October quilts are up!!

Whew!!  Christmas is over and it's time to get back to work!  

Finished the last of the Christmas quilts on the 21st of December and the USPS came through and it was delivered on the 24th!!  THAT quilt most likely will be under the tree without a binding, but it's as close to being done as it gets!!

Lots and lots of quilts backed up here waiting patiently until after the Holidays.  January is going to be another huge month of beautiful quilts!  

Let's recap the October quilts....

Alex in NH had me work on this totally modern quilt.  She really did a high contrast with the quilting using circles.  I think it's pretty cool!!

Here's a couple of quilts from Cathy in NH.  The first is a scrappy quilt using soft colors.  Using a floral more traditional quilting design worked just perfectly.  The second pink one, for her granddaughter Emma.  Emma selected a pink thread and butterflies.  Perfect for Miss Emma.  I'm sure she is loving the quilt!

LOVE the brights on this quilt from Donna!!  Simple in design but the colors make this quilt fabulous!!  Donna selected a simple quilting design with smaller circle and just a touch of larger loops.  The orange backing is striking and perfectly compliments the front of the quilt.

New quilter Elizabeth, sent me the following quilt tops. Pinks and browns, can't go wrong with this color combo!  I selected a modern hearts quilting design to help finish it off.  Festive Hearts from Anne Bright is one of my favorite go to design. Elizabeth's second quilt was made for her nephew and is one of the softest manly quilts I've seen.  He is going to love it!

Genia, what a cute little sampler quilt!!  Don't forget to click on the photo for a closer look!   This quilt went to Houston for Quilt Market as a sample, it is adorable, perfect for any quilter!

Ginny.....this quilt had me stressed out!!  I am NOT a custom quilter, too much pressure.  I agreed to quilt this one for Ginny and knew it had to be done-RIGHT!  The Sunbonnet Sue's dresses are constructed from Ginny's cousin Nancy's dresses.  The blocks were made by Aunt Mary (Nancy's Mom).  Ginny put the blocks into a quilt for Nancy.  I wanted to keep the quilting simple to insure the focus of the quilt would remain the Sunbonnet Sue's. I ended up doing a very tight meander around the Sue's and a simple border design on the sashing and borders matching the thread to the fabric.  The quilting was almost invisible-mission accomplished!!  (but oh the stress....self imposed, but it's the way I roll)

The next two quilts are from JoAnn.  I believe they are/were Christmas gifts for her two granddaughters.  Ultra modern in design and color the young gals are gonna love them!  Had to use a very simple quilting design to follow the theme of the quilts.  Great job, JoAnn!

Next couple of quilt are from another JoAnne!!  The first is a fun hexie quilt and I believe a gift for another granddaughter!  JoAnne decided on paw prints for the quilting design.  It's a great design for those who own pets or for the kiddo's.  The second quilt she kept it fun and whimsical and we used a bumble bee design for the quilting. 

ME!!  Another Joanne!!  This is a falling charms from Missouri Star!  Darn that Jenny!!   She shows up in my inbox and has all of these great u-tube video's and I fall for it!  It's easy, it's fast, it's fun!!  Yes it is, but...when you make a super king size quilt it takes a bit longer!!  I am lovin' this quilt and it's going to be on MY bed during the 2 spring and summer months we have here in New Hampshire!

Judy in NC kept my machine running for a few days.  The first is a redwork quilt that is adorable!!  We kept the quilting simple with swirls and stars.

Judy's quilt..the next few quilts my lighting was off, so please pardon the color issues I was having.  This great quilt was a combo of piecing and applique.  Judy selected a traditional quilting design to help finish it off.  

Chocolate Stars, yum!!  Judy did a fabulous job with the piecing of this one, and we matched the paisley's in the border fabric with the quilting design.

The smaller wall hanging was calling for a very traditional design.  The piecing was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT in the smaller blocks on this piece.  Judy always does a wonderful job!

Judy's final quilt is a batik with a striking contrasting center block.  She selected another traditional quilting design that included a heart in the design.  LOVE the way it finished up.

