Works In Progress

I've had several requests for the Scrappy Carpenter's Star pattern from people who don't use paypal and want to just mail me a check for the $3. I don't have a problem with that at all, so if you want to do that just email me at: jeanmadan49@aol.com and I'll send you my snail-mail address!

http://madanquilting.blogspot.com/2012/03/patterns-for-sale.html

I've been working on one of the Fat Cat applique BOM quilts (Baltimore Bliss) and finally got all my blocks finished for that. Now I'm in the process of putting the borders on the flimsie to make it big enough for my queen size bed. I'm afraid it's.... TOO PINK!.... which is NOT a favorite color with me, but I think it will be pretty when it's all done. I wanted to use fabrics I had on hand, so not all of them are shades I would have shopped for on my own. LOL! I think the problem started when I chose the second red fabric, and that's what really gave it such a pink look. (Yes, I do know that light red is just another version of dark pink, but somehow that piece of fabric didn't look so pink until it was on the block!) Anyway, I'll post photos of that when I get it all finished.

As usual, I have also been working on a different project at the same time. I haven't really used my embroidery machine for much more than labels in the past year, so I decided I should get more use out of it. I tend to do a lot of variable star blocks, and putting an embroidered center in some of those seemed like a good option. I had some really nice colorwork files of humming birds, so that's the way I'm going. When it's finished, it will be called "Hummers.. The Stars of the Garden" Here are a few of the blocks I've gotten done:

I've finished 18 of the blocks so far... I think I'll do a total of 35 of them and make a sofa quilt. I'm still thinking about how I want to set them though, so that may change.

Well, it's back to the sewing room for me. Tomorrow will be spent getting hubby to the specialists, which generally takes up the whole day, so today I hope to finish adding the borders to the applique quilt.

Happy Quilting!
Jean

Big Roses Quilt ALL DONE!

Well, it took me about ten times longer than it should have for such a simple quilt, but I did finally get the thing finished! In my defense, I've been sick sick sick with some sort of flu bug the past few weeks. And it's also a huge quilt! (Way too big for the queen size bed it's displayed on.) But I'm happy with the way it finished up!

Have a great quilting day!!
Jean

Scrappy Carpenter's Star pattern

Well, I have the big roses quilt on the longarm now. Once I get it all quilted and the binding on, I'll provide photos of the completed quilt. It's going to be HUGE... 115 inches square, so king size is small in comparison. And I cleared out almost every inch of that big floral too... less than a fat quarter left of it. Still have a bit of the smaller floral, but that will be easier to incorporate in another project down the road.

I've also been working on a few of my pattern PDFs that I like to make. I'm thinking of offering a few of them for sale through PayPal, and then I would just email the PDF to the purchaser. (No longer having a website complicates the process of doing it any other way.)

http://madanquilting.blogspot.com/2012/03/patterns-for-sale.html

Big Roses pattern plan

Here's a drawing of my plan for the Big Roses quilt.. This is from EQ5, so of course the fabrics aren't quite the same... but it will give you some idea:

I don't always take the time to plan out a simple quilt like this, but seeing as I was working with bits and pieces I needed to see if there was enough to get me where I wanted to go. Since I've got all the parts cut out now, I know it will work. I have all my churn dash blocks made, and am working now on the setting blocks and border pieces. I have the top border and top row sewn together, so I got to see if I was going to like it, and so far I do!
Happy Quilting!
Jean

Big Roses part one

I was recently given a box of fabrics that a neighbor picked up at a yard sale. It had a lot of gaudy roses printed on a black background:

Most of that had been cut into various pieces when the original owner tried unsuccesfully to make a stack-and-whack type quilt. Since the pieces weren't cut in a way that would work for that, I took apart the partially assembled blocks and used the pieces to make churn dash blocks:

There was also some coordinating fabric with a smaller print (which was much more to my tastes):

That fabric had been cut up some, in various size strips, so I decided to use the pieces first in a setting block for the quilt I've got planned. I'll use what's left (if any) for another project down the road. Here's a partially finished setting block:

It will be interesting to see if this turns out as well as I think it will. I'm not usually into big florals, so it will be an adventure for me. LOL!

I'm sure some of you will wonder why in the world I didn't use BLACK for my background fabric. It's not like black is new to me, after all. But in this case I felt like it needed the white-on-white to open up the print so that it wasn't so heavy and dark. Also, the pattern peices are more defined going this way. We'll see if I was right when it's finished!

Happy Quilting!

Jean MaDan

What I've been working on...

My most recent quilts sure do have some variety to them. I made a king sized applique quilt with BOM patterns from Applewood, called "Christmas Yet To Come":

Then I made a totally scrappy version of a Carpenter's Wheel block, and surrounded it with whatever looked right to me:

And just yesterday I finished up putting together some donated blocks I found in an old paper sack. I just added the tan and green sashings, and put them together, but the finished results made me happy:

So, you just never know what direction I'll be taking on any given day. I like complex, but I like simple and easy as well. I work on whatever strikes my fancy at the time. So, if I can just figure out how to share some saved files, like my PDFs and EQ projects, this should end up to be something that partially replaces my old website.
Have a great quilting day!

Jean