Quilt 118: Tree of Life I - DONE!

I found these panels online, and a friend was interested in them, too.  She found a photo online of a quilt made by slicing the tree panel into strips in inserting coordinating blue fabric in between the strips (somewhat as I've done to the panel on the right, below).

(click any photo on this page to see a larger image)

I also found another coordinating print - the wild rainbow swirlies I used for the border (below).  And for drama, I inserted a 2" black border on eather side of that.  Well, you gotta admit: it's colourful!

49" x 62" - quilted on the Q-Matic longarm ("PRPANTO110" stitching pattern) - cotton batting

This is the stitching pattern I selected from the library that came with the Q-Matic

The backing is solid navy homespun, and I used a medium grey thread (which fades well into the top but is nicely visible on the back).

My husband especially likes this quilt.  He said the tree reminds him of the drawing style of Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig.  You know what?  He's right!

I'm going to do the other panel a little differently.  I'm going to trim down the top of the panel and will use only the bright blue coordinating print for the borders (instead of the rainbow swirlies).

Quilt 117: B&W Jelly Roll Squares 'n Scraps - DONE!

I've had a black and white jelly roll in my stash for several months now.  I kept looking at it feeling, well, uninspired.  But I finally pulled it out and grabbed some solid red scraps and black-and-white scraps from Quilt 104 (the backing).

I used the jelly roll strips to create alternating dark and light "frames", and here's the finished quilt.

55" x 67" - quilted on the Bernina Q-Matic ("Panto_Square Meander" stitch design, end-to-end) - cotton batting

It was a pretty simple and fast quilt to make.

Here's a closeup of one of the squares showing the "lovelovelove" print in the center of the frames.  It's that print I used for the backing of quilt 104.

Spotlight had a sale on quilt fabric, so I grabbed a print to back the quilt with:

And below is a closeup of the print.  Very VERY busy, but attractive.  I used it for the binding as well.

I quilted it with white thread and used the same "loop-d-loop with squares" quilt pattern that I used on Quilt 114.  The white thread pretty much fades into the quilt (except in the red blocks and borders) - which is what I wanted with this quilt.  If the thread was more visible, it would make the quilt too "busy".

Quilt 116: Peach Rainbow Jelly Roll Race - DONE!

Time for another "Jelly Roll Race" quilt!

Here's the jelly roll pack that I started with (photo didn't come out well, colour-wise.

And here's the finished quilt!  It never fails to surprise me that these quilts come out as large as they do, especially given the fact that the jelly roll packs just don't look to me like there's that much fabric in them.

49" x 64" - quilted on the Bernina Q-Matic ("PRPANTO131" stitch design, end-to-end) - cotton batting

 Here's a photo of the backing so you can see the stitch design:

It's a nice design, not quite as dense as some of the others.

I've got this jelly roll race thing down pat.  The one thing that bothers me with this kind of quilt is that it's really easy to accidentally get the seams unraveling a little after you cut the strips down.  Next time I make one of these, I'm going to try doing it with a much smaller stitch length.  That should help prevent unraveling.

Quilt 115: "Nana Mae II" EZ On-Point - DONE!

Another charm square quilt - and this one is an on-point design that is so easy it makes me laugh!

I started with 2 charm square packs.  This pack is from Henry Glass & Co. - a set they call "Nana Mae II".  It's all soft pastel prints, flowers and baby animals.

First, I sewed the squares into a rectangle, 6 squares down and 12 across.

Next I cut the rectangle as shown with the red lines below: - I end up with a large triangle (the center) and 2 smaller triangles from either side.

It's fairly easy to keep straight - you just cut through each square diagonnaly, from point to point.

 Then join the 2 smaller triangles as shown below, making a larger triangle

 And finally sew the 2 triangles together, resulting in an on-point top!

I added a solid lavender border and bound it with some pale yellow scraps I had from another project.

46" x 46"- quilted on the Bernina Q-matic longarm ("PRPANTO131" stitch design, end-to-end) - cotton batting

Here's a closeup of the flowery stitch pattern I selected.  I opted for a very light grey thread, which pretty much disappears into the quilt.

 And here's the backing:

I love the on-point design and will probably make a few more of these.  Fast, easy, and loads of fun!

Quilt 114: "Baby Koala" Panel Quilt - DONE!

Now that I've worked out how to use the Q-Matic for end-to-end "pantograph" quilting, I'm really having a ball - and getting quilts done faster and faster!

I found an adorable Koala panel online a few months ago - and ordered it and a coordinating print (blue, green and grey leaves) for a border.  Adding a little bright solid green from my stash of leftover fabrics ersulted in a quilt that took very little time to put together.

I decided to experiment with the quilt design on this one, and chose "Panto_Square Meander" from the library of end-to-end designs in the Q-Matic.  Here's a photo taken just after I started stitching. As you can see, it's much like my free-motion "loop-d-loops", but with squares instead of circles.

I selected grey thread in the same shade as the koalas - so that the stithcing over the koalas fades back a bit.  I'm very pleased with the results!

 And here's the finished quilt!

40" x 56" - quilted on the Bernina Q-matic longarm ("Panto_Square Meander" stitch design, end-to-end) - cotton batting

The back is solid green - and here the stitching really shows up.  I love the effect!

I'm getting quite a bit more comfortable with the Q-Matic now, and have managed to figure out how to handle it when the top thread breaks and when the bobbin runs out, which happened a couple of times on this project.

What I don't know how to do is: restart quilting after shutting the machine off halfway through.  I'm sure it's just a matter of saving the design in the computer properly, but I won't be attempting it on any projects until I've successfully done it with some practice scraps.

Beth

Sad beyond words today. My beloved cousin Beth McClain Bonaccorso got her wings a few hours ago.

We have a special connection and share a love that is woven with our earliest childhood memories. In the years when her family lived in West Virginia (my family in Ohio) we spent weeks together at her house and mine every summer. So many joyous memories. We lost touch when her family moved to Florida and our lives went in different directions. But eight years ago we reconnected and discovered each other again - the years melted away and we became closer than ever. We shared laughter and tears - and never missed the chance to say "I love you", even when we talked briefly on Saturday - and she gently told me what was about to happen.

It's been nearly a year since her doctors said "get your affairs in order". That shows what a fighter she is. I've never seen such courage. And I will always remember how she lived her life. She had bad days - way too many - but when she was able, she was out there going places, doing things, spending time with her loved ones. I don't think she wasted one moment.

And so, Beth, I love you with all my heart. I love your spirit, your humor, generosity, patience, kindness, your wisdom and "tell-it-like-it-is" pragmatism. Thank you for all the times when you were there for me, and thank you for letting me be there for you. I will carry you in my heart and will look for the times when you reach out to me in spirit. You know where you can find me.

Yellow roses are Beth's favorite flower.  I made this quilt for her
two years ago.  She told me she always slept better under the quilt,
and her daughter Toni told me Beth was lying under it when she passed.