Millie's Quilting

Randomness

2012-01-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

I saw this very cute Moda Bakeshop tutorial here. I think the pattern is perfect for my very first Riley Blake jelly roll. I used white fabric with yellow dots for the background. I just finished quilting the top and I am so pleased at how pretty and easy this quilt came together.

I wanted to accentuate the teal fabric and added a second border with these cute teal and white squares.

A few years ago I bought a pack of 12 Raggedy Ann embroidered blocks at a quilt show. I did not want to make a traditional red and white quilt. I found this yellow fabric with red cherries in my stash - perfect to go with the red Raggedy Ann's.

Again to accentuate the yellow fabric, I added yellow yo-yo's. The yo-yo's also hid some of my "not so good lined up" red sashing strips.

This is a picture I took outside, I love how the quilt wrinkled after the first wash.
I used Hobbs 100% cotton batting.

I am working on two new projects. A jelly roll quilt and a 1930's quilt. Darlene's pattern called "Just Between Friends" is perfect for my 1930's stash which I cut up in 2,5" strips.

I hope you all are enjoying the first month of the new year.

Happy Quilting,

Two Charm Square Quilts

2011-11-18T16:10:00.002-06:00

My Charm Square Quilt is all done and washed. I used three "Terrain" charm packs, "Snow" Kona Cotton for the sashings and 100% Hobbs batting.

Amy Smart has a great charm square tutorial called "Baby Lattice Quilt" on the Moda Bake Shop over here.

I enjoy this quilt so much and it is hanging in my quilting room. I have a curtain rod on the wall for displaying quilts. I got the rod at Target for under $25, not bad at all.

Here is my"Summer Breeze" charm pack quilt. I had so many sashing strips leftover from the previous charm square quilt. I used three charm packs in a straight setting.

Below is how the quilt looked before it went in the washing machine.

I used 80/20 Bleached (white) batting.

This is how it crinkled up after I took it out of the dryer. I love washed, crinkled quilts.

I went with a light blue solid Kona Cotton (Blue Bell) for the border and binding.

The quilting panto is called "Bluebell", so perfect for this quilt.

I was so lucky, I found this navy fabric with light blue and white flowers in my stash for the backing.

After laying the quilt on my bed, I decided I would like to make another charm quilt big enough for my bed. When that someday will be, I am not sure.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and happy quilting,

Pinwheel and Charm Quilt

2011-10-30T17:55:00.001-05:00

My Pinwheel quilt is all done. I have not washed it yet and can't wait to throw the whole quilt in the washing machine and dryer to get soft and crinkly.

I used every little leftover piece of fabric. I used the last few pieces of fabric in the border.

It's always nice when I can find a matching piece of fabric for the backing. Even though this piece of fabric is dark it has the same type of teal blue flowers.

Here's my charms sqaure quilt all quilted.

I used that panto "Bubbles".

In the picture below you can see I put two of the same blue fabric charms next to each other. I think it makes a quilt even more interesting if you group some colors that are the same together.

I put an off white border on the edges. Now it looks like the squares are floating.

I'm almost done with my Happy Hour quilt for my son. I really like the blue world map fabric.

Here's some leftover strips for another project.

Here's the quilt I'm busy binding.

Happy Quilting,

Chinese Coin Quilt and Stipple Quilting

2011-10-21T21:11:00.003-05:00

I wanted to make something for fall from my scraps. I bought several of these fall prints with sunflowers and birds about five years ago. It was time to cut the fabrics up and use them in a quilt. I picked a few orange, yellow and green scraps, but had to add blue which is my favorite color.

I used every bit of the leftover novelty fabrics for the backing.

Here is my washed quilt. I used a 100% Hobbs Cotton batting.

The muslin crinkled up so nicely.

I also would like to share a few quilts I quilted for customers with stipple or meandering. This is an old antique quilt. The top is handpieced and a lot of the triangles came apart and had to be fixed. I used a high loft poly batting. It is a challenge to quilt old antique quilts, but it is worth the extra time to finish these authentic beauties. The crooked rows add charm to the quilt.

This is Sallie's Bulls Eye quilt - a block exchange quilt.

This is a raw edge applique quilt. I used press and seal on the top to keep the edges down while quilting.

Press and seal is taken off and quilt is ready for a binding.

Marinell's Charm Square Reproduction quilt.

She used a very soft old sheet for the back, which goes perfectly with the top.

Terry's green quilt with a wool batting for a family member in the Netherlands.

She pieced all the leftover fabrics together for the backing.

I quilted two lovely hand stitched quilts for Julie. The first quilt is for fall.

And this beauty has pieced baskets and hand embroidered flowers.

This is Elaine's Western quilt with machine appliqued boots.

Cute red and blue bandanna fabric.

The last quilt with a stipple is Rhonda's t-shirt quilt. The purple t-shirts form a cross.

I am working on her black binding.

This is the latest project I'm working on - a simple charm square quilt framed with sashings.

I hope you enjoy all the quilts with stipple quilting. I think a good stipple goes well with any quilt from modern to traditional, pieced to embroidered quilts. Enjoy the fall weather and happy quilting!

Snapshot, Antique quilt and more

2011-09-11T20:10:00.001-05:00

I hope you all are having a great summer. I am so ready for fall, we are having such a warm and dry summer here in Texas. With my kids back in school again, I had time to do a lot of sewing for myself. I quilted one of my UFO's, this is my youngest daughter's purple and blue Snapshot quilt. She picked out the fabrics and the quilting pattern. I am very pleased how the quilt turned out after the quilting.

Now from a very fast sewing top, to an old antique quilt. It could easily have taken days or months to hand sew the top.

I took a picture of the back of the top to show the hand sewing. A lady from Yerington, NV asked me to quilt this old beauty. She had this top for a few years and never got to the quilting.

The fabric is so pretty. I admired the 1930's prints for a long time.

Look at the pretty scalloped border. I am sure it is going to be a challenge to finish the binding.

From an old flowery quilt to a new Turnover quilt from Marrinell. All these pretty precut fabric makes quilting so much faster.

I quilted this Basket quilt for my friend Shirley. The green fabric squares showcase the basket blocks nicely.

And the last quilt, Jan's Star quilt in fall fabic. She loves black and uses it in every quilt.

The backing is black too.

I am so sorry for not blogging and reading blogs in a long time. On a positive note, I have been quilting a lot and made a lot of quilts. Can't wait to show more in the next posting.

Happy Quilting

Loving Everything About Quilting

2011-07-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

I absolutely love every aspect of making quilts and longarming. It's so much fun when I get a new customer's quilt in the mail or when a customer stops by my home to drop one of, too. It really makes you appreciate the amount of time each quilt takes. It's nice to admire the unique styles and color choices of so many creative people.

This here is Julie's amazing scrappy blue and white star quilt. The crisp white backing shows off the quilting. But white can be dangerous if your longarm machine has tension problems or if your not careful with your stops and starts.

This another one from Julie. I think this scrappy flannel quilt has so much character.

Muslin backing.

While Julie's quilts are more scrappy with tiny 1 1/2" strips, Marinel loves feminine, flowery, and made with charm packs. This is her wreath quilt.

Lovely solid, pink backing.

Here is her charm pack quilt.

Sometimes longarming has its more challenging moments and is full of firsts. This quilt was my very first silk table runner and I was extremely nervous the entire time. I didn't want to mess up the very expensive silk fabrics but I ended up not having any issues. A sharp needle and a slower than normal quilting speed eased my nerves. I'm so glad I didn't mess up Marjie's beautiful table runner.

I really love Marjie's house quilt because of the heart in the middle. Home is where the heart is. Her batik's really pop with the black background.

While it's fun to quilt for others, I like to relax and make my own every once in a while. I chose pink and green fabrics for this Yellow Brick Road quilt.

