finally finished Chantelle

I have blogged about this before.....and it has been on my FIU list since I started it in 2007....I used Ricky Tims method of cutting the fabric with just a rotary cutter and no ruler... a fun method....I used Patrick Lose fabrics and Ricky Tims dyed fabric for binding...

I used different colors of thread to quilt each separate color of the wallhanging.. now it is hanging in my dining room...these are my very favorite colors!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

answer to what am I working on?

Today Pat Sloan asked on her blog to share what we are working on and add to Mr. Linky... all I have left on my Chantelle tulip is hand stitching the binding to the back...

More progress done on this mini quilt...blogged end of the year....

sorry for the blurrr....some strips using blues and purples... Also...I am going to make a recipe I pinned on pinterest called the easiest bread ever...made with club soda... OH...and I bought an AccuQuilt GO! I got it last weekend at Joann's in Temecula on sale....when we were on our way to the Road to California quilt show. Then I had fun in the booth at Road buying fabric cutting dies. So I want to do some cutting up fabric too! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

January FMQ Challenge and TNT Thursday

This is my entry in the SewCalGal 2012 FMQ Challenge. I have enjoyed this design and will keep practicing but decided to submit my sample today. My previous quilting style was rambling....so it was difficult at first to focus on just doing one design.

I got brave and decided to do more than practice...just put it on a "real project". I have this UFO since 2007 (it is on my FIU list and I have blogged about it before) and it has been on the wall with push pins waiting to be finished!

I am also linking to Melissa's TNT Thursday as this is a new design to add to my quilts. I added the heart-shaped leaf design to the light blue border. If anyone is thinking about doing free motion quilting...my advice is to "JUST DO IT"!! Practicing 15 minutes every day helps a lot! AND it is really fun! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

FMQ practice

This is the second practice FMQ leaf design that I did...BUT I really need a lot more practice before I submit it to the challenge. I need to discipline myself to do the design and not let the stitching go any way I feel like going!!

This one I did on Thursday after I first heard about the FMQ challenge and grabbed some fabric!! I discovered how fun this heart leaf is to do and decided to commit to doing the practice and following the challenge for this year. It should be a lot of fun. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

FMQ Challenge

I have decided to join SewCalGal in the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge. My style is just a rambling all over the place quilting style and I want to learn some new things. By taking the pledge I hope this gives me the push to practice more and add new quilting designs to my quilts!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

SPBB #7 #8 and #9

Before I put things away from Christmas I took some photos of projects I did before blogging... the first one is a 10" pillow I made in the 70s or 80s....

Next is a quilt I started in Nancy Fisher's class in 1993.... it is called strips and squares.... it is hand quilted... finally finished it 5 years ago after a lot of years of not quilting....

this table topper is 10" string blocks... four put together and used the serger to do the edge... I probably did this in 2007... that is about when I started quilting again after a long break of doing other crafts....

here is the same table topper taken at night with the ceramic tree lights on... I wil keep looking for more SPBB (some projects before blogging).... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

FIU weekend

Pat Sloan is having a UFO party on Quilt Mashup Forum and that has inspired me to check out those projects I need to finish up. I am working on a Nancy Halvorsen Be Attitudes mini quilt. I started it in January 2009! I bought the book and the kit in April 2008 in Deer Lodge, Montana at Quilter's Corner.

This is the first one I have started in the book. I also bought kits for Feb, March, Oct and Dec.

I at least hope to get this mini quilt done and hung in January. This weekend I hope to identify more of my projects to finish and get them on my list for 2012. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Merry Christmas

Best wishes for a happy holiday to all. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

12 days of Christmas tabletopper

Here is the finish....blogged in June about charm squares to 4-patches here... I also had an update in Nov.... I forgot to use the walking foot when I started this decorative stitch in the center... and also forgot to put the feed dogs back up...oops.... after I figured it out what I had done...it was much better....

I did the stem stitch for the words and a running stitch along some of the seams... I'm keeping this one for me....the other two I did this month were for gifts... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Secret Santa Swap fun

Pat Sloan's QuiltMashUp group had a swap earlier this month...

I decided to join in the fun....

Here is a little Santa bucket on the tabletopper I made....

I personalized the tabletopper for my swap partner.... and I used Kate Spain 12 days of Christmas fabric....

this photo shows all the goodies I put in the package... I also had some almond roca in the snowflake box.... the little snowman changes colors... I put some photos on flickr of what I got from my swap partner.... this was a very fun swap... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Christmas tabletopper tutorial

Here is a quick tutorial on how I made this very simple tabletopper.

I used 2 1/2" strips of all different reds and greens for the center. I sewed a red strip to a green strip and cut in 2 1/2" segments and then sewed them together for a 16 patch of all different fabrics.

Next for the first borders I used gold fabric with stars and swirls and cut 8 1/2" x 2 and 12" x 2 and sewed to the 16 patch. For the last borders I started with a red strip and sewed to the right side. I then sewed a strip of green to the bottom and next red and last green at the top. For the machine quilting I did a decorative stitch down the centers of the 16 patch center and then straight lines about 1/8" from the seam. I wrote words in each of the borders.

Here is where I did something new....I did the binding by machine! I used red fabric with stars and swirls. First I listened to some tutorials on how to do machine binding and then sewed the binding to the back instead of the front. Pat Sloan has a good video on how to do this.

Then I folded the binding over and sewed a buttonhole stitch with my machine to finish. It was fun and I will be doing this method again. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

SPBB #6

Here is another project I did before I started my blog. I had a photo of it last year with my decorations but not about Sweet Trimmings. This was part of the Cross Country Christmas blog hop in November 2009. The design is Gudrun's of GE Designs and the free pattern is on her blog Gudrun's World and here is where you can find her post about Sweet Trimmings.

This is a close up of the top of the wall hanging. It was a lot of fun to make. Smiles and hugs....Caryl