Mary Colleen made this quilt as a gift and it is another great quilt finished up!  We selected Waves as the quilting design just to add a bit of texture.  It's not going to distract from the quilt.  I believe the fabrics were from her father's clothing and the quilt will be/was a gift for her Momma.  Quilters are WONDERFUL people!!  And I have to admit that I had fun saying "Mary Colleen" the entire time the quilt was here.  Such a wonderful Irish Catholic name that is just fun to say!  Mary Colleen (had to say it one more time...)

Quilted a couple for the Northern Lights Quilt guild this month. These are the guilds community service quilts and will be distributed to those in need. 

OMG!!!!

I LOVE THIS QUILT!!

Peggy in NC sent it my way and it is one of the funnest quilts I've seen for a while.  The bright yellow is PERFECT for the red flowers.  I had the best design from Anne Bright, check out the quilting on this one!  Thanks Peggy!!!!

Rita kept me busy for a couple of days!!  She brought me not just a top from her but also tops from her Mom and daughter for quilting.  There is now a new baby in their family and here's a look at the quilts the newest member of the family will start her life with.  Congrats to the entire family on your newest bundle of joy!

Sharon dropped these beauties off for me to stitch out for her.  Love them both!!  The first is a gift for her niece and what a wonderful gift! Batiks make a modern quilt simply striking!  And the second one, it's all about the blue for me and I LOVE that circle quilting design!

AND still Sharon.....WOW!!!! Quilting design feather-ish...

Fun, fun, fun!!  Sheila's quilt for grandson!  The colors are so bright and cheery and he's a bow-tie kinda kid, so we just had to do a bow-tie design! 

Star quilt come from Terry in OH.  You can never go wrong with the red and white quilt.  Using a simple start design for the quilting, this quilt will be loved for a very long time.  

October was a busy month!!!  But there they are!!  You can see more photo's of all of these on the other blog.  Here's a link.....

SplittingStitches Longarm Quilting

I hope to have the November quilts up in a couple of days.  I'd like to finish the year on time!!  Well...just not too far behind.....

That's it, see you again soon!

thanks for checking in on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say................

Over 186 Quilts!! 4 Winners!!

If you've been a blog follower for a while (like years..) you probably know that from time to time I offer up free longarm quilting.  It's usually in the way of leaving a comment and then I pick a number or something along those lines.

This year I decided to offer free quilting for someone who has actually given me money for my services of quilting.  If you check out the header bar on this blog you will see the tab "Free Quilting? How to qualify".  The rules were pretty simple as I didn't want to make it complicated and have people jumping through all kinds of hoops or clicking all over the web or liking every product under the sun on fb or as a blogger, twitter or Instagram.  You can read the post if you like, but let's get on to the winners, shall we?

After deleting the charity quilts, my quilts and any other that did not "qualify" I ended up with a list of 186 quilts/quilters.  Here's what the list looked like, thank goodness for Excel!!  You can click on photo for closeup view..

As mentioned in the blog post "Free Quilting? Do you qualify?" our first night at the Retreat I had our Hulbert host, Tate write 4 numbers on four different pieces of paper, he pretty much was clueless as to what was going on, but in true Hulbert style he played along.  Here's the results....

He wrote the numbers I checked the list and added the names.  If your name is Ginny Ith, Dana Burrell, Nancy Hamm or Rita Blackadar you've just won some free quilting!!

Congratulations ladies!!!

Other things...there was a whopping 30 quilts done in October and since November isn't over yet I'm still working on that number.  November was a busy month for me with wrapping up a year long UFO program at the guild, completing and custom quilting a commission quilt (more on this one later!) the retreat and then Thanksgiving!  I'm pushing to be back on track by mid December!  Wish me luck!

That's it for now, need to get those machines busy!

Thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say......

Ovarian Cancer - Blog Hop!

Thanks for stopping in to read about the recent blog hop that I had the privilege  to participate in.  I found the swap on face book and many of my guild friends were sending out the challenge to get involved!

But I must say my swapping partner got the fuzzy side of the lolly pop!!  Here's what I sent to her, okay, it might be cute, but just wait till you see what she sent to me.  Here's what I made....