The only thing I don't like about quilting (besides going on a fabric diet) is when I mess up on the first piece while chain piecing. It takes forever to unsew all of the mess ups.

My best part of quilting is admiring the finished quilt... even though I haven't yet sewed on the binding.

This is my eldest daughter's t-shirt quilt. She even picked out her own batiks. At first, I sewed on a wide border but later I decided it looked unproportional. I cut it down and luckily now I have enough for the binding. There's always a silver lining!

Sometimes when you start a project, you don't plan it all out. I realized that my green sashing fabric was going to run out so I had to switch to another fabric.

For the very last row of sashings, you can see I had to use a light pink and green sashing instead. I think my little mishap ended ok, though.

My daughter picked this green hand dyed batik for the backing. Can you guess her favorite color? :)

I'm sorry for this long post but I wanted to finish it before my computer goes crazy again. I haven't been able to visit all my favorite blogs while it's been on the fritz. Thank you for all the comments and I hope you understand.

Happy Quilting,

T-shirt Quilts and Bags

2011-07-11T16:22:00.003-05:00

I've been working on so many t-shirt quilts and tops for bags. This is the Sander's quilt I made. I've used the leftover t-shirt logos and put them in the border. This is around a queen sized quilt.

This is a king sized t-shirt quilt I made for Wendy. I did the same thing and used some of the smaller logos in the border.

Many of the t-shirts were hand decorated by her and her two boys like this Surf's Up t-shirt.

Here's another t-shirt quilt I quilted with painted white t-shirts. This quilt was a team effort made by many of the teachers and personnel of a school for a retiring principal.

I quilted this quilt for Kayla.

The last few t-shirt quilts I quilted are from Marjie. This is her son's quilt.

These are t-shirts I quilted for Marjie who so cleverly made them into a duffel bag!

Here's some more tops she will transform into bags.

I really like the color scheme of this soon to be bag.

Happy Quilting,

Quilted Tops

2011-06-13T15:57:00.002-05:00

I have been busy quilting several quilt tops. This pink and brown quilt was pieced by Chari.

In the picture below is she with her daughter Cecilea.

The backing is the same pretty pink floral fabric that appears in some of the chains in the front of the quilt.

I love purple quilts. Shirley's quilt has a chain going though all the blocks which I think is so pretty.

This is Shirley's Bargello quilt. The black background makes all the colors pop.

This quilt made me smile the entire time I was quilting it, the colors are so bright and cheerful. Betsy pieced this quilt for a teenager called Bailey. She made up the pattern as she was piecing the blocks together.

I have quilted several of these Red Hunter Star quilts. This beauty was pieced by Glenda. It is such a striking quilt.

Scrappy backing.

I have been working on several t-shirt quilts. I pieced and quilted this one and will show several more t-shirt quilts the next time.

Happy Quilting until next time,

Pinwheel, Day & Night and Chinese Coin Quilts

2011-05-19T17:17:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you all are having fun and enjoying the warmer spring weather. Three years ago I started this pinwheel quilt in yellow and teal.

I used every little scrap and then used leftovers to piece the border. I finished the quilting and only have the binding left to do.

Here is a Chinese Coin quilt in red, white, blue and yellow from Michelle. I absolutely adore this type of quilt. I've made a smaller version for myself and am now thinking of making a king-size one like this for my bed.

Here is another quilt on my wish list. This is a day and night pattern from Eleanor Burns. What's very nice about this pattern is that in her book she has a ruler. All you have to do is sew strips together then use the handy ruler to cut out the shapes.

This is a red and white day and night quilt from one of my customers that I quilted.

The white backing shows the quilted hearts very well. This was a wedding present.

This is another king sized Day And Night quilt I quilted.

Hope you enjoy your Spring. Happy Quilting,

Scrappy Quilts

2011-04-19T13:40:00.001-05:00

Our weather has been so wonderful. I've been enjoying working in the garden and walking Max. Lately I've been quilting a lot of scrappy quilts. Here are four I would like to show you.

This first scrappy quilt was pieced by Julie. It is her nine patch exchange quilt. This whole quilt is made of one and a half inch strips.

This is also a scrappy quilt by July. This whole quilt is made from one and a half inch, all plaid, flannel strips.

There's another pretty nine patch in the sashings.

Muslin backing.

This next one was pieced by Sandy. It is a block of the month sampler quilt. I like the vibrant colors that make me excited for Summer.

This last one was made from Cathy. I took it late at night so I apologize for the darkness of the photo. It's a cute cat version of Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilt.

Adorable close up of the cats.

Happy Quilting,

Finished Picnic Quilt

2011-04-05T20:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah! My Picnic Quilt from Kim's new Scrapbasket Sensation book is finished. I have been working on and off on the binding. Before I first put this quilt in the washer and drier, I was so excited to see how it would turn out. This quilt is now so nicely crinkled.

I went with a pink fabric from my stash for the binding. This is an all-scrappy quilt from my stash.

I love the colors which reminds me of spring. I have this rot iron gate stand in the corner of my dining room. It definitely brightens up the room.

I am working on a UFO. Two years ago I started to make yo-yo's for no reason at all. I have this big bag of yo- yo's for a quilt that I wasn't even sure I would make at the time. The Go Cutter has a circle die which makes cutting the circles so much faster. I am using Lapel Sticks (first aid for fashion emergencies) to glue the yo-yo's down. These glue sticks are perfects for sewing projects.

Last, I would like to show a Yellow Brick quilt I quilted for Elaine with the "Antique Lace" panto.

She picked all these pretty fat quarters in blue, green, pink and yellow. So pretty! It feels so modern with the Spring colors.

Simple quilts are not for everybody, but I love them. They are easy enough to make but normally look like they took more time than you actually put into it.

Happy Quilting until next time,

Spring Quilting

2011-03-30T19:21:00.001-05:00

I am now three weeks without my computer. I miss reading my favorite quilting blogs and communicating with my blogging friends. With all the extra time per day, I got so much quilting done. I could do more housework, but that was definitely not on my list to do.

I just finished the machine quilting on Willeeen's Scrappy quilt. This is such a pretty quilt and an excellent use of her scrapbasket.

This Scrappy quilt has a bleached muslin for the background and the backing. Just beautiful!

This is another Tulip Time quilt I quilted. This beauty was pieced by Cindy. All the appliqued flowers are so cheerful and so springy. You can tell she is a purple girl.

Cindy is going to use this quilt on her bed. With all the lovely batiks she can use any color of decorations with this quilt.

Cindy's mom is going to help her with the binding. This quilt is huge, 106" long and the handsewing of the binding will take forever.

This is a Spring panel I quilted for Marinel. There is absolutely no piecing in this quilt. Aren't panels great for those lazy non-sewing days?

I am working on a t-shirt quilt for Shannon. The quilt will have around 30 t-shirt blocks. All the blocks are cut out and fused with fusible webbing. For the next few days I will be working on sewing the t-shirt blocks together.

Hope you all are enjoying Spring.

Happy quilting until next time,

Aren't you glad it is Spring?

2011-03-20T17:30:00.003-05:00

Yay, it is Spring which is my favorite season of the year. We have three Ash trees in our front yard with the these beautiful white blooms. Our lawn turned green within a week with the help of fertilizer. It is so exciting and peaceful to see all the pretty flowers and blooms. I love being home and working in the garden. I am drawn to quilts with a plain white or "snow" colored background which also reminds me of these pretty white blooms.

Red and pink flowers! My mom always told me and my two sisters you can't wear pink and red together, but look how striking these two colors look together.

I have been busy working on a Breast Cancer Donation quilt which will be auctioned off. Marinell pieced the beautiful quilt and she picked all these pretty spring colors. The fabric has butterflies which will make a great cancer quilt, especially since butterflies are a positive renewal message.

