Just a cushion

My latest endeavor is a floor cushion .... for a special young girl for her 3rd birthday.

I got the pattern from here, except I made mine a bit bigger for the side panels and then gathered the sides.  The top and bottom were made from two fat quarters.  The sides pieces were cut 6-1/2" wide x 9" high and there are 11 pieces in total.  If I was to make this cushion again using quilting cotton, a piece of cotton batting would be quilted to the top and bottom circles so that you don't see a lumpy look.  Oh well.

This floor cushion will go perfectly with this quilt which will get done for August when a new sibling enters her life.

Have a great day!

Gumballs is spat out ..

Yep, I'm done chewing on this quilt .... it is finished!  Doing the happy dance!  Wheeeeee ..... 

I've been having a hard time trying to capture the true colour of this quilt.  This photo is so washed out... but this is the best I can do indoors.

The photo below was taken after 7:00 in the evening.  Same camera.  Total difference.  Too bright.  The real colour is in between the two.  Oh well.

My label ....

Quilt name:  Gumballs
Size: 60-1/2" x 84-1/4" (top size: 63-1/2" x 87-1/4" ... a loss of 3" all around once quilted, washed and dried)
Pattern Source: McCall's Quilting - April 2008 - Designer:  Deb Luttrell
Quilting:  Machine quilting and hand quilting.

This quilt was started on Sept. 10, 2014 .... top finished on Oct. 2, 2014 .... quilt finished on Apr. 16, 2015.  

This quilt is number 102 that I have done.  For me, that is a good number since a lot of my quilts are hand quilted.

So, with this quilt finished, there are only 26 more tops waiting to be quilted.  Only 26.  Yikes, that number sort of grew last year when I was on a mission to finish some PHD'S.

In my studio, my quilt rack got swapped out for a clear bin.  This way, that corner looks tidier and my projects are standing up shouting at me for their turn with thread and needle.  One day, my lovelies.  One day!

 

Have a great day!

Concentration?

What concentration?  What can I say ... I saw this fabric and it spoke to me and I just had to start playing with it.

I just cut the fabric into squares to make a basket weave effect.  So effective and so easy, it is almost like cheating. 

Have I abandoned my other projects?  Nope,  they are still in my face and they are still being worked on.  This one sort of sneaked in!  :o)

However, I did stay focused long enough to finish two borders on my Gumball quilt.  Only one more to do and three circles in the centre section.

Some of you have wondered if it is a Baptist Fan that is being used?  Yes ... but cut off.  My blocks finish at 12" and the fan design is alternated every 6".  Makes for a total different look.  Again, at first, I wasn't sure if I would like this or not.  YES.   I'll definitely be using this design again.

Have a great day!

Just feeling good

The nights here are still cool and that has enabled me to continue hand quilting.  My Gumballs quilt is making progress.  Only 4 circles to be done and what do you think of my border?

At first, I wasn't sure if this border would do .... but seeing it like this ..... I heart this very much!  :o)  So, 4 circles and 3 borders to go!

Have a great day!

Did the shuffle ....

Hubby and I were wondering what it would look like if we moved a piece of furniture and changed things around a bit.  All my wall hangings  just seem to overwhelm this piece of furniture.  So, without further ado .... this sideboard was moved ...

to this side of our dining room.  It looks way better here and we can enjoy the workmanship
that went into making it.

Now, it frees up space and we can get around our dining table easier.  Also, my wall hangings will show up better.   I'll be making some larger quilts for this wall.

Now, back to quilting.  A few more circles got quilted on this quilt. Can we say yeah!!  I finally figured out what to do with the borders.  The rest of the hand quilting will go quickly now.

Ummm ..... well, ummm .... I did get side tracked with this girly project.  It only took a few days to get this all put together.  Then, the decision was made to make this quilt into a bed size, so two sections will have to be added onto the length.  I haven't figured out yet what they will be, but it will come to me soon enough.

Finally, this porcupine stayed around our hill for two days.  He was in our pine tree and hubby and I climbed through the ice and snow to get a better look.   This was as close as I wanted to get.

Have a great day!

My Kaleidoscope

Since my last post, my task was to continue working on my hand quilting and to finish up two quilts that were started.  I chose to finish my kaleidoscope quilt.

There were three borders left to do.  Then two.  Then one.  Suddenly, I was trimming the outer borders.  Wow .... that went quickly.

The binding was sewn on and then I was on a mission to get one side done and then another until it was all done.

Even my label was made and ready to be sewn on.

After washing and blocking ..... my quilt was done!  Oh, happy, happy days.

 

In the navy blue negative area, this is where you see my machine quilting.  A very tight meander.

A  close-up of my hand quilting.  One tip for you if you ever make a kaleidoscope quilt .... in the very centre, cut away a bit of the batting and the bulk of all those seams will sink into the hole and you won't have any puff up centre.  It worked for me.  Mind you, this is a wall hanging and that is why I did that.  When I run my hand on the backing, I can feel the centre poking through the hole. 

Finished size: 52" x 52-1/2"
Source:  Ricky Tims "Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts"
Quilting:  Both machine and hand quilting
 
Have a great day!