Down Memory Lane

My brother-in-law got married this March in Florida.  I got the chance to make a quilt for him & his lovely bride for their new home. I searched the internet for quilt ideas (there are only about a million!) and after getting input from my future sis-in-law, here's what I came up with.

The middle section with red squares was initially going to be the whole quilt, but I ran out of fabric.  So, I added borders to get it to the right size.

I especially like how the last black and white fabric played with the other prints.  Turns out it was great for binding, too.

Sam, our rat terrier and faithful quilting assistant, slept in my lap for the piecing and quilting.  Turns out he wasn't as much of a help when I was putting the quilt sandwich together.

When it was all put together, the middle section reminded me of a brick path, and I thought about Josh & Jenny starting their new life together.  So this one is named "Down Memory Lane."

May you have many blessed years of making memories together.

Domesticated Geese - A Baby Quilt

My friend Stacey recently had a happy surprise - baby #3! A precious little boy.

So of course this calls for a baby quilt, I thought.  Her nursery colors are black, white and a lime-ish green.  Maybe a little bit of gray mixed in.

I had been wanting to try a flying geese pattern, so I went for it.

 Then I realized how much of a learning curve quilting can be.  Several of my geese (the triangles) have clipped beaks & wings.  So I'm calling this one "Domesticated Geese."

For this quilt I hemmed it instead of  binding it.  Much faster and certainly much easier.  Thank you Gussy for the suggestion!

Quilt stack in geometric prints from Joann's & 3 green quilters cuts.
Batting: Needle punch low-loft polyester
Backing: G is for Green print from Walmart
Quilting: straight line using my walking foot.  Quilted in the ditch on the geese units, and a double line in the green strips.

Congratulations Stacey and Connor!

The Ties That Bind

For those of you who don't know, my mother had breast cancer.  It was diagnosed in 2007, while my hubs was deployed to Iraq.  And as part of her cancer blood work, they discovered she had type II diabetes, and her blood sugar was 6 times higher than it should have been. That was quite a year.

After a grueling treatment regimen including chemo, radiation and surgery, mom was finally *done* with cancer.  It was long road to recover her energy and strength.  During the part of her recovery when she finally started feeling a teeny bit better, she said she felt like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon.

After I learned that quilters can "Quilt for the Cure," I wanted to make a quilt for the cause.  I consider this a practice quilt since I wasn't sure I would be able to make a full size quilt quickly enough to raffle off at any fundraising events.  And this is now at my mother's house, for her to remember.

Pattern: French Braid from two Quick stack packs and two fat quarters from Walmart.
Batting: Polyester low-loft
Backing: Quilting batik with butterflies printed on.
Binding: Disney leaves print
Quilting: straight line using a walking foot and some free-motion quilting.

Credits: Leslee Hyde for teaching the me french braid method (by text!!) and quilting technique advice.
Helen Anderson for help & guidance on how to apply binding, and numerous helpful suggestions on quilting techniques.