Archive for the ‘Completed tops’ Category

The top is done! This makes the 2nd UFO that I’ve gotten to the finished top stage this month which means I’m going to allow myself to start a new quilt … I just have to decide what I want to make. I’ve got several on my website and a couple in the design journal that I want to piece this year so it will be one of them.

I’ve realized that I’ve been bad about keeping up with backings for these finished tops so I need to start piecing one per week until I’m caught up. It’s so much easier when I can pull a top and backing from the closet downstairs and load them on the longarm. This top will wait awhile for quilting but will be a donation quilt when it’s finished.

The top is done…I debated borders but I don’t have enough of the black print to work with and it’s a good size for a donation quilt so I’m going to call the top done and move on.

You can see another version of this on my website.

The top is done … It will have to wait for quilting until the Irish Chain is finished.

Mary’s Quick Strippie Instructions.

It’s been a busy day! I finished the Drunkard’s Path and Circle top – I won’t be posting an instruction sheet but I did write up my process on my website.

I also pieced a back for Chris’ quilt and got my November UFO on the longarm and started the quilting. I’m running late with it but am still hoping to complete the challenge by finishing the last two quilts on my list before the end of the year … of course that means I’ll probably be binding the last one on New Year’s Eve!

I’d like to blame Mom but it was my poor memory that caused my problems today. I pulled a top of hers to quilt and found the backing wasn’t pieced, went upstairs to piece it, loaded it and the batting and it was too SMALL for the quilt.

By this point I’m thinking that wasn’t the backing but I can’t find anything else here so I call Mom and she thinks I told her I’d make a backing from my stash for it. I think this top has been here too long when I can’t remember a detail like that but I’m sure she’s right.

I figure it’s not a big problem, I’ll just pull a smaller HeartStrings top and use the backing since its already loaded….only I don’t have any small ones here. I don’t have any tops here small enough.

So up to the sewing room to make a Quick Strippie. One hour and 10 minutes from start to finish including the cutting and it’s so cute that I’m smiling now!

It won’t get quilted until tomorrow because I’ve got one I’m going to sit and bind this evening.

The Diamond and Rails top is done and I love it every bit as much as I thought I would.

You can find my process for recreating the antique quilt on my website.

It’s too big for the design wall but you can get an idea of how it looks from the photo. Brief cutting instructions are on my website.

My reward for finishing up the top was a walk to the coffee shop and some knitting time.

Keith and I had a lovely day yesterday – brunch, a few errands, and then a bike ride out to the lakes.

They have the best bike paths here in Minneapolis and I always take a quilt with us so we can sit for a while and enjoy the view before heading home.

Today, I’m on my own and after finally getting a full night sleep, I was up early. I decided I’d do a couple of my least favorite things and then spend the rest of the day doing what  I want (brunch, some knitting at the coffee shop, and then some library time). See how great my scarf is looking?  I bet I have it done in a day or so.

First up was getting the border on this Spiderweb top and now it’s done! One more thing checked off my Summer “to do” list. Thanks to his grandmother piecing these blocks – Chris might actually get this quilt when he comes to visit us at Christmas. (Might! I’m making no promises)

Task two was loading my UFO for August on the longarm. In the end it was an easy choice between the two because I had a backing already made for the twisted 9 patch and the tan thread that’s already on the machine will work for it too. Now I just have to decide what to quilt on it.

I’m ready to head out now and I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

I finished assembling my HeartStrings Anniversary top today — you can see that I received some blocks that were just blues but I still wanted to use them in the quilt — they’ll blend in better when the quilting is done and it’s a lot more noticable in the photo than in person but I just realized I could have used one in each of the quilt’s 4 corners –  I hate it when I get an idea after something’s already assembled. I’m so excited to be finishing this one up!

And Chesty approves of the quilting I did on this top of Mom’s. The quilt had a lot of white space and I think the motifs in the pantograph do a nice job of filling them with texture. Hearts in Bloom is the name of the pantograph.

I finally made myself sit down and finish assembling this top. One more item checked off my “to do” list for this summer.