I'm not kidding when I tell you I searched for hours on Pinterest!!  Looking for the perfect swap "thing".  Found this pattern from an old email that I had been saving since June 6, 2014.  Stephanie, my swapping partner, lives in Maine and this is what she told me about herself:

   "I love to display mini's in my sewing room and around the house.  Not sure what I will do with this one.  I had cancer 15 years ago and feel blessed to have had these cancer free years.  I hope I remain healthy as there is a lot of fabric that I need to put to use".  She also wrote, "I like just about all colors and styles. I love animals and the outdoors and finding time to quilt!"

Doesn't she just sound like a sweetie?  Well, she is!  

AND an amazing quilter at that!!  

Would you like to see what I got in the mail?

Isn't that just the cutest thing you have ever seen???  AND I got some super great maple candy to boot!!  I lucked out!!  Just look how cute those little kitty eyes are, and can you believe the quilting on this???  My hubbie wanted to know if she did this on a 'regular' machine!  She is GOOD!!  Very, very good!!

AND!!  She is a SAINT!!!  She's  a teacher!!  (sidenote-in my book all teachers are saints, a job I could never do and am thankful to those who can and do!)

Stephanie, I too am happy that you have had 15 cancer free years and wish you many, many, many more.  Hugs, to you my new friend.

Okay, a shout out to 

Eva Paige who did a fantastic job of the organization behind the scenes work!  

If you are on facebook  you need to become friends with the group so you can see all of the really great swap items. Here's a link:

Teal Mini Swap 2015

If you haven't been to the other blogs, here's the schedule again just for you:

October 12 - Twelo Quilting and One Quilting Circle
October 13 - Susan Brehm and Books Hooks Sticks Etc
October 14 - Teachpany and Bobbin's Lullaby
October 15 - Splitting Stitches and Purple Leaf Quilts
October 16 - Blue Ribbon Sewing and Quilt Art by Megan

thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say.......

Swap Blog Hop - Ovarian Cancer

As I mentioned in my last post I would be back today with a few links.  Here's the week's lineup of gals who will be posting about a recent Ovarian Cancer Swap that we participated in.  Be sure to come back on Thursday when it's my turn!

Enjoy the hop, see you Thursday!!

October 12 - Twelo Quilting and One Quilting Circle

October 13 - Susan Brehm and Books Hooks Sticks Etc

October 14 - Teachpany and Bobbin's Lullaby

October 15 - Splitting Stitches and Purple Leaf Quilts

October 16 - Blue Ribbon Sewing and Quilt Art by Megan

thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say..........

September Quilts and Cancer

September was a pretty busy month for me, even with just one machine running.  In October I'll share the quilt that took me over a month to quilt, and my hubbie's reaction was "they are paying you to quilt that and you can't see the quilting?" - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!  More on this quilt in October.

During the month of September I participated in a Ovarian Cancer Mug Rug Swap on face book.  I'll be posting on that later in the week, because there will be a blog hop and I'm scheduled to post on Thursday the 15th.  I'll be posting on Monday the complete list of blogs and their links on Monday so be sure and check back then.  I was amazed with all of the talent in this group, and I've got to tell ya' my partner was completely cheated!!  Check back to see why.  

Life seems to be slowing down a bit, thankfully.  Kids back in school (college) have lessened the noise activity level around the house a bit.  Miss them, but ready to slow things down.  With the Hulbert Retreat around the corner, I'm looking forward to a little me time with a great group of gals.  

Okay, let's get to the quilts, lots to show even with just one machine running!

Cindy did a fabulous job on this beautiful quilt!  Cindy's quilt came to me all the way from the state of Washington!  She wanted a light quilting design and I think the Woodsy Elegance from Anne's collection was just perfect! 

Sue in VT finished up another great t-shirt quilt for a young lady.  T-shirt quilts are a great way to put those un-worn shirts into something that can be enjoyed!  Love the way Sue set the blocks!

Elizabeth here in NH wanted to give the Minkee  try and finished off this cute little 1600 quilt.  She opted for no batting and this quilt is like BUTTER!! 

I adore these, having one of my own and it's my go-to quilt to take the chill off of a cool evening.  The back of the quilt shows the quilting design like nothing else!

