Quilts are in the Trunk

Here is a new travel bag that I purchased, a brown one, from Avon recently, now that I am frequently traveling once again. That bag has so many zippers and pockets, Penny! What a great bag! Looks like Grandma will be styling.

My Favorite Books

Here is a great book on the left. I have learned so much from this longarm quilting book. Another favorite on the right, Quilting Inside the Lines. This book is a wonderful addition to my quilting library. A must have! Mom, I am hoping that your copy arrives before I see you. You will love this book!

Grandma's Coming

Here are the little sweethearts that are getting these baby quilts that have been posted the past few weeks. I will take new photos during my trip this weekend and update my photo for you when I return as I imagine that have grown by now. A little more character and charm. I can't wait to see them.

Baby Girl Quilt is Done

Here is my Baby Girl quilt. This is a very soft quilt as both sides are a flannel fabric. I am sure that a special little girl is going to love this quilt.

Fabrics for Girls Quilts

Here we are ladies! I hope everyone will be happy with these selections. I am sorry to say that I did not see any fabric with pink flowers that caught my eye this morning. I will use a white with white stars fabric for the binding for the first quilt and a solid black fabric for the binding for the bottom quilt. These are going to be bright, stunning quilts.

Trent's Finished Nemo Quilt

Here is Trent's Little Nemo quilt. Another very bright baby quilt. The selected quilting has left a unique design on the backing. The purple binding is quite stunning as well.

2 More Quilts For The Girls Coming

I have been asked to make two additional quilts for little girls. Here are two girl pieces of fabric that I have. I will find some printed pink flowers for the backing for each quilt. There in only one yard of the strawberries. That will make a great baby quilt for the two-year-old. I have two yards of the red with the white bits in it. That will make a nice size quilt for the seven-year-old. I will add solid hot pink binding around these sweet quilts.

Tristen's Finished Parrot Quilt

Here is Tristen's parrot quilt. It is bright. I love the colors. The red binding framed this quilt so nicely.

3 More Quilts for Trent Coming

3 More Quilts for Tristen Coming

Trent's New Quilt

Here is Trent's book quilt. It will be the same size as Tristen's. It will get stitched the next time that I get to the quilt shop. It will have a striped backing instead of muslin. I am trying to make sure that you can tell your quilts apart when I make twin quilts. I will use a black binding to finish the edges.

Tristen's New Quilt

Here is Tristen's new book quilt. Trent has a book quilt the same size coming for him as well the next trip to the quilt shop. These are larger-size quilts this time. The babies should love the bright colors. I am pleased at how my meandering turned out on the back. Threads still need to be trimmed. This quilt is stitched with bright yellow thread. A black binding will be added to the edge to finish this quilt

Trent's Finished Balloon Quilt

Here is Trent's quilt. It is so bright. Everyone loves the fabric. I have tried to purchase additional fabric and it is gone I am sorry to say. This quilt is a nice size. The edges squared up nicely and the corners look nice also. I love it! Grandma will bring this when I come.

More Fabric ~ More Baby Quilts

I went to the fabric store today. The center fabric will help me practice continuous curves that I would like to quilt on Sydney's quilt. I will show you what that stitching looks like after I go practice it. Tristen will get the Rainforest-looking first print, Trent will get those white clouds with the blue background that will match his blue eyes, Trent and Tristen will each get the colored books, Trent will get the green frogs and Tristen will get the yellow Cherrios. I have a lot to get done.

What's for Dessert Tonight?

That would be Blueberry Pie from Publix. Looks pretty good to me!

My Longarm Book Bag

Check this baby out! I wanted a bag to store my longarm books in. These extra pockets on the sides and in the front are great. The inside has a nice deep area for my books and folders. I am pleased with this purchase. Very functional.

Book I Am Reading

This is a great book for me to study. I am loving this book and learning a lot. And, I love this quilt mom, thanks!

Second Longarm Practice Piece

Here is my muslin layered warm-up piece. Some nice comfortable meandering and I always practice my name at least once.

My Quilting Companions

These lovely birdies are right near my sewing area. I do not always get to sew in peace and quiet. The yellow one loves to yell at the blue one. I have no idea why.

