Dec 9, 2013

Black and White Quilt

Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? I have started another quilting project with a short deadline! In fact, I have three projects to make between now and Christmas. Let's see if I can do this! 




















I have always liked black and white quilts, so I have collected black and white fabrics for years. I made a black and white quilt for my oldest son several years ago. It was a king size quilt, so it made a dent in my stash, but didn't deplete it. :)















Even after I finished making this quilt I continued to pick up a new black and white fabric from time to time. There were some really cute ones that just spoke to me. Now I have found a new quilt to make with them. 

I have all the fabric cut for my new project. All 810 pieces! Ninety blocks. Ninety elongated nine-patch blocks. Now I just need to start a chain piecing marathon. 

This is going to be a race against the clock. I think I can do it. I have my house decorated for Christmas and I'm almost finished with my shopping. So I have "time on my hands"-haha! I'll keep you posted of my progress.


Happy Quilting and Happy Holidays!

Dec 4, 2013

Chevron Quilt

I am about a week late with this post and I am so sorry I didn't get it out sooner. We had no internet connection last weekend and it threw me for a loop.

My precious new daughter-in-law's birthday was this past Sunday and I decided that since she is officially new to the family this year I wanted to make her a quilt. When I saw University of Tennessee fabrics at my local quilt shop, I was inspired to make her a quilt with it. She is a HUGE football fan and loves everything about her alma mater. 

I wanted a simple pattern. Something that would showcase the fabric, and be fun at the same time. I decided to do a chevron-they are so popular right now and it just seemed right. 

I picked the UT fabric that had an orange background as my focus fabric, a white with orange polka dots, and a black on black. I thought these would make a great chevron pattern. 


Two hundred and fifty two half square triangles! It went fast. I cut larger pieces of fabric and marked it so that I could stitch this way and that and then when I cut it all apart I had made 32 blocks at a time. 

In no time at all, I had all the blocks made and was sewing the rows together. 


I quilted it with loops and swirls to counter-balance the lines and angles of the chevrons. 


Here it is all finished and bound!! I had two hours to shower and get to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving dinner~where we were going to celebrate Elise's birthday and I was going to give her the quilt.


I used another UT fabric for backing and I was sooooo happy with the final results!
  

Here is Elise on Thanksgiving when she opened her gift. You can tell by the big smile on her face that she was happy. It made me feel so good!
















The next day my son texted me this picture of Elise, at home, all snuggled under her quilt. Again-this is the reason I quilt. My heart is happy. And I think Elise's is too.