Strip Twist Superbowl Party"

Bonnie Hunter is having a "Strip Twist Superbowl Party". I heard this from Michelle (2L) Wyman over on MQResource. You can read all about this fun day over on Bonnie's blog. And you can get Bonnie Hunter's pattern online at her web-site.

I have never been a football fan so you won't find me watching the game. I'm not even sure who is playing. Well, it is not the San Diego Chargers because the whole city of San Diego have been moping around since the Chargers got beaten by Pittsburgh. Hmm, maybe I do know something aobut football, I know who beat our hometwon team. Oh well, back to more important things than football...quilting.

I am going to do a strip quilt this week-end. I have a Pineapple class on Saturday. I'll get maybe 2 or 3 of those blocks done in class and stick it in a box for later. The class is 10 - 3 on Saturday. We are getting new carpet installed in the second master bedroom as I write this. It was my studio until my son and his family moved in with us for a few months. Then we had apple juice, pizza and who knows what else spilled on the builder's white/gray freize (pronounced free-zay) carpet. I never liked that carpet anyway.

So the new (latte brown) carpet goes in today and then tomorrow, while I am at class my husband and my son will move my machine back to that 2nd master. I will miss all the grunts, curses and sweat, thank goodness. I have no doubt that the scratched molding and gouged walls will be there waiting for me when I get home from class, though. Yeah, this is not the first time we have moved this machine. We plan to paint before the new wood floors get installed in the public areas anyway. But that is another very long story.

So this week-end, why not grab a jelly roll of fabric and join the fun (from you own home) and make a Strip Twist quilt.

Name That Tune Quilt for a Guild Challenge

OK, our guild is doing a challenge next month. Make a quilt which will be recognized as a title to a song. Wanna guess what song my quilt is named for?

It was composed in 1946 and first sung by Nat King Cole.


A close-up. I just did wavy lines in the pieced piano key border. Then I tried a new freemotion that I heard about on Machine Quilter's Resource. I will find out who designed it and update this post. The stitchout is called 3's and E's. Cool, Huh. I used Quilter's Dream cotton batting and PermaCore in Coronado color. Binding will be either blue of red.

Red Zinger

I was cruising through some of my favorite blogs and came across an interesting article for a quilt named the Red Zinger on Ann Marie's blog

I had a blast making it. No patterns or 1/4 inch seam allowances to worry about. Plus, the freedom to choose what color goes next is a thrill. You cut the last 1 1/2 inch off including the selvage of various fabrics. I chose random fabrics so I could get lots of color variations in my zinger. You stitch the selvage edges to each other in an overlapping fashion. I bought enough base fabric, Kona Red, for 9 big X's. Each X is comprised of four 9-inch blocks with selvage attached. My quilt is 3 Xs across and 3 X's down. I plan to use it as a wall hanging. I think it might be a bit stiff for a quilt but it will make a great conversation piee.

This s my first and I decided to make it a wall hanging size. It still needs the binding, red, of course.



It was so much fun to make. I still have lots of selvage left. I'm looking for the book to see what other projects I can make with this selvage.

Jewel Tone Beauty

This is a first quilt for a new customer. She was such a rookie that she gave me the backing in 2 pieces and the border fabric with the quilt. Yes, I can get it finished. She was lost. It is a gift for her 76 yr old mother.


I used PermaCore Turquoise thread and bamboo/cotton batting. Great drage with that batting. She chose the Peacock Fan Large by Jodi Beamish as the pattern. I looks great with these jewel tone fabrics.

Boys and Girls Club Auction 2009

Another Sampler...

This one is a kingsize, lots of Fairy Frost. It is philanthropy for a Boys and Girls Club raffle coming up. My friend Debbie pieced it. Meticulous work is her norm.

I quilted it custom with continuous curves, pumpkin seeds, cross-hatching, alternating hashmarks, applique outlining and lots of stitch-in-the-ditch. The quilt top and back sitting unquilted in a paper bag was already heavy. We decided to use Quilter's Dream Poly batting. It gives great quilt definition and is not as heavy as cotton. I used Signature Cotton white thread top and bobbin.



I tried a new sashing stitch on it. It is very similar to a Deloa Jones sashing that I learned at MQS 2008. But that sashing requires a long pass over the stitched sashing amd I don't always slow down enough to miss cropping the top of the sashing. So this one works better for me.



The borders stacked outside the sashing was a challenge. I had just watched a Deb Levy video on Machine Quilter's Resource that demonstrated dividing borders. These borders were not wide. In fact, that was part of the problem. The inner border was 3 inches and the outer border was about 4 inches. It would have been a different border treatment if the outer border was 5 or 6 inches. I ran a double-spine and one-sided feathers facing into the quilt on the inside of the border treatment. I did piano keys on the outside part of the border treatment. I was pleased with the result. I hope it makes them tons of $$.