Michael's and Sydney's Quilts - Getting There!

Here they are kids! The quilts that Aunt Maureen promised are almost finished. As you see, Michael Junior's quilt is Florida Gators. I still have a little more time until the upcoming college football season begins. Is my nephew going to be cool or what? And my niece, Sydney's Spongebob quilt's backing is ready, Cherries and Dasies, how cute is that? Remember, all made with love!

Longarm Rental Session ~ Trent's Two Quilts

Here are the two baby quilts that I am making for Trent. The backing is shown on the left of each photo. Both pieces have been trimmed to size and are ready for their binding to be attached. I can't wait to finish these quilts for Trent this week.

Longarm Rental Session ~ Two Baby Quilts

Here are two baby quilts that I quilted with the longarm machine this past Thursday. I will square these pieces off and make binding out of their coordinating fabrics. My daughter's baby theme for her son is "the jungle" and her roommate has a little girl. After these quilts are completed, I will post another photo for viewing.

Longarm Class Muslin Piece

Here are photos from my muslin piece that show my practice work from my longarm machine class at my quilt shop last Saturday for three hours with the instructor and another student.

Sewing on a Gammill Longarm Machine

I am learning how to use a two-control hand-guided quilting machine, a Gammill Premiere 18-8 longarm machine. The machine moves around during quilting instead of you moving the fabric layers around. Developed in the 1980’s, this large throat sewing machine on tracks can be operated from both sides, moved in any direction, and pantographs (continuous line design quilting patterns) can be traced directly onto the fabric with the use of a laser light which shines on the continuous line design pattern on the worktable behind the machine while you are quilting your project. These machines were first used by professionals and have recently started being used by today’s home quilters.

My quilt shop, in Jupiter, here in Florida, where I have taken a few quilting classes at, has a longarm machine that they rent out to quilters. I have been using their machine and practicing my skills. Soon I hope to have a Gammill machine of my own at my quilting disposal. The requirement of the amount of workspace room that is needed to set up the machine, quilt poles (which hold the layers), and the worktable (where the pattern being traced lays) is delaying my purchase. Until I have the room for this item, I am so grateful for the opportunity to utilize the machine at my quilt shop.

Tristen's Finished Nemo Quilt

My daughter requested some quick additional quilts to line the car seat with or lay on the floor for her son. I ran to Wal-Mart and purchased a yard of Little Nemo fabric, a yard of simple beige muslin for the back, and some coordinating bias tape. To quilt this blanket, I followed the waves on the Little Nemo print and used a decorative quilting stitch to run lines of stitching down through the layers. After attaching the bias tape and finishing the edges, I threw the blanket in the washer and dryer. This quilt had a great feel to it after being laundered. I am told that this quilt is now one of my grandson’s favorite blankets. I will be making more of these blankets for the boys in the weeks to follow.

Penny's Birthday Wallhanging

I made my youngest sister, Penny, a quilted 11”x18” kitchen wallhanging for her birthday. I used this country-looking fat quarter that has a bowl of granny smith apples, date nut bread, apple pie and a fruitcake on it. I used ½” masking tape as a guide to quilt the precise diagonal lines. I also found a set of kitchen towels and potholders to match. I wanted my sister to have something that I quilted for her. Now she does.

Art Quilt

Here is my first 9"x12" Art Quilt. It represents the leaves and bricks in my garden. I purchased a set of gardening tool embellishments off of e-bay that were added to the quilt after the quilting was done. My quilting echoes the path of my bricks and the shapes of my leaves.

New Grandsons ~ Trent and Tristen

I am now a quilter and a Grandma. My children had babies three days apart this year. Here are photos of Grandma and these Sweet Baby Boys. I just love them so much already!

Spongebob Quilts for Two New Grandsons

I have two wonderful children, Adam and Jessica. Recently, I have been blessed with the addition of two beautiful grandsons, Trent and Tristen, which are only three days apart. I have a lot more quilting to accomplish now! To welcome their anticipated arrival, I quickly completed two small Spongebob scrap quilts that were already in progress. These quilts are very bright to look at which makes them very baby friendly. They are just the beginning of all the quilts that I will shower these little angels with.