Monday, October 29, 2018

TRUCKING ALONG!




I am trucking along with a new holiday decor theme!
I have quite a collection of the 
Vintage Red Truck/Christmas Tree ornaments.
 Last year and they were very hard to find.
This year...this theme is EVERYWHERE!

This post is about the fabric I had to have.
It takes me back to the farm I grew up on
with lots of great holiday memories and SNOW!
I found two prints...one with the trucks and
one with the barn scenes by Henry Glass

I fussy cut centers for Economy Blocks.
Its a fav block if you have a special novelty print.
And of course, I pulled some Grunge Red and Green
from my stash and the black and red plaid.



I decided to make pillow covers for a couple really
old and ugly toss pillows!



I found a black and gray print for the pillow backs.



And in no time...DONE


They just sing...over the river and thru the woods!


And will look great on my front porch for the Holidays.



and they also say...come home for the holidays.



I have a pile of blocks left and my hubby wants a quilt
with a flannel back...I will add some red and black check fabric blocks 
sew it will work up quickly.
The question is...THIS Christmas or NEXT?



Stay tuned because my Holiday decorating starts soon
and you will see a lot of this theme.

YES, I am "one of those people" who puts Christmas BEFORE
Thanksgiving every year! I am "thankful" I can do that!

My Foyer, Dining Room and front Porch
will make you want to "Come Home for the Holidays"




Friday, October 19, 2018

Halloween Finishes 

Halloween is fast approaching!  
 I have made 3 new Halloween quilts this year!
Lots of my Ghastlie fabric collection is 
looking good in a quilts, rather than sitting on a shelf!

I used the these first 4 lines of Ghastlies fabric.



Ghastlies Peep Show
I used the Thimbleblossoms "Red Velvet" pattern
with a couple X blocks revised to my liking.


The backing (and binding) is a green/black Halloween print 
I have had in my stash for several years.
Stash pink and gray prints / most of them Ghastlie prints.
Green border is KONA and I bought it.

I had a few 8 1/2" focus fabric squares of fabric cut
so I made some black and white dot squares...
Fun piano key FMQ on the black and green borders.


and made this insert for the backing.
The quilt finished at .



The second Ghastlie quilt was made using the
2017 Ghastlies Moments panel cutting 5 1/2" squares!
Added lots of stash solids and Ghastlie prints.



 Mathilde Ghastlie is just awesome!
A fun sharp-angled FMQ quilt design on this one!

Back was a combo of larger stash FQs and Ghastlie fabrics
(remember I am using stash fabrics)

Next up is a Blue Nichols Quilt Pattern
My stash of Cotton and Steel fabric
"Spellbound and Boo" 
Stash black, gray prints for the backgrounds 
and GRUNGE tree trunks
I deviated from the pattern's two horizontal rows
and made the top symmetrical for my...
"Haunted Forest"


The backing is yardage from Zen Chic's COMMA line
that I had hoarded for a long time.


I had some C&S Halloween prints left
so a horizontal row along the bottom part of the quilt
added a pop of color.


All 3 of these quilts were long arm quilted by 
Michelle Mayton in Mansfield Ohio.

I have one more Ghastlies quilt sent to my friend
and fellow guild member for
Central Ohio Modern Quilters
and, Columbus Modern Quilters. 
Cassandra is making great quilts and accolades
and I am lucky to have her quilt this one for me.
Check out Cassandras blog here

I will have a full post on this quilt once it is completed.
but for now..a sneak peek!



I hope this post will inspire you to 
GO ON and CUT THE DAMN FABRIC!
Use it...you will be glad you did!

Tell me, what is your favorite Halloween fabric?



Tuesday, October 9, 2018

MODERN TREE BLOCKS and MOM

Amy Smart (Diary of a Quilter)
 Modern Christmas Tree Blocks
have been tugging at my heart strings...
(for many reasons)

I had been collecting fabrics for a while,
that I thought would work for my version of the quilt.


I sorted and cut the basic pieces, per Amy's tutorial (link below)



Check out how stinkin cute these blocks are!







Finally, enough blocks to get started on the design wall.



THIS is NOT the final design...just playin around.
I have an idea for a staggered layout !

Here is a link to the tutorial by Diary of a Quilter
and a look at her finished quilt.
The blocks can be made in two sizes.
3 1/2" x 4 1/4" 
or 7" x 9" (my blocks)

This is Amy's amazing 
Modern Christmas Tree Blocks quilt!

Mine is NOT finished in 2018 but it will be maybe 2020

patchwork-christmas-tree-quilt

Today my Mom would have been 104 years old.
She's been gone 12 years, but it seems like yesterday.
Cora loved to hand piece, making only utilitarian scrap quilts.
Christmas was her favorite time of the year and she
always held her Christmas dinner the Sunday before
Christmas...giving Dec 25th to her children
 to spend that day as they wanted.

This quilt will be
"Cora's Christmas Trees"

In loving memory
Cora Hess Clayton
1914 - 2006