a maiden hair fern: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

sneak peek Reunion

. . . another Reunion sneak peek

hope to be quilting soon

I'm so excited about this wall hanging . . . still working through some details for it.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

NAM Scrap Quilt

This quilt is made from scraps of the quilts I made last year. You can read about how to make "scrap blocks" in this post. The ladies from church tied it, and then I FMQed the squares.

Last Saturday, the Klein Stake from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) hosted it's 17th Annual Interfaith Charity Quilting Bee. Over 30 local congregations spend the year prior making quilts, and at the annual bee, the quilts were collected and turned over to Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM). Over 300 quilts are donated each year.

At the bee, all the different congregations gather to tie their last quilt to be donated. A nice lunch is served, including the famous "Nancy's Chocolate Chip Cookies" (see recipe). I think they're famous because they're so big, and you get a whole one to yourself!

After the lunch there is a short program in which the quilts are presented to the NAM organization. The quilts will be given to local families, including people from NAM's Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), families in transition from homelessness, Meals on Wheels, the Children's Clinic and the Family Violence Center.

I remember several times through the years, we were able to hear personally from some of the recipients of these quilts. These dear people had gone through tragic times, loosing jobs, homes, family members, everything, even their dignity. They were given the opportunity to go through NAM's 9 week IHN program which helped them get their feet back on the ground.

At the end of the program, they are taken to a big closet and the family members are each asked if they would like to "choose a quilt". It is touching to hear their humble stories and gratitude in person.

Nancy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together: 
  2 cups sugar
  2 cups brown sugar
  1 cup butter
  1 cup margarine
  4 eggs

Add:
  4 cups flour
  1 tsp. salt
  2 tsp. baking soda
  2 tsp. baking powder

Mix and stir in:
  5 cups oatmeal
  1-2 cups walnuts
  One 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips

For large cookies, place 1/4 cup dough on un-greased cookie sheet.
Press down slightly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Individually wrap each cookie.  Makes 40 large cookies.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Reunion Sneak Peek

Reunion by Sweetwater, Quarter Logcabin almost ready for quilting.

sneak a peek:

Friday, February 3, 2012

Monaluna Ellie

Another logcabin on white finished. You can see the first one I made here.

I originally found this log cabin design here.

quilt stats:

43" x 43"

9 - 15" blocks

2 1/4" border

Warm & Natural cotton binding

fabric: Monaco in pink by Monaluna (link below)

You can find scrappy log cabin instructions here.

It began with a pile of 2 1/2 inch strips.

The white logs were 1 3/4 inches.

The last row of white creates the sashing.

quilted on the HQ Sweet 16, but any sewing machine with the capability of letting down the feed-dogs works well too.

finished:

I got the idea for this curling design from Angela Huffman in this YouTube video.

sashing quilted in straight stipple.

I started having withdrawals when I realized this was the last of my Monaco in pink by Monaluna. So I got online and hunted down 2 more yards for my stash :)

Linked up to Quilt Story.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Free Motion Quilting

When searching for a quilting design for your next quilt, it helps to look at FMQ pictures for ideas. All of these FMQ pictures ARE FROM THIS BLOG. For more ideas, go to my pinterest and look for the FMQ board. I haven't had time to link each picture to the blog post. If you want the link, just leave me a comment.

shadow box:

Sunkissed Sally:

writing:

organic straight line:

Hometown Charm

To "stitch in the ditch" means to stitch in the seam on the fabric which is lower.

Ken's Cats

When you quilt around your figures on the front, look what you get on the back !!!

Olivia Apron

Small stippling around images makes them pop. Pebbles.

Calico Calvin

I quilted around the whirley gigs, including the seams inside, and stippled all the white.

African Safari

I found this design on Day Style Designs. She has lots of fun designs and video tips for FMQ. I found it helped to have a blown up picture of the design on my computer next to my machine to refer to.