With A Little Help From My Friends

This is my string quilt.  I made the top over a year ago (as described in this post).  It has bits and pieces of so many memories--quilts made and used, quilts given away, shopping trips with friends, scraps of fabric and time.   There are even 3 blocks in the quilt that were made by my friend Debbie for her own quilt.  She gave me the extras and lots of plaid scraps.

My cat and I are looking at it here.  I LOVE it!  (Mr. Biddy is also giving it his seal of approval.)

Here's the back of the quilt, made from orphan blocks and random fabrics.  My friend Joey and I made up the backing together, and Joey did the quilting.  Can you see it in this picture?  She did a Baptist fan over the whole top.  She does this freehand on her long arm.  It is amazing, and exactly what I was envisioning for this quilt.

I have since bound and labeled the quilt.  I can't stop running my hands across it.

Here's the label.  It's part of my New Years Resolution, to label the quilts I make this year.

Ties that Bind Quilters may remember this quilt.  Louanne S. led us in a mystery quilt, with one clue per month, in 2014.

I chose the spools fabric first (it was a Connecting Threads print), and then chose the other fabrics based on the colors in the print.  I really liked this quilt, even though these are not my usual colors.

But it didn't come to life until Joey quilted it!

Look at these beautiful feathers, done with variegated thread!

And check out how it turns the corner!  It is just so wonderful!
Both of these quilts would still be just tops, hanging in my sewing room closet, if it wasn't for Joey.  This is the first time anyone else has quilted anything for me, and I could not be happier.

I bound it in a bright green, and sewed on the label.  The quilting looks even better from the back!


Yesterday was a busy day, but it was also Martin Luther King Day, so I made time to work on a little quilt for charity.  (I think I'm going to try calling them "giving quilts" this year.)

I quilted and bound this baby quilt, all on the sewing machine.  The top was hanging in the closet, waiting for me.

I have made quilts in this pattern lots of times.  It's sort of my go-to pattern when I just want to sew something.  I call it Evelyn's Quilt, since I made it first for my granddaughter Evelyn. 
Click here to go to the free pattern.

I quilted a diagonal grid as well as a horizontal one.  My quilting is SAD compared to Joey's.

Here's the back of the quilt, a Winnie the Pooh print I got at a sale for $1.00 per yard.  I think I have enough to back at least one more quilt.

The redwork quilt sits on my kitchen table, where I can quilt whenever I have a few minutes between cooking and laundry, etc.  The masking tape is working out for quilting lines without having to mark them.

I'm hand quilting diagonal lines through each square.  When those are done I'll tackle the sashing and border.  The lines are 1 3/8 in. apart.

This is one of the best of the squares--a mule and two dogs.  The embroidery is mostly chain stitch.  Blue lines are visible on some of the blocks.  Either the original quilter bought the blocks ready-stamped or stamped her own with a transfer pattern.

I like this one, even though it is very simple.  I believe it was traced from a rooster cookie cutter.  I'll have to look for one of these the next time we go antiquing.

My life has really been enhanced by my quilting friends, and I bet yours has, too.  Let's remember to appreciate them this week.

Stay warm!