Lots of eye candy this week! We talked about the Quilt Show held by a local guild.

Thank you to everyone visited the website and left comments.  I heard from Vanessa, Toni, Lisa, Gidget, Patricia, Samanta, nancy, and Jandi.

Melanie sent us a great picture of a wall hanging she gave as a secret santa gift this past Christmas.  I love the color choices.  The pattern came fro www.freepatterns.com.  I love the 3D flowers and her machine quilting.  Leave a comment and let Melanie know what you think.

Belleview Busy Bee Quilter’s Guild Show

I picked up some fat quarters and a wool applique project.

Affairs of the Heart by Lee Ward; hand appliqued and hand quilted

Mary’s Basket by Ruth Sibley; hand appliqued and hand quilted; pattern from Mary Sorenson’s basket class.

Nuetral Petunia Yellow Brick Road by Peggy Erlich.  See the couching she did as a border. 

Vintage Memories by Othie Lingle; machine pieced and hand appliques; pattern from Bed & Breakfast quilts

Four Patch Stacked Posies by Norma Walters.  Check out the squares she made from the border motif.

Cathy’s Quilt, Flowers & Butterflies by Rachel Fink; love this house.

Scraps Reorganized by Martha Adsit

Bits & Pieces by Laura Etzler.

Cabin in the Woods and More Cabin in the Woods by Othie Lingle

Quiet Village/Tuscany by Mildred Grey; hand appliqued and quilted.  Check out the folded fabric technique and the french knot flowers.

Mark’s Armadillo by Charlotte Undercoffer.  All hand painted.

Tinker Memory Quilt by Lea Marty

Contest this week

Drawing will be held March 8th.  Earn an entry for leaving a comment on any post between now and March 7th.  Multiple comments will earn you multiple entries.  Earn an entry for sending me a picture to feature in the podcast. Lastly, earn an entry for leaving me a voice mail!

Good luck!

Congratulations to Plynne!  She won the free seat in Annie Smith’s online class – Quilting 101.

Thank you to Lisa who shared her latest project – a Bargello quilt – Lightening Strikes!  Don’t you love this Fabric.  Check out how Lisa keeps everything organized.  Great job – it is going to be a beautiful quilt.

Here are my latest blocks in my Frolic Quilt.

Question of the Week

• Do you have a dedicated sewing,crafting, quilting space?
• 97 responses
• 72% said “Yes”!

Lots going on in the Discussion Board; be sure to visit and use the login and register button at the top of the website.

QuiltFest Jacksonville!

I took a lot of pictures of quilting

I loved this quilting too!

Space Crystal from the "Big Book of Building Blocks" by Adeline Atkinson, quilted by Lori Freed; First place for medium size pieced.

Back to Square One by Marie Karickhoff; second place for miniatures

Panier Aux Fluers by Heather Harteneck; First place for Miniatures

A Tribute to Hannah by Marilyn Wagner; 3rd place for miniatures

Best of Show; Aunt Mimi's Flower Garden by Elise Campbell; 1st place for large applique

Home is Where the Heart Is by Linda Martin; check out the detailed quilting below

See the butterfly in the quilting?

Today we talked about how to quilt by hand.

Thank you to everyone who has been visiting the site and leaving comments.  I especally want to thank everyone who took the time to register and use the new Discussion Board.

Check out Darla’s latest project.  She recently took an applique class.  Can you believe she did all of this in 4 WEEKS!!!  It would have taken me more than twice as long.  Plus the work is so beautiful.  Look at her prep work as well.  I guess taking the extra time to prep really does pay off.  Please leave a comment about Darla’s quilt – I am sure she would like you opinion.

I finished my first knitting project – a scarf.  This is Morgan modeling it for me.

The idea of this project was to learn to knit and get more confidence with my knit and purl stitches.  I think I accomplished that – check out the beginning and end of the scarf; I really improved by the end.

I have been listening to the Quilt Study podcasts at work – here is the link

I am planning on going to Quilt Fest Jacksonville on September 26th.  Anyone else going?

Topic of the Week – How to Quilt by Hand

Listen to the podcast for all the details.  Here are the basic step-by-step instructions.

How to Start

1.  Knot in thread
2. Start away from your starting point
3. Go in through the top, but not through the bottom.  Travel needle through batting
4. Come up at starting point
5. Pull until the knot “pops” through the top layer and into the bottom layer
6. Don’t pull so hard it comes through your starting point.

The Running Stitch, using the Rocking Motion

1. Needle vertical down into the quilt, using the middle finger
2. Lay needle flat with the pointing in the direction of the stitch.
3. Push up, from underneath with the middle finger of the opposing hand
4. At the same time, pinch the fabric with your top hand with your middle finger and thumb.
5. Thumb should be to the inside of the stitch so you don’t poke your self
6. Return the needle to a vertical position and repeat

How to end

1. Make another knot in the thread, with it still attached and the needle still in place, similar to making a French knot in embroidery
2. Don’t go back into fabric, pull the needle through so the knot is a little ways off the quilt top.
3. Put the needle back through the same hole you just came through and travel it through the batting
4. Come up a little ways away
5. Pull on the tread until the knot “pops” through the top layer of fabric.
6. Cut the thread close to the top of the quilt