr.

And voila! Here it is… The theme for this quilt swap in the Mini QT Swap on flickr was “Snow”. This features the little asterisk block that I spoke of in a previous blog.  Those little blocks measured 1 inch finished!  This quilt is approximately 12 inches square, give or take an inch!  (I forgot to measure it before I popped it in the mail!)

I told one of my quilt ladies that it was a snowflake, but she argued with me, even after the little quilt was finished! It IS a snowflake! LOL! I added a little bling in the form of sequins and beads to sparkle like real snow! And I used my bitty snowman block as the center and built the little quilt out like a round robin. I hope you enjoy him! I’ll post a close-up picture of the quilting and carrot nose on a separate post.

My partner received this last night in Pennsylvania, so I can finally show it! thanks for stopping by! I appreciate all of my bloggy friends! XOXO Ruth