I picked a panto with butterflies which forms three hearts.

This is the first finished Squares Squared quilt I made. My son helped me get the ladder out and put the quilt on the gazebo for me to take a picture.

The wind was blowing and the quilt did not stay up very long, but I got a few pretty pictures.

My son did not want to be on mommy's quilt blog, but I caught him holding the quilt.

He is behind the quilt in the picture below.

I made a second Squares Squared quilt. I have to say this pattern is very fast and easy to sew. Getting the quilt on paper is not that easy for me, but with the help of DH I am almost done with the pattern.

My son was so kind to get the ladder out for the second Squared Squared quilt I made. This time he put rocks on the top of the roof to keep the quilt down. I think this will be a pretty picture for the front page of the pattern.

I opened an Etsy Shop with the help of Madame Samm. She made me this header for my shop which is empty by the way. Thanks Madame Samm for all your help. If you ever have any computer questions or if you need a computer geek or website designer, Madame Samm is the person to call. I absolutely love the work she has done for both my blog and Etsy Shop. Thanks Samm!

I am not sure if I am going way over my head trying to get my first pattern done and opening an Etsy Shop. I can quilt and design my own patterns, but my computer skills I would say is 3 out of 10...with blogging I started with a zero. I hope after this whole experience I can move up from a kindergartner to a fifth grader.

Happy Quilting until next time,

Quilting Fun

2011-03-12T21:38:00.003-06:00

A few days ago my computer died so now I'm writing from my DH's laptop. The kids will be home this week for Spring Break so I'll be busier than normal. I've downloaded a few photos from my camera on this laptop so I'd like to show you some pretty quilts I've been working on.

Lately, I've quilted a lot of sampler quilts. This one here is pink and green with a very funky, interesting layout pieced by Nancy. I love the way it's twisted. It brings a fun element to a traditional sampler.

She picked a white backing which shows off perfectly the quilting. The only problem is it will show off perfectly every quilting mistake as well.

I quilt at least one t-shirt quilt a month. This t-shirt quilt was pieced by Sally.

The next two baby quilts were by my friend Carolyn. This one is a blue and green start quilt with a polka dot background! I love it.

A zig-zag blue and brown quilt for a baby boy who hasn't been born yet.

My most favorite quilting pattern of all is a Stipple. A tan backing. (Another close up of the lovely polka dots)

Another baby girl quilt, pieced by Carolyn's sister, Sally. I love the pink embroidery heart with the cute curlies.

Little Payten, whose not born yet, has her name embroidered. Polka dots everywhere! In the pink backing

and background this time.

The last quilt is a red scrappy Bear's Paw quilt pieced by Janice.

A very eye-catching border treatment.

Thank you so much for stopping by and Happy Quilting,

Picnic Quilt is Quilted

2011-02-26T18:39:00.006-06:00

Finally, I've finished quilting my Picnic Quilt!
I added a white border which I think makes the blocks look like they're floating.

When I first picked out fabrics from my stash I thought that the red and white polka dot fabric would steal too much attention. Now that everything is together I think it works well with the other fabrics.

Sometimes when I see fabric on sale I will buy it no matter what.... Even an ugly fabric like this backing that I've had around for 7 years. At first I thought I would never end up using it but it's found a place in this quilt.

I quilted the first sampler quilt for Janet who has a cute British accent that I adore.

This quilt with needle turn embroidery came from Judy. The colors in this quilt make me think of Spring. It's already warmed up a bit in Texas which makes me even more anxious for spring.

The quilting shows up very well on the white backing.

Happy Quilting,

Postage Stamp Quilt again

2011-02-21T18:21:00.004-06:00

My Postage Quilt is squared up and the binding is on. I am busy hand sewing the binding down.

I love sitting next to the window with a cup of tea or coffee and working on bindings.

I got this pretty tea cozy from Madame Samm. It is so beautiful and keeps my tea or coffee warm for a couple of hours. Thanks MS.

I quilted this Postage Stamp Quilt for Cathy. She made the top a few years ago and used her scraps. Isn't it a lovely scrappy quilt?

Last week I had the opportunity to quilt this old top pieced in the 1930's. This quilt has the real 1930's fabrics and the fabrics are in such a good condition. Even the bubble gum pink fabric is so bright and did not fade over all these years.

All the fabrics in this beauty is old, except for the new muslin backing and batting.

Happy Quilting until next time,

Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog Tour Day 5 Winner

2011-02-17T08:10:00.001-06:00

This giveaway is now closed.

Thank you so much for all the kind comments.

One of these 10 Scrap-Basket Sensations book is going to Elaine at Muddling Through.

Congrats Elaine! I will email you and send your address to Kim.

Hope you will have time to stop by at Karen's today for another chance to win a signed copy of Kim's new book. Thanks again Kim for giving away 10 signed copies of your new book!

Welcome to the 5th day of the Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog Tour.

If you like making scrappy quilts and working with 2.5" strips you will love Kim at Magnolia Bay Quilts new book Scrap-Basket Sensations. Her book is available at Martingale & Company and Amazon or you can look at your local quilt shop.

Here are a 3 of the 18 scrappy quilts you can make from her book using 2.5" strips.

"Flowers for Nana Girl"

"Over and Under"

"Picnic"

My 2.5" bin of strips are by far bigger than all the other bins. I love to make quilts from my stash and I cut my stash up in 2.5" strips. It was hard to pick the first pattern to make from Kim's new book, but I decided to go with the pattern called "Picnic". It's also on the cover of her book.

I pulled out a few scraps from my stash. To cut multiple strips at once, I like using the Shape Cut ruler for an easier and faster cut.

Here's the first few blocks I've made, but of course they won't all be purple in the end. Even though, I think it could make a pretty two colored quilt. Kim's instructions are very clear and easy to follow. She has step by step pressing instructions which really makes the sewing simpler. Since she's done nearly all the technical thinking already, it leaves more time for me to play around with colors.

Thank you so much Kim for another great book so we can turn those 2.5" strips into beautiful quilts. If you like to cut your stash up in 2.5' strips you will love her book.

If you want to win a signed copy of Kim's Scrap-Basket Sensations book, please leave a comment on this post. The give away will close on Thursday, the 17th when I will pick the winner.

Good luck to all of you!

Please visit Sinta at Pink Pincushion tomorrow for the 6th day of the Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog tour for another chance to win a copy of her book.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog Tour

2011-02-10T10:56:00.005-06:00

I am sure you have seen Kim Bracket's new Scrap-Basket Sensations book. She is having a blog tour. There will be 10 opportunities to win a signed copy of her new book. Isn't that great?

Here is a list of all the blogs on the tour.

Sherri at A Quilting Life - February 10

Mary at Quilt Hollow - February 11

Stephanie at Loft Creations - February 12
Nicole at Sister's Choice Quilts - February 13

Millie at Millie's Quilting - February 14 (I am over here)

Sinta at Pink Pincushion - February 15

Darlene at Quilting Daze - February 16

Karen at Nana Girl Quilts - February 17
Sue at Quilt Times - February 18
Carol at Brown Quilts - February 19

This is a great book to make more quilts from 2.5" strips.
The quilt on the cover is so beautiful. I pulled a few fabrics from my stash to make my own quilt.

I love to work with 2.5" strips. I quilted my Postage Stamp quilt.

Hope we will see you at Sherri's! She is the first stop on the Scrap-Basket Sensations Blog tour.

Happy Quilting,

Postage Stamp Quilt Again

2011-02-03T16:31:00.000-06:00

I am done piecing all the Postage Stamp blocks together, but I think the quilt needs a border or two. Maybe it should have a thin, white border and this blue and teal fabric I found for an outer border.

I have something new in my quilting room.

It was supposed to be a jewelry holder, but I think it is perfect for my scissors and rotary cutter.

