Shop Hop Quilts

I started quilting about 7 years ago. I've always been into different crafts, and I have loved to look at quilts since I started making annual trips to Shipshewanna in the early 90's with my girlfriends. I had a stressful job in 2002 that was taking up a lot of my time back then, and decided that I needed some balance in my life. My husband bought me a used sewing machine, and I signed up for a shop hop and my first quilt class at the same time. I had no idea of what a shop hop was. My mother and I went on the shop hop and had a lot of fun collecting fabrics for their progressive quilt and for my first quilt, a rail fence quilt. I had done some sewing before, but never on a quilt. When I got this pattern, I had to look up applique and try to figure out how to make the quilt. I bought some Wonder Under, not knowing that there were different weights you could buy. I bought the stiffest, heaviest stuff and couldn't figure out why my new sewing machine was giving me fits with the gummed up needles! Anyway, this is my first quilt. It hangs in my hallway. It doesn't exactly hang straight, but I'm proud of it anyway since I made it without any help or classes.

I continued to go on shop hops each year, and continued collecting fabrics for the progressive quilts. Sad to say, only the first quilt was ever finished. The 2nd quilt has a finished top, and I started to quilt it, but never finished the quilting. I think I'll try to finish that UFO next after I finish the Halloween quilt. I don't have a picture of this quilt. The ladies at the LSQ are quite talented, and have designed all of the shop hop quilts.

This is one of the UFO's I was working on earlier this year, before I got bored making the same blocks over and over again. It is very pretty, not the typical bright colors I usually choose.

I was looking for a tote bag the other day to put my pinwheel quilt in to take to the LQS to find some fabric for the borders. I am quite embarassed to admit what I found in the tote bag. I had purchased this at the shop hop 2 years ago. I found the fabric in the tote bag, and I couldn't even remember when I had purchased the fabric. I had to open several of the kits to figure out what the quilt looked like. Now, I don't know whether I want to make this quilt any longer. I'm thinking about just adding the fabric to my stash.

What do you think?

This is last year's shop hop quilt. While I think it is very cute, this one just didn't call me enough to buy the fabric. I had decided that I wasn't going to buy another shop hop quilt until I finished some of my UFO's.

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Karen

Sunday night rambling...

Well, the weather was as bad as we thought it was going to be this weekend. It rained ALL day yesterday, and today it was hot and humid, with a heat index above 100 degrees. It was a good weekend to stay inside and quilt. My husband worked most of today, so it was nice and quiet. We are now having another severe thunderstorm with lightning and strong winds. Enough whining about the weather, at least it gave me some quilting time.

I worked on the applique flowers for my pinwheel quilt. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I decided that I was going to use freezer paper and turn the edges under rather than do raw edge applique. I am a bit late in learning the benefits of freezer paper. That stuff is amazing. I used it to draw the flower shapes, and then when I was done cutting out the flowers, I used it again to cut the batting that I stuffed the flowers with. Next, I will break out the bias bars I bought 2 years ago (and never used) to make the flower vine. I've decided on a black border, with a green repro print for the binding and flowers. I'll try to get some pictures next time.

I'll leave you with a smile. A couple of years ago, I was privileged to go to the Houston International Quilt show. I took so many pictures of breath-taking quilts. This was one of my favorite quilts. Perfect for a hot day like today. I just love the way the quilter captured all of the "lumps, bumps, and grey hair" of these two "lovers". Unfortunately, I did not get the quilter's name. But I think they did a fabulous job!

Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Karen

Quilt Give A Way

I really like this quilt. These fabrics are gorgeous, and it is so bright and cheerful. The ladies over at marie-madeline studio are giving this quilt away. But there are only 2 days left to enter their contest, so if you're interested, visit them soon using the link above.

I haven't done much quilting this week as we've been busy at work with the month end books. I did get some fabric last weekend for my pinwheel quilt. I also got got my designs transferred onto some fusible web for the applique I want to put in the border. I'm still excited about finishing this quilt, so that is a good thing.

We are expecting to get some very warm, humid weather this weekend. Not the really hot weather that Lane and other have been experiencing, but 93 and humid is still the warmest I think it has been all summer. So, I think it will be a good time to quilt.

Take care,
Karen