Quilt for my mother-in-law

As a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law I made her this quilt. I used this <a href=" http://www.ttfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/patterns.cgi?patternID=261"> free pattern </a> and fabrics from my stash in her favorite colors.

The quilt top came together quickly but the quilting gave me a pretty hard time. I started quilting with a dark purple thread. I realized about halfway through that it was just too dark and heavy for the quilt.  It took way more hours to tear out all of the stitches than I thought it would.

Then I went to a LQS and got a lighter purple 40 wt thread that I thought would be good as it wouldnt "weigh down" the quilt so much. It looked great but the combination of the quilt/my machine/the thread just did not work. The thread kept breaking every few inches. I finally settled on a light purple Coats cotton thread and was able to get this quilted in time for Christmas.

Because of all of the lost time I had to do the binding by machine, although I really wish I would've had time to do it by hand.

Finished quilts of 2011

Well the year is wrapped up and here is a quick post to show all of the quilts I finished this past year.

I haven't even shared all of these quilts here yet.  Thats a goal for 2012: to be a better blogger and be more involved in the online quilting community.

October NuBees Blocks

I just wrapped up my second month in the NuBees block swap on Flickr.&amp;#160; I chose the popular Red and Aqua color combination. And it must really be popular because half of our hive chose it.&amp;#160; I had a hard time deciding on a block to make this month. I just wasn't feeling all that inspired... until I saw these blocks.&nbsp; I checked out this tutorial and got to cutting.&nbsp; Luckily I own the drunkards path Accuquilt die (even though my husband had to shave some plastic off the sides to make it fit in my Sizzix Big Shot). I might have been a little crazy when I decided to sew that many curved pieces. Luckily i had a special sewing weekend in Winston Salem and was able to knock out most of these blocks during that trip. Having a good friend to sew with makes it go by much faster. More on that trip a little later.

Spiderweb Baby Quilt

One of my best friends is expecting a baby boy any day now. I have had this quilt done for a little while now but I just delivered it at her baby shower recently. It was awfully nice to have this finished early and to not be rushing to meet a deadline. I love the way this turned out. I went back and forth a few times trying to decide to whether to use green, gray, or both for the solid areas.
The piecing for this quilt tok me a little longer than I expected.&nbsp; I machine quilted it in straight diagonal lines.
The mom to be loved it and that is what really matters.

My first block swap

I was so excited when I found the block swap group NuBees.  I had

been looking for a bee or swap group to join but there isnt much available to first timers. These are the blocks that I made for my hive members. The block pattern is from 100 Blocks but I cant remember if it is Vol 2 or Vol 3. This was a fun block to make but I drove myself nuts trying to match up points. I had to rip out and redo a lot of seems and they still arent perfect.

Farmer's wife quilt along

I have joined my very first quilt-A-long!  I joined in late so I have a lot of catching up to do, but I have made 5 blocks since getting my book on sunday so I feel like I will be able to do it. 
Check out the Flickr group to see what everyone is making.

Here are my blocks so far

Quilts for my nephews

These two quilts have been in the works for a while now but they have both been delivered totheir recipients now.  One was made for my 4 year old nephew B and the other for my 2 month old nephew.

The dr. seuss quilt was made using mostly the dr. seuss fabrics with a couple of solids and a coordinating print from joanns.  I usedthe accuquilt drunkards path die in my sizzix to cut most of the pieces.  The design is my own, no pattern was used. This one ia hand quilted by my mom and myself.

The baby quilt was made using the kaleidoscope pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew. This one was machine quilted.  I really love this one but I need some better pictures.