It is on the wall above my sewing and cutting table.

It looks like the whole country is having record cold temperatures. Even in Texas it is so cold that the kids have a day off tomorrow. I sure do enjoy having my fireplace on for a few days during the year.

I am almost done with the binding on the Square in a Square quilt. I enjoy hand sewing my binding in front of our fireplace.

Happy Quilting until next time,

I Have Good News

2011-02-01T06:00:00.007-06:00

I have good news from Micki over at Irish Muses.
I am her Blogger for the Month of February. Thanks Micki!
Micki asked me a few questions and the first was a little bit about myself. On January the 18th of this year our family became US citizens. This is a picture of me and my eldest daughter at the ceremony.

Micki also wanted to know what inspires me. It can be fabric, a quilt I saw in Blogland (Stash Manicure is the firsat blog I visit every morning with a cup of coffee) or even a customer quilt. I would like to show two quilts I quilted last week that inspired me. This Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt was pieced by Julie. What makes this quilt so special is that she used 1.5" strips. Look at the pretty center and the yellow chain.

The quilt has a tan backing.

Another beautiful quilt pieced by Pat. It is a yellow, blue and yellow Block of the Month quilt. I absolutely love the crisp white background fabrics. Look at the pretty secondary chain pattern.

These blocks are all so pretty. It took Pat more than a year to piece this quilt.

These are my favortie blocks in the quilt.

Blue backing with dots. I am a sucker for dots.

I am working on my Postage Stamp Quilt and will show more pictures next time.

Happy quilting until next time,

First Mug Rug

2011-01-29T12:34:00.000-06:00

I have seen so many beautiful mug rugs in Blogland. To put the cherry on the cake, dear Madame Samm is having a mug rug contest too. So yesterday I made my very first mug rug.

I used some of the scraps from the Postage Stamp Quilt I am working on. The fabric does goes well with my favorite bird mug. I had some of my son's birthday chocolate cake leftover. Tea and cake with my first mug rug...what a sweet moment.

Happy Quilting,

Postage Stamp Quilt Along

2011-01-27T19:58:00.003-06:00

One of my friends told me about Rachel's Postage Stamp Quilt Along.

I jumped over to PSIQuilt to check it out.

I decided to use my pastel scraps for the Postage Stamp Quilt.

I know I said I have to finish a few UFO's before I start another project, but here I am using my stash. Good enough reason for me to start another fun scrappy quilt.

A strip sets.

B strip sets.

Yeah I am using my scraps!

I love my Shape Cut ruler. You are probably wondering what is up with the blue painter's tape. That is just to make it easier for me when I cut up my stash into strips.

I cut several 2.5" segments at once.

Can you see what I did wrong? I think it is a good idea to mark the other side of the Shape Cut ruler with 2.5" strips so that I will not make another mistake like this.

My first few blocks are done. I love how they turned out.

Happy Quilting until next time,

Bar and Cake Mix Quilts

2011-01-22T11:45:00.001-06:00

I am so happy to share that my Bar Quilt is finished, all washed up and crinkled just the way I like my quilts. The quilt is over 100" wide and long and I thought I would never get the binding done with hand sewing.

I want to show two quilts I quilted for my dear friend Sallie. The first one is a red, black and white quilt.

The red makes the black and white fabrics pop.

The backing is a black and white fabric with red hearts.

This is a pink and green Cake Mix quilt.

The pink and green border bring all the colors together.

The pink and green backing is not from the same collection as the layer cake and jellieroll, but a good match.

This is a Cake Mix quilt I made for myself and it is hanging in my quilt room on the wall. Although it is the same pattern, but with the different fabrics the two quilts do not look alike. And that is the fun of quilting, you can use the same pattern over and over and make it new each time by using different fabrics.

Happy Quilting and Stay Warm,

First Finished UFO of the year!

2011-01-11T20:40:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much for all the advice on my long list of UFO's for this year.

I started with the easiest projects like most of you suggested.

The Christmas Turning 20 only needed a binding and now it is done and washed!

I had just enough solid red fabric for the binding.

I absolutely love how the scrappy backing turned out.

This is my second UFO that needed a binding.

I am working a few minutes every day on the binding. The quilt is huge, it is over 100" wide and long, but I am almost done hand sewing the binding down.

This is my Square in a Square quilt I started two years ago. I finished the quilting and I think this will be one of my favorite quilts. Why did I wait this long to get it quilted?

My favorite colors are in the squares...blue, green and pink (it is more like a berry pink).

I used the same green dotty fabric for the binding and the backing.

Happy Quilting until next time!

Giveaway Winner...2 little quilts!

2011-01-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments... You are all so nice and sweet. And the winner is (drumroll) Zlaty! I will get in touch with you soon.

It is a New Year! 2010 was a good one, but I can not wait to see what 2011 will bring. I have been working on a surprise giveaway and yesterday I finished the binding on the last little quilt. I would like to give both little quilts away to one person.

The first little quilt is a Snowmen Quilt with two pine trees.

I did the blanket stitches around the snowmen by hand.

The second little quilt is from my scraps and I made the pattern up as I went.

Backing of the two quilts, the red backing goes with the Snowmen Quilt.

If you are a follower or a new follower of my blog and would like to win these two quilts, please leave me a comment on this posting. I will pick a winner January 11. Good luck to all of you!

Thanks for stopping by and for making me SMILE each day.

My UFO Goals for 2011

2010-12-31T16:08:00.003-06:00

I have so many UFO's. I see so many pretty quilts and I will start a project or two before the previous quilts are done. I signed up for Judy Laquidara's UFO challenge. The plan is to complete 12 projects in 2011. These are my list of UFO's I would like to finish in 2011.

1. Square in a Square quilt.

2. Log Cabin Quilt.

3. Rail Fence Quilt.

4. My youngest daughter's T-shirt Quilt.

5. My oldest daughter's T-shirt Quilt. All the blocks are prepared for the quilt and ready to be sewed together.

Now this is my son's pile of t-shirts for a quilt. I am not counting this as a UFO yet.

6. I am using the leftovers from this red Churn Dash Quilt to make a Pinwheel Quilt.

7. How Charming Quilt.

8. Feed Sacks Quilt from Kim's Scrap-Basket Surprises book.

9. Beach Cottage Quilt from Kim's Scrap-Basket Surprises book.

10. My youngest daughter's Happy Hour Quilt.

11. My Apple Core Quilt cut with my Go cutter.

12. This Bar Quilt just needs a binding.

13. Turning Twenty Quilt needs a binding.

14. With my ever growing scrap basket, I'm always working on a string quilt.

15. Chinese Coin Quilt.

I should probably stop counting now... The growing numbers are making me nervous! I really want to start working on these next three Go cutter projects. The first is an Apple Core Quilt.

This will be my blue and yellow Drunkard's Path Quilt.

Here is another one which will have raw appliqued edges.

This is my list for UFO goals for 2011. Wish me luck because I desperately need it to finish this many projects! And like I said I'll probably start some new ones too.

Happy Quilting until next year.

Working on a few UFO's

2010-12-30T13:54:00.000-06:00

I hope you are all having a good holiday. I am using the time to relax and to work on a few UFO's.

I started this Turning 20 quilt two years ago. I used Christmas fabrics from my stash. Finally the quilt is quilted. Instead of thinking I am too late to get the quilt done for Christmas, I am thinking I am a year ahead.

I am on a fabric diet and used all the leftovers to make a scrappy backing.

I love to make room for new fabrics, but first I have to use my stash.

My kids always say I am making cutting corner quilts. I love simple and easy designs. This quilt is so easy. I sewed 6.5" strips together and call them my Bar quilts. You can't get an easier and faster quilt than this.

I love fabrics with dots, but also with stripes. I absolutely adore the blue stripe fabric.