AND!!   If that just weren't enough.....Virginia in VT sent me this wonderful top and she too wanted the Minkee backing without batting!! I LOVED the color of this backing!!  So bright and cheery, I had to do something very fun with the quilting!  What do you think??

THEN!!  Julie from CA had sent me a cute little kitty quilt with Minkee too!! Julie opted for batting which is going to make her quilt warmer than warm but ooooohhh so snuggly!  (that's snug-a-lee, I'm getting the red line for spell check, they just don't understand quilting or it would be a real word!)  Julie wanted the I Love Cats from Anne, so that's what she got!  Cute choice!

Another Julie, a neighbor I just met needed a little help finishing this adorable little baby quilt.  She did a great job on the giraffe design!!  We selected a cute little design called In The Jungle and I cropped around the giraffe for her.  I think it finished up pretty nicely!

Pat from VA pulled this cute little quilt together.  With the Kaffe fabrics you just have to have a modern design!  This is one of my go to designs when in need of a modern flowery for the new fabrics.

A different Pat from here in NH dropped off a couple of cute little quilts for me to quilt up for her.  Again, LOVE the modern fabrics on these quilts!!

Brandy has spent a little time with her machine and ended up with a drop dead stunning quilt!!  Brandy always does great work, but the burgandy, maroon matched with the grays and silvers in this quilt.....WOW!!!!

Had not seen Alex for a while and she dropped off a couple of great little quilts!  Again with the modern fabrics and Alex loves to try new things with her quilts.  The first, she mixed a pink thread with the yellows and grays for the stitching, interesting.  Alex tends to gravitate more toward the traditional designs with the stitching that she has me do, and I think it's a winner with her choices of colors and designs.  Check out the Hydrangea design on the second little quilt.

Marga in VT put in a little time with this quilt!  Tracing all of the little hands and then doing a fabulous job on the top stitching to securely hold them down.  She opted for a medium meander for the quilting since a meander does not distract from the design of the quilt at all, her little hands remain the focus of the quilt!

Cute, cute, cute!!

Marie in NH finished off this wonderful quilt!  It's my understanding the quilt is for a little girl.  Not knowing all of the details, I'm happy to see the fabric selections and even the quilting design that were chosen.  This is a quilt that will last for a long time and go from childhood past teen years and into adulthood without losing it's appeal.  

Cathie in NC!!  BLUES!!  I LOVE BLUES!! 

Isn't this just a fabulous quilt?  

Ellie L - I could tell you a lot about that woman!!  My hubbie calls her "the lady with the rings".  What I will tell you is that Ellie is a very giving lady. 

Ellie put out a request to our guild for a little help covering beds at a local Veteran's Home.  I really wanted to help Ellie out but knew I couldn't come up with a top fast enough,  so I decided to see if I could "team up" with another quilter.  I put a request out for a top, I would supply the batting, backing and do the quilting.  I would then return the quilt for the top owner to finish the binding and together we could get another quilt for Ellie.    A super, super sweet Paula S answered my plea.  Yea, Paula!!!  Here's the quilt that teamed together got Ellie one quilt closer to what she needed.  (And everything that I could tell you about Ellie would be all good, and mostly funny!! hugs, Ellie!!)

Whew!!  That's a lot of quilts and I'm not done yet!!

We have a UFO challenge at my guild and I finished a UFO, which then ended up with two finished quilts for me!  Here's a UFO that I started back in 2007!! But it's done!!

AND, because I got a UFO done, I got to put my name in for a monthly drawing!  I won a Bali Pop.  Not wanting to add to my ever growing stash I sat down and did a 1600 quilt, with a quick border and finished it off so I would not have another UFO in my stash!!  Now I have in reserve a great little quilt that I can gift if and when needed!!  Yea, ME!!  

That's almost it for September.  Yep, it was a busy month.  I've finally got both machines up and running and hope to have even more next month.  I've certainly got a few quilts ready to be quilted and they are super!

Don't forget you can see more of these great quilts over at the other blog, and click for a closer view!  Here's the link:

SplittingStitches Longarm Quilting

Check in on Monday for the details on the Blog Hop and look for my posting on Wednesday.

Thanks for checking on me!!

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say.........