My week . . .

My sister came to visit me this week, and among other things, she wanted to make a quilt. Well, she wanted me to help her. It's hard to teach someone to quilt in just a couple of days, but we did our best. This is what we ended up with.

She helped me cut and sew some of the squares. By the time we got to the stippling, she had only two days left here, so she left it to me. I have no doubt, though, that when she goes back home, she will take what she learned and apply it to another project. Plus, she'll have Jill to help her. And now she has a stash -- leftovers from this quilt.

A couple pieces of satin. Some fine-wale corduroy.

Finished in three days.

So I started a new one and finished a new one, so I'm still at 73. Kinda makes you wonder why I haven't finished more, doesn't it? Hey, I can't be on vacation every week. Sometimes a girl has got to work and do laundry. I do need to be more focused like that, though, and then I could finish more. Okay. Renewed effort. Here we go. = )

Dragonflies Baby Quilt

I remember tying quilts with my aunts and grandma when I was very young. In college my roommates and I made "quilts" for our beds by putting some batting between two flat bedsheets and tying them. I dabbled a little bit here and there. The summer that my second child turned two was when I started to quilt more avidly. I still was not very good at it, but I loved it. Anyway, when we moved to Texas nine years ago, there was a lady in my church who quilted all the time, so she and I naturally gravitated toward each other. She taught me a lot. She also, however, preferred to do simpler quilts most of the time. Because of that, I have a lot of simple baby quilts. That's why I'm telling you this long, boring story -- in apology for the finishes that I will have in the near future. They're not particularly thrilling as quilt specimens. Anyway, to spice it up, I decided to add more quilting than I might normally have done (machine, of course).

So while the quilt itself is rather mundane, I think the quilting really makes it pop. I love the quilting, even though it took me much longer than normal for a quilt of this size.

One more for the pile of baby quilts. Many of my friends don't even know the gender of their baby yet, so I'm a little ahead on the girls. Ahead? Me? This may be unprecedented. Seriously. And now I'm down to 73 projects in my sewing room -- at least that's what we're going with. When the number gets smaller or I get more organized, I'll count again. A few extras may have crept in from the garage or may have not gotten counted.

Okay. Now I'm off to go get everything ready for my quilting group this morning. We're just finishing up projects over the summer, starting something new in the fall. I'm trying to help them not be like me -- UFOs all over the place.

Quilting -- Finally!

So, since this is called "The Bossy Quilter," I figured I should put some quilts up here. Ya think? This quilt is one that I pieced about 5 years ago (I remember cutting it out while I was nursing Cade, who will be 5 in a week), but I have just recently put it on the hoop to quilt. I'm about half done with the quilting. My sister-in-law, Jill (who will be mentioned probably quite often on this blog since she shares my love of quilting), gave me some fat quarters for my birthday (which is in July) one year, and since I love patriotic quilts and stars, this is what came from it. I had to add some fabrics from my stash too. I am now regretting my own additions, because what she sent me was quilt-store quality, and what was in my stash was Joann's. Now, I appreciate Joann's and am not opposed to using that level of fabrics. However, Joann's and quilt-store quality should never be mixed, because they will fade at different rates, and then you will be sad. I'm sure I will witness this as soon as I wash this quilt. Then I'll have to post a picture of it for you all. I have learned much in the five years since I pieced this quilt, and I hope I am getting better.

I do prefer to work on the hoop, because I don't have a gargantuan living room in which to set up my quilt frame. I do have a scrolling quilt frame, which I love!, but since this is a small quilt, the hoop is easier, and I can sit with my husband and work on it while he watches football. Then we're together even though I don't have any interest in football except where BYU is concerned and even then only marginally, and he really doesn't have any interest in quilting except where the finished product is concerned and even then only insofar as it can keep him warm. No, truly, I have a husband who appreciates the aesthetics of quilting and who is properly enthusiastic when I finish something (since it is a momentous occasion when that happens -- not my strong suit). When I told him I was doing this blog, he said, "How fun." He was not being sarcastic. He was being sweet, especially since I really deserved something along the lines of, "Do you really think you need another hobby?"

Closer up you can perhaps see that I am quilting on either side of the seam lines inside the stars and just around the muslin hexagons. This is a one-block quilt -- all made from the diamond shape. The tumbling blocks quilts are made the same way but with different color patterns to make it look completely different. Here's a tutorial on how to do the tumbling blocks. http://www.fabriclandwest.com/quilters%20corner/projects/tumblingblcks1.htm Since I am so new to this, I just don't know how to make something link to just the phrase, so I'll have to keep putting in the links with the web addresses till I get smarter.

Okay. Onward!

This is current project #2.

It is made from Moda's Simplicity line by 3 Sisters. I'm not normally a flowery, pastel kind of girl, but this line as well as Seaside Rose (also by 3 Sisters) just grabs me. I haven't had a baby girl in almost 9 years, so I should not ever be buying stuff like this, but I can't help it. People always ask me "What's it for?" with regard to my quilts. Silly, naive people, quilts are not always "for" anything or anyone. Sometimes they just need to be made because they're beautiful. I have a large number of children who always want a blanket to snuggle under while they watch TV (even in the summer, because the AC freezes them), so you can really never have enough blankets -- even in Texas. I'm tellin' ya.

I typically draw out a quilt ahead of time. I don't always buy fabric with a specific quilt in mind, so then I have to design one. I love sawtooth stars, and especially stars within stars, so I decided to put different things in the middle instead of just a plain old square.

A four-patch in the center.

I do label the blocks in my quilt and number them so I know what order to put them in. Then I number the rows so I will know which row goes next to what. I label things on my diagram too. Even with all that, sometimes I end up putting things in the wrong place. Oh well, quilting isn't an exact science.

I think this is my favorite block -- with the diagonal strips in the center. It's just so fun to me. Yes, I am feeling so clever about this quilt, however, I am feeling a little sheepish about the level of blurriness in my photos. I am not so good with the close-ups. I turn off the flash so they don't wash out, but somehow I guess my arm isn't steady enough. I'll post a picture when I get the quilt top put together. I have several other quilts to show you, but I'll probably have to put them on a different post, because my eyes are bugging out of my head now, and I should probably go make my bed or something equally mundane. I hope you enjoy!