For the back I used a berry pink fabric and it has polka dots again.

I want to wish you all a Happy New year! May 2011 be a wonderful year. And let this new year's resolutions actually stick! :)

Happy Quilting until next time!

Last Minute Quilts

2010-12-21T12:50:00.001-06:00

This year has flown by! I can't believe it is almost Christmas again.

I've been busy with a few last minute quilts.

I quilted the first quilt for my dear friend Carolyn. This is a Christmas quilt with the cutest Christmas fabrics. My favorite fabric is the blue with white snowflakes. The backing is a cute green fabric with white dots.

I also quilted this scrappy Bow Tie quilt for Carolyn.

Orange back goes nicely with the fabric.

My longarm and sewing machine decided both to get sick and took away all possibilities of me sewing and quilting. I got replacement parts for my longarm today and I just got my sewing machine serviced right in time to finish the binding on Carrie's t-shirt quilt.

I quilted Carrie's t-shirt quilt just before my long arm caught the flu.

For her daughter, she used light pink sashings and darker pink cornerstones.

"Steam-a-seam" is such a great help when you run out of time and have to finish a binding quickly. I press the "Steam-a-seam" on the folded edge of the binding.

Now I sew the binding on the right side of the quilt with the "Steam-a-seam" facing upwards.

Peel the paper part of the "steam-a-seam" off and press the binding on the back of the quilt. I found for me it was easier to sew the binding down with the right side of the quilt facing up.

Finished binding with blue backing. I used the leftovers from the backing to make the binding.

This year I feel behind on my Christmas shopping because I'm only 90% done. How are you guys doing on your Christmas shopping?

I hope you all have a happy holiday break.

Scrappy Quilts

2010-12-11T18:07:00.002-06:00

To make, quilt or look at a scrappy quilt puts a smile on my face. This is Kim's Scrappity-do-dah quilt.

The finished size of the blocks are 4.5".

This is such a pretty scrappy quilt and I had so much fun quilting Kim's quilt for her.

The backing is an old cotton sheet in navy blue.

The next quilt is Kim's Dots and Dashes quilt.

Pretty dotty fabric as the border.

Kim glued the circles on the fabric and I quilted over the them. I think after the quilt is washed it will look like frayed raw appliqued circles although the circles are quilted and not stitched down.

And this is the pretty scrappy backing.

The last quilt I wanted to share, I quilted for Betsie. She made the quilt for a teenager girl.

Isn't the appliqued name on the front of the quilt so cute?

Any teenager girl will love these fun and bright colors.

This is the back of the quilt, pink and yellow flannel.

Happy Quilting!

I am over at Stash Manicure

2010-12-08T06:59:00.003-06:00

I am so excited! I am over at Stash Manicure with a trunk show of my fast and easy scrappy quilts.

Happy Quilting!

A Wooden Quilt Box and Three Quilts

2010-12-04T17:41:00.004-06:00

Darlene at SewCalGal had a virtual Christmas Quilt show. I was the lucky winner which won a prize. It is this beautiful handmade wooden Quilting Jewelry Box. I love the Bear Paw box and it is made of Walnut burl with Japanese Ash and red Maple burl. Dave is so talented. Thanks Dave!

I would like to show three quilts I quilted for my friend, Gail. The first quilt is a blue and red Block of the Month quilt.

We decided on a stipple or meandering for the quilting. The blocks are very small and the quilting lines are the size of a dime apart.

The sampler blocks are so pretty. Here's a close up of two of the blocks.

A matching fabric for the border.

This is my personal favorite of the three quilts. The fabric line is called Summer Garden. The panto Hyacinth looks really great with the quilt.

I'm dying to buy these fat quarters.

Matching pink fabric for the back.

This last quilt is a black and gold batik quilt. I used one of my favorite pantos called Curly-Q again.

Brown Batik backing.

Happy Quilting until next time!

Mary Holly got a new home!

2010-11-30T18:22:00.003-06:00

This here is Mary Holly in her first house, made by her mommy Samm. Thank you so much for sending her to me, she is absolutely adorable and I love her cupcake dress! The picture below is her in her new house where she can watch me sew and cut fabric.

Samm is a wonderfully talented lady. She got us all excited about mug rugs and now she's making tea cozies. Did you know she's also the author of "I Want It All", a book based on "thinking about food in a natural way". She and her husband are registered nutritionists and have written a fantastic book that has secrets on how to lose weight the healthy way. I have started so many different diets that have all failed. Hopefully this will be the one. Thanks Samm for the nice gifts.

I just finished the quilting on this t-shirt quilt. I used my favorite panto Debb's Swirls.

I'm busy squaring up the quilt. What a small space to work with! This area is not only my sewing table but it's also my cutting and Go cutter table.

I have a pretty large dining room table but I'm too lazy and pressed for time to take my cutting boards all the way downstairs. It has it's ups though... I can only make one spot a mess at a time.

The backing has a red fabric with white hearts and its leftovers were used for the binding.

Happy Quilting,
Millie and Mary Holly!

Quilts as Christmas gifts

2010-11-28T20:06:00.002-06:00

Are you getting ready for the holidays? I have not taken any Christmas decorations out. I love this red and white Churn Dash quilt I made a few moths ago. I can't wait to start decorating for Christmas. Did you notice my banner has a Christmas touch to it?...thanks Samm.! She is such a talented and sweet lady.

This is a cute Christmas Irish Chain quilt pieced by Cindy. I quilted her quilt late one evening last week and I do apologize for the dark and blurry pictures.

Panels are such a great idea for last minute gifts. I like to show a few panels I quilted for Marinelle.
The first one is an Angel panel.

This is a nativity panel.

A cute panel for a red, white and blue theme for a beach house.

This one is definitely for a hunter or will be so cute in a Log Cabin home.

There are so many cute baby panels in the quilt shops. I gave these two quilts away.

I used these soft Minkee fabrics for the back.

Happy Quilting until next time!

Orange and Yellow Quilts

2010-11-22T22:12:00.006-06:00

I love to visit blogs for inspiration, but for me it is also relaxing to read quilting blogs. I have made so many wonderful quilting friends. A few weeks ago I saw an Orange Square quilt on Madame Samm's blog and it was also on Jodi's blog. I absolutely fell in love with the quilt and had to make my own Orange Square quilt.

This is how my Orange Square Quilt turned out. For the quilting I went with a meandering or stipple.

Our trees finally started to loose their leaves and it is looking like fall. I think we can get so many great quilting ideas from nature. The yellow leaves inspired me to show a few of my orange and yellow quilts.

This was a fast and quick little quilt to make. I took a few 2 1/2" batik strips and sewed them together.

Another batik quilt with orange and yellow, I had to add a few purple strips just for the fun of it.

I am always working on a String quilt from my leftovers. It is so relaxing to me to sew these strips...I do not have to match seams or sew a perfect quarter inch seam.

To go with my yellow post...a string quilt with a yellow border and back.

This is my orange Go cutter table runner. I use a lot of 2 1/2" strips for my quilts and it would be nice to have a 2 1/2" Go die to make the cutting faster. AccuQuilt is going to have a huge Black Friday Sale which starts on Wednesday. They are going to have the lowest prizes on some of their Go cutter products. I hope the strip set will be one of them.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week! I know I will take time off to work on my own quilts...can't wait!

Happy Quilting!

Lissa's Quilt

2010-11-17T17:21:00.005-06:00

Lissa is home and she got her quilt. Jane organized Lissa's quilt and she did such a good job getting all the 4 patches in. Mel volunteered to piece the top and I volunteered to quilt her quilt. Mel did an excellent job with the piecing. I had so much fun quilting Lissa's quilt and I am so glad I could be part of this beautiful quilt. I took a few pictures of the quilt.

This is the scrappy backing made from the leftover squares.

