Last Weekend's Bags

The only projects I got done last weekend was creating two bags. the first was a little bag for my friend Holly's youngest Avery. Her birthday is in October and I didn't have any great ideas so I decided to make her a little purse. It's probably a big purse to her, but I think it can hold a lot of great things - I think her favorite dolly will fit in it too!. I used charm Squares and just sewed them together for the outside and handles. Then made a lining out of a coordinating fat quarter.

I also made a bag for Megan Watson, the long-term substitute that is teaching the English class next door. We share students. She also did her student teaching with my students last year. She's been a trooper trying to plan lessons, learn how to be a teacher, and handle all the issues our students seem to have. I chose some fabric with words on it - Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda - to bring in that English teacher thing. I took a pattern from Moda Bake Shop by Nicole from OurCozyNest.blogspot.com and changed it a bit for Megan's bag. I really like it and I hope she will too!

Anne's Queen Size Quilt

Last winter my mother had a magazine with this quilt on the cover. The quilt is called Frosted Windowpanes. What I liked about it was the fabric from the Coverlet collection and it was Red & white which is a favorite combination of my friend Anne Nicole. I sent her a picture to see if she liked it and offered to make it for her. She did and I made it for her birthday and Christmas. I finished piecing the quilt on Anne's Birthday. I showed it to her when I was in Dillon this summer, left it with mom to be
quilted, brought it home on the plane at Lincoln's baptism, and finished it the binding while watching NASCAR races and movies. I finally got it off this week - about halfway between her birthday and Christmas! It's a queen size quilt and I hope she loves it!

Underground Railroad

Mom decided to clean out her stash and give away some quilts she didn't really want to finish. She had started this quilt and had two squares done. I took on the challenge of completing this quilt. Mom sent the fabric and the book and off I went. I like the way the quilt turned out and I enjoyed making the different blocks.

Jingle All the Way

This is a quilt I made in the Fall of 2007 in my first quilt class ever. I took the class at my favorite quilt store in Southern California, Cotton and Chocolate. The sample quilt was beautiful. My classes were during the big fires that surrounded Santa Clarita (and we got three days off school for). The quilt is from the book 11 Laps from Fats and is called Jingle all the Way. I used fabric from the In the Pink line by Buggy Barn. I enjoyed the three other women in the class and my instructor and I really like the quilt.

Anne Nicole's Civil War Blocks

For the Christmas of 2007 I made my friend Anne Nicole a small quilt to hang in her house in Savannah. She has an old fashioned wash stand and I wanted to make a quilt she could hang there or anywhere else in her house that she wanted. I called her oldest and had her measure so I could make something that would fit. I also wanted to learn how to paper piece, so I decided I'd make her some Civil War blocks from the Civil War Diary book. It's an appropriate choice since she immersered herself in the Civil War when she moved to the South. I like a lot of the blocks and most turned out pretty well. I sashed them with a tea dyed/stained muslin and a blue border and backing.

Courthouse Steps with Terri Nussbaum

Earlier this year I took a class at my favorite quilt store here in Washington - Carriage Country Quilts in Des Moines, WA. The class was a courthouse steps quilt and it was taught by Terri Nussbaum, the author of Quick-Change Quilts. I used my stash of Civil War and other reproduction fabrics in hopes of taming the huge pile. I had to be really careful and plan out the quilt so that all the blocks would match up with the right block. The quilter did an amazing job quilting it. I wasn't sure I'd love the blocks this way but I really love this quilt and I can't wait for it to get cold so I can use it!!!!

Roger & Andrea's Quilt

This is the quilt I made for my friend Roger & his wife Andrea. They live in New Zealand. I met Roger working at the Oak Glen Outdoor school when I had to take a semester off from BYU. We've kept in touch all these years and I even met Andrea when they came over for a vacation before they were married (or even engaged I think). I was emailing Roger about their new house they were building and I decided to make a quilt for their new place.

After visiting my favorite quilt store Cotton & Chocolate in Thousand Oaks, CA I knew which quilt I was going to make. The pattern is called Strips 'n Bits by Bloom Creek. The fabric is from the Shangri-la by Three Sisters for Moda. I thought it provided the perfect earthy colors & nature motifs I wanted in the quilt. My only request to the quilter was if a fern could be embroidered in the center of each block. I had a couple of examples of New Zealand ferns. My mom said the quilter's son recognized the fern patterns because he's into rugby.

The quilt turned out beautifully. I was so happy with it and very excited to send it off to New Zealand.