"Oh, My Starts" Quilt

I started this teal quilt about 2 years ago and finally finished it this week!!!  The pattern is called, "Oh, My Stars" from Pat Sloan.  It's a fun, easy pattern that you can make with charm squares or 5" blocks of fabric.  You do need a design wall to put them on so you can decide where to put the "stars."  You want to make sure that you don't place the star next to a fabric that is similar in color.  You need the contrast to make the stars stand out.

I've made the pattern before for my son but this time I used pretty teal fabrics with flowers in them to make it more feminine for one of my girlfriends.

I made a strip of patchwork for the back of the quilt to give it some visual interest.  I love how it looks going across the back of the quilt.  That's the first time I've even done a pattern on the back.  

I quilted it on my longarm with an overall random swirl pattern.  I love how it turned out.

Here's a photo of my friend receiving her quilt.  And guess what?  She loved it.  :)

 

Oh, My Stars! Quilt #7

 I've been wanted to put together a quilt with Pat Sloan's "Oh, My Stars!" pattern for a while.  I started this quilt for my son last summer.  I cut up a bunch of teals, greens, blues and grays for this quilt from some fabrics that I picked up in Houston at the Quilt Show a year ago.

I had to put the squares up on my design wall so that I could see where to fit in the gray blocks to form the stars.  Then it sat in my dining room (yes, dining room!) for about 6 months.  Finally one day, I put in the gray star points and sewed the rows together.

It certainly is not a hard quilt to make, but it does take a little planning on where you want to place your stars for the most impact.

I finished this quilt in time for Christmas and gave it to my son.  He loved it!  It's so nice to have quilts to cuddle up with that are made for you by your mom.  :)

I used the teal palate to coordinate with the teal afghan that I made him last year.  I machine quilted  free motion swirls for the quilt pattern, but if he looks closely at the quilt, I "wrote" a message in it near the the top corner that says, "To Chris, Love Mom."  Clever, huh?

Here is the quilt when I was putting borders on it at my quilt retreat in Oct.  Why is it so hard to actually finish up a quilt when it is almost done?

This is the 7th (if you count the Baby Quilt that I made last year) that I finished for 2019!  That's a new record for me.  :)

Now to get started for 2020...

I'm Doing It: Quilt #5!

I'm doing it!  I'm finishing my quilts!  This is my 5th quilt so far this year that I have completed.  This week I finished this Pins and Paws quilt for my daughter for her graduation from nursing school.  :)

I started this quilt last fall for her.  She loves the colors teal and coral.  I added some grays in it to give it some contrast.  I got the pattern from the Missouri Star website.  They have nice patterns with video tutorials that make piecing the quilts easy.

Here is a photo of Ginger giving her approval for the quilt.  I quilted around each of the kitties and then added some free motion to other areas of the blocks.  The kitties have hearts on them, there's a flower in the white space and some ocean wave swirls in the border. 

It's hard to tell in the photo, but I love how the quilting came out.  I don't think my daughter has seem me working on this quilt, so it will be a surprise to her.  I hope she likes it!

If she doesn't, I know someone who does.  Me!  :)

Quilt #2: The Nesting Quilt

First off, I have to say that I just love this quilt!  I love the simplicity of it, the colors, the fabrics, the size, etc.  The fabric line is from Moda and it's called, "Nest."  It has images of little birds in their nests with pretty coordinating fabrics in teal, gray and coral colors.  And it's just the right size to have as a throw when you want to snuggle up on the couch watching a move or relaxing.

I started this quilt about 6 months ago when I got the "Nest" fabric jelly roll from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I have always wanted to make a jelly roll quilt and I was surprised at how easy it was to make.  While I was sewing together the strips from the jelly roll, I added some charm squares in one of the rows to give it some visual interest.  

I added a pieced strip border on the sides to make it just a little bit wider than the 45" width of the fabric strips.  It was fun, easy and I just love it.  I plan on keeping it for myself, although a lot of my friends have told me that they would just love it, too!

The fabrics in this quilt match the heart wall-hanging that I made for my daughter for Christmas.  I still have some fabric left over, so you might see something else made with these beautiful fabrics in the future.

This is the heart mini quilt that is made from the same fabrics.  

Finally, a quilt just for me!  :)  

The Bright and Cheerful Quilt

I've been busy finishing up a quilt for my niece who is getting ready to go off to college in just a couple of weeks.  I have been working hard on it to get it finished in time!  For those of you who know me, you know what a feat that is!

I chose these bright, cheerful colors for her to wish her bright and cheerful days at college.  I hope that it reminds her of home and those that love her when she gets lonely or homesick.

 I made this quilt using four packs of charm squares from Moda called Wrens and Friends.  Some of the fabrics have cute little birds in them.  Then I added a small white sashing in between the blocks to lighten it up.  I offset the rows just to give it a little visual interest. 

When I quilted it, I put a freeform flower in each of the white strips.  If you look closely, you can see the flowers in this photo.  This took WAY longer than I thought that it would when I was quilting it, but I love the whimsical look that it gives the quilt. 

 

On the back I put a light teal fabric that has little birds in it that I found at Joann's.  I love how the back ties in with the colors and brightens up the whole quilt!  I ordered some of the dandelion border from Moda to complete the border.  For the tag, I appliqued a bird cut from my Sizzix machine and signed the quilt on that.  It was a cute way to tie in the bird theme.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of that.

Oh, yeah- I also made her a key fob to match the quilt! 

I sure hope my niece loves her quilt!

There's Nothing Better Than a Finished Quilt!

 I have to admit, I love to start projects!  I love picking out new fabrics and finding a new pattern to make. It's all fun and exciting when you start to cut and lay out the new fabrics.  I get started with a vengeance and then... something comes up and I have to put away the project.  Or I have to work on something else that is more urgent.  My treasured project gets pushed aside and before I know it, it gets placed in the "pile" of unfinished items.

Today I wanted to show you that (sometimes) I actually do finish my projects!  Here is the queen sized quilt that I made for my daughter for her birthday.  She loves this color of soft teal and was SO excited to see that I had really finished her quilt! 

Although this pattern looks difficult, when you break down the blocks, it's just a 16-patch next to a 4-patch. I just love how it came out! (Even more, I love that it is FINISHED!) 

Here's a photo of the happy recipient of her quilt!