A few of the signatures and messages on the back of the quilt. Please visit Mel and Jane's blog to see Lissa and her quilt. She look so happy to be home!

I want to show two quilts I quilted. The first one is for Kim. It is a black and white quilt with appliqued flowers and rick rack.

I love the words she put around the quilt: achieve, laugh, imagine, believe, live and dream (things we should do everyday).

White polka dot backing.

This is my dear friend Jan's quilt. She asked me to quilt her quilt in black thread.

These are all civil war reproduction fabrics.

I really like the black paisley border.

She also surprised me with an early Chrismas gift. As a quilter, I love to get fabric. Who doesn't?

The fabric is so pretty folded with the black ribbon, it is almost too pretty to open. I have it on the shelf above my sewing machine...now I can look at it all the time. Thanks Jan!

Happy Quilting!

SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show 2010

2010-11-15T17:14:00.001-06:00

Darlene over at SewCalGal is having a virtual Christmas Quilt Show. Some of you may have seen my Christmas Quilts. I made the Top Hat Quilt in darker colors to match my Santa collection.

This is my Star and Tree wall hanging I made 4 years ago.

This is a picture from last year's Christmas with a Star and Tree table runner.

Thanks Darlene for hosting the Christmas Quilt show. You can enter your quilt (or in my case multiple quilts because I couldn't decide) over here. If you are looking for Christmas quilts for inspiration or just want to sit back and relax, please visit her blog.

Happy Quilting!

My Blue and Green Quilts

2010-11-12T18:38:00.003-06:00

Blue is my favorite color. I would like to share a few of my blue and green quilts. The first quilt is blue and brown. I love geometric shapes and enjoy making quilts with squares. Almost every quilt I made has had some kind of polka dot fabric in it.

This quilt has these cute blue and brown dot fabrics.

I like the brown backing.

This is another favorite quilt of mine...blue and green pinwheels. I added some yellow to the cool colors.

I have washed this quilt so many times and it is getting softer with every wash.

Blue backing to match the blue pinwheels.

This is the very first quilt I made after I got my AccuQuilt Go cutter. Once again I added some warm colors to the cool green Stretched Star Quilt.

Green and yellow flowery border and binding.

Another blue quilt with yellow.

This one got a touch of brown chenille next to the first border.

I love to use my scraps to make String Quilts. This String Quilt has green sashings and the same light green in the border.

I ran out of the light green fabric and used a darker green for the binding.

Marjie pieced this blue table runner and I did the quilting for her. We used my Go cutter to cut the Rob to Pay Perer Paul blocks. I hope you enjoy all the blue and green quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Blog Makeover

2010-11-10T14:24:00.000-06:00

I have a new blog makeover and I love my cute button. All the credit goes to Madame Samm over at Sew I Quilt. She is also the lady organizing Stash Manicure. She took my blog and made all these cute designs just for me. I feel very blessed and I absolutely love my new blog makeover. She is one talented lady and you will love her blog. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank her for all the work she does behind the scenes at Stash Manicure.

I changed the quilt out in my quilting room. This one is called Cake Mix. It is made from a layer cake and a jellyroll.

I have these wrought iron wall sconces beside the quilt. The candles are flameless and on a timer. I spent so much time in my quilting room and I love all the girly touches.

Here is my clock to remind me how late it is...and it is in black. And the candle in the wrought iron teapot is flameless too. It is not glowing , because the batteries died. Oops!

Happy Quilting until next time!

Cat Quilt and a few more

2010-11-06T13:40:00.002-05:00

Madame Samm mentioned it is relaxing to her to hand quilt. For me...give me my big longarm and I get rid of all my stress.

Maurice is a new quilter and this kitty quilt, is the second quilt I quilted for her.
"Bubbles" is one of my favorite pantographs and gives the quilt such a good texture and movement.

Maurice shared her love of quilting with her daughter-in-law, Dorothy. This is Dorothy's very first quilt. She picked "Meandering Daisies" for the quilting panto, another favorite panto of mine.

All the four patch blocks and the ones with triangles are three dimensional.
I use my old trick, "press 'n seal" to help me keep the pieces down so I can quilt over them.
The three dimensional block is quilted and I did not quilt in any tucks.

Light pink border.
Bright pink backing.
Another t-shirt quilt pieced by Sally. I quilted a batik quilt for her with "Bubbles" and immediately she said she want the same "Bubbles" on the t-shirt quilt.

Happy Quilting

You might get jealous

2010-11-01T11:26:00.027-05:00

I'm going to warn you...this post might make you jealous. I won these wonderful fabrics from Madame Samm (MS) over at Sew I Quilt and Stash Manicure. I love the colors and there are so many polka dot strips. I think I have at least one polka dot fabric in every quilt I made. She also gave me this cute notepad and blue hand warmers which she made herself. Thanks Madame Samm, you are the best and so generous.

I started an Apple Core Quilt. I used my AccuQuilt Go cutter to cut the apple core blocks. The Apple Core project went back in my closet and I started a scrap quilt from my new scraps.

I imediately started to work on my fabric from MS and made a few scrappy Log Cabin blocks. In the package there was all of these perfectly cut 2" x 4" rectangles . I used 4" white squares for the middle blocks. I have not decided on how big I am going to square up the blocks. I am also not sure if I am going to keep the middle blocks white or make them scrappy. White or scrappy, what do you think?
A few weeks ago I got this Candy Table Runner pattern from Zlaty and a cute orange scissor holder from Darlene in the mail. Thanks Zlaty and Darlene. Aren't quilting bloggers the most generous people?
One of the quilts I made is on the Stash Manicure banner for November. If you are looking for stash ideas, Stash Manicure is the place to go.
Happy Quilting!
~Millie~

Machine Quilting

2010-10-28T15:57:00.021-05:00

I finished two of my own quilts. It was so cloudy when I took the pictures, I will wait for a nice, sunny day and retake the pictures.

I have been very busy quilting customer quilts. This Moda Charm Square quilt was pieced by Carol Ann from Calico Cats and will be displayed next week at the Houston Quilt Show/Festival. I used the pantogragh "Hearts a Flutter" for the quilting.

Cute pink backing with flowers.
Rhonda made this pink and green Basket quilt for her sister which I quilted with "Meandering Dasies".

Small Star cornerstones between the green sashings.

Green backing.

This is Glenda's very first quilt she pieced. She saw the pattern in a magazine and went for it.

Red border. I used the panto "Hyacinth" .

She did an awesome job for a self-taught quilter.

Blue backing.

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~>

T-shirt Quilt an a String Winner

2010-10-22T08:39:00.010-05:00

Betsie asked me if I would like to quilt a t-shirt quilt with pictures for her pastor. This week is Pastor Appreciation Week. I love to make and work on t-shirt quilts. It is a challenge to quilt through the t-shirts and pictures, but so worth the time. This t-shirt quilt is huge, over 120" in the with and the length.

I used a simple Star pantograph for the quilting in a tan colored thread. I do quilt over the t-shirts and pictures. I know this is a big no for many people. The t-shirts and pictures will not poof up and the back is even quilted and the quilt is fully reversible.

The back is a huge pieced Texas Flag.

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my string giveaway. I was not sure if quilters would like to work with my strings. I will definitely have another string giveaway.
Sallie from Katy, TX you are the winner of my strings and the blue fabric with white dots. Congratulations!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Scraps/strings giveaway

2010-10-20T06:00:00.006-05:00

Jodi is going to share her scrap projects and ideas with us.

You can read all about her "Sew Scraps Along With Pleasant Home" over here.
She asked me if I would like to share some of my scraps.

I would love to give some of my scraps or strings away.

Would you like to have these strings?
I also would like to include 1.5 yards of blue fabric with white dots.

If you do, please leave me a comment at this posting.

I will pick the winner on Friday morning.

I am going to give away these scraps that came from the same string basket as the one I made this String quilt from.

Here is another String quilt I made.You can find many String Quilt patterns at Mary Quilts .

I also made this Wonky Log Cabin quilt from my strings.

I always have a light colored solid in my stash for backgrounds.

Over at Stash Manicure you will find many scrap ideas.
Thank you for stopping by...these scraps are waiting for a new home!

This giveaway is now closed! Thanks for stopping by and have a good day!
Happy Quilting!
~Millie~

Halloween Quilts

2010-10-09T07:31:00.019-05:00

I quilted these three Halloween quilts for Sheri with Bats. One quilts is hanging over the chair and two are on the chair. Sheri pieced the Halloween fabric on a strip of muslin foundation...so cute to use those Halloween scraps. Sheri made scrappy backings for all three quilts.

I have this simple square Halloween runner on my newly white painted table.

This is how the table and chairs looked like three weeks ago.

Max, my helper.

The fall center piece cost me less than $10. I bought a glass flower vase, a candle and fall leaves.

I am going to do more painting today...four more chairs to go.
Happy Quilting!
~Millie~

Fall Quilt Winner

2010-10-07T06:57:00.015-05:00

Good morning! Thank you all for playing along.
And the winner of my fall quilt is....
True Random Number Generator
Min:1
Max: 146
Result: 1
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations AMKreations, you are the winner. Please contact me. I hope you will like the quilt.

I do have a question for all the smart quilters out there. How do you get the Random Number Generator copied with the box and all? I copy and paste the box, but only the words and letters are showing. HeeHee

I am thinking of having a one day Christmas giveaway. I think this Christmas panel with a few 9 patches will be so cute.

I just finished the stipple quilting on Terry's black Hunter Star quilt.

The inspiration for all the fabrics came from the black circle fabric in the border.

Until next time!
~Millie~

Fall Quilt Giveaway

2010-10-06T05:00:00.002-05:00

This is a one day Fall Giveaway. I would like to give this Fall quilt away. I like to thank you all for the lovely blog visits. I have made so many wonderful blogging friends. I do have a few new blogs I would like to visit.
I used a yellow dot fabric for the backing and a panto with pumpkins and leaves for the quilting.

Maybe this is not a quilt for everybody...I did not do any piecing except for the two borders and binding. It is a printed fall fabric and too pretty to be cut up.

If you would like to win the quilt, all you have to do is to leave me a comment on this posting. I will pick a winner tomorrow after I come back from taking the kids to school and my routine of drinking a cup of coffee.

Happy Quilting!
~Millie~

Quilting

2010-10-03T08:22:00.009-05:00

I quilted two quilts pieced by my friend Sally. This first quilt has different blocks pieced by several quilt shops. The fabric is the new Fall line for Three Sisters by Moda coming out in October. Sally designed the layout herself. The quilt will be displayed at the October Houston Quilt Market.

The border is so interesting.
This batik quilt was a group project. Quilters made half square triangles and shared with each other. This is how Sally turned her triangles into a quilt.

I used the Bubbles panto...I love to quilt circles or swirls.

Batik border.
Scrappy batik backing.

Happy Quilting!

Here's a little reminder: I'm thinking of having a one day giveaway for my Fall quilt on Wednesday. I was too late to enter my blog in the Fall give away.
~Millie~

Go Cutter Winner + Log Cabin Quilt

2010-10-02T09:50:00.015-05:00

A huge thank you to AccuQuilt for giving me a chance to try out the Go Cutter and for allowing me to give one away.

Now for the drum roll and the winner of the Go Cutter is...

True Random Number Generator
Min:1
Max:1060
Result: 1020
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Maggy, Congratulatations. She said, "I would love to be entered!!! It would make quilting sooo easy!!! I LOVE the Drunkard's Path, Circle, and 2.5 inch dies!!" Please e-mail me with your information by Tuesday. I know you're just going to love the Go as much as I do.

Besides playing around with my Go, the last few weeks I've been working with grey and yellow 2 1/2 inch strips. I made this yellow and grey Log Cabin Quilt for Karen.

This is where I started with the quilt...2.5" strips and a test block from Karen.

The top definitely needs a yellow border.

Quilting is the best part of making a quilt for me...besides picking and cutting the fabric .

Yellow backing.

It is always a good feeling when I am all done with a quilt.

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Stretched Stars To Go Quilt

2010-09-27T16:30:00.020-05:00

I just finished the Stretched Stars To Go Quilt. I used a green and orange/yellow fabric pack from JoAnn's. You can find the free AccuQuilt Go pattern over here. This is a great way to test out your 4.5" die that comes with the AccuQuilt Go Cutter. You can also make the entire quilt with a rotary cutter and ruler.

I used a Stars panto from Debra Geissler for the machine quilting. I used a very light yellow quilting thread and Hobbs 80/20 bleached batting.

I love the stretched stars with quilted stars. This is such a fast quilt to make and definitely a beginners friendly pattern.

I used this old green checked fabric from my stash for the backing.

I made the two borders wider than the pattern said. I decided to use the same fabric from the outer border for the binding.

Binding is all done!

I am so pleased at how this simple and fast little quilt turned out.

Here is another blue pack of fabric from JoAnn's. Wouldn't a two colored blue and white Stretched Stars To Qo Quilt be beautiful?

Thank you so much for all the comments on my Go giveaway. I am so sorry for not coming back to all of you. I will use a random number generator...so anyone can be the winner. The Go giveaway will close on Saturday morning. I wonder who the lucky winner will be!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

AccuQuilt Go Cutter Giveaway

2010-09-23T16:10:00.012-05:00

Carolyn at AccuQuilt told me I can give away an AccuQuilt Go Cutter and 3 dies.
Do you want an AccuQuilt Go and your choice of three dies? If you do own a Go Cutter, you can give your Go Cutter away and still pick three dies for yourself. Isn't this just great news?

The Go cutter makes cutting pieces faster than a rotary cutter or by hand and it is so easy to use. I'd like to make the giveaway fast, simple and easy.

You have 3 chances to win.
1. Just leave me a comment on this post and let me know which 3 dies you would like to have. Please click here to look at all the dies.

2. If you are a follower of my blog, I think you deserve a second chance to win. Please leave me another comment on this post.

3. If you blog about this giveaway, please come back with another comment for another chance to win.

The winner will be picked on next Saturday morning, October, 2nd.*** This give away is now closed. ***

I hope this sounds easy to enter. Good luck to all of you. Thank you to AccuQuilt for giving me a chance to have this wonderful Go giveaway.

Happy quilting untill next time!
~Millie~

AccuQuilt Go Cutter Tutorial

2010-09-22T14:14:00.040-05:00

I was drooling over over an AccuQuilt Go Cutter for a long time. Look what came to my front door late yesterday afternoon!
I have been eyeing quilts with rounded and curved edges since I made my first quilt at the age of 24, but I have never made one. It is time to give it a GO.

I have a project in mind to try out my new Go. My entry table is screaming for a new Fall table runner. I am going to give the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul Die a go. Picture taken form the AccuQuilt website.

Place the Go cutter on a sturdy table and open the Go cutter. The cutter is instantly ready to Go...no assembly of any sort needed. Isn't that nice?

Mark the shapes on the die with a permanent marker. This makes it easier to place the fabric directly over the shape.

Place the die with the foam side up on the Go Cutter. I have my Go instructions close by to make sure I am doing the right thing.

Place your fabric on the die.

Place the cutting mat on top of your fabric and push the die and mat against the roller.

Now the magic begins. Turn the handle in the direction you want the die to go (depending if you're left or right handed or just personal preference). The Go is so easy to use and it is for lefties too...Both my two daughters and I are lefties.
Remove the mat and die. Perfectly cut curved shapes ready for sewing. Leftover fabric is on the leftside of the Go.
These are the other cutout templates that go with the die.
There is not a lot of fabric waste. This is not really a waste for me, because I love to make string quilts.
Doesn't this look pretty...even if it is not sewn together yet. I am tracking time with the hourglass. As you can see there is not a lot of sand in the hour glass. The Go definitely makes cutting faster.
The notches match up for easy and acurate sewing...which I was terrified off!
I did put one pin in the middle of the block to help me with the sewing.
I sewed the first block...it turned out very nice. I finger pressed the seams and then took it to the ironing board to press the block. Snip off the little tails on the corners. It is a good idea to make a test block first before you Go crazy and cut the shapes for a whole quilt.
I made a mistake...I switched the colors. I am glad I took my own advice...this does not always happens.
I decided to go with a different color scheme so I made 4 blocks for a Fall table runner. I had so much fun and forgot to turn the hour glass. I just kept on going.

I sewed the four Go blocks together. I added a 2" light border, the same color as the background fabric.

A second 3" border in the leaves fabric frames the table topper nicely. If you have a smaller table, 3 blocks would look beautiful. Try 5 or 6 blocks for a longer runner for the dining room table.
I made the top and did the quilting yesterday. It took me longer to hand stich the binding down then to make the Go blocks. This is coming from somebody who had a fear for curved edges.
Remember your quilt is not done until the label is on, the part I usually forget.
My new Fall table runner is in my entryway. I made this table runner in less than a day. Not bad at all, I think.

This is the back of the table topper. I love to reverse my quilts.

The Go helped me spend less time cutting, so I can have more time to quilt which means more finished projects.
I am 100% happy with my Go. I love my new toy.
Next I am going to give the Winding Ways Die a go. Picture taken from the AccuQuilt website.
Happy Quilting until next time...I have to Go now.
~Millie~

Coming soon...Go Cutter and 3 dies as a give away

2010-09-15T16:50:00.017-05:00

Two postings in one day...so you know it has to be great news.
Carolyn at AccuQuilt contacted me and said my blog was eligible for a Go and 3 dies and I can give away a GO and 3 dies too. I am so excited and will not be able to sleep for a few days.

The GO makes cutting so fast,
It is simple to use...and our lefties can use it too,
No more V's on strips and
Accurate cutting on curves and shapes with rounded edges!!!

I like to thank Mary which helped me win the GO.

Please stay in touch for my
GO give away!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Organizing my Fabric

2010-09-15T11:00:00.042-05:00

My fabric stash got out of hand. It is time to organize and refold my fabric.
I group my fabric by color in bins. Then I also have a bin for my 1930's, pastel and batiks. Here is my red fabric folded and I hope I can keep it like this.

Smaller pieces of red fabrics ready to be pressed and cut up in strips.

I love to use my Shape Cut ruler and cut several layers at once. I used blue painters tape and marked a few spots where I am going to cut. For now I am cutting 5", 3.5", 2.5", 2" and 1.5" strips. I made myself a little reminder of the sizes on a bigger piece of painters tape.
With my next organizing day I might change the width of the strips I am cutting.

Here is the pile of the red fabrics nicely cut up in strips. I also got a few strings. I try to have the biggest 2.5" pile follow by the 1.5" strips.

My organized red bin.

My brown and gold strips. These plastic baskets are perfect to keep all the strips together.

My 1930's bin.

My string bin is overloading and it is time for another string quilt.
A few moths ago I quilted this old string quilt(at least 90 years old)... it is so pretty.

I started a new string quilt with rectangle blocks. You can find Mary's tutorial over here.

I finished the quilting on this Log Cabin quilt for Betsie. Can't wait to make another Log Cabin quilt.

Red backing...behind on the wall is one of my string quilts .

More great stash ideas over at Stash Manicure.

I just received wonderful news....I won a GO cutter and will also be able to give one and 3 dies away. I have tried so many times for a GO cutter. I know there are many of you who would like to own a GO too...soon I will have a GO give away.

Happy quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Two Finishes and a New Project

2010-09-08T10:57:00.017-05:00

I am so happy...I have two finishes. First I did not like the dark quilting thread on the Rail Fence quilt, but after it was washed and all crinkled up I changed my mind. I am a sucker for washed crinkled quilts...suddenly my mistakes are not so noticeable.

Blue, green and brown Square quilt is also washed and crinkled up beautifully.

I also started a new project...a teal and purple quilt for my youngest daughter. She picked out all the fabrics and rearranged the colors for each block. She did such a good job.

I quilted this Turning Twenty quilt with music fabrics with "Notes" for Lori.

Black and white backing.

Thanks for stopping by and happy quilting!
Millie

Pinwheel Quilt With Chenille

2010-08-30T16:13:00.020-05:00

I am working on my UFO's. I pieced this Pinwheel quilt last year. I tried something new...this is my very first time working with chenille.
I put press and seal over the chenille strips and did edge to edge quilting.

The quilting turned out great and it was so easy to remove the press and seal. Here is my first test brushing the chenille.

Quilt washed and crinkled up nicely and I like how the chenille between the first and second border frayed.

Black and blue backing.

This is a picture of the quilt before I washed it.

Here is the quilt washed. I used Hobbs 80/20 batting and I love how it crinkled up.

Arline pieced this beautiful Block of the Month quilt. I had so much fun quilting her quilt with the "Antique Lace" panto.

Close up of the center block and little pinwheels.

Corner of the quilt.

Cream with red backing.

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

My sewing area

2010-08-22T17:22:00.011-05:00

This is my hangout place...sewing area! I got the table at a garage sale for almost nothing. I added these wooden cutouts and painted the table white.
Underneath the table I have this basket for the cutoff batting pieces.
I have two shelves above my sewing table with baskets for my scraps and a few fun things.
I love the hourglass in my room...I like to look at the sand and for some strange reason it is relaxing. The flameless candles are from Walmart.

I love black iron decorations and this dress form is one of my favorites.
My basket of leftover batting was overflowing today.

I cut up the fabric from the batting and put the leftover batting neatly back in to the basket. I made two piles of fabrics for my string quilts: dark and light piles.

My Rail Fence quilt from the last posting got a border and is quilted. There's some really icky fabrics in this one but I like the quilt overall.

I made this quilt entirely from scraps... Even the batting came out from my scrap basket. I used my very old blue fabric for the backing.

Another quilt I nearly finished was the square quilt I made last year.

I used this cute blue and white striped backing.
Three quilts need bindings but I'll wait for cooler weather to start.

So many of you asked me for the pattern of the layer cake quilt I made and here it is: Cake Mix!
Hope you all have a good weekend,

Happy Quilting
Millie

Layer Cake Quilt

2010-08-10T16:49:00.020-05:00

I had so much fun quilting my Layer Cake Quilt. Now I just have to make the binding and finish the quilt. I am very pleased at how the quilting turned out.
Matching borders.
I had this huge piece of cream grape fabric for almost five years. Finally, it's in this quilt for the backing.

Close up of grape fabric.

It was fun to make a quilt with a layer cake, jellyroll and coordinating fabrics. But I just couldn't go out and buy all new jelly rolls so I had to make my own from my stash. Most fabrics in this red, white and blue quilt top are very old. The quality on most of these fabrics weren't as good. I just need to add a border to finish it up.

I have plenty more red and blue strips but I'm a bit tired of them. I'm definitely going to wait awhile before I use them again. :)

I quilted this flower top for Christy in NV.

Here's a close up of the flower fabric which she used to design the quilt around.

Purple backing.

This last red and black quilt was made by Marty. This quilt has a black background and black backing so what other color batting could I use then... Black! It helps prevent the white batting from showing through the stitching holes on the back of the quilt.

Multiple borders.

Backing.

Happy quilting,

Millie